PerreaultForever

Well, you do have lots of the Eichel-Reinhart-Risto money to kick around if you move all 3 for picks and entry level deals. So there are plenty of free agents who could be signed to fill the gap until those players mature and take over. Ryan Nugent Hopkins and Nick Bonino maybe? Other possibilities. Not in any way saying you'd sign a player equal to the ones leaving but there's definitely some possibles who could be found to hold places for the kids better than Staal did. That's the part of this not many seem to be talking about. Since the return is likely prospect types there will be a lot of salary cap space and free money.

These questions are always hard to answer. It depends on who wants him, what they have, how much they want him. If I were Adams, I would move Eichel first. That's the biggest piece and what you get back for that influences what you are after for Sam and Risto, and who knows, maybe you have a player in the Eichel trade that someone else wants and you pull a three way like Colorado did with Duschene. Would I trade him for a solid starting goalie? yes. A solid defensive defenseman, probably, but I'd have to address center ice with the Eichel trade and maybe also the Risto trade. Maybe Risto goes for Lowry and a draft pick which helps at 2nd or more likely 3rd center temporarily. Who knows? Lots of options with lots of players in play (IF they are).

Yup, Sam has led the team down the garden path straight to dead last place. Yay! Can't wait for the 2021/22 Sabres led by their new captain Sam Reinhart. So exciting......

Nobody's signing Sam Reinhart to an offer sheet. That's nutz.

To the first sentence I need more. I'm not okay with it. It's unprofessional, it's bratty, and it's the sign of a person with a big ego who puts himself above the organization and his professional responsibilities. It's immature. To the second, excellent. Should max his trade value. To the third, absolutely. I still think we can get a decent deal from Winnipeg.

We're not going to reach an agreement on this. I'm firmly on the side that we have to cut out all of the rot for the thing to grow properly. To be clear, I'm not saying he's the cause of the rot (he might be, he might be one aspect, he might not be, that's a different, speculative and not really necessary argument) but he's been around the rot for so long it's hard to wash it off him. I really think the fastest way forward is to remove the entire old core, not just one or two pieces. It won't help if he is still besties with Jack and we trade Jack but keep him. We trade him for 25 goal 60 point value.

They're starting the playoffs anyway and overlapping with the remaining games for Vancouver.

I would do this for sure, but ideally I'd gamble and want the 2023 1st rounder (unconditional) instead of the 2021.

playoff schedule's out. https://www.nhl.com/schedule

Could be. But I still think if he's a primary leader he has to be more. He needs to have a public face too to be a real team leader. As for Granato, he's only going to say positive things as he tries to get the job, that doesn't mean much. I really just think if it's a non Eichel reset it should be a full reset and Sam simply has too much baggage from the losing era. Trade him at max value, which is now.

Well, that's one way of looking at it. Another way of looking at it is he just stepped it up because it's a contract year (like Skinner). That to me is the gamble. His comments about thinking and not being committed to the Sabres tells me he'd rather be elsewhere and if that's the attitude I think they have to go with that. His late season surge increases his trade value, so it's the perfect time to move him. I've never felt he is the kind of guy you build a team around. His character doesn't suit any kind of leadership role, and there's nothing that's changed that for me. I think it would be healthier for the young team if him 9and others) weren't around to chat with newer players about how crap things have been. If Eichel is going, we need a full reset, not some partial half reset. Don't overpay another guy like we did with Skinner.

The stats don't matter for any of this. It's all about attitude, desire, and pride in the blue and gold. I don't think he has it any more. I don't think he ever had it (but that's a point of debate not really important for the discussion) and as with Eichel (and Risto) if we don't want to ruin the kids, the non believers, the broken if you prefer, they have to go.

Quite the scenario you came up with there but I want to highlight just this one part. So you're saying, what if the Sabres doctors said one thing, but Jack kept googling another option and then brought it in and insisted upon it because he's such a wild and passionate guy or something like that? One, while he might have gotten a second medical opinion I cannot picture him researching and obsessing. Maybe his ego is big enough to view things in terms of "birthright" , but that would in and of itself speak volumes as to the problem with this team these years. So, I don't believe any of that proposed narrative is even the remotest possibility, but that's just opinion like yours. In any event, to me it doesn't matter. This would still be all about Jack, and that is imo what has to end for this team to have even the slightest chance of future success.

Don't let him have the surgery. Trade him (along with the medical reports) and let that team worry about his surgery or not surgery. make the picks in the trade conditional on successful surgery if they want, but don't take the risk and lose the timing opportunity. If his post surgical rehab takes longer than expected we will get to the NMC and we're hooped. Just trade him and end it.

lol, that's pretty funny actually.

Ya, I'm not so sure we're "teeming" either. There's some promising young guys and the prospect pool does seem to have grown because of JBot but there's still a lot of question marks.

True, but you have to realize a lot of those guys wouldn't make Buffalo first choice (unless maybe they got a ton of cash and a long deal which I doubt TP would go for). I mean really, if you were Gallant would you rather go to a huge market like NY with a young team that almost hit their stride already this year or come to Buffalo and ? ? ? (as in not sure where things will stand and what will happen). The interesting hire to me will be Columbus. They have lauded Torts and given him testimonials so after that what direction are they thinking? It's a strange situation.

Maybe Adams' boss has had enough of Jack? We don't know, but maybe they feel they have a way to move this thing forward (dead last now so only one direction......) and they can later point to Jack as the goat? In any event, the talk from Adams about a team first attitude is the right way to go, and any step backwards into a team for this star or that star would be a bad idea.

I'm sure he would, but it would be a huge deal he'd be staking everything on so I'm not sure he's in the kind of position where he'd take the risk. Unless of course he felt he fleeced us.

Why try to "influence Eichel"? Enough pampering, if you don't want to bleed blue and gold go lament that you didn't get to be a Bruin somewhere else.

Gambit is a good way of putting it. I don't think there is any question Jack (and his agent, they are almost always the schemers behind these things salivating over a possible big market marketing opportunity) orchestrated or at least attempted to orchestrate the perceptions of a disconnect and thus without directly demanding a trade pretty much placed himself at odds with the team. So there is no possible way to move this team forward without trading him. If you try, it will all fall apart again and then he will have his no trade and then he gets the driver's seat and we will get a Hall type return when he quits on us. If the Sabres do not trade him after this, they are insane.

Works for me.

I never take these pressers too seriously as they all lie and avoid real answers (usually). One can perhaps read into it and think they plan to TRY to find a coach but if they can't find the one they like they will keep Granato and then keep spinning the idea he was a prime candidate all along. He's the fallback plan in other words. I like the idea that if you're not expressing an interest in buying in you will be moved out. I would hope that's really true and they should trade everyone who is not all in completely. That means Eichel and Risto for sure but I'd also say Reinhart as he's at max value. Sell high for once. Don't gamble on him. If you're going to surgically cut things out, cut it ALL out . Anyway, words. See what he actually does.

I think the Rangers only want to offer draft picks and prospects that were not on the roster (or a thrown in veteran but not a young guy). The likely deal will involve a series of first round picks over years. Adams should ask for (among other pieces) a non conditional pick for Berard's draft year and we can hope Eichel can drive them to last place like he did here 🙂

A lot of hockey players are best friends. We're going to watch Chara play the Bruins in a few days. You think he won't try? Worrying about who is besties with who is kind of silly. They're not lovers.