PerreaultForever

Fleming was an interesting surprise. Some additional goalie prospect possibilities down the line. He did a lot of things right and has potential. There's no question the offensive skill is off the charts for this prospect pool. Not sure how that's all gonna shake out down the line. Too many similar guys looking for the same jobs. We shall see what happens. The D not so great imo. Not impressed with Johnson for all the hype. We might want to consider flipping a few forward prospects to somebody for a few D prospects.

If it's a dangerous infraction it gets 5 minutes. If you're doing this for 2 minute infractions you're basically taking hitting out of the game. As for the 1 min PP I don't agree, but I have thought the team should get a choice whether they want the penalty shot or the 2 min PP.

cause hockey is a U.S. sport.....................................right.

A lot of skill in these prospects without a doubt.

I just turned this on end of the first but the few minutes I saw they look fast but disorganized. The latter I guess is not unexpected at this stage.

I'm not sure it devalues the asset as they're in the same league. When Buffalo misses the playoffs for a decade the asset gets devalued all the same with empty arenas. Fans might show up if there was something to play for i.e. playoffs and then moving up. The Latvians will all tell you how much relegation vs. moving up means. Generates a lot of excitement. As a Buffalo fan maybe it's hard to remember just how much money playoffs generate. Tickets and merch. I'd have to think relegation playoffs would still generate similar returns. Anyway, probably flogging this dead horse beyond recognition but I turned on this prospect game just now and the intermission is really boring 🙂

https://www.tsn.ca/nhl/transactions So what's with the crazy number of players being invited to the Coyotes camp?

Not now for sure, but how big does the league get before the current format becomes untenable. I wouldn't want more than 16 teams in the playoffs as is. It's already a 2 season league. Another round of playoffs will just make the regular season even less interesting. idk, I think it'll be years before it's a real problem but if you go above 32 teams it is maybe time for change.

Well first, it works in Europe for soccer. They have more fans than the NHL has. Second, I wouldn't have it completely separate. Top league teams could still play B tier teams, maybe just less games, like we do with east/west games now. Also, you'd only get relegated for that year. You'd be back the next if you place top 4. There would also be that B level playoff money. Think of it this way, if it had been Buffalo, we ended the season strong and could have had a long B level playoff run. Potentially 16 home playoff games and all the revenue that entails. At the end of which you celebrate moving up a league for the year after. I realize this is a hard sell in North America, because it's something people aren't familiar with, but it does work, and if you look at European soccer, the level of excitement for moving up is off the charts. In any event, as it is, too many more teams will kill rivalries and dilute the league. They'd have to change something.

If those are the numbers there's no way he's taking 10.5 over 8 when the cap is going to go up a lot by all accounts. 11.5 over 5 positions him for another 7-8 at a similar or even higher number. 10.5 over 8 now makes him 31 and likely to not get much more, maybe less next deal. That's easily losing 10-15 million or so for him over time. This is not good.

Well I'd say it's not necessarily "nonsense" and I can see how a player might want that at this stage in his career. He's 23, so if he takes an 8 years deal at 31 he's a free agent and that looks a little iffy age wise for another 7-8 year deal from anyone. With a 5 year deal he's 28 at the end and hits free agency in his "prime" and likely gets a hefty 7 year deal from us or someone else (assuming he'd playing top tier level). I can see how an agent might push for this, and it also positions him for an escape in his prime if things go badly here. So I don't think it's BS or nonsense, I think it's likely true, and if he is "unhappy" KA better fix it one way or the other.

"we've had a few conversations" doesn't sound like the Sabres are really working hard on it at this point to me. Not yet anyway.

If the league were to get much bigger imo it should switch to a relegation model like soccer does in the U.K. Say you had 40 teams. Two "leagues" an A league and a B league of 20 teams each. Top 16 make the playoffs, bottom 4 in league A drop into league B next season. Top 4 from league B move up. You also get a playoff in league B so the lower teams have their own post season fun for more league playoff revenue and interest. Only the 4 worst would be totally out of it, and those 4 lottery for the top pick. That's what I'd do with it.

Except, when it comes to football, "people" kind of respond the opposite way. 99% of Pittsburgh Steeler fans (for example) made excuses for rapey Ben Roethlisberger and almost no one in Baltimore will admit to the possibility that Ray Ray Lewis might have had involvement in murder, and most recently, the Jets (or any other team) wouldn't even give Kapernick a try out (and second chance). When it comes to "issues" football fans prefer to brush aside anything that might get in the way of their teams. That's just a fact. I guarantee you that IF it was proven that Terry did say racist things, nobody here who currently watches the Bills would quit watching the Bills and there'd be a ton of excuses and even shouts of fake news. Guaranteed.

and Sorry, but neither of these things is true. All 5 players need to know where to go and how to play the system together. Cassidy's system is demanding. Vegas had veteran players willing to buy in and when Eichel bought in that was leadership showing the way for any dissenters. In no way however is it easy. Offense is much easier. Sure, if you have no skill you won't be good offensively, but what to do and how to play it isn't hard at all. This is why most rookies who get benched, get benched (or sent down). Their failure to handle a 2 way game. Sabres seem to have taken this as a whole team model. O first, then D. Backwards from most teams. All too often our D system is just chase the puck and hope our young speed lets you get back into position and it fails. Our D is miserable. I do not think we will succeed until we improve that to at least mid level NHL ranking (mid level D with top level O could be successful). Let's just drop this and agree to disagree.

You'd have to break down what the system actually is in order to answer that. D systems can be more intricate than you think. Look how Cassidy took Vegas over the top. D is hard, and flashy forwards often don't like it. It remains to be seen if this team can play it.

Ya, I heard that one, and I didn't like it, because it's simply not true. Good D is way harder to play. Just ask the Leafs.

What? You think I've tabulated these things and kept files? Just bite me. I'm old. I've been around for lots of these things and remember lots more. From all the bad players to all the bad owners, and yes, there's usually some fire to the smoke. Not 100% of the time, but more often than not by far. Would it really be that shocking?

I'm going to add one more thought on Clifton. If you want to place your bets on FanDuel the smart money could be on Clifton throwing Buffalo's first hit of the year and I wouldn't be surprised if he is the first to drop the gloves this year too. I am hopeful he sets a tone early and it's infectious.

The bold is what I want. It's what I'm hopeful for. The show me will be based on this season though. Been fooled by glimpses and brief runs in previous seasons before. A lot of home games to start the year. I want to see them come out hungry and determined. It's time to reclaim a home ice advantage and make Buffalo a place people don't want to come play in, and not just a rest stop for chicken wings.

Just speculating, but what if they knew this was going to come to light? The possibility of having to sell the Bills but maybe keep the Sabres. It was just a thought.

Maybe that was the plan? Maybe he wanted to see who had the balls to tell him to ***** off and who were the sheep? Psych games. Will be interesting to see how this plays out.

idk, you don't want it to be true, but more often than not when these things pop up they are in fact true. Context and detail are sometimes blurry, but the overall issue is usually true. Usually. This could explain the separation between the Bills/Sabres.

Krueger was JBot's attempt to placate and motivate Eichel (and to a lesser extent Samson). It was a horrible decision. Did it set us back? idk. In a way it triggered the rebuild and that has been good for everybody (including Eichel). If Krueger had been better, and we were a bubble team under him we might be floundering around with Eichel, Risto and Reinhart on long term deals. So thank you Ralph! My question on Granato is I haven't heard anything from him about a better defensive system. Maybe I've missed it, but until he starts talking about it and owning defensive failure (if it fails) I won't be sold on his ability as a good head coach. As always, I'm in the show me stage.

You might want to take a deeper dive on that.