thewookie1

A curiosity I've always had is whether Eichel isn't a good team player or he's unintentionally made look that way. As in, when Eichel plays, 90% of the team merely defaults to giving him the puck and standing around. Yet when he was injured the players actually seemed to try and adjust and work together game to game. Does Eichel demand the puck constantly? Alternatively it could be the other 22 players wanting Eichel to literally carry them to wins so they personally don't have to worry about it; and without that pressure release they are all forced to play harder. Dahlin is one of the few players who, when confident, never merely deferred to Eichel. Yet when he wasn't confident he was just as willing to force feed Eichel. Perhaps, Eichel isn't a bad guy or teammate but he's been placed on this pedestal. Most of the team never get their confidence up and thus immediately give up and hand it off to their best player. When Eichel was out, guys like Mitts and Reinhart seemed to honestly grow up. There was no Eichel safety blanket; figure it out or just keep losing. Essentially an even less successful version of the Oilers reliance on McDavid and Draisital to effectively carry the team. In a strange sense, I wonder if that's what we did wrong to begin with. We gave players this idea that all we need to do is ride Eichel to success instead of a team working towards the playoffs. Essentially if all the players feel they are truly important to a piece of the whole, an Eichel will actually be a full-blown star since he's merely the cherry on top of a solid team. All superstars thrive when they are a major cog within a machine versus the only cog.

Well I guess that keeps all the targets still on the board

I say we just stick out our middle finger and start aggressively talking with Anaheim.

That's aggravating, I guess we move on to the Ducks because I refuse to keep him in the East. Or better yet, you figure out how to mend the fences seeing as there are zero scenarios in which we are better next year without Eichel than we are with him.

My personal sources have alluded to him liking to drink, not to an alcoholic level mind you, but he's very fond of drinking. It certainly has always lingered about Eichel not being a great leader. Though if anything, I wonder why his off-ice persona with the media went from civilized captain for one year to being right back to miserable grumpy Jack we got again this year. I can understand being pissed off Botts didn't go after something at the deadline to help them last year but to regress the way he did is unusual.

🤣

Its more they have the same GM and he's already proven he'll fleece you when given any opening.

Seeing as he's been in only 3 playoffs during his career I can't exactly be angry that the Pegula's couldn't look into a crystal ball and know how Hall would play in a regular playoff series.

Not interested to be honest, Robert Thomas has fallen off a cliff after their Cup Run and Tarasenko hasn't been the same since his 1st major injury. Plus I won't trade with St. Louis after the ROR deal.

1st trade is ok, but I'd want an extra conditional 2nd in 2022 that becomes a protected 1st in 2022 based on Eichel's games played/points. The 2nd trade feels to risky on our part. Reinhart has got better every year whereas Monahan has become far worse these past two seasons and I see no reason to believe he'd bounce back due to the trade. Rasmus Andersson is a certainly interesting player but this past year and 2 years ago he was only a tad better than Risto analytically while logging easier minutes. So I'd have to pass as of now. Trade #3 is obviously tied to Trade #2 but in a vacuum I don't have a problem with it. Garland just seems ready to take off while presently not breaking the bank to sign him. Trade #4 again isn't terrible, although trading Asplund and Bryson for only a slightly better version of Asplund seems redundant. I'm not a fan of Schwartz, he hasn't played all that well since the Blues Cup run and will be looking for a long term lucrative contract. Goaltending is a fickle thing, I have difficulty trusting Driedger due to his 1 hit wonder potential. Raanta is a solid goalie but often injured. To be honest I'd rather just keep Ullmark over Raanta due to age, seeing as both miss 40% of the season anyway. Driedger would be a very cap hit based decision. All in all, interesting but there are some serious frightful outcomes that could spiral from this roster. The Defense, for instance would be fielding 3 rookies, 2 players coming off their ELCs and a guy who is coming off his worst season of his career. (Not exactly a great situation)

Yes, and No. You need high skill and speed to win during the regular season whereas playoff hockey requires more attention to dirty goals and defensive play. Both work in the opposite situation but are far less effective generally. To win a Stanley Cup or at least advance in the playoffs you need: - Both high skill and depth for skaters - A goalie who can step up and generally handles high pressure very well - Full buy in to the Playoff System being used - Star players either need to contribute with points heavily or play suffocating defense/check/ etc when unable to put up points. - A few depth vets that can help steer the ship and to be honest its rather paradoxical. As a rule of thumb, any vet worth anything, still seem to de-age about 10 years when you get to the playoffs.

Post Expansion Draft, sure I'd spend a 3rd on him but otherwise I don't see much of a purpose.

I think that's a bit inaccurate; I highly doubt the Sabres would deal him from an extremely weak position regardless the situation.

Hypothetically if Buffalo acquired pick 8, and we took Power 1st Overall how would you use it? If there was a run on forwards would you take Hughes at 8 even after drafting Power? Ideally there’s a run on Dmen and Detroit takes the goalie leaving us with 1/3 of the top forwards still around such as Johnson, Guenther, or Eklund

If we end up with #8 from the Kings, he’d certainly be near the top if not the top choice for me.

Would Owen Power become the spokesperson for Integris Energy seeing as he’d now literally be the “power behind the Buffalo Sabres?”

Biron on NHL Network Radio said that while he still expects Eichel to be a Sabre by opening day that if traded; Byfield would be a must in a LAK trade. Kouleas added he doubts the Sabres will even entertain offers from this time zone due to it mere appearance.

Either one more year in Europe, in the AHL or some combination of the two would be ideal. Unless he’s destroying the AHL by February; I don’t want him in a Sabres jersey until at least 22-23

I would imagine any team giving legitimate offers understands that while its a risk; prospects are just as much if not more of a risk. Likewise, Adams or whomever is running the team is likely to understand that the Sabres MUST get top value/near top value for Eichel or they are not only going to be bad for the foreseeable future but will further destroy the remaining passionate fans. You can't see the 34% drop as anything but a shot across the bow telling them we demand better. Otherwise it may actually start to infest their successful venture with the Bills. (Plus they can't sell/move the team due to the sheer outrage it would cause)

From what I saw of Power, he's kinda boring to be honest. He doesn't hit, skate super quick, or fire howitzers from the point. However the guy eats minutes for breakfast, has a very active stick, and certainly fits the jack of all trades idea. He is very calm with the puck and more often than not will make the right play. He strikes me as a little bit of a project that needs to be taught how to better use his giant frame (don't need Chara but he should play the body a bit more) What certainly makes him special though is his seeming indifference to playing against 12 year vets and his ability to sort of just blend into any situation. He isn't flashy but is more of a consistent light. I'd send him back to college for a year and hook him up with a mentor to help him gain some additional defensive techniques. I highly doubt he'll light it up in the NHL, for at least his first few years, but he should be solid defensively while in no way a burden to the offense. I could certainly imagine him working well in clutch times with Dahlin as he's the type of player that would be capable of giving Dahlin the ability to free-wheel without worry. In a weird way he's Ristolainen if you took his grit and offense and switched them to IQ and defense lol

Hell, he's part of the reason I want another later 1st; Arizona needs a 1st and then we'd have one to offer them.

We could also theoretically trade the WPG 1st for Connor Garland.

I put the trade in on CapFriendly, plus Vilardi and Kempe would both be in the NHL

Gives us draft capital and rids us of a malcontent.

Brown/Quick is - .5 So 1.5 + -0.5 +1 + 1 +1 = 4