nfreeman

I wonder how many of the posters criticizing Lehner in this thread actually listened to that clip. I don't think he said anything out of line, although as @SwampD notes upthread, his "sign a waiver" point is pretty clueless.

This may be true with respect to annual salary, but not, I would guess, on length of the contract. Vogl reported that the Sabres offered only 1 or 2 years. Any UFA in reasonable demand is going to want more term than that. KA has royally screwed up at the most important position on the ice 2 years in a row. He wears that, IMHO, and there's a decent likelihood that the Sabres have the worst goaltending in the NHL this year, and that it hurts the kids' development.

Haters gonna hate, but I like it. Keep 'em coming.

Serious question for cord-cutters: if you're already paying for internet service at home, isn't cable TV as an add-on to your internet bill the cheapest TV option? Every time I look into it, that is the case for me.

So you're saying that if Jack has ADR surgery without the Sabres' consent, the CBA says specifically that the Sabres don't have to pay him but they continue to control his rights? I think that's probably right, but I haven't read that anywhere.

What is this based on? I don't think the Sabres would agree to this, nor should they. There is no way to know whether a solid check in, say, Eichel's 12th game post-ADR would screw up his back irreparably. Right now, 100% of the risk of an ADR is on Eichel. I don't think the Sabres are interested in taking any of that risk. I don't think other GMs would give up a KA-acceptable package for him without seeing him play. I think this is probably the way KA is thinking, and more particularly, I think he's thinking that the surgery will be fusion. Separately, while I see the appeal of an agreement between Jack and the Sabres that changes the current situation, I am skeptical that it will happen. From the Sabres' perspective, there is no reason for them to agree to an ADR, even if Jack assumes all of the economic risk. As matters stand currently, if Jack wants to play again, he needs to have the fusion surgery. The most likely outcome, if he has that surgery, is that he plays well enough to make him tradable for a good package. The ADR, OTOH, represents a great unknown. There is no reason for the Sabres to move from the likelihood of a good trade package in a fusion scenario to a great unknown. From the NHL's perspective, I don't think the league is interested in supporting an outcome in which a team's position is worsened simply because a player wants a different operation than the one the team wants, especially if the CBA's medical dispute resolution process would favor the team (which would almost certainly be the case here if Jack initiated that process). So I think that leaves us watching as KA simply waits out Jack.

I think Jack caving on fusion surgery is more likely than the Sabres caving on ADR surgery. Not trying to be funny -- I just mis-read Brawndo's post. I do think though that no one is offering much for Eichel. Hamilton has reported that the ROR return (i.e. a low #1 and a team's 4th-best prospect) is available.

I think the bolded assumes that such a resolution exists, and that unfortunately a resolution doesn't exist. I think the most likely fact pattern is: - Surgery is needed as rest/rehab have not worked. - Jack wants ADR and is dead set against fusion. - The Sabres want fusion and are dead set against ADR. - No one is willing to take Jack's contract, let him have ADR and give the Sabres much more than a dry-erase board. I think this has pretty much been the situation for months now. As for why hasn't KA made it known that Jack is off the market until the issue is resolved -- if the above fact pattern is accurate, I'm not sure what the point of doing so would be. KA's goal is to trade Jack for a good return, not to just unload him so the Sabres can move on. I would expect that multiple teams kicked the tires on Jack. KA would have wanted to keep those talks going in the hope that someone would take the plunge. As I've said before, KA is ultimately accountable for solving difficult problems and for the team's success or failure. The Eichel injury very well could be a problem without a solution. Even if he loses that battle, though, he still needs to win the war, or else he's just another failed Sabres GM.

Well, based on @Brawndo’s description and Russo’s and Burnside’s reporting, it seems likely that the Wild were willing to trade for Jack and allow him to have the ADR surgery he wants — but the trade return for the Sabres wouldn’t be much more than a dry erase board. So they would’ve taken the headache off of the Sabres’ hands, but for a minimal return in trade — and who knows how much of the contract they would’ve required the Sabres to retain. For those criticizing KA here: would you be OK with Eichel being traded for a 2nd round pick, no salary retention and that’s all? I think this kind of trade is pretty likely the only offer that is available to KA right now, and I don’t think that is going to change until Jack shows that he’s healthy. I also think that KA has decided that rather than making that type of trade, he is going to let Jack sit and stew until he gets fusion surgery, at which point he presumably will be able to play again and be traded. It’s a crappy situation all around.

You're probably right, but they did make the playoffs last year.

JA looked terrific yesterday. Sanders looks like a great pickup. Would've liked more pass rush but as @Taro T notes the overall D game plan worked very well. That's 2 bubble playoff teams in a row that the Bills have manhandled.

These threads are great, btw.

