That Aud Smell

Btw, Hamilton was on with Schopp and Bulldog last night and spoke to the issue that Andy Strickland had raised with White -- that Eichel had pissed off several veterans, not just ROR. It starts at the ~31:00 mark of this segment. https://wgr550.radio.com/media/audio-channel/07-02-schopp-bulldog-hour-4 This sounds less controversial to me now. The upshot appears to be that Eichel blew into town as a brash, cocky kid who decidedly did NOT play the role of humble rookie, and that that he pissed off a lot of the veterans as a result. It also sounds like most veterans got over it, as Eichel matured and improved his attitude, but ROR held onto those initial feelings and continued to harbour ill feelings for Eichel. I think Bulldog hits the mark in the course of the conversation: If Eichel is, in fact, the root of the problem, the team is pretty well screwed for the foreseeable future. It doesn't sound like that's the case, though. It sounds like Eichel needs to grow up, and that he's in the process of doing that. I continue to think Dahlin's arrival is going to help that process, somehow.

Everything that I'd heard and read about O'Reilly and the trade convinced me that JBOT was dealing from a significant position of weakness in dealing him. Those recently Tweeted statements serve to confirm that.

This game is nuts.

First of all: Welcome aboard. Second of all: Fantastic avatar. Third of all: O'Reilly became a mopey emo passive aggressive navel gazer who bummed the young fellas the hell out. Botterill (JBOT) knew what he had to do. Fourth of all: Just kidding about the "third of all" above. Sort of. Mostly. It's not entirely clear why JBOT had decided that O'Reilly had to go. But it is clear JBOT had thusly decided.

That is fairly interesting.

For sure.

RO(a)Ring with laughter over here.

He gets his own goal song?

An old friend of mine lives in the STL area now - has for about 10 years. He's transferred his allegiances to the local teams. He was born and raised in upstate NY and grew up a fan of the Islanders. He promised me one thing: Berglund will end up making you insane, as a fan. He said it's a combination of the fact that he'll do good things, disappear for stretches of time, and carry that presently 4-year term on his contract.

I think this is low-key one of the reasons he's been brought in.

There's not an NHL club that operates or plays in a vacuum. So I'll pass on the question. The problem is situational. Adding a young vet that is similar to E. Kane to the Sabres when Eichel is entering his age 30 season (still with the Sabres)? Probably not an issue. Adding a young vet that is E. Kane to the Sabres when the core is young and still finding its way? That was apparently a very real issue. It's unremarkable, really. Or are you finding fault with the fact that Eichel at age 19 wasn't magically transformed into the second coming of a grizzled Mark Messier?

What a weird take. Do you think Kane's influence in the Buffalo room is apt to be the same as it is in the SJ room? Eichel -v- Jumbo? C'mon. Yep.

that team is gonna need to do something.

Markets come in all shapes and sizes. The market for trading NHL players to another NHL franchise involves 30, soon to be 31, potential buyers. It is what it is. And if you're unfortunate enough to be in a position of needing to sell a good asset from a position of weakness, then welp. Good call, and reference. Ha! Hey - White on WGR kept saying there's a rumour that he'll return to the KHL rather than play in Buffalo. Where's that coming from?

Something something blank canvas something something clean slate. Whatcha want versus whatcha need, innit?

I think this is about what's happening. I'd take it a step further, though, and observe that JBOT has gone so far as to jack hammer into the basement floor and is laying new pipe, etc. The Knights certainly caught lightning in a bottle. Of course, they weren't cleaning up a mess that prior GMs had left behind, and they had the benefit of an expansion draft with very favourable terms.

Lots of chuckles available here this morning. Thanks for this one. Hear, hear. As Doohickie has posted many times over the past few days: JBOT is intent on building something good in Roch. And I support that plan -- slow though it will be to develop and pay dividends in Buffalo.

Man, good on him. I agree with everything he said.

I don't know who either of these dudes are, but this post made me chuckle for some reason. Maybe it's the names. They'd look right at home in that "all lacrosse name" bracket that Deadspin used to do.

What GM has ever turned that purported trick and thereby taught the market a lesson? As if. Markets are markets. They bear what they will. The idea that you’d retain a player that’s a depreciating asset and is anathema to your room/culture, just so you can “show” how you won’t be “had” is one that just doesn’t wash. The team was the worst in the league. They needed a firm shake up.

I’m underwhelmed by what came back. But I think SDS has a very fair point: The market spoke. To this point — if ROR’s on ice value outweighed his trade value, then keep him — I think posters here are operating in a bit of an “all things being equal” sort of bubble. While I didn’t sleep much last night in my old, radiator heated, no AC ducted house, I woke up feeling like this was a trade made of absolute necessity and therefore from a position of weakness for the Sabres. I get the sense that ROR wanted *out* and that bringing him back was *not* an option. So, he yielded a couple of bodies, a decent prospect, and a 1st and 2nd. It’s better than a sharp stick in the eye. My theory: Because he basically demanded a trade.

Oh, the mopey “I lost my love for the game” Eyore act.

More than fair.

His take borders on incoherent, though. ROR doesn’t compare with Kopitar or Bergeron? Umm, ok.