nfreeman

Well, Flagg sure is being a poopy-pants.

But would you want to give up all that and give Pacioretty a fat contract? I’ve heard that he’s looking for term and high dollars.

It wasn’t the diving that bothered me about Roy. It was the gutlessness. To be fair, Skinner has never made the playoffs, so we don’t know whether he’d vanish under pressure like Roysie did. Also, Skinner is much faster and a much better finisher than Roy was. And Skinner was a US Olympian.

I like Skinner too.

Hmmmm...what would I give for Pacioretty? 2019 3rd-rounder that becomes a 2nd if he signs an extension with the Sabres? Casey Nelson and Justin Bailey? Nylander if the Habs include their 2019 2nd-rounder?

Awesome work sir. Interesting positive take on Beaulieu.

I too am optimistic on Thompson, but I think he’s a RW and as such I have him on Eichel’s line with Sheary at LW, and Reino at RW on Casey’s line with ERod at LW. If those 2 lines, or a similar mix, are in place and working well, it will indicate positive results for Jbott’s plans so far.

My rosy scenario of being in the WC hunt presumes without mentioning that Jackie boy has a huge season. If he gets hurt again — yikes.

McCabe on D. ERod or Thompson at F. And please please Ullmark and Hutton!

I can’t tell whether you’re joking, but this made me happy. Good breakdown. I can see NJ backsliding to the fighting-for-WC group, which would mean there are 2 spots available for that group. Yesssss!! But extenuating circumstances with that weird and dangerous injury! KO is too slow, but he doesn’t strike me as a quitter. If he’s physically able, he’ll be in good shape and reasonably productive IMHO. Unhappily, this is also quite reasonable. I voted in the WC hunt. That would really require strong seasons from Dahlin, Risto, McCabe, Bogo or Pilut, Reino, Casey, Berglund, a couple of other forwards and most of all Hutton and Ullmark. So it’s not super-likely but not impossible either.

Welcome! Reino getting 60 points would be an excellent outcome for him this year, as long as they don’t come in the 2nd half of the season with the Sabres already 20 games out of the playoffs.

I think at least 2 of the STL guys are going to be good next year.

I've always liked Ennis. Agree with the sentiment upthread that he never got all the way back from that season missed post-concussion. He'll probably get his minutes against the bottom of the opponents' rosters, though, so maybe he'll put up some points for the Leafs.

Agree with both of these. Regarding KO, I saw enough good hockey out of him before he got hurt to make me think that if healthy he's a pretty good player. However, I think there is NFW anyone trades for him at the deadline this year. I agree with much of this. However, I think that although some certainly will interpret the ROR trade per the bolded, it's likely that JB and PH do want to start winning now and liked JVR enough so that they thought he would be a good piece for the next 4 years and then a bad contract for the last 1-2 years of his deal. Certainly the Sabres need a good scoring winger, and he's been one for a good while now.

Quite a nucleus for TB.

Speaking of CJ Smith, I think he's going to be heard from this year.

Sorry to hear this dudacek. Best wishes to you and your family.

It wasn't that big of a deal, and it was a couple of days ago, but the "prep work" required for a (routine) colonoscopy is not the most fun I've ever had.

Welcome Triumph!

Good stuff Crusader and Brawndo. Thanks for posting.

Happy 4th! BBQ! Swimming! Beer! Hockey talk!

No. Eichel missed 21 games, which is about a quarter of the season. They went 7-9-5 without him and 26-28-7 with him. And, on Feb. 18, they were 26-23-10 and on the fringes of the playoff picture -- and then fell off the table, losing 8 out of 9 (and 10 out of 12), and going 7-14-2 to finish the season. A well-coached team doesn't go to pieces like that. OTOH, I can totally see the first paragraph being an accurate theory of how it played out, and you are right that Bylsma got more wins out of the team overall than Phil has so far. But like someone mentioned, the fact that Phil might not have the right stuff doesn't mean that DDB did have it.

IMHO it's just way too early to judge GMTM's drafts. We have no idea whether any of Pu, Olofsson, Guhle, Fitzgerald, Borgen, etc. will develop into good players. As for the rest: it's hard to deny that his term was a crashing failure. The team was a dysfunctional train wreck. He's the one who put it together, and he's responsible for the results.

All I can say is that the Athletic's Sabres coverage over the last week or so has been excellent -- including a new Kris Baker piece on the developmental camp -- and far superior to TBN's coverage.

I could be mistaken but I don’t think he’s unrestricted for another 4 seasons.