PerreaultForever

Totally agree. Gallant has been my preferred choice since he was fired by Vegas.

Ya definitely. That's why after Murray I was saying hire somebody from the Bruins organization and then again after JBot I said the same. That team has a culture and a team dynamic second to none and should be copied. They aren't always the best team, but they truly function like that cliche "band of brothers" and it elevates them every year. Fantastic community stuff too. They are a model franchise. Likely, it all comes down from Cam Neely. His style, his attitude, his work ethic. If we would put a guy like Rick Dudley in a similar top position maybe we could become similar.

Yup. When you put everything on one or two superstars they're easier to be shut down by teams that know how to play team D. Perhaps the idea of trading Eichel for 3 or 4 good players isn't as terrible a concept as some think.

Watching the playoffs tonight, Ovi looked pretty old and past his prime.

Washington looked old and tired tonight.

I'm not a Boudreau fan, but probably better than an unproven college guy.

Is he? Two Stanley Cups, Gold medals, and wasn't he an almost Conn Smyth winner? Anyway, I guess maybe he's underrated but not really.

Exactly. Which is why the Sabres should not be trying to emulate/follow their model .

I liked the guy, except for the diving.

I'm guessing. If he went to Winnipeg he'd be staring right in the face of Eichel vs. McDavid constantly and he's not going to come out #1 in that and I don't think that sits well with him now and will be worse if he goes there. Also, he's fine with Buffalo as a city. Everyone knows he'd rather be a Bruin but he's still relatively close to home, family, what he knows and likes. You think he'd be happy going up to another small market great white north nowhere land? I do not think so. I mean maybe these guys would go anywhere for their money but Winnipeg can't be anywhere near where he'd like to be. and it's 50 below in the winter............... But maybe he could start a band, although both of these guys moved 🙂

I don't know if dysfunctional is the right word, but it does perhaps speak to how they become okay with losing, lack effort, and don't pull together as a team. It runs deep, and thus is the reason I firmly believe a reset is the only answer, and that's not guaranteed success, but not resetting is certain to fail.

Hope you're wrong. 50 below.

Taylor Hall's goal was agonizingly a thing of beauty. The bastard! Carolina is impressive. Playoff hockey is fun.

Don't see Winnipeg being remotely interested at all. Moreover I'd bet Jack would hate the deal and he'd force them to trade him for less a year or two later. Now Risto, we might be able to move him there.

I think that's definitely true. Teams at the top will probably shuffle those 5 or so players into their own rankings based on their need and how they see them fitting into whatever style it is they want to build. Hard to say which of them will emerge as the best.

No, but I wouldn't be adverse to working something out that swaps 1st rounders in the details. I agree it's not adequate, but you're dreaming if you think that is only half an Eichel trade. Byfield Turcotte Kaliyev and their 1st might be about all you can expect.

I still favour Power. I know the not another D man first thing, but pretty sure we're going to trade Risto and I favour having an overly abundant D prospect/development pool rather than a thin one. JBot put us back on the right path for D , I do give him credit for that, but we still have a long way to go. Nobody wows me though so if somebody wants it, I'd still trade the high first for a lower first plus ........

I don't get this. It's kind of what these sports sites/boards/whatever they're called these days are for. For the younger guys it's just part of their usual online chat worlds. For us older guys they're like local bars where you go and spout off all your armchair solutions, argue, agree to disagree, hopefully not get into a fight, and in the end everybody drinks. The success/failure of the team colour the tone of the thing. As for the black and white categorization, I really think that's what the medium itself creates. Like in all internet scenarios, long nuanced and complex arguments with detail get picked apart by comments/replies that select one sentence or a few words and (sometimes) take them out of context, so one is in a sense encouraged to reduce things as simple as possible to make a point. So one tends to go yes or no or black and white as you put it. So (for example) Reinhart sucks or Reinhart is awesome vs. Reinhart does a, b, c, really well but not so good at x, y, z, and so on and so on in 16 paragraphs. Also sometimes you get tired of typing and repeating 🙂 I guess I'm wondering, if you don't like sports fans, Buffalo fans, and these boards in general, why on earth do you do it?

Well you could, but it's a long off season with no Sabres playoffs. If it wasn't for all the rumours this year and the Eichel trade talk place would be dead right now.

It's a rumour.

If the other options are college and unproven in the NHL coaches I'd rather keep Granato. Rangers, on the other hand, are looking at all the veteran coaches people here like, with Gallant as the frontrunner apparently. https://thehockeywriters.com/rangers-quinn-gallant-leetch/

Self loathing is a horrible thing. You need a little positive affirmation.

What I really liked about it was Lazar came out of it laughing. Guy must think he died and went to heaven. Very energetic hard working hockey player. Adams just tossed him in as a freebee and we get Cody Eakin to play 4C next year. Yay 😞

I think building from the net out is the best approach. It's not the only one, but it does allow you to compensate for other weaknesses (say on D) as you improve. Sabres fans should know that all too well from the Hasek years. The truly important thing however is to build a team first, with a team first attitude. When you establish that culture and add the talent to that everybody feeds off everybody else and when more talent comes in they become part of that and max their potential. You can only successfully start with the superstars if the superstars are hard working team leader types. It's a harder thing to accomplish. Sabres are always backwards over the last decade or so. Team of individuals rather than a team. Hoping this will finally change.

Anything's possible. I read a fan written article today making an argument for him going to Boston (which I think is very unlikely myself). I don't think Fleury would be too happy coming here for one year. Not sure that's what you want to bring in. If he was actually interested okay, but I doubt it. Would you want to play your (potential) last year on a rebuild? If you want to deal him to a team like Vegas maybe you need to explore 3 ways. Fleury and somebody goes to a contender in need of a goalie for a cup run and they get picks and prospects back that they throw to us along with other bits. idk. It boggles the mind to think of all the possibilities, but Adams should explore them all and be creative. I'd rather have a few really good top prospects (Byfield types) than a whole bunch of mid level guys who may or may not fit in and perform. I'd go all youth and picks. No veterans who may be unhappy coming here.