My deep dark fear is that he turns out to be Tim Connolly redux — not with a similar game, but rather a guy whose game you love to watch but just can’t stay healthy. He’s already been injured a couple of times since becoming a Sabre/Amerk IIRC (concussion — speaking of Connolly — and broken thumb I think), and as I mentioned in the Bills thread, I saw him and a bunch of the other Sabres at the Bills opener and I was surprised and how skinny he was. Hopefully I’m just paranoid and out to lunch on this. It wouldn’t be the first time. If he stays healthy I think he’s going to be a great Sabre.

I think he has a chance to lead them in scoring, but unfortunately that’s because the competition for that honor won’t be too daunting. I do really like the story though, and I think he has excellent offensive hockey IQ, a tough fire hydrant frame and a good shot, and is a pretty decent passer too. I expect him to be a solid contributor with upside for more.

I really wanna say that he’ll make the team out of camp and blossom into a leadership role over the next couple of seasons, but the stupid injury IMHO makes it much more likely that he starts the season in Rochester. I do see him as a core guy in the not too distant future.

But there are only 1,312 total NHL regular season games (32 teams / 2 teams per game x 82 games). So it seems like the “more than 1000” games would likely cover all of the games other than the TNT or other national games?

Just to be clear: are you saying that if you don’t live in WNY, but you have ESPN+, you will get every Sabres game without having to spring for NHL Center Ice? And if you are saying that, how confident are you? I sure hope you’re right!

That's not the same thing as waiving his NMC, which doesn't take effect for another year. Right now he has to go anywhere the Sabres trade him, so the bolded statement isn't a concession by Jack.

I agree that the article raised questions worthy of debate. I do think it was so deeply flawed as to constitute a poor work product though, for the reasons I stated earlier. Having said that, I do not think Jack would void his contract if the Sabres would agree to do so. If he were willing to void it, I think we would’ve heard that approach floated as a trial balloon by his agents (although of course this could still happen as time drags on and Jack’s frustration increases). I think Jack’s approach has been and is that he wants the ADR and he wants the Sabres to bear the risk. For that matter, I don’t see why the Sabres would, or should, agree to void the contract ahead of time. I think they would be entirely in the right, if Jack has the ADR without their permission, to void the contract if it doesn’t work or, if it does work, to retain his rights and then trade him for full value. Bottom line is that if Jack wants this operation, he should be the one bearing the risk, not the Sabres.

Respectfully, the thought that piece provoked in me was “holy mackerel, how can Vogl ignore the $50MM elephant in the room and mischaracterize the issue so badly?” He utterly failed to mention, let alone discuss, the key issue, which is who bears the $50MM risk of this surgery — which is not medically advised — going wrong? He also repeatedly, and wrongly, asserted that the Sabres were preventing Eichel from making decisions as to his own medical care. That is simply false. Jack can have whatever surgery or acupuncture or leeches treatment he wants tomorrow. He just can’t do so AND require the Sabres to pay him $50MM. If Vogl thinks players should have the right to decide on their own medical care and hold the teams to their contracts — I don’t agree, but he’s certainly welcome to his opinion. It’s not from outer space. But ignoring the issue — or, even worse, not even recognizing the issue — is very weak sauce editorializing indeed, IMHO.

I agree that it's different from 2014/2015, and hopefully will end differently, but I think KA knows how important goaltending is -- so IMHO his failure to put good goaltending in place to support the youth movement can only mean that KA is targeting a top-3 draft pick in what is supposed to be a rich draft. As for Linus, Vogl reported that KA only offered him a 1- or 2-year deal. That's not a real effort to secure his services, IMHO. And, like last year, about a million real NHL goalies changed teams, and KA sat out the game again. I hope I'm wrong.

@New Scotland (NS) -- you know I luv ya, but KA's staffing of the goalie position leaves me no choice but to conclude that he has decided to tank this season -- and by tanking I mean intentionally ice a team that will lose enough to ensure a high draft pick. I hate it, but I don't see how this goalie situation can lead to any other conclusion.

I don't know what the NFL CBA says on this issue, but it's important to remember that NFL contracts aren't guaranteed (although the stars are increasingly able to get some of their $$ guaranteed) -- so if a player has an operation that the team doesn't want him to have, the team can just cut him with no further financial obligation. That is a totally different situation from the Sabres' situation with Eichel. I would also be pretty surprised if NFL players can get whatever medical procedures they want with no effect on their contracts.

Obviously there was an uptick in the garbagiest of garbage time, but I'm not inclined to weigh that blip more heavily than what we've seen over the last 6 years. He seems like a good guy and I wish him well. I'm not going to pretend though that he's been anything other than completely useless on the ice and probably the biggest FA disappointment in team history.

Well, he announced it at his presser, and if it wasn't said in response to a question, the question would've certainly been asked -- probably as the 1st or 2nd question. I don't see how it could possibly have been kept private.