Digger

I tend to agree with you. I hate having to wait, hope to draft high and get a great center prospect and then wait for them to develop. But we are blind in the process right now in not knowing what players are really being offered in a trade. I will say that I think Vegas needs Eichel more right NOW than Anaheim does.

The speculation is that Vegas doesn't want to include Krebs because of the way Suzuki turned out and developed after the Pacioretty trade. Might make sense on one level if they want to wait it out for Krebs to develop but I have to think that Vegas is still happy that they acquired Pacioretty. He's played pretty well for them. Deal seemed fair at the time but may swing in Montreal's favor more as the players age. Trading Krebs as part of the deal for Eichel, they are still getting the better player in Eichel in the deal.

Okay, let's do it. Would be great to see Drysdale with Dahlin. The defense would be pretty good with Power eventually coming in and the hope would be to draft another high potential center prospect (or two) in next years draft.

Yes I never fully understood what the problem was with Hagel and the Sabres. He had an injury and a down year in the WHL when we should have signed him and I assumed at the time they worried about the number of players signed under contract but he looked really good the following year in the WHL and continues to look good as a bottom 6 energy player for the Hawks.

What's up with all the interest in the NY Rangers trade option today? There really hasn't been any news of a fair value offer for Eichel and GM Drury coming out saying they have not really been in deep with any trade offers for him this off season. Vegas and Minnesota still look to me to be the best trading partners. Minnesota needs to work through arbitration for Fiala who wants big money and Kaprizov who wants a short term big money contract. This is what is holding up the Eichel trade in my opinion.

No I would say that Cozens is a better player overall. They played on the same WJC team for Canada last year which was a good way to see them perform on a good team. Cozens looked great in that tournament until the gold medal game when Zegras took over for the US. Krebs will be a great player though and I would think he will match well with Cozens some day either on the same line or powerplay if the trade happens for us.

Hamilton is saying that because they signed Dell to a 2 way contract. I don't think he has any more insight than that. I agree that we should be planning on bringing in another veteran that can play. Goaltending has been an issue for us and we are much worse on paper right now than we have been in past years. I do support having Anderson but it looks like a poor plan right now without another capable goaltender.

I think it might be an interesting new thread if someone wanted to look at other teams that have successfully completed a rebuild and what worked for them. Selling off veterans for draft picks, drafting well, making trades, and free agent signings. The Sabres have been the poster boys for what not to do. Some teams never seem to have to hit rock bottom and always have some level of success. Perhaps looking at teams that did it right would provide some inspiration and hope for the future if Adams does a great job. We all hate Toronto but consider they went into their rebuild after Buffalo first started. LA seems ready to turn the corner. Montreal and Boston almost always seem to have success even when they draft poorly. Chicago remains to be seen if they keep afloat with the roster changes this year but really did hit rock bottom before drafting Kane and Toews and then drafting a DeBrincat is a great find. Just a thought if someone want to research some great rebuilds.

I don't understand your point about "losing nonsense". When O'Reilly said he lost his love of the game with all of the losses that year he was heavily criticized. It seems reasonable to me that being on a really bad team is really bad for the overall team's culture (regardless if they are a young player or veteran). When the team has gone through the 10+ game losing streaks over the last two seasons it seems to me that player confidence dips so low that they don't believe they can score or defend or make a save. Every little mistake is magnified and confidence is very fragile. We had enough talent last year to have been better than 31st. The losing culture must have played a role. So I do think that it is key to have players and coaches that can break down the loses and poor plays and find positives for these young players to build on. One of the things I mentioned earlier in this thread was how wonderful it was for me to see the players taking the extra step to finish a check and work to get the puck back under Granato. That was missing earlier in the year. Granato also adapted well with his game plan after a loss and his team came back with a much closer game (win or loss).

I don't know but Hagg did have some injuries last season and he'll be playing on a new team and will be a UFA at the end of this season. I would expect him to play much better this season assuming he's healthy. We'll see but I bet he plays. Who's playing with Dahlin if we move Jokiharju away from him as his D partner?

The Sabres medical staff is very good and I don't recall very many medical disputes in the past with players. As most will recall the last one that divided the fans (that I recall anyway) was with Pat LaFontaine. He wanted to keep playing and the team wouldn't clear him eventually trading him to the Rangers. He played well until his next concussion when he ran into Mike Keane (his own teammate) and had to leave the game finally and retire. The Sabres doctors were right in that case.

Good thread. Thanks for starting this one. Yes I have always wanted the Sabres to be a hardworking team. Fast and quick on the puck is great to watch and as we continue to add skill to the lineup in the next few seasons it will be fun to see them develop. One thing I noticed in games with Granato coaching last year was that players were taking that extra step to finish a check or to try and get the puck moved ahead or back. It was wonderful to see after the extremely poor efforts by many of the veterans during the long losing streak. I just remember being impressed by such a simple change in effort by the players.

