PerreaultForever

Character, leadership, toughness. Next to hiring Kreuger, JBot's biggest mistake.

Talk of the Leafs looking at Reaves in free agency too. So maybe we've got Lucic, Jeannot, Reaves, all in the same division ready to pummel each other and we will send...................Stillman? in to stand up to them? Can't wait for the "that guy should be banned from hockey" thread after one of them runs our goalie.

Well, of course we ended up with the little guy. What else could I have expected? In fairness, my first choice Reinbacher went super early and my hopeful choice went a little early as well in Danielson (Yzerman is a smart man). Benson fell further than expected. Size obviously the issue (plus the Yotes with Simashev way early go figure that one) so he's maybe the most skilled at that point, but if it had been me at that point I would have gone with Wood. He could be good, he could be very good, but once again the size question will linger until he actually IS good at the NHL level. As an aside, Michkov to the Flyers seems right and most of round 1 felt right aside from the Yotes who are insane. Speaking of Philly though I was hoping for Bonk with their pick in round 2 but obviously they took him early and so much for that.

So I guess Stone will go on LTIR for the full year (until the playoffs of course).

What we lack, in terms of leadership. is NHL playoff winners. The best captains/leaders in the NHL that I can think of from the last few years include, Patrice Bergeron, Jordan Staal, Anze Kopitar, Crosby, Stone. There are other leaders and former captains like Nick Foligno but we have had nobody like this. Okposo's a good guy, but he's not an experienced winner. Girgs is just a veteran we have. Tuch, imo, is the closest thing we have. Eichel should never have been captain. Dahlin? idk. Not sure if he has what it takes. maybe.

If Gourde was available I'd trade 13 in a heartbeat. But, he's not available.

I hope the gap is narrower next year too, but I think back in 2019 a lot of people here were saying NJ was in worse shape than the Sabres and predictions were dire. They've added high draft picks like we have, but they have also balanced their roster with veterans for immediate need. When they added Hamilton lots of people scratched their heads and wondered but it paid off big time. We, are "prioritizing a 4D according to LeBrun" but so far haven't got one. The lesson here in comparison is make this happen.

They won a playoff round already. Ahead of us, that's the only hard fact at this point. Can or will we catch up or surpass them? Remains to be seen.

Nice idea, but neither is moving. Never say never but near impossible.

Just remember, as the Zen masters say, there is no past, there is no future, there is only now.

Say what you want about the price tag, but I think you can say the Devils rebuild is over and they are now a top competitor. So in 2018-19 Sabres and Devils were bottom dwellers with 76 and 72 points respectively. The next year we tied with 68 points each. They are now a playoff team and our future remains to be seen. Compare the differences in approach.

Maybe we all need to thank Hall for his lack of effort? Maybe it took that situation for Adams to move to the full deconstruction/rebuild and take us away from that era? Hall was good in Boston. Not MVP level but good. Bruins fans are by and large unhappy with him leaving although accepting of the cap reality they face.

Did he? Seems to me Sabres made a choice. A bad choice.

yes, low IQs, just like his brother stumbling all the way to the final. Such idiots. NJ getting it done. They know what it takes and what they needed. Wood going to go elsewhere then? Make an offer.

I don't think that's it. They need the contracts to get to the cap floor. That's obviously part of it, and they will eventually flip Hall to a contender like we did (probably for more) but a veteran power forward to start with Bedard isn't a horrible idea either. They gave up next to nothing. 2 AHLers. The big non Tim Murray aspect imo is dumping 4 million on Foligno for a year. This is the kind of move Murray should have made with Eichel. There is no better leader, professional, mentor for young players than Nick Foligno. They're paying him to set that culture right from day one and he will.

lol, Torts said this off season was going to be about "subtraction" Flyers fans I know are ecstatic about this. Every single one of them wanted Hayes gone and nobody cared if they got anything back. They hated Hayes more than they hate Risto. These moves are being called the "un-Fletchering" of the team.

I can see why you'd think this, but he isn't. I watched Seattle all year and he has gotten better and better and moved up their line up and gotten more and more ice time. He's solid and mean and a great team guy. I'd swap him in for Lybushkin in a heartbeat.

Philly is still trying hard to dump all their garbage. They might pick up somebody from there to spend some of that cash. I bet they have a few more big money deals left to go.

People get locked on Sabres to Sabres comparisons. Kulich will be a sniper. Remains to be seen how well he goes to the dirty areas and how much drive and determination he has at the higher level. I see a little Pasternak in him. Not saying he'll be THAT good, but there are elements. Savoie concerns me. Little guys are better off in this league than they used to be, but to be really good they still need that strength and snarl to fight through things. I'm not sure he has it.

I would bet there are more moves to come but you're likely seeing Steen, Lauko and maybe McLaughlin at the bottom end of their roster. All are under a million. Bergeron may come back one more time. If not Coyle moves to that spot. Can they still compete? Hard to say. Definitely not as good as they were.

I think several of these guys can be decent NHL players but I still think Kulich could be something special. Peterka will end up as a solid 3rd liner. I'm still not sold on Krebs and just don't know about Quinn. Still want him to bulk up more. The potential is there. Savoie is my biggest question mark and the rest idk. Remains to be seen.

There's more to that. This is just his pull back to save face if it doesn't happen.

It's possible but anything's possible. Calgary was the team mentioned most and it would involve Hanifin. Bruins wanted to draft him and have always wanted him. Who or what they'd give up for him I have no idea. If Bergeron's retiring maybe Marchand is on the table? Maybe it's McAvoy. Ullmark? DeBrusk? They moved Hall so they are clearly not sitting idle.

I suspect this means the Bruins will sign Bertuzzi. It makes sense. Hall was the most expendable piece with his salary. Chicago probably thinks a veteran power forward beside Bedard will work wonders for them. A logic I think I've seen before 🙂

I'm not really "tuned in" but I am a member of a Bruins fan board similar to this one (not as good by the way). I don't post there much but I do read a little and see what they chatter about. As to how it would happen, there's talk of moving pieces out (like Hall) and in this case trading Gryzelyk so with St. Louis retaining salary and maybe another retention from Philly if they trade Gryzelyk they actually save money. I think it all got going there because there was some supposed tweet from David Pasternak saying "Bring Torrey Home" or something like that. I got that part second hand so I didn't mention it earlier. Might be BS. There's also a huge rumor about "a franchise altering trade" in the works, possibly with Calgary. All just talk and rumors. This year in general seems wild in terms of possible trades and rumors. Enjoyable for us fans I think, but ultimately most of them won't happen I'd think.