JohnC

The problem is that I don't know what path you have been on or going on. Speaking in generalities without being specific is a path to nowhere. If you got an idea then say what it is. A blank slate is a blank skate. Nothing can be deciphered from it.

What veteran/s that were available did you have in mind?

You ask how I thought you were responding to my post. Because you responded directly to my post. Thanks for the clarification.

I didn't say Kane is over the hill. You are off the mark interpreting what I actually did say. What I said is that Okposo and Girgs are better fits for this team this season. This is very likely Okposo's last season in hockey. Keeping the both of them was the right call for this upcoming year.

If you add Ryan Johnson to the defensive prospect pool with Novikov you can see the unit filling out in the not-too-distant future. I wouldn't be surprised if Ryan Johnson ends up playing in Buffalo sometime this season.

I'm happy that Okposo and Girgs were re-signed. Why would you find that odd? You more than most commentators have strenuously argued for this team to play with more toughness. (Rightly so.)These two fourth liners are a couple of our best forward defenders and leaders on a team full of players who are not as mindful of their defensive responsibilities as they should be. I agree with you that I don't think that Kane has much interest in playing here. Can he continue to play at a high-level that he has played for most of his career? Maybe not quite, but he still can be a valuable asset in the right situation. I just don't think that western NY is the right situation for him. I would rather see Savoie or Kurlick given the opportunity to play while Quinn is on the mend.

Everyone has their own preferences. So, I'm not suggesting anyone is wrong who has a different view on this issue. However, hearing RJ's voice before every game doesn't appeal to me or I suspect most people. A patch with his initials on the jerseys would be appropriate, and a tribute played before the puck is dropped in the first game would also be appropriate and is probable. And it wouldn't be surprising that sometime in the future a statue will be installed somewhere in or around the building.

I did answer your question. You didn't pay attention to what was actually said. You and some others are too stuck are your false narrative that the GM is not willing to pursue a variety of avenues to improve the team. That's not the case. There is no doubt that the GM's central rebuilding strategy revolves around the "standard" draft and develop approach. That part of the rebuild has been a success, at least it is to me. You don't think that the return on our old core was respectable? The young goalie we got in the Reinhart trade is going to be our present and future #1 goalie. Are you going to complain about that? Are you going to complain about the Eichel return that resulted in getting Tuch, Krebs and a #1 pick? Are you going to complain about getting a #1 pick for Risto? Our GM could be charged with felonious theft in that deal. Those were trade deals. Clifton and Johnson were offseason free agent pickups. Are you going to complain about that? There have also been smaller deals. So the notion that the GM is not actively trying to upgrade the roster is not factual. Yet you and others continue with this falsehood. It's simply not true. Your question over "what if" the GM doesn't make the playoffs is an absurd question. If Dahlin, Tage, Power and anyone else get season ending injuries should the GM be blamed for that? Of course not. You want a guarantee---you are not going to get a guarantee. That's sports and life! I challenge you to compare the roster that the GM inherited a few years ago and compare it to what it is now. It's certainly not a complete roster but it is an immensely better than what he inherited. Rebuilding a roster is an on-going process. It is continuing and will continue. There are too many people who expect a "blockbuster deal" that will magically turn this team into a cup winner. It doesn't work that way. The process is working. Stay the course.

You and others act as if the GM has been afraid to act outside of drafting and developing players. That's not the case. He traded his old core and got back a reasonable return. He has made small deals such as signing Stillman and Greenway and acquired Jost. This offseason, he added Clifton and Johnson from the free agency market. The Sabres improved by 16 points from the previous season. The GM took over a ramshackle and irrelevant team and organization and in a short period of time put it on a pathway to success. Yes, I strongly agree with the approach that the GM is taking. Again, stay the course.

Stay the course. That's the plan and it is successfully being executed. Why stray from the course that is working?

Replaceable players don't get paid much. At best, he was going to be a fourth pairing player for us. Players in that echelon don't garner high-cost contracts.

Lyubushkin will not garner a fat contract even if he plays well for whichever team he is on. He can be a solid lower pairing player. That is the echelon of player he is and that is the echelon of middling contract that he will garner. I'm not a Boosh basher. By all accounts he is a good team guy. However, he's a veteran play who has demonstrated the caliber of player he is.

Every player has a different approach to the game so it is difficult to generalize. But I would think that most players would rather get a lot of playing time and a higher role on a non-contending team than be a marginal player with limited ice-time on a contending team. Pro athletes are competitive and want to play rather than sit on the bench. At the end of last season Boosh got little playing time. I'm sure he wasn't happy about that. Anaheim is simply a better situation for him and an inconsequential (replaceable) loss.

