dudacek

Absolutely perception. I have no idea what those numbers signify, I crush on Benson’s approach to hockey and grimace at Skinner’s but I can’t really argue with concept the 2 had a roughly similar impact on the Sabres success or lack thereof last year. One of the reasons I’m OK with dumping Skinner, but not if the plan is to replace him in house.

Somebody’s going to slide. Just watched one where the two that slide are Sennecke and Parekh and we don’t take either. If it’s really a tier lasting from 2 to 14ish like some say, this is my pyramid of 8 “I hope he slides.” 1 Iginla, Lindstrom 2 Buium, Silayev 3 Parekh, Dickinson, Catton, Senneke At least one of them will be there at our turn. Dont see any way Demidov or Levshunov is there. From the next tier, Helenius is my choice. I’ll be disappointed but still OK with Eiserman, Stolberg and Brandsegg-Nygard. Don’t want Yakemchuk and I will be surprised if anyone else is even a consideration.

Im going to piggyback off other people’s ideas here: Use Skinner buyout savings to add a better Skinner Use prime picks/prospects to get a good centre Use leftover cap space, more futures to buff out the bottom 6 Giving Lindy something like this: Scoring line: Kane Thompson Peterka Matchup line: Tuch Ek Greenway 2-way line: Quinn Cozens Benson Grind line: Trenin Krebs Jeannot Do I expect it to happen? Of course not, I’m a Sabres fan. But I can see how the extra $6M and the empty roster spot created by cutting Skinner can open up a lot of exciting options for rosters that look better than they would with him still there.

Exactly, a master class in media manipulation, more 4D chess from the Sabres.

You have to take the long view on these things because you’re typically talking a minimum of 5 years down the road with later picks. So we really have no idea with this regime because they’ve only done 4 drafts. You can say “look at Novikov and Komarov” but it doesn’t seem that long ago we were excited about Bloom and Nadeau. Adams has graduated 4 players in 4 years (Benson, Power, Quinn and Peterka). Benson and Peterka are ahead of the curve, Quinn and Power are roughly where you’d expect. The rest are open questions.

I’d say this is very much up for debate. Skinner has produced very well in Buffalo with Tuch and Thompson, and with Eichel and Reinhart. Not so much elsewhere. The other question is deployment: in theory, Skinner can work with a Roy/Max/Vanek style unit 3rd line, with the other 3 lines sheltering it defensively. Buffalo doesn’t seem to have the personnel for that now and they seem to be talking about chasing players and a philosophy that doesn’t match it either. I don’t see him working on a checking line, or an energy line, and I prefer a better defensive option on a top 4 wing group that also includes Peterka and Quinn. To me, Skinner’s fit is largely dependent on what moves they are able to make elsewhere up front.

My read is that there is a web of potential moves contingent on each other. Skinner's future is one of several balls in the air. Adams generally seems like he tries to keep his players informed, so I would be surprised if he hadn't talked to Skinner's camp.

I've seen a few mocks that have him up in our range and I like the player. He really seems like the best "needs" fit likely to be available. I'm just hesitant that picking him will mean we left a better player on the table.

Skinner slipped in this category last year. Historically, he's been among the league's best. 6th on the team in penalties drawn with 17. League-wide he's tied for 173rd. 7th in penalties drawn per 60 among Sabres regulars. Peterka was far and away the leader.

Didn’t realize the defensive analytics were so strong. Got a lot of minutes too on a blah Caps team. Somebody who caught your eye, or have heard he’s caught the Sabres’? Not sure why they’d be moving on from him.

Doesn’t move the needle much, but he seems like a legit 4th line vet on an attractive contract. As the Jost replacement on the depth chart, sure?

And I also demand the right to share Woody's posts whenever and however I choose.

Does this affect the possibility of Danualt being on the table? Or was Dubois not going to be a King regardless?

I want a total no-movement clause. @nfreeman keeps my posts exactly where and how they are unless i give the OK.

What were you expecting? Looks like retention got Calgary a little more than I was expecting, but that’s basically ballpark value, IMO. New Jersey held fast on to 10, as they should have. Legit starters get moved so rarely.

And people are taking my initial post far more seriously than it was intended. I was just having a random chuckle about how even when we seem to agree on some things some times, we never completely agree on anything.

To me, it's about Skinner not being a player they want getting prime ice time any more and him being a net negative player if he's in a lesser role. It's kinda like the Diggs trade. He can still play, but the team feels its better off big picture making the move. The Sabres don't necessarily have to spend up to the cap, but they have to make follow-up moves that show a top 9 that looks more effective than it did before they cut him. I think Skinner's likability to the marketing department far outweighs his likability to his coaches.

Or multiple useful players. There's no point doing it if they aren't going to spend the money.

Trusted source: "It's not done yet and maybe there's a chance it may not happen, but the sabres look like they're going to buy out Skinner. I know (guy who should know) says Skinner's agency has been warned. They're trying to keep this quiet while the agency looks for an alternative, so you definitely cannot report this as done or in any way tie it to me." Friedman: "But, you know, I always try to be careful with what I say unless I 100% know. So I can't say 100% it's going to happen, but it's definitely out there."

Sabrespace: We need to get bigger and better defensively. Also Sabrespace: not Greenway! Sabrespace: We need to add a top 4 defenceman. Also Sabrespace: not Byram! Sabrespace: We need to trade one of the young guys to shake up the core. Also Sabrespace: not Mittelstadt! Sabrespace: We need to be more accountable and start playing the right way. Also Sabrespace: not Skinner! There is no such thing as a hive mind around here. 😄

Forgive the self-quoting, but we were talking about this earlier.

It does not make sense if: A) you believe Skinner is a good fit within the type of roster/system the Sabres want to run this year under Ruff B) you believe the Sabres have no intention of using the cap savings this creates over the next two seasons. It makes sense if they are filling the cap and roster vacuum with a better fit. If the league’s longest playoff drought continues while the league’s longest playoff player drought ends in a Stanley Cup, you know the curse is real.

The gist of the post remains the ongoing willful blindness to a big part of Dahlin's game. I remain thankful.

Effectively trading Kane for Skinner is a big win in my books. As is Skinner playing a regular shift in Toronto.

The tea leaves don’t always point to where you think, but I’ve certainly noticed numerous signs that point to Skinner not being in their plans. Not so much a cancer as a symbol of the change that they think is needed. At the very least you move Quinn/Peterka/Benson up the depth chart and create roster space for “an addition who plays the right way”. Do you want Skinner on the top line or PP and if he’s not do you want him moping the way he has in Buffalo any time he’s been removed from that role? But the cap space could be huge if they actually have plans to spend it. Theoretically, it allows you to replace Skinner with a $7M player without affecting your plans elsewhere on your roster. To me - someone who’s not a Skinner fan - that’s big. Also fits with @tom webster’s report of Pegula needing to sign off on a big spend. @Flashsabre @nfreeman I think the Skinner tweet is worthy of its own thread and this conversation should be moved there.