JohnC

Jack is dealing with a health situation that could jeopardize his career. He is also on a franchise stuck in the muck of mediocrity. If his apparent disillusionment with his situation is a surprise to the organization then it is grossly clueless. You don't think that the organization has communicated with Jack and his reps during his injury hiatus? It's safe to assume that there has been communication while he was on the shelf. So it shouldn't be a surprise to anyone in the front office what his attitude was about the situation. I'm not going to criticize Jack for candidly answering questions at his exit interview. Would anyone take his responses seriously if he gave some disingenuous responses at the interview when anyyone who had a scintilla amount of knowledge of his situation know that it was untrue? My point is that most people involved in the hockey business both inside and outside of the organization were well aware of what's going on. I'm very confident that the organization and the people who cover the Sabres were not blindsided by any surprising revelations at his exit interview. Jack's not the bad guy here; and neither is the organization. Divorce is rarely easy for the parties involved. It's just a difficult situation that the parties have to come together in some sort of accommodation.

As I stated in other posts I believe that the hiring of a HC and the Eichel saga are separate issues. Would the Sabres be better off if Eichel stays? If healthy, without a doubt. But if he wants out or the GM and organization don't believe that he is committed to the team he will be moved. There is a timing issue with Jack that relates to clauses in his contract. If the Jack issue is put off for another year the organization will lose some leverage if they decide to move him later rather than sooner.

I respectfully disagree. I agree with you that the direction of the team is going to be affected by the Eichel decision. It would be a mistake to base a coaching decision on how it will affect a particular player. The issue is who is the best coach the roster assembled. A good coach is a good coach. If it is good for the team it would be good for Jack if he stays.

Where I have a slight disagreement with you is that I'm more willing to bring in a high-end prospect such as Byfield in a trade transaction for one of our prime players. The impact clearly won't be immediate but it should be impactful. I'm not talking about an either/or deal but simply part of a deal that would be beneficial in the not too distant long run. I do believe (and I think you do so also) that this team can be a better team even with the departure of a couple of our prime players if the trades are handled smartly.

I'm not worried about being inspired. I want a coach who can make his players get better. I want a coach who can consistently get his players to play hard. I want a coach that not only holds the players accountable but instills an ethic where the players hold each other accountable. In his relatively short stint last season Granato did that. Although he isn't an inspiring selection he would be a good selection. I am an unabashed Granato-stan.

It appears to me that you and @Weaveare more in concert than in conflict. In reading your posts on this topic my interpretation of what the both of you are saying is that if handled adroitly even with the departure of some of our prime players it can be used to enhance the roster. Even if there is a short-term setback the foundation can be strengthened and the team can be better situated.

The interview at the end of the season was a candid expression of his frustration due to his injury situation. And also although not explicitly expressed but maybe more important is his obvious frustration being stuck on a team that has a way to go to compare to the better teams in the league. There is no doubt that the young players played better under Granato. But what is also starkly true is that the Sabres had the worst record in the league and have been shut out of the playoffs for a decade. I agree with you that Jack wasn't very diplomatic and didn't exhibit much grace. But instead of playing the insincere public relations game he told you exactly what he felt. What we learned is that there is a lot of going on between the parties involved. This wasn't your typical buuulllshiitt pro forma exit interview. It was the truth as he saw it. And for that I am not going to criticize him for it.

I don't deny that Beniers may turn out to be a stud. As you pointed out in another related post all three Michaganders look to be quality prospects. As I said before I'm not foolish enough to be dismissive of anyone who prefers their ying over my yang. This is a draft situation where with choices we should be able to add a top shelf prospect into the pool. My preferred scenario if the Sabres feel compelled to trade Jack is that we come away with a player/prospect such as Byfield. If you combine him with Power then you are increasing the pool of young players that will make this team better in the not to distant future. With no equivocation I publicly proclaim myself to be a Power-Stan. And with even more conviction I consider myself to be a Granato-Stan!

The attached link is an interview on WGR on the Instigator Show with Steve Shields who is a former Sabre goalie. He is on the staff at the Univ. of Michigan. He talks about the prospects on the team. This is a 36 min interview. If you listen to the first half of the interview you will get the segment dealing with Power, Benier and Johnson. The more I hear about Power the more entrenched I get about selecting him with our pick. He also talks about Portillo. https://www.audacy.com/wgr550/authors/the-instigators-with-andrew-peters-and-craig-rivet

Looking at some of your projected proposals, even if there is some variation, what becomes apparent if our young GM handles the market smartly is that he can come out of this Jack and Reinhart drama with a core of young players that in the near future should make this not only competitive team but also an entertaining team. Where I slightly disagree with your take is that I would want Byfield included in a Jack trade and I would use our first pick on Power instead of Beniers. In general I like your assemblage of players. For what is considered a nondescript franchise this is going to be an exciting offseason for the local fans and also the NHL fans in general.

I'm as big of fan of Reinhart as there is here. However, if Reinhart doesn't sign a long term deal (as you noted) I would be satisfied with a trade that included the 8th pick and Turcotte for Reinhart. And I would also consider trading that 8th pick for a young player who could contribute right away.

