pi2000

They didn't suck this bad tho. Losing those two guys doesn't just hurt on the scoresheet, it's a huge mental obstacle for the rest of the team to overcome, it's so deflating to team morale... I've played the game at a high level, I know that feeling... you can try and trick yourself into ignoring it, but you get down a couple goals you look up and down the bench and can't help but think "where is the offense we need going to come from? We're so f'd." That said, even with those guys they're not quite a playoff team yet, but they're close, they're in just about every game when they play the way they're capable... without them, they're not close.

Right? They play well for a few weeks.... TANK WAS A SUCCESS! They play bad for a few weeks... TANK WAS A MISTAKE!

Again, this team lost it's top two scoring wingers... both 30g scorers. No team can survive that, let alone a team who has little to no secondary scoring to begin with. Not to say they're comparably players, but how good would Boston be without Marchand and Pastrnak? So let's not overreact by suggesting an overhaul of the roster just because they got manhandled by the defending Cup Champs on their own ice. And without their two most product goal scoring wingers... .and with essentially a rookie goaltender. So I'll say it again, the sky is not falling, get healthy, make a few tweaks and this team is not bad... maybe not playoff caliber, but close. Worst thing JBOT could do right now is hit the panic button and throw the baby out with the bathwater. Building through the draft and developing their prospects is the only solution.... which requires patience. That said, Sam Reinhart. I keep him around if he takes 4-5mil/yr or a bridge deal. Anything above 5.5m and I'm trading him. He's a good player, but he's largely a passenger on Eichel's wing. He's soft on pucks, falls down 5-6 times a game, turns pucks over, etc. If the right deal comes along I'd trade him for a package that might add some scoring depth and maybe include a proven goaltender. Put Skinner back where he belongs next to Eichel. I never understood JBOTs thought process there, you play him there during his contract year and then give him 9m/yr to play with a less productive centerman? What? Number 1 priority this offseason is finding a way to shed Okposo.... if that means trading some package of picks, etc... it would be worth it to get that contract off the books, even eat half the contract would be a step in the right direction. Ullmark will get better, but he needs a proven veteran STARTING goaltender to mentor him... not a career backup. I'm sorry but Larsson and Girgensons need to go. They were poisoned by the tank, they need a fresh start elsewhere, and BUF needs guys with fresh attitudes to fill those roles, and who can chip in offensively and/or play more physical like a Ryan Reaves or Tom Wilson. I don't think any team looks at the Larsson line (or any line on this team) and feels any amount of fear of getting physically manhandled in tight areas.

Can he play forward?

Without their top two scoring wingers this is a bottom 5 team. They had no depth scoring to begin with, now they're down to 1 guy who can score on a regular basis. It's going to be ugly for a bit here.

BREAKING: Buffalo Sabres forward Michael Frolik has requested a trade.

They all get so puck focused in the D zone, its like watching peewee hockey.

Frolik looks unremarkable

I can't stand Reinhart anymore.. I've reached my breaking point. The turnovers, the falling down, the lack of effort... So tough to watch.

Just get rid of the kickoff already... and punts. Make every team go for it on 4th down.

just want to see them play hockey with a purpose

I'd go Asplund... or Pilut if they want a D.... maybe they brought him up to showcase him?

I'm not a fan of these types of discussions.... judging a GM based strictly on the picks, there are many proposed moves up and down the draft board that we just don't have information on. For example, the Mittlestadt draft, my hope was they moved up to take Makar... he was such a great looking prospect and he would've filled a need as well. What would it have taken to move up 4 spots? Was that spot even available for trade? Who knows! The Reinhart draft, my hope was Ekblad slipped to 2, otherwise trade down which puts guys like Draisaitl, Larkin, Pastrnak into play... plus whatever other picks you could acquire... who knows if that was even an option? Reinhart's skating was a big concern of mine as the league was heading into a new era of speedy agile skaters.

If you count guys like Compher, Zadorov, Lemieux, etc.... it looks much better. Compher specifically would be one of their better middle 6 guys if he was here.

