dudacek

I’ve seen the Sabres aren’t interested in a PoHO. I’ve seen nothing about senior advisor. Rutherford was always pitched as senior advisor (resource, sounding board, credibility creator) not as the visionary or decision-maker. I think the latter remains Adams, as much as anyone can be under Terry. Not familiar with the Karmanos want in Pit story you are referring to.

I think you guys might be more in tune with what Adams is thinking: type trumping talent. His ideal trade might be getting a Peca, McKee and Warrener for a Mogilny.

Krueger had the boss’s ear and doesn’t any longer. Your point stands, but what we need is a good hockey man shaping Terry’s opinions. Don’t know yet if we have one. It’s finally June. If the Rutherford plan has any life, it will happen in the next few weeks. I think he’s probably been offered a senior advisor gig and is weighing his options. Why do you think Karmanos is advocating a tear-down?

It’s becoming increasingly possible Power might be the pick if we land on #1, but the reasons above are why I have been saying for months that I see Beniers becoming a Sabre if we are 2 or 3. He’s being targeted as an “identity” piece. Also, don’t be surprised if the Sabres consider trading up or down a few slots as part of an Eichel deal as other teams also target their “identity” piece. It’s one of the reasons why I think the lottery could be very interesting.

Was that quote floating around from Dubas legit? The one where he’s talking about ‘how do we get a guy like Jones?’ I think it was interesting if it was, that a guy who is taking a beating from the analytics community is getting endorsed by an analytics GM. It feeds my pet theory that people can read too much into the surface analytics of tough-use D on bad teams. (Sorta like their +/-) When I’ve watched him play (not at all this year) the guy looks fantastic.

I do not want to trade Jack Eichel but I think he will be traded. My ideal return would contain a 4-star centre entering or in his prime, like a Schiefele, a 5-star prospect like an Lafreniere and two other potentially useful young pieces like Jokiharju or a Thompson. We won’t get that. My hoped-for realistic return is a good to very good established NHLer and at least two good prospects/young players/high picks - Boldy/Rossi/Dumba or Tkachuk/Zary/1st. My realistic fear is at least one of those pieces is lesser: Boldy/2nd/Dumba or Monahan/Zary/1st. Or that he becomes a Ranger or King for five pieces that don’t project above a mid-roster player.

If the Sabres are trading Eichel, they simply have to re-sign Reinhart. I’m not sure he is a viable 1C, but he’s going to be the best 1C available.

Even if the alternative is a centre like Marco Rossi or Alex Turcotte? (Not disagreeing, just asking)

Will they be interested? There are maybe three teams in the NHL whose top six would not be dramatically improved by adding Jack Eichel. Toronto is one of them. Toronto is also the only team in the league with three $10 million players. Not much room for another. Do they have the pieces? They have no high picks, or 5 star prospects, or enough intriguing pieces to put together a competitive package and cap space is an issue. They do, however, have a distraught fan base who will be demanding a sacrifice. Would this work? Marner and Robertson for Eichel Eichel is better than Marner, plays a more premium position, and has a better contract. He is also easily the best player that might be made available for Eichel, and vice versa. Robertson is the most attractive add. It's absolutely crazy, but if team decides its time to move on, they will not get a better piece in return. Is there a deal to be made with the Leafs?

Not sure if it changed in the last CBA, but I believe it was any time after Jan.1 Don’t see it getting there. Sam either signs a multi-year deal or is traded.

And it starts by acquiring players who create culture, like Chara, and dumping players who need it, like Hall.

Are you absolving the rest of the organization of most of their sins as long as the Pegulas are involved like you seem to be absolving Hall? What do you think of Kevyn Adams mantra - repeated by Karmanos - ““We are going to get this right with the people that want to be here. We want players and people in this organization that are passionate, that want to win and that want to be here and are excited to put this jersey on and make the city proud.” Do you think this is a necessary step toward fixing the culture? How will you know if/when the Pegulas have taken the steps you think they need to and start judging other elements of the org on their own merits, rather than giving them a pass, based on the Pegula’s past?