I just have a different viewpoint on the unit. I'm not sure if Risto is going to be dealt. But if he is the unit as you describe is simply too young. There needs to be more mentorship. I also believe that Power should stay in school another year and be better prepared when he does play in the NHL. Make no mistake what I'm saying. I do believe he can make the jump to the league next year but I believe that his development will be enhanced spending one more year in college.

I agree with you that his injury history is a concern. The injury tendency is difficult to factor in. I just think that this team can use a high character guy like him added to the mix of youngsters.

I respectfully disagree. Regardless if he is on the roster or goes back to college the McCabe retention or not issue is a separate issue altogether.

In your calculation are you expecting McCabe to be gone? I consider him to be a very solid #2 or good #3 pairing defenseman who is a top shelf character guy.

As you are indicating whether KA is an astute GM or not there are many very difficult and complicated decisions that need to be made that would be challenging for even the best GMs in the business. For the most part the tough situation he is in is not of his making.

The evaluation process is still ongoing. If the scouting department ends up ranking other players higher then you adjust accordingly. If another team offers a tantalizing deal for a player/s with a trade down then you have to consider it. This is not the time to stop evaluating prospects or stop listening to offers. If the draft was today I would select Power. But that is not the case. It would be foolish to not consider options that could in the long run improve your roster. As of right now I am a Power-stan.

You are portraying our GM as being naive. He may not be experienced but he is not dumb. Odds are that he would prefer signing Reinhart to an extended contract. However, if Reinhart gives indications that he is only willing to sign a one year deal and maintain his UFA status for next year then it is smart to trade him this offseason rather than getting lesser offers this season with UFA approaching. Eichel is one of the best players in the league. The GM is aware of that. But because of his serious injury and the disagreement between the parties as to the best course of treatment his status is unsettled. Does the star player want to remain with this floundering franchise or is he determined to move on to a better situation? Don't be surprised if the GM has a good feel for knowing what Jack's thoughts actually are. As with the Reinhart situation there are contract considerations that give the GM more options to trade Jack this year compared to next year when the player has a say as to where he can be dealt. The ideal situation is to sign Reinhart to a long term deal and get Jack healthy and retain him. But if both players want out then the time to move them is this offseason instead of waiting when the organization loses leverage. As in life you can't always control a difficult situation but you can make the best of it even when it doesn't reach the level of an ideal situation.

I disagree that he is going to have unbearable pressure on him if he is traded for Jack. If he is on the roster it will be as a lower line player who is not going to be given a prominent role. And there is a good chance that if he is part of a package in a Jack deal he might even end up starting in Rochester. In any Jack trade scenario he is going to be the best player in the exchange. All we can expect is that the return will in the end add players that will accelerate the renewed rebuild process. Sometimes when you are forced into a situation you don't want to be in you do the best you can to salvage it and hope that your setback isn't as damaging as it could have been.

If there is a need for surgery there still might be a conflict between the parties as to which surgery is the best course of action. It just seems to me that the medical people who the Sabres are consulting with aren't on board with what they consider to be the more experimental and less conventional surgical approach.

Power is an 18 yr old big fellow who right now doesn't do anything at an elite level. However, as a youngster he does everything well and projects to be a first pairing caliber defenseman. I'm not so worried about at what level he currently plays at because many in the scouting business project him to get significantly better as he physically matures. I want to make it clear that I'm not diminishing any other player who is ranked high on this year's draft board. There are legitimate reasons based on talent and projections to select another highly ranked player. So although I might disagree with others preferring another pick I'm not going to say one is wrong If you peruse the various rankings Power is at the top or near the top of the majority of rankings, and so are a few other players. As described by almost everyone in the scouting business this draft class lacks an elite "can't miss" prospect such as McDavid, Eichel and Crosby class. It should be remembered that many people in the talent scouting business categorized Dahlin as that type of prospect but because of the troglodyte coaching he was subjected to his development was set back. So right now I'm not putting him at that lofty level. Although I still believe that he can reach it if handled properly and with the right support system. As of right now with no hesitation I proclaim myself to be a Power-stan!

I clicked on the link and at the time you noted it was football talk.

Bailey Johnson from Smaht Shooting was on WGR talking about Power. In a couple of years when he gets stronger and more mature he is going to be a top pairing defenseman. It would be advisable to play another year in college. The Sabres shouldn't overthink this draft. With the first pick we should take Power. The analyst also talked about Beniers and Johnson. https://www.audacy.com/wgr550/authors/howard-and-jeremy

I think sometimes people get hung up in numbers and get too enamored with the depth of the prospect pool. You can have a smaller pool of prospects yet have a talented enough pool to adequately feed the NHL club. If anyone evaluates the number of young players that you listed who are now with the Sabres the takeaway has to be that the Sabres have an expanding young core to build from. And if a few of those young players such as Mitts, Thompson, Dahlin, Samuelsson etc. take an unexpected leap then we are in a better situation than first thought. As an example Mitts is cited as a player who unexpectedly leaped forward under Granato. But another young player who isn't often mentioned is Apslund. He was a Rochester afterthought who played his way into securing a role with the Sabres. The more he played the more the better he got. He's certainly not a flashy player but he is a contributing solid player.

The irony or is it a paradox??? that for many years Buffalo has been a nondescript and irrelevant franchise in the league that the hockey world ignores. This offseason the organization is going to be the most observed and commented on during the offseason.