Pimlach

You will love retirement then. I quite often ask my wife “what day is it?”

Erod type players come along almost every year for the playoffs. Quite often they are the ones we trade at the deadline. When you set your roster so far under the cap that you are paying players who are not on the roster just to reach the cap floor then sure, Cozens contract was probably needed. Looking down the road, which is what we do in Sabreland, Cozens contract should be fine if he can get his game back.

Prospect pools. Florida won by making trades. They have maybe 3 players on their roster that they drafted (Barkov, Ekblad, Lundell).

I passed on going this year. Im losing my love …

Like what? What are they looking for? Right now we have less goals, less assists, less two way play, less power play ability, and less versatility to play on any line, …. Yup. That’s different. By default Payton Krebs is the 3C right now. I didn’t see him earn it last season. I sure hope they find a better “something different”. I will agree that he would want more money in Buffalo due to the dumb contract they gave Cozens and the team operating under the cap (once again).

So where is the trade addressing the top 6 need?

Under their control yes, but they have to sign him, and how much will that be?

That was another lifetime ago and a much better world to live in. Amazing how few Canadians fans were there. The Sabres had fans, the games were on TV for free, and home games in The Aud were fun.

Yes, but this example gets into a specific case of a potentially costly acquisition of players with one year left, and who will not renegotiate because they are facing UFA status and want to hit their payday. What are Buffalo’s chances ? So my solution would be to approach other GMs about players with term and if you overpay a bit to compete in the now then you must do it.

Why? So he pays Mitts more than his current 3.5M that the Avs are giving. He had the cap room, especially with Skinner bought out.

This is fair. He could do worse damage by giving up too much for one year of a good player. Like he already did in the Mitts deal, Byram has one year, then what? So, target players with more term.

True. The only things missing are replacing Mitts (they had the resources to improve upon him) and backfilling Skinner (they cleared money for this). Do these things and they start looking like a team that is trying.

Absolutely, as good as he played in those first 9 games, I think most teams would have sent him back to juniors. Not being AHL eligible made is risky to keep him. As it turns out the kid held his own. Now they have to help him and keep the goons away.

If they do nothing else major they might be better than last year and make the playoffs if: Tage, Dahlin, Tuch, Cozens, and Quinn all return to form in production. That is critical for picking up goals from Mitts and Skinner. In addition Byram adds something significant And they get steady contributions by Benson, JJP, Greenway, Clifton, Zucker And improvement by Power is required And they get solid and steady goaltending of course And the updated bottom 6 makes a real difference - this will actually be fun to follow. All or most of this happening, plus Lindy, and we should be better. How much the play of the bottom 6 changes things will be interesting for me to see. Lindy talked about face offs, and shut down lines, and better special teams. He knows if they can get a lead and learn to hold it they will improve. It’s possible they are better.

I am not going to review every UFA transaction but I would have loved Guentzel. Wouldn’t you? Tampa moved on from Stamkos and signed him. Real team do these things. Ok, so next you will say he won’t go to Buffalo , which is fair only because Buffalo did this to themselves. On the way lesser end of the spectrum I would be ok with Henrique for a short term at 3C to buy time for our prospects to mature. Isn’t that reasonable? But even that didn’t happen. The Preds signed both Stamkos and Marchessault !!! They are re-tooling, not rebuilding. And yes, there were other centers in between these extremes, plus potential trades that the GM should be dreaming up, not me. I will not buy into the “it’s too hard and nobody else did this or that” Adams narrative. I want a guy that sets the tone and the market, not excuses like Adams gave on draft day. Pathetic lame excuses.

Please remember that good players with tread on their tires did not want to come here before the Eichel trade. @thewookie1, let Eichel go. He is gone. Our problems today reside at the feet of Terry and Kevyn. Their action or inaction speaks louder than anything they could say.

The reasons Benson played is because they didn’t bring in an NHL player to backfill Quinn, and both VO and Jost were terrible players. Benson earned his spot in part because Adams sat on his hands afraid to make moves, he rolled it back. But he was quick to throw Granato under the bus about the state of the team in preseason, something he too was complicit in.

So you play Benson for two season in the NHL, full time, top 9, and then send him to the AHL? For what? Thats is a fireable offense IMO. But it highlights how our fan base is conditioned to accept the poor job Adams did last year, our “go for it” year, as normal. It’s not. Don’t let Adams poor work as a GM become your new normal.

Well Rico I think my thoughts on getting a 2C, or a strong 3C for that matter, were quite realistic given the resources on hand, and it’s exactly the kind of thing that good teams do. Buffalo seems to discard legit centers like ROR and Mitts with no problem. But even if we can get a decent a 3C, it makes Krebs and Lafferty bust hump for ice at either center or wing, that would help create a competitive atmosphere on the team. Having a 13th forward that is low cost and can actually play is what good teams do. My recollection is that Lindy likes versatile players and options at center. Hoping to see Cozens bounce back as I do like the kid. Also hoping that Lindy can convince Opie to take a few risks, spend a few more dollars, and stop rushing the younger players. I’m convinced we have become conditioned by the Pegula era to accept less, lower our expectations, and to believe things are harder than they have to be.

Given how they both have played for their new teams, and that Mitts signed in Colorado, and we don’t know if we get more than a year out of Bryam, I am still not impressed by the trade. Add, that Krebs is pencilled in at 3C. Maybe he steps up? We can only watch, wait, and see if the team is getting better. Lots of other changes now come into play.

Write to Karmanos and tell him to fix this.

Really? Using buffalohockeybeat? Benson and Savoie played WHL Juniors together, that is not in the minors, not ever. Benson is still 19 and is not eligible for minors (pro). Learn what these terms mean. If Savoie is ready to be the 3C in the NHL right now I will be happy. Based on his limited action last season it is a stretch to think that. But maybe we can count on good luck. Most people see him as a winger.

Maybe this year is time. Last year certainly was not.

I hope you’re right. I see no reason to put him under the pressures we put our young players under.