Taro T

You forgot the really big guy, Mr. Party Pooper.

Nah. That's the REALLY tall bald guy. The one that worked with the short old lady that smoked too much.

Glad you got to her in time. Hope she has a full recovery. Scary arse stuff.

Nah, that's Kolchak.

Both times. 😉

Another good Q. IMHO, that's a good part of it but no idea how to quantify it realistically. He checks a few boxes. He's a true power forward in a mold that IMHO the team only had 2 of and 1 was or was essentially a rookie - Okposo & Cozens.Maybe Mitts or Peterka joins that club, and if they do, great; but the team was sorely lacking in that role. He also pays attention to the little things. He took the team to dinner when he arrived, met most everybody working for Sabres and introduced himself, and he was the guy making sure RJ got onto the ice on his special night. That has nothing to do with this being his childhood dream - that's just having been brought up right. And then, he bleeds blue and gold after bleeding red & black as a kid. Wonder how psyched up he'll be when he gets to step onto the ice in those 3rd for the 1st time? He won't be a ppg player, but he'll be around 0.75 ppg which is still something this team needs. Having a guy doing all the little things right is great for the younger players to be around. Imagine what could've been had he been about 6 years older and in that '15-'16 dressing room with Okposo, O'Reilly, Gionta, and Gorges rather than at least 1 of and ideally both Kane & Bogosian. Maybe the "tank fruit" doesn't spoil in that environment. Oh, well. And his enjoyment of his situation seems to be infectious from an outside perspective. That has to help make it easier to come to work on a dreary February morning.

Yep. To the post, not the OP's Q.

Good Q's. IMHO those both factor in, but as stated earlier the bigger factor, again IMHO, is maintaining stability after a season in which expectations were exceeded and management held true to its plan. (Just wish the durn plan included an obvious upgrade to goaltending rather than a possible upgrade to goaltending & bringing in 2-3 additional pieces that the kids need to overcome today to get around to get key playing time. (Which, still would've been stable though not nearly as static.) With the former being a bigger item than the latter in tempering enthusiasm.)

1 year left on his deal. Can't see any downside to having made the deal were he willing to come to Buffalo and were Treliving willing to work w/ Adams.

Expecting he's in the 40 point range but expect most of his time will be on lines 3 or 4 and that he'll be on the 2nd PP. If he ends up in a higher role consistently, nudge the #'s up. Don't expect he'll get true consideration for RotY because of those #'s AND because Power will be sucking all the air out of that discussion for Quinn & Peterka (regardless of when JJ gets his chance) who will also be taking some votes from each other. As he seems to have the polar opposite of the Sophomore slump, really looking forward to his play the following year.

Have to figure middle of the pack is about right for this survey (& 2 slots off from dead center for overall & still in the middle tier for Sabres fans specifically is close enough for government work). Just simply having consistency from 1 year to the next for the 1st time since Botterill foolishly gave Housley a 2nd year was worth a few slots. Not having a circus/ MAJOR drama for the 1st time since heading into Eichel's 2nd year was worth a few more. And the team exceeding most everybody's expectations while following the plan the GM hasn't deviated from was the biggest boost IMHO. Am usually hopeful about this team (last year being a glaring exception) so have been wrong a few slots a lot during this drought. But the lack of drama (not including no definitive upgrades in net) makes it a lot easier to expect to be entertained this year regardless of how they actually perform. And having confidence in that is something IMHO remarkable in itself for this club and what they've done the last decade plus. Adams has set himself up with a ton of potential; is there confidence he'll get this team to fulfill it, in small amount yes. Is there a 'we aren't lying to ourselves' hope that he can, absolutely.

Fair enough.

In his 1st preseason game w/ the Browns opposing fans were chanting "you sick ####." The Browns said he won't be playing in anymore preseason games. Expect that has am much to do with that decision as his additional 5 games. Will be interesting to see how the NFL & the Browns react when that chant is picked up again in Houston. Expecting the strain will be tremendous & in large (full?) part self-inflicted.

You honestly think that my embracing Tuch & what he represents is BECAUSE he was traded for Eichel? We have spoken with each other before, right? 😉

True dat.

Tuch's a 50/60 point guy, but will give absolutely everything for this franchise. It's his & Kyle's team. (Hopefully Dahlin is the 3rd of the "lettermen." Would really like to see him not just the best D-man but also the leader.)

Exactly this. And if things didn't work out in Buffalo with him he either becomes additional assets at some point this season or becomes the Amerks best C in ages.

So sorry for not getting back sooner. Been a crazy 2 weeks. Don't believe I'll have the time to do it this fall. Someone else can take my spot. Again, sorry for the late notice.

Yeah. The only way he gets loaned to Europe or the Q (that's where the Jr team w/ his rights plays, right?) is if we are well past US Thanksgiving and he simply isn't getting it at all. Meaning he's getting scratched nightly or only a couple of shifts/ period/game, which just doesn't seem to be in the cards.

And Peterka was in over his head in his 2 game call-up IMHO. Would he still have been in over his head at the end of the year? Personally doubt it, but with Adams saving his 1 call-up, we'll never know.

Can very easily see Monahan having said no to coming to Buffalo. Am sure that Adams let Treliving know he was interested in helping grease the skids for the Flames landing Kadri.

Quinn's look got messed up due to the injury & then them saving 1 non-emegency call-up at the end. Doubt Kulich get much, if any, time w/ the Sabres this season; but not basing it on Quinn's experience last year.

FTFY. 😉

They might now and really expect that in a year they will and that they're 2 years from really being able to do some damage. But see nothing at all wrong with having some additional assets to account for the inevitable injuries & to make sure they don't end up just wasting well over $10MM in cap space & to give even more internal competition. Probably really sounds strange, but looking forward to teams poaching a player or 2 the Sabres try to send to Ra-cha-cha; when that starts happening again, it'll almost definitely correlate to the Sabres being able to roll 4 lines & 6 D even w/ an average amount of injuries. If Adams isn't going to use the space on assets that can help today he needs to buy some more Bishops and the accompanying picks to not just watch that cap space evaporate come April.