nfreeman

Yes. The Sabres have Eichel -- who is an exciting player and, in his 3rd season, has yet to muscle the team into playoff bubble status, let alone contender status. The point, as always, is not that they could've drafted better in the last 3 years. The point is that they decided to tank instead of trying to rebuild, and that decision has put them into the wilderness for 6 years and counting. The Sabres embarked on the tank in 2012-2013 -- two seasons after almost beating Philly in the 1st round, in their 2nd consecutive playoff appearance -- when they fired Lindy, hired Rolston, traded Pommer and Darcy announced that there would be suffering. (They then drafted Risto in the first round.) What they should've done instead was fire Darcy, let the new GM decide whether to keep Lindy, and under no circumstances decide to intentionally bottom out -- because as a factual matter, teams that go to the bottom usually stay there for extended periods -- which is exactly what has happened to the Sabres. If your plan revolves around you winning a lottery -- you don't have a plan. Separately: assuming Mittlestadt is some kind of game-changing home run draft pick is of a piece with Roy-for-Malkin.

The Bills finally have a smart enough FO that I can confidently say that there is NFW they are drafting a RB in the first round.

I might revise your 2nd line to say "he played well enough to win except for when that one save was needed in winning time."

Well, we have no way of knowing whether there are any malcontents/mail-it-in guys on the Sabres. It was much more clear on the Bills with guys like Dareus. The good news is that with both franchises, TP has decided to take the prudent route of hiring highly-regarded guys from strong organizations and letting them build the teams as they see fit. I think JBott and Howie are going to get the Sabres there, although it probably will take longer than it will take McD and BB with the Bills. OTOH, the Bills didn't make the terrible decision to tank, which set the Sabres back years.

You know you're being annoying when the mild-mannered Canadian calls you out.

I definitely agree with you about the preseason. But what about Whaley? Perhaps a concession post is in order?

Another outstanding win for Sean the wrestler! Amazing. Their offensive weapons are TT, McCoy and a bunch of string and rubber bands. I'll be at the Jets game in NYC on Thursday. If they win they will be six and freaking two. Good for them, and good for us.

Keep your pants on. They are not going to make a bunch of trades, at least not until the deadline. They are playing much better and are very close to getting wins.

Taro, I have a great deal of respect for your opinions, but on TV at least it looked like KO misplayed the puck pretty much every time he got it. As for Pommer, I agree that he isn’t the ideal winger for Eichel, but that line created a ton of chances today.

My wife and I saw the new Blade Runner tonight. Meh. The original was much better.

Do you think he’s above average?

I have no interest in dumping Reino. If a trade is there for a good return -- fine -- but I'm skeptical on that as he's looked lousy this year and, notwithstanding certain disagreement that's been posted here, is trending down since his rookie year. I also have no interest in giving him anything more than a "prove it" contract. Right now he's JAG.

Yes. I agree with most of this. The effort was there and it was a pretty even game. The Sabres probably had more chances, but SJ cashed more and got better goaltending. Also, Okposo officially stinks. Unbelievable. 5.75 more years of that, for $6MM per year? At this point signing KO looks like GMTM's worse move, and that is a high bar (or is it low?). This too. I'm at about 65% that Lehner will not be back next year. At this point he's a below-average starter. Above-average -- not elite -- goaltending gives them 3 more wins this year. Yes. He was a complete non-factor again.

As I posted in the CBJ GDT, I thought the Sabres looked the best they’ve looked all season until the roof caved in in the 2nd. They made a lot of nice, quick, in-rhythm passes in all zones, exited the defensive zone smartly and generally IMHO looked like they were starting to execute Howie’s system well. So — will the collapse and loss in that game destroy the confidence they were building? Or will we see continued improvement and maybe more good goaltending from Lenny, who did, let’s remember, put up a SO last time he played. Any lineup news? Fedun or Redmond? Other?

That is a bummer about Boldin. Not that he wants to play again, but that he evidently didn't want to play for the Bills, and the Bills could really use him.

Well, I thought that Columbus was the best team the Sabres have played this season. Holy mackarel are they fast. AND I thought the Sabres hung with them, and the game was highly entertaining and pretty close to even, until the roof caved in in the 2nd. So, while I think the Sabres have real goaltending issues, and need to improve their play in front of both their own and the opponent's net, I was actually kinda encouraged. I think they are starting to understand Howie's system, and that it's a potentially really good system.

I’m kinda surprised it’s Ocho. And I think it’s because JBott and Howie are well aware that Sparkles has stunk in the 2nd half of back to backs.

Randall — that is interesting and good work, as always. I generally agree that at a lower level, goals will fluctuate a fair amount — so a guy like Reino can easily score 22 one year and 18 the next. As for your list, I think it’s pretty easy to cherry-pick quite a few guys from the goal scoring list who are better players (for the past 3 years) than their counterparts on the assist list: 4.) Tarasenko over Thornton 5.) Marchand over Getzlaf 6.) Kucherov over Kuznetsov 7.) Forsberg over Wheeler 11.) Pavelski over Johansen 13.) Tavares over Panarin GA — that is good historical data about Reino’s slow starts, but your statement about Eichel is straight #HammyMath.

Do we really need the word "conflate?" Not just in this thread, but in life? Isn't it just inherently annoying?

Because goals are more important than assists and his goal production dropped by over 25% from Y1 to Y2 -- and because his goals and points look like they are going to fall off a cliff this year. Now, if you're right and he turns it around and gets back to, say, 21-25-46 -- then yes, I can see him getting $4MM x 4 years or thereabouts. But if he continues to be ineffective and ends up at, say, 13-19-32? JBott isn't going to give him a fat contract just because he's a former high draft pick.

Whenever speed/quickness is an element in a 1-on-1 battle, which is frequently, Reino loses the battle.

I could see them re-upping Lehner on a similar 1-year deal, but not a long-term deal. That would be wasteful and unnecessary and not a JBott-type move.

Not for a top-6 forward. Well below average.

Lehner is restricted after this season. There is no need to give him a big contract. Reino is also restricted, has been completely ineffective this year and has trended downward since his rookie year. He's not getting $4MM per year.

What? There is NFW that either of those 2 gets that much unless there is a dramatic turnaround. Reino will probably get a bridge deal at a much lower AAV and Lehner will probably be gone.