mjd1001

Team success maybe. But that is kinda a given because most players that leave here to go other teams. Individual success/production, not really. Eichel's stats/production is lower in Vegas than it was here, and honestly, the team isn't much (if any) better overall than before he was there. Reinhart is doing well, but his production again, isn't much better than it was when he was here. Risto? He is getting a lot less playing time in Philly than he did here. The big issue is there weren't many players that were good here that left. ROR? Again, went to a better team but his production wasn't much better, it was the case of taking a good player and inserting him to a better team. The list of the next highest producing players for the last decade or so that left is: Evander Kane, Tyler Ennis, Johan Larsson, Marcus Foligno, Jake McCabe, Evan Rodriguez, Bogo, Sheary, Asplund, Scandella, Montour, Colin Miller. That list is a who's Who of mostly players that were not that great to begin with. This team had some big problems the last 10-15 years. Bad managment, bad coaching, bad scouting, and a bad roster of players. A LOT went wrong here.

I'm not sure Savoie is a lock yet. Possible Yes, but even with his age and the rules, there are ways he can be 'around the team and 'around roch' (his allowed games with Buf, stay with the team and practice, and I even heard someone say he can go to Rochester on 'conditioning' assigments). Plus Rosen and Kulich and Savoi aren't likely playing the same role as KO. They are top 3 line guys (probably 3rd liners). This Buffalo team, at least last year, had a different role for the 4th line, one that even an aging KO fits better than those young guys (with the single possible exception of Rousek (who could be taking Jost or Girgs role if he makes the team) Of course, they could transition to not having a typical '4th line' and having that 4th line be a young kids line....and have the 'checking' duties done by comittee. I'd like to see that but not sure they are going to make that leap.

Lot of other things to think about: -Mitts, VO might be on the move or other trades could be in the works? If one of both of them go, that opens up some spots that need to be filled. -Adams seems to be one of the GM's that thinks too much time in the minors isn't a bad thing. Might be the plan for the guys who haven't played a lot of time in Buf to be 'eased' onto the big team...getting a few weeks at a time up here next year, not a roster spot in October. -Might be that Jost isn't back for sure now? Not as confident in Greenway than they thought before they got him?

Does he stay captain though? I think there is a chance he is OK without the letter and just leading by being a 'voice in the room' if it comes down to that.

Certainly worthy of its own thread. Pretty big pay cut, what is his role? Does this mean anything for Girgensons coming back? (I still want Girgeonsons back for sure.) One less spot for a younger guy? Will he be captain again or an "A" or is he willing to not take a letter at all and be a leader without a letter? I guess for a reduced salary its not bad. This year the money wasn't a cap issue for the Sabress anyway. I'm also assuming he had a 'fun' season last year playing with this team and might look forward to the 'forward' version of a "Craig Anderson" type season.

I personally never said he was a cancer that you couldn't win with. I thought he was overrated when he was here, and he would best fit on a team where he isn't the clear cut 'guy' and 'captain....but rather ONE of the top players but not THE top player. I also never thought he was a top 10 player in the league, maybe a top 25 or 30 guy. From what I have seen in these playoffs, nothing has changed my opinion on him up or down. And yes, I love the continued talk about Eichel and other former key players on this team. I know some hate it and want to move on, but seeing how former key players on this team do on other teams...that is part of the fun of being a fan.

They are both pretty bad to me but I have to hard disagree with that. On recent trips to New York City, and in the suburbs of DC, there was a lot of it being used. I think it smells absolutely awful. Smells something like a dead skunk that someone started on fire. I don't like the smell of 2nd hand cigarette smoke or cigar smoke but I can live with that. When I walk by someone smoking weed, it doesn't quite make me nauseous but it's in that neighborhood.

The A-team movie. Hated by the critics, flop at the box office...but I liked it. Is it a cinematic masterpiece? 100% faithful to the series? No, but to me it was a good, fun 2 hours watching it. Don't understand the hate that many have for it.

