tom webster

I was thinking besides Shrader's original post but yes, that's correct and I think they may again after this year.

Also, the Jazz from New Orleans to Utah and the Stars kinda kept the name from the North Stars. I can’t think of anyone that rebranded and stayed in the same city.

Technically you can add a player but he wouldn’t be eligible to play. Like you said, it’s never going to happen. Even a cut throat team like Vegas wouldn’t take the chance.

Three more years at $3.6M, no thanks

I really like the interview as well.

Every coach, like every manager wants as many resources at their disposal as possible. If it was up to Lindy he would have an offensive zone face off specialist, a defensive zone specialist, dedicated penalty killers, a slot guy for the power play, etc., etc. Reality is that rosters are limited so you need to prioritize and settle. I fully expect them to add some grit to the bottom six, I'm not sure about a dedicated fighter.

Florida is going to win the Cup with Erod as their number two center. I want Buffalo to add another top center but there isn’t a blue print to building a Cup contender. Every winner is built differently.

With the way ERod Is playing as second center on the likely Stanley Cup winner, I’d think all the angst and definitive assessment of role players on this board would have subsided for at least a week. I’m with Taro, I don’t want him as part of the leadership core but I have no problem with him being part of the team.

Like Taro said, I think it can be both. Heading a department can be more of an administrative position.

Like I said, it’s not unique to Buffalo. Knowing how to placate the powers that be is an art form and vital to success. Marv Levy heeded Mary Wilson’s advice to keep Ralph happy and upper management has been doing it since ownership stopped actually running the businesses they own. It made Dale Carnegie rich and is really vital to corporate success.

2 & 3 are a given and I’m pretty sure 1 is as well. I think 1 & 2 might be the first team they’ve had that can keep TPegs happy while building the team we want.

Promoting him to assistant GM might be a way to get him out of the draft process. We do it all the time, give a guy a new title, a few extra bucks and give him non lethal assignments. If you think this is somehow unique to Buffalo, you’d be wrong.

As I’ve been saying, it will be $92M the next year and should go up at least 5% each year till the end of the CBA.

Quinn isn’t going anywhere and JJP 99% probably not.

No doubt the Bills are the big draw but guys like him don’t like being associated with failures and while the NHL is small potatoes, it still has a club of billionaires that he would want to impress.

FWIW, and I know at least one poster doesn’t think it’s worth much, but after a few conversations over the weekend, I am 100% convinced that the Sabres will make a big splash in the coming weeks. Something along the likes of Danault, Jenner. Eriksson EK, Jenner. And it won’t stop there. The hire of Ruff was significant but the real notice of intent was the hiring of Pete Guelli. Ruff had some leverage but Guelli is a rising star and doesn’t sign on without some significant guarantees. TPegs was not in Buffalo to discuss draft prospects. He was here to agree to the monetary ramifications of the pending moves.

Pleasantly

I think Krebs gets traded and I think people are surprised with the return

Again, you have no idea what motivates every single person. Mario Williams signed with the Bills because he saw a deer in Jim Kelly’s back yard. People are motivated by a myriad of things.

Again with the absolutes. You have no idea what will motivate all of the free agents available. The players they want might not make Buffalo their first choice but there will be a player or two, probably more that want to come to Buffalo.

Skinner wasn’t signing any contract unless it guaranteed he was playing for Detroit, Buffalo, Pittsburgh or Toronto. You can argue whether to sign him to anything but that clause was non-negotiable.

If by that you mean that the bubble might soon burst, I think we are years away from that. Between gambling, tech and a world market, I think top end guys are going to approach $80M per year, at least in basketball and football.

Salary caps are going to explode for all major sports. The contract is an indication that both sides understand that.

I may be confusing Gratton with someone else but while the other points you made are valid, they don’t change the fact that Punch valued talent as much, if not more then grit.

By the way, while Punch valued toughness, he also valued skill. He traded grit for the likes of Rene Robert, Jacques Richard and the like and he let Dudley walk because he thought he could replace him with Norm Gratton.