Marvin

Ennis and Moulson were signed by XGMTM the two previous off-seasons. He was not trading them. Girgensons was young enough to be considered part of the solution. It is worth taking a look at this team compared to the 2013-5 teams. Also, look at the transactions made during the seasons. This team is not designed to win first, but it is not designed to get carpet bombed game-in and game-out either like The Tank teams were.

This is flat out insulting. I have an answer, but you clearly don't deserve one. Duly noted.

Toronto had stunk for the better part of a decade accumulating talent. The Maple Leafs were not an overnight miracle. As for tanking, the Sabres are not selling off players who are playing well for scraps and crap like XGMTM did. Nor did they sign a bunch of washed-up players at inflated prices. If the Sabres were tanking, they would have career minor leaguers getting 2nd line ice time while solid, reliable performers like Okposo, Girgensons, etc. would have been moved for picks, cap dumps, and roster flotsam. Instead, as currently made, a healthy line-up has 20 actual NHL players on it -- albeit all about 1 line/pair too high overall. This is a standard rebuild. They are not so much trying to lose as prioritising player development and clearing the air of The Failure (The Tank). The one clear thing GMKA bollixed was goaltending. Now, we should not expect to go 6 deep in goal, but, as I said elsewhere, Anderson breaking down was eminently predictable. Honestly, Mike Bales deserves a bonus for getting all 6 guys eventually to play like they almost belong in the NHL. 6 in Buffalo means at least 1 other team has played at least 4 goalies by the pigeonhole principle. This is nuts.

I am with you on the need for better ensemble defence. But I think you are missing how much easier it is to do that with the right personnel and with improved personnel. Sometimes, they do play solid team defence. Sometimes, they look overmatched. And, more often than I would like, they break down in their own zone. Sometimes, I have a hard time telling which problem has what cause because it looks like a blend of issues.

It's not a strength. We need at least 1 player above Jokiharu on the right. We need a better blend of types of defencemen -- both more physical and more defencively aware. IMHO, we will need to move at least one of our young LHD for a similar, but more boring RHD.

I had no problem with being in the lower end of the playoffs each year. Teams are winning Cups from the 5-8 seeds when they have goaltending -- and with Miller, the Sabres had that. The team needed to be remade somewhat, so a partial teardown was warranted. What was not warranted was trading any goaltender who had the gall to play well. What was not called for was icing a team where half the players were career minor-leaguers. It was asinine not to build up organisational depth during those years. I still don't know why they overpaid some of those terrible defencemen. No rebuilding team before ever went two seasons gleefully establishing a losing culture before the Sabres and the fans decided being losers was good for the franchise. IMHO, no team is required 2nd overall picks to draft passably. If you need them that badly, then you really had better not tank because you never stop being a bottom-feeder. With multiple picks in the 1st and 2nd rounds in multiple years, even mediocre drafting can bring in decent players.

True. But XGMJB could always have chosen not to trade O'Reilly. The original sin of the O'Reilly trade is the idea of moving him in the first place.

1. The Sabres are an unattractive franchise for anyone of quality in goal based on on-ice personnel. 2. The franchise has had continual churn in management. 3. No team is parting with quality goaltending unless it is worth their while. 4. The fans who wanted to tank deserve this crap and we are all reaping its rewards. Until God Has Decided the sins of those fans who wanted to lose have been expiated, we who don't believe in trying to lose will continue to be punished as well.

And imagine if Casey Mittlestadt were OK too.

Numbers 1 and 2 on things GMKA has to get right next season: NHL-level goaltending and NHL-level defencive defencemen. This season would not look as bleak currently if we had a bit more talent and health from the blue-line back. I give GMKA a pass on Tokarski's COVID-19. You can't plan to have a goaltender you sign to miss most of the season with illness. I do not give him a pass anywhere else with the goaltending.

Thank you for saying this. I was higher on Ullmark than everyone except Modo. I personally would have given him the starting job for 4 years without blinking -- understanding the risk that his seasonal injuries make. I was not happy with "making do" with what we had starting the season. IMHO, they were clearly hoping that UPL would seize the day and, when that didn't work out, we landed here. Having said that, no one in their right mind would plan on needing a 5th string goaltender in season any more than you would plan on needing your 10th defencemen in the Stanley Cup Semi-Finals.

This is just asking for trouble. I think the owners took a huge bath in red ink last season and this is part of the plan to stem the tide. I am thinking about these people leveraging interest in one team, probably a smaller market, to trade a $1 player to a big market team they have equity in for 2 quarters, 3 dimes, and whatever is behind door #2. Imagine this scenario: firm A has a stake in teams 1, 2, and 3 while firm B has the same stake in teams 1, 2, and 4. Team 1 is out of the playoff hunt, but has a highly coveted UFA2B. Team 2 could use him, but will not trade for him if the price is too high. Teams 3 and 4 are contenders and both want UFA2B from team 1. Can you imagine the potential behind-the-scenes shenanigans that could happen if a bidding war broke out? And to avoid adverse fallout, team 1 might need to turn down good offers from teams 3 and 4 to take a meh offer from team 2 just to keep these investors happy.

IMHO, Eichel and Reinhart felt like the team was designed for them to carry the scoring load while everyone else had to just hold their own. But each season, the bottom line or two was never good enough and there was at least one bad defencive pair.

I liked him and what Empire Sports Network was. RIP.

Has the league given criteria on what the situation needs to be like on the ground before the Sabres and Leafs can play the game?

He does the boring stuff well. He's a good bottom-pair guy. IMHO, a small raise is in order. I personally would look to flip one of my young LHD for a comparable RHD as well.

At my age, you learn to expect that. Just compare the original cast from _Star Trek_ from the series through The Motionless Picture to The Undiscovered Country. That's why I look for the personal and career information. These actors and actresses are people. They have more going on than what we see on TV and in the movies. For instance, George Takei actually took up fencing in real life after learning it for "The Naked Time." Leonard Nimoy made part of his life's mission to debunk Holocaust deniers. Grace Lee Whitney took a few years to recover after she was dropped from _Star Trek_; her recovery story is flat out inspiring.

I've looked up pictures and interviews of some of these actors and actresses just for grins. Some of the commercials do not do them justice from the viewpoint of looks, personality, and background. Sometimes, you strike gold. One time, I found out that "the most interesting man in the world" was the first extra who wore a red shirt in "Star Trek" who did not die. That certainly qualified as "interesting" from my point of view.

I think they say "UPL," but it comes out muddy on the telecast, so the "P" turns into a "B." Welcome to the board.

The political ones online which interrupt my YouTube videos are flat out repulsive. Every time I see Chuck Schumer, Bill Prager, et al., I want to choke. (I refuse to give Big Tech any more money than they already take from me, so I tolerate YouTube commercials.) Their fear-mongering gets old fast. Their blather undermines their message except to those already on their side. I guess it bugs me more because I am not a hardcore activist whom they can raise money from -- the point is not to persuade but to fundraise from the base.

He does not have Vanek and Afinogenov as wingers and is not getting 3rd line match-ups. That matters too.

My condolences to the family. That is really tough.

Party pooper here: a couple of seasons. I have seen a LOT of one-year wonders. Having said that, the returns are better than "promising."

Welcome back to the board.

The IIHF should have planned for pro-COVID attitudes from large swaths of the population in Canada than in Europe. For this tournament, they needed to totally isolate teams in one or two hotels and buy out the banquet facilities.