PerreaultForever

Pissed off owner, somebody had to take the fall. I'd say his resume is mixed, but there were a couple big mistakes so it's a reasonable decision. Chiarelli would be a mistake imo but he also might have learned from his past errors, you never know. Will be interesting to see which direction they take.

ha ha but wtf are you talking about? I didn't dodge anything. Cut to the chase, Mitts at 7 million with term would be a colossal mistake imo. Agree or disagree rather than snipe for your self gratification and feelings of worth.

No, you don't have my position quite right. Yes, I approved of what Ottawa and Detroit did vs. what we did because they spent money to fill immediate need holes while we just stayed the course. In terms of cap numbers they aren't that much higher than we are really. The issue isn't the spending (you should ALWAYS spend to the cap) but in when the contracts come off the books. Guys like Tarasenko, Perron, Gostisbehere, all are temporary fixes and the money is free after. There's no issue there. They are better teams with those players added, and those players do not affect their long term cap when they need more money for their prospects and ELC guys. No, I'm definitely not worried about next year. I do worry about giving Mitts $7 million though. For me, we have Cozens and Thompson as our top two centers on contracts that will age exceptionally well if they play like top line centers. Stylistically if you want a points producer as 3C okay Mitts, but I'd rather we had a shut down guy in that role. So Mitts at 4-5 I have little issue with but I'd rather have a ROR or Coyle or Danault type all of whom are in that 5 million range. The make up of this team is too one dimensional, and if you keep paying that one dimension you will have no money for the checking/defensive side to be added, much like the Leafs (for example).

Maybe, but Malkin helped win them cups. Mitts hasn't gotten us to the playoffs yet. No comparison.

I think this game will be fascinating to watch. Two completely different rebuild approaches. On the one hand we have so much talent compared to them we should blow them out, but on the other hand they have a hard working system that seems to be giving them unexpected success. I suspect we win, but you never know. If we cannot handle that fourth line of theirs we might be in trouble. They play HEAVY. It's a good test.

Indeed. It's like I was saying in another thread, if you take the Sabres and Bruins and throw them in a blender you get two perfectly balanced teams. Our offense with their team D would be a cup contender/winner .

That's not wrong, but I guess my problem is ending up with a tight cap number BEFORE we've even gotten any good. What then? There's an assumption we will be a "decent team" and I'm still waiting to see that. We're right where we always are right now, near bottom. I'd suggest the mix of "star scorers" (for lack of a better description) and hard working muckers is a little off. Skinner off the books and a rising cap might make it all okay, but that's a ways down the road and a lot can happen before then. I just hate to make assumptions of success before they happen on the ice. We already went through that with Eichel and Reinhart. To the last bolded point, yes, maybe. If the mix of players in terms of style and what they bring is wrong there is nothing wrong with trading a scoring forward for checkers and PK guys or a tough D man or a solid goalie etc etc. It's not that I hate Mitts. He's improved a lot. But $7 million for your 3C (if that's what he is) seems wrong.

It does have the feel of possibly being a fake manipulation of the rules in order to defer final decisions and why not? Every team seems to work the system in some way so why not us. I personally don't think either should be here but if their junior situation isn't ideal and they are learning more here then go for it. OR, he's too small and young and thus fragile but who knows. KA I guess.

In what I've heard/seen Marchand is acting very mature and is being a true captain. Like him or not, he's a leader. When asked about their success he basically said they have a strong culture in place and he also said Sweeney did a great job finding veterans willing to buy into that culture. Which seems true. Their success so far is a little tricky though. Close games, low scores, they find a way but it also feels like it could burst at any moment. Their goaltending has been outstanding. Ullmark in Vezina form again which just adds to the "KA botched goaltending" discussion. Swayman just as good really and on top of that apparently Bussi has been outstanding in Providence so they have that covered. The D has also been very good and the PK is almost perfect. McAvoy was playing his best ever hockey prior to the suspension issue. The biggest thing though is Poitras. 19 year old kid with the maturity of a 25-30 year old player. More Krejci than Bergeron but a little of both so that has helped with the loss of those two. Beecher has also played well on the 4th line. But it could just be the goalie hugs. I've noticed Tuch is trying to bring a version here, so if that's it, there ya go. (Make him captain next year). I suspect they lose to Toronto though with Gryzelyk now injured and McAvoy suspended but who knows. So far they defy the odds.

