nfreeman

Like most here, I wanted Gillis or other experienced GM with a good track record. But that doesn't mean Adams can't be a good GM here. He knows the organization and evidently has the trust and respect of the Pegulas and presumably RK. I think that RK will probably have more say in setting the overall tone and priorities of the organization, and KA will be in charge of executing the plan. Let's hope they both have the chops to deliver. After all, what else can we do?

Well, I agree with the bolded -- but why did they make the statement about keeping JB to begin with? There was no need to say anything about him at that time, or at least nothing beyond "we're evaluating the organization and will make an announcement when that process is complete."

In all seriousness, it sounded like they were pretty close to firing JB, then Eichel aired his grievances, then yet another Sabre (Pilut) decided to bail -- so Pilut really could've been the last straw. I wouldn't say puppet, but I do think RK is playing the McD role and Adams is playing the Beane role. No. Narrowly missing the 24-team pandemic-driven playoffs does not mean they were a bubble team. Adams has always interviewed well. I have tended to discount that quality because he's been part of a franchise that has delivered consistently terrible results.

Well, you have just rocketed to the top of the "SabreSpace inside source" credibility rankings. It doesn't look that way. Yikes.

My son and I got haircuts today. Halle-freakin-lujah. It had been close to 4 months since my last one. I think that’s the longest I’ve ever gone in my life without a haircut.

I've had worse. Glad you're back. Please bring @Wyldnwoody44 in from the cold too while you're at it. After all, there is a LOT of hockey talk to be had. Did you see that Laaksonen signed! Be still my heart.

I will respectfully disagree. The stunts and action sequences have improved with each movie. They’ve also gotten some good actors and big stars to take smaller one-off roles as the franchise has gotten bigger. The dialogue may have gotten a bit dumber but they were already starting at a fairly low point. Having said that, “Hobbs and Shaw” was pretty bad IMHO.

Certainly JB has richly earned the current lack of faith in him from most observers here, and thus the assumption that this was another blunder or misplay.

@Doohickie -- it's important to remember that the new case numbers are inevitably going to rise as testing becomes more widespread. I think the more important numbers are virus-related deaths and hospitalizations. It will be important to evaluate any changes in those figures pre- and post-reopening (with a time lag adjustment as I think it takes about 2 weeks on average for the virus to cause debilitating health effects).

I think at least 24 NHL GMs would take Nylander over Reino though.

Well, based on JB's recent comments, it sounds like Simmonds will be back. I don't think more than 1 of the other 4 you named will be back. I think Cozens is close to a lock to be in Buffalo and Mitts is close to a lock to be in Rochester. I think if Tage can go to Rochester without clearing waivers -- which is still a critical open issue on Sabrespace -- he will at a minimum start the season in Rochester. Otherwise, he'll be in Buffalo. And I'd guess that JB brings in another MoJo-level vet forward and tries to plug him in at 2C. I'd like to think that JB will make a strong move and trade a good defenseman for a good 2C, but I'm skeptical.

Interesting. I can certainly see Eichel insisting on Reino being on his line -- and similarly, I think a major cause of Skinner's tailspin last year was him being unhappy about being removed from Jack's line. I wouldn't expect Mitts to have much of a relationship with Jack -- I don't think Eichel has time or interest in underperforming possible busts. I am curious about Dahlin though. And while I would love to be as confident in RK as I was in Phil Jackson, I think he needed to handle Skinner differently from the way he handled him last year.

This seems highly unlikely to be true -- but it's a good indicator of the fans' lack of trust in the organization that some are ready to believe it and many more aren't ready to immediately call BS.

Conspiracy theory: one of the other Sabres (maybe a fed-up veteran defenseman like McCabe?) found out about it and leaked it in order to pressure JB into bringing in another goalie. In any case, regardless of the source, I think this increases the pressure on JB to bring in another goalie, which is a good thing. Let's hope he gets lucky with the FNG.

If they get Reino to re-sign at $6MM to $6.5MM x 7 years or so, I think the much-criticized bridge deal JB gave him will be vindicated.

I agree with most of this, but I continue to think there is NFW that Tyler Johnson waives his NTC to come here, and I am skeptical that JB will bring in a #2C that people here are excited about.

OK, serious question: is there a simple way to tell whether a given bird one comes across on a pond or lawn near a pond in a big park is a duck as opposed to a goose?

Also, if you bought a TV in the last 4-5 years, it might have 4K (a/k/a ultra HD), and "The Expanse" is available in 4K at no extra cost (I think netflix charges extra for 4K). It looks pretty cool.

Well, theoretically the Sabres could've traded him last season if he wasn't in their plans, or even perhaps just traded his RFA rights after their season ended. I doubt they would've gotten much for him, and perhaps they just decided that they'd rather keep his rights and take another look at him after 2 years in the KHL -- but it could easily be a simple case of squandering and mismanaging an asset.

