Drunkard

Don't forget Will Borgen! Sure he's only played 4 career NHL games but he didn't piss his pants in any of those 4 games, so we should be able to put him on the top pair with Dahlin next season without skipping a beat. I'm sure that won't set the team back whatsoever.

I meant for us. He looked good in his 21 game stint when we first acquired him in 2015, but other than that, I'd say he's been a disappointment ever since.

Wouldn't another good season require there to be a first good season? Or is the bar so low for Bogosian that only missing 20% of the team's games due to injury considered good now?

It will all make sense when they change the team name to the snowflakes though.

Was it the zubaz pants line? You bought some at a yard sale 5 years ago, didn't you?

I agree but it fits right in with the rest of the examples. It's ingrained into the ethos of Buffalo fandom. We take grudges to the grave. Like hating Brad Park. I think I had just turned 2 years old when he eliminated the Sabres with an OT goal in the playoffs and I definitely didn't see it live but I still hate the guy. Why? Because I'm supposed to.

It's not. Buffalo fans just can't let anything go and the obsession with going back to royal blue uniforms is only part of it. Also see zubaz pants, wide right, no goal, the Hasek trade, Briere and Drury walking, and griping about Darcy Regier and video scouting. These things still get brought up all the time yet when people want to gripe about the current GM and his botching of the O'Reilly trade less than a year ago you get people crying about us crying and being told to let it go. It's Not happening.

No need to apologize. Mr. Peanut is a classy guy. Top hat, monocle, and no pants, because sometimes you just got to let your ***** breathe.

Are you dressed like Mr. Peanut? I'm guessing you are dressed like Mr. Peanut, aren't you?

He should have thrown in a bottle of ky jelly.

He may be carrying the defense when it comes to pure talent, but he was 4th in time on ice per game behind Ristolainen, Montour, and even Bogosian last season.

I'm afraid trading Ristolainen will be O'Reilly part two. Botterill is the volume shooter type and instead of trading Ristolainen for one good player who can fix our center depth and improve the team next season, he's going to trade him for a basket of lesser pieces in hopes he can hit a bullseye or two with his multiple dart approach. I've said it before, but I fear he trades Ristolainen to Tampa for a package of something like: Miller (to try to fix his O'Reilly mistake) Callahan (pure cap dump) Mediocre prospect (no way they give us a top prospect, when St. Louis only gave up Thompson for O'Reilly) Late 1st round pick (very late given how good Tampa is, plus we'll be helping them out further by gifting them cap space since Callahan and Miller combined take up a lot more cap space than Ristolainen) I think that leaves Dahlin exposed to having to carry the defense way too early and with most of the actual value in the Ristolainen trade being futures, the team is worse in the short run. The ironic part is that if any of his long term darts ever actually pan out, it will be the next GM who reaps the benefits instead of Botterill.

Ok. I still disagree but at least now I feel like I understand your pov so thanks for the clarification. In that sense I agree, it shouldn't be too hard to find a middle of the pack type of dman who happens to have skills that compliment Dahlin's game. The guy is going to be a stud and he's definitely talented enough to cover up for deficiencies in a defensive partner with flaws or at least he'll be at that level soon enough. I just happen to think that's asking too much from him this early in his career and I was under the impression that Botterill was going with the slow and steady, methodical approach to development. Whether he can handle it or not next season is almost irrelevant for me. If throwing him in the deep end this early into his career has even a 1% chance of stunting his growth or messing up his development, I wouldn't want to risk it, because he's too important to the franchise.

1. Acquire a Delorean 2. Drive 88 mph and go back in time 3. Never hire Botterill 4. Profit

Yep. Eleven's real name must be Chet.

I don't trust Botterill at all but he's still the GM so I understand he'll continue to make decisions and I enjoy discussing it regardless. I'd rather see him make moves as a "buyer" the way he went after Skinner, Sheary, and Montour than to see him try to make moves as a "seller" the way he sold off O'Reilly and Kane. He seems to have more aptitude as a buyer, regardless of the fact that I'd like to see his head on a metaphorical stick.

Fair enough. I deleted that post and re-typed it out to hopefully make my position clearer. I think splitting up the tough minutes would be wise whether Ristolainen stays or not, so I don't disagree with that position I just don't see how losing him will make the defense better. Ristolainen despite his flaws still holds value yet some people seem to think we can trade for an upgrade to him without gutting the team. It may be possible but that guy will either be an older guy well past his prime that will only help for a season or two or we'd have to get lucky and strike gold on a younger guy some other team lost faith in.

So you want Botterill to trade Ristolainen to fix the forward depth. And the solution to replace Ristolainen is that you think Botterill can then just make another move to acquire a top pairing defenseman to play with our franchise defenseman? How is that going to happen? It's not like GMs just make those guy readily available and even when they do, trading for them requires a king's ransom. Using your logic Ristolainen is bad but somehow good enough to return some help for the top 6. So what are you willing to give up to return this top pairing partner for Dahlin? Is it going to be all futures or is it just going to continue the cycle or trying to fix a hole by creating a bigger hole elsewhere?

They also found a sucker to take on their dead wood in Berglund and Sobotka.

Can I change my mind and say I'm happy with the trade now, just because it was instrumental in Boston losing? I hope Botterill feels his seat warming up.

And you trust Botterill to not only get fair value for him, but get enough value to actually improve the team? I don't so I prefer to see if Kreuger can put him in a position to succeed.

Just because he earns $5.4 million AAV doesn't mean he has to play on the top pair. Hell, Bogosian earns $5 million a year to be hurt half the year. Why does he get to stay? He's never on the top pair even when he is healthy. I hope Montour works well with Dahlin on the top pair and I hope Ristolainen gets a chance to succeed in an easier role. If Botterill trades him for more magic beans I hope they can him before he can screw up the team further.

He's not expendable until you have someone better to replace him. If you don't have a good first line center, you don't just get rid of the guy you have playing first line center because he's struggling. You try to find an upgrade so you can bump that guy down to the second line.

Ok, so what's the solution? Someone will be playing top pair on the right hand side no matter how overmatched they are so it might as well be him until we have an actual upgrade on the roster. Ristolainen isn't ideal there by any stretch but currently the only other options are Montour, Bogosian until his next injury, or somebody like Nelson or Borgen. If you have a 5 playing in a spot where you need an 8, you try to find an 8 or at least someone better than that 5. You don't get rid of your 5 without a replacement and wind up having to stick somebody even worse in that spot. If you trade Ristolainen you now have Montour on the top pair, not on the second pair where he's set up to succeed. If he can't handle it then you are much worse off because not only do you still have a problem with your top pair d but you open up a hole on your second pair d because now Montour is stuck playing over his head on the top pair.

My concern is making good the enemy of great. If you move Ristolainen and Montour can't handle it you ruin 2 spots on the right hand side because not only do you have a giant hole where Ristolainen was, but then you essential ruin Montour's contributions by giving him a role he isn't suited for either.