PerreaultForever

No, to the bold, I'm not. My comment was based on his play this season. That line scored a lot of goals for us but they were not a good line defensively. Skinner attacked the net better and shot the puck better, and the other two guys cleared some more space for him and Granato even found him a PP role which in the past has eluded him due to a lack of discipline and poor passing/decision making but he still got caught out of position a lot, back checked poorly, and made some bad decisions, especially in his own end and away from the puck. Skinner was much better obviously and was the Skinner we can hope for, but he's a one way player.

I will place a friendly bet with you that he lets both of them walk (possibly trading them at the deadline if we are out of it) but neither will be back after this year unless they sign for peanuts.

veterans playing better that's really just Skinner and Okposo right? He definitely is better at adapting and letting players play their game. Kreuger broke Skinner by insisting on stuffing a square peg into a round hole but Skinner's still a big defensive liability and makes a lot of dumb and sometimes selfish plays. It's who he is and likely always will be. I'm not sure where the accountability will come in. It may be there. Again, we shall see. When they all talk like Cozens in interviews and when a guy who scores a hat trick in a losing game says he wasn't good enough, then I will know they are there. I hope Granato brings that and we finally have a winning season.

The problem I have with this is what do you do with these veterans and their "bad contracts". Lead the young guys sounds good but if these are guys teams want to dump they obviously don't have a lot of value in those team's eyes. After having cleaned out and fixed this locker room do we want it filled with mercenary stiffs who don't give a damn while they cash their cheques? You'd have to be really careful with who you brought in. Risky. maybe just overpay a goalie and 1 or 2 key free agents is a better plan.

Which is why I stick to my mantra of draft one every single year. They have unique and unusual development curves and even late picks, you just never know and can't have too many.

I think that's true. Drury wants players who think like Drury. Hard work, effort, leadership, definitely not Eichel. So if we had traded Eichel to the Rags would they have missed the playoffs and we'd be discussing the lottery protection issue on their 1st? 🙂

Honestly, we're not really disagreeing. The one thing missing imo is the player changes. Removing those that had to go and adding those that wanted to be here. I think that had a much bigger impact on the locker room than the coach did. The question now is can Granato create a solid system and structure that will lead to wins. Consistent wins. It's kind of a clean slate now with openings for potential leaders to take over and help the team leap forward, but it'll all fall apart quickly if we don't win. Granato's have fun and enjoy yourselves out there approach takes them so far, the next step is viewing losing as unacceptable. We shall see if he can deliver on that.

I have never understood why some people like this guy. I thought he was a horrible D man and a liability even. If we're talking a depth guy for Rochester sure, sign him, why not, but if we're talking Sabres forget it. Cut him loose.

I'm not convinced hiring Granato was some sort of genius move by KA. I still believe they went cheap and in house and it was a low risk option in that the building plan was laid out to take several years. Now, that's not to say Granato won't be a spectacular coach, but he wasn't a proven commodity at this level. Gallant on the other hand has a resume of success. Unbelievable success in fact. It's possible he doesn't play well with owners and upper management (much like old Ted Nolan) but his coaching success is undeniable. Granato doesn't have a winning season under his belt yet.

It's a real apples and oranges comparison. We are nowhere near them. They have a great goalie, we have none at this point. They signed big name veterans like Panarin and Kreider and already had Zabanejad. I suppose the way they fleeced Boston on the Nash deal is similar to how we traded Risto for quality picks and they have a few top lottery picks, but unlike us, those lottery picks are not the core of the team right now. They have marginal roles at this time. Fox also wanting only to play there didn't hurt their chances, and everybody already knows I wanted KA to hire Gallant. They have 4th line grit and a balanced roster. We have potential and some potentially great young talent, but we also have holes all over the line up. Now if KA adds a great goalie somehow and some solid veteran talent to play with the young players we might be closer, but I doubt that happens. We are going to have to wait and hope that Levi or Portello or maybe UPL saves us and that might be a wait.

confidence or ego? There are 2 ways to look at that.

I was just thinking, I don't like any of the teams left. So don't really care who wins. Oh well, wait for next year.

Remind you of anything? (hint 1997) The Gallant factor should not be underestimated either. He took Vegas pretty far with a good goalie too didn't he?

How dare you drag out my old words to use them now 🙂 Ya, Bryson I liked for a little while but that faded away. Not sure he's much beyond a depth player tbh.

Say what you want about him but 11 points in 7 playoff games on a bum hip. Sabres need that sort of warrior. Having said that (sure to be scoffed at comment) Bruins falling fast, that's the playoff spot we can shoot for.

