dudacek

But I sure find it handy when I’m trying to summarize why I’m ready for him to move on.

I admire @Thorny’s dogged efforts to refuse to tolerate unsubstantiated name-calling, so I hope this doesn’t descend there. Over 6 years of watching, I have observed in Jack a sharp tongue, a tendency to pout and stew when things don’t go his way, and a general tendency be more focused on self than team. That’s not all he is, and he’s certainly not alone in these qualities as a professional athlete. Just like you can’t ignore positive comments from guys like Okposo and McCabe, you also can’t ignore Dea’s comments, the whispers of disrespect to coaches and veterans under Bylsma and Housley, or the fact that Jack was clearly far more a Kane guy than a Gionta guy. That recent podcast where Gionta discussed the dressing room without naming names seemed particularly damning. Especially when hockey culture demands issues remain in the room and public comments are about building up your teammates. I’m not sure I’ve heard/read unprompted stories or comments about Eichel being a great leader or great teammate in terms of getting his teammates focused, having their backs, helping the young players - all those hockey leadership cliches. I have also observed a general tendency from the Sabres to cater to Jack - Ralph’s hiring and entire approach in particular seemed to revolve around that desire. There’s a reason “GM Jack Eichel” became an Internet meme. I haven’t seen evidence that Jack is a “prick” but I do think he is used to things being easy, and always going his way, and that he hasn’t learned to fully respect and empathize with those around him. I think there are times he has made younger players and role players feel “less than” and outsiders. I partially blame the Sabres for this for the terrible choices they made in developing the immature 19-year-old elite talent they were handed. I perceive Jack as hard-working and caring about winning, but also someone who was never taught the value of “respect the process.” I think Adams discovered a dressing room culture he felt essentially revolved around keeping Jack happy and felt elements of the team were being inhibited by that. I think he made overtures with Jack about changing that situation and was met instead with Jack’s frustration with the Sabres failures - basically “I’m fed up” rather than “what can I do to help?” The net result was Adams started to consider a path without Jack, and Jack feeling snubbed that the organization was no longer giving him the “respect” he deserved. I liken Jack and the Sabres as a failed marriage - too many poor decisions that can’t be undone without a separation. I wish circumstances had led Jack on to a Jim Kelly-like path, but that didn’t happen. Adams is right to cut the cord and give the team an opportunity to build a new culture with players who “want to be here” and ready to “respect the process.” For all of his lack of experience, I think Adams has a clear understanding of what a winning NHL dressing room should look like. I am on board with his vision in that area and his willingness to endure the pain of a rebirth. Fingers crossed he has the ability to pull it off.

“I mean, listen, my No. 1 interest and my No. 1 goal is Jack Eichel, you know what I mean? You’ve got to look after yourself. You’ve got to look after what’s best for yourself.” #ourcaptain

Development curves are weird. But in the last month of the season I saw the player I thought he was going to be in junior. I’d be prettysurprised if Casey isn’t our highest-scoring forward this year. This contract has the potential to be a real bargain.

That was quite a sly run Ray took at Jack this morning. He skirted outright calling him a drama queen, but basically questioned the severity of the injury and the emphasis placed on it and the dispute around his treatment.

Meh. I think this is a case of manufacturing an issue. We need 8 NHL defencemen. We have 6 including 4 guys trying to revive their NHL careers, plus 2 young guys we’ve crossed our fingers for. You call it blocks. I call it depth and honest competition. If Butcher reclaims his game he becomes an asset. If he sucks, he’ll sit. He’s a below-average cap hit on a one-year deal who Adams was paid to take. The only ego at stake here is Butcher’s. His cap hit and salary are and were irrelevant to the goaltending picture or any other “helpful” piece the Sabres might be or have been considering picking up. He’s a stopgap with apparently a good mindset, a ton of motivation and some upside, acquired at low cost to help us through a rebuilding year. The plan might suck and you can fill your boots complaining about that, but within the context of the plan, Will Butcher makes a lot of sense.

