oddoublee

agreed. I get Ox has had a decent stretch - but I am probably putting him in the press box 2 out of 3 games. Prefer to have Girgs and his speed on that 4th line. Just my opinion. We are probably talking 6 of this and half dozen of the other.

it is ok to get lucky with a hire. point was - regier knew something was a little off and had to hedge his bets. nolan was, make no mistake, an ***** to work with in the front office. ***** like nolan, or nice guy like granato - means nothing to me personally. at the end of the day, the sabres have to decide, is this the guy that takes them to the next level. i am not personally seeing it. i see a team with no identity.

no, common misconception since he and muckler had a such a terrible relationship. muckler was fired pre nolan not coming back

for me, this takes me back to the late 90's when Regier had to make a choice at what direction his young franchise was going to go. He purposefully insulted Nolan with a one year deal - and proceeded to hire Ruff. He knew Nolan did his job motivating the young team into becoming NHL players - but he was not going to finish it and make them legit contenders. And no - Nolan did not sleep with Hasek's wife or show up to rink drunk. That is all BS. Regardless - this may be a similar situation. Does KA have the nuts to see it is time for a new voice to guide these young chickens...

ed jovanovski (granted, 10 years ago...) nicklas backstrom carl hagelin ryan kesler not a long list - but that could also be a point - it may not be an ideal surgery to have if you play sports.

no. just going to an extreme to make a point that i could care less.

I can put my fan blinders on and root for virtually anyone. So the off ice stuff - so be it. Lot's of morons in the world. Sure there are a few on the Sabres team right now, whether we know it or not. Assuming (big assumption) he is really feeling good and healthy - worst case, he is a .75 point a game player. Who doesn't want that? None of our current prospects are capable of that (yet). Here is the thing - every player - I mean literally - every player who had this surgery...never gets over the discomfort, and they retire. Every single one. Why would Kane be different?

what a zig zag. clearly 30+ goal scorers got a premium payout (hintz and meier)...but then kempe throws a monkey wrench in that. then there is the players in that .77 range (where i am putting casey based on last 78 games played)... I have no clue where to peg mitts. his agent could come from a million different directions on this one, and so can the sabres. In a nutshell - if he averages .8 or higher this season alone - he could fetch 9 million on the open market. If he were to sign now, my guess is it costs the sabres 7 - 7.5 million a year. That just goes to show you what a ridiculous deal we got with tage. he is worth 11+ a year.

OK, I was under the impression they could play in the AHL, but it burns a year of their entry level contract (same as NHL play). I thought that is why teams loathe to do it - if they are not getting NHL time, they don't want to burn it. Assuming you are correct ( and I don't see why you wouldn't be), that complicates things. I am not sold Benson is better in the lineup than Jost right now...and need to see Savoie with some NHL minutes...

You are dead on with this. Candidly - if we have to burn both of their entry level deals to let them flip between the AHL and NHL all season...so be it. If both are showing the have NHL 'readiness' - get them out of juniors. I mean, if we are worried about only having Benson locked up until age 26 versus 27 as an RFA...that is a bit misguided.

that line made me laugh! good pull up of stats - good read.

BS statement. Plenty of false allegations in recent years. Trotter's allegations stink of crap. Both owners happened to say an "if they dont like, then do this..." type statement. Reeks of a shallow and lazy grifting. Not uncommon this day and age.

67 games short of what i would prefer, but i guess we all cant get what we want all the time.

I do care. Taxes are important to maintain what we have - but the less I have to pay, the better. But I suppose because in with all the personal conversations you have had with players, and none of them mentioning it to you - then they probably don't care. I'm just a whiner, and You are the man!

Not sure why that is hilarious. Do you think players don't take this into consideration? Some states are better than others. If you can find the perfect combo if stretching the dollar and playing for a great franchise - why wouldn't you do that?

1. Tampa - this is by far the cream of the crop. Good climate, taxes, fan base - class organization. I could only hope they would want to sign me! 2. Carolina - Good climate, fan base - committed and savvy organization. 3. Dallas - Good climate, decent fan base that has good passion making up for lack of knowledge (although it is better than it was 20 years ago), taxes - good organization committed to winning. 4. St. Louis - great fan base, climate, committed organization, tax rate is solid 5. Colorado - good fan base, interesting climate, beautiful region, outside of sales tax - not to shabby. Organization is committed I am surprised how easy this top 5 was for me...I would have loved to put Florida on here - but I lived in Ft. Lauderdale years ago - and I know how bad the fan base can be. Hockey is a lonely world when they are not on top.

One of the coolest threads I have seen here! 1. Winnipeg - region and taxes, no thanks 2. Calgary - see above 3. Edmonton - see above 4. Toronto - taxes and fish bowl environment - and not a positive fish bowl either. Demanding is good - but is cartoonish demanding. side note: As a player, I would probably have all Canadian teams off my radar due to their tax structure - but Vancouver and Montreal are cities that have some character (Ottawa, I suppose I could handle it), and could see myself playing in all three of those places over #5.... 5. Arizona - No long-term vision for team or market. That kind of uncertainty would make me uncomfortable - and give me the feels that I am playing for no other reason than money.

so underrated. you have the bemus and mayville area for great eating, camping and boating. Ellicottville excursion for a day. good call

I always perceived Carolina as rather shrewd - 50% retained, Joker and a conditional 2nd in 2024 (becoming a 1st if he signs). Really can't see them moving him without getting a cost controlled D in return. If I am KA, I can only do that if I think Stillman or Johnson are ready/able to play 15 minutes a night.

Come everyday and lurk. Just don't need to post every thought I have for everyone to hear. Every once in awhile, I feel compelled. Congrats, you compelled me with your genius.

Looks like you Jimmy Cracked Corned me there. Brilliant assessment as always, Eleven.

You are making the assumption the 13 gets either of those players. Or...maybe it can get them, but they won't commit to signing long-term. If that is the case...and it could very well be - Michkov would be an awesome get. BPA. This ain't the NFL.

100% this. If you build your pipeline well enough - you can move higher priced vets to create room. Or if you hit the boom like Chicago did and win the cup. Tear it down! But if your team is playoff ready, combined with playoff advance ready...5 years is not a concern.

Top 30 or 50 would indicate he is a first line pairing on most NHL teams...not sure I am willing to bet that myself yet.

For me, just not ready to give him 8 million a year at this point as he is not an 8 million dollar player. No guarantee he turns out to be that valuable - I would rather he prove it - and if it costs us 10 million later...and that is a big if even if he becomes an all star... then we can deal with the price.