That Aud Smell

I think this is the right take. Another offseason of getting stronger, becoming more of a grown ass man, and maybe a coach who asks him to hone his game in certain directions ... maybe he can be(come) an effective bottom-6 player.

I was going to react with a "lol" ... but, reading it again, I think you might be right.

Hat tip to @BillHoppe. He framed that write-up so carefully that I took it to mean nothing. But, in retrospect, I think he must have had the scoop. Remember when he used to run a thread here of "Ask Bill" or something?

If true, one among many fireable offences.

Quintessential Ink. He strikes me as an NHL 'tweener. Not skilled enough to play top 6 (or even float amidst a middle 6). Not enough sandpaper to be a valuable bottom 6 role player. Fair question.

I got about halfway through the press conference replay and came away feeling like you and @Weave. KA’s answers as to why he allowed this to go on as long as he did were unsatisfactory. “I wanted to give it every chance …” Man, you DID do that. And then you went right on doing dip squat after every chance had been given and squandered. I just don’t buy it — or I just fundamentally disagree with his judgment on where to draw the line (the line where “every chance” ends and futility begins).

It was not just Mittelstadt's comments. With respect to those: I don't think Occam's razor plays here. This isn't a problem or puzzle in search of a solution or explanation. It's an interpretation of what the guy said. And given the abysmal level of compete that this team has consistently shown, why would we skew in favour of a benign explanation for what a former player said? There was also the matter of the Panthers development coach talking about how they needed to get Okposo's game up to their program's speed. There was also that country club vibe video that the team put out featuring Skinner mic'd up at a practice. Dude was straight clowning around. Oh, and there's also what Adams just said in the press conference. He was clearly taking a shot at how this team practiced. I don't see the rationale for defending how this team prepared under Granato.

What in fresh hell is this? I don't recall reading or hearing this before. If true, holy sh1t balls. THE WORST.

The bit upthread about Adams' saying that competition starts in practice/training was interesting to me. We've recently heard about how Sabre practices are light work.

Appert subbed for Granato for a couple games.

As long as it isn’t his back. 😬

wait - what?

I heard someone on WGR relating the tiering of WR prospects in this draft -- that there's some outsized number of WR's in the consensus top-100 -- way more than normal. And that made me wonder, for the first time, whether Beane might consider moving back from the 28th pick if it meant getting another top-100 pick. That way, he could take 2 WR prospects in Rounds 2 and/or 3. I still think the better gamble is to move up and grab someone whom you really, really like. Otoh, you better damn well be right if you do that. (Which is why I sort of liked the idea of spreading risk across 2 less-heralded WR prospects.)

Shame! Shame! Shame! Possibly: Some people claim that P Ayyy is to blame

With all the excitement going on, I'm getting tripped up by stuff like there being both Mango and Guava poster accounts.

That extension was binding on ownership the minute it was signed. The fact that it didn't "kick in" before the team fired Granato is a factual matter, not a legal one. Granato's got quite a parachute coming out of this job. Good for him.

Hiring Appert into the role (on the cheap) would certainly make it more palatable to be paying Granato not to be HC. Edited to clarify: This is not something I would in any way endorse. I was just trying to think of the matter from Pegula's perspective.

Not as far as I'm aware. OTOH, if they were eyeing Appert as the next HC, I could see a scenario where they negotiated who the assistants would be as part of him being hired. And that would be a terrible idea. I'm in the camp of those who want someone who's done it before and has had success.

I genuinely liked Granato. There's no shame in not being cut out to be an effective NHL head coach.

Not firing Ellis can only signal an intent to find another role for him in the organization. Because a new HC is going to bring in his own assistants.

I think that the video coach would be the guy responsible for putting together the video packages that the coaches and players review between games and in-game.

Also, the opportunities for lol honky jokes can't be over-valued.