JohnRobertEichel

But remember that even Pominville was putting up good numbers when he was on that line. Long-term, I'd move Reinhart down to the second line and find a young, speedy sniper at RW to make the Skinner-Eichel line the most deadly in the NHL. And I don't mean to knock Reinhart as a player. I think he's going to be an amazing second-liner for our Cup-contending teams of the very-near future.

If your wife is at all familiar with the Bills franchise, she will be suspicious about any game of theirs being a must-see in December.

Tennyson is the Nate Peterman of hockey.

Yeah. We're having a hard time finishing off the league's best (Washington, Toronto, TB, Nashville), but at least we're highly competitive in these games. Next game is in 19 hours!

I could definitely go for that which I bolded. In fact, I could see myself buying into your entire argument. However, I do take issue with the "Tim Murray 2.0" comment. For one thing, the current state of the franchise is MUCH further along in development than it was in 2015. Also, trading away multiple future assets for singular proven assets can be the better choice in many instances. Are we there yet? Perhaps not. Probably not? But the concept of "windows of opportunity" is a very real thing. Carpe diem because you never know when injuries, contracts, and other team developments (TB, Tor, Bost, etc...) interfere with your wonderful long-term plans for Cup glory.

Sort of. Not really. I took issue with your probabilistic claim that there was a very good chance that NONE of Guhle, Nylander, and either 2019 1st rounder becomes a good NHL player. I happen to think Guhle will become a solid #4/5 D-man, Nylander a solid 2nd line winger, and that at least one of those 1st rounders ends up as a solid NHL player in a deep draft. But the odds of either 1st rounder becoming an immediate impact 1st line RW for Eichel seem very low to me. That is why I am saying that I would be willing to trade some package of one or both picks for such a player. Those kind of players are more likely found within the top 5-10 picks. Now LGR4GM just posted to dispute this. That's fine. I've lost interest this morning in searching for any data I'd need to back up my claims on the likelihood of finding top line wingers who can contribute immediately. So I'll wrap up my post by saying that I think it's time this franchise starts thinking about winning a Stanley Cup sooner than later. Maybe even this season if a perfect storm of developments occur, but most likely next season or 2020-21. So in my opinion, JB's GM decisions should be based on shifting a Cup-contending timeframe up sooner than he lets on publicly.

I think this franchise could be a lot closer to being elite than JB lets on. Almost all of the important pieces are in place somewhere in Buffalo or Rochester, with the one notable missing piece being a first-line RW sniper. The big issue at the moment is pro experience. Specifically: Dahlin, Pilut, Mitts, Tage, and Ullmark in Buffalo. Then Nylander, Olofsson, and Guhle in Rochester. If some of those 4 1st round picks in the next two years can be traded for that missing RW1, then JB would be wise to make the move. 3 of those 4 picks will be in the high teens and twenties anyway.

A "very good" possibility?! I strongly disagree with your assesment of the odds. And last I heard, Guhle and Nylander were doing fine in Rochester.

I think this is exactly what ends up happening in a couple years. JB makes a deal with Seattle so that they don't choose our 4th best d-man (Pilut or McCabe).

Pilut needs to stay up here as long as he's playing like he's among the best 6 defensemen that give us the best chance to win each night. It's that simple. When everyone is healthy, our top 6 are Dahlin, Risto, McCabe, Pilut, Bogo, and Scandella. That means Beaiulieueieu and Nelson sit while Hunwick stays down in Rochester. Guhle and Borgen get bumped up only in cases of injury or if guys in Buffalo are playing so poorly that a shake-up is needed.

But using the highlighted example, you're still denigrating people with learning disabilities. You're just doing it in a less blunt way. How about this: get the ***** over it and move on to another topic. Guys say nasty things all the time on the "battlefield" that they wouldn't say in polite society. Oh well. By all accounts, KO is an excellent teammate, family man, and leader in the community. I don't care what he says in the heat of battle, something which clearly wasn't intended for anyone off the ice to hear.

Reinhart's pass to Eichel on Skinner's goal tonight was a perfect example of what this guy does to make those around him better.

More games like this from Sheary-Mitts-OK, and then Toronto and TB will start sweating.

I consider this to be a "MUST WIN" game.

Probably just 3 this year: Skinner, Eichel, Reinhart. A Stanley Cup contending team should strive for 6: all of their top-6 forwards. Okposo and Sheary have the talent to do it this year, but they probably won't. Next year Mitts can do it. Nylander and a forward not currently on the roster will make up the 5th and 6th 20+ goal scorers of the future.

