Ghost of Dwight Drane

I'm more for trades and free agency than picks myself....but you have a rare opportunity to corner the market on the draft year and have all these guys come along at the same time. It's a situation where you can build synergy. If you now have your 1st and 2nd (#5, #35), St Louis 2nd (#50), and can get say a late 1st and 2nd for Regehr and Hecht combined, (#23, #53), you start thinking....."What else can we do here?" How about Stafford for an early 2nd (#37)....a mid 1st and 2nd for Pominville (#14, #44)....and if you want those 3 picks from Columbus (#10, #15, #25).....and you get a couple prospects lumped in.....then why not Miller for a 1st and a solid prospect (#8) if it is Tampa. Now....you go into the draft with #5, #8, #10, #14, #15, #23, #25, #35, #37, #44, #50, #53.........I'm not sure about pick limits, but you have plenty of wiggle room.....package those 5 2nd rounders for say #20 and #28.....all of a sudden, you own 1/3 of the top 28 picks......you just dumped $32 million in salary and can go in the mid-level free agency market to fill out 5 or 6 guys in the $2-$5 million range who are capable NHL players that can't gave you any worse than what you have seen the past few years.....and of those 9 top picks, you can mix and match talent/grit/high risk/goalies/d/forward......and there you go. It's a large undertaking and an idea Darcy wouldn't have the nads to pull off.....but you get 5 top 15 guys and 9 top 28 guys.....you probably hit 1 superstar....1 or 2 very good players...3 or 4 servicable....and 2 or 3 complete duds. A few years down the road you get infused with a turbo booster. I in no way see this happening, and again, I agree, taking a stab or 2 on a draft pick is low reward when trading proven assets, but the combo of cornering the market on top picks and the ability to go right into the FA market makes this a viable option.

Peters is fine. He's a big puppy dog. He makes a mess every now and then but he is fun and means well usually. If I had my way....I'd make Hockey Hotline like the Today Show and have Duff moderate it with Gare, Playfair, Ray, Robitaille, and Peters all at a round table with open bar and booze flowing. I bet you if the honest opinions came out after a few hours of drinking, Pegula would run crying under a blanket. That's the problem.....all our stand-up guys are still collecting checks from the Sabres, so you haven't heard the hardcore truth over the past 6 years. Maybe someone could have saved us from this mess.

I would rather gather tons of picks in one year than spread them out over the years.....your chance of getting a group of successful players under the same roof at the same time, thus making more of a charge to a Cup are better that way. Say you have 6 picks in the first 35 this year....or 10 in the first 50 if you sell off Vanek, Pominville, Stafford, Regehr, Hecht.....it allows you to take chances on guys you may not have risked burning a pick on, plus affords you to lock up some solid guys with limited upside that you know will probably be a solid #5-6 dman for a decade or a 4th line stalwart. It would be the best of both worlds. You could gut your salary structure, yet have money to overpay mid level free agents on 3-5 year contracts and field a somewhat competitive team until the cavalry arrives in a few years.

He did Ink. You have blood supply issues, amputation, infection, shock.....all on the table with something like that. You never expect to see that happen without contact. All the other players on the court collapsed, the coaches were crying, the players on the bench jumped in each other's laps. It was f'd up in real time. Like I said, other than Malarchuk, that was teh craziest thing I've seen in sports in real time.

Matthew 10:22 I'm pretty disappointed actually.

There wasn't a closeup.....but he jumped, landed, and you'd expect an ankle or knee to go, but I think he did both bones just below the knee. At the time you have to wonder if they could save it...that's how unusual and bad it was. No side impact or head on.....straight down on his own. Any other injury like that I have seen has had 300 lb men crashing on a limb, not the poor guy's own power. Surprised he didn't go into shock myself.

Pitino was outright crying......the bench recoiled in horror.....just a disaster. I'm glad the team won for him. My family was all watching and we had people gagging, gasping, etc. Pitino is a horse guy as well...big time.....my first reaction was that was something you run to your steed and put it down. Maybe the most horrific sports thing I watched live next to Malarchuk.

Might be hard to find.......

It's really a bad deal.......1 number and 3 letters. The best bang for your buck is a Lou Franceschetti jersey.

I'm confused......just got home and the first half of this thread was tapdancing on Kassian's grave......then I see Hodgson centering John Scott?? It sounds chippy out there. Maybe Miller loses it finally and tomahawks someone in the groin. Feels weird out there.

Pegula has a gun to his head. He wants some stars in here.....

Miller wants out from all his comments the past few months, and I can't blame him. I think the Sabres have been talking to Tampa about him for at least a month.....so I really expect them to try and get it done. What a poor spot we are in.....the stars have no faith in the organization and have been taking open shots at their dedication and methods. I really do expect some fireworks from the Sabres over the next few days.....it's not in Darcy's makeup, but he needs to do it to keep his job.

Amen! I had a samsung clamshell for close to a decade until a year or so ago. People just text too much now and I had to do something. We've created a culture of easily distracted slaves who now value the capture of an event over having an actual experience. No turning back now. I feel guilty sometimes just being on this message board....but at least here you can have an idea, research and develop it, debate it, and have actual conversation at times. I'm not very fashionable.....I need comfort.

Austrian translation...."Sh!t Yeah!....trade me if you can!"

Haha! I use a Blackberry flip. I'd rather type on raised keys and have a small portable phone. The smartphones don't work with my large hands....I'm sure over time it would get easier, but I'm happy.

Darcy posts here?

I think he meant Terry........

Oh...COME'ON!! I give him credit for getting this return......but you know full well the knock against him is overvaluing the core guys over the years. This is classic Darcy. Gonna let a supporting UFA walk, so get what you can. And just who constitutes the "rest of the Leopolds"???????

I don't doubt it......seriously.

Way to go Darcy! Now sell every last one of them for picks..... I'm good waiting for an awesome 2016-2022........we're gonna have to anyway...........

No...you just have a sense of irony. How's that rink in the Southtowns coming along? I haven't heard any updates the past few years.

Yes

I love how their logo in the upper left is "BS" Nice editing there....Buffalo News.......yikes!

You and Darcy are peas in a pod! My guess here is that they are working 3 key angles.....and if all the dominoes go down in order, you will see the net effect being: Gone: Miller, Pominville, Regehr, Stafford, prospect(s)/picks (you probably pick up a few for Leopold/Hecht/whomever) Return: LeCavalier, Ryan, young Goalie who starts and with upside Next year you go into things with a big time 1st line who can make your powerplay work and who have size and a little grit, Vanek/LeCavalier/Ryan......Hodgson and Grigs are your 2 + 3 centers and you surround them with the combo of Ott/Ennis/Leino/Foligno....and you have Kaleta/Gerbe/Flynn/Porter/etc. to fill out the 4th. You still have a defense with Ehrhoff/Myers/Weber/Sekera...and then maybe target a guy in FA and hope either McNabb or Pysyk are ready for a full load.....then you have 2 young goalies, on who can go 60 or so and give Enroth 20. Now guys like Ennis, Myers and Sekera may be on the table in deals....but this lineup wouldn't be horrible and you have a little more potent power up front while giving up the security of a good veteran goalie and defenseman. These aren't the guys I would necessarily target myself, but in the end, the old failed core is pretty much gone and you have added some size and scoring.