TheChimp

YES!!!!!!!!!!!! You just made logging in worth it!! Thank you!!! :D

Stafford doesn't suck. He has played without much, if any, passion and awareness for almost his whole time in a Sabres uniform...until he got put on that line with Foligno and Ennis. Then he started to do what he's getting paid to do.

Right??? That's the kind of crap one would only expect in Montreal!

I'm pretty sure Stafford, Foligno and Ennis are safely in place for next season. And after looking at this Leino deal from all the angles I have done, and having finally admitted that Darcy has ZERO plans to move the guy off the roster, it's become obvious that it's going to be Roy moved, along with a proven defenseman, for a guy to upgrade Tropp's RW spot. This will obviously leave Leino and Pominville on the shut-down 3rd line, looking for a shut-down centerman with size and willingness to dig for pucks. Maybe Gaustad really IS coming back.... ...or maybe Hecht is actually OK to play and equally OK to take a cool million per....

Yeah...and we have to pray that there's not even a shred of truth in what Gillis is saying now that he knows the kid, or we all know this team is going to bring that monster right out of him. :blink:

BURNNNNNNNNNNN :w00t:

But see, remember, the idea is that Leino is going to just catch fire, you know? I know you saw that sarcasm. But Darcy obviously thinks he WILL, and so I'm assuming he's right, because this thing all hinges on Leino's huge contract and the fact that he forces the team to move a big money guy to make ANY real improvements. And if Leino DOES do what Darcy obviously thinks he's going to do, then you technically lose your argument. I'm telling you, this Leino contract really SHOULD have been the thing that forced Ted Black to already come out and publicly threaten Darcy with firing if his new man of steel doesn't pan out.

I saw that Matt Cullen is a UFA and thought about just what you said there when I saw his name. :w00t: Will punch for food. LMFAO. I like it. Lemme put it this way. They can do whatever they want with the 4th line, but it sure would be fun to have this Matt Kassian come in and beat on people. :D

Ahhh. I never understood that smilie. :) Although I don't necessarily agree with everything here, lemme just say that, if Darcy were as done with Leino as I am, and Terry felt like paying a portion or all of his exorbitant salary to go away, then I'd keep Vanek, and just ask that he or Nick F. play RW on that line with Hodgson....But Leino ain't goin' anywhere soon, and in fact this makes it easier to get Foligno (we could always trade for his rights, so I'm not worried about the details of how we get Nick, we get him here in my little dream here) and slot him onto the left wing than ask him to play right side. And because Pominville will probably do just as well if not better with Hodgson at his center, and lastly because Vanek will probably not only get us the best goaltender to replace Miller in two years (or less) but probably some great picks or other prospects back in return, I am willing to do it. Nick Foligno and Cal Clutterbuck also bring more points combined than Vanek had this season and more importantly, they bring to their respective lines something not seen in Buffalo for decades. Real, true, unwavering tenacity and grit. Vanek is worth sending away for that all by itself. Tons of ways to get Nick here. Not worried at all. Roy's already centering the shut-down line, and if that's not crazy enough for ya, he has Pominville alongside him there, and if either one of those guys needs to get more ice time, it's Pominville. And honestly, the shut down line should see plenty of ice time, so long as they're being used against the other teams' top lines. But if Derek wants to go, then I guess I don't care as much if he stays. But frankly, it doesn't change any other part of my plan. I just go get Gaustad back or find another decent two-way centerman. And you know Derek will be out there for every PP and PK, too, right? Tons of time. No worries. :D If the other teams don't need him in a deal for what I want to get from them, then great, he can stay. But see below for the rest... ...not the same Kassian. And this one looks even better than the one we had. I would want to have this guy on 4th line LW over little Gerbe any day. A long time ago, I made the bombastic claim that Gerbe was going to prove to be a better player than Ennis. I wanted to package Ennis in a trade with Roy and Stafford or something like that for Brad Richards, if memory serves. Um, not anymore. And because I have been proven dead wrong about the Gerbe/Ennis comparison, I am in the camp that says that if we can be better bigger, then one of the little guys can go, and it ain't gonna be Ennis, is it? Too bad Gerbe can't play center, in case Roy leaves with Vanek. ;)

I said a lot up there. What are you asking me about, exactly? And is that smilie supposed to imply that you think I'm an angel? :ph34r:

Oh woops, yeah, Vanek... He is traded for a guaranteed* eventual replacement for Miller, and more importantly to make room for Nick Foligno and Cal Clutterbuck and make sure Derek Roy stays right where he is, on the Sabres 3rd line. And Kaleta, sure, let's say we have to trade Gerbe away or we don't get Kassian, or something like that, why not? But IMO, Kaleta can already be replaced by a handful of Rochester guys, including Tropp, so nope, he's out. You really like it?

