Darryl Shannon's +/-

I have seasons and would much rather have a tear down like this than the mediocrity we've seen from the Bills over the past 15 years. I respect this organizational approach because it maximizes our chances of being good again. In my opinion it's bold to take the path we're taking. You can lose your entire fan base, especially if the Bills become a good team. I only ask that when I show up that I'm entertained and don't openly see players phoning it in. Watching Vanek at the beginning of last year bothered me a lot more than seeing John Scott actually attempt to skate a semi normal shift. I fear that unless Ehrhoff is moved that we will see the same thing out of him next year. The very end of the Rolston occupation was the worst that I have ever seen. It felt like work to drag myself to the arena and watch a team go through the motions for 60 minutes.

Maybe that's a better way to frame it. If you have two contracts that eat up that much space, your margin for error greatly decreases in my opinion. This has relevance to where the Sabres will be in the next few years. If we hit big on this draft and next years, we should have two top line players who will grow to UFA together. When they hit that point, are we better off trading one and restocking with younger talent? If Chicago traded either of Kane or Toews, what would the haul coming back look like?

I wonder if teams just aren't structured to handle two big contracts like this, and if the blackhawks (and Pens at the time) would have been better choosing one and trading the other for a gigantic haul. If this is true, this would be about 1/3 of their entire cap devoted to two players.

Chalk the buyout as another mark of Pegula doing the right thing. He and Darcy made the mistake of signing him, but he easily could have argued to keep Leino around to eat cap space. Instead, he takes a hit financially in a planned dead end season if only to protect us 2-3 years from now if we are making a run. It's really nice to have an owner willing to take these risks.

I think a contending team is more likely to follow the model the Kings set and have four lines that they can actually play, not giving time to a liability. Scott and Thornton are both liabilities. Scott is a better fighter. If the young group next year needs protection, I'd much rather have #32 than #22 doing the protecting. Scott is not half the player Thornton is, but both of them don't belong in the league. I'd rather sign someone to a one year deal, promise 1st or 2nd line minutes and try to trade them at the deadline to a contender. The Isles years ago had Doug Weight in this role. I don't know who is out there right now in that type of situation, but think Murray should be looking at getting real 2 way players to set an example instead of refuse.

5,3, and 5 goals in the past 3 years. And he was a passenger on a good team. Would you have made the same argument for Rob Ray in the late 90's? And he was suspended for slewfooting and knocking out a legit NHL player who wouldn't fight him after a clean hit. If that doesn't define a goon, I don't know what does. If we are going to add anyone.....add a legit NHL player who is towards the very end of their career to impart wisdom. Bringing on a sideshow is counterproductive. Think like a 35 year old Doug Weight.

Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Thornton had one year where he had 10 goals, which matches Kaleta's career year. And McCormick had 8 as his high. It's a contest of which plug had the most puck luck in their very best year. And Leino was actually an NHL player at one point. Apples and oranges.

My point is only that if interference and clutching and grabbing were actually called, slow footed guys like Scott and Thornton wouldn't see the light of day.

I'll give $0.05 towards his bus fare to the ECHL. If we determine that we need a goon next year, I'd rather have Scott around the impressionable young minds, not a guy who committed assault on a top 2 dman trying to pretend that the "code" meant he had to drop the gloves with him. If penalties were actually called in this league guys like Thornton and Scott wouldn't ever see a shift.

I don't think a combine will do anything to change minds, but I do believe that upgrading the hotels players stay in and making sure they can see the good parts of the city do matter. Considering UFA's are usually in their late 20's, or early 30's, I think the Buffalo community offers quite a bit to that demographic. Throw in the proximity to Ontario and that's something. Last point....I think the word of players who have played and lived here mean way more than experiencing a city for 3-4 days when you are 18.

I have heard everything reported the way you say it, but in the back of my mind I still think it's almost impossible to be fired in the time he was unless you are a gigantic problem. It was so early that it's almost impressive in a way.

I have a funny feeling the combine being as rigorous as it is will be drastically changed in the next 5-10 years. If you are pushing almost every single kid to puke riding the bike, some day there will be a heart issue that pops. And truthfully....I'm not sure how much any of it matters.

Agree with this 100%. The last owner was accused of being absentee and (I think rightly) hurting a team by allowing key components to reach UFA and/or arbitration. Now we are complaining because the owner is investing 100+ million into an area that was ignored for the better part of 25 years and may have pushed to sign Ehrhoff, Leino and trade for Regehr when it appeared the team needed a little push to make noise in the playoffs? Hindsight is always 20/20. I'll continue to preach that I'll always support the owner who appears to be trying to the best of their abilities to help the community and build a winner. The same could not be said about the Bills for the past 15 years.

