mjd1001

Well that is just the thing...While we are far from perfect here, many fans think things have started to look up and turned around right after he was gone. Coincidence? Maybe, maybe not. Therefore, for those fans, no other bogeyman is needed to pursue. One isn't needed right now as things seem to have turned the corner for many of us....the only Bogeyman that can exist is when we look back 6+ months or more...and Jack fits the bill really well for that role. This is a forum about the Sabres....there are no rules saying we can or should only talk about the current Sabres. We talk about good and bad here. We talk about current players and former players (Hasek, Perreault, Briere, Drury, and Yes, Eichel). There is a good portion of posters here who are going to want to talk about Eichel, no wishing that away will change it.

I'm wondering at this point if Vegas considers Eichel their 'franchise' player, so much so that he will be 'consulted' or at least 'kept in the loop' regarding any coaching changes? Or if they are going to basically do what they do and have him deal with it.

I'll agree with you, the camera angles make it hard to say for sure 100%. If it was forced to make a decision I'd say 'no goal', but without that good camera angle it is so close that I'd just go with the call made on the ice.

I don't 'want' them to be good, but they are an interesting case to think about. As a hockey fan, taking a look at any team and thinking what you would do to make them better based on their current situation is a fun exercise. I'm not hoping that they actual management of the team figures it out, but as a fan his is the stuff that is fun to think about.

I still think there is a strong chance he goes to AZ.... My info may be outdated, but I do remember last summer or the summer before hearing how he spent all of it in Arizona...absolutely loves being there, has a lot of friends there that he spends a lot of time with. Again, this was from last year or the year before but when I heard that (I THINK it was a discussion on 590 out of Toronto), I thought to myself he has to be signing there when his deal in Toronto is done. They have a couple years until his deal is up to get better, but between them losing a couple high draft picks and the Awful picks the Coyotes have made, who knows how long it will take them to get viable young talent on that team. Coyotes have been an awful drafting team. The last time they drafted a player who would have a season of at least 30 goals in the NHL with ANY team...to my knowledge was the 2nd player they ever drafted back in 1996...Danielle Briere. (Unless I'm missing someone but I don't think so)

I probably agree with you on not making a deal like that, but Marner is very productive. Almost 100 points this year in 72 games (would have had 100+ without missing those games). Only 25 years old. his last full season before this one had 90+ points. 9th in the entire league in points per game over the last 4 seasons. Again, I wouldn't trade Dahlin for Marner and a 1st myself, but the guy is not just good, he is bordering on elite point production.

Slightly off topic but concerning Skinner... -He has the 2nd most career goals of anyone is his draft class, and is only 7 goals behind the leader (Tyler Seguin) -Last year he was 3rd in the league in goals by anyone in his draft year (33), Behind on Brock Nelson (37) and Tarasenko (34) Not really anything important, I just thought interesting. Anyway, nice bounce-back year from Skinner.

I don't technically know what is right, but I say "Game 7s". It just sound so bad the other way around.

Many/most of us root against the Leafs, but I do find it interesting as a fan of Hockey to look at their situation and think about what could be done to make things better. So much so that when working outside today I was listening to Toronto Sports talk. -Many fans calling in want major changes. Some of it really extreme, like tearing things down and rebuilding from scratch, but that I assume is just emotion talking. -Lots of fans calling in asking for more 'toughness'. Tom wilson guys...guys that will play borderline dirty and make other players not want to come over the middle. -Biggest thing fans (and radio hosts) were advocating was to change coaches. Seems to be an early cry for them to hire Trotz. -LOTS of complaining about officials, how they are against Toronto. At one point even the hosts said "they didn't lose because of the officials" but then they went on for 10 minutes about how the calls were bad against the leafs and some of those calls may have changed the flow of the game against them and caused them to lose. At one point, they got onto a topic I mostly agree with. They said you need a good team to win, but if you look at most teams that win the cup or at least go deep in the playoffs, they usually have a D-man or 2 that are franchise D-men or very close to it, and they have franchise Goalies or at least a goalie that has the ability to get really really hot and carry them under pressure. Toronto doesn't have either of those and its not clear how they can get one. The more i think about it, the fans may be against it, but I think one of the 'big 4' might have to be traded. Tavares is probably not moveable because of his age and contract. Matthews is the one guy you don't want to move for anything. That leaves Marner and Nylander. IF Toronto could trade one of them and get a stud D-man who can control the game from the backend, it might be worth it. No one wants to trade a young D-man like that, But if Toronto floated Marner (preferable) or Nylander, a future #1 pick (although it would likely be a later round pick) and a top Minor league prospect, MAYBE they could get someone to give up a Young D-man. Toronto is in Win-Now mode. Tavares is showing some slight signs of slowing down due to age, Matthews only has 2 more years left on his deal before he is unrestricted. Maybe you forget about the future and say we have to win in the next 2 years...so you offer up to anyone Nylander, your next 2 first round picks, a 2nd rounder, any prospect they want, and maybe take back a long term injury contract and see what is the Best D-man you can get for that package. From the Sabres point of view..if Toronto offered you Marner and their next 1st rounder for Dahlin would you do it? It would free up cap room for Toronto to get a goalie also.

