TrueBlueGED

Yes 4th (I think we get a placeholder goalie in return as well) OK (but highly unenthusiastic) I think some GM will bring him on either because of an injury, or as some insurance against injury to an established starter. That said, if Botterill can't get a warm body to take his place, I don't think a deal happens; Botterill is going to want to keep Ullmark in Rochester.

Didn't Sanheim recently (and somewhat randomly) get reassigned to the AHL? *begins daydreaming* ;) :p

Well, it helps me beat my sister in fantasy this week. *ducks*

:censored: :censored: :censored: :censored: Probably best to just shut him down for the year. I don't see a point in bringing him back for 5 games or whatever it would be at the end.

Understandable. I'm just not a big liquor person. Not even gonna wait to see if he comes back? :lol:

*turns on game* *sees Eichel get hurt* *pours beer*

Imagine how good they'd be if they still had Seguin and Hamilton.

I could hug you. Who said the only purpose of stats is to be predictive?

I remember him saying something to that effect as well, but as is often the case with what coaches/athletes say publicly, I think people took it a wee bit too literally. I just took it to mean he wasn't coming to any firm conclusions, not that he literally didn't watch any film.

I have no way to know this, but I'm pretty sure recency bias is rampant among GMs.

Definitely fair, but I think that last little bit is quite pessimistic.

As with most things, there are multiple contributing factors. Nuclear bombing the roster reduced the margin for error, but if we could hit on a draft pick outside the top-10 more than zero times a decade, that'd help too. People who were abhorred by the tank will focus on the shedding of talent, people for the tank will focus on drafting and/or trades. But really, it's all part of where we are and really shouldn't be viewed as an either/or proposition.

Well, since NY waived him, my assumption is they'd eat a chunk of that contract in a move. And since they were willing to waive him, he'd be cheap to acquire. He's no world beater, but he'd instantly be our 3rd best defenseman, and if our offseason goes well, he'd good #5 who could anchor the 3rd pair and not embarrass himself in the top-4 if he has to fill in.

Pierre LeBrun‏Verified account @PierreVLeBrun 8m8 minutes agoMore NHL waivers today: Brendan Smith (NYR), Marcus Kruger (Car) and Josh Jooris (Car) Paging Jason Botterill. Paging!

Good man. Welcome to the party :)

That was after he got fired, no?

Ya know Bob, you could always just tell your employees to stop cheating.

Two? The Ertz TD was in no way, shape, or form, questionable.

One thing the Pats have going for them is the pathetic state of the AFC. The NFC is pretty loaded with teams that should be good for awhile, but who is there in the AFC? Maybe the Texans if Watson can continue where he left off pre-injury, or the Chiefs if Mahomes is what they think he is. But that's really it, right? The Colts have Luck, but that roster is a complete mess. Roethlisberger is nearing the end of the line in Pittsburgh. The Raiders need about 10 players on defense, and are being led by a coach who hasn't done anything in a decade. They don't have to be as good as they have been, just better than the rest. Looking at the landscape of the conference, I don't think that's too tall of a task.

I'm not sure they were even better so much as stat-padding against bad offenses. Post bye week opponents: Denver, Oakland, Miami x2, Buffalo x2, Jets, Pittsburgh. That's one real offense in the bunch. Edit: Oh, and the Malcolm Butler thing...maybe there's more to the story that we'll get in the coming days, but it strikes me as a perfect example of Belichick drinking his own koolaid. Sometimes, even the best blunder.

No. Next year at this time if the outlook is the same? By all means, treat me as a pinata :lol: Nah, I just hate the way we talk about top-6 v. bottom-6 because it ultimately turns into some absolute dichotomy in the eyes of many (I'm thinking line construction here). It's certainly useful shorthand in this context, though.

Because people are terrible at ranking athletes/teams/things in historical context...or at all, really. Agreed once again. There is little in the world that drives me as batty as judging individuals on team metrics the way the sports world does with championships.

I agree. It's the right way to do it. If that player happens to be O'Reilly, so be it. I just don't hold any illusions that trading him will somehow make us better sooner than later. I used quotes for a reason, dammit! Obviously, looking back, I'd have made a different pick, but it's not the egregious error that Nylander is looking to be. But watcha gon' do? Going forward, I'm much more concerned about making the right choices than trying to compensate for past mistakes. Nobody wants to hear patience after the past few years, but honestly, there is no trade or UFA signing that's putting us in Cup contention.* That's coming from within. *I firmly believe Tavares never sees UFA.

I'm not sure what he's supposed to do at this point, though. He doesn't have the assets to move like Murray did, and it's clear that our top players, as assembled, aren't good enough. How is he supposed to go about augmenting our top-6 (I still hate this terminology, but I'm going with it to save a side argument) without jettisoning some of it and/or growing from within? Murray left him in a really bad spot. Our timeline is all jacked up because Murray's accelerated rebuild didn't work. I agreed with Murray's approach, but he missed. That much is clear. Even if we were to keep Kane and keep trying to build, (potentially) picking the wrong players in Reinhart and Nylander is crippling. Our best trade chip is O'Reilly, but if he's dealt, we're still waiting on Mittelstadt to own that 2C spot before we're competing for much of anything, because an O'Reilly deal is likely to result in improving the blue line, not a comparable forward. Rebuilding the "right way" costs us a couple more of Jack's prime years, but I think that's probably preferable to chasing a ghost.

On the one hand, I'll never understand why overtly religious people seem to think the outcome of football games is high on God's agenda. On the other hand, it's so common for God to be thanked, I don't understand all the Pegula/McDermott god-related angst that happened this year. *shoulder shrug emoji*