Drunkard

Scandella is on the roster for sure. I think Pilut starts in Rochester until he becomes acclimated to NA ice and since Bailey now has to pass through waivers he will get his shot with Buffalo to start the season. Hoefully he makes the most of it.

Fair enough. Maybe I'm choosing to be delusional but I don't think this team will take 2 or 3 more seasons to contend in this league. Maybe I'll feel differently in December if this team is still a train wreck after 2 months next season, but at this point I'd rather not ship out the best veteran we got while they waste the ELC's of Mittelstadt and Dahlin the same way they pissed away the dirt cheap years of Ristolainen, Eichel and Reinhart.

We just see it differently. Dahlin may not be a total stud as a rookie but he'll be better than Gorges, Antipin, Beaulieu, or whomever he ends up replacing. Sure losing Kane is a blow but there's always a chance Mittelstadt or somebody else replaces the majority his production. I also expect increased production from Eichel, Reinhart, and Okposo to gelp offset his departure. I don't see how you can say Mittelstadt isn't part of the core yet also say he now makes O'Reilly expendable. It's both or neither and if you don't think he's part of the core yet, then I don't see how you can think O'Reilly is expendable yet. That's putting the cart before the horse.

I'm pretty much perfect, so my resolution is to stay that way. I might even pay to watch the Sabres this year, assuming Lord Casey (pbuh) doesn't get his foot chopped off before the 2 week free preview of center ice/NHL.tv is complete and the team looks competitive.

If we don't have a core at this point, we're completely . Fortunately (for my own sanity) I think we do have a core in Eichel, O'Reilly, Reinhart, and Mittelstadt (pbuh), coupled with Ristolainen and Dahlin on defense and hopefully Ullmark in net but we'll have to wait and see on him. I expect the Sabres to contend for a playoff spot this season (2018-2019) but if next season ends up being another turd you can always trade O'Reilly next offseason. At that point his earnings drop to just $6 million per season and we can wait until July 2nd after his $5 million bonus is paid to entice any cheapskate teams that love the value of a good player whose actual dollars paid are way less than his cap hit. O'Reilly is a model of consistency so I'd still expect strong defensive play coupled with 55-60 points even if the Sabres stink, so there will still be interest in him around the league. No need to trade him now while his eventual replacement (Mittelstadt) hasn't even played a full season.

Clean slate, part deux

Defensively responsible players that still produce offensively are difficult to replace. This board would melt down if Eichel got stuck with O'Reilly's match ups and we end up paying him $10 million to score 50-60 points per season. I think that's exactly what would happen though. At least until we ran him out of town.

I don't want to sell off guys for draft picks either (except for the guys I have no interest in keeping, but those guys have little to no trade value anyway). This team needs to build on what it has, not tear it down further. O'Reilly and Ristolainen are carrying the heavy load for this team defensively, while still managing to produce offensively. Moving them out would only cause the other few bright spots on this roster (Eichel, Reinhart, and soon to be rookies Dahlin and Mittelstadt) to have to shoulder that load which will likely impede their offensive production. Either that or we'll have to throw even more responsibilities on guys like Larsson who has pretty much shown to be in over his head already. That guy can't score playing against nobodies, he's certainly not going to do it going up against Crosby, Ovechkin, Stamkos, or Bergeron. Eichel and Dahlin may be able to handle it, but I'd rather let them focus on scoring and have the work horses continue to do the heavy lifting.

You can doubt Lord Casey (pbuh) all you want, but that doesn't make it true. He is the alpha and the omega and the only thing that can stop this superman is the kryptonite of stapling dog ###### players like Pominville and Wilson/Bailey/Baptiste to his wings on the 3rd line. You will eventually be forgiven, as Lord Casey (pbuh) is a just and loving God to all that are not his sworn enemies. Be forewarned that enough doubtful talk can cause you to be moved from the list of the doubtful to the list of sworn enemies where you will be smited. So it has been written..... So it shall be done.

The only way he scores in the 30 point range is by getting stapled to the 3rd line with dog on his wings. I hope they don't over a promising rookie like that.

So you're ok with having the right side of our defense consist of Zach Bogosian, Casey Nelson, and a rookie playing on his off hand? Might as well start the lose for Hughes chants now.