OK, I know I said I was already past the fact that Darcy doesn't seem to have plans for his best two-way centerman, Derek Roy, and instead he's going to keep Leino around to more than likely piss in the team Cheerio bowl for what, five more years....well, you obviously see that I simply cannot do this. I tried, believe me, replacing Derek with all sorts of hypothetical replacements, dealing with trying to also find a good bruising RW for Vanek and Hodgson, figuring out where to put Leino, do I want to see him back at Center on the 3rd line like he played with Gerbe and Kaleta earlier and did not so bad at all..... ...screw all that. I want Nick Foligno here. I like the way Derek plays that shut down center position and he's good on the PP and PK. So I will make a killer roster, full of toughnesss where it's needed and scoring improvements to boot: First we get Nick F. from Ottawa. He's RFA so all this takes is a 3+ mil per kind of offer, I'm thinking. He's worth 4 in my opinion, for what he's so good at, basically his brother, only better. Here's our new top line: Nick Foligno (LW) - Hodgson © - Pominville (RW) We already have our 2nd line: Marcus Foligno (LW) - Ennis © - Stafford (RW) Sekera and Weber have no place here, so I trade them to Minnesota for Cal Clutterbuck, who I want on my shut-down line with Roy. And for REAL fun, we spice up the trade with Minny so we can also grab the rights to Matt Kassian, because we need a Kassian in the lineup almost as much as we need the other Foligno, in my opinion. :D Now we have our third and fourth lines and our extra forward: Leino (LW) - Roy © - Clutterbuck (RW) Kassian (LW) - McCormick © - Tropp (RW) Gerbe Our defense will be: Regehr - Myers Ehrhoff - Sulzer McNabb - Leopold Brennan The money is not even remotely a problem, I won't bore you with it. :P But there we have two top lines unlike we have seen in Buffalo in maybe...ever. Real toughness and willingness to fight on ALL lines? Please. Not this team, right? This will obviously never happen. But I bet this creation would be better than what we end up with, losing Roy. I can just imagine what happens when Hodgson starts getting 3rd line minutes again because some new project comes in to replace Derek and we of course try him out the entire season at #1...

No? Then what do we pay you for, then? :ph34r:

Is a #1 Center really our top priority?

I think it would be very difficult to move Leino. By himself. That said, his cap hit is only 4.5 million, not 6.

OK, so it looks like Darcy made it kinda clear that Derek Roy will probably be the bigger-money forward that he shops around and not Leino (which I think is a huge ego-guided mistake on his part but I am willing to be proven wrong again) and not Vanek. If I'm reading the things Darcy said, and the things he didn't say, incorrectly, let me know, but I'm about to start making my fantasy mock rosters without Roy on them.

No, great point about Hodgson. He'd be getting plenty more minutes with Sedin shelved and MIGHT have given them just enough offense to push the envelope. If Vancouver really did pick up Kassian simply for this playoff push and not to help him develop, then they did get shafted, but not by the trade, by Duncan Keith. I know, I'm a broken record with that ###### but it's true.

Anyone think the Sharks, supposing they go on to lose this series, would entertain talks that sent Leino, Adam, and a 1st to them for Clowe? And do we want Clowe? I'm just thinking of ways to dump the disinterested and doghouse-bound Leino, and Clowe seems to fill the role alot of people want around here, no? Just a thought that occurred to me as I saw the score tonight and thought how pissed the Sharks fans are gonna be if they get blown out of this series.

Yup. Oh and Tropp. Except for the PP points...I dunno how many those were. And why are so many people demanding Roy and Vanek and Stafford leave but they don;t even mention Leino? He's worse than any of those guys ever were and literally gave up the last game like the whole thing bored him. That doesn't bother anyone???

I'm starting to settle into the offseason (I know, so quick, but hey it's becoming old hat) and I think my little recurrent tantrum is going to center around the idea that thuis team needs to suck it up and get the BLEEP rid of Ville Leino as soon as possible. I understand that, to some of you, this is stupid because of his "upside" or his "underused value" or whatever, and others will call this stupid because of the fact that he just got here and signed a multi-year deal and it's almost entirely inconceiveable that he will be moved yet. But you know me. I dream big. And Leino's last few games, I don't care what you say, sealed it for me. He and Lindy Ruff are oil and water, and Leino decided he was more important than Lindy, and that simply won't help this club. Nope. He's gone. So that, along with the fact that I would love to see Nick Foligno on the same team as his brother, and because I would rather cut out my own spleen than get rid of Marcus to the Senators, well, Nick's gotta come here. So, here's my first unrevised, straight from the gut, absolutely not set in stone roster idea since my last one that I already don't like anymore (same disclaimers apply): M. Foligno - Ennis - Stafford Vanek - Hodgson - _____ N. Foligno - Roy - Pominville Gerbe - McCormick - Turnbull _____ Ehrhoff-Sulzer Sekera-Leopold _____-Myers McNabb First blank: Tropp is my choice if we don't get a Brown or a Nash, and that all depends on whether we trade some Cap (see Defense below). Second: Ellis? Kaleta? Adam? That will be decided in camp. Lots of choices, all cheap. Third blank: Either Regehr or Weber. I lean toward Regehr, but my gut says that Weber can do half as well as Regehr and costs FAR less. And if we get rid of Regehr's cap hit, together with the other moves (giving Ennis 2 million BTW), we absolutely have enough cash that we can get a Dustin Brown, maybe not a Rick Nash, but definitely something more than decent at RW. If getting rid of Regehr is just plain retarded, then fine, he stays, I got NO problem with that, but I don't like trading anyone else away for some so-called "upgrade" at Tropp's position. As in my opinion, the Tropp/Hodgson/Vanek line had almost as much going for it as the Ennis/Foligno/Stafford line did. Again, you guys wanna complain about the core. That's fine and I have no problem with that. But I saw the core change its ways the day Gaustad was sent packing and Miller stopped crying about it. The guy I see as the real problem is Leino, and if I'm the owner, I am willing to waive him and pay whatever it takes to get him off this roster, and if I'm angry at Darcy Regeir for putting me (and Lindy) in that position, then maybe I fire Darcy, I dunno. EDIT: If we get rid of Regehr, actually McNabb goes with Myers and Weber is the 7th D-man, sorry I forgot that as I was diatribing.

Oh the Cap is going up to 67 million?

I don't either.

Yup. Bout sums up my feelings too. And frankly, you're not gonna find someone who you KNOW has that chemistry before it's too late, so Stafford stays right there, IMO.

Oh. :huh: But, you do realize that, with that as your measuring stick, you're pretty much done with 95% of the players in this league.

Even if it destroys the chemistry on the Foligno-Ennis line? Not me, senor.