Broken Ankles

Or could it be that the ROR trade had a date specific accelerant that affected the return. He took the best of what was out there, and this time there is none, and his evaluation of the return offered is not what is deemed acceptable. Yet.

Yeah, can stand him for many reasons. His affiliation with Boston obviously tops on the list. I know Sabres fans thinks he hates Buffalo. I haven’t seen a recent bias but still don’t like him.

I expect a follow up where Pat Sharp replaces Milbury in Studio permanently. It’s all about growing the sport, and 67 year old dinosaurs are not capturing the right demo.

Then let's stop debating it. We agree what the term should be. We agree his years 4-? will be extremely successful. We disagree slightly with the AAV. In my opinion, no one is worth 20%.

Of course you don't offer 5, but as you state above (which I agree with whole heatedly), the RFA leverage is using 5 years as a way to hedge their bets to both a.) get paid now, and b.) still obtain a max year deal after. I'm just saying IF you have to go with a 5 year deal (like Matthews) then you try to max out your opportunities in that window, which includes other UFA's and then negotiate after that time. Same would apply for a 3 year bridge. And IF you want to go 8 (whihc I'm all for as an option too), based on the limited negotiation power of an RFA, it certainly would not be 17.2 million AAV. You would only be competing against yourself.

Neither. I'm suggesting a bridge contract allows Salary Cap decisions for other players in 2021 that allows them to compete for the cup for at least 3-5 years. A Max deal for Dahlin, assuming Sam is going to get his this year ($8.5 AAV) would place the Sabres in 2021 with 4 players consuming 52% of the Cap. I'm saying it does not have to be this way. A 2-4 year deal in the $10M range will allow other signings so the team can compete between 2012-2025. Whereas a Max deal would not.

I'm on record stating the Sabres will deliver a Stanley Cup based on Dahlin's timeline, not Eichel's, so I'm right there with you on expectations. Similar to the Kings playoff run in 2011/12 with Doughty. However there is a reason the CBA is drafted the way it is, so that RFA's have less bargaining power. Of course the trend is to lock up players longer & earlier, but to assume a Max deal is even an option is ludicrous. You bridge or go to 5 years to ensure you have cap space for others. THEN you pay Max. Not after your ELC.

@dudacek I appreciate the list of NCAA Player comparisons and the cogent defense of his collegiate career. I think I too gave up on his ability to contribute to the Sabres this season. Partly due to his point production, advanced metrics and overall observations. But comparing his overall PPG at UConn to the others, and assuming the ratio of difficulty (.41) interesting to note: Eichel is performing 24% better than the "assumed" rate of difficulty using NCAA stats Larkin 22% better Roslovik 19% better Boeser 59% better Connor - 6% worse Compher 15% worse Tage is 46% worse I would not be surprised to see him start in Rochester regardless of his performance in camp. Ralph and others using tough love to see if he has the intestinal fortitude to push and prove himself there first. What I definitely know is that looking at Tages' collegiate numbers, and AHL numbers compared to others, and factoring his age, has left me a glimmer of hope that a 18/18 year (this or next) is reasonable to expect.

Max salary is 20% of the upper limit. With salary cap projections for 2021 of $86m that’s $17.2. Uh-No thank you.

Let me add more of what Rakish supplied. From Natural Stat Trick. Jack and Jeff played only about 24 minutes the entire season 5v5 without one of these three: Sam, Jason or Evan. With an obvious lion-share to Jason and Sam. And while Jason's TOI was half of Sams, his splits suggest they (Jack and Jeff) played better with Jason than with Sam. Higher Corsi, Higher Fenwick, Higher shots for %, higher goals for %, and higher % of HD goals for. Now I don't believe that Jason is better than Sam in any way, but what I observed in the first part of the year is that Jason did not look out of place on a first line of a team that was in contention and competitive. I think Sam's time spent on the first line was sufficient for him to gain the confidence that he can drive play, and execute without Jack or Jeff. KO got 12 minutes, and Tage 10. The results were awful. Maybe the 2018 Sabres did not have another piece that would fit besides Jason or Sam, but Housley did not seem to even experiment with the idea. The intent of including other stats is to suggest that a good player/finisher (Vesey/Olofsson?) can help deliver similar results on the top line while at the same time leveraging Sam to provide better results on the second line.

Building a Culture? More like ....

