PerreaultForever

That's not the way it happened though. Levi played down the stretch the season before. Levi is Adam's guy. Levi wasn't going to be "blocked". At the beginning of the year the only discussion on UPL was would Tampa (or someone else) claim him if they sent him to Rochester. There was little to no thought of him being the starter. You have memory loss and recency bias to the extreme. There's no Jedi tricks (I prefer Vulcan mind melds anyway) the point is simply to have you remember that Adams has screwed up goaltending for his entire tenure. He simply got lucky with UPL. That was never the "plan". If he actually had faith in UPL he wouldn't have drafted Leinonen so high or traded for Levi. Adams has been clueless on goaltending and he let a goalie we developed (and went out of our way to keep from Vegas) walk for nothing into his prime. Dumb. Your spin on Ullmark is wrong as well. He was not traded because he "fell off", it was because Swayman stepped up and there was no room on the roster for that much money to go to 2 starters. It was strictly financial. Swayman's deal is going to be large. Boston is a cap ceiling team every year and has to make these painful decisions. To say that he was traded because he "fell off" is most definitely you conjuring up the dark forces.

Sandstrom's a longshot reclamation project at best. Not much difference there to signing a Tokharski or a Subhan. Reimer, ya, that's insurance if Levi isn't ready (or UPL is an issue I guess). Why Adams didn't do some of the things he did this year, last year, is beyond me but I guess as always, his timeline was different (or he's yielding to pressure now). In any event, although nothing this year (besides Ruff) is overly exciting, it's all at least in the right direction.

I just hope he turns out to be better than the guy I wanted, because the guy I wanted sounds just like what we need. https://www.nhl.com/news/liam-greentree-has-size-scoring-touch-for-impactful-future-with-los-angeles-kings

That's ridiculous.

If he had faith in him why 3 goalies on the roster? Why wasn't he the main starter at the beginning of the year? So I guess Adams was a genius for not signing Ullmark as well right? Goaltending wizard that man.

Adams didn't stick with UPL because he was his guy, he stuck with him because he had not gotten a goalie and had no real goaltending plan other than waiting for Levi. Remember how it went down with 3 goalies and no real plan. UPL seized the moment, but if you think that was a "plan" by Adams I think you are dreaming.

This would be good for the Sabres, but I think it's probably bull- https://www.nhltraderumor.com/buffalo-sabres-boston-bruins-trade-rumor/

Sprong is the guy you bring in if you think Benson is going to drop off drastically and nobody in Rochester is close to ready. Then he's your gap filler but then you also question why they bought out Skinner or let Olofsson walk cause he's just another guy like them. Not exactly like them but not radically different. The old guys don't interest me either. Right now, if I'm Adams, I do nothing and wait to see what happens in arbitration. Maybe Necas (for example) gets way more than Carolina wants to pay and if so, then I make a phone call about a possible trade.

Preferable for the Sabres (assuming they believe in him) but not necessarily for him if he believes in himself. If it does go to arbitration though it won't have term and he might want to get closer to actual free agency. I just don't think Adams is a UPL believer and doesn't trust him enough to offer long term. Levi is Adams' guy. UPL, for Adams, is just a stop gap.

Since he's going to arbitration I cannot see him getting over 4 now. Swayman got 3.5 last year.

Long stride gives him more speed than average. Same reason the Dutch win all those speed skating medals. Tall.

I know lots of people think that, but I don't see him as having the leadership presence you think he has. Tuch, on the other hand, is the cultural transition man we need. He knows Lindy better than anyone else and he can be that bridge to a new way. It's a very specific and delicate moment. I fully expect the Sabres to get it wrong, but one can hope until it happens. I have never been a fan of "best player on the team" gets to be captain. It rarely works. Consider Eichel. I personally just want Dahlin to be the best player he can be and concentrate on that. He can still be a lead by example guy, but not the communicator for the team. We also need someone who has actually been on a winning team at the NHL level.

Care to say why and who on the roster you do see as captain material and why?

To me what will be important is not how any one player bounces back or what kind of season he has as an individual but rather how the team comes together and performs as a unit collectively. How they respond to Ruff's system and how they interact together. Too many years of looking at this team and seeing a bunch of disconnected individuals making selfish plays or dumb plays. Out of position. Some trying to do too much. Some not trying to do enough. The hope is we end up with a better TEAM, even if various individuals suffer statistically for that. We need that team where if one line/player is having an off night a different line steps up and fills the void. A guy misses a check another guy is there to cover. Confidence grows in the support system. This is what has always been lacking in the Pegula era. This is what we need.

