thewookie1

Just a tad worried it will make Dahlin even more self-conscious. The kid is already looking overwhelmed by having to think 50 things a second in this system. Benching him could easily break his spirit further.

Great, lets scratch the young dmen for a couple journeymen..... Certainly should help offensively....

Aside for Rivet, can anyone think of any other Ruff era captains who held the role at the end of their careers?

Don’t forget it takes 2 to tango and we don’t want to overpay to put a bandaid on a heavily bleeding gash. You also have that damn quarantine problem which makes teams even more disinterested in trades

I wonder if Jessie Pegula's tennis run had any influence on the sudden seeming urge to find someone to help run the Sabres. After all, between all the NFL stuff and being a proud Mom; Kim Pegula is likely rather busy. But hey whatever gets us a president of hockey ops and the Pegulas letting hockey people do hockey things is great.

I call trade ideas guy! Sorry Sweetlou but I've been here longer 😁

Seriously... he said "oops?" That's like telling people they are all getting $1000 only to tell them a week later it was a typo and meant to say $10. Oops doesn't cut it! Thank you John though for clarifying the situation for us however.

I can honestly say that is nice to hear that the GM isn't sleeping at the wheel. I wouldn't resign Hall though

Its hard to say if was balanced or more defensive in nature. I just don't think he and Skinner would work well together.

Gallant would be my choice primarily due to his past successful runs with odd groups of players in both Florida and Vegas. Julien, while a great coach, would likely want a defensive system; less than Krueger but still D oriented. Boudreau would be an ok choice but he's rather well known for great regular seasons that die in the playoffs. (Granted at this point I could live with that for a year or two) Babcock is a huge no from me. He stood us up back with Murray and has an atrocious track record with younger players. I want a tougher coach, not one that phytologically and physically bullies them.

Maybe both

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.