PerreaultForever

I will believe that more if I hear Peterka say it. Miller is most definitely less than ideal but he would fill a hole and it's a deep and glaring hole. Cuylle is a physical presence and I'd say 20 goal scorer where Peterka could be looked at as a 30 goal scorer. like every off season I want to add more physicality to the roster because as always I think it's a need. I do of course expect very little to happen that I will be happy with.

idk, and it's been a long time since I lived around there so times and type of ticket buyers does change. If Buffalo is like Canada though (and to some extent I think it is) then they should sell out with a winner. Canucks are not much better than Sabres and they don't provide much extra entertainment and yet that's a really hard to come by ticket. Is it really that different?

and we could use Tanner Jeannot. Point being we need to change the construction of the roster and the type of players we have to make a better rounded team. We do not need flashy perimeter players, we need grit and physicality to balance the perimeter shooters we already have.

My final thoughts on this are: Martone (who will already be gone but you never know) Martin (might still be there and he fills a need big time) Bear (a reach but also fills a need) Mrtka (if somehow all 3 are gone he's 3 years away but eventually might pair with Power) If Martin is still on the board and they take somebody like Eklund or O'Brien I will scream and I might just quit.

Well we will disagree on that. First let me say I liked Peterka from day 1 and I said early on I thought he would be better than Quinn from that so called kid line. I'd rather he was happy and was staying, but since the Sabres are the Sabres and if he has to go then I don't care about aiding other teams if you get a good return. I would be interested in a NY trade that centered on Cuylle and Peterka as the main pieces. If it was Miller and Cuylle for Peterka I'm definitely doing it.

I disagree with that. See your sentence in the old days the Aud was sold out every night. That was a winning team. I think in a market like Buffalo if the team was a winning team you'd be sold out with serious fans and it would be a hard ticket to get so you wouldn't have to concern yourself with casual fans at all. Markets like Vegas and Florida need to be more "entertaining" as they have many more tourists and casual fans to try to entice. I could be wrong, maybe it's changed since I lived back in Ontario, but I think Buffalo fans are starving for winning hockey. If this was a casual market the building would be totally empty by now.

Oh okay he'd probably be fine with that. I doubt Dallas would be overly interested in Peterka though. I think if you are trading him your targets are NY, NJ, Philly, maybe the Islanders. Ducks, maybe Boston or maybe try to entice Ottawa with a "he can play with Stutzle" pitch. Chicago might like him as a winger for Bedard too.

Well sure you can give them Clifton, I'm just saying we don't HAVE to move Clifton to do this. But it won't be happening. With Marchment moved I suspect they'll find a way to keep Robertson. I can't be bothered getting into these cap discussions. It's easy to get back under cap. You just give somebody away. Hey Philly you want Samuelsson for a 7th rounder future considerations? Boom, done. It's easy to off load players. If not him somebody else.

wtf? A third and a fourth for Marchment but we have Malentstyn for a second (last year). Genius. Well done Seattle.

I don't see why you'd have to move Clifton in this scenario if they are moving Byram as rumored. They are not cap crunched. Clifton would be overpaid, but we'd have depth.

You'd still be stuck with a disgruntled player though so it's a bad situation. One that they have created themselves but a reality all the same. I honestly don't know how you get out of it with constant half measures. It does seem to repeat.

Knock on Frederic in Boston was he checks out at times and tends to float. When he's on his game he can scrap and be a solid contributor but he had multiple stretches of nothing too. Always underperformed to expectations. Could the Sabres use him? Absolutely, and he would not have stood around like Samuelsson etc. but he's not a heavyweight either. Much better than Malentstyn but not worth the money being rumored. As for the bottom line, Florida's bottom 3 all made less than 1m this season and we could have had AJ Greer for free as he was a waiver pick up. Just saying.

I don't find Nashville getting Haula for cheap as weird. He'd be a bottom 6 upgrade here. Why not get him for next to nothing if you have the cap room? Flip him later if you want. He's a utilitarian player.

I like Frederic but that's crazy for him.

I don't think you need to impress the casual fan. You just create a winning atmosphere and the casual fan can get caught up in that if they want to. Better yet your tickets are in such demand from the winning that the casual fan can't get one.

Well see I'm not missing it, I just don't care about the tourist. The thing about the Sabres (and that's all that matters here) is they often do not seem serious about winning. When you announce up front that it's "a development year" wtf are you doing? Winning and learning to want to win (and hate to lose) is part of development. Adams comes in and it's like in 5 years we will be good, that's his promise (which he failed to deliver on but didn't get fired anyway) and so he tears it down and we start. The expectation however should be better every year and they just aren't. We are the same, picking around the same spot, and we are entering the next wave of possible exits. It's absolute garbage. Rob Blake got fired because he couldn't get past a Stanley Cup finalist. Where's the bar here in comparison???

He would have told Gadjovich to go kill him 🙂 Not only would Florida have gone after him then and there they'd have gone after the whole team next game. I remember when McAvoy hit one of their D, I think it was Oliver Ekman Larson and KO'd him. The next time Bruins played Florida they were pounding McAvoy all over the ice. Fought him as well and banged him up good. They are the embodiment of a solid team.

Oh the NHL doesn't care who wins (usually) and they are most definitely in the entertainment business but that league view is different than a team's view. The league just wants things it can sell, be that McJesus or other superstars or even Rat Kings. They will market whatever is going. A team however needs a winning culture and a belief that the team is doing all it can to try to win.

Winning is all that matters.

Yes Samuelsson is soft but no, it was not his battle to fight. It was every guy on the ice. It was every guy on the bench. There was a whole game to pay back and there was a whole team to offer it up but nobody did nothing. It's not on one guy, even if yes, he should also have done something and he was right there. It's the whole team!

I don't think they were "flat" as much as they are worn down. Florida wears teams down. Edmonton's depth and bottom 6 isn't as good as last year's version. Florida is just so well coached and so positionally sound. They play perfect structured hockey. I think I said this last year too but this is the template. This is the model to copy. They are built the right way and play the right way. You might win a cup doing it differently if you have a little luck and things go right but if you want real success you need to follow this model. Build from the goal out. Solid D and team structure. Grit and aggressiveness balanced with 2 way play. Speed is of course essential on any team in today's game but use it with an aggressive forecheck and not just passive possession. Hell of a hockey team these rats are.

So don't beat up a guy from another team beat up a teammate to reset the culture? Sure, why not. Might actually win a fight that way. Team broke with Lucic Miller and it has never recovered.

I voted for "best owner" because, well, a lot of these options just felt like blatant sarcasm. I have no hope for next season until something big changes and I suspect that won't happen.

The latest 32 Thoughts comment (that is that Buffalo was not interested in moving him but is now open to listening) makes me think they made Peterka a solid offer and he rejected it and/or has asked to be moved. I suspect he's going to be moved and we just have to hope it isn't the start of another exodus. I won't. I do not blame any Sabre for wanting out. If you were drafted by them and after 5 years of futility saw this stay the course attitude wouldn't you want out?

Yup that's definitely a difference. Hyman out on one side Marchand added on the other, Florida's third line is a dominant one for sure. I suppose you could argue that Florida would have gotten someone else had Marchand not been an option but who idk. You know for sure they don't care about future draft picks. Marchand wants a cup. Two other points I'd add. I don't think whoever signs him for next year will be happy or spend wisely. They will not get this for the season and it most definitely won't age well. He will also not be as hungry for a cup so while he might give that team a playoff bump it won't be worth what they will end up paying him. I don't think so anyway. Lots of Boston fans are also upset with Sweeney for only getting the conditional first (conditions met) but Marchand basically did to them what Taylor Hall did to us. Only one destination on his list and he had a NMC. He got his cup shot and he appears like he will do anything to not blow that chance.