TrueBlueGED

When did Evander Kane start scoring a point per game? ;)

The team iced last night was worse than last season's through no fault of Bylsma's. Not sure what he could do about it. But I'm also pretty sure I want a different coach.

And yet, plenty of people around here were in denial all offseason. He's cooked, just an absolute negative at even strength (which is this team's biggest problem). Give his 12 minutes to anyone. Also, remember when we all thought Rochester was going to have a team worth watching this year? Yea, that dream died an early death with all the injuries :lol: Pfffffft. If Tim Murray had taken my advice the team would be in better shape even with the injuries.

Evander Kane is Drew Stafford but with a style people prefer. The end results, however, are pretty damn close. *ducks*

1) NHL-caliber depth when injuries hit was a legitimate concern many of us raised during the offseason. I don't think any of us expected to feel it game 1, but this isn't hindsight, and adding 1 NHL forward (albeit a 1st liner) doesn't solve it. 2) No, but he was the clear fallback option.

Correct...but it is a tank team without them, Okposo, Kulikov, and O'Reilly clearly hampered. Not all of that is long term, but it's not all short term either. Gonna be a bumpy couple months to start the year, I think.

We're totally having the same thoughts and replies in different thread :lol:

My reply to you in the GDT is along these lines. I guess right now I'm not entirely sure what the team is meant to be. Bylsma says play fast, but we have a very limited supply of players who can do that (whether it's because of skating or vision/sense while going fast, it's limited). Murray has talked about heavy players and it's been suggested LA is the model, but our top-end players don't fit that mold. I don't want to go too far with this line of thought because of the injuries, but it's not to be dismissed either.

The players you listed (sans Foligno) are built to neither dump and chase nor play with speed. Of course, they're also meant to be role players, not thrust into prominent roles like they are right now with injuries. When a bubble team loses 2.5 top-6 forwards (I'm counting hobbled O'Reilly has half absent) and a top-4 Dman, things are bound to be ugly. But I think there are some things to think about even given the circumstances. If the aim is to be Kings East, we don't have the right horses for it (nobody on this planet will convince me that Eichel, Reinhart, and O'Reilly are built to play in a Sutter-esque dump and retrieve system). If the aim is to be Pittsburgh lite, we don't have the right coach for it, and we lack the overall roster speed to pull it off anyway. Bylsma wants to play fast but get behind the D and retrieve to create zone time, but the roster isn't constructed to do either of those things especially well (even the stretch pass...not our current blue line's strength). There's an organizational disconnect, they're still building, and/or Murray has misidentified the pieces to accomplish what they're aiming for. At this point I don't think we can be entirely sure which yet, but even healthy, this team still has deficiencies. Bubble team when healthy, kinda bad when injured. The worst thing about the injuries is it makes the entire evaluation way more difficult.

Peruse the Pens boards from a few years back. This is Bylsma's system. Stretch pass, chip, chase.

I would've signed up for a "he must go" thread before the injury, if for no other reason than I don't think Bylsma will ever use him where he belongs.

Gallows humor, man. Not everyone deals with grief the same way.

I feel we can be critical of Murray while still being fine with the extension. As Flagg said, Pegula isn't afraid to swallow money. But secondly, this really is only Murray's second offseason of trying to improve the team. Realistically speaking, a GM should get a run of 4-5 years before judgment is passed IMO.

Not pursuing additional depth is a completely valid criticism. It was valid before the injuries, and the injuries are just proving the point.

Just posted something about this in the Murray extension thread. I really feel like he pulled a Regier and got happy with "his guys", foregoing depth acquisitions.

Parenteau, Pirri, Yakupov, Stempniak all with goals tonight. All players I had interest in as offensive depth. *injures arm patting self on back* *glares at Tim Murray*

Ennis isn't a difference maker, he's a complementary scorer. And he hasn't played competitive hockey in almost a calendar year. I think we could direct our ire elsewhere.

And defensemen.

If Zemgus could net Fowler that trade would have been made 4 months ago.

It shouldn't be, and it definitely shouldn't be in the way we're making it. But after the last 24 hours for the Sabres, I think we can cut ourselves a little slack.

Eh, trade looks like a giant wash.

The Bills are winning Sunday, then winning next Sunday, then beating the Patriots...while the Sabres are winless. Might as well go full bizarro world.

Maybe he's actually gay, but is ashamed of it and takes his anger out on women. It explains it all! :p

Neither do they.

The guy might need a whole new left side of his body! You're cold blooded man :lol: