That Aud Smell

No idea who this guy is (Jonathan Willis), but this was a very interesting (and fairly quick) read regarding how Florida's gone about putting together the best team in the league. https://corsiknight.substack.com/p/stop-wasting-money-on-depth-guys Here's his conclusion: The upshot of all this discipline is that the Panthers are able to fill the bottom eight slots on their roster for just $7.725 million. With most teams running a 22-man roster these days, that gives the Panthers a total of $87.775 million for their other 14 players, an average of $6.27 million per player. It’s how Florida affords 11 players making more than $5 million/season, with six of them north of $7 million/season. The Panthers have simply shaved every penny they can at the positions that don’t really move the needle, so that they have dollars to give to the guys who do. Low taxes and sunshine are great, but every team has to come up with a roster under $95.5 million. It’s a much, much easier task when the general manager is willing to be ruthless with the depth guys. +++ This leads me infer that maybe all that bargain bin shopping yesterday by the Sabres was an effort to emulate Florida?

well, what’s scott morrow?

fooled for sure. remember how fast and aggressive the ‘24-25 4th line was gonna be? they got funking trucked.

gross

Pin it, please! I mean if Ryan Johnson's deal gets pinned ...

some good news. what a fine player he turned out to be.

good for him. even if he regresses - he's a fine player.

excellent - thanks. also: nice job, pete.

Good eye. But now I've re-read it a couple times. How do you see it both ways? I see it as a pile of mush. But I can't make it mean anything clear.

I think I posted it here in the past: I went to that long-ass mainstream artsy film "Killers of the Flower Moon" (or some such title). DiCaprio is in it. DeNiro too. Famous director - Coppola? Scorcese? I forget which one. Anyhow. Then I read the book. Which is also excellent. The way in which the author of the book describes the oil speculators who were milling around the part of Oklahoma, etc. gave me so much insight into Pegula and his ilk. The vast majority of those people went completely broke. A select few became fabulously wealthy. The difference between those who failed and those who succeeded was mostly a function of luck. And none of them were brilliant business people, per se (although maybe some were - who knows). They were just greedy SOBs with a huge tolerance for risk.

Terry Pegula has always been the same guy. Remember when he met with the Buffalo News editorial team in February 2011? One of the principal points he wanted to make to them: You're too critical of the hockey team. Be nicer, be more positive, and they'll play better. He advised the newspaper to encourage the Sabres' success (in pro hockey) in the same way that the Pegulas encourage the success of their daughter Jessica (in pro tennis). Bizarre.

i've tried. it must take next-level skills, as the ESPN+ app tells me: you're trying to use a VPN, aren't you? no dice, suckah.

I'm torn between whether the franchise is a gong show or a clown show.

Per Alan Pergament at The Buffalo News. "The Buffalo Sabres are making a key television lineup change next season. Joe Pinter, who has been producing Sabres’ games since 2002 and has been working for the team for 37 years through when games were carried on WUTV (Channel 29) and WNYO-TV (Channel 49), was told recently that his services are no longer needed. Pinter declined comment. His replacement hasn't been named but the job has been posted. According to sources, some members of Sabres management believe the television coverage has been too critical. It is a laughable claim since the team has been on a 14-year Stanley Cup playoff drought ... ." +++ If this is the kind of business stuff that Pete G. signs off on, he can go get wrecked as well.

I can well picture Pegula as one of the old school scouts sitting around that war room table in Moneyball.

I mean - ffs

recreating peterka in the aggregate. nice job, pete.

The league used to have an age ~20 threshold for its draft. Perreault was in his Year 20 age when the Sabres selected him. (He has a late birthday.)

wtf is this? AI? AI is big dumb.

stopped in to say thanks for the analysis, @Eleven - and lol, Soviets.

big d-men generally need more time to develop. i read about mrtka needing to work on his skating. i’d assume he’ll need to marinate for 5-6 years before having a legit shot at the nhl.

Bro. the resting b1tch face stuff is beyond tired. my group chats are filled with it. lame.

84 effing games. funk me. the league's running out of ways to grow revenue. adding a couple more games seems like an easy, dirty way to earn a few more bucks.

Glad to hear this. Welcome back!

TBF, Harrington doesn't need to smoke anything in order to come off as a doofus.