Dr. Who

I understand about Kincaid. On the football side of this forum I was pushing for his selection six weeks before the draft. I liked him better than the conventional WRs available. So I was very happy with the pick, but Beane has generally used premium picks elsewhere. No one is "morphing into some imaginary funk" over Hopkins. He would be a nice add. I think Kincaid will emerge as a threat the opposing D needs to account for. I would not count on that his rookie year, though he has the talent to make that happen. In that respect, it would be optimal to sign Hopkins to a short-term deal so that Diggs is harder to double, especially in the playoffs where he has disappeared recently. As is, this should be a much more versatile offense provided Dorsey is up to the challenge of incorporating the run game into a coherent attack and using all the weapons.

Settle might get traded, though it probably ought to be Basham. Epenesa is a lunch pail guy, but I think he had 6.5 sacks last year so he's last one in at the moment, imo. Some folks suggest Lawson, but he sets the edge well and is generally a solid rotation fella. Phillips is another one I would consider. He is a flashy dim and doesn't take care of himself so gets hurt, often on bonehead plays. Neglecting receiver and getting oline wrong are this regime's recurring issues, criminal with a franchise qb like Josh. Davis is low end WR2. Hopkins may have lost a step, but he is the opposite of Davis. Catches everything, but probably best at this point on short and intermediate routes. I think Beane would find the money if Hopkins were willing to come in around a threshold he is comfortable with. Don't know who else is out there that is worth more than what we have. Some speculate Mike Evans could be on the trading block, but I surmise that is just folk's conjecture because the Bucs are rebuilding and figure to be bad for a few years.

Perhaps I have been habituated to lowered expectations, but I will be relieved if KA grabs one. Two would certainly make the D more credible, assuming they are intent on actually incorporating a coherent defensive system.

You'd have to figure how much you can spend allowing for extensions to core players and how the Sabres plan on managing the cap going forward, but I think you could get a veteran goalie and acquire a top 4 D without requiring particularly unusual effort or luck. Teams up against the cap may create trade partners. Maybe you pry a Hanifin or DeMelo away for an acceptable price. There are quality FAs available to bolster the blueline. No reason KA cannot do both. Still think you could add Hellebuyck, Graves, and DeMelo, just as an example, for a combination of picks and prospects that leaves the top prospects out of the equation.

I think that kind of fearless is unwise. At minimum, he should bring in a veteran goalie to split starts with Levi. If Levi was more proven, UPL could reasonably develop into a competent backup. We'll see how it plays out. Every successful GM has to have some poker player in him. I just doubt Adams has stated everything he's thinking for public consumption.

13, UPL and a B prospect would be my preferred package, but I am on the side of those who think Hellebuyck is worth the expenditure. Your alternative is interesting. Simashev at 18 is a nice play.

Once upon a time there was a girl from Nantucket. That's all I got.

I guess I'll have to stop disliking him, but I still suspect he has a Little Lord Fauntleroy attitude.

That's plausible, but let's try this hypothetical: would you rather be playing in the NHL for a bad team that has an immediate opening or be first call up from the AHL for an up-and-coming team that drafted you? I can understand the desire for options, but KA has been patient and treated him well so far as I can tell. That also ought to count for something. TIe should go to the team that drafted you, but maybe that is an outlandish thought nowadays.

Good for you. You and Thorny should form a Club and toast each other's superior maturity. The trade looks to have helped the Sabres. Still want Eichel to lose and absolutely do not want Eichel to get the Conn Smyth after the ROR experience. OTOH, KA can use it as a trade chip. If you take so-and-so, it might end with a Cup and a Conn Smythe winner.

I have not heard any, but he is entering Jack Eichel territory with me.

I more or less share that order of preference. I was in grad school at the University of Dallas for the 1999 Stanley Cup Finals. I have a friend from Edmonton, so we'd gone to root for the Oil in one of the nosebleeds earlier in the year. I previously had liked the Minnesota Northstars, so I had no preexisting animus. Fortunately, I have always been a brooding, melancholic fella, so no one noticed any difference in my behavior after the No Goal experience. I tried to explain to my roommate about the hockey, but he was a farm boy from Iowa and couldn't comprehend how all that was further proof that the universe was conspiring to screw Buffalo, NY out of championships. I know a few Catholic priests. Now that we actually might start to be good again, I'm wondering if there is a variant of exorcism that might work.

Agree with everything except the first sentence. I'm for Dallas, then Seattle, not for Vegas. Don't mind Florida. Carolina kind of irritates me, but they're a solid team. Just don't like Boston boy and I don't want him to win the Cup before us, so that is likely how it will play out.

I'm not disagreeing with that. All I said was you can't really prove it, though the likelihood is evident. As to the latter bit, I don't see it as a semantic quibble, but regardless, I do concur that this July should be telling. I've already said in an earlier conversation with you that if there are not, in fact, any significant FA signings, that I would reassess and that it would give credence to your continuing pessimism as to the league wide perception of the team. (I don't see how that is a rational evaluation of the team, but perception is not always rational.)

I think everyone knows the post-tank rebuild was mishandled. KA came in with a strategy that is largely working so far as I can tell. He could have spent more on FA and obviously it seems it would not have taken much when you miss the playoffs by one point. Since you can't prove a counter-factual, no one can know for sure. And I don't recall many folks telling you it is a myth that FAs wouldn't sign here, though I haven't read through all the threads with close attention. That was a problem. Folks are telling you it shouldn't be a problem now, which is a different assertion.

I've no idea about anything technical, nor do I have ESPN plus. I guess they don't value the lacrosse audience enough to make access clear which is unfortunate.

Change the GMs to super models in bikinis designated for each team and you've got a ratings bonanza.

All the games in the series are apparently on ESPN+ only.

Mustard yellow is just an ugly color. Preds have the same issue with the addition of a crest logo with such a hyperbolic front tooth the beast is grotesque.

I am guessing he is making a joke about the cultural divide in the country and suggesting the South will rise again -- or in his estimation, the dim-witted hillbillies will fall outside of civilization altogether and form their own nation, hence the "y'all."

I kind of think it would be shabby of Reinhart and Montour, but I suppose that is possible. The regime under KA is clearly better and I surmise that gets whispered about, too. I guess we'll see. I will be surprised if they are as limited as you believe, but if they don't sign any higher level free agents I'll begin to wonder if it is process related or the continuing stigma you suggest.

Why do you think the Sabres have been circled in red so to speak? If it was because they were a losing culture or terrible team, neither is operative now. Do you think the NHL players are too dumb to figure out when a situation changes? If there is another reason, I cannot fathom it. Some players might prefer a bigger city, but I doubt that is as widespread a phenomenon in the hockey world as in other sports.

And you think among the fairly large number of reasonably good FA defensemen available this year that none of them would want to play for the Sabres? Just because some folks can't let go of their bitterness over twelve years of not making the playoffs, I doubt the rest of the league is looking at the current Sabres roster and thinking they're not an up-and-coming team. I expect we will sign one or (gasp) maybe even two FA defensemen. I even expect them to be a higher caliber than marginal players just looking for a spot at the bottom of a roster.

I read your response as questioning whether the Oil would take games 5 and 6 as asserted by Thorny. I did not perceive the further context that you clarified above. Of course, you are correct, though it's probably asking a lot for restraint when the provocation is blatant.

Alright. But in terms of the effect of Nurse's absence on the game, it would seem to me that if Pieterangelo is not playing for Vegas, the advantage is nullified. Maybe you think different.