thewookie1

Bit of both, bad positioning but also a unlucky bounce on the pass

I do not like the Fitzgerald and Samuelson pairing at all. Fitz has so many giveaways where he just does behind the back passes or just sending the puck through the middle.

Nedeljokivic came out of left field last year and no team put a claim on him. So I’m not going to hold that against Adams like some kind of damning statement. If he had been picked up by someone and then did well I’d be more critical but all 30 teams ignored Ned effectively. It’s akin to crucifying your scouts every time they miss any player drafted after your team’s picks. It’s not like Spencer Knight was waived and we sat on our hands. Not to mention, how often are vet goalies waived prior to the season to make room for a random other goalie? Teams rarely if ever do that; probably some sort of pseudo-code of ethics or something. I do believe Adams wants a better goalie but has effectively put it as a “luxury” versus an immediate requirement. Colorado had a requirement and as such dealt a 1st to Arizona when their goalie suddenly jumped ship. Buffalo chose to go after cheap potential instead, after their likely starter jumped ship. It was both a difference in situation and general value. In the end Adams doesn’t want to scare away Portillo or Levi from signing while keeping the years on contracts short.

Well why do we need to hear about that; we couldn’t care less about speculative money a potential owner could earn. We want the team here. Honestly I’d hope one of our crazier fans would scare any potential move happy owner by painting their lawn or something.

I honestly don't see the Pegulas selling the Sabres outright; I'd still guess if any sales were to happen it would be one of those minority buyers for 15% or something. After all, the Pegulas can't exactly build a new stadium, sell the local hockey team and expect not to get even more brutal backlash.

Jake Allen - Hasn't worked well in MTL mostly, I'd give a 3rd Mike Smith - Too old and too streaky Ilya Samsonov - Has done nothing worth making a move on, hasn't looked solid in Wash Anton Khudobin - Cap Dump with Dell-like numbers Anti Raanta - I'd give a 3rd, he's injury prone but solid when healthy Peter Mrazek - Unless Toronto pays us, no thanks. Competent goalie but I'm not doing Toronto any favors with their cap situation Jonas Johansson - No thank you Jonathan Quick - A 3rd or 4th, he's old but has had a bit of a renaissance this year Semyon Varlamov - Between his NTC and the likelihood he's a deadline deal somewhere I'd doubt we could get him (I'd certainly give another team's 2nd if we had one) James Reimer - a late 2nd or a 3rd Chris Driedger - has been a literal train wreck this year so no thank you. Likely a mirage from Florida's team Jonathan Bernier - a 4th at most Alexander Georgiev - not interested as his GAA has always hovered near 3 Matt Murray - Never, the guy lacks a glove hand and is prone to Dell-like play

Must not have been interested in him; after all he played here last year. Also he hasn't played in the NHL since 17-18 where he played 1 reg and 3 playoff games for the Avs

Yeah, I can see that; definitely has some feisty but no real nasty to his game lol

Poor Power, literally waving his stick in the air half of the last 5 minutes and no one gave him a shot.

Maybe he’ll get the start against China?

No slappers still anywhere near the target. Presently he has a ok snap shot and a wild slap shot he takes occasionally. There is certainly a problem with his body because no body naturally goes from a sniper to Zhitnik with their shot after an injury without lingering effects causing them.

Mostly because I’m completely unwilling to trade a 1st or significant pieces for another team’s second goalie.

Well I'm sorry to inform you but there aren't exactly a bunch of adequate goalies on the market this offseason. Husso (Great this year but could very easily be a shot in the pan due to his sudden emergence) Francois (Injury Prone but a solid goalie) Campbell (Having an incredible year for the most part in Toronto but has shown signs of cracking)

Just the other day on the Amerks injury report update

Appert said he's about a month away

Dahlin played it right, that’s on the goalie to make the save

Well we did get jobbed on that one play prior to the CBJ PPG. How that wasn’t a penalty is utterly baffling

I’m guessing their reasoning was that Gretzky was so vitally important to his line that you can’t exactly value the line in the same way. It’s really just a matter of how you define the best line. Is it the best individuals put into trio to ever play together or the most potent combination of players that through there line were made even better than they would of been individually.

Girgensons was praised by Gionta many times during their time together for his qualities on and off the ice and Adams chose to keep him around so I doubt he was part of the off ice problematic behavior. Reinhart is the typical Canadian boy who, aside from his spouts with Paul Hamilton, seemed to be a genuinely nice person. Perhaps his mood soured via corruption and made him less friendly? Kane was almost certainly the original culprit in the whole leadership group's problems. We know for a fact he was late to meetings and practices. Ristolainen is an interesting question; he was never very extroverted off the ice and perhaps misery slowly made him a grump around the rink? Eichel is a weird one because he seems almost Jackal and Hyde in his personas. Sometimes he comes across as a genuinely good guy who just loves hockey and the fans. While also displaying signs of being a legitimate "Mass"-hole when out of general sight. At very least I think Kane may have brought the worst out of Eichel by making it "acceptable" to be an ass to people as long as you played well. Where you certainly saw a different Jack was when interacting with children; he seems to have a legitimate soft spot for children and enjoys interacting with them. Its kind of akin to he wants to pay back to children what pros may had done for him in the past yet potentially sees team workers and the media as peons only there to serve him. Just go through his career with the media in Buffalo. In all but one year he gave snarky quick answers or came across as entitled or spoiled. The media must beg for the scraps beneath the table. Then when he became Captain you saw a change, he became respectable and personable with the media. Botts refuses to make any moves to save 2 seasons in a row and Eichel just goes back to being a jerk again.

Could be Ghost’s reasoning or even just because it was a back to back. Perhaps some combination of the higher ice time and thinner air had Granato tell Skinner to conserve energy for offense.

Granted he could also crater and end up being a Zach Kassian like signing

Felt like the refs tried to bury us but our team just clawed away at the dirt. They fought with ever decreasing numbers on the bench and arguably made the Avs goalie win them the game. Liked seeing Granato all fired up, as the tweet earlier said; he’s fighting for his guys! I liked how on the final PP Dahlin decided to just shoot seeing as we were out of shooters besides Okposo’s sweet spot play. Killing off a long 5v3 was awesome to see for us. Tuch certainly adds something to this team’s psyche. Okposo should get the C next year, if only because the guy has worked his ass off for this team. He’s overpaid but it is certainly not for a lack of trying. Hopefully the thin air was the cause for Mitts being pulled off. He never looked up to speed but Granato’s press conference seems to conclude that the trainers pulled him off for more precautionary reasons. Play like this every night please!

Always happy to see a win. They play different in front of Anderson

Give him the Davis Webb position

It would have to be only 2 years. And a hefty asset