PerreaultForever

Good goaltending is always the key - which is why this plan has been so............. (fill in whatever expletive you prefer).

In fairness to them though, as we saw with this Vegas game, when they do bear down and bring it as a team they can play quite good, and even the team D is much better. maybe we have to get rid of Skinner like Carolina did. Just a thought.

When I watch the enthusiasm Tuch has after a big win and he does his version of a goalie hug, I just think anyone else, even Dahlin, would be a huge mistake. Both times the team stunk bad and then rebounded this year the 2 guys that really seemed to step it up were Tuch and Cozens. So my view is the same as it was before this year started. Tuch captain, Dahlin and Cozens assistants.

Well go figure. I guess the million dollar question is how do they get these guys to play hard EVERY NIGHT and not just after they get yelled at for a stinker.

I've seen a few Flyers games and they (usually) play very solid disciplined hockey. Very hard to play against. Decent goaltending, solid D, very good PK and physically tough. They lack goal scoring but can counter punch really well and most of all they DO NOT QUIT. They are tenacious, which of course all points to Tortorella. I still remember him last year end of season up in the press box with Briere pointing out who has to go. Guess they got it right. I still expect them to miss the playoffs due to the lack of offense but the games will stay close and it's not impossible for them to hang in there with a little luck. Whatever happens I think they are doing their rebuild correctly. If/when they get Michkov added to the mix watch out.

Sadly, I suspect another happy night for Eichel, if he even cares any more after winning the cup. Maybe we catch them napping, but I doubt it. More likely they man handle us badly with that big D.

Islanders might be interested in Kyle. He had success there and they like old slow veterans with a little 2 way ability. Perfect fit for all, including Kyle who can retire where he started. Does naming Dahlin captain change anything though? I'm seriously asking. Is he the "leader"? I have not seen him elevate when the team is down. I don't know if he can "lead". Sure, he's a very good player, but so was Eichel. Not saying they are similar, but the idea of the "star" being the captain is questionable. Is Tuch not the better choice? Sabres fan since childhood. I have seen him elevate his play but idk what his locker room presence is. Not sure any of that will change anything though. While I did favour the tear down and the trade of Eichel/Reinhart/Risto (the old young core) I do not think they have handled the rebuild properly at all and when you do that wrong you just end up shuffling deck chairs on the titanic. imo when you tear down you really tear down and you build back with a lunch bucket hard work tough to play against (nasty even) team and when that is firmly in place and that is the vibe around the locker room, that is what rookies come in to, then and only then you add the young talent on top and they see that culture as the ONLY culture there is and they follow it and you win. Veterans with a work ethic have to be the "core" of your team for several years. A young core is almost certainly destined to fail.

I guess ultimately my question would be do you keep just looking at a season of stats and keep throwing money at something that isn't working or do you need a completely different plan. The contracts/rewards KA has given out so far certainly do not seem to be paying dividends in terms of wins.

Starting not to. The scorn and disgust is building though. As Johnny Lydon famously said "ever get the feeling you've been cheated?"

Not cursed, soft.

It's his shoulder not his head. He's had issues with that for a while so a solid hit can take him out.

Well free agents are usually over paid to get them to come/move. That's pretty obvious I think. We over paid Clifton for example and so he came over willingly. We over paid Johnson. (You think he wasn't sitting there in Colorado wishing he wasn't still there, but a year of money for retirement is a year of money) Compher and Copp might be over paid for their offensive production but they are also 2 way players and filled needs on that team in terms of leadership as well as on ice. Compher's best season and Mitts best season are pretty similar though. If you're going to pay Mitts 6-7 like some want you are expecting top scoring numbers and I doubt that ever happens. Right now imo Cozens, Thompson, Skinner, Power and even Dahlin are all over paid for what they've done on the ice. You really want to add one more to that list? How's it working out so far?