Toronto is in a tough position. Once 'cooler' heads prevail, it would seem you would want to run the same core back out there next year, and their cap situation, while not DIRE, dictates you may not have many options because they won't have much flexibility. No major contracts come off the books next year....but if you want to keep Campbell in goal he will require a big pay increase. There really isn't any room to improve the team by spending more money, but the point is you are good enough (and the core is young enough) where you don't need to. The old Billy Beane philosophy of team building....make a team good enough to get to the playoffs and when you do just hope for the best. The tough part is....you aren't getting any BETTER, and is basically 'the same' good enough? You might be as good as or slightly better than Tampa next year again, but they will be a tough out in the playoffs. And, with 'the same' team I see Toronto has having a tough time getting by what Carolina will be next year, and it would be an upset for them to get by Florida. Then if you do all that, if you make it to the cup finals are you better than a team like Colorado in a 7 game season? I don't know. Again, logic says it will be very hard to make major changes so go with what you have, but I just look at the Leafs and see too many areas that may not be weaknesses, but at least 'non strengths', that they seem to be built a bit flawed to defeat multiple other top teams in 7 game series. I'd love to have another year by Campbell in net like he had this year (or someone else to do the same) and I think in a playoff series they need one or 2 D-men who are young, great skaters who can control the game...and I would gladly trade one of their forwards to get that guy on the back end. I just don't see a team that has an 'under 30, all star level D-man' trading them to the leafs for someone like Nylander, and the Leafs have no cap room to sign or offer sheet one to get them over the top.

I don't know what they do. Honestly, I think the best chance they have is to come back with the same core. They aren't getting a lot better by trading the main pieces away. Try to find that Veteran forward or D-man who will bring some production and character and experience, but you need to stay with that core. Coaching changes? maybe.

I don't think using a couple advances stats anywhere comes close to proving he is the better player, even now. Even advanced stats are impacted by teammates, the position the team is in (development vs fighting for a playoff spot as the mail goal) and what the coach is asking you to do. The position Dahlin was in for most of the year (and previous years) vs Hughes...even with advanced stats is apples to oranges. NO WHERE close to proving it.

I too think Dahlin is going to be an overall better D-man. Next year will be key to determine this. If he takes another step forward next year (even a small one) and has a better team around him (even only slightly better), then his game should start to look a lot better compared to his like-aged D-men around the league. I never thought of Dahlin as a guy who would be the league leader in goals or points from the back end. More of a guy who was going to be very good to bordering on great in every single aspect of his game (if he reaches his potential). Someone with few weaknesses that can control the game from the back end. Lets hope he keeps on developing and gets to that point. Modern Analytics are a great tool, but remember the interesting thing we heard from Adams recently. Sometimes analytics will show a player has a weakness or he isn't as good as you want him to be, but Granato in meetings will jump in and explain why that may be the case....it could be that the player was asked to do something different, or put in a position that he may not be going forward in the future but it is part of development at this point in their development. At this point, if I had to pick Dahlin vs Hughes on my team I'd pick Dahlin. It'll be interesting to see how he develops going forward.

People who buy full size trucks and just aren't good at driving them in parking lots. I'll say that I have owned a couple of trucks myself, so I don't hate pickups myself and have no problem with people who buy them. However I do work and travel alot and am in parking lots dozens of times per week and... -Most of the time when I have someone park next to me and leaves me so little room I can't open my door it is a full size truck. If the spot is too tight for how big your vehicle is, FIND ANOTHER SPOT, don't block someone else in. -I will often 'pull through' my parking spot so I can pull out...and I leave a couple of feet between the back of my car and the line separating the spaces. Doesn't matter. If a full size truck driver wants to park behind me they are going to use every single inch I leave (even if it means going over that line) because they are so long that when I come out to get into the back, I can't even stand there because the truck is so close I can't even open the hatch and load stuff. -On occasion, I have pulled into the spot and the full size truck pulled in the spot in front of me. Again, if I leave 2 feet between the front of my car and the line, they'll pull over that line into my spot. One time a full size truck actually was touching me, and a couple other times I suspect I was 'tapped' by one (my front plate has more than a couple dings and dents in it.) There are bad drivers everywhere. I, like many others make mistakes when driving. But if you really need to buy your full size truck that never goes offroad and never has a single thing thrown in the bed or trailed with it, how about either learning to drive it or NOT squeezing in that space that is 3 spots closer to the front of the store when it means hitting or blocking other people parked there simply because your truck is too big?

