kas23

I think he’s definitely tempted, but sweating isn’t the word I would use. He was as cool as a cucumber with the Eichel ordeal and I bet he is now.

This is right on. We all know Levi is miles better than Portillo. Levi probably knows this as well. We were never going to sign both and give them an equal chance at development. Levi was always going to deserve more playing time and opportunity. So why even have Portillo on a roster.

I get your pain, but a tank season is purposely losing. You already know this though. The Sabres are not purposely losing, but are battling. I think it needs to be said that there is stuff to learn here too. I see people saying how beneficial it will be making the playoffs, even if we get swept. That’s true. But it’s also beneficial for this team to be playing meaningful games in March. When was the last time this happened? I think this is a learning experience for KA as well. We have a fragile roster. You remove 2 players and we collapse. We need players on this roster to overcome this. We may have them already on our team, but they are young. KA now knows what is important, what needs to be improved, and who needs to go elsewhere. It’s easy for us to say, so I have no doubt KA knows as well. He’s not an idiot. Plus, he’s not the only guy in the room. He has plenty of people seeing the same thing and his best attribute is that he listens. He even listens to the fans - he said as such in the letter to STHs. Knowing what we are thinking and how best to proceed are different things though.

Yep. Acquiring a player wouldn’t have changed last night’s result. Acquiring a player wouldn’t bring back our best winger or Norris contender. Even if we traded for a #1 goalie, I don’t think we would’ve won last night either. UPL played fairly well. It’s probably best to add rentals when our roster isn’t so fragile. 1-2 players go down and our team turns to trash. Adding a player or 2 in this scenario really wouldn’t mean much, but would rather just shift the chairs around.

So Stillman isn’t hot trash after all…

Chance to become the next Tank Commander.

Wants to be a Sabre

Is this that blockbuster move that was being talked about in the other thread?

Understandable. We all want the Sabres in the playoffs this year. But, I really think that’s up to the players. They just dropped a winnable game in Columbus. And the next 2 games look rough. It’s not just KA that is taking this route, but it appears Detroit is also. They appear to be right in the playoff mix and Steve Y is a seller to get more draft picks. I don’t think anyone is doubting him. I’m addition, there’s an obvious arms race going on right now in the East. At this point, I don’t any of the top teams have any draft picks left for the next 2 years. We can’t compete with that. Let the Rangers, Tampa, Boston, Toronto and Devils destroy each other. The problem is only one will win the Cup. They will all be imploding in the next 3-4 years.

You can’t just ignore trades (or any moves) that have happened already. The fact is KA has made this team leaps and bounds better than the team he inherited. Making a team better isn’t just about adding players. It’s also about subtracting players and knowing when the best action is inaction. TM was fantastic at “making moves”, but all of the were the wrong ones. KA has proved he is able to navigate this tram to success. People want to ***** all over KA, but forget he runs a team knocking on the playoff door after decades of being absent.

I hope he didn’t. We really don’t need a “blockbuster” trade and would have to check on KA’s welfare.

Yep. It’s an extra shot on goal in a deep draft for a guy who wasn’t going to sign.

Love it.

I think we need to give Granato and KA a chance with Stillman. I’m a huge proponent of the cream always rising to the top, but it certainly didn’t under RK. We forget Skinner was a 4th liner under him, Tage looked like hot garbage, and even Dahlin looked like a JAG. A coach and his system matters. I’m not saying Stillman is going to magically become an All-Star, but a decent 5/6 is a real possibility. Or, he could be a Bryson. We just don’t know. Fortunate for us, it takes many years for a D to properly develop and we certainly can’t rely on drafting one to help in the next few years. If this was the guy we drafted over Bloom, I think we would cut him some slack.

I think the better comparator is Jack. We didn’t have to trade him, but we all knew he wasn’t going to be a Sabre. I imagine Chychrun is thinking the same during his forced team vacation. They both had term left and they both had upcoming NTC coming up.

It may be a good explanation for some teams, but the Bolts have a history of finding great players in later rounds. A good proportion of their best players were drafted in Rd 2 or higher. Point was a 3rd, Kucherov was Rd 2. It’s just a weird response when he says the odds of these picks being NHL players is low, then why even have a draft?

Capitals? Yeah, I don’t know how accurate this is.

Except Tyson Jost was selected 10th OA and Stillman 114th OA. That, and I don’t see any defensemen whisperers on our staff.

I think this type of signing is a reflection of KA saying “ [we] are not comfortable with where we are at”.

Bryson please

When I see Bryson at a +/- of -18, I say there’s a weak link that can be improved. We replace him with a sound defensive vet, I don’t see how that could possibly disrupt the number of goals we score. After all, there are many more goals scored by the opponent than us while Bryson is on the ice. Getting Bryson off would help our forward immensely.

Really, I don’t see Chychrun as a must have. Of course we want to get better players, but getting him isn’t a do or die situation. The Coyotes don’t have us by the balls here. If the ask is too high, would prefer someone like Schenn or Jensen.

I would just aim to get Chychrun and Vejmelka. We don’t need a huge roster makeover.

That’s all it took?