dudacek

I don’t think it was mean-spirited, just, as I said, tone-deaf. To the kid, a professional hockey journalist making that joke about a 10-year-old to thousands on social media is going to feel considerably different than Dad making that joke to Uncle Brian at the church picnic.

Yes, he has over 4 games. Before he got sent down Vinnie was on a stretch of 0 goals and 4 assists in 17 games. He doesn’t play special teams. And let’s not pretend he’s great on the forecheck or in his own zone either. Over the long haul, Victor is the better hockey player.

My god, there are a lot of interesting forwards this year. So many that you will definitely regret passing on one or two if you reach for a defenceman with the 1st pick.

@JohnC wondering what you think of Adams admitting he had a serious offer on the table for Chychrun. Shows serious interest in an upgrade beyond a Lyubushkin, no?

Hoping they end up with 2 defencemen out of the draft’s top 50, which will completely change the complexion of our prospect pool. Picture adding Lian Bichsel (18th last year) and Tristan Luneau (53rd) to Johnson, Lindgren, Komarov and Novikov; suddenly the pipeline has options. The interesting thing is, this draft is so forward heavy that the best defencemen (Reinbacher and Pellikka according to McKenzie) are ranked down around where we could be picking. That might be fortuitous, but it might also mean they go higher than they’re ranked due to teams wanting defencemen, forcing us to go forward with our top pick.

I’m thinking Greenway probably gets to start alongside Casey and Dylan. It fits development-wise with the idea that Granato thinking he has upside and the skill set to play with more talented players. And it fits tactically, in that he makes our second line much harder to play against in both zones.

I gotta agree with this. Granato’s already demonstrated his pecking order and it’s not like this is the 1st time VO has hit a drought.

Not disagreeing, but VO too often flunks the eye test too. Im sure there are Brian Burke types who won’t want anything to do with him. Fortunately, you are right, there are other guys who will be desperately needing a finisher who will be willing to ignore the rest: 25 goals are 25 goals. Im kinda expecting a trade or trades that move out VO and move in a Jokiharju-level defenceman. And by Jokiharju-level, I mean somebody relatively young and relatively anonymous who’s probably more capable than the average fan gives him credit for and has room to grow. Think of Lydman when we got him from Calgary, except probably younger. Or they trade VO for a Ryan Johnson level D prospect and acquire a vet free agent to bridge us until that player and Johnson arrive.

He’s telling the fans that he’s more worried about competing with the Sens and Sabres over the next 5 years than he is with making the playoffs this year. It’s what Adams has been saying too: they are both trying to build teams that can be what Boston and Tampa have been over the past decade.

Wasn’t Bjork even sitting some games with the Amerks? Are we sure this made Rochester weaker?

Matt Savoie on a run of 24 goals and 54 points in 33 games since Dec. 1. In his past 12 games he has 13 goals and 11 assists. I think those concerns about him not taking a step are being answered.

And just about everyone else said it, but my god was that a poorly officiated game.

Comrie wasn’t the difference, but easily his best game since October. Mule looked a helluvalot more like himself as well, and that may have been Lyubushkin’s best game. Glad to see he’s shaken off whatever was plaguing him in the first half. ***** Tampa. The tide is turning.

I think the answer was “Tampa 3, Buffalo 5” Tonight he also moved into a tie with Jack Eichel for most points by a Sabre since Danny Briere put up 95 in 2007. It’s the 3rd most points by a Sabre in 25 years. His next goal ties him with Thomas Vanek for the most goals in a season by a Sabre not named Mogilny, Lafontaine, Gare, Martin or Perreault. We are watching some all-time stuff this year. Just when you think Harrington can’t get any more tone-deaf 😔 Good on Vinnie.

Yeah, you get the idea that Armstrong was more interested in setting a tone with his peers than getting the best possible return. I know some of you like that approach (hi @Eleven) but I personally don’t see how he’s helped himself or his team here. He’s just encouraged at least 2 other GMs to do their shopping elsewhere.

Stillman and Lyubushkin bears watching 😬

Agree right now, open to Kulich changing minds. I see a lot of internet posters (not you) who want to debate situations like this on principle. I think it should always be about the player. JJ Peterka is in the NHL because he proved last year he had mastered the AHL. In order to continue to improve he needs to be challenged. Doesn’t really matter that he’s struggled off and on this year, he’s shown he can be capable of playing at this level and he needs the reps to get better. Ideally, Kulich comes up when he reaches the same level Peterka had reached by the end of last year. Semi-related, I worry about Savoie, who has mastered juniors and should be moving to the AHL, but can’t. He needs to be challenged, but will the NHL be a step too far for that development?

Tampa has Corey Perry, Boston Nick Foligno, carolina Derek Stepan, Rangers Jimmy Vesey… Im going to say yes. It’s interesting the divergent takes on recent performance. Im always far more interested in the overall body of work than what is currently happening; it creates buy-low opportunities (hello, Thatcher Demko!) But I also understand why you have to be “buyer beware” over recent trends. That’s where your hockey department earns it’s keep: why the trend, can we address it? It will be interesting to see where it goes. I’m going to bet on Donnie because, well, trends. 😁 Oh, thank god. I have an old man’s love for traditional numbers and struggle irrationally with the fact that the Sabres only have 3 roster players wearing jerseys under 20.

I posted Yzerman’s comments on another thread, but they are pertinent here as well. His presser made it crystal clear that his focus is not on the battle (making the playoffs), it’s on the war (winning a cup). It’s what Adams has been saying all along, and the way Yzerman spelled it out really resonated with me.

He also apparently offered a significant chunk of futures in order to acquire a very good defenceman. I don’t think we need to worry that he doesn’t recognize the need on the blueline. @Thorny was beating this drum yesterday, and I tend agree with him: yesterday demonstrated that while Adams is firmly dedicated to his young core, he is not oblivious to his team’s flaws, and not unwilling to use pieces of the future to address them. Indeed. Although It must be said that the focus on Savoie and Kulich was a result of the question being asked about Savoie and Kulich.

I think the deal was made because Adams thinks Greenway makes the team better long-term. I think the deal was made now because it might help this season. In Billy Guerin’s presser he clearly said they were prepared to roll with Greenway into the playoffs because they thought he would help them there and he also seemed to indicate the Sabres sweetened their offer today. The Wild still would have had to trade Greenway in the off-season for cap reasons, so Adams had reason to think he may have gotten his price if he waited until then. He didn’t wait.

To the topic question, we are better after the deadline by both short- and long-range measures, so definitely a pass. Unfortunately, dealing with the Portillo situation, doing Asplund a solid, and adding some snarl to the fringes of our D corps barely move the needle. Greenway is an excellent get, can’t think of too many better options for our team in terms of adding size, defence and physical presence at a 3rd line production level. But that was only the 3rd biggest hole on the roster, behind a reliable 2nd pairing defenceman and a starting goalie, so not much more than a pass.

Adams presser (which was one of his better ones) made it pretty clear they were not given the opportunity of the Ottawa price. Reading between the lines, Armstrong insisted Savoie or another top prospect be included and Adams refused to budge. Apparently, Armstrong was taking the offer based on the best component and the Sabres 1st this year wasn’t as valuable to him as the Senators.

I’m hoping it’s not them forcing Levi, it’s Levi forcing them