NHL – Wayne Gretzky. MLB – Deadball era (Ruth), modern (Mays), post modern (Trout) NFL – Brady (as much as I hate it) NBA – Jordan Golf – Nicklaus Tennis – Serena Williams Boxing – Ali. Beach Volleyball - Walsh/Treanor Curling - Kevin Martin Rollerball - Jon-a-than

"Remember the 5 D's of dodgeball: Dodge, duck, dip, dive and dodge." - Patches O'Houlihan

I think @SwampD asked for this earlier in the string. Both are from Natural Stat Trick - The first one is Risto only and his partners. The second one is various partner combinations. Some of the metrics suggest D-men like Pilut and McCabe played better with Risto than Bogo. McCabes numbers with players other than Bogo or Risto are also better, but is it b/c of a smaller sample size and heavy offensive zone Faceoff's? Risto and Pilut seemingly dominate play from a CF/FF perspective. They also have a positive High Danger % for and against but they get outscored. Go figure. Looks like Risto played about two games worth with Hunwick. Results on CF/FF are good. HFCF% - positive, HDGA - even. Protected minutes with 56% Offensive zone FO's yet badly outscored when on the ice. For me it comes down to Dahlin. Huge sample size with Bogo and Risto, and better with Bogo. Add in Dahlin assuming the PP#1 minutes, and gradually assuming PK minutes translate to a diminishing asset with a steady and high AAV. We don't need to pay a #4 D pairing $5.4M.

I wouldn’t say Scandella ever played “well”. He was/is replacement level his entire time as a Sabre I always liked Pommers and happy to have him return, but I liked Foligno more considering his age, term, his style of play and his AAV. You are absolutely correct it was an attempt to do something which should not be dismissed.

Like Dudacek said, he did NOTHING his first year.

https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/hockey/news/sabres-vladimir-sobotka-wont-face-buyout/ Hammy got this from the JB presser on June 21st which is still archived in the WGR/Radio.com App. Under Sabres Hockey folder. Around 9 minutes in was asked about Vladdy and then in general and said he does not expect using any buyouts.

+ 1 to this point. If I recollect, the NJD were under the Salary cap floor with $30M to spend in 2015. Conversely JB had cap hits like Moulson, Okposo, Pommers, Georges, Bogo and others which takes time to correct. Of course he did not help himself with adding Scandella and Pouliet to the mix. other points: Fun fact. Las Vegas has the NJD Win total at 88 points for 2019 and Sabres at 84. How is it that a team adding an all world D-man PK Suban, the league MVP who missed all last year, and the #1 overall is only 4 points better than the Sabres? This is Shero's 5th year. Palmeiri was added in 2015. the additions were over those 5 seasons, not three. Their awesome playoff run was losing in the first round 4 games to 1. I don't watch junior hockey but most of the sites I read do not have their farm system above the Sabres. In fact, Shero should be highly criticized for the failure of the 2015 draft where he drafted Zacha over about a dozen others more highly regarded. We all know the names. His 2016 first rounder looks suspecious. Six goals last year in the AHL for Binghamton? The trade for Mirco Mueller (2nd +4th) highly questionable. The Vataneen and Hall trades were highly successful, and should be louded except their are both UFA's and will be expecting significant pay increases next season. To me Shero is comme ci, comme ca. Not reading his book on how to be an NHL GM.

Isn't the marker for decline 30? Both Ovi and Patrice are same age - 34. Since turning 30, Ovi has averaged 47 goals a year, 80 points a year, and 20 minutes of Ice-time. Which is exactly 17 more goals a year, 13 more total points a year, and almost a minute of TOI than Patrice. Also more durable playing an average of 9 more games a year than Bergeron. He's a Captain, and has more cups during this period (2015-present). Ovi is in the top 5 until he isn't. Showing no signs of decline. If anyone is going to fall off, it's Patrice Oh, and if hasn't been mentioned, he's a Bruin.

Rochelle Rochelle - good movie, but perhaps a better Broadway musical adaptation, starring Bette Midler. Either way, I prefer Checkmate.

I guess that means GMs are “people” too. ?

I had Cap Friendly open, so I pulled his contract terms. Not sure how the signing bonus works. Could be paid each year.

We have $33.4M coming off next year. Reinhart might be $8m, and Montour $5-6m? What's $1M going to help next year when there are no UFA's worthy of chasing?