I truly believe the culture in Buffalo encourages softness, or at least leads to what we see as softness on the ice. I wouldn't be surprised is after the Montreal game (for example) Granato said "you guys were pretty good tonight but you got into too many physical confrontations and scrums. Don't get sucked in to that. Walk away. Stick to hockey". Cozens was probably told "see, that's what fighting leads to. Don't fight Dylan. Score goals" and so on and so on and so on.............. Players quit on this team and why not?

So you think he's worth Nylander/Reinhart money? Really? Oh it can "work" but does he give you enough for that money? I don't see him at that level.

probably shouldn't have used balsa wood.

This is why I won't jump on the bandwagon after a win or two any more. Right back to being a heaping pile of garbage. Benson and Peterka the only guys worth anything tonight. Maybe they don't know any better yet? So every single guy with the extended big money deal sucked bad. Our best players in general this year are those not rewarded yet. maybe there's something there. They play for the contract but once they have it, why bother? idk, this game was just garbage. Walk in the park for Colorado.

Playing for something meaningful is good for any of these prospects. Good they let Kulich go. What about Savoie?

Very different urban settings. idk what the Washington transit system is like but Ottawa's centers in to that downtown and the downtown is very people friendly. It's not s slum like some American cities. There's more poverty and crime out in some of the burbs. Downtown Ottawa is pretty nice and the land in question is close to the Parliament building and the National Capital Commission parklands. It's a nice area for a city. At least it was when I lived there. Maybe it's different now but I doubt it.

Well, I can see how his agent will demand more as I outlined in the other post but if it's higher than 5ish, if it starts with a 6 or 7 this team will be in trouble down the road.

They are not playing all that great lately imo. I watched the Flyers beat them handily at home a few days back and they didn't impress me as a whole. The key is limiting McKinnon. I say "limiting" because stopping might be asking too much but somebody has to try to shut him down as much as possible and then it's very winnable. We beat them before we can beat them again. But, same as every game from now to the end, we have to bring the high speed hard work effort game for 60 minutes.

As a point of comparison I think JT Compher might be reasonable. Compher got 5.1/5 years and he's 28. Mitts will warrant a similar number with term being the question. He may want a short term if he thinks he can get an even bigger payday in a long term deal when he qualifies for UFA status.

Mitts has been our best forward this season (Peterka is second). He is one of the few forwards who has clearly added strength, applies it, and has worked a lot on his two way game. He has been tenacious at times and as you point out is probably our best face off guy now. All of this could be a problem as his agent is going to pull out those TNT and DC contracts, look at KA's offer and say wtf is this?

With the forwards doing their jobs and playing better defensive hockey Clifton has looked more like he did in Boston. You could also see how quick and on target his zone exit passes can be, which is I assume one of the reasons KA wanted him for a system that relies on that stylistically.

That was an easy win. Not much fight in those desert doggies. I'd guess their win streak was the hot play of Ingram cause this guy was not very good and they were just plain bad as a whole. So it's good we took advantage of that for sure. I can't decide if Robinson is actually good (in which case why wasn't he good in Columbus?) or his style just woefully demonstrates how much that was previously lacking on the team as a whole. Guy goes to the net and he opens up space for linemates. Looks like a good solid mucker and gives us more than Girgs did. Why was Murray called up though? Don't think I've ever seen a hockey player that big play as small as he does. If he's the best option I wonder about our alleged deep prospect pool. Also, I still find myself wondering why is Comrie on the payroll? What is the point of his existence? Well, the road trip is a biggie. Pull together and string a win streak together and there might still be hope.

Strange team. I watched them play Boston and they looked like garbage at first then for a while they were dynamic and dominant. Scored fast and quickly and then they were flat again later. So I guess they go in spurts. idk. Best not to take them lightly though, I think they are better than Montreal was. The physical we brought last game will be harder to do against them. They have some bigger and tougher players on their roster. Again though, you just have to beat these middle of the pack teams to have any chance at playoffs at all.