pi2000

DRAFT POWER EVERY PROSPECT HAS WARTS. You don't find D with his size and skill set very often... he'll eat minutes, provide offense and shore up the d-zone. He's a grade A kid with a fantastic head on his shoulders, a coaches dream. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.

I love Zegras, he was my pick when BUF took Cozens. That said, DRAFT POWER... KEEP EICHEL. Trade Reinhart and Risto to solidify the goaltending position and perhaps some forward depth.

Sorry, this is a bad take IMO. Prospects like Power with his size and skill don't come around often. He's a rare breed, he's built different, he's the best prospect, period. The Sabres don't need a C. Eichel is still under contract... keep him. Drafting Power allows you to build a package of Reinhart and Risto for some additional F depth and/or solidifying the G position. Not taking Power just because he's a lefty? Now that would be a huge mistake.

Power also makes Risto available as a key trade piece to acquire additional forward depth.

Power is a better D prospect than Beniers is a F prospect. Any return for Eichel and/or Reinhart will include a top C coming back, so not really a need at that position. Take the known commodity in Power, a guy with his size and skill set doesn't come around very often, they should jump at the chance to take him... he'll eat 25min a game, he's a Seth Jones type... could transform the back-end on this team, and the modern game is largely driven from the back-end.

Eichel wants back in. I'm on team Power, btw.

I honestly don't care about the lottery this season. 84% chance they don't pick first.... meh, nbd.

Eichel, Reinhart, Olofsson, Luukkonen for McDavid and Neal.

He's getting an updated scan to see where the healing process is at. They'll collectively decide the next course of action... wether that's surgery or conservative treatment we don't know yet.

Isn't he due for a scan here soon? IIRC, KA mentioned 2 weeks after the press conference they would rescan and decide on surgery at that point.

nah

Let's not lose sight that they were in the toughest 8 team league in the world. This was not a normal season. I don't believe for a second they would've finished last in a normal full season. That said, the worst thing they could do is blow it all up because OMG LaSt PLaCE AGAin! I, for one, am optimistic about next season. Playing BOS, WSH, PIT, etc seemingly every other game was great for their development. It's always darkest before the dawn.

Name one top tier NHL player who sat out an entire season in the last decade while under contract.

Wrong. He can't trade himself. He's not going to sit out, nor is he going to pout for 5 years and grenade his career during his prime years just to spite the Sabres.

He won't sit out. Offer him at min a 3-4 year deal and hold your ground. If he chooses arbitration and signs the 1 year deal, then you ride it out and try to sign him throughout the season. Sure there's the very real chance he's unwilling to sign and so you move him at the deadline. No doubt you'd get less than what you could this summer, but IMO it's worth the risk... and keeping Sam around probably keeps Jack interested. Disagree. It sends a message that "we have a plan, these are our guys and we're not just going to throw them away for pennies on the dollar". At worst it drastically increases what you'll get in return. If KA comes out and says "we'll explore our options with both players"... is basically saying "we'll take what we can get and ready to move on". Trade value is reduced, low ball offers come flying in, and then he presses the panic button on a deal. I'd much rather him say "These are our core guys, we have no plans to move them, in fact we plan to build around them moving forward for the next decade". Hold firm and restate those same sentiments to each player. They aren't UFAs, KA holds the cards, these clowns can't just decide to trade themselves no matter how badly they want to leave.

Last I checked they can't trade themselves. Sam can sit out the entire for all I care... a year in his prime he'll never get back. Jack is under contract for 5 more years, yeah the NMC is there, but I make it known he's not being traded, ever. He's here to stay, so he better find a way to get comfortable. If he wants out, then put in your 5 years and get your UFA status.

I hope KA holds his ground and doesn't move either of them. Who gives a ***** if they hate it here, too ***** bad, nobody feels bad for you, collect your millions to play a game for living and be thankful for it. They're both talking like they're UFAs, go ***** yourselves. Hate me all you want I'm not trading you. If you choose to grenade your career because you're being a whiny bitch, then be my guest. I'm the GM, it's my decision to trade you or not, so good luck with that. It sends a message to the league that the tail isn't wagging the dog. I hope KA's presser shows some push back.

