PerreaultForever

What King McDavid wants King McDavid gets. Don't see how any coach can fix that D and goaltending but miracles do happen. It was an inevitable move.

Except Krebs is playing his way out of the NHL. He's been garbage so far. I agree on the "gritty depth" and have been on that soapbox for years but we just don't have it. We have a lot of the same. We do not have a team structure suited to it and we do not have those type of prospects pushing to come up.

This is blatantly false. You play the hot hand and the match up. Should your most talented play the most? Sure, but lots of times that isn't the best plan. You coach, and play people, to the game and the situation.

Benson yes, Savoie ? Not unless he develops a lot over this year in junior. He did not look close imo.

I'm not giving up on Cozens but at the moment he isn't growing into his new shiny contract. He needs to look at Mitts and perhaps take a lesson. Mitts was ineffective at the NHL level, got humbled, and then apparently got serious. He seems to have beefed up a little and is certainly using his body to drive through and past opponents creating his own time and space. This also draws additional defenders towards him opening up space for others. Cozens needs to do this more. He still tries to move the puck around people, control it, and move to open space rather than trying to create it. He's a big enough guy, he has to use it.

I said he'd be the "potential" replacement in a down the road a little way. After some time as the assistant. We have a tendency to hire coaches with no NHL head coaching experience after all. Peca and his style/background bring all the things Granato and the current group do not. Could he translate that and get our guys to learn it/play it idk but he brings a fire and passion that Granato seems to lack in his more intellectual and (generally) calm approach. He seems to be working out in New York.

Fluke? I rarely blame goalies but those first 2 goals were bush league garbage. Beer league goalies stop those. UPL is as inconsistent as f... Maybe the coach brings the style but their roster is constructed differently than ours as is their style of play. Will it last all year? Unlikely, but we shall see.

Boohoo. Imagine how Clifton felt after he bought every friend and relative a ticket and then was ejected for a bad hit a few minutes in. S&&t happens.

I was yoking. I thought that was kind of obvious with the Babcock. The Claude Julien I threw in there because he is the antithesis of the Sabres ideas. Absolute antithesis. But again, just kiddin'. There's no one obvious out there at this point in time.

As I've said before, my lack of faith in this coaching staff (and management in general) was lost when they let Peca walk rather than making him an assistant. imo he'd be the potential replacement but at this moment I see few options. I mean who would we hire? Claude Julien? I hear Mike Babcock is looking for work.

and Dahlin and Samuelsson the year before. I remember liking Peterka in the worlds and thinking he might become something. His breakout is a bright spot this season.

We are, as the athletes like to say, on the same page. This is absolutely 100% correct.

Which is what happens when you ask too much from a D man too soon, don't pair him with a solid veteran mentor and/or don't give him AHL time/experience to develop. It's not like we haven't made this mistake before.

Well as I said last night, goaltending matters. So we won one last night because of good goaltending and we lost one tonight because of bad goaltending. Although I'm not sure we'd have won even if UPL was any good (first two goals were absolute garbage, third one a tip so I guess can't fault him on that one) as we struggled with their forecheck and once they got up they checked and kind of took the foot off the gas so it's hard to say. We were just easy to beat tonight. Can't say I liked much about how we played except maybe a few quick outlet passes that created opportunities. We do do that well. The good news is Montreal showed the Bruins are very beatable. The bad news is they did it a completely different way then we play (they used the Florida game plan) so it will be interesting to see if our way can succeed against their style. Contrast in style games are always interesting imo. Might have been a one off, but based on tonight, the Montreal rebuild looks like it's leapt over us already. The make up of their team is balanced and has the ability to play different ways. I wonder if that'll hold up over the full season. If it does, our chances for playoffs are slim to none.

lol, what I find the funniest is I'm so past Murray I forgot which first name was which. Tim Terry call him Fred maybe, doesn't matter. it's the critique some people jump to here any time you talk about trading a prospect. So we agree on the nowish thing. That's good cause it's pretty much my main point. My other point you have trouble understanding is, as simply as I can explain it, I think this team is being built or structured poorly for future success. I'm probably projecting too far ahead, but that's what old guys who have seen teams rise and fall many times do. Let's just leave it there until something actually happens.

