pi2000

ironic to see Mrtka wearing #25 on stage

I've arm wrestled him and lost tho

Love the pick! Kid is a stud has grown man strength already. Probably needs only one more year of junior... or maybe starts the season in Rochester since he's a Euro like Helenius last season.

they've added over 13 feet of defensemen this week

On the Sabres he fits squarely on the 3rd line maybe 2nd line if he takes another step? Seems to play a similar game to Tyson Kozak... but with better hands and shot. Has the ability to score from the outside, accurate shooter with a quick release and velocity. Saw some time on the powerplay last season.

Everyone ripping Peterka for not being defensively sound just blows my mind. He's a 23 year old goal scoring winger. You pay him to score goals and create scoring chances, his ability to defend will improve as he matures but that's not his role. You now have 27..likely future 30-40 less goal production in your lineup moving forward. You have to replace that hole or you've made your team appreciably worse.

This is rock bottom for me. Just an absolute gut punch. They hit on JJ in the draft, spent years developing him, then he's gone. Who the ***** cares if he wants to be here, he's an RFA and was supposed to be a core guy moving forward. This smells like a salary dump. This franchise took a step backwards today, sad times for fans.

Harrington had some good questions, which he didn't really answer.

Power is still young for a defenseman. Ekblad, also a #1 pick, put up just 21 points and was a -23 in his third full season.

Trading Peterka is dumb. You hit on him in the draft, spent years and significant resources developing him into a nice top 6 player... and then you want to ship him off because he's not physical\defensive enough? In the meantime you're drafting the same type of skill players over and over and over again in the early rounds, developing them... for what? To replace the guys like Peterka that you traded? This cycle needs to stop. This is where a POHO could help. Hopefully Jarmo picks up on this and stops the madness. Who cares if Peterka wants to be here.... he's an RFA and YOU the GM want him to be here, that's all that matters.

If I'm GM I tell JJ he's not being moved, end of story. You don't like it? Too bad.

I, for one, believe Appert is a good coach. He'll be successful as a head coach in the NHL if put in the right situation as a rookie HC. He's energetic and has charisma. Players like him. He was successful in Rochester and helped develop guys like Krebs, Peterka, Kulich and Quinn. That said, I don't believe Buffalo is a good fit for him to take over HC duties. Buffalo needs a veteran HC with a recent track record of success in the NHL, someone the young players can trust and lean on... not somebody learning the ropes.

If you keep the pick at 9 you unquestionably take BPA. Sure, "size and grit" are part of the BPA equation, but passing on a much more productive player just because you have similar stature players in your pipeline is a mistake. Past the 1st round perhaps you tune your BPA algo such that size/grit are a bit more valuable, but don't over do it.

next piece of good news? They sign JJ and he "wants to be here".

I like the idea of it. "Senior Advisor" tho? Why not just name him POHO? They make it sound like he'll just be a sounding board for KA. In reality they need somebody who's much more than that. This has all the makings of an internal power struggle between KA and JK, with Terry ultimately deciding who sticks around... this could get ugly very quickly as JK seems like a no-nonsense type of guy.

This is a giant nothing burger.

..if it means KA has a reduced role, then yes, bring him onboard. I don't see this happening tho, a guy like Shanahan won't fit under Terry's thumb.

FA's: de Haan, Fabbro Trade: Weegar, Severson, Kovacevic, Pesce, Demelo

Agree with all of this. Let's say they allocate $12mil to one guy... leaving them with what? $11m? I don't know, is that enough to re-sign Peterka, McLeod, extend Tuch... Quinn will probably get a relatively cheap bridge deal, and then what's left? Enough to find a veteran partner for Power? Upgrade Clifton, Docker? Sign a vet goalie? Those are all glaring needs.

I like Marner, but Buffalo has enough scoring. They need players who can defend (both forwards and defensemen). ============================================================== Team Player TRpm GP +/- exp+/- %min BUF Jacob Bryson -7.47 48 -9 -1.53 15.3 BUF Owen Power -9.57 79 -13 -3.43 34.3 BUF Dylan Cozens -10.93 61 -13 -2.07 20.7 BUF Sam Lafferty -13.66 60 -15 -1.34 13.4 BUF Beck Malenstyn -14.36 76 -16 -1.64 16.4 BUF Jack Quinn -15.79 74 -18 -2.21 22.1 ============================================================== Instead of giving Marner $12mil find a partner for Power and upgrade Quinn, Malenstyn and Lafferty.

Agreed. I've said it before.... IMO their best course of action is to hire a veteran POHO who can set forth a strategic plan for the franchise. Identifying the young talent which fits in that plan and filing in with experienced veterans either via trade or free agency. I don't trust KA, Terry or anybody else in the current organization to come up with a strategy or execute on a plan. Their current plan of "We only want players who want to be here and nobody wants to be here because palm trees and taxes" is pure loser talk. While true to some degree, as a leader of the franchise, you can't come out and say that publicly. The message needs to be "Our goal is to win. Wether or not you really want to be here is irrelevant to us. We don't care about your feelings, we're in the business of winning. We're paying you as an employee to play the game up to our standard. Go whine about the taxes to somebody who cares."

Will they be more successful over the next decade if they.... A - continue to develop their young talent and let them grow into complete players or B - trade away young talent for veterans who can get them into a wildcard spot in 2025-26

Over the past six seasons the leagues youngest team has ranked 30th (OTT), 28th (NJD), 31st (DET), 32nd (CBJ), 32nd (ANA) and 29th (BUF) in goals against. So blame KA for icing the youngest team in the league and expecting playoffs. The players themselves will be fine, they have enough talent... they just haven't learned how to defend at the NHL level yet. It takes physical growth, coaching, experience and patience. You want the instant gratification of making the playoffs? Then you'll need to swap out some youngsters for some veterans. But is that really the goal? Are you willing to sacrifice future returns just to squeak into a wildcard spot and get walloped in the 1st round?