I don't see him as a 50 goal scorer. He's too much of a two-way player to let the defensive side of the game slide to focus on offense. (There's no question that Tage was more concerned with the offense than his defensive responsibilities.) Dylan is a player whose value goes beyond his stats. He's a heart and soul grit player whose play more than his verbiage speaks for itself.

There are players who need to be pushed to maximize their talents. He's not one of them. He's self-motivated and driven to be the best he can be. He made a noticeable leap forward last year. There is little doubt that he is going to get better. And there is little doubt that he is a leader who leads by example.

I've said it in my original posts on this topic that I would have preferred keeping Lyubush. But that didn't happen. With the addition of Johnson and Clifton it became clear that the Russian was dropped to the fourth pairing. Is Boosh much better than Clague? Maybe so, but not significantly so. The one attribute that Byson and Stillman have is that they are faster and better skaters. They are more suitable to skate the puck out of their zone. The obvious weakness is that in their zone they don't offer much muscle to move players out. That's the tradeoff, speed over muscle. It seems that it is a system preference that our HC prefers. With respect to the possibility that the movement of the Russian is a precursor to another addition on the blue line---my guess is no. If another player is needed to filI in, I would think that it would be Ryan Johnson. It is well known that KA's first inclination is to work from within the system. If another low pairing player is needed due to injury/injuries there are plenty of bottom pairing players who can be had for a low price, as was demonstrated by the return on Lyubuskkin.

From the likeable Russian's standpoint, being dealt to Anaheim is a better situation for him. I don't know what the timeline is but the two prospects you mentioned will eventually bypass the other marginal defenders. I wouldn't be surprised if Ryan Johnson becomes the first defensive callup. It wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility that he makes the Sabre roster when camp breaks up.

It doesn't matter whether it is Bush, Clague, Bryson or Stillman. On this team they are at best fourth pairing or utility players. Whether you deduct A or B or C or D, why get so exercised over the departure? Bush moving to Anaheim is a better situation for him. You should be happy for him. I wish him well.

At the end of the season playoff push, Lyubush's minutes were severely curtailed. The coach lost confidence in him and his pairing partner. He was mostly stuck on the bench with the top two pairings taking over their minutes. In the offseason, the organization brought in two defenders. The writing was on the wall for this proud player. I wouldn't be surprised if he/agent went to the GM and expressed his desire to move on. And it wouldn't be surprising that an organization that stresses the importance of players wanting to be here accommodated him. However, this trade issue is examined, it is apparent that he wasn't in the team's plans, and the player recognized it. It appears that the organization did the right thing for the player and the organization.

There isn't an organization in the league that would rate Lyuboosh over Joki. I can understand why you are not attracted to Joki's style of play but there is no question that Joki is a better player. By the end of the season, Bush ended up as a fringe player for us whose minutes became very limited. There was a reason for his loss of playing time: It was his substandard play. At the end of season he was considered a liability.

https://thehockeywriters.com/cody-hodgson-promising-career-cut-short/#:~:text=Hodgson's one-year deal with,final year (in Nashville). The condition is malignant hyperthermia. It can be life threatening.

I was surprised by the Lyubush trade. But let's put things in perspective. As it stands, he would have been a fourth pairing defender. So no matter how the unit shakes out I'm not going to get perturbed by this fringe roster issue. If this departure ends up giving Ryan Johnson an opportunity to play sooner than expected, it might work out for the better. There is a side to the Lyubush transaction that if put in perspective is encouraging i.e. the roster is accumulating a quantity of talent to the point where roster spots are getting tougher to earn.

I doubt that his trade had anything to do with bringing in a goalie. This trade has me perplexed. Even if he were on the fourth pair, he not only would have upgraded the lower pairings but was good enough to move up to the third pairing when injuries hit. Ryan Johnson will probably start the season in Rochester. It won't be a surprise if sometime in the season he will be wearing a Sabre jersey.

When there was a Rick J night in his last season calling games the place was sold out. That was at a time when the building was usually noticeably less than filled. They weren't there for the game so much as they were there to show their respect and pay tribute to the man behind the mike. That display of gratitude and affection says it all.

I don't see a Pesce deal happening for Buffalo. Based on how he has operated since he took over as a GM, I don't see KA giving up assets for a one-year rental. Another factor is that he has a couple of credible prospects in the system (most notably Ryan Johnson) who are not that far away from moving up the ranks. This deal for this player is very unlikely to happen.