I hope so also, but if you don't get the breakout year form them this year, I'm still OK with it. Mitts was scoring at a 30 goal pace for the last couple months of 2020-2021, then he got injured in the first game. Maybe that was just a hot streak, maybe it was who he can be. But the fact he did that for 1/4 of a season AND a few current players say he is someone they expect a break-out from next year...I'm willing to still be patient with him. As for as Cozens (and Krebs and others) I'm willing to have a lot of patience with them as long as there isn't a major regression. There are many players picked 4th to 20th overall in the draft that sometimes just take years to hit their stride: -Kevin Fiala was drafted 11th overall. Didn't become an NHL regular till the 3rd year past his draft year. It wasn't until his 7th or 8th season past his draft year he became a 30 goal guy (32 goals per 82 games SINCE he turned 23 years old) -Elias Lindholm was drafted 5th overall. Didn't even score 20 goals until he was 24 years old (his 6th season). He put up 42 last year and has been averaging 33-34 goals per 82 over the last 4 years. Before that in his first 5 seasons is career HIGH was 17 in a full season. -Bo Horvat 9th overall. His first 4 full seasons in the league he was basically a 14-20 goal guy. The last 4 seasons he's been closer to 30 (per 82 games) -Lawson Crouse (11th overall) was considered a flat-out Bust. 36 goals in his first 5 years (281 games, a 10 goal pace). Last year, his 6th year at age 24, he breaks 20 goals in less than a full season, plays top-2 line minutes, and becomes a top power play guy also). -I don't have to mention for anyone reading this about Tage Thompson. Yes, there are other guys that are good right away (first year or two), but there are also other examples like above of guys that just take time. Sometimes you think you have a bust on your hands...or maybe a top pick seems to be a bottom 6 guy at best and then all of a sudden he becomes a 30 plus goal scorer. With the team the Sabres have now...guys like Krebs, Mitts, Cozens...and others I'm willing to give them time, maybe a couple more years...to see what you have.

Agreed, it seems the trend may be changing away from developing your top prospects in the AHL. Look at the top 20 scorers in the AHL this season. You have Quinn and Peterka..and then only 2 other guys born in the 2000's (Berggren, a 2nd rounder form Detroit a few years ago and Jacob Pelletier, Calgarys first (26th overall) in 2019). Just about everyone else is in their mid 20's or later. I looked at the top 10 scoring D-men in the AHL this year..only one was born in the 2000s...someone the Kings drafted a few years ago in the 4th round.

I agree. Why can't we have both? I love watching the game action on my tv....give me something else in addition to that....that is being done in many other cities for the arena experience. If all you care about is the product on the ice/winning for the cost of your ticket that's fine. It would be nice to have more for those of us who care about that though.

I'm for the traditional draft, no lottery, you pick where you finish. Want to throw something into it to prevent tanking a little? After you pick first, you can't do it again for the next year or two. You finish last 3 years in a row, you pick 1st, 2nd, and then 3rd...or something like that. Or how about making entry level contracts 2 years instead of 3? It won't impact the vast majority of the players, but if you get a 'generational' player like McDavid, in that case you are going to have to pony up the big contract a year earlier. I Honestly don't see tanking as the big issue many others do, the draft lottery annoys me more. Who are the players that have been worth 'tanking' for in the last 25 years? McDavid? Great player but even with other high draft picks hasn't won a Cup in Edmonton. Crosby? Took quite a few years to win the cup, and he did it with several other top 5 picks (lottery may or may not have fixed that). Ovi? One cup. Lindros? none. These days to tank and guarantee you get that first pick you have to be SO bad that you are going to need more time to dig yourself out of such a big hole. Again, my solution is no lottery, just can't pick 1st more than 1 time every 3 years.