He was cheap though in terms of acquisition/opportunity cost. The Sabres got a free 5th round pick for taking on a 1-year $2.8 contract. He also happens to be a proven NHL defenceman, save last year. Even including last year's dismal numbers, he's 55th in points for defencemen since he entered the league, sandwiched in with a group including Justin Falk, Cam Fowler, Shea Weber, Colton Parayko, Brandon Montour, Noah Hanifan and Rasmus Dahlin. Yes, you can get two #7s for less than $2.8 million, so if he is your #7, you definitely overpaid. But that's not bad coin for a #4/5 (115th on the salary scale alongside guys like Cole, Soucy, Nutivaara, Moore). He has that upside and if he performs he can be flipped for another pick at the deadline. Worst case scenario is he flames out and we sacrificed $2 million in real money (but apparently nothing in needed cap space) for a 5th-round pick. Best case scenario, we paid $2 million for one year of a 2nd-pairing defenceman, a 5th and a 3rd. It's good buy-low investment opportunity. Can't see the down side with this one at all.

To be clear, I do not believe the goal is to be bad for the next two years and I think that would be a huge mistake. Ideally, I’d like to see next summer as similar to the summer of 2015 where we draft a stud centre (Eichel/Wright) welcome our previous top pick (Reinhart/Power) use our cap and roster flexibility to add a good veteran or two (ROR), and vault into the playoff chase. Hopefully what is different is they will be joining a team that already has Mittelstadt, Cozens and Dahlin as viable pieces of a young core, has Quinn, Lukkonen, Johnson and others also ready to contribute, and will not have a locker room dominated by the Bogo/Kane Axis of Evil (TM)

LOL. And I making it worse by saying in the fall of 2014 when I meant 2013. I also missed and have added Johan Larsson. I am comparing this coming season to the initial “designed to lose” season of 2013-14, which I think is fair and relevant, and I think our pipeline now appears to be in better shape. According to many, the top of this draft offers Eichel-like talents, or at least better than Sam Reinhart. But you are absolutely correct in that none of that means much if we don’t draft and properly develop the right players.

I think the Sabres basket of U23 talent is generally underrated, although I do see they’ve cracked the top 8 at minimum in Pronman’s annual ranking this year. In the fall of 2013 the Sabres had in their U23 system (players from the previous 6 drafts): 1 top 10 pick (Ristolainen) 5 other 1st-rounders (Zadorov, Girgensons, Grigorenko, Armia, Pysyk) 5 2nd-rounders (Compher, Hurley, Bailey, McCabe, Larsson) Right now they have: 2 1st overall picks (Dahlin, Power) 3 other top 10 picks (Quinn, Cozens, Mittelstadt) 4 other 1st rounders (Rosen, Johnson, Jokiharju, Thompson) 6 2nd rounders (Poltapov, Kisakov, Peterka, Samuelsson, Lukkonnen, Asplund) I think they are clearly both deeper and stronger at the high end right now than they were then.

Not saying you’re wrong with the 2nd half of that sentence but I suspect you are with the 1st. Turris got that much and was at a very similar place at that time of his career: A 26-year-old former top-10 pick centre with 66 goals and 158 points in the past 3 seasons A 27-year-old former top-10 pick centre with 64 goals and 148 points in the past 3 seasons

The difference between this year and 2014 for me is that the 1st wave of the potential new core - Dahlin/Jokiharju/Cozens/Mittelstadt/ Thompson/Asplund - is already here and NHL battle-hardened to a certain extent. And the 2nd wave -Bryson, Samuelsson, Lukkonnen, Laaksonen, Peterka, Quinn, Johnson, Power, Poltapov, Kisakov, Rosen, Levi - is already in the system. This season’s tankfruit - likely a lottery pick, Florida’s 1st, the Eichel return - won’t be joining an empty pipeline. But development remains so crucial; the plum results of the first two waves can’t be more Girgensons and Baileys.

