Eric Staal hired as a special assistant to Kevyn Adams

[PASabreFan]

15 minutes ago, JohnC said:

Google, it's quicker. 

Yeah but I learned you can use the concave chest of a trucker in Frankfort as a urinal.

The Kentucky Pisspot.

Edited 3 hours ago by PASabreFan

[Broken Ankles]

6 minutes ago, WhenWillItEnd66 said:

Ok, so i am going to be the unpopular opinion. I am going to ignore WHO HE IS and WHERE HE CAME FROM!!! Bare with me here.....

He was an exceptional player that played a brand of hockey that this team desperately needs. He is widely respected league wide (With the exception of Buffalo). He is someone OUTSIDE the organization that a lot of folks have been screaming  that we need to add without recycling same people. He is and was a WINNER in every league and tournament he has been in. His knowledge of the game is also highly respected. 

I get his Buffalo tied past. I am sure he knows it as well. How much does that say for an individual that knows he is going to treated like a second class citizen by many fans of the team he joined. I honestly believe this could be a good thing for the organization and for himself. 

I also understand the bias against him. I am a day 1 fan and hate the Lames as well, but he could bring an outsider insight that is highly needed for this team. I am sure i will be lambasted for my thoughts, but does it really hurt? If he can guide our GM to make 10% better decisions to help this team, then it is a win. 

    Nuance is frowned on here.  Suit up in your armor, or colors, or what have you. The SabreSpace leadership has delivered its talking points, so please stay on topic and follow along.   While I disagree with your take, I appreciate the opinion.  An outside perspective is needed, however, Kevyn hasn't earned the opportunity to hire one of his friends, regardless of his playing experience.  A new voice is good, but when the room still has stale air from the same losing leadership, that voice could be drowned out.  

[DarthEbriate]

27 minutes ago, WhenWillItEnd66 said:

Ok, so i am going to be the unpopular opinion. I am going to ignore WHO HE IS and WHERE HE CAME FROM!!! Bare with me here.....

He was an exceptional player that played a brand of hockey that this team desperately needs. He is widely respected league wide (With the exception of Buffalo). He is someone OUTSIDE the organization that a lot of folks have been screaming  that we need to add without recycling same people. He is and was a WINNER in every league and tournament he has been in. His knowledge of the game is also highly respected. 

I get his Buffalo tied past. I am sure he knows it as well. How much does that say for an individual that knows he is going to treated like a second class citizen by many fans of the team he joined. I honestly believe this could be a good thing for the organization and for himself. 

I also understand the bias against him. I am a day 1 fan and hate the Lames as well, but he could bring an outsider insight that is highly needed for this team. I am sure i will be lambasted for my thoughts, but does it really hurt? If he can guide our GM to make 10% better decisions to help this team, then it is a win. 

There are potential positives that he can bring. The main problem is that the role he's hired for is for players to learn the front office/hockey ops. It's an apprentice. He's there to learn from Adams.

In Colorado, it's Andrew Cogliano (retired just last year) -- but Sakic and MacFarland are well-established and have loads of success. But that's a top team.

So, let's do a rebuild team: San Jose. The closest is Patrick Marleau in a "Player Dev and Hockey Ops Advisor" title. But Marleau can learn from a pretty qualified group. Grier has 3 assistant GMs, a Hockey Ops Advisor in Doug Weight who has been a head coach in the NHL and been in front office activities for 6-7ish years already. And then, Grier has 3 senior advisors (Tim Burke who's been around forever and built the excellent Marleau/Pavelski teams; Todd Marchant who had 10 years in the Ducks front office before joining the Sharks in the last couple years; and Ryan Stewart who went from scout to Dir. of Pro Personnel with the Chicago Blackhawks over the course of 15 years).

Edited 3 hours ago by DarthEbriate

[JohnC]

2 hours ago, DarthEbriate said:

There are potential positives that he can bring. The main problem is that the role he's hired for is for players to learn the front office/hockey ops. It's an apprentice. He's there to learn from Adams.

In Colorado, it's Andrew Cogliano (retired just last year) -- but Sakic and MacFarland are well-established and have loads of success. But that's a top team.

So, let's do a rebuild team: San Jose. The closest is Patrick Marleau in a "Player Dev and Hockey Ops Advisor" title. But Marleau can learn from a pretty qualified group. Grier has 3 assistant GMs, a Hockey Ops Advisor in Doug Weight who has been a head coach in the NHL and been in front office activities for 6-7ish years already. And then, Grier has 3 senior advisors (Tim Burke who's been around forever and built the excellent Marleau/Pavelski teams; Todd Marchant who had 10 years in the Ducks front office before joining the Sharks in the last couple years; and Ryan Stewart who went from scout to Dir. of Pro Personnel with the Chicago Blackhawks over the course of 15 years).

The position that Staal was hired for is a typical entry level job for a recently retired veteran player that most franchises have. 
 

The advantage of this type of hire is that the new employee knows a lot of current players and is tapped in to a lot of coaches he has been involved with. So he should have a lot of information about other players and whether they would be a good fit if pursued.

People getting upset over such a standard practice/hiring is perplexing to me. (As your post demonstrates, there is nothing novel about this type of hiring.)

[LGR4GM]

So... Staal isn't even moving here, he's just gonna be in and out of town from what's being speculated. What nonsense this is. 

[dudacek]

14 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

So... Staal isn't even moving here, he's just gonna be in and out of town from what's being speculated. What nonsense this is. 

Not that I don’t agree with you, but to be fair that’s not uncommon in NHL circles.

Hasnt everbody’s darling Dudley lived in Buffalo his entire stint with the Panthers and even earlier?

[inkman]

10 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

So... Staal isn't even moving here, he's just gonna be in and out of town from what's being speculated. What nonsense this is. 

Paul Hamilton intimated that some key Sabres personnel, like Jason Karmanos, still live in Pittsburgh.  I’m kinda speechless at this point.  The Sabres don’t require their employees to actually work in the city the team they are contributing to resides in?  Ummm… Maybe the Sabres problems run deeper than we all know.