I'm not sure if this is what you mean, and logistically I'm not sure if this is possible, but here goes: You have that Big atrium, figure out a way to use it. Open the doors up 30-60 minutes early and do something in the Atrium. Live Band. Alumni appearances/signings. Trivia contest. Mini skills test for the kids. Raffles. REDUCED (but still profitable) concessions (maybe cater some stuff not sold at the stands). Invite local businesses to get involved. Giveaways for the people who show up. Put up some projectors and on the side play highlights from the latest games...or the last few episodes of 'beyond blue and gold'. I'm sure there are other ideas that you could do with something like this. Early or later in the year (weather depending) do the same thing but move part of it (or all of it) outside. I always thought if the Bills built a new stadium they could do something similar just inside the gates in a large gathering area....those who want to stay in the lots to tailgate can do that, those who want to come in early would have that as an option.....I'm just think the Sabres could occasionally do something similar on a smaller basis (maybe weekend games or 'kids day' games?)

Agree. I'm in my late 40's and as I posted in the other thread, the thing to get me out to the games again would be a better presentation at the game and a nicer arena. I'm good watching the games at home, give me a reason to show up at the game. And that doesn't mean just turn up the volume on the PA system and bang out more and louder music. Quality is more important than Quantity when it comes to off-ice entertainment.

First round loss, possibly a sweep.

I'd rather have the pick this year. Whoever you pick in the middle of the round is likely at least 3 years away from the NHL, and if they do become a major part of your team probably 4-5 years away from making a major contribution. Take the pick now, keep the pipeline filled for a few years down the road.

This was posted a couple years ago, but I still think it is related to what you are saying. They may be the worst drafting team in the past 2 decades. Forget about 500+ goal scorers or even 400 goal scorers. How many 300, or even 200 goal career guys have the Sabres drafted in the past 20 years (since the 2002 draft)? Whether they got those goals with the Sabres or elsewhere? In the NHL regular season, as of the post I read earlier there were 84 players since the 2002 draft that scored 200+ NHL goals (and of course many of them are WELL over 200 goals). The Sabres drafted 1 of them, Vanek. At least they must have drafted some all-star level Goalies or D-men in that time, right? At least a FEW over the last 20 years? Other than what is currently on the team or just recently traded away, the best I can find is Risto and Tyler Myers. So hopefully guys like Dahlin and Quinn and others will turn into stars...Eichel and Reinhart sure better be for being drafted #2 overall....but by and large, the Sabres have been a drafting nightmare for 2 decades. If you REALLY want to be depressed, go back a little farther. The Sabres did draft a 200 goal scorer in 2001 (Pominville). Then you have to go back another 12 years for the next one to Donald Audette. You want to know how long ago it was before the Sabres drafted 2 guys in consecutive years that scored at least 200 goals in their career? Mogilney and Turgeon in the late 1980s.

yes this has been brought up a few times, but I do like this discussion because it is an issue. I haven't been to the Arena for a couple years, but some things I noticed when I was there last: -ripped seats, broken cup holders, pitted concrete under the seats, bathrooms with no hot water, bathrooms with several stalls 'out of order, creaky and dirty seats, uninspired (to say the least) concessions. That is what I saw in 2 hours when I was last there a few years ago. I have been to many other Arenas because I travel a lot for work and like to take in some out of town games. I have personally been to some that were built the same time as ours (Boston, Philly, Toronto) and all of them have been remodeled/upgraded and are in much better condition than Buffalo. Somewhat newer ones like Columbus are A LOT nicer, and really new ones (Detroit) blow the KBC right out of the water. And here is the final point to consider. Should it just be about the product on the ice? In theory that sounds great, and that may have been true 20 years ago. But, if I am only concerned about the actual game, I am likely to be able to have a lot better experience at home. High Def TV, numerous camera angles, replays on tv, advanced states on a laptop or tablet as I watch the game...etc. As a pure fan of hockey, other than being able to 'see the play develop' outside of the camera...I can get more of 'the game' at home than in the Arena. SOOOOOO...if you WANT me at the Arena, you better give me reason to come. Give me an experience. Give me entertainment. Give me fun things to do while I'm there. I really think things have swapped from the way it was in the past. A 'true' fan who wanted to see 'just the game' was best served at a small Arena sitting close to the action like the Aud, rather than watching it low-definition on a 19" TV with few replays and no internet (decades ago). Today it is just the opposite. You want to take in the game and just the game many of us are better at home. To get us to the arena, give us something nice and a reason to go. The best reason to go is winning, but is it so hard to repair/replace seats that are broken, torn, and just plain disgustingly dirty?

I also don't know who that would be, but there should be guys out there like that. Good players, good guys. But guys who signed a deal that was a bit overpriced a couple years ago, and still have 2-3 years left on it at a high cap number with a current team that is closer to the cap than the Sabres. A bonus for ownership would be that the remaining salary the Sabres might owe would be less than the cap figure due to any signing bonuses already paid. Maybe someone playing in the World Championships with team USA that will get a chance to work with Granato when he is over there?