PerreaultForever

Hell no!!!!!!!!!!!!

I would trade Greenway for Lauko straight up in a heartbeat. Steen can be considered fringe at this point but he fits the Bruins system so he could be a solid bottom end guy if they need that. Greenway puzzles me. He's such an inbetweener and I just don't know what he is at this point. If they can find a way to make him into one thing or another he might be a future part of the roster but at this point, until he develops into that one thing I will consider him fringe.

No more 10 minute misconducts when the refs think you might cause trouble next shift. Ridiculous misuse of a rule last year.

Clifton does shift things in terms of playoff experience, that's true. I don't count the Minnesota guys as they are fringe players at best. If Johnson is starting 6 then he counts. Giroux, if he's still top 6 is the one that swings things for me, but we can argue and disagree all summer if you like but I still think it will come down to goaltending and/or injuries. The grit argument is different though. Sabres are not as soft as they were, but last year I still saw a team that backs down and/or doesn't back things up that much. Sure, Krebs had a fight he seemed to enjoy, and Dahlin hit a few guys on occasion, but we were bottom of the league in hits and we struggled more against the more physical teams if they played physical. We will see this year if guys like Cozens fully mature into forces of nature but at the moment, we will not hold up to their potential level of physicality.

They play bigger, they have top line veteran leadership, they have a grittier line up that is more battle ready, they are maybe not as fast but fast enough, some of them are more competitive, but no they are not deep and neither are we. I'm not saying they will definitely be better than us, but they might be. Injuries and goaltending might very well be the difference. That aspect could go either way. I have more faith in Korpisalo than in Levi (as a rookie, later on sure) but I'm also sure many here will disagree with that so wait and see what happens. I could be wrong.

I thought arguing with the plan was the whole point of being here?

Regarding the prospect pool, that's not wrong, but I'm only concerned with this season coming and who makes the playoffs first. After that, we MIGHT get better but that's next year's off season discussion. Eventually I think Power will be better than Sanderson, but Sanderson is more developed now. He could very well fully break out this year. They are built better for the playoffs, we are built slightly better for the regular season. We will see who gets there first. The pivotal point for me is the goaltending. We are banking on a rookie and they are banking on a free agent signing. I personally think Korpisalo could be the difference but it's just a hunch and I could be wrong. If he gets hurt and Levi can handle the load, then maybe we end up ahead of them. I'm sure most of us remember Hasek beating Ottawa in the playoffs. Maybe Levi gives us that again one day.

Could be the same, but just because you got it wrong one year (or something else went wrong) doesn't mean you get it wrong the next year. There's some solid adds on those teams and Ottawa especially also has a number of young guys who could have breakout years. Hard to say.

He's only 5'10" Ottawa and Detroit made more FA moves than we did. They made a few I would have made for us, but of course maybe those players were offered contracts but said no thank you. We will never know as Adams saying that publicly would look bad for the team going forward. If he chose to not make those moves when he could have and either of those teams makes the playoffs and we do not, then it's on him for sure. I personally do not think he did enough. At the moment, I think Ottawa is more likely to make the playoffs than we are, but of course neither team is deep so any rash of injuries will sideline either. Same for Detroit. Who knows, maybe he fully recovers and we add Patrick Kane in the fall/winter. Maybe not. (In all seriousness though Cliffy is an upgrade over everybody we had last year after the top 3. He should make a good partner for Power)

That ends their remaining cap space but I think it's a pretty good signing for them. Rounds out their top lines and if their season goes badly they can probably still flip him at the deadline even with the no trade clause (unless Tarasenko falls in love with the canal or something and refuses to leave :)) I suppose if they make the playoffs and we do not and Tarasenko gets 20+ goals we can probably say he'd have been a good Quinn replacement.

lol, but I imagine I am the only member of this board who watched every single Sabres game this past season AND every single Bruins game. Steen I'm not 100% on but if they ever waive Lauko we should snap him up in a heartbeat. Guy gives his all and gives it all the time. I suspect however that he bumps Greer from their starting line up.

Oh no man, that's wishful thinking. Even their mediocre prospects are better than those guys. They lack high end offensive players but they have a ton of 3rd and 4th line types. Guys like Lauko and Steen can deliver solid 2 way games and they're not slow either. Lucic is Lucic and we know why he's there but Geekie will be interesting to see imo. Not sure where he ends up on their roster. Yes, he's not fast, but can he be more when surrounded by higher end talent? Many think so. I know that team fairly well and I really have no idea how they will sort it out for the season but they will fall, it's just a question of how much and how far.

That's a tough question and you're primarily looking at offensive numbers. So if Geekie prevents the Sabres from scoring a goal and doesn't score any and Mitts scores a goal but also misses a check that results in a goal against which is the better player? Mitts will have better scoring stats but Geekie's stat maybe wins a game. That's just a hypothetical example to the point of comparison as to "better". Philadelphia is definitely worse. Washington is done and not better. Pittsburgh might not be better anymore either. Montreal has some young possibles but they're not better. Until we start keeping the puck out of the net as well as putting it in the net we're not really better either. Neither is Detroit. It's not an easy question to answer and if you just want to look at goal scorers, you're right, they're not very good. But if you want to consider 2 way or complete players, then they move up quite a bit.

"worst" might be a bit much but it's not great. A lot will depend on whether or not they can get more out of Geekie and how much Marchand has left. He looked a lot slower on those bionic hips and without his partner Bergeron his production might plummet. Unless some miracles happen like JVR turning into a scoring threat again or some prospect suddenly blossoms unexpectedly I don't see much offense at all.

