PerreaultForever

I agree with you that he's been after a top 4 D man for a while. I just don't think BB is the type of top 4 D man we needed to complete our top 4. Pesce would have been perfect.

Pegula puts a guy above Adams or between himself and Adams if you prefer to look at it that way, I just don't see it. That goes against everything we've seen so far and would signal a major shift in terms of Pegula's involvement. It's something most of us have advocated for for years but it doesn't fit with how Pegula does things. Unless that's changed.

I'm not saying he commands 8 million, I'm saying it might take 8 million to get him to consider coming to Buffalo. Clifton shouldn't be making anything over 2 and yet we pay him 3.3 I think it is. There's a premium you need to add to get most guys to come here. There may be exceptions, but I suspect most players would want a lot to consider us. In any event even at 6.5 it's too much money tied up in D for cap sustainability. Byram will be up for a raise as well remember.

The lack of high end talent (those contracts above 6 million) is why the Bruins have been good but never great over the last period of time. They've lacked goal scoring more often than not. They did fill out their line up this year with bargain contracts and did a good job with it. What they do with the money they have now will maybe determine their fate. Tampa, well a lot hinges on Stamkos.

This is great. Absolutely wonderful. Couldn't agree more except for one little thing. 7.5 million for your bottom pairing D? 31 million plus whatever you pay Pesce for your 6 D (it would take like 8 million to get him to come to Buffalo). It's not really sustainable.

Dallas looked a little flat compared to the previous series so they either wake up or their age is showing. It was a surprise to me.

That article is similar to the critiques I read about Boston, and yet somehow neither of those teams goes away.......................

Ya but it's balanced. Mikkola has been a beast in the playoffs. You need both types.

Or would she/her/him/them/their/them and which pronouns would you have to use. 🙂 Nothing ever HAD to be the case, but everything has been what it has been, and there's only one constant and that's Pegula so given he has a firm belief and philosophy in a way, it did have to be that way.

Power is the question mark for me. If he continues to play a soft passive game with offensive bursts the defensive side of things is in trouble. Too many offensive puck movers and not enough defenders. I think the D has a poor mix on it and Samuelsson has to stay healthy to have any hope at all. If Power steps up we might be fine. I'd prefer if we added a big shot blocking D first guy but I doubt it happens. I am interested to see how Ruff pairs people. We already know Dahlin can play right or left side so pretty much anything is possible. I'm really hoping that Ruff is going to start with a completely blank slate and come with new pairings (and new lines) and the best players will get the spots and that doesn't matter who they are or where they were drafted.

As I understood it they were trying to get Berube so I think this is plan B. Interesting tidbit I found amusing today. In the season ending presser Montgomery said he called and talked to some old coaches and friends entering the playoffs asking for advice. he apparently asked Babcock for advice on how to beat the Leafs. No wonder Marner had such a bad series 🙂

This is what I've been asking for a couple of years. We have size and speed, we should be playing a heavy forecheck style for success. We haven't though. Maybe that changes with Ruff.

and the winner is Trouba with a stick into Cousins mouth. (Couldn't happen to a nicer guy :))

Well Stamkos ain't coming to Buffalo so no need to think about that. He's either going to re-sign in Tampa (most likely) or with a top contender at a reduced rate. Pesce is unlikely since there was talk he no trade claused on Buffalo before but you never know.

says every single team in the NHL. Expect? No. Should he? Yes.

Well I don't care who wins but I disagree on the hockey and the excitement. In the west you have a classic offense vs. defense match up and in the east you have two balanced teams with both star power and high level meanness and grit. They should be well matched and thus the hockey close and interesting. There's no underdog here, it's the 4 best left. Edmonton is the weakest and I'd argue Vegas was better than them but that's how match ups go. Vegas Dallas might end up being the best series of all of them when it's all over.

I don't care who wins tonight. My question is who gets in the first major cheap shot, Bennet or Trouba?

In regards to your comment, I think this nailed it: If you are looking at talent on the roster we had more talent than Washington by far, more than the Islanders (I mean Hudson Fasching for f sakes) more than Nashville, as much as L.A., I think you could even make an argument that we had more "talent" on the roster than Boston has. Yes, the make up of the team wasn't built right for the playoffs but how that roster plays and who is on it is partly on the coach as well. It's his philosophy and his game plan. If he's not asking for the right kind of bodies to fill roles and is just a KA puppet then he's not a good coach either. There are teams that over achieve for what they have on their roster. Nashville, Washington, NYI and Boston would definitely be in that category as well as Philadelphia and some others. Then there are teams that underachieve, and that was Buffalo (again) and coaching has a huge role in that.

That's kind of a strange way of looking at it imo. Granato never got that "opportunity" because he wasn't a good enough coach to get his team to the playoffs. Unlike many people here who believe he is this great development guy I think he was an incredibly over rated coach and somewhat clueless at the NHL level. We haven't had a good coach since Ruff, and now we are there again. Hopefully he's still a good coach.

Basically. I'd say their problem is not enough goal scoring talent. Too easy for Florida to focus on shutting down one guy. Marchand, even without the injury, just isn't that offensive threat any more. They need a top center and a replacement for DeBrusk if they let him walk at minimum.

Open ice? I'm just guessing as I've not watched it but Sabres in general played better in open ice games.

Nashville building while trying to stay competitive at the same time, how radical 🙂 Tampa obviously thinks they have a small window left. Maybe they do. Wouldn't shock me, but maybe they get him to sign one of those team friendly deals with bonuses like Bergeron and Krejci did in Boston. One more cup run type of thing.

Possibly. The hockey in the Florida-Boston series was harder and more intense than what I saw in most of the Vancouver-Edmonton series though. Vegas-Dallas was probably some of the hardest hockey played so far. If Dallas wins the cup it's quite possible that Vegas was actually the second best even if they did go out round 1.

After the first period I thought neither of these teams could beat any of the remaining other teams and probably couldn't beat Boston, Colorado or Carolina (or Vegas) either. I will be totally shocked if Dallas doesn't blow past Edmonton with relative ease.

Sounds like a Sabre 🙂