As much as any game is a must win it's a must win. You simply have to beat the WC competition each and every game and not give them loser points either. So it's a true test if we have anything building here or not.

I'm not disagreeing with this but once you add one more top paid player to that we get in their situation. So yes, we get one more top player than the Leafs in our top core, and that makes a difference, but it still ends up being a lot of money that so far has not brought dividends. The bottom end of the roster sucks. Everything with the Sabres is still in an optimists projection era where there is an expectation that they simply HAVE to be good, how can they not be with so many prospects, but so far they are not. I simply feel that this treasure chest of prospects philosophy makes us as fans keep waiting on that future and if and when that future gets here the window of opportunity will slam shut on us because of it. I'd prefer if we NOW used some of that prospect capital as assets, made a deal or two and (as much as you can) assured success now. So before anyone screams that's Terry Murray, it's not. This is a completely different time and situation.

I'm not saying we don't have more prospects than them, that's not the point. The point is how many do you need to be good. They filled the holes they had. That's all you ever need.

as a motor oil you could say it means we need more greasy goals. That would be accurate.

If you talk about Matthews you have to include Dahlin (best player on each team) for the comparison. The prospect pool is just a pool until that water freezes over and they can skate on it. Savoie didn't impress me tonight at all. Definitely not at Benson's level right now. Yes, it was the first time I saw him play in the NHL but it's just what it is until it changes. You know prospect pools are a funny thing. Bruins were supposed to have the worst one in the league (and it still might be ranked that way) but they have 3 prospects in the line up and they are all playing very good. Until Rosen or Kulich or whoever comes up and contributes they are just wish fulfillment. But back to the point, I have said many times what you call the Kevin Fiala type trade at some point is inevitable. Have to hope they keep the right guys and make the right trade(s) when that moment comes.

That's the problem though right. Half the cap on 5 guys is Toronto's problem. Their bottom end is garbage. We'd end up the same only in our case 2 D and 3 forwards rather than 4 forwards and 1 D. Same problem though. Unless you cap cheat like Tampa and Vegas did it's a formula that doesn't work. The window provided by the ELCs will be short and unsustainable when we need it the most. I can see us having cap trouble right around the same time we might become a legit cup contender and that could derail the whole thing. Again, I'm thinking ahead.

The Wild are well named as that's how they shoot the puck, all over the place and a lot of them not on net. On the other hand we capitalized on prime opportunities. Levi definitely saved their butts tonight though. They owned us for most of the second but were also a little gassed in the third on the back to back. Goaltending matters, that's for sure. I do like the way Mitts has become a player who uses his body and bulls his way into creating open ice rather than just looking for open ice. We need more of that from others as well but it's a start. We will have to be better than that against Pittsburgh though but you never know, Pens not exactly tearing it up this year. Good win. Necessary win. But Wild will not make the playoffs.

It simply depends on what you think players bring to the line up and to the make up of your team. Wood isn't going to put up huge numbers but he will help you win playoff games. That has value. You look at Florida last year and Sam Bennett had a lot more to do with eliminating the Bruins than Barkov did. imo 34 at the end of the contract is not a terrible age because even if he slows down he still brings that jam they wanted. As I say frequently, not everything is about points and scoring. We need some guys like this on the Sabres. \

Why do you have to be such an a-hole in every conversation. You're such a waste of time.

Now you're back to the original point. I simply think it is going to be difficult, if not impossible to have 3 top level centers and be cap compliant down the road. I'm thinking ahead. Mitts has elevated his play and may now want Cozens type money. If we give it to him, that's a lot of money for whichever player ends up being the 3C. Shutdown works, and in a cap era, it's necessary. Partly yes, because it's cheaper.