DarthEbriate

Hasek was so very fun to watch. Even moreso because the Sabres teams in front of him were sometimes quite scoring-challenged so he had to be fun to watch. I really, really would have loved to see Peca on that 00-01 squad. That iteration had serious depth. Baby Dumont, baby Afino, old-timers in Andreychuk and Gilmour. Gratton would have been the 4C with Peca present. We'll never know. And always the caveats --- that '99 team was much better than given credit for. Three 2Cs and a 3/4C, fast wingers all around, really complementary defense, stymie-and-counterattack offense. But that Dallas Stars team was a star-studded roster. At that time in everyone's careers, up and down that lineup, I think you take the Stars player at nearly every position except Hasek (+ research: Stu Barnes over Carbonneau at 3C; and Satan over Jere Lehtinen at 1LW). And Belfour was no slouch either, especially with a Hitchcock shot-suppression system and the dead-puck era. (And Colorado and Detroit were even more loaded. We were massive underdogs for good reason no matter whom we played.) And always the dream -- let's magically heal everyone and go again. Give Grosek back a healthy back (he was a beast that season), give Satan back his foot, and give Modano back his wrist/hand. Rock and roll.

Don't sell us SabreSpacers short. 🍺 We can be idiots, too, when we put our minds to it. Myself more than most.

This. Goaltending is the #1 issue since the rebuild started. Lehner/Johnson was a solid tandem for a team not ready to compete. Then Lehner couldn't stop a shootout attempt for anything. Then JBott signed Carter the Hutt and the rest was history. Hutton had 2 good months (Nov 2018, Oct 2019) in his three seasons here, and otherwise he pretty much hung the team out to dry 4 times out of 5. Yes, I know that innumerable other factors contributed. But we saw it the last two seasons as Ullmark solidified his game. This year: Ullmark, average-to-good starting goalie, had this team hanging around .500 in arguably the strongest division top-to-bottom. We'd still have missed the playoffs: fine. But when Ullmark played, we were in the games.

Did you have the accent? I think it's the accent. I don't think it's the shaving-of-the-head to hide a receding hairline. This from someone with eyebrows... or digitally removed eyebrows, depending on when you look. He tampered in Hodgson's domain.

I just don't see Vancouver as a trade target for Reinhart with only one year left on his deal. He can just play this season and then go home as a UFA. They're clearing some bad cap hits this year so they should be able to sign Hughes and Pettersson (Baertschi, Edler, Sutter). And they can buy out Eriksson's final year. Then, they can simply sign Reinhart next season after Roussel, Holtby, and Beagle's poor cap hits come off the books. Then, they wouldn't need to lose any good, cheap pieces along the way.

What we're hoping for future conversations: ++ I can't understand how we won that trade. I thought we were ROR'd. -- The Concept of the Ehrhoff Karmanos can have a strong influence on the TPegs.

I like this. I like this, too. At 1 and 3, give me Eklund and either other guy.

He might consider the Hall-treatment. 1 year, $9M. With a NMC so he can effectively choose his playoff team if he's not enough to get this team to the playoffs. Then, when we do realize we need to move him, he coasts so he doesn't get injured. We end up having to retain half the salary and throw in an overperforming player that season (let's say... Asplund) to make it happen. 😇🍺

This is hypothetical magic of moving Jack, Sam, and Rasmus the Elder. GMTM (pre-) loaded up on heavy forwards, a veteran D-corps (sort of?), and drafted/acquired big Swedish guys to play goal. GM JBot was alllll about puck-moving D. He even traded a 6th round pick from 2018 to take a lower 6th round pick in 2019 otherwise he'd probably have drafted another PMD and he didn't want to look silly. (Fun way to think of it: JBot traded a 5th, 6th, and 7th to trade UP to draft Cederqvist.) -- edit: I really wish Cederqvist was a PMD. I would laugh more. You could look at this thread as --- what kind of team is GM Sheevyn trying to build if he trades Jack/Sam/Risto. What's already here that could be type-of-team-A or play-style-B, and how would that impact the types of players GM Sheevyn would attempt to acquire in said trades. Based on his single five-player draft, Hall experiment, and in-season pickups like Caggiula and Bjork, I don't know we have enough to go on as to what he wants to build. All he's claimed is to try to get players who want to be here (as if a draft pick or a waiver/trade pickup has much of a choice) and play the game the right way, which means... they don't coast or take shifts off? Every GM says that.

