Digger

I read the points in this thread and agree for the most part that this is a strange venue for a Sabres home game. There are lots of Sabre fans in Ontario but playing the Leafs will not make it a home game. I would have thought having it in the US would make better sense. Because we expect the Sabres to be a poor performing team this year I don't see this game as a great way to generate more interest and fans for the Sabres. Maybe if we played a team like Detroit or Ottawa it would have been better but this game is too close to Toronto to be considered a home game. This is pretty much a business decision by the teams and NHL and a way to have another outdoor game. I didn't like the trip that they took to Sweden to play a home and home against Tampa either though. We lost the extra time taken to travel there and back and lost the games.

There's many Sabre games (TSN / Sportsnet) that are blacked out here in Ontario in the Hamilton area because it is Leaf territory. It always sucks when that happens.

Agree on the agent's strategy. Hasek got what he wanted in getting his name on the Stanley Cup. We got a player that didn't want to play here.

Sounds political to me. 😁

Maybe stalemate is not the right word but they definitely were not both pulling in the same direction. Adams would make a statement and then the agents would come out and disagree. If he wants out have his new agent work with Adams in cooperation to get the deal done and completed.

I did find it interesting that Peters and Rivet on WGR Instigators (last week if I recall correctly) had previously talked about Eichel's agent (Fish) and how their previous NHL agents would have handled the situation much differently. Maybe Eichel got similar advice from other players while skating.

I agree with you on this point. I think Brisson sold Jack on mediating the situation and getting to a resolution. Work together instead of working against each other.

I assume that this move by Eichel can't hurt. His other agents made some questionable moves that didn't seem to help his case. I would think the agents relationship with Adams and the Sabres was strained because they definitely were not working together to get the trade completed. Perhaps he was sold by this agent (Brisson) that they could act as more of a mediator to resolve the situation with the Sabres. If that's the case then I think it's a good move to have the agents and Sabres working together to get a good deal done and completed for the benefit of both sides.

Interesting point. I did not think about that. I do wonder how the agents are compensated since he already has a deal in place.

Yes I was wondering about that too. We know that he's been skating and shooting (non contact assumed). I'm wondering if he's pain free right now and would be willing to try some contact to see how it stands up. Personally if I was him I would put off any surgery as long as possible.

wow, eight year $62M deal.

I understand your point and have largely agreed on this point to not retain salary but using your money analogy, I have a $1.00 that I can't spend right now. You have money that is good and that I can spend so I give you $1.10 in a trade. It's not ideal but I now have money $0.90 that I can use to improve my team. The reality is that we are not getting back players that will be as good as Eichel could be at his best so we're already selling low but it is what it is at this point. I'm now okay that we retain salary for him if it helps us get the best deal.

The Sabres have installed a revolving door for GM's and Coaches. 😃 Joking aside I agree that we need to be able to turn around this team fairly quick to become a respectable team again. I would love it if someone would take the time to go through other team's rebuilds (classic or otherwise) and show the steps taken to go from last place finish to winning again in the playoffs and contending for the Stanley Cup. There's some luck involved with drafting top players like Crosby but there's also quite a number of strategic moves that were made I'm sure.

What makes you think we won't consider retaining some of Eichel's salary? I know there were a couple of reports that said we might for the right deal.

Good point about the players playing on strong teams. I could argue that when this list was created that Eichel should have been in the top 10. I would switch out Marner for Eichel and feel pretty confident about it. These lists don't generally show a criteria for how the players are ranked and because of that they mean very little to me. I still say that if you had an anonymous coaches poll allowing them to rank the best players in the league it would be very interesting to see where players ranked.

Personally I think it's more that GM Bob Murray is a pretty conservative GM. He does well with making trades with his own players in staying patient to get the best return and is trying to wait out Kevin Adams. I'm also sure he wants to try and keep Zegras if he can too.

Have you lost hope in getting him in a trade for Eichel? You were the lead in pushing to get him. I still hope there's a chance but as we are getting closer to September who knows?

Perhaps but I always take this type of ranking with a grain of salt. What's the criteria and how much big market team bias is in play? Notice that Marner made the list (big market in Toronto). I'd rather see a coaches poll to see who they would rank as the top players under 25. Same goes for this year with Montreal and Caufield. Caufield is good but I'm not sure I would have him as the best prospect from the 2019 draft (as Montreal media suggests). It's a bit early to make that pronouncement.

Nice prediction. Now is he playing for the Sabres or Wild? 😏

My issue with trading established players for "all futures" is that we seem to be valuing the 1st round pick in most cases as the most desirable piece coming back. Unless the 1st round pick is a top 5 pick we need to wait 2 to 3 years for that player to develop and sometimes 4 to 5 years. Reinhart's 1st round 2022 pick that we received won't play for the Sabres for 4 to 5 years. That's tough to accept. Why can't we make a trade with the focus on former 1st round picks or lower that have developed into good prospects and are ready to play for the Sabres this season? Players that are still on the ELC? We will see what package we get if Eichel gets traded but I'd rather have the A+ center prospect ready to play for the Sabres this year as the priority rather than the 1st round picks. Get young players that are ready to play now.

No I think he just decided he wanted to come back and play again after his surgery. He wasn't very clear at the end of the season if he was coming back or retiring. Good point on Ullmark's injury history.

https://www.tsn.ca/tuukka-rask-boston-bruins-return-1.1685659 Rask planning on coming back to the Bruins by January.

Yep, that's best case (well written and thought out). I hope that we come closer to the best case scenario you outlined than the worst case scenario.

Maybe he'll show up to camp 1" taller than last year. 😏

Why are you convinced it had to be "all futures"? I would love to hear the deals we did not agree to or consider. I do remember Vancouver's GM Benning making a sarcastic comment (in an unrelated interview just before the draft) about a GM asking for "all futures" being pretty crazy. He did not mention the Sabres but it seemed reasonable that he was referring to his dealings with Adams on Reinhart.