I posted about this upthread, but I am now officially recommending "the Expanse" on Amazon Prime. It's a sci-fi thriller with certain reminders of "Game of Thrones" -- i.e. multiple storylines in different locations that eventually come together, warring kingdoms, machiavellian political scheming, a supernatural threat, good-to-great action scenes, etc. Season 1 was good but not great -- about a B. Season 2, which I just finished, was very good -- solid A-minus.

You are certainly free not to take questions, and I appreciate this contribution, but still: - there's a world of difference between "it is ironclad" and "it should be ironclad." - LQ's arrangements with TG almost certainly required LQ to sell his share when TG sold the team. - What talks regarding the Bills was TG involved in? Neither he nor Rich nor Jacobs owned the Bills. - The Balsillie story is questionable, as there was no way the NHL was going to let Balsillie in as an owner after he tried to force his way in. - LQ has zero ability to affect whether or not the Sabres stay here. Having said all of that, I don't think there's a significant risk of the team moving or that the NHL wouldn't prefer for the team to stay in Buffalo. The main reason I think the team is staying though is that I don't think the Pegulas want to sell. I also don't think TG was a bad guy. I just think it's highly likely that the no-move clause probably evaporates if the Sabres don't hit certain financial results, and that that is an important factor that should be considered when praising TG and/or refusing to acknowledge the city's great good fortune that the Pegulas materialized, want to keep the team here and threw a ton of money at building the organization as well as the downtown area surrounding the arena.

I have enjoyed the Athletic while being less-than-optimistic about its business model and ultimate prospects for survival, at least in its current form. I hope this isn't the beginning of the end. It doesn't seem like it necessarily is the beginning of the end, though, as they laid off "only" 8% of their staff -- 46 people, which means there are over 500 employees. That's more than I was expecting, although I have no idea whether those are FTEs. The rest of the employees all took pay cuts, starting at 10% and escalating with the higher-paid employees. Here's some background: https://www.thewrap.com/the-athletic-layoffs/

Leaving aside the pleasant tone of your post, have you now come around to believing and trusting OSP? When during his ownership tenure you had nothing but antipathy and mistrust for him? Again: it is manifestly self-serving for OSP to claim, without any verification, that he heroically ensured the team would stay in Buffalo. Perhaps the offer was made and the NHL made it clear to him that the answer was no sale if moving the team immediately was a condition. in that situation, one could claim that one "turned down a better offer" and be technically accurate while still being highly misleading. Or perhaps one of his golfing/tennis/yachting/exploiting the proletariat oligarch buddies was yukking it up with him after an afternoon of lobster and champagne at a fancy club in a tax haven and boisterously told OSP that he'd dig out $260MM from the floor of his Maybach and give it to him for the Sabres as long as he could move them to his ranch in Montana. Perhaps a million things. But not this, at least not based on just OSP's vague and unsupported statements: OSP wasn't going to lose a ton of $$ to keep the Sabres in Buffalo. I agree that there are significant differences between the 3 situations. But there is one overriding similarity: it always comes down to the Benjamins, and if there is a significant net economic loss associated with keeping a team in city XYZ, including Buffalo, no sports league is going to insist on keeping a team in that city.

Y'know what fans from cities like Buffalo shouldn't do? They shouldn't blithely dismiss the chances of losing their teams with "it'll never happen." Oakland and San Diego, both of which are bigger cities than Buffalo, have just recently lost their NFL teams, and Buffalo would've probably lost the Bills if TP hadn't bought them. And the NFL is a much stronger league than the NHL.

What you are glossing over here is that TG was demonstrably willing to sell the team at a handsome profit. We have no idea how much or how little he cared about selling to an owner who would keep the team in Buffalo. Here's an alternative fact pattern: - TP's offer never materializes, so TG continues to own the team. - The cap continues to rise from $39MM when he bought it (NB that the Sabres' payroll that year was $28MM), to $60MM 6 years later (when he actually sold it), to $81.5MM today. - As the cap and floor rise, the team incurs increasingly large operating losses. - TG, who was never interested in owning a team that lost, say, $5MM per year, gets increasingly antsy as his cash burn mounts and, after running up about $20MM in losses over 4 years, decides to sell the team. - He initially wants to sell to someone who will keep the team in Buffalo, but no one materializes who will do so and pay a competitive price. - After another 2 years and $10MM of operating losses, TG says "to heck with this" and decides that he'll sell to whomever will write him a respectable check. - The new owner tells the NHL that he'll keep the team in Buffalo if it reaches break-even within 3 years -- but if it doesn't, he wants to be able to leave. - The NHL, realizing that this is the best that they are going to do, agrees. Now: what is more realistic: this scenario, or the magical appearance of a billionaire who doesn't care about funding operating losses and is determined to keep the team in Buffalo come hell or high water? That's why "keeping the team in Buffalo" is really freaking real.