From a buyer's perspective the other GM's have to look at what they have on their current roster and decide if Eichel makes them better and a contender within the 5 years that they would have him under their control. All teams have medical staff that can assess the risk better than we can as fans and I have not heard anyone credible say that this is a career threatening injury. I think that it's interesting to see how many of the fans on the board are now suggesting it's okay to sell low. I understand the fatigue of the whole situation for sure. I feel that too. History is always an interesting perspective to me. Consider if we had a more patient GM (and ownership for that matter) when we were deciding to trade Ryan O'Reilly. Some would argue that we got the best that was available at the time with a deadline to payout his bonus that year. I would argue that if we had held out and not made the trade St. Louis would not have won the cup that year. If O'Reilly had returned to the Sabres that year we might be in a better place today. I'm not suggesting Eichel comes back at this point but patience may still pay off and the GM that thinks he close to winning and doesn't make the trade for Eichel might wish that he had when he had the chance.

Okay I won't argue the "generational" tag. He was drafted with that potential and I would not argue that he has not met that level yet. It could be argued that he hasn't earned a $10 million / yr contract yet too. But if you go around the league team to team there's many teams that do not have anyone near as talented as Eichel as their 1st line center today. It's rare that a team is able to draft and develop a player with Eichel's talent. That means that there should be a market for Eichel and that the return should be fair. He will recover and play well. We will see but I still hope that there's a decent trade for him coming.

I'll buy that for a look and a try. When I look at the potential lineup combos for next season Skinner has been the hardest for me to visualize a match for without Eichel. Let's hope Skinner can return closer to his potential this year and have some chemistry with one of the young centers.

Who is the best center to play with Skinner this season (with the current players we have on the roster excluding Eichel)? I just wonder who has the best chemistry with him. Mittelstadt did not have much success playing with him in the past. Cozens? What's the best line for Skinner and why?

Quinn depends on the off season. He has the talent but I would suspect that the team would want him in a winning atmosphere with Rochester this season. Ruotsalainen will be on the team. It wouldn't surprise me to see him get a look at center for a few games especially if we don't get another center added to the lineup. I'm thinking he may have some chemistry with Asplund with both having the ability to play the center position. Maybe Olofsson could improve his 5 on 5 scoring playing together with them.

https://www.knightsonice.com/2021/6/15/22466103/vegas-golden-knights-top-25-under-25-defenseman-kaedan-korczak-nhl-ahl-henderson-silver-knights I'd support that.

Nothing. I just thought Cozens might match up better with Skinner than Mittelstadt primarily because Mittelstadt has played with Skinner in the past without much success. I do like Mittelstadt and was happy to see him improve last year. Like I said I don't see us having a #1 line this season so the order could be changed between the lines. I just am speculating who may have the best chemistry playing together.

In memory of former coach Ralph Krueger I believe that we will be saying that we don’t number our lines in Buffalo. It’s hard to say we have a #1 line going into 2021-22. It’s hard to say that we have a #2 line actually. I included one extra line of extras at forward that may mix in. It still looks to me that we could use another center and another RD that could play with Dahlin so we could split Dahlin and Jokiharju up. I think that the D needs Samuelsson in it. But given where we are today and not knowing what an Eichel trade might yield here’s my thoughts on our lineup next season. May the hockey gods have mercy on us fans. Skinner Cozens Bjork Hinostroza Mittelstadt Thompson Asplund Ruotsalainen Olofsson Caggiula Girgensons Okposo Eakin Malone Hayden Dahlin Jokiharju Anderson Butcher Hagg Dell Samuelsson Miller Bryson Pysyk

A better question is what's going on with Kirill Kaprizov? If Minnesota could get him signed it (and understand the actual cap hit) would make the potential fit for Eichel with them seem clearer.

I agree stay the course. Every time Adams tries to control the narrative, the agents come out and contradict him. I still say that while the fans have received lots of "new information" to talk about and debate with regards to Eichel's surgery and trade situation. The hockey writers from around the league are tickled pink to be able to write about Eichel and the Sabres issues. From a GM's perspective from around the league there is no new information about Eichel.

I pretty much ignored this today. Can anyone imagine paying half of Eichel's salary to play for the Rangers?

I think Mattias Samuelsson should make the team this year. It would be ideal to get him a year of experience before Owen Power comes to the team next season. He needs to earn it but I think we can really use his size and talent. I'm not sure who to pair with Dahlin. He did look good with Jokiharju at the end of last season. I do understand the arguments for splitting them up, but if we do who can play with Dahlin. It just feels like we are missing a nice RD still in the lineup who he could pair with.

Agreed. The point I was trying to make was to see if other teams are as concerned as the Sabres are about having a player play with an artificial disc. (Maybe a stupid idea). I'm still thinking that a medical arbitration is the best course of action.