Curt

How many teams have a spare middle 6 C ? Perhaps a few, but not many. Personally, I think I’d play Eakin there rather than Sheahan.

For some reason, I feel like Lazar is crazy enough to do it. I’m not sure why. Maybe because he ate a hamburger off the ice.

Agree. There was a lot to like, but I also see the things he didn’t do, and a couple questionable things he did.

Good Grief!

Two things. 1) flim flam, lol 2) Kevy had a pretty good offseason. 3) It was just one game.

What? You aren’t part of the SS hive mind? Huh?

Do people view Hall as a finesse or “soft” player? I’ve always thought that he played a fast, strong, aggressive game. A real competitor. Generally going all out and occasionally going almost too far. Is this not how everyone feels about him?

Is hot garbage a personality description?

I actually think that Eichel is kind of emotional and vocal and is a fire up the guys kind of guy. Does anyone remember the way Jack used to talk to the media his first couple seasons, before he got his media polish tuned up? He is emotional.

Listen up kids. You heard it here first! Prison? It’s not all it’s cracked up to be.

Agree. He has been with the team no more than a week. After being a team leader on a finals team in a very compact and emotional tournament. I could see him taking a little time to settle. As long as he doesn’t start to really struggle, I think he needs to stay in the NHL lineup.

A little late here.

Ok. Unnecessarily harsh. He was a solid backup for about 5 years with one excellent season as a backup. That’s just what he is/was. I don’t think anyone out there is thinking he is going to be a Vezina winner. Just that he can maybe be ok as a backup for one more season.

The bolded statement is not actually true. He played in a top 6 role with Carolina. He got the ice time of a top 6 forward. I also find it hard to fathom how he will get 17 mins per game if he isn’t in the top 6 of this team.

No. It looks like only 4 of them are.

I’m not sure he is going to play any games. They put their largest contracts on the active roster so that their cap hit was as high as possible on opening day, for cap/LTIR reasons. Quinn had a higher cap hit that some of the other taxi guys. That’s all.

If a team steamrolls Buffalo, it won’t be because they punched them in the mouth. It will be because they are better at hockey. Also, Sabres are a pretty big team. What do you even mean by “tough guy”?

Oh, well if we are looking for players to get 20 points in 56 games, then yeah, none of them are doing that except Eakin maybe.

Do you think he is viewed as less of a leader in the room due to his salary? PS, he has been wearing a letter for a couple years now.

With all that stuff you just mentioned, it’s not going to be normal. It’s going to go from a competitive 2nd division league, to more of just a place to keep guys playing.

Riley Sheahan shovels a relatively harmless shot towards goal. It glances off a defenders leg, changing direction slightly, and the surprised goalie gives up an awkward rebound. Skinner flys in from the left face off circle and buries the rebound! He skates back to the Sabres bench and yells F U Ralph, I’ll do it myself! Krueger leans over to Steve Smith and whispers, “I love it when a plan comes together.”

Cool. Not surprising to me. Hall and Staal may both be here for only one season, so they don’t take letters from guys who already have them. Teams need more than 3 leaders anyway.

I disagree. I believe that culture is definitely a thing. Having an environment where everyone feels that their contributions are valued and everyone is working hard, with team goals in mind. It raises the ceiling of what a group can achieve together. Of course I won’t be so foolish as to suggest that a good culture can magically turn a group of scrubs into a championship team. Culture is not magic dust that you sprinkle in the locker room. It’s generally instilled by team members who have a gift for, or have learned how to inspire a positive, team focused attitude in those around them. If those players are stripped away, the culture can disappear with them. What happened to the Oilers after they traded Wayne Gretzky? They won another Stanley Cup. What did the Bulls do the season that Jordan was playing baseball? They still won 55 games.

This is bizarre. They can’t and won’t? Some of those guys absolutely can and have produced at a rate of over 20 points per season. Here are their 82 game scoring rates over the past two seasons. Eakin- 25, 43 Sheahan- 19, 19 Okposo- 30, 30 Lazar- 22, 15 Reider- 15, 13 So, Okposo and Eakin consistently produce over that rate. Sheahan is right there, just below. Lazar, maybe/maybe not, personally I think he has a little upside (just a little) but that’s just me. Reider has simply not produced offense the past coupe seasons. Also, I personally don’t think all 5 of those guys will be in the lineup very often. However, I think a big part of our disagreement on this is based in our degrees of certainty about what the lineup will be. You seem to be assuming that Skinner will be stuck with Sheahan and Lazar the majority of the time and that all 5 of those guys will be in the lineup most of the time. I think Cozens is going to play. I’ll also be upset if Skinner-Sheahan-Lazar is a thing that happens more than a few games.

Coaches watch them day in day out. I guess they thought he didn’t look ready enough. I’m sure coaches have certain things they look for to determine this. I have seen no definitive evidence that Krueger wont put Cozens, for example, on a line with Skinner. I’m good with a rugged vet in the other spot. In fact I think it may be necessary. I would be terrified to ice a Skinner-Mitts-Cozens line. Im not so down on the marginal vets as you. If they can play decent defense and put up 20+ points, that’s ok for the bottom couple guys in the lineup.