Thorny

I know you want to frame Skinner as “those who think he has value” and “those who aren’t deluded or naive” but that’s not accurate - - - Sure, re: Casey. My point though was that he had a pretty good playoffs - we already know that

I did, you can lean on this because you don’t have anything coherent to say but easier just to take the L 9 points in 11 games isn’t Jack sh*t Their captain said otherwise as did the stats

I know but you asked what was controversial presumably re: the perception of others and he laid it out

It’s not my fault the barometer you chose for your argument was “Jack-sh*t.”

This is the part of what PA was talking about that I get

It’s not just casuals. A massive factor is also where your priorities are for next season

He literally explained this tho

9 points in 11 games and MacKinnon said he was their best player after the Jets series. Ok

Krebs to Philly for future considerations: there’s your addition by subtraction

Sound like my Dad with the Tiger thing lol Tiger is a big reason I don’t consider all the sports watching I’ve done over the years completely pointless. He’s carried a lot of water in the “facilitation of rooting interest enjoyment” category for me probably more than any other rooting interest I’ve had His demeanour was part and parcel with the reason he’s the greatest golfer to ever play The field would collapse around him, literally, through pure intimidation Jordan was an ass, too. That’s sort of the point

It’s definitely something I’ve personally just dropped because arguing against it seems imminently futile

If this is someone’s rooting interest…I mean damn lol

Not this one so far

I use the 18 minutes of downtime to curate my bias in advance, and formulate my opinion before listening to what they actually have to say

If that’s not the default I’d probably question one’s logic. Let’s be real, here Can they succeed? Absolutely. It would be foolish to expect it though given precedent You have to WANT to watch it

still doing the “want to be here” thing, I see. Anyways Krebs seems to be a priority

I’ve mentioned this before, maybe no one will care as I’m not sure what kind of Sabres / Jays overlap there is but the similarities are FRIGHTENINGLY identical. Read this Twitter thread re: a defence of Atkins offseason for the Jays “The more I think about it, it’s not what Atkins didn’t do, it’s the declines of Thompson and Cozen….err Vladdy and Springer! Who even was there??? - - - this is the first tweet

Would honestly be shocked if Catton wasn’t the pick. If he’s the guy ranked up top that’s supposed to fall, that’s our MO The chances of our draft board above us going in order and a player we have ranked above 11 not falling is almost zero mathematically It’s almost impossible the Sabres can’t draft a perceived “steal” at 11 it’s just how rankings work. One of the players we have ranked on the top 10 won’t go top 10, it’s almost certain. Every team drafting in the top 20 or so will be able to get a perceived steal. Just depends who ends up correct But if they are predisposed to making the pick, they’ll find a way to make it. There will almost always be a player who presents as excellent value

That would address the issue of being da youngest team in da leaguueee though so I’d be good with that we don’t want to be the youngest team in the league next year. It’s uncommon for the youngest team in the league to make the playoffs - that’s not an anomaly that’s proven data Should be noted that what Adams most likely does given the added cap space is “explore all options” to the tune of questionable conversion - - - We should see a big offseason this year with several competent experienced players brought in. We needed that before we traded Mitts and we needed it before we entertained buying out Skinner. Go ahead, buy out your 3rd best goal scorer after trading your best centre. I’ve absolutely advocated for addressing fit, regardless of if it was those specific players. I feel like dudacek would have you believe if you advocate for change and get it you aren’t allowed to question the means, but I don’t agree. But I’m also withholding judgment: the theory of addressing fit makes sense We need a big offseason and even more so now upfront without Casey and potentially Skinner. I’m game, I will praise Kevyn if he takes a few noteworthy swings - one thing that need not apply though, ever going forward is “who even was there?” if the results aren’t adequate it’s all on the line now for KA this offseason

We need both

Well said Welcome to the Skinner fan club, new vice president

Miss Flagg and the conversations he contributed to

Skinner is like 95% of other players in this league. They have their flaws. You either find the right mix, or you don’t, and the fact of the matter is that when you are bringing these guys IN they are their strengths and when you are shipping them OUT they are their weaknesses. Doesn’t matter if it’s Zac Efron or Zack Morris, saved by the bell or high school musical, that’s the way spin works

I would say he’s not “a” reason we’ve missed. There’s a multitude of other roster positions that, had they been addressed, what Skinner provided was reasonably slotted into one component of a playoff team. He’s not even close to that end of the list, he’s been an enormous net positive

A quick google search reveals just as much message board speculation out there on this as there is the Rod thing. Depends on what you believe. There’s no definitive answer or link that can be posted. I could post a quote from their GM that while I wouldn’t put stock in outright, I’d certainly put as much stock in as anything else I’d read here, as he literally says the reason is what sabremike mentioned. https://thehockeywriters.com/hurricanes-trade-jeff-skinner/ Waddell continued, “However, with Jeff becoming an unrestricted free agent next summer, this was the right time for us to move on, and to provide Jeff with a fresh start in Buffalo. We talked to every team in the league over the past four months, and ultimately the Sabres were the team that provided us with the best value in return, including three picks and a prospect we like in Cliff Pu.”