Curt

This is about I would have expected from the US-Wales matchup. Disappointing though considering they led until late. This result keeps the US alive. A lose would have been disastrous.

Interesting. I forgot about the difference in British spelling and it just looked so wrong. I’m seeing some things grammar sites that it should always be an “s” when used with a suffix beginning in “i”, but I also see people using the word defencive……. so, shrug.

Surprised there isn’t slightly more action in here. Ill be following the games and watching whenever I can. I like Germany and Uruguay to go far, but expecting Argentina or Brazil to win. Hope the USA can advance out of their group.

My phone knows French. It’s French Canadian-American, like me. Joke success. Très success.

I outsourced the spelling to my auto correct feature. Doesn’t get any simpler than that. Jokes on you.

Yust another guy, YAG

If Ullmark knew he didn’t want to be in Buffalo, why negotiate with them? Do things like money, and who will give you more of it, generally factor in when deciding which job offer to take? You say that others are focusing too much on the details of the situation. I think you are oversimplifying it to the point of naïveté.

I don’t think this is entirely correct. It’s a pretty hard sell to say that Ullmark simply had no interest in remaining in Buffalo. They definitely were negotiating right up until the end, both sides said as much.

I think the official NHL records don’t consider OT losses as true losses, because why would they do anything that makes sense? So, 10 might be the record for consecutive losses in regulation.

I hope that he does become a 2/3C quality player. He could, but I don’t think he is close currently. Being on pace for 22-23 goals is nice, but if we are going to talk about his ES role, we need to look at his ES numbers. Mittelstadt currently has 1 goal and 1 assist at ES, in 18 games. His possession numbers are below average relative to the rest of the team, and is a -5 for whatever that’s worth. He has been used mostly in 2nd/3rd line, scoring line roles. By comparison, Asplund has 1 goal and 4 assists at ES in 16 games, and is a +1. His possession numbers are also below average, but he has been used in a much more defensive role with fewer minutes. Mittelstadt’s ES play has been very disappointing to me this season. He has performed like a 4th liner at ES. He has been better on special teams but I expected more. I thought he might break out, but I’m now questioning whether he has a future on the team.

I’m only addressing the relevant part of your reply. I don’t know what you could get for Mittelstadt, maybe a young defenseman who is also struggling a bit. I’m not really advocating hard for trading Mittelstadt right now. I just think Asplund has a much clearer role on this team and has performed better at ES than Mittelstadt.

Substitute Mittelstadt for Asplund.

What words did you type into the search bar that resulted in that image?

He was? Jeff Carter, the big power center?

I think I’ve made my point pretty clear. Everything in the posts above, and everything I’ve said are both true.

The term AHL tweeter implies someone who is up and down from the AHL, or not an NHL regular. Someone who doesn’t bother to go look it up might think that this is a guy who has spent a fair amount of time in the AHL the past few years, when in fact he has been a constant presence on the roster of playoff teams. I’m just making the fact of his situation clear. I purposely went out of my way to mention that this doesn’t mean he is in fact a “good” player.

He hasn’t played as an AHL tweeter. He has been a consistent roster player on playoff teams the past 2-3 years. That doesn’t mean he is any good, I just wanted to accurately represent the facts.

So, for me, it’s kind of an issue of role with Mitts. What is he going to be? He hasn’t been good at ES, so he isn’t looking like a top-6 forward. I don’t see him as someone you deploy in a checking line/shutdown matchup type role. So what is he? A guy you play on your worst/lowest ice time ES line and use some on the PP and PK? I’m not sure that is going to be that valuable on this team. Maybe he does round into a decent ES player, but I’m kind of getting the feeling that he is trending towards becoming a cast off.

Having a bit of a rough season so far, but yeah, sure.

Stay safe everyone!

I replied to one specific statement. You are talking about something else. When Vanek was on the team they had more “sandpaper”. Ott, Kaleta, Weber, Scott, Foligno, Gaustad, Reghier, McCormick, Rivet, Mair, Peters. About half those guys were on the Vanek roster at any given time.

Murray had some hits and misses. His ROR trade was great. Some other trades looked good on paper, but Murray’s big downfall was that he ignored a lot of off ice/character issues. He knew Lehner as well as anyone, being the AGM in Ottawa previously. It’s now pretty well documented that Kane and Bogosian were not a good influence in a young locker room. Cal O’Reilly was bullying (or whatever) the team’s top prospect down in the AHL. The result was a fractured team that couldn’t get on the same page. It’s ok for fans to say “that it looked good on paper “ or “how could we have known “ that these guys would have had issues, but that doesn’t fly for Murray. As the GM, it was his job to know/find out these things. He built a team on paper, but not in the locker room. @Toilet_Mop this covers your reply as well.

Sorry, didn’t mean to be harsh. Im sure at some point there will be a trade from among the forward ranks. There are just too many players for the long term. They will need to consolidate or swap for D. I think they want the young forwards to separate themselves and basically show them who deserves to stick around for years to come. I’m not sold on Krebs and Mitts yet. Very early for Quinn and Peterka, but I’m hopeful. Cozens and Asplund I believe are here for the longer haul. Im not sure where exactly management thinks these guys fit. It’s an unlikely time of year for a trade though. Seems like 90% of NHL trades happen within 2 weeks of either the deadline or the draft.

You say that a full and complete rebuild is what was needed, but you seem to be be out of patience for it after one season and 15 games of the rebuild. Full and complete rebuilds generally take a smidge longer than that before they result in a playoff team.

If…… You sound like someone who is done with if’s and maybe’s. The Sabres didn’t get McDavid. Murray failed spectacularly.