It's obvious what you need to do to be good this league, just create a great culture like they did in Boston and we'll be fine for a decade or more. Just follow these easy steps: Go 13 years in a row without winning a playoff round, missing the playoffs entirely 6 of those years. Hire a top-notch awesome GM like Peter Chiarelli and a savvy hockey mind like Jim Benning to oversee your operation and turn things around Wisely invest your 1st round picks on such noted talents as Lars Jonsson, Martin Samuelsson, Hannu Toivenen, Marc Stuart, Shaone Morrisson, Matt Lashoff, Zach Hamill, Joe Colborne, Jordan Caron, Malcolm Subban, Jakub Zboril, Zach Senyshyn, Urho Vaakaninen and John Beecher Trade away your rare first-round mistakes like Phil Kessel, Dougie Hamilton and Tyler Seguin for notable building blocks like Louie Erickson and Joe Morrow Sign a 29-year-old never-was to be your minor league backup and watch him win a Stanley Cup Sign a 29-year-old free agent defenceman and expect him to not only play at an all-star level for the next decade, but also command your room like a five-star general Draft the player destined to become the best 2-way centre in the NHL in the middle of the 2nd round Draft the player destined to become maybe the best 2C in the NHL in the middle of the 2nd round Draft the player destined to become maybe the NHL's best left wing in the 3rd round Draft the player destined to become one of the NHL's premier goal scorers late in the 1st round Swap a goalie destined to be out of the NHL in three years for the goalie who will man your crease for the next 15 Make sure all of the above sign contracts for under market value and continue to play well, or even improve for the duration of their contracts Easy peasy. The road map is laid out perfectly, if only the Pegulas would follow it. Culture.

He likes it there because they are winning and he doesn't have to be the one counted on to make sure that happens. If only the Pegulas would realize winning is the solution and give it a try. I entered this train of conversation based on Perreaultforever's comment that he hopes the Pegulas are learning from Hall's success and have not left that track. To the bold, I doubt the Pegulas needed Taylor Hall to teach them that lesson; to most it's self-evident and they have 10 years of examples to draw from. What the Pegulas need to learn is how to create that environment. In that area, I think Taylor Hall has very little to offer.

So what exactly are you expecting the Sabres to learn and benefit from, in terms of Hall's play in in Boston? How will Terry finish this sentence three years from now as the Sabres advance to the final four: "I think the turning point was in 2021, when Taylor Hall played so well after we traded him to Boston..."

And...?

I agree the bolded is partially true. Absolving Taylor Hall for his role, however, is willful blindness. He was acquired and paid a boatload of money to help fix that dysfunction. He not only failed, within two months he gave up even trying. He does not share the experience of Jack and Sam and has not earned their grace.

Do you think that is what Jack Eichel thinks?

Do you actually think the Pegulas have been blithely following the same path for 10 years and the play of Taylor Hall in Boston is what it is going to take to make them change? They’ve done nothing but change. They are on their 4th GM, and their 7th coach. They tried spending in free agency, tanking, accelerating the rebuild through trades, patiently filling around the edges while developing from within, and this year’s veteran patch job. They’ve been led by a veteran warhorse, an old school scout, a button-down corporate MBA and an out-of-the-box trusted in-house lieutenant. They’ve been coached by Buffalo’s best-ever, a college development guy, an old-school meat-and-potatoes motivator, a proven Stanley Cup winner, a hot, highly-ranked young assistant and an out-of-the-box positive thinking guru. Taylor Hall was yet another attempt to surround their players with better players. Firing Krueger was yet another attempt to change the not smartly-run system. So what if Taylor Hall playing well in Boston showed them that a high-talent low-character player can excel on the 2nd line of a strong organization? They should already know that, and probably did. Its ridiculous to suggest they don’t know what they have to do, it’s just that they have yet to figure out how.

Taylor Hall was paid $8 million to score two goals for the Buffalo Sabres, packed it in and gave up during a record-breaking losing streak, sabotaged our efforts to maximize our trade return for him and his now kicking ass for our worst enemy. If you can’t hate on a guy for that, who can you hate on?

What lesson do you expect the Pegulas to learn from how Taylor Hall is playing in Boston?

Krueger encouraged Jack to play the way Jack wanted to play, when Jack wanted to play, with who Jack wanted to play with. His success last year did not come in spite of Krueger.

The Sabres saying they have the same goal here is BS: neither have Jack’s long-term health as their priority. Jack’s goal is to get back into playing shape as quickly as possible, Buffalo’s is to facilitate a trade of their choosing.

From the keep him out-of-sight perspective, Arizona is the ideal destination.