PerreaultForever

Tricky. It all depends on Dahlin's relationship to Ruff. If there is ANY element of Dahlin is in charge and not Ruff then it is an example of the inmates running the asylum in Buffalo. This may not be the case though. It might just be a bunch of guys working out together and likely hanging out after. I still think the captain should be Tuch though.

But they got to the final and that wasn't Saros, wasn't it Pekka Rinne? Anyway, do we have a Saros?

We don't have Crosby.

The prospect pool rankings are amusing conversation but they ultimately mean nothing. Maybe the stat I'd be interested in exists but I've never seen it. That would be ranking teams by how many of their prospects graduate into full time NHL players.

Problem with possession stats is if you are a perimeter team your stats look better than your record. Without dirty net front presence possession means very little. I don't know what Ruff plans to do in terms of a team system but I am hoping we become a forecheck team more than a possession team. Creating errors on the other team is, in my opinion, far more conducive to winning than possession, especially if it is primarily perimeter and neutral zone possession. Florida won the cup. The league is going to keep shifting to greasy and mean and Sabres need to get with the program.

It's too early to assess what they have but I will say this, if Ruff cannot turn this group around and make them into winners then I would in fact rather start over with a clean slate, Celebrini and Askarov and build from there. I'm not convinced what we have is anything, until it is in fact something. 13 years. Show me.

lol, I would rather support a team that makes the playoffs rather than collects shiny new toys. They are just starting their rebuild. Much like when we drafted Eichel. Now if Askarov turns out to be a nutcase like Lehner, well then you might have an argument.

Excellent move by San Jose. Total rebuild and they now have their cornerstones. A young goalie who could potentially develop into a comparable with the current Russian stud goalies along with the big #1 overall star to be. Foundational pieces in place with time to grow and develop. Excellent move for them.

Well it's obviously true that all drafts are not equal, but keep in mind that on paper they look one way and years down the road redrafts rarely look like original drafts. Half empty half full, by saying Helenius is better than Rosen you're also saying Rosen is worse than Helenius and that's not good drafting in terms of Rosen even if it's good drafting on Helenius. Rosen has had development time. He should be better and closer than he is. While not yet a "bust" I'd say he's trending in that direction. I think you're way off comparing Helenius to Barkov, but we shall see what he brings to NHL ice soon enough. I don't put much stock in junior or Swedish league stats.

Did we get better than Florida, Boston, Toronto or Tampa? 8th seed wildcard MAYBE if one of NYI and NJ crap out, Washington falls back and nobody else rises up.

The thing that bugs me about that list is Helenius is listed above Kulich Rosen and Östlund. All first rounders but if development is actually happening they should all be closer than the new guy. But they're not and so that brings our drafting back into question.

Tuch and Dahlin arm wrestling to see who gets to be captain. Bryson is the witness and ref.

If Chevy's so smart you'd think by now he'd have learned to draft western Canadian kids right off the start.

All depends on what system Ruff runs and how well they adapt. We are not likely to get much scoring from the bottom 6. At least not the way it appears they are being assembled, so scoring will have to come from the top 2 lines and the PP. PP HAS to be better for any success at all.

I'm not going to dig too deep on this because I don't really care but is it possible that he or his agent hid or didn't properly disclose details on his injury when the trade was made? Could that be construed as a breach of contract?

No, it was all a complicated ploy to get rid of Ceci 🙂 Whatever the details I loved it. Squeeze a cap ceiling team any chance you get. I wish we saw offer sheets every year.

This is great to hear. I'm not a St. Louis fan or anything but this was a perfectly designed predatory offer sheet scenario and shows a GM willing to play hardball cut throat and not be part of some silent boys club agreement scene. Obviously he's made an enemy in Edmonton but really helped his team and I hope this signals the start of other GMs getting this aggressive. The homework they did with those exact contract numbers to keep the compensation where it was was also genius. GM of the year so far. As an aside on Laine, it would have been insane if this team traded for Laine after buying out Skinner.

I have a bunch of jerseys and haven't worn most of them much. They do last I have to say that. I have had money to burn and probably have a dozen different ones (even a Letterkenny Shamrocks and a Happy Gilmore just for laughs). I have an Orr jersey I should probably be buried in. The hockey guy is fine (even though he's a terrible hockey player) but he just rehashes stuff that's yesterday's news and he is far too diplomatic to make him overly entertaining. I hope he can continue but if not I'm not overly concerned. He's usually a day behind @Brawndo when it comes to Sabres news.

I agree with you but after a list of inexperienced (in terms of NHL head coaching) failures a veteran coach seems like the right move. I just hope the respect and reverence Tuch holds for him filters through the whole team and the young guys don't just think "who is this old guy and why is he yelling at me?"

he must be making enough money considering how many jerseys he's got hanging there. When I first saw him I assumed that was inside a sports store but apparently not. Apparently all his.

I can't agree with that. Hockey's a pretty simple game and the tried and true still wins championships regardless of numerous rule changes and league tweaks. There really is nothing new and one of the Sabres problems has imo been not developing in a traditional way.

That was the Housley idea and it may very well be the Pegula way, but it won't work. No chance. Do you really see this D holding up to a Florid style forecheck in the playoffs? I don't. Not to mention if you pay Byram you're going to have too much money invested in your D and you will have trouble paying your top forwards down the line. Power is already being paid on faith and hope.

I understand what you're saying but in my opinion this is just Adams doubling down on his decision and making his decision the only decision even if he was wrong. So to focus on the bolded part it doesn't matter if he didn't view Mitts as 2C, Mitts played his way into justifying himself as 2C. He was arguably 1C but if you assume Thompson bounces back 2C is where he belonged. Cozens got paid by Adams but that was Adams choice. Cozens has shown himself to be capable of 2 way development but hasn't really shown himself to be better than 3C on a better team. If you have Thompson-Mitts-Cozens as 1, 2, 3C you don't need to trade for Mcleod you already have a better 3C on the roster. Colorado is a better team and they think Mitts is able to be their 2C. Is Colorado dumb and Adams smart? I don't think so, do you? It makes no sense to me. This team is forever creating new holes when they fill old holes and Byram is just not a guy this team needed. Better plan in my opinion would have been to sign Mitts, make him 2C, make Cozens 3C and maybe trade for a big defensive D man to partner with Dahlin or Power. Cozens would be overpaid, but that's a decision they'd have to live with since they made it and if it became untenable then you trade a piece down the line to rectify it. So I can follow the logic you outline, but I just don't think it's the best way to have gone.

I think they are fringe players. Especially Malentstyn. They will only succeed if Ruff manages to install a proper team system that the whole unit plays. If the system breaks down into the usual chaos we've gotten used to they will flounder.

Not good enough unless Ruff is a miracle worker. The Skinner issue has to be taken on faith. You either believe he was a problem or you don't and there won't be any concrete proof but the team record next season will add fuel to the argument one way or another. The bottom of the roster is constructed better, but I don't think it competes with the playoff teams from last year. It's tougher and should be more defensively responsible, but not tough enough and not very skilled either. In order for this team to have any success the goaltending will have to be solid, Power and Quinn will have to take leaps forward and Cozens and Thompson will have to earn their money (unlike last season). Samuelsson staying healthy won't hurt either. A lot of things have to go right at the same time for this team to have a chance.