dudacek

In your view, is the best course of action to simply wait because eventually a team will pay the asking price, or Jack will acquiesce to fusion?

Yes, that’s exactly what I thought you were saying. Im saying the Pegulas have the money. Right now they are spending it on nothing and their Crown Jewel is worthless. And Im asking why, if another owner is willing to take the risk, why shouldn’t Terry?

No I agree 100 %. I mean generally it’s hard to objectively “prove” one NHL coach is better than another - Julien is better/worse than Ducharme, for example. That’s what makes the Granato/Krueger thing so odd in the scope of the NHL. The gap is so easy to prove.

I don’t know if it equals “build” but Hall, Foligno, Smith, Haula, Ullmark, Nosek, Forbert, Moore constitute about 1/3 of that roster. About 1/3 of the roster - 9 players - are draft picks.

Perhaps, but that’s where this conversation started: why would there be significant differences? @nfreeman seemed to be saying there probably aren’t, it’s just that other teams are more willing to bet $50 million.

This is generally a hard thing to quantify. But it’s hard to argue he’s done so much more that Ralph with objectively worse players. And it’s not just the eye test. All the measurables are saying the same thing and the sample size is growing.

You mean the amount of financial risk they are willing to take is fully tied to the cost they are willing to pay in player assets? As one rises the other falls? I can see that. Wouldnt it stand to reason the Pegulas could make the same play in reverse? Take on the risk of the surgery to maximize the player assets? If 5 teams believe in ADR enough to wager $50 million on it, why shouldn’t Kim And Terry?

Yet “about 5” other teams are OK with ADR. Do they have a better insurance agent, or not care about the risk? If it’s simply because they have a different doctor’s opinion, can the Sabres just not hire that doctor?

It seems like a number of you believe insurance would cover an Eichel fusion surgery, but not an Eichel ADR surgery. Does anyone have an actual sourced report backing this up? Eric Duhatschek today in the Athletic: “….and shepherd him back to health, slowly and methodically, in the hopes that by September of 2022, whatever surgical procedure he undergoes is complete and that he’ll be ready to play at a high level again. Insurance will cover most of the actual dollars owed Eichel if he doesn’t play, which mitigates the financial risk of adding a player owed $50 million in the remaining five years of his contract. Now the above comment is very general and I’m not taking it as proof of ADR being insured, any more than @GASabresIUFAN ‘s buddy’s general comment on NHL insurance policies. Which, to date, is the closest thing to I’ve seen to “proof” insurance is a real issue here.

Craig Anderson reads the play remarkably well. And, at this point of his career, he might be the slowest goalie laterally I’ve ever seen.

Sabres Twitter don’t even know what position Murray plays? This is road insurance with Eakin and Mitts out. I doubt he plays unless someone else is banged up.

Why do you say this? I haven’t noticed him a ton, but generally that’s a good thing. Small sample size, but statistically, his fancystats look real good at the moment, although I’d say he’s being boosted a bit by Dahlin, who has been fantastic.

Not your point, but this reminded me of how COVID completely savaged last year’s team. They were so bad and lifeless, it was moot, but everyone forgets that is when the year turned. We had one regulation loss in our last 6 before quarantine. We returned to 2 regulation wins in our next 25.

I can't remember if I was OK with Sweeney as a Sabre, but my God did I despise him as a Bruin. I have overrated a ton of Sabres prospects over the years, but John Tucker might be at the very top of that list.

Thanks, that helps me understand. It's not so much this particular segment, more an overall frustration with the way this has been reported. I will say the bold was not what i heard in this segment at all. I heard Elliotte telling his listeners one good reason (the Risto trade) why the Sabres have not yet moved him. Which was an effort to tell part of the Sabres side of the story. Jack Eichel is free to get whatever treatment from whatever doctor for whatever ails him and that has always been the case. So long as he is willing to throw away his livelihood, or get what he feels is unnecessary life-altering surgery. The situation is more complex than full-stop on many sides.

Am I allowed to say I hope Taylor Hall gives the puck away on the Sabres winning goal?

It was widely speculated that Seattle loaded up on NHL defenders because they are always in demand and teams will inevitably come knocking. I don't buy the Jason Botterill narratives people ascribe to the Kraken; Francis is the GM, not Botterill. But this hoarding excess defencemen to the detriment of your team is pretty funny.

Pretty sure this is false. It originated here three months ago:

This fascinates me. Why did you walk away feeling like the Sabres sound like the bad guy? (I didn't) Where is the manufactured narrative in that segment? (The closest I can come up with is "this situation is bad for the league" which certainly is a widely held point of view and hard to argue against: star player can't play hockey, team's most valuable asset can't be traded, potential CBA battle brewing, never mind the perception among some that the owners are holding a player's health hostage. How can you not characterize it as bad?)

Nice to see Matty back in practice. I still expect him to play in Rochester before we see him in Buffalo, but it looks like they might keep him around a bit first.

Olympic participation was a collectively bargained item between the NHL and the NHLPA, so under normal circumstances no. How the health question muddies the waters I’m not sure, but I would imagine if Jack passes a physical and is deemed healthy enough to play, the Sabres can’t stop him, unless he was suspended for some reason. This is my preferred path: he gets ADR, gets healthy and rehabs his trade value. I hope the Sabres can be convinced.

Ive only seen snippits of Rosen, but everything I've read about him indicates he's of the same mold.

Jankowski is on an AHL contract, although I suppose they can change that. I would imagine picking up either he or Barre-Boulet, or anyone else would be contingent on the length of time Casey, Vinnie and Cody are going to be out.

The crux of this issue always seems to come back to the actual merits of ADR and the sincerity of those celebrating or demonizing it.

He mentioned emphasizing two points: The rule is not in place to block players from getting reasonable treatment. Brisson's team is collecting evidence backing their contention ADR is reasonable treatment.