thewookie1

Maybe just maybe, the Sabres are finally looking to win as a whole versus concerning about every minor detail. After all we can't see the forest through the trees.....

Would love it to fall this way so we could take Iginla.

Okposo was still under contract 2 years ago and it made zero sense to buy him out when he was the veteran leader. Girgs is fine, a fine 4th liner who made a bit more than he should.

Dahlin got a misconduct

Mitts himself now looks hurt; he looked lame on the last shift he had in OT and looks hobbled.

My guess is that he won’t take a step back but his production may not explode until about 21. What tends to cause a step back with youngsters are their tendencies being found out and exploited or a return to Earth after a lofty rookie year like Power did. As for Ruff’s structure slowing him down; it could but his style isn’t the same as the threat it would have on a Peterka or Skinner. Benson could just as easily struggle as thrive under Ruff since he already thinks the game in a Ruff-esque way. After all, Benson may not be big but he plays far larger than his size through an active stick, good positioning and having a definite pest-streak in his blood. He even throws hits time to time when he feels he can actually make a difference

Thorny has proven Eichel was better defensively here than the general perception but I’d certainly say he wasn’t anywhere near as consistent and focused on his two way game until Cassidy took over the Knights. It’s always fascinating how there is little in way to predict which players will be “playoff players” and which won’t. Size and skill seem almost meaningless in the odds. A larger player can be a great regular season player but fold in the playoffs like a paper airplane while a small speedster could suddenly elevate himself to a playoff star.

The 1st one is really bad; Bennett is no where near worth that much both in assets and cap. 2nd trade would certainly sting but at very least and potential assets, 3rd trade I'd use a 3rd not a 2nd.

I'd like Martinhook from Carolina, even prior to his save last night, solid defensive winger who could work as a good counter to Skinner on the 3rd line.

His stats and general analytics are rather ugly and if I could find it those bar charts has him pure red

Enjoy the Austria game? A literal buzzer beater GWG for Austria.

Laughton is god awful man, he's fallen off a cliff over the past two years

Some suggested Kevin Hayes as a possible 3/4C for a couple years. I’m mixed on him. In St. L last year he certainly adopted a more defensive approach with more Dzone than Ozone starts and had a 56% FO. However he’s still making 2x3.75 and isn’t historically a great FO guy.

I give him credit for admitting it.

I doubt it only due to the circumstances; we need vets with size not more small rookies. He'll likely be on the team the following year.

I still don’t feel they were a waste, overpaid, sure but both still contributed positively to the team.

Yeah, I’d guess if either had been coaches longer than a year in Rochester they’d have a good shot at the job but 1 year on the job doesn’t exactly make you a great candidate

I’d guess what you are concerned about Weave is akin to Aud’s point to which I do agree with. It’s not so much skill or passion with Tage as much as injury concerns.

I don't think he'd ever be Evander Kane level of physical but I could certainly see him dishing out some degree of physical play in the playoffs. He does show it in spurts, even this year, where in desperation or frustration he will genuinely hit and/or grind opposing players on the boards to use his size entirely for puck retrieval.

I think Eichel was done even prior to that; he was apparently unhappy with Botterill's handling of the roster that year and had wanted us to trade our 1st+ for Taylor Hall I guess both agree with Eichel's anger with Botts screwing up that season royally while also thinking he's nuts wanting Taylor Hall, of all players, to throw the kitchen sink at. So I disagree about Eichel wanting to leave because of Adams wanting to do another rebuild; I think that was final straw but not the original reason. The player we could've kept on the other hand was Sam Reinhart but I'm guessing COVID itself and/or Adams and the brain trust being unsure of Reinhart's value sans Eichel sent us down the 1 year bridge deal into a precipice. One hypothetical I'd like to propose is that Eichel & Reinhart would still be Sabres had Botterill traded Risto and a 4th for Nik Ehlers near the start of the season which had been widely reported he balked at due to the 4th. With Ehlers our top 6 would of looked much better as well as it would of fixed our logjam on RHD thus allowing Montour and Scandella to stick around.

I swore off the new league due to that.

Komarov and Savoie are probably the two prospects I least want to move at this time. Both have shown great potential through their play in the playoffs.

It's very simple logic especially when regarding tax dollars which sucks but are part of what it means to do business with major sports in a smaller city.

And that my friend is how your city loses your only two Top Pro Sport teams.

Begs to question who is the culprit or culprits. I doubt its Cozens or Thompson for as much as their seasons started rocky; Cozens was over playing the puck and Thompson always starts a bit slow but got injured when he started to get grooving. Dahlin isn't the issue because he's shown a million times that he's willing to block shots, throw and receive hits, etc. Its very unusual as a whole; perhaps the pressure of the drought is getting to them and when the injuries started they just lost their oomph