So would I. Everyone is assuming that Mitts will be our 2C, but I'm wondering if our second line of the future might be better with Mitts at LW, Nylander at RW, and Reinhart at C. FWIW, there are currently 60 NHL players with more points this season than Sam Reinhart. There are 93 first-line NHL forwards. So he's currently producing like a mediocre first-line NHL forward. If you think Reinhart's future is as a borderline top-6 forward, then perhaps you are just an overly negative person in general?

The top 3 teams in the Atlantic are clearly TB, Toronto, and Boston in that order. Washington, Pitt, and Columbus should fill up the Metro spots. Among the remaining 10 teams, Buffalo better ***** finish #1 or #2 or Housley needs to be canned. I don't think I've ever been so dissatisfed after a Sabres win than I am now.

I don't know the answer to that one, but when was the last time the Bills had $90+ million in cap space?! Is there anything that - in theory - prohibits the Bills from finding 8 starters with most of that money? Keep in mind that I said we're simply looking for varying levels of upgrades at 8 starter positions, not necessarily first-team All-Pros at all 8. Regarding the draft, it is very reasonable to hope for 4 additional starters from those 10 picks. In 2017, the Bills found 4 (White, Jones, Dawkins, Milano) as late as the 5th round. In 2018, they found 3.5 (Allen, Edmunds, Teller, sort of Johnson at nickel CB) as late as the 5th round. Unlike in most other pro sports leagues, you can completely rebuild NFL franchises in a relatively short amount of time due to the lack of guaranteed money in player contracts. 2019 will be McDermott's 3rd off-season. That's enough time to mold the roster in his desired vision. No more ***** excuses for this guy. The Bills need to make the playoffs in 2019.

Yes, that's likely true. If the Bills had mediocre offense and special teams units instead of God-awful ones, I bet the defense would be closer to about 10th overall in both yards/game and points/game. That's why I consider the D to be above average but definitely not elite. Here's the starting positions the Bills need to upgrade: 1 RB, 2 WR, 1 TE, 2 G, 1 C, 1 T, 1 DE, 1 DT, 1 SOLB, 1 CB....that's TWELVE new starters for next year! It can be done with the $90+ million in cap space and 10 draft picks, but we're definitely not getting All-Pros at all 12 of these positions. I'd settle for just average at a bunch of them. That would be a substantial improvement for some of these positions on offense.

Correct, but that of course is not a purely defensive statistic. If you took away the Peterman pick sixes and the terrible field position that our unusually awful offense and special teams gave this defense, they'd probably be closer to that #10 ranking. But I don't mean to completely excuse the shortcomings of this defense. They are objectively awful in red zone defense and painfully mediocre in pass rushing from the front 4.

A couple interesting stats: 1. Buffalo's defense is currently #1 in the NFL in yards allowed per game. This is a VERY flawed defense, but it's still a big improvement from last year. 2. Josh Allen is currently the #1 rushing QB in the NFL with 490 yards. He has 3 games to pass Tyrod Taylor's 580 yards in 2016 for the franchise's QB rushing yards record. On the great Josh Allen debate: it's completely pointless right now. I just don't see how anyone can be highly confident one way or the other on whether he is a franchise QB. The best we can do during this first year is point out his good plays and his bad ones. I will be very disappointed, however, if I don't see substantial improvement in his throwing mechanics and his decision-making by September.

That Okposo contract is looking pretty disastrous right now. How in the world are we going to get rid of him?

This was probably the toughest 4-game stretch in the schedule this season. We played the 3 best teams in the NHL plus Florida on the second of a back-to-back night. 4 games in 6 nights, all 4 on the road (I consider the Toronto game a road game because of the crowd). We lost all 4 by 1 goal each, so we were competitive in each one. And we were dealing with injuries, too, for the first time this season. I still believe that we are on the verge of becoming an elite franchise. We're just waiting on Dahlin, Mitts, Pilut, Ullmark, Nylander, and Olofsson (or their satisfactory replacements currently not on the roster) to take the next step in their pro development.

So we're most likely losing our 4th best D-man ~2.67 seasons from now. Looking most likely to be Pilut at this moment. It sucks, but JB has plenty of time to plan for this.

People just were hoping for a President's Trophy after the streak. But reality is starting to seep in. This is a borderline playoff team and is probably at least a full year away from being up there with the Nashvilles and Tampa Bays and Torontos.