I've posted the details elsewhere, but they had a better CorsiFor%, gave up fewer shots, and fewer high danger chances under RK. Somewhere in the middle of pack league-wise. Under Granato they sank to near the bottom of the league in those metrics. They were losing under RK because of a league worst shooting % and save % at even strength. Their possession metrics were actually pretty good under RK, they just couldn't find the back of the net or get a save. So what improved under Granato? High danger chances for, shooting % and save %. That's it really. IMO they looked faster under Granato, more engaged, quicker on pucks, etc... that's all good, however they still gave up way to much defensively. That needs to change.... and without sacrificing offense. Good team defense requires buy-in up and down the lineup. Shot blocking, winning battles in your own end, 2nd/3rd/4th effort, never quitting on plays, etc... has to permeate throughout the lineup. There has to be a sense of urgency when you don't posses the puck. They need a coach who can teach these young guys how to play team defense and continue to play with pace on the offensive side of the puck.

Not per the new CBA. Isn't it obvious the Sabres medical staff believes surgery is unnecessary? If Eichel's camp is so adamant that he get the surgery, why didn't they file a grievance with the NHLPA? This doesn't pass the sniff test.

What are they supposed to do? Give their blessing to their franchise player to get unnecessary spinal surgery? That would be reckless. In fact, I applaud the Sabres medical staff and KA for sticking to their guns here. The last thing you want is for a complication to occur during the procedure which could end his career. I get it, Jack is frustrated and wants a quick fix, but IMO he needs to be patient and disciplined with the rehab so his body can heal.

I'd be more excited about it if I trusted the folks in the charge. We have a rookie GM who's been on the job for what... 6-7 months? A barebones scouting department. This is a major crossroads for the organization and yet there is still no real leadership at any level. It's basically come down to KA and TP spitballing on his yacht in Boca Raton. What could possibly go wrong?

What if Eichel is getting bad info from his doctor and the Sabres doctors are correct in their assessment that surgery is an unnecessary risk? After all, the vast majority of these types of issues can be corrected non-surgically. In my experience many specialists are eager to cut you open as they're confident in their abilities and that's how they get paid. It would be interesting to read the medical reports from both sides.

final TRPM... It's tough to win when your top offensive players are at the bottom. Their offensive output at ES is grossly outweighed by their liability as defenders. ============================================================== BUF even strength goal differential through 56 games = -62 BUF even strength minutes played through 56 games = 2932.92 exp+/- is a function of %min played at ES and team ES goal diff TRpm(team relative +/-) is the diff btwn actual+/- and exp+/- %min is % of ES minutes played ============================================================== Team Player TRpm GP +/- exp+/- %min BUF Jacob Bryson 12.27 38 -1 -13.27 21.4 BUF Rasmus Asplund 8.15 28 1 -7.15 11.5 BUF Kyle Okposo 7.99 35 -1 -8.99 14.5 BUF Jake McCabe 6.58 13 2 -4.58 7.4 BUF Henri Jokiharju 5.73 46 -11 -16.73 27.0 BUF Riley Sheahan 4.15 53 -8 -12.15 19.6 BUF Tage Thompson 4.07 38 -6 -10.07 16.2 BUF Jeff Skinner 3.78 53 -11 -14.78 23.8 BUF Curtis Lazar 3.68 33 -4 -7.68 12.4 BUF Cody Eakin 1.91 46 -9 -10.91 17.6 BUF Brandon Montour 1.82 38 -13 -14.82 23.9 BUF Casey Mittelstadt 1.60 41 -10 -11.60 18.7 BUF Rasmus Ristolainen 0.83 49 -18 -18.83 30.4 BUF Tobias Rieder 0.79 44 -9 -9.79 15.8 BUF Anders Bjork -0.16 15 -5 -4.84 7.8 BUF William Borgen -0.87 10 -4 -3.13 5.0 BUF Jack Eichel -1.48 21 -9 -7.52 12.1 BUF Drake Caggiula -2.33 11 -5 -2.67 4.3 BUF Matt Irwin -2.77 24 -10 -7.23 11.7 BUF Colin Miller -3.68 48 -20 -16.32 26.3 BUF Mattias Samuelsson -3.88 12 -8 -4.12 6.6 BUF Dylan Cozens -4.12 41 -15 -10.88 17.5 BUF Arttu Ruotsalainen -4.38 17 -9 -4.62 7.5 BUF Victor Olofsson -5.99 56 -23 -17.01 27.4 BUF Taylor Hall -8.72 37 -21 -12.28 19.8 BUF Sam Reinhart -9.24 54 -28 -18.76 30.3 BUF Eric Staal -10.37 32 -20 -9.63 15.5 BUF Rasmus Dahlin -14.18 56 -36 -21.82 35.2 ==============================================================

I'd put it at more like 30%. Team defense is atrocious.

Bye Sam