pi2000

One year?? They've only made the playoffs once (not counting this season) over the past 12 years. They've been stockpiling prospects, etc.. far long than Buffalo has.

Seatbelts aren't just to stop you from moving forward, they're to keep you in the car in the event of a rollover... I had two cousins die that way (one crushed in a rollover and the other severe head trauma after being ejected from the car) in separate incidents... RIP Jeff and Kevin. A single lap belt would've saved both their lives.

A couple caveats regarding UFAs (who's contracts technically don't expire until July 1st) and the expansion draft (June 21st). Any UFAs that Vegas selects do not count toward the 60% salary cap requirement for the expansion draft (players they draft must add up to at minimum 60% of the salary cap). That said, during the 3 days preceding the draft, Vegas will have exclusive negotiating rights will ALL unprotected UFAs in the draft pool. If they reach an agreement with any of them, they'll count as their pick from that team. Likely unprotected UFAs on BUFs roster include Kulikov and Franson.... so I wouldn't be surprised if Vegas reaches a deal with Kulikov and he becomes their pick. Or, the more likely scenario is Vegas and Kulikov negotiate a deal, but he agrees not sign right away, so that allows Vegas to pick somebody else from BUF, and then officially sign Kulikov come July 1st. That carries some risk, but essentially allows them draft more than one player from each team. This also creates the scenario where a team may choose to protect a UFA to prevent Vegas from negotiating with them prior to the draft.

What was he doing the last two years? Seriously? Trying to fix one of the historically worst teams in NHL history. You think 2 years was a enough time to fix everything that was broken with that team and we're looking at his finished product that will contend for Cups? Gimme a break.... probably one of the most misguided comments I've seen here... no offense.

1 of the top 4 teams in the entire NHL will be gone after round 1 and 3 of the top 5 after round 2. Dumb.

Bishop, Murray/Fleury, Bernier, Darling, Raanta, etc..

This is professional hockey at the highest level. Coaches are not looked at as friends... as a player if you want a friend, look to the guy in the stall next to you. The coach is the drill sergeant, the guy you need to respect and follow his instruction. You think Darryl Sutter gave his players emotional support, you think his players think he cared about their personal well being? You need a guy who commands respect from his players and they'll play hard for you. That said, everything you said is true for youth hockey, juniors, etc.. but not at the professional level.

Does anybody here honestly think this is GMTM's finished product? It's obvious to us and obvious to him what changes need to be made (defense, high energy/defensively aware bottom 6). He mentioned the shots against is a problem, as well as the PK. He knows, we know. I'm confident he'll make the necessary changes... but I'm not expecting everything to be fixed this offseason, it will probably take another offseason to purge the dead weight.

That first opportunity will be 5 years from now. He's an RFA until he plays 7 years in the league. If another team offer sheets him before then, all the Sabres have to do is match it and he has not choice. He ain't going anywhere folks, stop being so paranoid. Of course he's frustrated right now, second year in a row with now playoffs. And his frustration is a good thing.. if he was apathetic I'd be concerned, but the fact he cares is a good sign, that what you want to see from your franchise player. In 5 years they should be a regular in the playoffs and be contenders.

Goes where exactly? He's under contract this coming season and then he's an RFA. He has no leverage, he can't go anywhere until he's 26.

No . But I was his age once and playing hockey at a high level. Again just because you're skilled at your craft doesn't make you an expert in evaluating the job somebody else is doing.

Just because​ Eichel is a phenom, doesn't mean he knows what's best for the team, or even himself for that matter. I didn't have the best relationship with my college coachbthe first few years but when I look back on it, it made me a better player even though it didn't seem that way at the time. Eichel still has to learn a lot.

None of that makes him an expert in evaluating NHL head coaches.

He's a very good hockey player and a kid. I would take his evaluation of DB with a grain of salt.

He has a NMC so he's auto-protected IIRC.

No. Eichel is just a kid breaking into the league, not somebody you take orders from.

Replace as much of the 3rd and 4th line with some high energy defensively responsible players. That will ignite a fire under the top 6 and get this team going in the right direction. Teams feed off those types of players and BUF doesn't have any at the moment which is why they look flat pretty much all the time.

Why wouldn't COL sign Butcher? He's a stud IMO. Found this... "A year ago, when Butcher was an alternate captain for DU at the Frozen Four in Tampa, Fla., the Avs had a team executive inform Butcher’s family adviser (agent) that the player would not be signed by the club. The message was believed to have originated with Patrick Roy, the former Avs coach and front-office executive who was not interested in using a contract for a 5-foot-10, 180-pound defenseman." ...so I'd expect him to sign with COL, but the longer this drags out, the more likely it becomes a Veseyian type of ordeal since he'd become a UFA Aug 15th if he doesn't sign by then. He'd be a top 4 guy right off the bat IMO. Again, BUF has 2 second round and 2 third round picks, would you part with one to acquire his rights?

Passengers: Bogosian McCabe Girgensons Foligno Moulson Ennis DLo Kulikov Franson Reinhart Larsson Rodrigues You can tell by the body language after getting scored on. The guys I listed above, just kinda look down at the ice and skate over the bench like no big deal that's OK we messed up somewhere it happens that's fine. I want to see stick slammed on the ice, guys yelling at each other, talking it over on the bench, figuring out. That doesn't happen with any of the above group. They're resigned to the fact they're going to lose some games and they seem to be OK with it. Reinhart was a terrible junior team, the only team success he's ever had is the world juniors. You have to hate losing more than you like winning to have team success, and there's only maybe a handful of guys on this team who seem like they really hate to lose in this league.

We've noticed that our team in general is pretty good at limiting scoring opportunities from the slot and from the crease area relative to the rest of the league, while we allow more shots than usual from the point area in exchange. (Good eye, We've.) Well, that ability breaks down with Jack on the ice. Teams shoot a ###### ton from the slot while he's out there, which is often a spot that you see the center. Either Jack is cheating, or he just doesn't know how to effectively pick up players and take away their shot or tie them up. Perhaps he has trouble reading the play, or is unwilling to engage physically. I can sum it up for you in one individual statistic.... -13

It's actually working for me atm.

As much as I've bagged on Gorges over the past few years, I'd be OK keeping him around as a 6th/7th guy. Nope. that...... not at $3.9m. Ennis can stay, I like his game the last few weeks.. but he's their worst cost per point player by a wide margin.... so I could go either way on him. Depends on the return. Bogo is definitely one of those guys Eichel is talking about. If GMTM can somehow get Bogo and Moulson off the books ($10mil) this summer, I'll consider it a successful offseason.

Has any other team in the history sport said otherwise? I've heard players talk when they don't like their coach... they say things like "Whatever we're doing isn't working" ...."the effort is there, we're just not getting the results we want" or "it's not my job to evaluate him, that's the GMs job, blah blah blah..." I'm not sure i heard anything like that.... maybe the first one "Whatever we're doing isn't working"... I think Eichel said that the other day?

Dorsia? How does that even work? They call ahead and ask if Lehner is there, and then cancel their res? I'd add Foligno and Girgensons to that list of guys he was talking about. Maybe even Samson.... being late for team meetings shows lack of commitment. Yep. Fan expectations were way out of line going into this season. IMO 2015-16 was a fluke, riding high on the Eichel wave. They've come down off that high and never got right mentally after he came back. Still a lot of dead weight to shed. That said, I didn't hear a single player remotely suggest the issue was with Bylsma. In fact, I heard quite the opposite. How can there be such a disconnect between players and fans? Hahaha.

smart