Drunkard

I think there's almost no chance Kane would sign for such a short term. Why would he? Guys in their 30's get handed 5-8 year deals like it's nothing while he's only 26. Given the fact that he's had injuries just about every season he's the last guy who should look at signing a short term deal. If you'd rather see him walk rather than offer him an Okposo type deal, that's understandable. Suggesting he should leave 20 or so million on the table is basically saying we should let him walk or trade him though.

Taking a wait and see approach but right now I'm cautiously optimistic. The 2 things I wanted to see the most was a better system and Reinhart to get a chance at center and so far both have happened so I'm happy. I'm sure it will be a bumpy road at first but at this point I'm happy with Housley so far.

Gotcha. I figured you were still in Bulldog country.

If you live outside of the Sabres Market you shouldn't need a VPN because the Sabres games should only get blacked out in the Buffalo tv market.

Exactly. I'm glad the team is playing well and I'll be happy to eat my words about the Wrestler, but there's still plenty of time for them to F it up. After watching the Bills be 4-0 and then 5-1 and somehow still finish 7-9 and out of the playoffs, I'm not going to expect anything. I'll keep taking the wait and see approach. If McGinger can get this team into the playoffs I'll gladly own up to being wrong about him, even if it seems like Pegula had some weird metrics/justifications for hiring him.

It's not about being attached to last year's roster. Contract status plays a way bigger part than you want to admit to yourself. Since Botteril seems to be focused on improving Rochester as much as he is on improving Buffalo he's not going to expose people to waivers that he doesn't have to because he wants to build up the roster in Rochester as well. If that means Griffith stays up to avoid sending him through waivers even though Baptiste performed just as well simply because Baptiste can be sent to Rochester without passing through waivers (just an example, I'm not sure of the waiver status for either player) than I think that's going to impact who stays and who goes.

I was way off then. I haven't seen that movie in probably 20 years. I just remember it had Andre the Giant, Kevin Arnold from the Wonder Years, and that one guy who kept saying My name is Antonio [insert Italian last name], you killed my father, prepare to die.

No chance they keep the younger guy over the older guy. If there's a tie between an older player and a younger one, they send down the younger player that doesn't have to clear waivers first. Doing the opposite could destroy their depth, unless you are referring to the overpaid guys that we can only hope someone would pick up on waivers (Moulson, Gorges, etc.).

YouTube is blocked on my work computer so I can't see what you posted but I'm guessing this is the clip from cyanide and happiness where the dude and his raging hard on is knocking out everyone walking down the street.

This has always been my interpretation of the bend but don't break defense. Avoiding the big play against your defense is the main focal point and relying on the condensed space in the red zone to force field goals rather than giving up touchdowns. Usually I prefer a more aggressive style but I'll gladly take whatever works.

He once walked down the street with an erection ...................... there were no survivors.

Just the first step on his road to world domination.

I'm sure they are playing hard but none of them seem to be separating themselves from the pack. Maybe I'm mistaken but they seem like interchangeable JAGs (Just a Guy) at this point. Nolan is JAG as well, but if we're gonna give spots to JAGs we might as well give the spots to players who are willing to drive the other team nuts. Kaleta types without the baggage and bias from the refs. Then we can send the young guys down to Rochester to develop and get more ice time.

That would certainly fix a lot of our talent issues on the wing. Unfortunately I don't see it happening until the end of this season. The likely scenario (I think) will be Nylander taking Kane's spot at the trade deadline when we auction Kane off for whatever we can get for him. Reinhart will probably have to wait for either Asplund or Mittelstadt, although they'll probably give that person to O'Reilly at that point, leaving Reinhart to have to wait for Pu to get here.

Fake News! Mittelstadt is not only in the NHL, he's already the best player in NHL history (suck it Gretzky!). It's just that he's kind of busy kicking ass and taking names in Afghanistan and North Korea right now.

Fair enough. I just don't want people to expect Reinhart to be able to do something Eichel and O'Reilly aren't even being asked to do. I'd just like to see our 3 best wingers (Okposo, Kane, and Pominville) each paired up with one of our centers in order to create balanced lines that are all a threat to score. I imagine it will happen, but not until one of the younger guys steps up and either takes Pominville's place on Eichel's RW or Kane's spot on the LW. We'll see if/when it happens.

That's kind of splitting hairs based on the arbitrary cutoff of top 5. If you change it to top 10 it then includes Ristolainen and Mittelstadt for us. If you change it to top 12 you include Grigorenko and Myers and if you change it to top 14 (the old playoff line before Vegas entered the league) and you can also tack Girgensons on to the list.

Solid pickup. We'll see if this lights a fire under the butts of any of the younger players on the cusp of making the team.

All the more reason to spread the talent on the wings out a little more and not expect Reinhart to do what neither O'Reilly and Eichel have even proven to be capable of. One of Okposo, Kane, or Pominville should be on his line.

I keep seeing this statement being repeated by multiple people but no one seems to apply it evenly. If a good center should be expected to elevate his line mates then why do most people jump to stack the few good wingers we have on the lines of Eichel and O'Reilly? Reinhart is still learning the center position in the NHL. He shouldn't be expected to just automatically elevate the play of others, especially when nobody even expects it from the other guys. If you want to apply that standard to Reinhart, then why don't we detach Okposo from O'Reilly's hip? O'Reilly is a good center (enough to give him $50 million), plus he's established, so why don't we stick him with crappy wingers and let him elevate their play? Everyone is ready to give Eichel an $80+ million contract but he gets coddled with our remaining best wingers (Kane and Pominville). You can't have it both ways. You can't expect Reinhart to elevate the play of mediocre wingers while giving the best ones to the established centers who either already make a ton of money (O'Reilly) or will be making huge money soon (Eichel).

Why? Does hitting the goalie's chest protector not count as a shot on net anymore? Or was that Stafford that tried to score through the goalie instead of around him?

If he matches last year's point total or even only slightly improves them while centering the 3rd line all season I'll be ecstatic. At that point I'll be campaigning for us to stop coddling the big money centers (O'Reilly and Eichel) with all the good wingers. Even a slight drop in his production would be understandable given the things you stated (decreased TOI and lower quality linemates).

Hey Derek, do you know what's good for shoulder pain?

Can't you just start a brand new league and give it either the same name or a similar one?

No captain this year. Eichel will get it once he extends. He's only a placeholder for the great Casey Mittelstadt though.