Robviously

Baptiste is back! And apparently Eric Cornel fights (???). Kris Baker ‏@SabresProspects 11m11 minutes ago Nick Baptiste gets two goals in his first game back as Sudbury falls to Peterborough 6-4. Eric Cornel 0+2 and a fight for the Petes.

I like Seattle QC, and KC for this just for the potential for new rivalries. Seattle-Vancouver could be a Buffalo-Toronto-style border war. Kansas City and St. Louis could be the battle of Missouri. And Quebec City would be a rival for the entire old Adams Division.

That was actually a decent first period.

Just send Sam down already. This is ridiculous.

Love it.

I liked Larkin from the scouting reports last year but I'd hope for more coming back for Myers. Also, if we're asking for Larkin and Kindl, there's no rush from our standpoint. Larkin is 3 games into his college career; that means he's a long ways off from helping us *and* that we should probably give it some time to see how he adjusts to the college game.

Given what we know about EJ's decision-making, the safe assumption is that he'd settle for a completed pass for a gain of 7 on 4th and 20. Stick for Orton for now and hope a QB with potential falls to us in the 2nd or 3rd come May.

I know, but I want a strong 1-2 punch up front. A defenseman would be really disappointing. Sabres are pretty loaded on the blue line and they're terrible at scoring goals. The wild card might be Grigorenko but I don't know if I'd pencil us in as contenders with Reinhart/Grigorenko as the top 2 centers, regardless of how good the defense is. Reinhart and Strome sounds a little better but it's impossible for me to say how much Strome's numbers are inflated from playing on the same team as McDavid

Welp...and there I go right back off the Konecny bandwagon..... If the Sabres draft 3rd this year, I really want to have a strong consolation prize to complete the 1-2 punch with Reinhart.

He'll basically be a lock if he keeps playing the way he is. Let's hope he makes it easy for Team USA and does that. Just to echo everyone else, great job by Numark on the summary. Spot on and comprehensive.

This is what we were hoping for. Anytime 2nd round or later, you have to choose between a guy putting up points in Juniors whose game may not translate to higher levels or guy without flashy numbers whose game may develop later and be suited for the NHL. Bailey was a project when we drafted him. We had to hope he'd put it all together in his last two years of Junior and, last year, we had to cling to the idea that his numbers were low because Kitchner was such a bad team. These first 8 games are practically the best case scenario. He's not just putting up points, but guys like Crusader are coming away saying he was the best player on the ice when they watched the game. The bad news is that it's just 8 games so far. Let's all keep our fingers crossed that he keeps it up and earns a spot on Team USA's WJC roster. I want to believe.

I guess that makes sense, but I don't remember getting a ton of enjoyment out of the seasons leading up to last year's debacle either. It honestly feels like one continuous years-long blur of suckiness more than anything new and worse than 2011-2012 (where we ended up drafting Grigorenko at no.12 overall).

Drafting an under-sized forward is basically against everything I want to do. But watching some of those highlights makes it tough not to want Konecny on the team.

The metaphor no one was looking for.

I remember some of those threads but if we were still bottom-10 sucking, that would be OK with the same people who are livid right now? Like there's outrage that we aren't going to finish with a #6-10 pick at this pace?

Seriously, that's my biggest fear with him being in the NHL this year -- and the Bruins are exactly the team that would do it. Girgensons and Risto both suffered concussions due to cheap shots as 18 year olds in their first pro seasons. We do NOT want that to happen with Reinhart.

I missed the game last night and I'm trying to navigate all the post-game angst on these last couple pages, but here are my thoughts: 1. I thought we all knew we were going to suck this year. Is it the *way* we're sucking that's driving us nuts now? Because there's no way to suck and make it look good in really any sport. Coaches talk about "effort" non-stop because they can't flat out say "we just didn't put enough talent out on the ice tonight." Effort is something you can adjust. Talent is not. We don't have enough talent. 2. Not that our effort is maxed out. I subscribe to "Behavior = Personality x Situation", and right now the situation just sucks. It has to be tough for the legitimately good players on this team (Moulson, Ennis, etc.) when you know you don't have the supporting cast to compete. I don't care what your job is or how big your paycheck is, it's tough to go work every day when you don't think you're being placed in a position to succeed. 3. I think the Sabres are planning on another Top 5 pick this year. Good, that's better than 12th overall. That said, the period of allowing the team to bottom out must be over next Summer. Eleven made a point about not wanting any more trades for draft picks (might not be this thread) and he's completely right. We should get another cornerstone prospect at the top in 2015 and then make some bold moves to have a legitimate team come October 2015. Sign another Matt Moulson-type (overpay if need be). Trade our 2016 1st rounder for a Ryan O'Reilly-type. Trade a young guy we thought we'd rely on long-term (Myers, Ennis, Hodgson?) to shake things up. Not happy with where we are but still optimistic about where we're going.

By who? +1

This is actually a really encouraging post, but I don't get the very last part. McEichel won't fix everything but he won't have to. We already have a ton of prospects on the way, along with three first rounders and two second rounders next June. A top-2 pick sets us up better than we ever have been. But we should be taking steps forward starting next season no matter what.

I slipped out of work a couple hours early for this. I was going to make a snide comment, but actually I'm still happy with that decision.

Welp, I guess Blackhawks fans are probably pretty OK with their two Stanley Cup banners in the past 5 years, I guess.

Wow, way to lace your last paragraph with what I'm sure you thought were clever insults. I had no idea I was a "loser." How disconcerting. :( No, this isn't about a savior arriving so that we suddenly don't suck anymore. This is a simple inter-temporal trade. I'll take less now for a lot more later. The Sabres are going to be a bottom-10 team this year. That's just being realistic. They don't get anything out of them being 20th best though. If we're going to suck, let's go all the way. The Sabres' history with top-5 picks is very good. The history of top 5 picks in general is spectacular. You bring up our "best and most exciting player right now": Zemgus Girgensons. He was 14th overall but I guess you forgot that we only have him because we sucked the season before that draft and traded Paul Gaustad for a 1st round pick. [On draft day we traded up 7 spots from that Gaustad pick to get your new favorite player.] So your one example of the team "pushing and fighting as much as possible" is actually a guy we have because we were bad and had a mini-firesale at the deadline. That's the benefit of having a realistic view of how good the team is and how to rebuild. Lastly, regarding the "professional sports franchises who are perpetual losers with perpetual high draft picks who, for some reason, just can't get good again", well, at one point that could describe the team the Sabres played in this GDT and that team shredded Buffalo about as thoroughly as anyone ever. Probably not a good idea to type that sentence in a thread that is literally about the Chicago Blackhawks.

Great episode. Carol continues to be the best character too.

Let's simplify things: Do you think the Bills should have done more or less to find a good QB since 2001?

So the Pats are drafting more guys even though they aren't looking for a replacement? Nice. That actually makes it worse.