I personally think if they want to, they can upgrade basically any position (except maybe LHD) and make the team better now and thus better moving forward, and there's plenty of cap room to do it. Question is will they up the time line or will they just continue with the draft picks and internal build slow? I doubt we see any big names coming in. Having said that, myself, I'd seriously go after Andrew Copp, make a reasonable offer to Josh Manson, and add some depth/grit that's better than Hayden and the rest of the scrubs. DesLauriers maybe. We need a goalie, but none of the free agents excite me so not sure how that plays out.

Did everyone catch that interview though? Asked about his goal, he talked about the great pass from Barzal. Asked about his play in the tourney he gave all the credit to his line mates. Not a single word about himself. How it should be! We can dub him the anti-Eichel. or in the terminology of Shorsey, "what a beauty." I will say it again, slap a letter on that boy's jersey! Good game, refs sucked, goalie injury probably sunk them more though. Good effort though, good game, and Cozens! Hurts to lose I'm sure, but in time, silver medal ain't nothing and it's still a solid accomplishment they can be proud of.

I know and I agree. Goalie is so important and has been neglected here. Why I stick to my philosophy of drafting a goalie somewhere every year (or at least as often as possible). Can't have too many imo and every now and again a low pick will develop and surprise. Possibly Levi.

I think so too, but NY shows us once again how far a team can go if they have good goaltending. (Are ya listening KA?)

I remember reading that somewhere too about bringing back some of those "jags" but I wouldn't put too much stock in it. Likely just means he will consider the ones who he felt contributed (possibly in terms of work ethic and character and not necessarily on the ice) if they are cheap, available, and we need more depth. Since I'm watching Cozens looking very good at wing in the worlds maybe next year's lines look like: Skinner-Thompson-Tuch Asplund-Mittlestadt-Olofsson Peterka-Krebs-Cozens Girgensens-Okposo plus one more FA or re-sign. Grit and/or PK guy. (Quinn starts in Rochester)

Dubois has also been good but I'm going to assume with the smiley face you're not seriously suggesting Cozens rode the coattails of his center, because he definitely didn't. They played well together, as well as Batherson, and you can credit the coaching with assembling a line that complimented each other perfectly. But that's what I'm talking about (along with Doohickie's point above). Strength of his game is not open ice but on the wall, in the slot, front of the net, all the greasy areas where he will maneuvre in tight, unafraid, and even enjoying it. the top lines went head to head today for much of the game and although Krejci did get one goal, Pasternak looked totally frustrated. They basically shut them down and added scoring of their own. Perfect 2 way hockey.

@K-9 pretty much summed up my thoughts. Just add I thought Cozens really elevated his game as the tournament progressed and he brought his best for the biggest games. He played really well but looked kind of shocked that he was named one of the top 3. Speaks to a humbleness to go along with his work ethic. Is it his coming out party? Maybe, he's definitely close if not there already. I said this earlier in the year and I'm doubling down on it after watching him play wing in this tournament. really think we should consider him as a winger not a center. It suits his game and style and pairing him with a playmaking center (perhaps Krebs) might be the best move for us going forward. Not saying he can't succeed as a center, just think he might be a better winger. Future is bright regardless. and slap an 'A' on his jersey next year, it's time.

Okay I've gone over these lists and players as much as I'm likely to and my (realistic, as in not impossible) dream picks are as follows: 9. Cutter Gauthier 16. Rutger McGroarty 28. Maveric Lamoureaux If Gauthier goes super early, which I doubt, best left of my top 8 which is Wright, Cooley, Slafkovsky, Jirichek, Nemec, Savoie, Kemell, Lekkerimaki in that order. If McGroarty is gone, Frank Nazar, Jimmy Snuggerud, Liam Ohgren, Connor Geekie in that order. I can't imagine all of them being gone. Some of those D men will be taken leaving the forward(s) for us at 16. Somebody might jump on Lamoureaux early due to his size (Toronto be my guess) and if he's gone I'm going to go off book a little and grab another RHD, as I mentioned him earlier, Noah Warren (and yes, I know it's early, but with multiple picks why not go for need with at least one of them to make sure you fill it) As a side note, if we took Lekkerimaki at 9 it might be interesting to consider Ohgren at 16 if he's available. Just a consideration/possibility. Later rounds idk, idc, maybe some size, maybe some grit, definitely a goalie project in a later round cause I always believe in that.

I enjoy LetterKenny for a variety of reasons but after 3 episodes Shorsey is kind of boring me. It's trying too hard and not that original and just not that funny. The hockey stuff in LetterKenny makes me laugh more.

You know, "I would like to be part of the Buffalo Sabres" can be interpreted as I don't want to be part of the Rochester Americans. If that's his mindset, it wouldn't be the first time a European player wanted NHL or I'm going back to Europe. idk though, I'd be fine with him around, won't lose sleep over him not being here (or Rochester).