pi2000

He only has 1 year left on his deal and provides some depth at $3.9m it's not going to make or break the cap. Limit his minutes, put him in the right situations, and he'll be an asset... even with his diminishing skill set.

Let's see how he starts off the year, how he fits in the new "system"... then go from there. There will be plenty of time to extend him during the season. If he's having success (and staying out of trouble), and the team is having success, he'll want to be here, and GMJB will want him here as well. I wouldn't sign him this summer tho.

I expect the following: - purge one or both of Moulson/Bogosian from the roster - sign a top 5 UFA D - replace the coaching staff in Rochester - sign Lehner to a bridge deal - do something with RFAs Foligno, Larsson, and Girgensons... don't just automatically give them new deals, they're part of the problem. - pay Eichel and Kane - acquire backup tendy, let Ullmark play another season in Roch - draft BPA at 8 and/or use extra 2nd/3rd picks to move back up - use more than 3 words at the draft podium - bring in some bottom 6 Fs who can defend - hire Clark Donatelli as HC

just needs to work on that +/-

They needed him last season.

With 2 seconds and 2 thirds, BUF has ammo to trade back up into the first and grab somebody like Callan Foote or Urho Vaakanainen in the bottom half of the 1st.

yay it's official, the Bills GM is Mr. Beane...

these are humans with human emotions, not robots you program and put out on the ice. if it's a rough physical series it absolutely helps knowing you have a guy like Neil ready to jump over the boards.

I never said anything about his off-ice preparation. I think this is what I said which you're referring to.... "for the amount he's getting paid you expect much much more, both on the ice and in the locker room." ..by "locker room" I mean physically in the locker room... he needs to show better leadership qualities in the room.

I never said his off-ice preparation is lacking... maybe it is, maybe it isn't.... but just because he's in the gym all the time doesn't mean he's a good character guy in the locker room or that he hates losing. Do you know exactly what motivates him to go to the gym? What does he do in the gym while he's there? Is he going 110% pushing himself to his limits every single rep? Or just going through the motions or some pre-defined routine that keeps his body in shape to play at the NHL level? My point is that unless you know what's driving him.... you can't just assume he's good for the culture of the team because of how much time he spends in the gym. What matters more is what's drving him to do those things. Is it money? Prestige? dreams of winning a Cup? his next contract? (which are the same things I question about what's motivating Auston Matthews for example)

The amount of time a guy spends in the gym has little to do how much he hates to lose.

Being a gym freak means very little if you don't have a burning desire to win at all costs, refusing to lose, not accepting failure from yourself or teammates, etc.. I'm not sure how to explain it. From my own playing experiences I would put guys into 3 buckets..... 1 - guys who absolutely love the sport, can't get enough of it, go above and beyond whatever expectations are placed on them (weight training, conditioning, diet, video, skills dev, etc..). They practice at game tempo, very very high compete levels, hate losing, constantly trying to improve their game in any way possible. 2 - guys who "like" the sport, do what they need to do to play, enjoy the lifestyle, maintain their pecking order on the team. go hard in practice when called out, but don't have an instinctively high compete level day in and day out. do enough to maintain their skills and conditioning, but have no real desire to improve any area of their game. 3 - guys who view hockey as a fun job, don't have that love for the game, but are physically gifted enough they can play at a high level without doing all the extra work most other guys do. treat practice, off-ice like a necessary chore, can raise their compete level when the spotlight is on them, but don't bring it consistently. don't put much time into the game off the ice.

assuming O'Reilly, Okposo, and Kane are protected. Choose 4 from: Carrier Foligno Larsson Ennis Girgensons Gionta Some might ask why protect Gionta? Well, if he's unprotected, VGK can negotiate with him prior to the expansion draft. If they come to terms and he signs, he becomes their pick from BUF.... which would suck because we want them to take Bogo or Moulson. There's also the possibility they would come to terms but doesn't sign until July 1st. Protecting him prevents VGK from negotiating before free agency begins.

Haha! In this universe Terry is headed to B-Lo to announce a new GM.... http://flightaware.com/live/flight/XSR960/history/20170509/1540Z/KAPF/KBUF

I would protect Girgensons just because BUF has to protect 7 forwards. If you protect Bogo, that means you expose Falk and Austin. They provide valuable depth at < $1mil. I'd protect Ennis, he showed flashes of his old self the last few weeks of the season, was one of their better forwards down the stretch. If you expose him I believe he's a goner, which means you're stuck with Moulson and Bogo's contracts. The idea is to force LV to take one of Moulson/Bogo, which should be do-able if you don't expose anybody else enticing enough and throw in a pick or two as incentive. Then you find a team which is planning to tank this coming season (CAR, COL, VAN) and try to offload that contract on them... like DET did with Datsyuk's contract. I think Bogo, because of his age, would be an easier contract to trade than Moulson, but I still wouldn't protect him. There are UFA's you could sign for half the price who would be an upgrade.

There's a gentlemen's agreement in the league not to poach other team's RFAs. That said, it's not mandatory for the RFA to sign whatever he is offered. Like Trouba last season, he held out and his name came up in trade talks, but he eventually signed. One other thing... the league is getting younger and faster, which makes draft picks more valuable than they were 10 years ago. So you don't see many offer sheets because of the compensation.

I hope you're right, because I don't think he's going anywhere soon. That contract is toxic. You'd like to see him more responsible with the puck in his own end. He has speed but he's not quick enough and that gets him in trouble... which is a system agnostic concern. His body language, demeanor on the bench etc. after getting scored on just doesn't reflect a guy who has a strong desire to win at all costs. He seems to be OK with losing, which you could say about quite a few guys on the roster, but for the amount he's getting paid you expect much much more, both on the ice and in the locker room. For that amount of money he should be part of the solution, not a question mark.

make sure he doesn't get injured again.... if he does... i don't offer as much.

Bogo, IMO, is part of the culture problem. I question his desire to win.

So, do you pay him now or later? Are you really saving any money by signing him now? Or let him play out his ELC... or sign him part way through the season to keep his cap # down?

Good point. Although I'm not sure defensemen are necessarily becoming more valuable. IMO, the issue is that there's been a shift in the desired skill set from big and strong to leaner more athletic types who can keep pace with faster skating forwards. So we're seeing a large amount of turnover at that position throughout the league. This means teams can increase their asking price if they have a stockpile of those type of players. That said, I still think it's important to take BPA and remain patient.

Why does everybody think Bogo will be better under a different coach, but not Moulson?

I thought I read that somewhere too, but it looks like it could increase... http://www.secondcityhockey.com/2017/3/8/14854816/nhl-salary-cap-projection-2017-18-season "The NHL salary cap is projected to rise $2.5-3 million for the 2017-18 season, reports Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston. That comes straight from NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly, who said that the final number will depend on negotiations with the NHLPA over the inflator clause. With a current salary cap of $73 million, the new number for next season should fall around $75.5-76 million."

BPA