Hoss

Ronald Reagan's op-ed from the NYT in '91... Amazing how far the party has shifted on this issue. http://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/29/opinion/why-i-m-for-the-brady-bill.html

I love Olofsson. Big fan. But he's still a loooooooong shot. Just like most of the dmen I named...

The way D4rk's statement is worded it means what everybody is saying it does, in my opinion. But, given the context of the conversation and my knowledge of D4rk's ability to use common sense, I took it to mean O'Reilly could be the number one center on any caliber of team in the league. Good, bad, ugly, great, championship... Whatever.

All the defenseman compare to the likes of Carrier, Olofsson and Possler. Guhle compares with all of the forwards.

O'Reilly isn't the target of my thoughts on this team having less talent than many believe, though.

I think we're still overestimating the talent. The talent level of this team is probably bottom five in the league. They could certainly be better and a good coach gets more with lesser talent, but I'm confident that I and many other overestimated the talent pool here.

WHEN we win the cup? When we win the cup I won't be picking about who our center is. It could be Matt Ellis for all I care. :p #semantics

No chance GMTM relies on Carrier, Possler of Olofsson. It'd be extremely lucky if any of them hit. Those three, Bailey, Baptiste and Fasching are six guys vying for eight spots. Guys of a similar caliber on d vying for six spots are Martin, Borgen, Guhle and Florentino. So the depth is similar with defense having more long shots but a similar number of bodies.

I do think it's easier to draft wingers than defenders, especially when you've got elite talent in the middle. Defenders aren't as easy to hide as wingers, so you've really got to get good ones on your top pairing to have a shot. I don't agree that we have good wingers, though. McGinn is, hopefully, going to be a part of our top nine for a while. Other than that? Ennis has been pretty bad this year and has an injury bug. Moulson is clearly on the downslope and isn't doing nearly enough to convince me he'll regain form at any point. Reinhart can develop into an elite winger or center depending on what the future holds for him. Kane is very good and I'm happy to have him, but I'm still hesitant to get too excited about him until we know more about his investigation. Beyond that we're talking a bunch of guys who do a lot of nothing. Larsson has been a major let down this year. Girgensons could be considered a winger long-term but that's probably only happening if Reinhart moves back to center so you can just swap them out if you want. Foligno is meh. We need difference makers on the wing. We'll see if Bailey, Baptiste or Fasching can be that anytime soon.

You didn't specify top-six RW vs top-pairing LHD, though. If we're targeting the type of players we have the ammo to acquire I'd rather target a RW, because, as you said, they're easier and cheaper to acquire. But even "top-pairing" and "top-six" aren't fair comparisons. If we're talking a TRUE top-pairing LHD then I would ask "would you rather have a true top-pairing LHD or a true top-line sniper on the RW?" Both of those are very difficult to acquire. Both would be expensive unless somebody sells low on a young player. I would love to get a legitimate defender to pair with Risto on the top pairing and think that's an important focus going forward, but this team is still hurting for difference-making wingers. It's a need and hopefully won't be an "either-or" ultimatum going forward.

I feel like I can't get angry when Jagr scores on us. I was the same way with Teemu...

Chaps are as assless/crotchless as gloves are assless/crotchless.

Adam Benigni has also confirmed the extension for Whaley... The timing of Carucci's report is officially strange and potentially embarrassing. But both reports could also be true. We don't know the terms of the reported extension.

The fact that it was a SINGLE unnamed source is frustrating for sure. That could be just about anybody and, unless it's somebody with unshakeable reliability, it's a sham to report it.

Sal Capaccio and Jeremy White of WGR both strongly disagree with the report. Both hear an extension is coming for Whaley and that he's here for the long haul.

I could see us running three lines once we've got a better group of wingers.

:D My bad. That was the most recent link I copied. I was trying to convince my friend that chaps aren't actually assless and forgot to copy the proper link.

Since when is 27 considered "aging?" That should be O'Reilly's prime. I don't see him moving to wing as a foregone conclusion any longer.

http://bills.buffalonews.com/2016/01/05/pegula-gives-whaley-ryan-a-year-to-fix-bills/ Carucci says the Pegulas have told Rex and Whaley they've got one more year to get it right.

Bills already signed Mike Gilislee, Colton Schmidt, Greg Salas and Mario Butler to contract extensions.

Watching the end-of-season presser right now. Will try to provide some notes. The first time anybody asked if Mario has a future both Rex and Whaley sat up in their chairs and took a deep breath. Whaley said "it's an evaluation process" they'll start tomorrow with the roster. No decision yet. Body language tells me he's gone. Whaley very clearly saying Tyrod has no shot at an extension this offseason. Says he will talk contract next season if he plays well. Says "never say never" about the QB position and they will explore all options this offseason. Still needs to see him be better. Needs to be more consistent, slide and play well in the final seconds. Wants to see that last one more often. Defending EJ but states he failed as a backup QB this year. Needs to go .500 and didn't. Will consider upgrading the backup position. Won't be players in free agency. Focusing on keeping the guys they have. Rex wouldn't say whether or not any coaching changes are coming. Have thanked both Russ Brandon and Jim Overdorf for making sure to provide cap space multiple times. Still evaluating the possibility of Percy Harvin returning. Mentioned wanting all five starting offensive linemen to be the starting five next year. Didn't clarify if they meant Mills or Henderson at RT. Rex wouldn't commit to Thurman as his defensive coordinator next year. Didn't want to talk about his brother or Mike Pettine joining the staff.

Correct. I don't have much of an opinion on our position in the standings. I don't really think it matters right now.

Drouin went with the same pick as Niederreiter and two above Turris. Hardly a "higher pick." (I may have those two backwards). But I agree with the rest. They're certainly comparable but I don't think either of those players are as valuable as Drouin is currently. The deals their teams got are probably good starting points to go up from.

Do we really want him on the third line? I'm not longer thinking we should just push O'Reilly to the wing... He's been dominant as a center. I want to keep him there until we have a real reason to move him.

If we're trading for Drouin it's to play him in the NHL... Otherwise you're damaging the relationship from the start. Him being in the AHL is the reason we're here. 32 points in 70 games isn't a terrible rookie season. Should be scoring more goals, but we say his primary points numbers and they're up there for the little ice time he got.