Drunkard

He also needs take DB on a camping trip then break his leg and leave him to the wolves in the Canadian wilderness or something.

Pretty much. Sometimes you just have to treat grown rich men like school children. The NHL is tough and if you expect too much out of these delicate flowers and special little snowflakes you'll run the risk of stunting their growth and development.

I'm still basking in its glory, too.

Pump him up as a man of strong faith, tell him some impressive story of hard work about Phil that isn't related to hockey whatsoever, and send over a bottle of red wine and say it's from Phil.

Not really. I've always liked Nolan even though he's not a great coach. Plus I hate DB. I'd rather the team not have a coach than to keep DB. Hell, put Rob Ray back there and I'd be happier. He can teach the players how to make a pass acrost the ice. In reality, I want a coach that preaches possession and a strong forecheck. I prefer short, safe passes with support from the forwards and carrying the puck into the zone unless it's unfeasible or the line needs to change. I hate leaving our already sub par defense out to dry and seeing our forwards sprint up the ice just so they can stand still at the blue line and lose any sort of momentum. I can't stand it when we don't forecheck or we forecheck with only one guy. We probably wouldn't get all this with Nolan but we're definitely not getting it with DB.

Why yes, yes I do.

This is where I'm at. I don't think TM has the authority to can DB because I don't think he hired him to begin with.

Sweet. Can't wait to wait them stink up the joint on national tv again. We all know how Buffalo does when the world is watching. They are the ultimate pillars of performance under pressure.

https://buffalonews.com/2017/01/13/said-transcript-buffalo-bills-coach-sean-mcdermotts-introductory-press-conference/ Yeah, ok. It must be MY issue. Pegula flat out said "He is a smart, thorough, decisive, faith based winner". Oh and he was super impressed with his accomplishments in wrestling, a completely unrelated sport. I must be imagining the Pittsburgh fetish too, along with his past quotes about his infamous flat management structure where nobody has a monopoly on hockey knowledge. It's not Murray's call by a long shot.

TM doesn't matter. DB will remain here until Pegula is ready to pull the trigger and given his fetish for all things Pittsburgh and the fact that DB is a man of faith it ain't happening.

I hope you're right but we'll see soon enough. I think they stand pat and just let Vegas take Vatanen, otherwise it's the equivalent of trading Vatanen and Manson for Kane or whomever they trade with to upgrade at forward. I just don't see it happening.

If Anaheim leaves a good defenseman exposed they won't have to worry about losing Silfverberg or any of their forwards. I just don't see the upside from their point of view. If they were willing to lose defense to upgrade their forward ranks they would have traded one to Edmonton for Taylor Hall.

I hope you're right, I just don't see it that way. There's a reason there's a shortage of quality defensemen league wide but teams like Anaheim and Minnesota are flush and that's because they've prioritized defensemen over forwards. I don't see them flip flopping on that preference and essentially shipping out 2 defensemen (one to a trade partner and one to Vegas) for a forward upgrade. If they were so eager to do that they could have had Taylor Hall when the Oilers were desperate for defensemen.

I like it, but they would just make the cups smaller.

DB sucks and Pegula and Russ Brandon are making all the decisions because nobody has a monopoly on hockey knowledge.

I'd like for it to happen but I think it's more wishful thinking than anything, because under your scenario they'll lose 2 good defensemen instead of just 1. Trading us Vantanen so they can go 7-3-1 would still leave their 4th best non-exempt defenseman exposed and that means they lost Vantanen to us and whomever else is exposed to Vegas. Standing pat leaves them losing just 1.

Gotcha. I was away from the board most of this weekend and didn't see that Minnesota apparently doesn't care if they ever draft again. I agree, although I still hope Murray makes him a decent offer after the expansion draft. He's proven to be a solid player in Florida, I just think the combination of a completely new team and system coupled with an injury so early on equaled a bad season for him where he never fully adjusted. Hopefully that also equals a deal on his next contract. If somebody overpays him though, I'd let him walk. Not sure what I'd be comfortable offering him though. Even coming off a bad year I can't see him taking less than $25 million for 5 years. The defenseman shortage throughout the league is too great. That basically guarantees that somebody takes the gamble and pays him more than I'd be comfortable with.

I'm the same way (beard and flannel) although not flannel so much now that winter doesn't really exist where I live, but I mostly wear short sleeve plaid button up tshirts to work rather than polos. There's really only one solution left, Matt. You and I have to kill the rest of these people ripping us off so we're not associate with the hipster misnomer. I'll start and once I take out 2 coffee shops and a microbrewery, it'll be your turn.

Anaheim and Minnesota may choose to stand pat and just lose their 4th defenseman to expansion. Having 4 or 5 good defensemen that need to be protected doesn't give them much incentive to trade them away, unless it's a really good deal for exempt assets. It's not like Vegas can take more than 1 player from their team. If I have 5 solid d men I'd probably still go 7-3-1 and let Vegas have their pick of the 4 and 5 guys knowing that my top 4 should still be legitimate after they make their pick.

Saw Fist Fight last night. Definitely worth a watch but I'm glad I streamed it rather than paying theater prices for it.

Exactly. We need to see him with a full roster that is completely healthy for all 82 games. If somebody misses even a single game, it automatically buys him another season. Especially with the valiant way he's managed to improve the club despite all these injuries. I mean, we're on pace to improve by a full point over last year! Just make the guy coach for life already. This thread needs to be given the same respect the politics threads were given and just deleted.

Why would you want a 30 year old center in exchange for Kane? Especially when we're already having trouble getting Reinhart time at center.

That's a bummer to hear about Robert but at least the rest of the people were more accommodating. Still an awesome deal for $10 though.

Awesome stuff. Glad you had a good time and they're still taking time out to appreciate the fans who make their careers possible.

You're welcome. Let us know how it was (hopefully in the awesome thread since it should be awesome) after it all wraps up.