I have to say something about this. I grew up watching the maple leafs on hockey night In canada so for a while they were My second favorite team. It is listening to the behavior And just How obnoxious they are that actually has driven me away from being a fan of theirs. They are the only team in all of sports over my entire life that I used to like and I really no longer do like because of the fan base. My wife grew up in New York City so I know all about obnoxious new york fans. I lived in Boston for a few years so I experienced first hand Red Sox and patriots fans for years. There are obnoxious fans all over. Listening to maple leaf fans talk and reading some of their social media and message boards, no fan base I have ever encountered Is as bad as they are. Maybe the patriots fans under brady, but certainly No other hockey fan base is even close as being as annoying and obnoxious is they are, especially for how little They have won anything of consequence recently.

I'd love to see him play down there to see how he fits in,. But I also understand that he just might not be ready to step in A lineup That's doing pretty well without him.

On the main topic, I'm having more fun following the amerks in the past 2 years than I could ever remember. Wish all their regular season Games were on tv. As far as being in Austin, I was there once and it wasn't awful but I didn't understand all the hype. Same thing with dallas on our trip there. On the other hand I love going to philadelphia and boston and could go to those cities every year. Give me a hotel room in the new seaport district of Boston and I could stay there for a week Just walking around and going to restaurants My niece just moved to texas because she loves Is there but would never set foot in the northeast for more than a day or two. Everyone has their own opinion.

I know we all have our opinions on players and that differs from person to person. I also know that every player is not universally liked. I am, however, still unclear about the rush to move on from Girgensons. Over the last few years, he has proven to be a good penalty killer. Eye test says he is rarely out of position on the PK, and over the last few years he is usually in the middle of the team or the upper part of the team in terms of stats for how many PK goals he is on the ice for. He is not 'over the hill'. He is a pretty quick skater. If you look at his scoring per 60 minutes hes actually not bad at all, maybe above average for a 4th liner. Now if he were to come to KA and demand a huge increase in salary over a long term deal of course you move on, but for what you are likely to pay him, I want him back for sure.

I never really like expansion teams when they come into the league, but the Coyotes I have grown to like a little bit. I was hoping this would pass so they would stay there. I guess once a team develops a fan base (no matter how small) I hate seeing them move.

I grew up with the Yankees and Blue Jays, Yankeest first that that has kinda swapped. Most things about the Yankees I shouldn't like now, but because I always liked them growing up, I still follow them more than I used to. Boston is a tough one for me. I hated them growing up. But I went to a few games when I lived there, I think Fenway is really fun and just had some good times going to their games. But when it comes down to it, I guess I have to say the Blue Jays. It would be a lot stronger with them if, for the past 20 years or so living in WNY we could have seen their games on TV. We are up in Niagara county, when I drive down the hill from Niagara University to Lewiston you can see the stadium across the lake on a clear day, Buffalo has been their farm club for a while....Yet local cable tv over the year has shown the Yankees, Mets, Braves....but no Blue Jays.

I'd have to agree with what you say with the slight change of Dallas and Carolina are interchangeable. I'm just happy Toronto is out. I grew up watching them 2nd only to the Sabres, at times I liked the team, but wow, that fanbase makes them very hard to root for. Even in defeat they think they are better than any other fanbase, their team is better than any other team just everyone is out to get them, that every player they have if the decide to trade them should be for NHL stars AND multiple picks...and every free agent wants to play there just because they are the Maple leafs. The leafs have many qualities for a team I can root for (mostly they are one I did root for earlier in my life), but just reading a few posts on their boards or listening to thier talk radio..and they make it hard for me to do that. I lived in Boston for a few years and I found it alot easier to talk to Bruins fans than I do Leaf fans.

