RochesterExpat

Found our 3C. Obviously.

It pretty much is

I am prepared to be disappointed.

I checked and it turns out there is nothing in the CBA that prohibits this. Not sure why GMKA hasn’t tried it.

In a vacuum, I don’t understand this trade. If we’re moving that 2nd (or the 1st for that matter) as a package, it makes a lot more sense.

It's second. This is still first:

This needs a none of the above option.

Buying out Skinner only to trade for a defensively deficient forward from Carolina who reportedly wants $9m a year is quite the GM strategy.

Fair points. I don't mean to suggest Colorado falls off a cliff. In my eyes, they just move from contender to playoff team if that makes any sense (yes, I'm aware every 'playoff' team is a contender, but, as an example, there was a difference between the Islanders and Rangers this season).

Fixed it for you.

Do people really think Colorado is going to win the cup next season? Nichuskin is in player assistance. Landeskog hasn't played in two years. They have $18m left right now with only 7 forwards and 4 defensemen signed. If Landeskog and Nichushkin return, they're left with $6m and a need for three forwards and two defensemen. I assume one or both are done/gone. I just don't see how Colorado maintains status as a contender. That being said, it would be very on-brand for Buffalo if Mitts gets a cup next.

Fair enough. Frankly, I’m with you that those contract numbers are insane. I would never sign him for that, but he showed last season he’s fine as a 3rd pairing guy. i guess from my perspective there are enough other holes in the roster that worrying about Joki coming back on the third pair just isn’t one that I’m going to stress about.

Do you have an issue with Joki as a third pairing guy? Genuine question.

I don't understand the Dubois for Kuemper trade. Can someone explain to me why the Caps were willing to make that trade? Is it simply that they think he's a reclamation project?

Every place has drawbacks and advantages. My argument about housing not accounting for higher taxes is a true statement. Not sure why the seemingly hostile response. WNY housing is misleading when it comes to affordability. Here are the realities from my own personal experience. My house in Texas is valued by the county at $850,000 and my property tax bill is $8,200. My insurance on the house is $3,750 a year in Texas ($5k deductible for the roof which is on the more expensive side, for sure). This is the same state where apparently every house is leveled every 5 to 10 years—even though Monroe County, NY has had more tornadoes the last ten years than my county in Texas. Anyway, that’s basically $12,000 a year in property tax + insurance on an $850,000, 3,700 square foot home with a four car attached garage. Now we can talk about Florida and income tax. It’s not as much as people think, but a quick calculator assumes $10,000 in NY income tax on $200,000 taxable income for a married couple. Since no income tax in Texas would make this Florida rule apply, I’m adding it in. I don’t see a 10 year old 3,700 square foot home with a four car attached garage costing less than $12,000 a year in insurance and property tax in NY. At least not in economically equivalent areas. Much less when we add in the $10,000 in income taxes. But my point was about the effect on the market. By raising property taxes to avoid cutting spending— a requirement due to depressed real estate prices from heavy industry leaving (among other things) in the 70s and 80s—WNY essentially kept property values depressed. It directly affects the affordability of most buyers. Cash buyers are the exception. It’s also worth mentioning that those school taxes go to a lot. My hometown outside Rochester offers a lot more AP classes and general college prep programs than where we currently live. College placement and standardized exam scores are roughly the same so academically the schools are pretty similar, but NY certainly wins by a country mile when it comes to opportunities. I would happily pay more tax for those kinds of opportunities, but we generally just want to spend tax money on high school football stadiums. There isn’t anything wrong with WNY. It’s a great place to raise a family. It’s just the taxes cause the cost of housing to be higher than I believe that article is giving credit to.

If we’re looking at monthly housing payments beyond principle + interest, WNY is going to be higher due to property + school taxes. My parents sold their home in Rochester and bought a home that was twice as expensive here and their total property tax here is less than just the school tax was in NY. In fact, they were confused there wasn’t a separate school tax and didn’t understand how their taxes could go down when moving into a more expensive home. Houses are “cheap” in WNY because outrageously high property taxes relative to the rest of the country effectively capped the market. It’s basically the cash buyer’s dream.

Yes. I don’t expect them to win. Last year we all knew Buffalo needed to add to the defense in the offseason and add to the offense to cover for Jack Quinn’s injury. We got Benson for Quinn who was not a replacement (he still had a good rookie season so this isn’t anything against Benson) and we got the EJ (cheap “veteran”) and Clifton (underwhelming for most of the season). And then we missed the playoffs. Again. Other than a new coach, what has happened to lead anyone to believe this year will be a different offseason experience?

I’ve been saying 3 because I am hoping we have Rousek as the 14th forward this season to start and I am absolutely fine with that. If we bring in 4 and that moves Krebs to that 14th/rotational spot, that’s even better. I am also assuming Skinner returns next season. It’s basically three or bust for me. Four is a bonus. But I don’t except more than two additions. The sad truth is this is how I expect our lineup to be for opening night: —— JJP - Thompson - Tuch Benson - Cozens - Quinn Skinner - Krebs - [Underwhelming Add] Greenway - Girgensons - [“veteran” on basically league minimum we all forget the name of in 3 years] Rousek —— Dahlin - Power Sammy - Byram Clifton - Joki Bryson, Clague —— This team has turned me into a real pessimist. Not sure I’ve ever hoped to be more wrong about anything with sports before.

He is if we think grit as an unrelenting forechecking motor. He’s just not a bone-crushing hitter and I don’t think he ever will be. He’s kind of like Benson in that regard. Benson is scrappier (not sure the word I’m looking for but scrappy seems to fit).

First striper of the year.

Fixed it.

If your answer is “staying healthy” the correct response is “adding depth” since one is simply a hope and prayer and the other is proactive. There is only so much that can be done to stay healthy. A lot of that is up to luck. We add depth by replacing/retooling the entire bottom six and adding at least one scoring top 6 threat.

I’m glad someone finally said something positive about Amir instead of calling his hire nepotism. Yesterday I could have told you who the video coach for Rochester was. The fact I knew his name is enough for me to be happy with the move. He was well-liked and praised often during Amerks broadcasts as well as by Seth regularly. I think people need to separate their opinions on his promotion from Seth’s—even though I concede they’re definitely linked. He’s a video coordinator. He isn’t going to be drawing up the power play. I don’t see any reason why anyone should be unhappy with this move considering the absolute volumes of praise that can be found publicly for him.

30 silver coins?

For what it’s worth, I think there is some truth to Kulich’s 2-way improvement. From watching the Amerks, it was noticeable Kulich was getting defensive zone faceoffs this season as well as PK time. I will asterisk my own statement by adding that Kulich was not reliably on the ice for the sort of “critical” defensive zone faceoffs late in a close game.