He should wait for his back to be turned and spear him in the vitals.

Briere would have gotten there in 05/06 had our d not been decimated by staph, and broken limbs and heart issues.

For me, I've found that asking people you trust to give honest feedback afterwards helps. I was told that I talked way too fast, and in thinking about fixing one small thing during a presentation, it's helped me forget that I'm in front of x number of people. I think it's kind of like a golf swing in that focusing on one little piece helps the entire thing? Every presentation can't be geared like this, but I've also found that starting out by saying you are happy to do Q&A during the talk helps make it flow better and feel more informal. Lastly....before you speak ask yourself the main points you're trying to get across and make sure you reinforce them. Keep getting your reps and you'll feel better up there. It's rare for people to like public speaking, but I respect people even more when I know they're conquering a fear to do so.

Properly applied, I like the idea. And by properly applied, I don't want it to slow down the game to see if a faceoff should be inside or outside the blue line. I'd want it to be able to negate goals that shouldn't stand or call or reverse black and white penalty calls. Another fun application would be too many men on the ice as well. As for the penalty idea, I think it would only work to be able to call or nullify delay of game or point out a gross misconduct type of play. Lucic spearing Dekeyser should be the type of thing that can be reviewed....if missed by the ref behind the play, they can consult the tape and give that 5 and a game. But I think roughing, tripping, diving etc is impossible to properly call with this type of system.

Sign Matt Ellis' lunchpail to a decent one year contract to help reach the cap floor. And Hank and John Scott. The goal is to be really, really bad for one more year while putting players around the young kids who will either protect them from severe harm or show them how to play the game the right way. Callahan would be a gigantic mistake. When it's time to play for keeps, we can deal prospects/picks for the veteran help we need. UFA is not the way to get better.

They need to do something to make up for Moulson's loss in the goal column. All the talk about Halak giving better goaltending is pointless if their offense is as anemic as the Sabres.

And the makeup call.....

I think the simplest point being overlooked here is the discussion of what a complete player is. Lucic does not play all phases of the game. The player(s) we should draft in the next two years have that potential. To further the point, they are also cost controlled. This is what makes this idea even more ludicrous. Nathan MacKinnon makes 1/6 of what Lucic makes today, and Lucic is up for a new contract at the end of 2015-2016 if capgeek is correct. And in line for a raise that he will almost certainly not live up to when he becomes a UFA. And bolts town after putting in two years without truly contending. This is the type of deal that should get a GM fired on the spot.

Girgenson's play to date has been physical yet clean. 14 penalty minutes for this entire year. That's less than one night when Lucic loses his cool. Both guys are eager to play the body, but that's where the similarities disappear. Zemgus plays hard between the whistles and I have seen zero nonsense after them. Lucic's intimidation is probably due in a large part to the carrying on he does during stoppages in play. (Usually against physical mismatches that he selects). There is a reason why people see Zemgus as a future captain and Lucic will never fill that role. As for the recent spearing epidemic, the Lucic ones drive home the point I'm making. An undisciplined hothead is the only one who will skate multiple strides from behind to do the deed.

Echoing the thoughts of some others on here, I think the Lucic price being set here is way over the top. Two top five picks for a guy who might be the 3rd best player on his own team? And that's optimistic? I think you could make the case that he's the 5th or 6th best piece on the B's. Chara, Bergeron, Rask, Krejci, Marchand. As for a comparable, I think Wayne Simmonds brings the same production and a physical element. Just without any of the sideshow nonsense that Lucic brings to the rink. Personally, I think that if I got to watch Patrice Bergeron every game, I'd be mad to see the lack of discipline out of a player who could be even more valuable if his head was screwed on straight.

I think only the hometown fans can defend a guy who spears people in the vitals from behind, backs away from larger combatants and hides behind the "I'm a 30 goal scorer, I don't have to fight goons" line while then calling others "chicken". It's really fascinating when you think about it. Supposedly he is a really smart guy off the ice - imagine how good he could be if his maturity level reached about age 18? As for trading two top 5 picks for him, a player with his style of play, age 25 is getting up there when you think about the physical pounding. Does anyone think a 30 year old Lucic will be a point producer?

As the reports come out that Lucic was a child in the handshake line, it was a bright move by Claude to keep him pasted to the bench in the last minute.