nfreeman

I generally agree with you. My point was just that Scotty seems to think that TP is laughing his way to the bank, having made millions by icing a crappy team -- and that this is way off.

Do you think TP is making money on the Sabres? I would bet that he's lost millions.

I agree that it's far too soon to come to any conclusions on GMTM. The fans that applauded the terrible decision to tank need to stop kidding themselves that it would be quick and painless to pop back up from the basement to contender level. They were historically bad for the 2 full years ending the season before last (and pretty bad the 2 seasons before that). There was reason to hope for better this year, but the odds were against it. HOWEVER -- I am gong to need something real to make me think that there is reason to hope for a better outcome next year. It can't just be maturity of Eichel, Reino, Risto, McCabe and Lehner plus a couple of Kulikov-level additions. I think I need a new coach, and I need to feel confident that this one is 100% GMTM's call. And if they're going to make that change, it needs to be pretty soon after the season ends, so they can have their choice of whoever's available, and so the new coach can install his system in preseason and hit the ground running. Otherwise, it's hard to avoid the cold premonition that they will come out to another crappy start, DDB will get canned by New Year's and it will be too late to salvage the season -- which will bring us to a full 8 years with no playoffs.

Works for me.

In all seriousness it's getting harder and harder to see DDB back here next year.

So you make the exact same joke as Doohickie 90 minutes later? No wonder this franchise is in the pooper.

What did McK say?

Yes, really, and pretty much 100% of neutral NHL observers would agree.

Well, I acceded to my wife's wishes and accompanied her to "La La Land" on Sat. night ... and I didn't hate it. If you find yourself similarly situated with your significant other, I will tell you that it's about 75% "regular movie" and 25% musical and that overall it's pretty well made and interesting story about LA.

I agree and have said as much a number of times here -- but, and I may just be optimistically kidding myself, I think I've seen more spring in his step in the last 3-4 games. The finish isn't there yet, but I think the legs are coming back.

Awesome.

I hate to say it, because I'd like them to keep Kane, but I would guess that Marty has better intel generally than Rivet does. And Dire Straits was a great band.

Evidently Craig Rivet says that he thinks that the Sabres are going to sign Kane to an extension this summer. The Instigators‏@TheInstigators Riv's Rumours: "Sabres will resign Evander Kane at the end of the season."

Absolutely. My point (and I think Robvy's too, although I can't speak for him) is that saying "I think the Sabres should sign Kane to a $5MM x 5 year extension" is like saying "I think the Sabres should trade Foligno for McDavid" or "I think Scarlett Johanssen should wear her red underwear when she delivers my new Porsche."

That's it exactly. You just feel like a million dollars for the rest of the day, and you sleep like a baby.

You are 100% right. It's not going to be less than 7 years, and probably not much (if a-tall) below $6MM per year.

Awesome.

I have no information, but I hope he returns.

I appreciate the team spirit gents but that was a pretty disheartening loss. They were dominated and outclassed for most of the game.

Good. He doesn't have to clear again if they need to call him back up after the deadline, right?

Your caution is well justified. But Eichel looked like a freaking force of nature yesterday. So maybe... Awesome. Fair.

Here's a dose of reality: there are 7 teams in the EC fighting it out for 2 playoff spots. It is freaking great that the Sabres are one of those teams. But: they have played more games than each of the other 6 teams. And they're about to play Chicago and then take their bye week. They could easily be 6 points out (or more) in a week.

I would say buy in to the view that with reasonable progress, this core, this GM and this coach can become a real NHL contender. More immediately, I would say buy in to, if not making the playoffs this year, at least staying in it until the very end and playing above DeLuca .500 from now to the end of the season. So yes, if they win tonight, I can see me buying into believing that those 2 very consequential possible outcomes about this team can happen.

Yes. 5 good forwards -- one of whom I'm starting to believe will be a top-5 player in the NHL at some point -- plus 2 good defensemen, plus Lehner if they don't have to give him too much term on his contract, plus ideally one more high-end defenseman. That's a core that I'd like to see the Sabres move forward with for at least a few seasons. Seconded/Thirded. Good post JJ and I'm glad you're back, btw. True, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were several fairly specific conversations with Minny and they came pretty close.

Me too.