thewookie1

If I had to guess, Murray sold the Pegulas on getting McDavid. Getting Eichel was a solid consolation but you can tell by Murray's face at the lottery that he was likely pinning his entire plan on getting McDavid. It may have even caused the whole Lafontaine thing. After all, when he was hired the odds were more heavily in last place's favor to get 1st overall. He likely convinced the Pegulas he could get this super player if they let him do his plan. Lafontaine likely objected but was overruled by the Pegulas who had been swayed by Murray's plan. Eichel was likely the reasoning for the extreme tanking actions Murray took after losing the Reinhart draft lottery. Get last place! Then at worst we get this star American prospect but his overall strategy likely still hinged on getting McDavid. After failing to get McDavid was likely when his relationship with the Pegulas went south as his entire plan blew up in his face and likely made him irritable and thus difficult to be around.

Can someone beat up any and all Ranger fans that started chanting "We want Eichel" I never want to hear the BS again.

Welcome back man, and yes. The NHL media wants Eichel on the NYR for the publicity so they have been pushing that narrative.

Everyone get ready for the deluge of Eichel to NYR crap to come out of the wood work this week. Must Win!

I still feel we should serious take a run at Sam Bennett. This team lack many things seemingly on the ice and having a semblance of an energy line that plays fast, finishes checks and can help create team enthusiasm would be a great idea and help fulfill Eichel and Dahlin's belief we need some new spark plug of some kind.

I doubt it means anything to be honest; but regardless I'd rather him sit out untill his contract expires then trade him to an Eastern Conference team for magic beans and hopeful mediocre prospects.

While the Pegulas botched their first attempt at a HC hire for the Bills (which is honestly understandable based on Rex Ryan's defensive prowess coupled with what was then a great Bills defense) they set out to find a new coach. I'm not 100% sure if it was purely luck or if they had learned somewhat from their many Sabres coaches what to look for. Essentially they ended up with a coach, who while not perfect, holds all the ingredients the Sabres too could use in a head coach. McDermott is stern yet fair, a player's coach yet not to a degree which he's buddies with everyone but that team trusts in his decision making and that he has their best interest in mind. Additionally while conservative by nature, seems very open to new ideas and a willingness to aggressive play. Not to mention the competitive approach among the players fostered through a culture that is enforced and practiced by the group at large. Additionally bringing in Beane was a literal coup for the organization. Again he is business-like but definitely has a competitive edge to him and shows willingness to both play the short and long game simultaneously. Even when he screws up, you still feel confident that he's doing his due diligence and desires the Bills to have Super Bowl Rings. As such the Pegulas have mostly kept out of their business in terms of decision making yet there is a definite trust between them. Kim Pegula gets to be a darling of the NFL ownership and the team continues an upward climb. The Sabres have certainly become a headache for them as it seems like everyone they hire is either inept or unwilling to play with others. My best guess is that they are desperately hoping Kevin Adams can be a loyal yet still competent GM who can handle the job as their faith in the NHL's suggestions and behavior has been outright terrible.

Here we go boys Okposo's line is somehow back together yet again to make us cringe. No Eichel or Ullmark..... Pray for luck

Mitts is doing his best to channel Chris Drury tonight.

Weirdest thing on that play was at least 4 players had passes die in snow it seemed.

He's still a decent player if you ignore his massive speed problems; the AHL level is far more forgiving on his skating speed thus he's played pretty well in the AHL. He loves to play hockey too so I'm happy for the guy.

Here's my theory on Eichel... Although a workout junkie and such; he let himself go a little during the whole pandemic thing. After all many people became depressed or gained weight; even very disciplined people fell to it. The mere fact Buffalo nearly made the expanded playoff but quite literally missed it in the way we did could of certainly left him depressed and angry over the whole situation. He started getting back into preparation stage at the start of the new offseason but likely underestimated how much time he would need to get back to peak performance. Then he ends up injuring himself near the season's start only furthering the issues. As such he's been physically playing catch up the entire season trying to re-find his body's peak like it had last year. So I don't see this as much as him being lazy but rather a combination of external and personal issues creating a perfect storm where he just doesn't feel right.

Hmm, why do I doubt that will happen for any number of reasons. Either we will somehow still be in a playoff race, will have lost more dmen by then to require his usage, or the team will just be stupid. Granted I think his ELC ends regardless; the only time the ELC is pushed on is that the start of their ELC. Borgen's expires this year regardless.

I think we can win Granted the hockey gods may injure more players or something. So far this season we came in rusty, started hitting a stride and immediately was hit by COVID thanks to the NHL being incompetent. From there we have lost our best Dman this year indefinitely due to the illness, lost our best defensive dman for the year, lost what seemed to be our next best defensive oriented player for 1 to 2 months and have gone from seeing our Top 6 as potentially elite to being a bunch of overpaid idiots who are either dogging it or plain bad. Its all very depressing.

Not worth it in our situation, especially with the expansion draft incoming.

We would but there are easier ways than trading for a better Dman to expose

I'd love Ekholm too but due to the expansion draft we'd just lose him again.

We could still expose him regardless; only the NMC must be protected. From a money point, its probably wiser to just bury Okposo for the next 3 years and just pretend Cozens is making a hair under 6mil per year. Okposo gives us 1.1mil in cap relief from being buried which is more than any ELC and a larger cap saving than the buyout. A buyout would make his cap 5mil for 1 year, 3mil for 1 year and then 1 mil for 2 additional years. So at very least I would wait until his final year as that gives us a cap hit of 3.3 mil in year 1 and 1.3mil in year 2 If McCabe is out long term I would start fielding some calls to exchange Montour for Mete + or Thompson for a Jacob Larsson type deal.

Colin Millers face was priceless on hearing that

Just the swap of Cozens for Thompson seems to make a huge difference for our team.

If they take Okposo sure. His contract is too painful to pick up but I’d trade Okposo for him straight up. Maybe not, Okposo has 1 fewer year on his contract

Hmm, Ekholm on Nashville may be available due to the expansion draft.

I don't really understand this problem's severity. This idea of there needing to be 10 goals a game is absurd; though I do agree that goalie equipment needs to be further tweaked. Sorry but this is truly the most idiotic take imaginable. 5v5 is how hockey should be played and besides specific circumstances; always played. It provides a solid balance of Forwards and Defense/Goalie. Thankfully the NHLPA would never allow it to happen.

😭 That's all I have to say.

How does our team not change no matter what they do personnel wise? How did Skinner and now Hall seemingly turn into pumpkins? Even Eichel just looks off. At least Dahlin looked pretty good and so did Borgen.