PerreaultForever

cause he's a defenseman, not a forward. Don't think a single person questions his offensive skills. Wins matter, not points.

Well I do think they were dumb enough to think their offer to Ullmark would be the best one he got by far and he would sign and thus hold the place for the future kids but maybe not. Maybe it was just a clever tank.

Well I think that always was the plan. This was the deconstruction year and presumably that part ends with this season and you build and rise next year and it's just a question of how fast. I know this is crap right now, and a game like this is very annoying, but I see more things to be hopeful about right now than I did a few years back. This prospect cupboard seems substantially more promising than what we had and if we stick with it, in a few years we just might have a team that'd bury a bad goalie start like Bobrovski had tonight and then blow out that other team.

one point of fairness for this game, Bobrovski was worse than Dell.

Are you Derek Roy? 🙂

Future Considerations is most likely nothing, but I don't think it's definitely nothing. Might mean it depends on how many games he plays or wins or his save percentage etc. That can be termed a conditional pick but it can also be future considerations.

Sabres (sigh). Too many things to bitch about, all been said above but one thing really bothered me. For all his alleged genius, wtf is Granato thinking with that PP line up??? I mean I get wanting Mitts involved maybe, he's a playmaker, but not in that grouping. What on earth is the thinking for putting your big player wide on the wing and the little guy in front? Maybe Skinner scraps a little, but the goalie can see EVERYTHING and they just keep everything to the outside and 3 good PP chances and nothing. Not even any dangerous chances. And Granato sticks with it. WTF? That was just stupid.

Watch them make this trade and then bring in PK as an FA next year to "teach" Dahlin lol.

Or, traded Ullmark before the deadline realizing he wasn't going to sign here, then we could have protected JJ and Seattle wasn't going to take Toker and we'd have a mediocre goalie and some sort of extra pick/asset in the system. But we don't learn.

I'm in the wait and see camp on Mitts. He's going to have to work hard and show desire to move back up the line up. Not sure he will thrive on a line with Girgs and Asplund. Just not sure what, if anything, that line is.

DeBrusk has fallen out of favour because he isn't scoring, because of that his defensive lapses are under more scrutiny and thus he sat and thus he asked. His scoring has dropped every year since signing his contract. Stylistically he might fit better with us than them but he's really kind of a floaty streaky player and not all that. Another guy, like Hall, who Krecji carried. That's why Bruins can't score, they didn't replace Krecji, who was underrated his whole career. TSN said 12 teams talking to Boston about DeBrusk though. Bruins might be happy to ditch his salary so they can bring in Rask + but otherwise, I suspect the price is higher than I'd pay.

Yes, definitely, but who??? Leddy? Manson? Perhaps Zadorov or McNabb? The FA D possibles are slim pickings imo even if all the ones currently there still will be, which is unlikely.

idk, he's scored some points played some games for Tampa, just think he'd slot in for Mitts and allow for a little more line continuity. But whatever, moot point.

This is true, and this is the preferred option. I hate to bring up the Bruins again but how they developed McAvoy was the right way. They paired him with their best stay at home veteran, sat him out when he struggled first 2 years and eased him into more and more minutes and now he's the complete package. But, since we didn't do that, the question becomes is it too late? Normally, at 21, I'd say no, still time to step him back, coach a lot, reduce his responsibilities and re-develop him properly. But, in the case of this team can we do that without further ruining the next wave of young D men coming (like Power). We can't step everybody back and we don't really have a solid partner. Pysyk has been a better option but not really a great option, so IFF we could get a good deal for Dahlin I'd consider moving him and letting someone else go through that while we focus on the next group and do them properly. IF we can't get a good return get a better partner for him. Not sure who but that's what's needed. If not, he will become the sacrificial lamb. It's a shame we rushed him.

Can you say much ado about nothing? 🙂 Still wondering why they didn't grab Barre Boulet for Mitts' spot but they have a plan............

I might change my mind as things unfold but I want to see Murray-Cozens-Okposo for longer this season and if it keeps jelling perhaps keep that line together next year. A sort of checking line with some scoring potential. Cozens and Murray also serving as the 4th forwards, front of the net guys on PP 1 and 2 respectively. A lot depends on what Mitts plays like when he returns. Will he be good? Or just a placeholder for Krebs? idk but not convinced he's the real deal yet based just on end of last year. Wait and see. Don't care what happens to R2. So something similar to: Asplund-Thompson-Olofsson Skinner-Mitts-Tuch Murray-Cozens-Okposo Peterka*-Girgensens-Quinn* *(to start, eased in, and then moved up the roster if/when their play demands it) Bjork is the spare whatever, and I'd add 1 or 2 Hayden types for a tougher look when/if needed. Not sure who. Usually not that hard to find. In general I believe more in line chemistry and identity than all the scorers on a top line etc. How players mesh together is the big thing for me personally.

Briere has a shot. GM has to be fluent in French. That's an absolute in this case. They're not cost cutting though. They, unlike us, have acknowledged it's too much for just 1 GM and thus they created a new upper spot for Gorton. (sort of like if we'd been smart enough to hire Dudley above Adams :))

meanwhile, Jake DeBrusk has apparently asked for a trade out of Beantown.

Maybe, and that is true for Tage as well (but thankfully Granato found another way to use his size and skills) but from what Murray has said he has come to realize his size is his geatest asset and he has tried to change his game. He knows at this point he won't make the NHL playing like his junior days so I think he can be coached and molded. He's not going to become some one man wrecking crew or anything, but if he has success using his size he might take to it and start to relish the role. I think there is a place for him on this team.

See I think we are seeing the same thing, he delays and thinks about what to do. Hesitates. You feel it's overthinking too many things, I feel he's slow to think it through and decide. It may very well be both or a combination of the two, but in either case, he hasn't been taught properly to just act/do.

I'm going to go one step further and say I'd like to see Murray stay up with the big club on that line. Murray is still a work in progress but he adds a dimension this team lacks and that was our best line tonight. Give him more time to adjust and jell, teach him a little more aggressiveness and we might just have an unexpected piece added. Once again I am even more convinced that Dahlin is mentally slow. When under pressure he gets confused, hesitates and that's the end of that. Team failed to recognize this flaw and developed him poorly. He needs to make quick instinctive plays and not have to think. Needs a huge step backwards or he will be flawed forever. and Jokiharju isn't much better. Cane we get a Tanev somewhere? We need that.

That's a good question. I don't think anybody good. Best you're going to be able to do right now is some cast off like Murray. Possibly there will be a salary dump goalie closer to deadline if some team wants to add but can't due to cap space but at that time what's the point?

I wouldn't be surprised if next year we still go with 3 A's, Kyle, Cozens and Tuch. Then the following year Cozens, Tuch, Power, and one of Tuch/Cozens will be captain going forward depending on who claims it/earns it.

I suppose that's why Florida has him on the wing right? 🙂

Oh I heard it, and I hear you, and I believe it's true, and I want it to be true, BUT I also know in this day and age athletes get coached by agents and they say the right thing and I'm skeptical of everything with the Sabres at this point so I simply want to see it. When I see him on the ice, how he plays, how he reacts, how he interacts, then I will feel that I know for sure if it's real or not. I think it will be.