Randall Flagg

He reminds me of Giroux in more ways than one.

I didn't know that actually. I always assumed it was "yeah this guy is whooped, he played 25 mins last night and a lot this week so he gets the day off" and any actual dings would be listed as an injury of some sort

Substantially less

Wasn't sure where to put this but it was funny

Eichel's numbers are up this year because he's overhauled his shooting philosophy. He could have done this with Skinner, and Skinner is demonstrably more capable of capitalizing on the garbage left over from Eichel's shots that don't go in, compared to Olofsson, who has put in just 7 goals in 5v5 time with Jack over the course of 44 games, something that Jeff could do in 10 calender days last season

No. Not in the relevant minutes. Jack-Jeff-anybody last year created far more dangerous scoring chances per unit time and had far better underlying metrics as a result this even includes Skinner's cold stretch last year. Eichel - Skinner last year: 845 minutes, 53 goals, 43 goals against, 52% shot advantage, 54.6% advantage in expected goals, 53% advantage in scoring chances, a goal every 15 minutes of ice time, a goal against every 20 minutes of ice time Eichel - Skinner this year: 58 minutes, 6 goals, 3 goals against, 57% shot advantage, 62% advantage in exxpected goals, 53% advantage in scoring chances, a goal every 9 minutes of ice time, a goal against every 19 minutes of ice time Eichel- Olofsson this year: 576 minutes, 30 goals, 26 goals against, 49% shot advantage, 46% expected goals, 49% of scoring chances, a goal every 19 minutes of ice time, a goal against every 22 minutes of ice time Stats stats stats blah blah, Eichel - Olofsson is not a top line that can carry a team by eye test, the last three games the two have combined for one notable moment together and it was just a goalpost. By eye test, Eichel-Skinner is the best Sabre duo/line I have seen since the 2006-2007 team, and hey, the stats agree with that too

Yeah leaving WNY is not currently on the table for me, which is hurting things. And I don't know anyone and came from a school with the tiniest physics department imaginable, so networking opportunities like @shrader mentioned in the other thread are slim, though i'm going to start brainstorming something more in that direction soon. Like literally with a little training I could crush some of these other applicants IMO, I would be at a disadvantage early because I haven't mastered specific computer software right now like they have, but down the line I have no doubts I would be a valuable employee, and loyal to the region too. These companies that aren't calling me back, I have friends telling me that they lose workers every week to places where the sun comes out. I prooooomise I won't ever leave you if you give me a chance lol I hate it everywhere else I know it's possible, because several people I know from other schools who didn't go get the master's degree and have my same bachelor's degree are both working, one in Rochester (and Akron before that) and one in Olean (where he lives) so I just have to be patient

They have. Meanwhile, they're still not good enough if you want to win more games than you lose with a top line as your team's strength

I believe this summary is from 31 thoughts.

They don't have 5v5 chemistry, Olofsson is still struggling even though he still learning i get that this is Ralph's point, but

Done with school, have been searching for a little while. The minimal progress I've made in a few directions has quickly been wiped out. Trying to figure out how to sell a physics degree/education when 50 other applicants have the explicit degree and every single skillset asked for, as their education was tailored for that specific job im pretty bad at this since it's my first real time trying

I would build a statue of Jason Botterill Other forum says it was an Eklund rumor lol, go back to work everyone

Plus he's hurt isn't he? Or was he just sick

Anything is "worth" it on a message board, I still think it's a bad comparison Plus, events in baseball are ridiculously isolated/discrete/whatever. Judge's at bats vs. Cole are far more identical data points than even two Skinner shots in the same game from a similar spot on the ice, much less two Skinner shots in general

I understand that this is part of life, and part of the job process. But i feel like such a miserable, useless sack of ***** right now

Say sike right now

I would rather Botterill do nothing at the trade deadline than trade one of 22/28. So if he did nothing, I'd be net-happy. My highest preference would be for him to move Frolik, and one of Sheary/Vesey/Rodrigues (though idk who plays 3C if evan goes even if i don't really like him there). I just don't think an impact trade for next year is feasible right now so I'm not going to hold that against him

I'll never forgive Dreger for coming on multiple times over a span of weeks to say, in his own words, "the phones were hot about Kane" only to after the fact mention that Botts received exactly one phone call during all of that time with a serious offer for Kane, minutes before the deadline

My other thing with Skinner is, this Marty "information," and general fan discussion, is copy-paste of what Canes fans and media were saying before, during, and after the Skinner trade that summer. The Sabres created a situation in which those comments looked foolish, and we didn't care about them. The Sabres then created a new situation, in which Skinner has regressed to the point where these arguments are carbon copies of the ones we dismissed to tell ourselves how awesome the trade was. When I point this out, its purpose is not to absolve or ignore Skinner's season. I just find it more valuable to focus on the fact that we are capable of doing my second sentence again with one coaching decision (just like I pointed out while everyone was busy flinging garbage at O'Reilly from April -> November 2018 that he was coaching tweaks from being a Selke winner) and it would also fix an underlying problem that is ACTUALLY one that people aren't talking enough about, that our first line plays poor hockey with Victor Olofsson, and barely wins goal battles we need it to win by quadruple its current rate if we hope to scrape low 90s point totals I know that "Skinner needs to be better" and "Skinner needs to produce more" and "Skinner's contract is an abomination" already. My posts just take the tenor they do because it's going to keep on going in this vein while he is in an on-ice situation that is conducive to it, and it gets boring to say this stuff already, much less for the next 8 months If there's inside info that Ralph thinks Skinner is dogging it, coupled maybe to some film evidence, and anonymous quotes from inside the locker room that Jeff is mailing it in? Alright, that's something more to talk about. Marty didn't give us that at all, and when I watch Skinner, I see the same guy I saw last year, who is also far more frustrated and thus far more prone to getting down and amplifying the negative aspects of his game. This is a common sports phenomenon and it's really about Jeff and the team working through it together

Comparing Jeff Skinner's 2019-2020 season to Benoit Pouliot's 2017-2018 season is simply a bad comparison, even if you're just comparing numbers. In your own defenses of Sam Reinhart throughout the years, I've seen that you understand why "to date" comparisons are useless and we should see what Skinner actually does with the rest of the year, because when doing it in a fair way, their production does not become comparable, and that is before you compare ROR to Evan Rodrigues ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My biggest problem with Krueger and the Eichel line isn't that Skinner isn't there, it's that Olofsson IS there, they just don't play that well 5v5 together as a line. My suggestion to put Skinner there isn't because I think Skinner deserves it, or doesn't deserve criticism, but because it will work to fix problems on this team

Botterill's not going to give up what it would take to get Cirelli, because Cirelli's value comes from his potential to flourish in a new role, and Botterill has shown to be bad at matching players and what they've done on other teams to what they can do on his team. He looks for guys who put up numbers elsewhere already, and assumes that they'll continue here. He'll say "but this guy only has 55 points playing on Tampa, why would I give up this haul for a guy like that" and go add Henrique for fewer assets, or something

Sure, a middle six role with Ryan O'Reilly and one of Reinhart or Okposo I guess we can assume Skinner's cold streak will continue another 20+ games to make removing Benoit's justifiable as some sort of comparison. But you are not moving any needles then

Wait, is it a "maintenance day" for Eichel, or is he "out but not for long term" with an injury?

Cirelli is too much of a known quantity at this time. Gotta find the next guy. Someone like Gaudette from Vancouver? I haven't seen him play for even a second, just read some stuff.

Why? Do you think WE could affect the coach's decision to rest players??