That's debatable and probably a whole other topic. They just put a lot of money into their D, they have Skinner, Cozens, Thompson costing a fair amount together. There's good value in Cozens and Thompson if they put up top line numbers but that total is still a fair amount, so if you now give Mitts Cozens money (and term I would assume goes with that) you're going to be in trouble when Quinn and Peterka and Levi or whoever want/earn new deals. So yes, you can pay Mitts that for a few years but that window will be really small on a team that hasn't even started winning yet. The 4th line money will have to be minimal.

Cozens money for Mitts will make Mitts unaffordable for the long term cap situation but it might happen. So yes, the 4th line will have to be CHEAP like most teams. Most teams go for tough guys partly because they play for less. It at least gives your bottom line a purpose and identity. Krebs imo fits between 2 tough guys or grit guys because of his style and attitude, but he'd have to be signed cheap as well. Ultimately, the 4th line likely becomes a revolving door and isn't a huge issue.

It is definitely not feasible to have 4 skill lines. The cap doesn't allow it. At the moment we're actually over paying the fourth line for what they bring. I wanted them to start building a proper 4th line this year but they stayed the course so it'll have to wait I guess. I actually do see Krebs as that 4th line center but it'll be on a cheap contract. Curtis Lazar cheap.

That'll be fine once they send Benson back to junior (6 games 6 minutes) 🙂

Of course we won. It is the magic of the red and black goatheads. Nothing more nothing less. If you do a scientific analysis of the data it is clear that we are a better team wearing them, a completely different team, a team that plays hockey the right way, and so put the nostalgia away and switch to goatheads full time. This is the answer to everything.

Obviously he got a suspension. I wonder how many people are noticing his obviously limited vocabulary.

Oh definitely, no argument on the incompetence, but when you turn things over and try to reboot usually teams look to their past and try to build a newer version of what made them good before. Sabres seem to have thrown all their history away and don't care. They have a future plan and they know better, that is the attitude, and they just don't. Is Adams incompetent? idk, but he hasn't made them into a winner yet and he had a pretty good head start. The goalie situation can't just be brushed aside as one small mistake, he's totally botched it and hasn't fixed it after. For a lot of teams that would be considered definite incompetence.

Cause Cliffy's a nobody and there's always 2 sets of rules.

I agree, there's nobody around to trade for at the moment. Unless you want to grossly overpay and make someone an offer they can't refuse. Which won't happen. It'll be the return of Tokarski. We all know it. It's been 3 years of this already, why would it change now? (I say three, because as soon as Ullmark entered the last year of his deal KA should have known or at least considered the possibility and there were goalies to be had at expansion).

If Hischier had hit Clifton with the exact same check I guarantee you there'd be no suspension. Probably no hearing and it probably would have only been a 2 minute minor.

Quebec City would be better. French Connection and all that 🙂

I agree with that. Unless something changes drastically (like a goalie trade) I don't see them making the playoffs and likely being lower than last year despite Peterka having a breakout year, which I still hold to in terms of predictions. Why a team that had Hasek and Miller would not subscribe to the age old idea that you build out from the goal idk but there it is. I guess Pegula and Co. don't pay any attention to history.

Well it did sort of come down to goaltending, but in an odd way. Comrie, boy, he must be made of glass. Great signing KA. I see a lot of lovers of soft hockey here. That's fine, it's your preference, and it'll never work in the playoffs. Clifton's penalty was BS imo and I'm truly surprised so many of you are anti-Clifton on that. Ridiculous. Clifton is short. He didn't jump. For him to "target the head" means the opponent's head was down, way down, and as such Clifton can't be faulted as it's a fast game and following through is what you're supposed to do. Anyone who thinks he can suddenly pull up has probably never laced up a pair of skates. You suspend that and you're basically saying no hitting allowed or you can only run into big tall guys with their heads in the clouds. I expect lots of eye rolls, vomit and red x's from Liger and the softy crowd. Bring it on. It's what you do best. Two teams that love to play the same way and so it comes down to one shot or save here or there and this time they got it. Dead equal otherwise imo. We probably deserved a loser point. VO is still rubbish. cause they did it backwards.

They are horrible, but overall that doesn't match up with the standings.

This is the game that should delight all the "new hockey" people. Should be fast, very fast, all offense, lots of shots and less than average physicality. Game probably comes down to goaltending. But you never know. If either team comes out flat, they will lose.

Maybe Karma caught up with the Sens though.