PerreaultForever

That is definitely true. The thing is for me after all these years of draining disappointment after disappointment I reached the prove it and show me stage with this team. Believe it when I see it. Adams came in with all the right words, but it's just words. And prospects are just prospects until they do it at the NHL level. Bring it on and I will embrace it if it happens, but until it happens, it's just wishing and hoping.

Well idk about Cozens, but I'm certainly hoping we are going to build a roster like that filled with players who compete every shift and leave it all on the ice. Go that extra and demand excellence and then that attitude can rub off, or even be demanded, of every new body that comes in here as the years go by. It's been lacking for a long time and is long over due. So far I haven't really seen it on the ice though. Not on a consistent basis and certainly not from the team as a whole. There's still lots of slack and quit out there on many a night. Maybe not from Cozens, but it's still there. I know everybody here hates Marchand but I watched him tonight get his big nose mashed into a pulp and yet him and that bloodied mug didn't even miss a shift and then he scored some goals and assists to boot and was there at the end of the game tapping everybody on the back like a true leader. I want that on Buffalo. I want warriors! I hope they are coming.

Actually when Eichel first got here I think he probably believed there was a lot of potential and all the team needed was him to take it up a notch. He likely expected it to be easier, as it had always been easy for him before, and everybody told him he was the next great one, so ya, I'm sure he felt he'd be the best player here too, but I doubt he looked at other names on the roster and thought I'm surrounded by crap.

I think you extended things too far. Cozens believes it, because that is just the kind of guy he is. He's a competitor, he's been a winner, and he's a dedicated hockey player. He believes in himself, and he believes in the possibilities. He doesn't "know" those guys will be good and so forth, but he doesn't think about it that deeply. He simply competes. I don't think that's naive. Now he hasn't been broken yet. He hasn't been tainted by years of frustration and losing and still losing so this might all change in a few years if we do not get better. There's no reason to think he's wrong, but at this point things could repeat, it's impossible to know. We are still far from the necessary point where the team expects to win and is held fully accountable each time they don't. That's convenient, but I don't think it's true.

I just don't think he's that good. To me he's about equal to someone like Anthony Duclair and so somewhere around 3 million. Definitely less than 4.

They didn't score on us. Go with that.

So VO at 5 million plus ? imo that is insane.

Ullmark and Swayman have developed an interesting post game celebration routine. Looks like Linus is finally having fun as a Bruin. Wonder what happens when Rask returns? Rossi was unimpressive in his debut but Boldy looked pretty good.

I hear ya, but he is the guy with the job so you pass the torch to him (for now) whether you like it or not. In fairness, he's not the worst when you listen to other teams. Nowhere near the worst.

Mustache threw Eichel in there so it went a little off topic. Fair enough. We mustn't stray off topic in threads now must we.

Blaming injuries is a Sabres thing I'm not buying into. Injuries are part of the game. When you're ready to be back you're back. But let me pin you down. How much would you pay VO and for how long?

A few things here, I've heard what Adams says, I want to see more of that actually on the ice before I believe it. I still see too much flip flopping and mixing and matching and don't really see that team dynamic in place yet. We've heard over the years the players all get along and it's a good locker room. Heard that in the last era, but it was bs. The Peca article is good. I'd like to see his role expanded tbh. I don't believe UPL is their long term plan. I think it's Levi. I'm not tossing the plan. I don't know why you think I said that. I simply want more evidence on ice that it's a plan in motion and not just a lot of words.

Ya, well La la la and May Day are the 2 big ones so I suggested May cause I think he's a colour broadcaster now and LaFontaine and the Pegulas ain't going to happen.

Should have asked them if they'd rather watch Trailer Park Boys rather than listen to Nickelback or ice fish for that real Canadian angle.

Well, Like many I had a number of players ahead of him but I hope his game translates to the NHL level sooner than later.

April Fool's Day? Odd choice but at least there will be a day. If I were them I would honor him that night and then have him in the booth with Dunleavy in a true passing of the torch kind of way. Let Rick regale us with all his best stories during the game while Dan calls the (likely) dull game. maybe get Brad May to come in and give him some sort of trophy/award/portrait/thing in that ceremony.

As always, I'm sure they HOPE for certain things to happen and become obvious, but there are far too many variables and uncertainties in terms of player development to be sure. While they might have a Plan A, they'd best have versions B and C ready as well. I haven't seen anything from this management group that clearly defines the future of this team aside from maybe the heavy reliance on analytics for the draft(s). "Players who want to be here" isn't really a strategy, it's just a dream.

I thought they might try that with Eichel but I suppose this gives them a more plausible version of the Kucherov. Pacioretty-Eichel-Stone all healthy come playoff time would be a pretty impressive top line.

Exactly. Culture, environment, team identity. We have none. We constantly keep changing coaches and plans and schemes and players and most of these guys realize pretty fast they're not going to be here long term and they play at that level. I mean we here often get caught up trying to figure out what is line 1 vs 2 or 3 or 4. Other teams have set roles for specific lines and they slot the best available player that fits into that role. Hence Lazar can play in Boston because their 4th line is a match for his style. Ours keeps changing. I thought maybe we were starting to head that way when there seemed to be some consistency with a second line of Cozens Murray Okposo but now it's all just a big blender mix again. No one has any idea what this team will look like next year, and I doubt management actually does either.

It's sad and telling that our throw ins make the rosters of better teams and contribute (E-Rod, Lazar) and their throw ins can't find a role or contribute to a very bad team. Obviously none of these players are integral to winning a Stanley Cup but it does make this organization look clueless. We just keep shuffling the deck with new (to us) bodies, the names change, the results don't.

Just wondering, what has VO done this season to justify paying him "big"? When everybody paid attention to Eichel he was left alone and sniped on the PP effectively but has he really done much of anything to make him any more than a lower range average player in terms of money?

Exactly. This is what I've been trying to say here and there in various threads. The body of work for players like Mitts is really small and they are far from guaranteed to be top line players. We have many potentially good players and prospects, but there are very few players who you can definitively say are a lock and are going to be cornerstones moving forward. Wait what? These aren't the tank years??? 🙂

What an impressive sentence and sentiment. I'm sure you will get many likes for that. Some of us are curious how they will manage the cap but carry on.

How long is he out for?

If Eichel actually plays for them in Feb. they're going to have to move somebody off their roster aren't they? Are they not right up close to the cap without him?