Weave

Thorny shares them with me to. What Duda says makes me blush. What they are telling my you say makes me want to buy you a glass of turpentine the next time I see you.

If they traded all or even most of them you’d be on to something. But the reality is they had alot of picks and youth and not much else. They didn’t have enough players in the system to ice an NHL team. They needed actual players just to get NHL players on 3 lines. Their options were to ice nearly 1/2 of a game day roster of not NHL players or move some kids/picks to get actual NHL players so the team had a chance of being watchable. It is an entertainment venue afterall.

Falls under category 4.

No, you're right. Buffalo is the only team in the league that trades draft picks for players. They pioneered the idea and no else followed them.

Realistically, what would a franchise player call a press conference for? 1. I want out. 2. I don't want out and all these rumors are false. 3. Injury update. 4. Bad news of a personal nature that will affect the team. I think 2. or 3. are the most likely.

There isn't a single example in the league of a team that is a perennial contender that doesn't augment their own players with trades.

Queue up the ominous music.

How many conference final teams did he oversee? How many Stanley Cup finals teams? How many of each have the Sabres seen in their history? Darcy was a good GM.

Except insurance doesn't pay for torch jobs and you end up rebuilding from nothing when you could have used what you have to reduce the output needed to get occupancy again.

What difference makers moved out for players that didn't help us?

Darcy was a good GM that usually worked under lousy conditions. We didn't appreciate it at the time, but we should now.

Dudacek gets my vote. He's the Sam Reinhart of posters. Always here. Always insightful. Always reasonable. Always respectful.

True story. Botteril gave away more picks than GMTM. We did the math a long time ago.

This is what happens when you burn the fields.

We still suck all these years after the tank becuase we never had enough NHLers to field a full roster, not beause we picked up a handful of veterans. The best team we've iced since the fateful decision to burn the house down was the season we had all those vets.

It's a roster of mediocrity. After Jack and Sam it's like ranking warm tap water from 15 different suburbs.

Very well put. Better than I would have worded it, for sure.

Man, I get 3 players into a list and start yawning.

I think you are talking past Curt. He's not suggesting mgt wants Jack gone. He's suggesting that if Jack wants out Jack will be accommodated because there are all kinds of negatives that go with a franchise player that doesn't want to be in the franchise.

I think we absolutely need a center coming back if Jack is moved, so it's probably either/or for the two kids, plus something else.

Yeah, you and I are nowhere near agreement. The last 21 games have not been rainbows and sunshine. At least not compared to a playoff standard. And we are obviously evaluating what we see differently. This team has most definitely NOT solid for 21 games. We've taken advantage of teams taking us lightly a few times, and genuinely played well a few times. The rest has been merely competent and outgunned.

He absolutely does have leverage. the team will want to avoid a fractured locker room and disenfranchised franchise player in the worst way. That is his leverage. Is it enough leverage to swing a trade? Certainly possible. The team goes as Jack goes. If Jack isn't committed the team goes nowhere anyway, and that is a pretty significant incentive. Whether or not the issue is solely in the minds of the pundits and fans is another matter entirely, and we have no way of knowing either way.

Does the conversation even develop further with Zibinejad plus Kakko or LaFreniere as a base? There would probably have to be other moving parts on both sides. Seems like the basic structure could be a win/win for both teams. We'd probably have to add a young gun to replacce the young gun they lose. They'd have to make up the difference elsewhere to reflect the difference between Jack and Z. Zibinjad, Sam, Cozens is a pretty good C spine. If Mitts doesn't get moved as part of the deal, that is actual depth.

I can get on board with moving VO over Mitts. I think VO is done developing. WYSIWYG now. He's a powerplay specialist. Mitts still has room to grow and has a 2C ceiling still. On the other hand, Mitts value right now is probably higher so we likely would get a better return for him. For the right guy I'd move either.