Florida barely made the playoffs and despite their run they could easily be a few points out if they do not get the goaltending. They are really a who knows team that could finish high up or right out imo. Boston and Tampa could both easily slide out if their seasons go bad in terms of luck and injury. We obviously have to get the goaltending, as do the other two, but most of all from those teams it's going to be about injuries and depth. None of those three really have great depth and if any of them have a rash of injuries it'll basically end their chances imo. There's also the other wildcard because after Carolina, New Jersey and probably the Rangers, there's nothing overly impressive and several other fading rosters, but it's going to be close.

This is confusing though. Is there a salary limit for LTIR?

Leafs win the President's trophy this year - and go out in the playoffs first round. Overall I expect things to be even tighter this coming season than last so regular season games will mean more as it'll be a dog fight for getting in the playoffs.

Mitts for Swayman straight up. I'd do it, would you? (doubt the Bruins would)

Well I don't doubt it because on the internet there's a spot for everybody to get mad at something. It's not on the Bruins site I go to though. That one is all good for "the captain" and they are just currently obsessed with how much Trent Frederic will get if he goes to arbitration.

Bergeron was all class. Great captain. Bruins will start their fall now and it'll be fast and hard. They have 1 good prospect. That's it. One. Lohrei. They have 7 UFAs after this year. They have no cap money this year to replace Bergeron with. Their centers are now likely Zacha, Coyle, Geekie, Frederik/possibly a sub par prospect if they use Frederik as a winger or trade him if his arbitration goes badly. There's a moment here for non playoff teams like the Sabres to rise up and take their place. Maybe they hang on to a spot if they shift to a more grinding shutdown style (as they have very little offense left aside from Pasternak) but they will end up in full rebuild mold in a year or two tops. Bergeron was aging/slowing but he was still 1C and it'll all fall like dominos now as they really have no true 1C or 2C. Coyle is a decent player, but he's no 1C. Neither is Zacha. I'm going to guess Lucic isn't as excited to be a Bruin as he was the day he signed.

That's not true. I was just over at the Bruins site and there's pages and pages of "Merci Patrice" and you know typing out a French word is really difficult for chowder heads. There's a sadness there but mostly a lot of thank yous. Didn't read a single "mad at him for not deciding earlier" post. I know a lot of you hate the Bruins, but Patrice was a class act and an incredible team captain. Sabres could have used a captain like him. Class to the end. https://www.nhl.com/bruins/news/a-statement-from-patrice-bergeron/c-345429764 I think it really does end an era for the Bruins though. Their prospect pool is garbage aside from Lohrei (left D) and their fall will be fast and hard. 7-9 free agents after this year, Marchand old and broken down, it's likely the end. So with that alternate team slipping away I REALLY NEED the Sabres to finally get it right. One more reason here the time is right. KA needs to make the final moves and seize the moment!!!!

Let's see, in chronological order: I met Danny Gare when I was young. He had a van parked outside the Aud where he used to take puck bunnies after games. He'd also hang around and sign autographs when that wasn't happening. Nice guy, but he was clearly more interested in flirting with the girls than the teenage fan boys. I went to high school with Ron Roscoe (technically a Sabre).Big mean high school bully and his kid brother was a total a-hole who acted tough and then threatened you with his brother. Couldn't stand either one of them. Met Ric Seiling in a Hamilton mall one summer. It was kind of a "hey, you're Ric Seiling" kind of thing. Nice and friendly guy. I got no real story to go with this. Played a game of hockey with Dave Andreychuk. I worked with his Dad and he joined our Stelco charity game as a result. Man he was big. I did manage to knock him off the puck once, but he zipped around me several other times. maybe not fast by NHL standards, but far above mine. Really couldn't move him much around the net either. Felt like cross checking him but decided against it at the last moment, it being a friendly charity game and all. Great guy though. Had a lot of fun. Lastly, met Craig Simpson at the Children's hospital in Hamilton. Got to say hello and shake hands. Brief chat. Seemed like a nice guy. There for the kids obviously. My wife worked there so I got to help out and hang around. Martin Short was there same day. That was weird as the media handlers had him touring around in a whirlwind with "Marty over here" or "Marty face camera left" etc etc. so much so that at one point (there was catering all over the place) my wife as a joke goes "Marty hand me a cookie" and he does robotically and then pauses and says "hey, you made me do that, you're fun" smiled and moved on to "Marty over here". Craig Simpson, was somewhat ignored and soldiered on. Most kids not even knowing who he was. I think that's it. Unless I've forgotten somebody.

Where'd you get that from? Nothing on the Bruins site, just a lot of Happy Birthday wishes.

Nosek went to NJ for 1 million. That was that guy. At this point I don't expect they will do anything more. It is what it is now. If I was KA I would give Briere the 2 firsts he apparently wants for Hart so that Levi has time to develop AND so the Leafs can't have him. (and before you say that's too much, yes, it's maybe an overpay, but on the other hand, with a deep prospect pool what is better, even more top prospects or making the playoffs?) and then I would see if Boston would part with DeBrusk for a top pick or prospect so that they have cap space for Bergeron and we have our 2nd line winger to take Quinn's spot. We make those 2 (or similar) moves and we are in the playoffs. We do nothing further, and it's a long shot at best.

One rumor has them talking with Montreal about taking Murray's salary off their hands for a 1st + as Montreal is willing to use their cap space to improve. Can only see them getting Karlsson if they give up Nylander. So trade away Nylander, San Jose eats salary on Karlsson, trade away Murray to Montreal, buy out Brodie, roughly in my head I think that would make them cap compliant or very close. End result wouldn't be any better though as a whole. Probably worse than they were with ROR.