I agree with your sentiment overall. Montour is the best example. And while the Sabres were bad at pretty much everything over most of the last decade (coaching, development, drafting....), I think you can put this on Drafting players more than anything. Eichel is who he is, there really was no other player you were going to pick at that spot. Reinhart? You could have had Draisaitl or Nylander there. But the bigger issue with the Sabre is look at the rest of who they picked. Over the last 15-20 years, only Arizona might have a worse draft history than the Sabres (not couting the last couple years.) We are all hoping the team is turning around now, but really since Pegula took over the Sabres have been one of the worst at drafting, and coaching, and scouting, and player development. You have a playoff drought of a few years when you are bad at one or two of those things. You have a massive playoff drought when you are bad at pretty much all of them.

I'm not really intersted in Hellebuyck. Not for what it would probably cost. Yes, I want the team to get better, but I am enjoying the 'ride up' with seeing the current guys get better. Now, if Winnipeg and Hellebuyck would do something crazy like trade him for UPL, a 2nd, and one of the lower level prospects, AND Hellebuyck is willing to sign a 2-3 year extension for no more than $7..then sure do it. But if it cost more than that (and i'm pretty sure it WOULD cost more than that), I'm Ok with staying on the current path.

I don't like Seattle's unis that much, Dallas same thing. BUT, something about the Green Dallas unis vs the Whites on Seattle, it looks pretty nice on the ice.

Yes it is a long way of saying just that. The advantage an expansion team has is they are going to have a huge list of those late 20-year-old guys avaible to pick from that existing teams don't. If they do things the right way, they can be playoff-competitive a lot quicker than a team rebuilding from nothing.

Ok, I am not saying the Sabres couldn't have had/shouldn't have had some guys like this and that is why Seattle is better. There are a LOT of small reasons added up why they are playing good. But I think one is overlooked often: Roster composition. Specifically the age of players. You don't need to have the 'best players' if the players you DO have are all in the prime of their career. It is easier to do that with an expansion team now, harder with an existing team. With an existing team that has been trying to win for a while, you have some guys in the prime of their career, but you also have some guys that WERE in the prime of their career when you signed them years ago and are now not as good as they were but are still taking up a large part of the cap. You may also have some 'younger guys' working their way up through the system on that team who are playing (out of cap necessity) but aren't as good yet as they are going to be eventually. Seatte may not have the high end talent of other teams, but what they DO have is a team full of guys talented enough to play in the NHL AND are mostly in the prime of their career. I looked at the guys who were on the ice the most for them the entire year. Their top 6 minute guys on Defense are aged 30, 26, 30, 26, 32, and 28. No one 'over the hill' for a defensmen but all mature enough to know what they are doing. Top end talent? Maybe not, but you have no guys back there who are 'too old and hanging on' or 'too young and making mistakes'. Much is the same with them up front. The only guy you have under 24 in their top 12 (minutes played) is Berniers, that is it. Gourde and Eberle are the oldest guys though at 32 and 31. Almost everyone else is in their middle to late 20's. Again, the most talented group? No, but no one is 'too old to keep up' and no one is 'too young/too inexeprienced'.

Who is the harder working team....Seattle or Carolina?

The lottery hasn't really eliminating 'tanking' in any of its recent forms. Maybe it has cut down on a team just going all out, trying to be the worst team ever? Not sure. I DO like the current idea where you can only move up 10 spots.

No, the Leafs single biggest problem is that Matthews (and their other stars) just don't play as well in the playoffs as other stars around the league do. Its a large enough sample size to come to that conclusion. Over their careers, guys like McKinnon, Draisaitl, Kucherov, McDavid.....equal their regular season production or in many cases EXCEED it once the playoffs arrive. Matthews, Marner, and Tavares not only have their production drop in the playoffs, but it drops by a noticable amount, and this is now for their entire playoff careers. WHY that happens may be a differnet question, but, for the most part, their stars don't always show up once the playoffs start and that is pretty common with this team, year after year.

I posted this about to weeks ago. I grew up kinda liking the leafs, but the single biggest reason why I do not like them anymore is the CONSTANT complaining about the refs by their fans.

So, as others have said...... Eichel vs Reinhart (and Montour) for the Cup is looking more and more probable every day.