Pre-Jack veterans: UFAs at the end of the next season but you could add David Legwand and Jamie McGinn. Pre-Jack prospects: Remove "Mikhail" as he was moved for O'Reilly -- I think you were already doing that. Phil Varone was a C, not D. In addition to Larsson and Pysyk, we tendered C Tim Schaller and D Jerome (Gauthier-just-) Leduc that offseason, too. Other prospects already in the pipeline (not signed like Rodrigues as UFA post-Jack-draft) who would eventually play with Amerks/Sabres: Will Carrier, Dan Catenacci, Eric Cornel, Vaclav Karabacek, Victor Olofsson, Sean Malone. And a few that never signed: Gustav Possler, Max Willman, and Christopher Brown

I would argue they worked beautifully with Reinhart. He played at or below market value every year and we could have moved him for value at any point in time. And he improved each season. The problem isn’t Reino (he’s fine). The problem is that the franchise is in only slightly better a place and with only a touch more stability than it was when Reinhart was drafted. And when he was drafter we were intentionally jettisoning out NHL-caliber players and stripping the AHL to the bones too. And he’s seen no continuous improvement of the organization for his entire career that might lead him to re-sign here. (Edit: phone autocorrected to a misspelling)

Skill, schmill. His name is a horrible Star Wars name and doesn't lend itself to barely any references atoll.

Well... I mean, truly his floor is total bust. This ankle injury at the WCs blossoms into a recurring surgery-machine and he never sniffs the NHL. But... provided return to health, let's say he's a 3C who kills penalties. That would stink. However, he's the USNTDP top center... In last 10 years they're starting to have a very solid track record. One is a top-15 pick even in the deepest recent drafts. And probably top-10 even in the deepest, but it's really hard to be concrete on anything this year because the wide variety of games played, teams that didn't play at all, etc., from COVID. The other (Bjork) was very good and made it as far as the USNTDP junior team and managed to represent Team USA a few times. But he was a fifth round project who has a high motor. Beniers knocks Bjork out of the park skill-wise and has the motor, too. Upstaging by Frank Oz! Bjork, Bjork, Bjork! You may say that in jest... but Curtis Brown was a 2C. Peca was a 2C. Stu Barnes was a 2C. Holzinger was a 4C. Put a bunch of complimentary hard-charging wingers in there. Get some (yeah, OK, all-world) goaltending... and voila. However, goaltending across the board is so much better than the average back in the '90s... you get two Ullmarks together and a boatload of 2Cs and you're in business. Our trouble is we haven't even managed to get two 2Cs together in the last 8 years.

I think that's the right move for them. I also wonder if they'd be a great fit for Ullmark. Kind of a perfect fit, really. And then @MODO Hockey just trolls us forever. 🍺🍺

And which one takes on the nickname of "Buffalo West"?

Or, if when he'd gotten his rib injury (or whatever UBI it was?) in training camp this season we'd have sat him out until he'd fully (or near-fully) recovered so he wouldn't have been playing every other day through the injury, thereby opening himself up to straining other parts of his body while compensating, or the rigors of being the target of opposition defensemen because he was our only offense with HCRK's structure. Let him recover for 3 weeks at the start of the season, like we did when he injured his ankle in training camp a few years previously. It wasn't the playoffs where you need to play through injuries. But then Hall would've had to truly be a top-line player he's uncomfortable being. But... maybe Eichel comes back out of our COVID break looking like Hart-Eichel and HCRK doesn't get fired. All fun what-ifs.

That's what the opposition GM has to be willing to stake his job on, though. Eichel pre-injury or Eichel post-injury. If we deal him before this year's draft then that new GM has one year to find out whether Eichel is still his Hart-caliber self, or if he's what we saw this past season, which while still producing PP points, had no burst. Or if his body is going to continue to be injury-prone and deteriorate, but healthy enough to pass physicals and keep playing. If you give up a bunch of stuff for Eichel and he's just 2021 Eichel when he's fully recovered... you're out of a job and he's on your team's payroll forever.

