nfreeman

This sounds right -- at least I sure hope so.

No one is going to take that contract.

Well, that D group does look lousy indeed -- but you omitted someone important (his name rhymes with "shmisto." I'm confident that GMTM is going to seriously pursue a real NHL top-3 defenseman this summer -- but there's no guaranty he gets one, especially if the price is Reinhart, Kane or Nylander (which I think will be the case). These potential signings indicate to me that GMTM is not going to bring back Franson or Kulikov.

I agree that this should be considered an NHL move, not an AHL move. But I think it's fair to be concerned about size. Marner isn't really relevant, as there are many more smaller nifty forwards than smaller defensemen. And if a defenseman needs to be as good as Karlsson to overcome smaller size, then we haven't really proven anything. As for Ghost, his play fell off substantially this year, so he's not a great example either. Bottom line: if a defenseman is on the small side, he needs to have really strong speed, puck skills and decision-making to be a good NHL defenseman. Nothing controversial about that.

I wonder if he knows Borat?

Well, it looks like so far he's #2 in playoff ice time on the best team in the KHL's Eastern conference (3rd-best in the KHL). I can't figure out how to get the KHL's website to deliver regular season stats. So presumably a top-pair defenseman from a good KHL team -- and also presumably a guy with some speed and skill. That sounds like it has potential.

I like living in NYC, but they are so soft when it comes to snow. Schools are closed today, elevated subways shut down, etc/ -- and we've got 3-4 inches max. Weak sauce.

I think Season 1 was terrific, a few of the other seasons were quite good and a couple were OK, but I'm finding this season by far the worst -- boring, predictable, ridiculous and a chore to get through. If my wife wasn't determined to see it through to the bitter end I would have bailed by now.

"Homeland" is freaking terrible this season.

I am curious as to whether this too will be claimed not to constitute trolling. It fortunately isn't a high percentage of PA's posts, but like herpes, there is an outbreak every so often.

Just saw a commercial the other night for season 3 of "Fargo" -- starting in April on FX. Season 2 was the best show on TV in 2015, IMHO. Also, "The Americans" just started the other day on FX -- also one of the best shows on TV. And at the risk of losing my man card, "Girls" has been excellent this year and I'm also enjoying "Big little lies" (which includes, for those who are interested, a pretty good amount of Nicole Kidman on display).

Yes indeedly. As for optimism/pessimism: for the first time in a while, I'm feeling somewhat sunshine-and-kittens-y. Reasons: - I like TT and think he will continue to improve. - I think dumping TT would've been idiotic, and I find the Bills' avoidance of an idiotic move to be encouraging. - I like McDermott and I expect the Bills to be a better-coached team than they have -- and games often turn on a handful of smartly- or stupidly-executed plays. - I like the fact that McDermott appears to have quite a bit of authority that would otherwise have been held by Tweedledum (RB) and Tweedledee (DW). - I expect the defense to improve from terrible to at least middling. - We are due for Watkins to stay healthy. - It looks like the Bills are going to take steps towards bringing in a credible #2 WR (by which I mean someone better than Woods, whose departure I will not mourn). I think TT, a healthy Watkins and a good #2 WR will surprise a lot of people. We'll see.

Very nice. Good move by the Bills IMHO. They should still draft a QB high though, and keep doing so until it is 100% certain that they have a franchise QB. But I'd guess they'll draft a CB to replace Gilmore.

it's starting to feel that way.

Welcome, and keep it coming! I generally agree with this post, except that the bolded part is, I believe, the crux of the issue in GMTM's mind. He needs Kaner to prove this summer that he can behave himself.

I am not ready to throw in the towel yet on Nelson. I think he has good hands and good feet. It's not impossible that with time he can get his split-second decision-making to an NHL level. Some defensemen take longer than others.

There's always the possibility of Kaner beating Gudas to a bloody pulp.

Best case: Kane behaves himself this summer and signs an extension just before the opening of next season. It's a pretty reasonable possibility.

That one had plenty of great moments, but IMHO Who's Next was their peak. As for D prospects: he's most likely not a this-year signing, but 2016 3rd-round pick Casey Fitzgerald is a sophomore at BC who played pretty well for team USA in the World Juniors this year. He has 20 pts and 42 PIM in 33 games. He is on the small side at 5'11", 185 lbs, so another year in college is probably the right move for him at this point.

Yes indeed. I also think that seeing the results of various choices that are made at the ownership level inevitably takes more time than we as fans would like. When TP bought the Sabres, he made the (IMHO gentlemanly) decision to give the holdover management team another shot. He didn't want to be the heartless raider who came in and fired everyone -- he wanted to see what they could do with more resources supporting them. After 2.3 or so seasons, he realized that it wasn't working, fired them and brought in a new GM, who is now finishing his 3rd full season on the job -- one of which was a tank year. (And while I and many others disagreed with the decision to tank, certainly many supported it.) It's certainly possible that GMTM will prove out not to have the right stuff for the job. And it's fair to say that Darcy should've been cut loose by TP immediately. But I don't look at TP's ownership of the Sabres and think to myself "this team stinks because of bad ownership."

Congrats Flagg! Excellent choice -- I think you will have plenty of good career options.

Congrats AA! Those first couple of months are pretty rough, but being a father is a great, great thing. I like the name, although I would echo Aud's cautionary words -- there is a surprising number of people that will be ill-mannered enough to criticize the choice. Congrats to your wife as well!

Good to see you sir!

Interesting. I didn't see this reported anywhere. Do you remember who wrote it? I hope it's true. I really like Kane's game, I like the idea of him converting feeds from Eichel and being Eichel's bodyguard for the next 5-6 years, and I like redemption stories.

I agree that they need a good defenseman, and I wouldn't be shocked if they trade Kane to get him. They do have 2 good assets in addition to Kane, though: Nylander and their #1 in this year's draft. I'd rather trade either of those than Kane, and a budget-conscious team like Anaheim might prefer those assets to Kane as well.