PerreaultForever

Most everyone is saying the same basic thing. D men take time and we are always rushing them and not developing them properly. That's really all there is to it.

Nothing. I've been saying since we got him he needs to be mean and physical and use the body he has and it's obvious that isn't going to be him. His wrist shot is predictable and easy to save and his style is lackluster at best. So nothing. and he sucks on face offs. I can't decide if trying him at center is desperation due to a lack of centers or just a last ditch long shot since they've given up on him as a decent winger.

Why would anyone pay to see this??? I question the sanity of anyone still buying a ticket for this (unless they are a fan of the opposition). Surely there is something better to do in Buffalo. Tickets are only one thing, I have to imagine merch sales will be at an all time low. The main face on sales ads is Dylan Cozens, and while I like the guy and think he can be great, at this point he hasn't even really proved he's a full time NHLer. He should be, and he should be great, but the face of the franchise? Come on man.

Well we totally cocked up his development didn't we? Threw the kid into a top role way too soon due to our crap D and his offensive skills, but we didn't work on his D game by keeping him paired with a responsible vet and limiting his exposure and ice time while he should have been focusing on developing his strength and defensive game. Housley asked for too much and basically wanted him to be Housley jr. Kreuger was right that he needed to learn to play D before being unbridled but Smith couldn't teach worth crap and he had no one to learn with and grow with. So now Granato pairs him with another Euro and it's go fly little bird, but he's crashing. I'm not sure at this point he is fixable. Maybe, but not likely in this scenario. Maybe on a good team with limited minutes and time to grow. Sabres have once again ruined a promising young D man, is Power next?

I'm not sure any more. I thought he would develop into a decent 2 way 3rd line-ish type player but he doesn't seem to have progressed. At this moment he is AHL level.

I would have said that Caps team and we might be that bad.

Dahlin and Jokiharju have been dreadful in this game. If that is the top pairing this team is likely to be the worst Sabres team ever and possibly the worst NHL team in the history of the NHL. Keep in mind Columbus is NOT a good team. Guys in preseason supposedly trying to make the team looking disinterested? It's like they hope to be waived to get away. S##tshow

Well if they keep Lazar for his low salary then somebody else worth taking should be available. They have way too many forwards at this point.

Don't see any way either of those teams can keep them unless they make a trade(s).

Unless we can come up with some sort of new net presence on the PP and replace Eichel's playmaking the PP will be easy to defend against. Likely his numbers will drop this year. 5 on 5 play still very questionable.

Euro hockey? Play with the other Europeans? idk. I would be looking at the Bruins forwards (they have way too many) (Lazar?) and the Kraken D (Borgen?) among others.

?

I expect him to be completely dominated by the opposing 1Cs and, unless we are so bad they don't even need to bother, he will also be banged around and intimidated. He is not now and never will be a 1C and putting him in that position is absurd.

No, I watched the game. Bruins hadn't lost possession for the entire OT to that point. They sent it back to Ullmark for a line change and he had time but then for some reason tried to go past the Flyer instead of sending it to the other side where the fresh legs were coming in from the bench. Absolute and total gaff. He gave up an easy one earlier, also a penalty shot and then was also bad in the practice shoot out. Ullmark lost them the game. Taylor Hall was really good though 🙂

Granato slowly moving him down the roster and eventually benching him and Skinner saying something akin to "I'm a pretty good hockey player" at some point.

So to be clear, you are defending the Sabres and questioning Lehner's assertions/claims? That it? Seems to me you are just being a homer. It will be interesting to see what the league says if they do in fact investigate the medical misconduct as they apparently say they will. The league can't be happy with how the Eichel thing is going and it is possible the Sabres are in the wrong on everything.

Well I haven't seen Sam in this preseason but I watched the Washington Philly game and Risto was dominant. Player of the game. He is where he always should have been , 2nd pairing D, and at the moment he appears to be thriving and Philly fans think he was a steal.

Well anything's possible, but I doubt it. I don't think the non move clause would hold up in court at this point. They've been in Buffalo long enough to provide counter arguments to that but I'm no legal expert, I just know when super rich people want to circumvent old agreements they usually find a way. But I don't think that's it. I think the answer is simpler. They spent money and it failed miserably so they simply have decided to start over from scratch. Relationship with Eichel souring maybe tipped the scales but Hall and Skinner giving them nothing for their money probably soured them more. Going to lose anyway so why spend? Why not fully tear down. So tear down and tank and start over. If they win the lottery and get Wright it might seem like genius. If not, well maybe this time they get Draisaitl instead of Reinhart. or they suck for another decade.

lol, Houser was the only name on there I knew.

What to expect? Probably a lot of post game similar to this but it was sort of nice to see Ullmark totally blow the game for the Bruins tonight.

I expect an occasional flash of who/what he was but for the most part a step behind. His mind will make the right play and save but he just won't get there on time and he will burn out and fade fast.

Or did it happen after he signed the big fat long term guaranteed contract? The trail off stat is meaningless as the team trailed off, the supporting cast trailed off, and he already had his numbers so he didn't want to get hurt, whatever. It actually can back up my argument about him playing or not playing when he wants to.

I hear what you're saying, but looking at him his skating seems fine. I don't see any signs that he is on a bad ankle or anything like that. Skinner's never been known as a hard worker and if you were him, would you put out your all on what is clearly a dismantled tank team that will likely suck for multiple years before the kids all step up (if) or would you just float and cash your cheques and maybe even hope for a buy out so you can go play for the Leafs for cheap? or just cash the cheques and stay home. Either way, I don't think it's an injury, and certainly not a permanent one which would be what it would have to be after 2 years.

Well there's been a number of theories and excuses for Skinner but the simple fact is he has sucked since he signed the fat contract.

and you're not getting me. We disagree that's all. Look, I don't want to keep defending this as it's going to seem like I'm defending racism or something and I'm not so let's just leave it at that.