I dunno. Seems harmless enough.

Not the Pegulas. But I would expect a pro scouting department <rimshot> and hockey GM to be able to do and pay/contract him accordingly. If he's a 1-year deal as a Skinner-play-with-Eichel cash grab, then you don't give him a NMC. If he doesn't want to be a team leader, then you don't give him a team leader salary. The hockey people should know he's had one great year and otherwise is just a good playmaking winger who has never elevated his team in any great capacity. He did fade. He had a fantastic opening night. Inserting some icons so you know I'm partially tongue-in-cheek. 😇🍺 And screw exHCRK for starting Hutton over Ullmark in the opener. Back to Hall, he was pretty decent in zone entries and PPA early on until Eichel's continuing/lingering/new injuries dismantled that top line. And then Hall played with Staal and it was over. And then he completely checked out once they were back from COVID. (This is all in the first couple weeks of the season.) Again, it goes back to pro scouting/league information, everyone knew Hall wasn't a leader, he's a really talented JAG, and when Eichel/Ullmark/McCabe got hurt... Hall disappeared. But we can dream, can't we? Boston takes Rask's cash and Krejci's cash and pulls a JBott-Skinner-level deal with Hall. That'd be sweet.

And who the goalies are. Goalies determine a coach's fate more than any other position. If only we had known... it was the Saberspacers we made along the way. Except even if they had chosen the right person, it's become apparent that they don't have the ability to see it through on the hockey side because it's not an easy fix once you destroy the team and its farm system to tank. My question is now: Who is TPeg being enamored by currently who is the team's next savior? The Ehrhoff, Leino, McDavid/Eichel, Mittelstadt, Skinner, UPL, Hall that he sees in a WJC/playoffs and pushes for him to be on the team post-haste. And yes, I've included UPL because of the thread/line here on Sabrespace that TPeg was convinced UPL should have been already in Buffalo ... was it the '19-'20 season? Because that target is the player that Karmanos has to show his power to either approve or rein back the owner.

Just another point that our owner is even further off-kilter with reality that he thought Taylor ("My claim to fame is that I help teams get #1 picks and have never done anything of note in the playoffs") Hall made us a contender, and OK'ed $8M, and our GM allowed a NMC to a guy who wanted top salary but just wants to be a second fiddle and not a leader (who makes that range of salary). These are the people in charge of our team. He faded when it got real, just like he faded for us. I hope Boston signs him to Krejci's deal + 50%.

When 31 Shopping Jack Eichels you reach, look as good, you will not. Hmm? Eee-hee-heh-heh! Came here to also add my repeating line re: P Kane. He can sign a 3rd-line winger salary here in a couple years when his current deal is up. $2.5M/year to help his hometown team win a Cup. Just like it's working for Toronto with all their old guys "coming home." Nothing more. Besides, we've got JJ Peterka coming. I hear he's the German Patrick Kane now.

You slimy, double-crossing, no-good swindler... I like your heart, but you've got to get someone who can immediately plug and play as a scorer in return for any Reinhart deal. Especially if Beniers stays in school another season.

Agreed with everyone: yuck and yuck. But what a steal by CBJ! If I'm CBJ GM, this is exactly where I start the talks. We've balanced out the contracts and given up 5OA for injured Eichel. I can be convinced to maybe add a piece, but why offer (from my perspective) it to start? It's on GM Sheevyn to do the bartering and the hard work. 1) Jones has to agree to a reasonable extension, 2) Either the trade takes place after the expansion draft OR Sheevyn moves Ristolainen at the exact same moment so as to not deal from an overstocked position, 3) Is Elvis the 1A or 1B to the next few seasons and how do I manage the goaltending situation, and most importantly 4) no deal without another 1st AND prospect. Who is CLB's prize? Foudy? meh. Chinakhov? I know nothing of their pipeline. Edit: Marchenko, after reading a little bit more.

If we're not feeling modern slang, we can also think of it as the Persian root "istan". As in Kazakhstan. Or in this case Powerstan or Benierstan. The land of Beniers! mmmm... land of be'ers... Skybluewaterstan. Hammstan.