I like it, I love it, I want some more of it.

I put the entirety of the blame on lottery balls. If they get McDavid, then they get Babcock and other FA's want to play here, so it snowballs from there....

buT thEy NeEd FOrWArD HeLp DUe tO INjUrIEs AnD HeS ScORiNG GoAlS iN ROcH

...since everyone keeps asking, he has a TRpm of -7.57, playing just 18% of even strength minutes... not great ============================================================== CGY even strength goal differential through 43 games = -13 CGY even strength minutes played through 43 games = 2176.22 TRpm(team relative +/-) is the diff btwn actual+/- and exp+/- exp+/- is a function of %min played at ES and team ES goal diff %min is % of ES minutes played ============================================================== Team Player TRpm GP +/- exp+/- %min CGY Derek Ryan 10.10 43 7 -3.10 23.8 CGY Mikael Backlund 7.79 43 4 -3.79 29.2 CGY Mark Giordano 4.71 43 0 -4.71 36.2 CGY Andrew Mangiapane 4.04 41 1 -3.04 23.4 CGY Travis Hamonic 3.86 37 0 -3.86 29.7 CGY Sam Bennett 3.82 27 2 -1.82 14.0 CGY Dillon Dube 3.33 19 2 -1.33 10.2 CGY Michael Stone -0.24 21 -2 -1.76 13.6 CGY Oliver Kylington -0.54 31 -3 -2.46 18.9 CGY Milan Lucic -2.20 41 -5 -2.80 21.6 CGY Matthew Tkachuk -4.21 42 -8 -3.79 29.2 CGY Rasmus Andersson -5.60 43 -10 -4.40 33.8 CGY Johnny Gaudreau -5.94 43 -10 -4.06 31.2 CGY Tobias Rieder -6.10 34 -8 -1.90 14.6 CGY Sean Monahan -7.14 43 -11 -3.86 29.7 CGY Elias Lindholm -7.32 43 -11 -3.68 28.3 CGY Michael Frolik -7.57 38 -10 -2.43 18.7 CGY Mark Jankowski -10.32 34 -12 -1.68 13.0 CGY Noah Hanifin -11.31 43 -16 -4.69 36.1 ==============================================================

middle 6 depth, an area of need

In JBOT's defense, he was hired as GM only 4 weeks before the draft that year. He didn't have his scouts in place for properly vetting the prospects, etc.. That said, he was the assistant GM in PIT so he should've had some type of grade on Mittlestadt... but we don't know where PIT was in that process before he left to Buffalo, so I'm willing to give him a pass on that one. Besides, all this talk of him being a bust, welll... only 1 player drafted after Casey that year has more NHL goals... Filip Chytil, who has 4 more than Casey... so it's not like there were stud forward prospects to choose from. He was the best of the lot at that time, the top D prospects were already gone (Heiskanen, Makar), and they needed forward help.

I'm not too concerned about their play in the offensive zone, or the neutral zone, or transition or zone entries.... those are all fine. Defensive zone play is the worst in the league and it's not even close. The amount of time and space they give the opposition reminds me of pickup hockey. The players on the ice simply do not defend with any urgency whatsoever. It's like they don't care one bit if the other team gets prime scoring chances. On the 5th Tampa goal, Dahlin is covering Killorn one-on-one and just kind of reaches at him instead of moving his feet and engaging him physicalyl by getting his body inside.... he just moves half-heartedly to stay near him... so he has an easy tap in, uncontested. And on that same play, Montour is playing 7 feet off the puck carrier, trying to block the pass... why not close that gap and take away time and space? It's must be an absolute dream to play against that type of defense. It takes effort and heart to defend, and this team simply doesn't have it. They have a bunch of offensively biased defensemen who can all skate well and move the puck, but they can't defend to save their lives.

fixed

Erod wants a trade now? Hahahahahaha, what a joke... guy is not even an NHL player. He, and Bogo, should be thankful they're still on an NHL roster.