You're honestly trying to suggest Risto is the same as Trouba? Come on man, not in this universe.

Ya I already have us ahead of the Pens but the Isles are tricky. Every year they just plug along and win more games than they should and somehow stay in it. Could happen again. They are logically one of the ones more likely to drop off or even fall apart. The point is only that there are a lot of teams ahead of us and most of them got better this off season. Even Ottawa, if Ullmark plays Vezina hockey they could be the surprise team not us. Now he could just as easily look like Korpisalo (and Korpisalo will play good in Boston) and then everybody will say it's the Boston D not the goalies but that's hard to say. Ullmark will be in a contract year so he should be motivated. It will not be easy.

If everything goes right for them and everything goes wrong for four of Florida, Toronto, Boston, Tampa. Detroit, Ottawa, New Jersey, Carolina, New York, Washington and the Islanders. We should be fine with everybody else. Detroit, Washington and Ottawa could obviously all fall behind us if things go well but we need one more of them to have a really bad year. Possible, not probable.

One step at a time obviously. You have to make the playoffs before you can win in the playoffs. Progress every year is or at least should be the goal. Trying to build a cup winner in one off season is unrealistic. The forward roster is structured now with a split between the young talent we have drafted or traded for and non Sabre veterans who can bring with them a cultural shift, this is progress.

One has to also consider his wife's hours would be long and involved and I would think for the most part over that year they'd see very little of each other anyway and matching hours would be hard no matter where he lived. Maybe they want to settle down and do family stuff after she finishes as well. In that case Buffalo area might have more appeal than NYC. All in all it's not impossible and it would be a really good thing for the Sabres.

No because I think his upside is likely higher than what you're getting back. Everything needs to be staggered and structured properly for long term success and the only guys I see as (almost) untouchable are the guys who have already shown me the character I want for this team going forward. I mean really, nobody is truly untouchable but the guys I would want an overpay return on are Benson and Peterka. Dahlin and Cozens would require a solid equal at least return. Tuch I could trade but I really really don't want to because I want to build that culture and I think him playing for Lindy (and for me becoming captain) is just too vital to that culture building to toss away on a talent oriented trade. It's emotional heart and soul stuff that defies the mathematics and stats of it. Everyone else is open to discussion on a trade that would make us better. Just my opinion, but those are the guys I favor at this time.

Well for all we know he could get his pilot's license and fly his own small plane but I get the point. Ultimately I was just kind of wondering if a one year (while she does her residency) thing was in any way viable. Same state and all, same taxes. So maybe if he was being strategic Buffalo wasn't on his 15 team list. It's possible.

I'm not saying we can't or won't make the playoffs this year. If a number of things (like injuries, hot goalies, luck in close games, loser points you don't deserve etc) go right we can, but it'll need luck and bad luck for some our divisional competitors for that to happen. We have a new coach and a better constructed roster but we are not deep, we are not experienced, and the team will be fragile. What I meant was thinking ahead to a team where we go into a season expecting playoffs and the discussion is about winning in the playoffs and the cup and not just trying to get in. The type of discussions they have in Toronto and Boston and places like that. When we get there, and we expect to be in, that's the type of team I meant. On that team you will truly have to be top 6 caliber to be on the top 6. We are nowhere near that unless just about everything goes right.

Benson's the wild card and I don't know if Ruff will stick with anything we saw before so there might not be any continuity with the old lines but I'm pretty sure your centers will be Thompson, Cozens, McLeod and Lafferty in that order with Krebs as the 13th man. If there is continuity, Peterka-Thompson-Tuch Benson-Cozens-Quinn Zucker-McLeod-Greenway Melantsyn-Lafferty-Aube-Kubel That is what I would start with though. If Benson can't cut it yet adjusts would have to be made. Or if we do trade for a forward without losing roster players then you have the luxury of dropping Benson to 13th man while the kid fills in for injuries and "develops" under a new coach and system. Gets to take the baby steps he might still actually need. (Trouba for picks/prospects, then that allows Samuelsson for Farabee as an example of how that could be tweaked)

Changes in coaches also factor into this. Thompson for example, didn't find his groove until Granato tried him at center and we saw that how he prefers to play has him better fitted to that position. Ruff is going to demand different things and some young guys will thrive and others may struggle. We could still see lots of changes and Benson's role is most definitely unknown.

Keep reading more Trouba to Buffalo stuff on twitter. How easy or difficult is it for rich guys to travel between New York (where his wife is in residency) and Buffalo? Are there easy daily flights?