Those equivalency stats are for mere mortals. You need to factor in Casey's diety status. It multiplies his NHLe factor tenfold at least.

Carla probably choked Cliff out and then they used his unconscious body as a handicapped ramp.

That's why they should stick him at left wing. Mittelstadt Eichel Okposo Rodriguez O'Reilly Reinhart That's a decent top 6. We tried to spread our talent out last year and Reinhart floundered there despite being a natural center and it being his third year in the league. Now people want to do that again but this time with a rookie. Makes no damn sense.

I realize he'd still be defensively responsible even as a winger, but wingers usually cover the opposing defenders while centers typically cover the other team's center or other forward. My main point was that I'd rather see Mittelstadt play LW to Eichel or O'Reilly than to see him play with Pominville and some other plug like Wilson or Bailey all season. The LW position is a bigger hole than 3rd line center so it's better to put a talented rookie there rather than sticking him on the third line with has beens/never weres.

You could argue that, but you'd be wrong. O'Reilly is too good defensively to waste on the wing. Rodriguez is our best LW and has been since we traded Kane for O'Reagan and some kid who may not even be old enough to drive yet, depending on the protections of that future 1st round pick.

Exactly. Evan Rodriguez is the best LW currently on this roster. Let that sink in for a minute.

It's too soon to tell because we don't know where he'll be playing. They could bury him on the 3rd line with dead wood, they could play him at wing with better players, or they could move O'Reilly and have him center the second line with better linemates. Given the various scenarios, I'd guess: 3rd Line Center - 30 points 2nd Line Center (with O'Reilly traded or moved to wing) - 40 points Top 6 winger - 50 points On a side note, without some improvements to the roster or Housley attempting to "balance" the lines I don't think he gets paired with Rodriguez on the 3rd line because our wingers suck too much to have Rodriguez down there. He is arguably our 3rd best winger after Reinhart and Okposo right now.

I get that. You sweat way more when it's humid. I've lived in Southern California where 80 degrees is awesome because it was dry and I've lived in Eastern NC most of my life where 80 is still too hot and 95 feels like 110. 95 in the desert is still miserable though. Being told it's a dry heat doesn't help me feel less hot. Different shades of hell is still hell. To me at least.

Gotcha. They use heat index almost as much as actual temperature in my neck of the woods. I'm guessing it's because the humidity is such a big factor in my area. From what I remember Texas and the rest of the southwest is pretty arid so it probably has less impact, although that leads me to one of my pet peeves/psychotic hatreds. When people say "yeah, but it's a dry heat". My response is usually, "yeah, like an oven". Heat is heat. I hate hot weather. Unfortunately I'm pretty locked in with my job, family, etc., so moving is not really an option. If I could knock off a bank and get away with it, I'd have a summer home up North and I'd only be down here from November through April. It's awesome weather down here fall through spring. Unfortunately those 3 seasons take up only half the calendar and summer takes the other half.

I'd kill for cold weather right now. We've been getting highs in the low 90's for a while and it's only going to get worse until October. Is that temperature or heat index? Either way, I feel for you. My family took the southern route through Texas from Irvine, CA to Jacksonville, NC when my Dad got stationed here back in the summer of 1994. Just stepping out of the car and walking from the parking lot to the gas station/burger king/where ever made me feel like I was going to die. I can only imagine it's gotten worse in the 24 years since.

No thanks on Tanev. Having him and Bogosian would practically guarantee we lead the league in missed games. I'd prefer to keep O'Reilly until Mittelstadt has at least a full season at center in the NHL under his belt and one of either him or Eichel would need to prove to be able to pick up the defensive slack that O'Reilly is now providing. Any deal with Vancouver would need to include one of Horvat, Boesner, or Pettersson plus some stuff. I think Vancouver would balk at that, so the trade wouldn't happen.

Except for that obnoxious, dead horse beating comment about the tank I agree.

Completely agree. His contract only has 5 years remaining and after July 1st more than half of the money will be paid out. His contract ends at age 32 as well so it's not like we'd be stuck paying for any declining years. His contract should be viewed as a positive value, not a negative one. Any team that wants to discount his value because of his contract isn't serious about acquiring him.

In that case, I also heard about this guy who lives on Long Island. Goes by the name of John Tavares. We should sign that guy too. Nobody else will be interested.