nfreeman

I think at least 2 of the STL guys are going to be good next year.

I've always liked Ennis. Agree with the sentiment upthread that he never got all the way back from that season missed post-concussion. He'll probably get his minutes against the bottom of the opponents' rosters, though, so maybe he'll put up some points for the Leafs.

Agree with both of these. Regarding KO, I saw enough good hockey out of him before he got hurt to make me think that if healthy he's a pretty good player. However, I think there is NFW anyone trades for him at the deadline this year. I agree with much of this. However, I think that although some certainly will interpret the ROR trade per the bolded, it's likely that JB and PH do want to start winning now and liked JVR enough so that they thought he would be a good piece for the next 4 years and then a bad contract for the last 1-2 years of his deal. Certainly the Sabres need a good scoring winger, and he's been one for a good while now.

Quite a nucleus for TB.

Speaking of CJ Smith, I think he's going to be heard from this year.

Sorry to hear this dudacek. Best wishes to you and your family.

It wasn't that big of a deal, and it was a couple of days ago, but the "prep work" required for a (routine) colonoscopy is not the most fun I've ever had.

Welcome Triumph!

Good stuff Crusader and Brawndo. Thanks for posting.

Happy 4th! BBQ! Swimming! Beer! Hockey talk!

No. Eichel missed 21 games, which is about a quarter of the season. They went 7-9-5 without him and 26-28-7 with him. And, on Feb. 18, they were 26-23-10 and on the fringes of the playoff picture -- and then fell off the table, losing 8 out of 9 (and 10 out of 12), and going 7-14-2 to finish the season. A well-coached team doesn't go to pieces like that. OTOH, I can totally see the first paragraph being an accurate theory of how it played out, and you are right that Bylsma got more wins out of the team overall than Phil has so far. But like someone mentioned, the fact that Phil might not have the right stuff doesn't mean that DDB did have it.

IMHO it's just way too early to judge GMTM's drafts. We have no idea whether any of Pu, Olofsson, Guhle, Fitzgerald, Borgen, etc. will develop into good players. As for the rest: it's hard to deny that his term was a crashing failure. The team was a dysfunctional train wreck. He's the one who put it together, and he's responsible for the results.

All I can say is that the Athletic's Sabres coverage over the last week or so has been excellent -- including a new Kris Baker piece on the developmental camp -- and far superior to TBN's coverage.

I could be mistaken but I don’t think he’s unrestricted for another 4 seasons.

NFW would I give Reino more than 2 years. I hope I’m wrong, but so far he seems fundamentally unserious and entitled — ie someone who needs external motivation, and exactly the wrong kind of guy to give a long-term deal to.

Thank you SDS.

I’m envisioning a Foligno body type, but a bit less edge, substantially better offensive instincts and a bitchen one-timer.

It’s going to be this fall. Hutton will be solid, Dahlin will be the real deal, Eichel will wear the C and raise himself and everyone else, Sheary and Berglund will be good and a couple of kids will make splashes.

I listened to Jeremy White’s interview of an STL Blues beat writer from this morning a little while ago. (I think he may have been a local AP writer.) In any case, it’s in the WGR audio vault, and I would recommend it. He spoke very highly of all three guys the Sabres acquired. He said Berglund, who was drafted by the Blues and played 10 years for them, is automatic for 17 to 23 goals per year, and is a smart player and good skater. As for Sobotka, he was drafted by the Bruins, played three years for them, was traded to St. Louis, played 4 years for them, went to the KHL for 3 years, and returned last year to St. Louis. The writer mentioned that in his first stint with St. Louis, Sobotka played with a good amount of edge and physicality, but in the KHL, he was relied on to create more offense. As a result, when he returned to St. Louis, he showed more offensive game but less physicality. It got me kind of psyched. I think these guys are all going to be solid NHL players. Go Sabres.

As others have said -- excellent work here sir. And yet this cracked me up...

Welcome Utica! Dude. Did you just refer to yourself in the 3rd person?

I'd like to see: Sheary - Eichel - Thompson ERod - Casey - Reino Sobotka - Berglund - KO CJ Smith - Zemgus - Baptiste (Probably a bit ambitious for Thompson though. Ideally KO would return to peak form and earn that #1 RW spot.)

I think the Scandella trade was an excellent move. I think the re-stocking of Rochester has been executed well and will pay dividends. I think the decision to move on from Lehner was the right call (although I'm less sure about Hutton). I think that deciding that the team was fundamentally flawed and needed major changes was a correct, and difficult decision. Now, whether JB chose the right guys in Kane and ROR to move out remains to be seen -- but they both seem like logical choices to me.

You are certainly right that the pros make mistakes on prospects all the time. As I mentioned in the ROR thread though, I think there are many elements, both on-ice and off-ice, that are simply not visible to fans but that are visible to coaches and management. Again, it's way too early to make this call.

It's something -- true -- but it's something that we really don't know much about. Let's see how they do before we conclude that JB is a bozo.