triumph_communes

According to the CBA, the ONLY way Botterill could have retained Lehner was to pay him >4 million per season. Only one team even dared touch Lehner with a 10ft pole, after Jason by the player's own account did everything to set him in the right path, for a 1.5 million dollar contract. Then he signed for a team desperate for a goalie for a 1-yr 5 million. He could have just as easily gone the other way and went back into his spiral and not be a professional ever again. There is absolutely NO way Jason can be blamed for any of this at all. His hands were completely tied by Murray before him and the CBA itself. Saying Sheary is a fail when he's the only other realistic option other than signing the Pouliot type players that was a fail the year prior. We offered more money to UFAs and they didn't bite, and was cap stricken otherwise. Again, I don't think this is a fair assessment at all. Especially when Sheary may even return more than a 3rd in return if he's dealt this weekend-- his story isn't over.

File the paperwork in person with the private jet Jason! Don't rely on a fax machine!

For about the 100th time, no they wouldn't be if Ullmark is still injured and Hutton plays as horrible as he has been. ROR was on that dead-last team that didn't turn around until coaching change and new goalie.

shed a tear in laughter, why couldn't we have just kept him around?

At the end of the Murray tenure there was no path forward. He had spent all his marbles and every single pet of the org was a failure. The minor league was in shambles. All the prospects he traded for were busting early. And he still had confidence in Dan freaking Bylsma as the coach Currently the team is on pace for its best finish before Murray, even if its a disappointment. Lots of injuries to blame. Amerks are doing well. Prospects are growing up. The core is growing up. Our cap situation is going to be wide open. Team needs a 2C and a better back up goalie—-and he has a deadline and the off season to address this. It’s not like he hasn’t been all over the phones. He’s not going anywhere

We went from no defensive depth to overload. This off season we have cap space. Your pessimism is unfounded.

Smith was his assistant in Edmonton as well

Scared that Steve Smith gets promoted to head coach if Krueger became GM/President

Last I checked he scored at the same rate as middlestadt

I think it’s the nicest way to say Ristolainen is terrible

Was about to jay, Eichel playing goalie really shows his leadership

His line stubborness needs to end with how this season has gone. The Skinner-Eichel line was the only thing that wasn't a problem last season. And now you can plug in Oloffson at RW and let Reinhart help elsewhere.

A lot of players don't believe the bye is necessarily even a benefit. They already get one week off before the start of the playoffs and that's enough. Two weeks? They come out too rusty. But if believing it is a true benefit, then yes, if only one team gets it rather than 33% of the teams get it, the end-of-season games for those top-teams mean more now. Longer season is also going to lead to more benching of starters, and this somewhat counteracts that.

You can blame Darcy, or Golisano cost cutting us to the 'video scouting' debacle. A good GM will always land on the sword when it comes to cost-cutting measures like that.

Cozens uses his body. Reinhart doesn't. Prospects who rely on their body can really struggle against stronger competition, but no scout is saying Cozen depends on his body, just that he knows how to use it and has good skating to boot. White collar vs. blue collar players. Skinner-Cozens-X on paper looks really good.

glad Buffalo broke the curse before the standards dropped The new season/playoff format I feel is just better. Odd-number of games helps break tie breaker BS that's always un-fun. Less pre-season I think will benefit teams who have less turnover, in a league where turnover is rampant lately. Only one team getting a bye just jives better too.

Missing all 1st rounders and trading away all second rounders in the 2000s is what necessitated the tank. Trading away all of our 1st, 2nds, and 3rds, and the very few actually picked in the 2nd being total busts is why we lack youthful forward depth today. Defense was fixed with trades and lottery balls, and goalies take time, but you have to look at Murray for the current state of forward depth. Teams don't just give you quality depth players in trades unless they're idiots like in Chicago, and even then, we needed a former top-10 pick to get that. Keep in mind that our one 3rd rounder who is showing may be NHL caliber bottom-6 is being targeted by other teams in rumored trades. It's a competitive league. Other than Nylander, which got salvaged, I think it is far too early to call 'miss' on the latest 1sts-- Mittelstadt is recovering from bad development and Tage is in this awkward does really well in AHL and is prone to silly errors in NHL act, but was poised to get over that up until a season-long injury arrives. My only disappointment is Reinhart, one because he won't play center (it has to be on him, the team wouldn't be struggling so long if he wanted to play center in the NHL), and two because the expectation for 2OA is an all around, puck digging player and we got the 6' guy who can't check.

He's struggling in the AHL. He needs time, just like EVERY other goalie prospect

McCabe - Kase Ristolainen - Trochek + Pysyk Rodrigues + Hammond - Khudobin Waive Hutton

I've always said he's an elite complimentary piece, but he is wasted 'space' if considered the core of anything I like when he has his tantrums once every 20 games or so and goes out and gets a stupid penalty because he's not used to playing with his heart on his sleeve at all and is so awkward at it

The big improvement is the lack of missed break-out passes from Risto and needless icings. The whole idea that the player may not have been awful, he was just so dog tired and had no confidence in his defensive partners all the time he developed a lot of bad habits has tons of merit. But don't forget, fancy stats had Scandella as the worst player in the league by far who then turned around to be top-10 in the league in one off-season. The predictive capability of these stats has a cpk of 0.00

Only have to avoid the forums because its full of whiners trying to out outrage each other. People just want to be mad I try to show the positives of the current situation and its straight to personal attacks. Does that reflect on me or you?

The worst posters are the incessant whiners like yourself. Like whining is going to change anything? If you need a place to go complain about the world and cry relentlessly go find a cult Even with your unquoted fancy stats, middle of the pack is a huge improvement.

We have a team with good defense and offense that just struggles to finish. Oh, and an an absolutely terrible backup goaltender. Last year we would spend 3/4 of the game hemmed in our own zone. so many whiny ungrateful fans Jesus Christ