nfreeman

Take it down a notch please.

Well, TP did retain Darcy, who was a respected and experienced GM at the time, as his initial GM.

It’s more that I think some opinions of Joki’s lack of efficacy in the D zone are a bit exaggerated. I think he’s good there too and getting better, and that he’s a smart player who will learn to complement Power’s game well.

One nugget from the KO interview that I found interesting: when they asked him about the Sabres D corp, he spoke highly of Dahlin and Power, but also mentioned that Joki is an under-the-radar really good defenseman. This jibes with the consistent praise of Joki that we saw from DG last year, and further supports the notion that Joki is pretty much a lock to be top 4 this year, likely as Power's partner.

Just listened to it. Good stuff. I came away liking KO quite a bit. And the meatheads were pretty funny.

I might agree if they hadn’t just lost Gaudreau for nothing, but I don’t think they can live with a similar outcome with Hubie and Weegar.

Good stuff here boys. I think @Ducky is right though — they have to trade them.

I agree with most of this, and I sure hope you’re right about the bolded. Mitts delivering a good top 6 forward season would be a great addition to the lineup.

This is a compelling argument on paper. Florida was a great team and offensive juggernaut last year though and a strong cup contender this coming season as well. They just traded their 2nd best player, who was tied for 2nd in the NHL in scoring last year, and their 2nd best defenseman. That creates a significant likelihood that they won’t be as good next year as they would’ve been without this trade. And this coming year could very likely be their best chance at a cup in their entire contender window. In theory yes it extends their window. And it’s quite possible that Tkachuk shines in the playoffs and they go on a deep run, or even a few of them. But it seems like they took an actual, tangible step back and hurt their chances, which were really good, in the here and now, in exchange for a good theory. It seems maybe too clever by half. I don’t think I’d have wanted the Sabres to do this if they were In Florida’s position.

I agree with this. although Florida got younger and tougher, they also got slower and worse on D and they changed the chemistry of a very successful team. And I could easily see Calgary going into a nose dive. Florida is still going to be a very tough opponent for the Sabres though.

It just seems pretty likely that at least 1 of Hubie and Weegar isn't going to re-sign with Calgary, especially since they both came from Florida, which most Canadian NHL players seem to love, and given the twitter reports about Hubie already saying he's not re-signing. So, unless Calgary signs them this summer, their impending departures are going to hang over the team all year, and they will most likely be traded at the deadline. I think it would've been wiser for Calgary to trade Tkachuk for younger players that they could keep control of for several year. This seems like an ill-advised, desperate move by a franchise reeling and under pressure from the departures of their 2 best players.

Well, you certainly could be right that it was CBJ‘s decision to keep it a short term deal. I suspect though that it was more Laine’s decision, because CBJ has had a very difficult time keeping its high end talent. I’d be interested to hear the answer on that question if anybody comes across it.

I find it interesting that Laine’s contract is only 4 years. I’m assuming that CBJ would’ve preferred a longer deal, but Laine wanted another big contract in 4 years when the cap will likely be higher and he’ll be 28 with 4 years of big numbers from playing with Gaudreau under his belt. Still, it’s a risky move by him.

There is some truth in this, but I think your post isn't quite accurate when it comes to the Bills. The contracts they gave Diggs, JA, and Tre were all among the top 3 or so in the NFL for their respective positions at the time they were signed. While I agree that those players weren't looking to gouge every last possible dollar out of the team, they also weren't taking substantial discounts to stay. I think that type of "discount" is the most that can be reasonably hoped for in the Sabres' extensions with their key players over the next few years. In that scenario, if TT has another season in the 35-35-70 range, he won't demand to be paid $10MM-$11MM at the top end of the #1C market with Matthews, Barkov etc. (and Eichel!), but it's not realistic to expect him to be in the same $7MM tier as Barzal or Keller, either. $8MM-$8.5MM would put him in the Zibenijad, Hertl, Duchene and Norris tier, which seems about right. This will be expensive, but still a better deal for the Sabres than, say, what Ullmark seems to have required, which was to pay more than anyone else was willing to pay for him.

What a great movie.

My impression of TG over the years is that he can get pretty worked up about things. I would guess that for someone who is inclined that way to begin with, family drama can really take things to the boiling point. He'll probably delete the tweet once he cools off. And hopefully reconcile with his brother at some point too.

Nailed it. Eichel to Calgary for MT? Who says no?

I agree -- I kinda expect him to be in Rochester.

So the open container law is still cramping your style? Very nice.

On the pressure on Canadian teams -- I think it's analogous to the pressure on NFL teams here, which is much higher than the pressure on US NHL teams. As for heaven on earth -- I was referring to Banff, Lake Louise and that surrounding area, which spills over into BC (as I'm sure you know). I haven't been to Vancouver or the BC coast, but I hear great things about it. My understanding is that Calgary has grown quite a bit over the last dozen years or so. We stayed in a downtown area that had a pretty nice pedestrian area with a bunch of outdoor restaurants and cafes -- so not NYC, LA, Miami or Toronto, and I understand that young, wealthy athletes often want that kind of scene, but it was still pretty nice IMHO.

Resurrecting this thread in case anyone's interested. As I mentioned in the TV/movies thread, the last 2 episodes of BCS have been outstanding.

I guess I’m not that concerned about the Russian prospects being permanently barred from coming here. I can see it not happening this season, but beyond that it doesn’t seem likely.

Yes — these last 2 episodes have been outstanding.

Yes, unless they get a good return in trade for Tkachuk. But with only a year left on his contract, odds are it won't cushion the blow much.

Interesting. I have a theory that the Canadian NHL teams are more prone to make boneheaded and rash management decisions because they are under much more pressure -- both from fans and from the fear of losing players to US markets -- than the US NHL teams are. This would kinda fit that theory. I was there recently for a couple of days and it seemed like a pretty decent city -- and it's close to the Canadian Rockies, which are pretty close to heaven on earth.