kas23

I’m not talking about our line up. I just remember GMTM pulling these guys off the street to cobble together something to put on the ice. Players like Matt D’Agostini. I don’t really see a big difference between those slumming days and these players we are signing now. I’m at the point where I’d be happier if we just didn’t sign anyone and rolled with last year’s roster plus Staal.

This reminds me of the tank years.

I always find it interesting that an unwritten rule exists between organizations not to offer sheet players. In effect, this action controls player contract amounts. In any other industry, this would be called collusion and would be illegal. Given that this mechanism was formally agreed upon in the constructs of the CBA, how can it be that the NHLPA turns a blind eye to this practice? I would even suspect that decoys are orchestrated by organizations every once in a while to keep this from being illegal. The Aho offer sheet last year was a joke and easily matched.

How long does waivers take? When will we know? If he’s not claimed, it would be fantastic if a team then turned around with an offer sheet for Cirelli or Serg.

I would’ve signed him for that stache alone.

Yes, and see this award being over $4.1M too. Or, at least the risk of this level of award is higher than not.

But arbitration is a non-binding event. The team can still walk away from the ruling at which they become a UFA. The Sens just cut away all the wasted effort.

Maybe Adams knows what this team is going to need in about 2 years. Said another way, maybe he has a plan of stacking our need positions with 2-year stopgaps who are older but still fairly serviceable. Staal would be exhibit #1.

He’s an older draft pick, at a positional need, especially at the same position as a RFA of ours who will want to get paid. You connect the dots... I agree. This has a TP stink to it.

Every top 10 has an “out there” pick. This is like the Raiders.

Or, the Sabres get cute and it’s neither.

I get that it’s fun trivia, but the #8 pick has nothing to do with a player’s skill and shouldn’t have any influence on trading it. It’s like trying to prevent an airplane crash by dressing up like a clown in the cabin bathroom. What are the chances of crashing AND having a passenger dress up like a clown mid flight? Unrelated.

Older age can also be to our advantage. The more physically (and mentally) mature/developed they are, the sooner they will be able to secure a roster spot on the Sabres.

I don’t follow this logic. If the Sabres were shopping Eichel, Eichel asked for a trade, or Eichel wanted to be traded, I would think the first person in the organization to know this would be Adams. And he would hear this news and would be able to automatically dismiss it if it wasn’t true. It’s not like he’d say “Oh shoot, the Sabres are looking to trade Jack, I’d better do whatever I can to complete this trade!”

Based on that interview up thread, it’s sounds like he didn’t put much thought into his list. Mostly because he probably didn’t think he would get traded. It became an afterthought and he said “keep the same one from last year”. Given his family situation, I’m sure he now has some regrets in not putting more thought into it. That’s not to say he’s completely unhappy about it. But, given the country’s current situation, 9 of 10 posters on here would be pretty upset about a forced transfer across the country for the same salary. If he does well here, the Sabres should give him a nice raise next year.

If Lazar wants to blow up and start scoring a bunch of goals on the 4th line, you then don’t move him to the 2nd line. You keep the chemistry going on his line, praise the Almighty you’re getting great 4th line production, and maybe increase their minutes and situations.

Maybe he just vanished into thin air! Maybe he never even existed!

People are against this because of the draft position. But a goalie is the difference between a game won and a game lost. Rarely does a single player hold this type of sway (unless your name is Jack). So, maybe the best thing to do is to trade up a few spot, definitively before a goalie-needing team, and get an extra pick. It’s not like anyone we pick will end up having an effect this season anyways. UPL may be good, but this is predicating his success on hope. Hope isn’t a good strategy.

This is an excellent post and I’ll probably go off topic a little here, but a mentor is not just someone who has been in your chosen profession longer. It is the older individual guiding the younger one to success. For hockey, getting the younger player in the correct mindset to thrive in the league. This usually involves getting the younger player to ask tough questions of themselves, to see their own flaws, and to give them the courage to fix them. Perhaps most importantly, it involves some level of sacrifice from the mentor to elevate the younger person. Everyone needs a mentor, at every stage of their career. I don’t know if Staal fits this mold. Kevyn should know more than us. Of course, it’s all to quickly assumed, but I don’t even know ROR has/had mentor qualities.

True. As long as it doesn’t cost us much, I’m fine if he wants to give us a “contract year” effort at our expense, but I’d make him earn every penny - including into the post-season(!). Cozens should be ready to take his spot after next season. In fact, given the $70M cap rumor, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Cozens on his wing this coming season.

I would really like to know who drafted Cozens. I agree JB made the final call, but who really was pushing for Cozens? Was it a consensus or what there an individual gunning for him? And is he still employed by the Sabres? We’ll probably never know, but someone knows.

I’m hoping Tampa Bay loses in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final. They’ll definitely want to come back then.

I just don’t see any reason why a Tampa player, outside of a personal argument within the organization (or a personal issue, like their Mom is sick), will waive their NTC. There’s just no leverage. Winning the Cup will likely want them to stay longer. Given taxes and higher costs of living outside of Tampa, they’ll effectively be taking a pay cut. Otherwise, given that the team holds zero leverage and these contracts will be difficult to move, I just don’t see why or how they’ll move these players. Plus, with the new CBA, the NMC now seems to travel with the contract if the player does agree to temporarily lift his NMC for a trade.

And he’s pick the absolute worst year to do it. I wish him the best of luck.

I’m fine with a guy who just couldn’t cut it being a director of development. There’s a maxim in investing. When you win, you get paid in money. When you lose, you get paid in experience. Ellis has this experience. There’s a million reason not to hit in the NHL. Even if you know what you have to do and how to do it, you can still fail. But, you gain valuable experience. The key here will be to have the youngsters buy in so they don’t make the same mistakes. I’m a big believer in mentorship. Even the best can fail without a proper mentor.