Weave

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.

First off, I disagree with your description of their play to begin with. Mitts was not playing "extremely well" as a 2C. He was demonstrating basic competence as an NHL center. Nothing more. He's always had a nice shot. Basic competence, a nice shot, and a role one level up from where he should be and he's got numbers that send GA all gaga. Sam played about how I expected, admittedly he put up more goals than I expected, but his overall play was not some great leap for him. The goals came because he was featured in Jack's absence, not because his heart grew 3 sizes that day. Patrick Sharp. I've said it all along, and he continues to show that is the comparable. Sharp stepped up and did that too when Toews was out with injury. Bryson? He might be earning a full time position next season, but we'lll agree to disagree on the characteriziation that he was playing solid top 4 D. I think you've forgotten what solid D looks like in a Sabres sweater. He's got promise. He's demonstrating that his skill level is NHL caliber. Let's not overstate the rest. Asplund might become a 3rd liner on a good team. I'm not sure he's a 3rd liner on a good team yet. Again, he's demonstrated an NHL skill level. Playing well is relative to the circus we've watcched for 10 seasons, not relative to the playoff teams in the league. I was wrong about Thompson. I don't think he is ever going to show consistency in his game necessary to depend on him. He's Taylor Pyatt all over again. The last 10 games of the season were watchable because we saw 4 lines that had basic level competence and guys who wanted to be here. They scored some goals and got scored against alot. They still got caved in fairly frequently. They took a few teams by surprise. Jack's return would certainly move each of those forwards down a level in the lineup. But unless those kids are augmented with a couple of good vets from good teams that know how to change their game when things tighten up we're still looking at the Sabres playing Spring golf next season. If its me running the show, my offseason includes moving Asplund, Thompson, and depending on whether we can get a 2C another way (I still think Sam is most valuable paired with Jack but concede if we can't get a 2C he might be our best option. Not ideal), Mitts or Olofsson for 2 playoff tested mid career players that can add some character and snarl to the 2nd line. Bjork and Cozens can grow together on the 3rd line, and hopefully we can find a way to keep Eakin and Reider in the press box. It's not that I am low on these players. We seem to have sufficient NHL level talent for the first time in a very long time. But this mix isn't right and we need to get the mix right. Too many kids. Too many finesse players. Good teams recognize surplus and move the surplus to bolster areas of weakness. We now have a bunch of kids that have shown they have NHL abilities. Let's take advantage of that and move a couple of them to fill the holes that aren't going to be filled by internal candidates. For those crying that playoff teams are built with homegrown talent my response is, Jack, Sam, one of Mitts or Olofosson, Cozens, Dahlin, Risto, Bryson, Borgen, Arrtu, Samuelsson, Zemgus still remain. That's a pretty ***** home grown group. 11 out of 16 game day skaters. Moving a few guys to adjust the makeup of the team is normal. Hording them like a depression era grandmother hordes tupperware containers is not.

Their kids all had strong veteran presence as the grew. There is the difference. We don’t have that.

Ryan O’Reilly says hi.

Girgensons is a recent example, but by no means the only. How far back do we want to go? Plante and Dawe? I’m not gonna spend my Friday night listing the kids this team has featured and then disappointed. I agree that you don’t build a cup winner through free agency but when you look around the league at the top teams all of their home grown talent was groomed with good vets supporting them. We don’t have the hood supporting vets. We jettisoned the good base we had to implement the tank and we never did build up a base of good vets to replace them. So our kids are not in the same environment as the kids in TB, or Bos, or Col, or Tor. It’s been a full athlete’s generation since this team has had a good base for its young kids to build upon.

They traded the better player to get Peca, too. Mogilny, a bonafide superstar for a borderline 1C. You don't need to get an equal player back if you get the right player and can fill a hole as well. Jack goes out, a lesser C and something else (say a 1RW) comes back. Both teams win the trade.

LOL I've got other hobbies. I waste time on this forum, but I haven't wasted much of it on the team itself in too long. I've got better use for my entertainment time budget. Thanks, Terry!

*sigh*

It most certainly doesn't need to be a trade for futures. And in a salary cap world I'm not sure it even can be a trade for futures. The other team is going to have to move parts to make room for Jack's salary. Jack, one of our non-Sam top six wingers, and a bottom pair D man for another teams 1C, 1W, and a goalie. Add fillers as needed.

What we saw with the kids after RK is what you typically see when people are put into featured roles that don't really belong there. This isn't sustainable, and can't be counted on to continue. We've seen this over and over and over on the Sabres every time they go through an era of mediocrity. Heck, Zemgus is an example of it. Feature him in a role over his head and he doubles his point totals. Same thing happening with the kids here. We're forced to feature them, they put up respectable points, and some folks see this as a sign that we have what we need already. We don't. It's not sustainable. It never was. The kids need support and they need roles that fit the slots they are currently fitting.

Everyone needs a setup man.

I’m a baiter, not a projector.

I never claimed to be reasonable. Especially after a day on a barstool. Lol I checked last seasons stats before I posted. Did I look up something incorrectly?

You’ve had this overwhelming sense of optimism for whatever group of kids are next in line since we’ve exchanged posts on Letsgosabres. I’ll give you consistency. But you’ve been overstating optimism for the kids since Drury and Briere left. It’s gotta be a clinical condition because optimism in the face of 10 years of disappointment isn’t normal. Or maybe you just have lower expectations.

Maybe it was a convo with you... or maybe someone else. I don’t remember. But recently I had a short exchange with someone who claimed Eichel was an X points player based on projections and I replied that you can’t be an X points player if you don’t play enough games to get to X points. Yet here we are claiming Peca isn’t a 60pt forward because he only got there once. He’s more a 60pt forward than whatever pt level we were projecting Eichel to be but hasn’t actually achieved yet. Just a tandom thought after 3 whiskeys on a wet Friday afternoon...

Ok call him a potential 50pt center with excellent 2 way game as a potential.

60pts would put him in Barkov-ROR territory. Thats a helluva player. I’m thinking thats his absolute ceiling. 50-55 more realistic.

We saw that yesterday, didn’t we?

I think the kid is a mean streak away from being Peca. Wouldn’t surprise me at all if he gets Selke talk in his prime. Curtis Brown sounds like a good floor. He should have a very good all around 2C ceiling and a good checking 3C floor. I just don’t watch enough hockey anymore to find a more modern comparable. The last 7 yrs have ruined me.

Marginal differences. Marginal effects if one of them is lost. We’ll never notice it on the ice. *yawn And man do some of you have serious hate boners for a guy who is paid to give an opinion. His opinions aren’t even that controversial.

Welcome to my world. Except I had a 7 yr start on you all. The team did not improve with the kids. The only difference was the losses were more entertaining. That won’t sustain beyond 10 games in a full season.

I hope they all lose in the first round.

Agree with the overall point you are making. Regarding facebook. It is what you make it. They have the controls built into it to allow you to avoid what you want to avoid. Unfollow is a wonderful thing. No embarasing "unfreind" conversations but you never see a thing they post.

Gorgeous saucer pass

Tequila