Randall Flagg

I do have to say, when our fifth coach uses Risto in a 24 minute per game, top pairing role, and he's the same guy he's always been, I'm hoping we no longer have to talk about what a new coach may do to Risto's game

Bill Belichick has won his last 17 games against QBs playing in their first or second season.

Is this statement made with the knowledge that Phil deliberately eschewed watching tape of any of our players under Bylsma? You think RK is going to go another level further than that?

If he can do that, then he can and should make it better with a different player in over Vlad Extremize your roster

Like, 100 point Brad Marchand? Damn that'd be nice

The last coaching staff literally did exactly what you described, and boasted about doing it, for the exact reasons you described. It led to a last place finish, and doing things like using Moulson in a depth scoring role to the tune of zero points in 15 games before catching on, throwing our season down the drain before it ever got started. There's nothing particular to the brand of hockey Housley coached that turned Sobotka into a bottom 3-5 skater out of the ~700 to play last year, which his teammates were somehow impervious to. If your purpose is the second bold, then you absolutely should care about the first bold.

I don't think I buy that source at all. Does that site have a facebook page with the same name?

Taro's right. Like, it's not the greatest disaster to ever strike an NHL roster. It's not playing Matt D'Agostini at 2C, or Erik Burgdoerfer (was that real or a fever dream?) in the top 6. But this team has rarely been bad because of one colossal roster mishap. It's death by a thousand cuts. Lots of things go a little wrong very consistently. Sobotka's presence on the team as a mediocre ES defender that's bottom of the barrel at generating any offense was a big cut, and would again be a big cut, no matter which line that package of effects is on. There's literally no need for it, for a team that can send all relevant prospects down to their respective development locations and still field 12 forwards better than him.

It's less that I think someone else is better there and more that I view Skinner's passing (execution and decision-making) as a hindrance, while Eichel and Olofsson have the "finishing" for each side covered. I've seen our players do excellent things on the PP over the last few years, and none of them involve Skinner. (I'd still put him out there with Jack for OT PPs.) Not sure who I'd like in place of him, and I won't stamp my feet if they choose to keep Skinner there. I just don't think he meshes well with them

I wouldn't put Skinner on PP1 in all honesty

But stepping back, the last three seasons for Vlad paint a clear line that last season was just an extension of - a typical decline of a middling player who got by on effort and not abilities, who is seeing those abilities evaporate relative to the competition that is always going to be young and fast compared to any given player, making the effort more and more fruitless. Krueger hockey versus Housley hockey is an incredibly vague delineation with no clear details or application to how Sobotka would become better - Sobotka's impact to our team's scoring chances are simply to hurt them more than, literally, 99.9% of all other skaters in the NHL. What is the magic dust that Krueger has for him that Phil didn't that will solve these issues? They were still apparent in the preseason - he had another classic odd man situation in a prime scoring area that evaporated into absolutely nothing, which is the same type of thing I can make a ten minute highlight film of from last season. And a general inability to reliably move pucks to teammates in meaningful areas, or even just keep them in his possession. Against the mediocre depth of one of the most porous defenses in the NHL. The Sabres' #1 problem last year was an inability to play modern offensive hockey in the offensive zone, to peel off the boards and create meaningful chances, particularly from it's bottom 9 (and middle 6), and Sobotka was the poster boy as the most egregious example of this. Allowing Vlad to be in the lineup this season, especially in the context of our milquetoast offseason, would just demonstrate that Jason fundamentally misses the mark on what his team's major problem is. It would be both bad for the on-ice performance of the team and as a symbol of the competence of our pro hockey evaluation abilities, which have been in dubious standing for Botterill's entire tenure. No qualms with the idea of Mitts to Rochester.

That's a shame. Harry took a step this year.

Definitely was. But teehee genital jokes

I hope Vlad doesn't read twitter/internet stuff and doesn't take the criticism to heart. He's had a helluva career. I just don't want him anywhere near our lineup at any time this year.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/27680783/barnwell-stacking-surprises-nfl-seven-3-0-teams

Just saw a thread about it on TBD and it reminded me - did anyone see McDermott pat his player, not in the butt, but in the junk, on the sidelines yesterday? That was awkward I think it was Knox

Vlad had a great game last September in Columbus as well. He displayed nothing to differentiate himself from the player he was last season. Nothing. It's preseason delusion to think otherwise.

Don't see how that super team will ever have any cap problems at this point.

Nope, expected goals against doesn't track goals against, it only tracks shots against and their locations and types

Oh for sure, I'd just be unbelievably pissed

Disgusting

I have to think Kyle is a placeholder for the injured Sheary. Right?

The league needs to investigate if they meet within 2 mil of that number. That would be such ***** garbage. Point was a top 10 player in the entire league last year. I would very, very easily go more than DOUBLE that number on an offer sheet.

We are going to have all of Sobotka, Tage, Okposo, and Scandella in our opening night lineup