PerreaultForever

Power is the question mark for me. If he continues to play a soft passive game with offensive bursts the defensive side of things is in trouble. Too many offensive puck movers and not enough defenders. I think the D has a poor mix on it and Samuelsson has to stay healthy to have any hope at all. If Power steps up we might be fine. I'd prefer if we added a big shot blocking D first guy but I doubt it happens. I am interested to see how Ruff pairs people. We already know Dahlin can play right or left side so pretty much anything is possible. I'm really hoping that Ruff is going to start with a completely blank slate and come with new pairings (and new lines) and the best players will get the spots and that doesn't matter who they are or where they were drafted.

As I understood it they were trying to get Berube so I think this is plan B. Interesting tidbit I found amusing today. In the season ending presser Montgomery said he called and talked to some old coaches and friends entering the playoffs asking for advice. he apparently asked Babcock for advice on how to beat the Leafs. No wonder Marner had such a bad series 🙂

This is what I've been asking for a couple of years. We have size and speed, we should be playing a heavy forecheck style for success. We haven't though. Maybe that changes with Ruff.

and the winner is Trouba with a stick into Cousins mouth. (Couldn't happen to a nicer guy :))

Well Stamkos ain't coming to Buffalo so no need to think about that. He's either going to re-sign in Tampa (most likely) or with a top contender at a reduced rate. Pesce is unlikely since there was talk he no trade claused on Buffalo before but you never know.

says every single team in the NHL. Expect? No. Should he? Yes.

Well I don't care who wins but I disagree on the hockey and the excitement. In the west you have a classic offense vs. defense match up and in the east you have two balanced teams with both star power and high level meanness and grit. They should be well matched and thus the hockey close and interesting. There's no underdog here, it's the 4 best left. Edmonton is the weakest and I'd argue Vegas was better than them but that's how match ups go. Vegas Dallas might end up being the best series of all of them when it's all over.

I don't care who wins tonight. My question is who gets in the first major cheap shot, Bennet or Trouba?

In regards to your comment, I think this nailed it: If you are looking at talent on the roster we had more talent than Washington by far, more than the Islanders (I mean Hudson Fasching for f sakes) more than Nashville, as much as L.A., I think you could even make an argument that we had more "talent" on the roster than Boston has. Yes, the make up of the team wasn't built right for the playoffs but how that roster plays and who is on it is partly on the coach as well. It's his philosophy and his game plan. If he's not asking for the right kind of bodies to fill roles and is just a KA puppet then he's not a good coach either. There are teams that over achieve for what they have on their roster. Nashville, Washington, NYI and Boston would definitely be in that category as well as Philadelphia and some others. Then there are teams that underachieve, and that was Buffalo (again) and coaching has a huge role in that.

That's kind of a strange way of looking at it imo. Granato never got that "opportunity" because he wasn't a good enough coach to get his team to the playoffs. Unlike many people here who believe he is this great development guy I think he was an incredibly over rated coach and somewhat clueless at the NHL level. We haven't had a good coach since Ruff, and now we are there again. Hopefully he's still a good coach.

Basically. I'd say their problem is not enough goal scoring talent. Too easy for Florida to focus on shutting down one guy. Marchand, even without the injury, just isn't that offensive threat any more. They need a top center and a replacement for DeBrusk if they let him walk at minimum.

Open ice? I'm just guessing as I've not watched it but Sabres in general played better in open ice games.

Nashville building while trying to stay competitive at the same time, how radical 🙂 Tampa obviously thinks they have a small window left. Maybe they do. Wouldn't shock me, but maybe they get him to sign one of those team friendly deals with bonuses like Bergeron and Krejci did in Boston. One more cup run type of thing.

Possibly. The hockey in the Florida-Boston series was harder and more intense than what I saw in most of the Vancouver-Edmonton series though. Vegas-Dallas was probably some of the hardest hockey played so far. If Dallas wins the cup it's quite possible that Vegas was actually the second best even if they did go out round 1.

After the first period I thought neither of these teams could beat any of the remaining other teams and probably couldn't beat Boston, Colorado or Carolina (or Vegas) either. I will be totally shocked if Dallas doesn't blow past Edmonton with relative ease.

Sounds like a Sabre 🙂

You don't know that. Neither do I. Adams works to an internal cap number and a projection of who he wants and when and with Mitts becoming our top points producer it's quite possible he no longer fit into Adams cap budget. He'd already decided Cozens was 2C and Thompson was 1C so Mitts was a 3C number or out he goes. Hence you take back the best you can get to eliminate the problem. I'm not saying I agree with that or if it's a fact, but it's definitely a possibility and logically, you know you can see it.

I doubt Seattle lets him go but yes, definitely.

I agree with the second sentence, but does he "really like Byram" or was Byram just the best player he could get for Mitts from a team that wanted Mitts? A guy he thought would not hate coming to Buffalo because he had friends there. I am really curious as to how Ruff puts this D together. I personally don't see how Byram gives us what we need there.

uber alles?

That's because they are apples and oranges. Cozens was given a big payday so there is an expectation to go along with that. Krebs is a bottom end low pay guy who might (stress might) still get better. He's a low risk investment. They are not comparable, even if they are of a similar age. Personally I don't care if they bring back Krebs, but if the plan is Krebs as 3C, then we are in deep trouble. As for Cozens, one down year on a bad team with a bad coach means absolutely nothing. I still think he's a better winger than center but since we lack centers I have to hope Ruff can bring out his best.

The guy's been on 3 cup winners and this is what he says in his exit interview. This is just another example of why I keep saying that Sabres need to emulate Bruins culture.

Can't say if it's true or not for sure. https://phillyhockeynow.com/2024/05/19/philadelphia-flyers-matvei-michkov-terminate-khl-contract/

There's a lot of people in different fanbases talking Iginla. I wouldn't be surprised if he goes quite high. I'd be surprised if he goes past Seattle but Calgary, I mean......... Bottom line forget about him, he will be gone.

Unquestionably a big miss on that one. There were some big mistakes all over in that draft though. We could have picked Tyson Jost (picked just 2 spots later than Nylander) 🙂 Imagine if we'd picked McAvoy. That was probably the only draft the Bruins won in recent memory with McAvoy and Frederic in the first round. Imagine if we'd picked McAvoy first round and Lindgren second (or even Peeke). Our entire D conversation over these years would have been different. But alas, we got Nylander and Asplund. Is KA still making these same mistakes? Time will tell. All our GMs in these bad years are the same. Inexperienced guys who made big mistakes and the coaching hires have been horrible. Besides Kreuger, I think Jbots biggest mistake was trading Foligno. Heart and soul guys matter.