But to be fair, you don’t have much interest in any offer that doesn’t include a potential 1st-line centre, and multiple picks/prospects at least as good as Romanov, but a better fit.

That’s why they have to acquire another centre and the goaltending situation is so indefensible the way it currently stands.

I’ve moved away from the bold. I think Jack was tied to the Sabres by a very slender thread when Adams was hired. Last year was largely about trying to make sure the thread wouldn’t break, but it did. I mean sure the Sabres could have prevented things from getting to this point, if that’s your point, but they didn’t. The only thing they could have done differently was traded him Sam and Risto for now instead of future.

Things can change in 10 months, but as of this moment, yes.

Good take. Guys like Butcher, Hagg, Bjork, Hinostroza and Caggiula might not be very good, but they crave the opportunity Buffalo provides - they kinda arrive with the same attitude the Vegas expansion group did. The same certainly was true for the kids Granato rode down the stretch - they were all hungry for a chance to carve their own space. It’s a nicer mix off the ice than on it and a better foundation upon which to build “culture.”

We’ve been conditioned by Ranger Twitter to think GMs are lowballing Adams. It could also be true that the asks really are too high.

It’s OK to speculate in this thread again, right? To Montreal: Sean Monahan To Calgary: Jack Eichel To Buffalo: Zary, Romanov, Poehling, Calgary 1st, Montreal 2nd, Calgary 3rd. This is a direct lift from the Ott/Col/Nsh Duchene trade. The pieces correspond very well and the Kotkaniemi situation has put Montreal in the need to make a move.

Don't remember this being posted/discussed: “When it happened and I found out it was Buffalo, I was super excited,” Butcher, who is entering the final year of his contract, told The Buffalo News during a recent phone interview. “Before coming to New Jersey and I was leaving college as a free agent, I couldn’t speak enough about the Pegulas and everything they have going there, the effort and first-class organization that they’re running. It’s pretty special to be traded to such a place that values hockey, especially the fans. That’s why I was very excited when I found out it was the Sabres.” “A lot of familiarity, a lot of respect for him,” Butcher said of Granato. “I was really excited when he got the job and that I’m getting the chance to play for him again. … He loves smart hockey players. He loves playing fast, having the puck and being on the attack. Those are all strengths of my game. That’s why I think that when he was my coach we jelled well together because I think we see the game very similarly.” “It’s huge motivation for me because I know I belong in this league,” said Butcher. “I know I can play valuable minutes every night. It’s huge motivation for me to prove people wrong about myself and get back out there and have a bounce-back year and just establish myself again. … I’m excited, I’m really motivated and ready to get to Buffalo to get started soon and get after it.” https://buffalonews.com/sports/sabres/new-sabres-defenseman-will-butcher-motivated-to-prove-people-wrong-this-season/article_e5f49446-04da-11ec-93f3-d3bee9312db0.html Sounds like Lindy Ruff wasn't a fan, and Butcher lost his job/role to rookie Ty Smith. He was a healthy scratch for the first nine games of the season, and he sat for 18 consecutive games from March 7 through April 11. What are the expectations for this guy?

Is there a twisted world where Jack’s surgery actually helps facilitate a trade? Im speaking to a team like Vegas who can put Jack in IR and circumvent the cap a la Tampa and Kucherov.

Does it not seem likely that the subject of the secret NHL/NHLPA Eichel summit was to break the impasse over Eichel’s course of treatment and allow him to begin the process of getting healthy again? This news seems to indicate mission accomplished. And, coupled with the Fish firing, likely not accomplished to Jack’s satisfaction. In other words, I suspect that as far as the surgery goes, it was made clear the Sabres are in control and Jack has caved.

Desired results is getting Eichel traded. Why do you think that means the Sabres caving rather than the suitors upping their offers It could go either way but I’m inclined to think it will go both, meaning compromise

This seems myopic. Brisson is just as likely to improve Eichel’s return as he is to back Adams into some kind of corner.

And the analogy applies to any woman. There's just a lot higher stakes involved with my wife's mother than with that lady in the grocery store lineup.