dudacek

This. Plus, I can’t believe, given how he is wired, Jack Eichel being willing to miss more hockey games than Terry Pegula would be willing to let him rot. It handicaps the Sabres somewhat, but 4 more years gives them a ton of clout. Theres no way Jack could Taylor Hall them.

If he and Granato are back and Jack is not, Sam is the captain. Theres no question in my mind, and I don’t think there will be in the Sabres’ minds either. Also, if Sam is back, who will concede it is because he was willing to bleed blue and gold?

@Brawndo absolutely on fire today. The Sam question is easy. If he wants to be here, you sign him for term and count your lucky stars.

There is some logic in this proposal, pending a closer look at the possible picks. Separately, the thought that some people want Tkachuk and not Sam because of “character” tells me that people have significantly different ideas of what character means.

It was also a contract year last year, and two years before that. I think you can apply that logic to outlier season in a contract year. One could argue Sam had his best season, but it wasn't an outlier. And I don't think anyone is advocating paying Sam $9 million. The going rate for a 25-goal, 60-point scorers approaching UFA? Hell yeah.

It's impossible to answer a question like this without the context of other offers. But if the decision has been made to trade Eichel, and the decision has been made to trade Eichel for the best package of futures we can get, I don't expect to get a better offer than this. I don't expect to get this much.

Welcome back!

So basically if Sam isn't producing at close to a point a game, the Sabres aren't winning anything?

I'm curious. When does a player who comes to work every single day and has earned more than his paycheque for six straight years stop being a gamble? He led this team out of the 18-game losing streak. It was obvious to anyone who was watching. Even Pi.

I take Adams at face value when he says he wants to interview as many people as possible to see what he can learn. I suspect he has his eye on a few people under contract and will want to see what shakes loose after the playoffs. Also, he may feel somewhat comfortable with Donnie as a fallback and rank him ahead of some of the people already out there.

Casey not interested?

I don't think there should be any surprise Sam is well-perceived around the league. Anyone who played the way he did in the mess that was this season has earned that. I also believe there is a disconnect between Sam and Paul Hamilton and possibly others in the media that has coloured the public's view of him as much, if not more, than the unwashable stench of the Sabres over the past 6 years. I've been saying it for a long time: he shows up every day, he produces, he doesn't complain, he treats his body like a pro and his teammates with respect and he keeps getting better. He grew up immersed in hockey culture and he epitomizes it. Listen to the way Donnie Granato described him on Wednesday. Of course he has the league's respect.

Three days later, the entire hockey world has convinced itself Jack Eichel used Media Day to drop a bomb on the Buffalo Sabres, basically telling the world without actually saying it that he wants out. But what if that isn’t what actually happened? Bear with me here. Consider the mindset of an elite athlete, best of the best. Someone whose entire life has taught him that he’s invulnerable, a winner, an inevitable success story. Special. Consider the mindset of Jack Eichel entering this season. You are coming off your best year, your game is in order. At times you’ve almost questioned yourself given the Sabres’ ineptitude, but you know it’s actually been the organization, and the supporting cast. The results haven’t been there yet, but you love the coach. You believe in him. And the new GM has brought in a Stanley Cup winner to back you up on the second line, some tested vets to improve the PK and a former MVP to ride shotgun on your line. This time it’s going to work. But it doesn’t. Right from the get-go your game is off: sluggish, out of sync. When you look honestly into the mirror, it tells you that you suck. You don’t recognize what you see. Yes, you are carrying some injuries, but they aren’t enough to stop you from playing. You are Jack Eichel. Nothing stops you. Your coach, your guru, has no answers - for your struggles or his own. For maybe the first time in your life, you start to question yourself. “This is me not pulling my weight. This is me holding us back. This is my fault.” And then you get really hurt. Not aches and pains hurt, not a give-it-a-month playground hurt. But a real injury, an adult injury, one that is not easily tackled by surgery or busting your butt in rehab. One that requires you to be patient and to wait. You don’t like to wait. You are stallion, you attack, you charge. But the doctors want to keep you in the stable. You chafe. Sitting apart from your tribe and your passion during a pandemic, you start to consider the long-term consequences of a spinal cord injury. For maybe the first time ever you ponder the possibility of a world where you are not a world-class hockey player destined to adorn halls of fame and Stanley Cup legendariums. And you get restless. You get scared. You pour your being into researching your condition and you find a type of disc replacement surgery that has worked with MMA fighters. It can fix the problem and get you back into rehab in a matter of weeks. You can be ready to be prime Jack Eichel in the fall, to reclaim your birthright. You start to obsess. Action. It’s what you crave. It’s what you need to reclaim your identity in a season that has mercilessly stripped it away. You march into your season-ending meeting with the GM and you lay this all out on the table. “This is what I want to do, and I want to do it now.” Kevyn Adams listens politely. “I hear you, but the doctors said we were going to give it three months and that is what we’re going to do. We’ll talk in June. You aren’t used to “no.” And you especially aren’t used to it in the context of something so precious, something that means so much. And, as you try to process, Adams takes control. He wants to have “an honest, hard conversation.” “Jack we have to fix this. We know you had a tough season, and we know there are reasons, but we need you to be better. We need to get better. We have to figure out who is going to bleed blue and gold every single day, and who is not. We are going to look at anything and everything, and that includes possibly trading away pieces of our core. That even includes considering trading you. I can’t predict what is going to happen, but there will be changes.” They march you out to meet the media. Consider that back story. Sit down and watch the tape again. Tell me what you see.

Isn't that just salesmanship? Preparing the fans for the fact our "stars" might be moved out and giving them a reason to still be hopeful? He can't very well say we are going to trade Risto and Sam for better players not knowing if that's coming. Very perceptive. It was about as pointed as he could allow himself to be under the circumstances and feeds my growing suspicion that Kevyn is not a believer in Jack as a franchise cornerstone. These feeds into my previous comment. We all want our GM to diagnose the problem with the franchise and fix it. He spelled it out right there what he thinks it is. I expect his moves going forward to reflect that.

He had the ability to make people feel comfortable in his presence and confident in his abilities.

Granato has all the communication skills of Krueger without the salesman vibe.

Random thought, depending on the current trade market for Sam: If Eichel is traded without a top centre coming in, the Sabres might be better off keeping Reinhart, even on a 1-year deal. He played very well as a disgruntled 1C down the stretch shielding Dylan and Casey. They are going to need similar shielding next year. Keeping him to aid their development might be worth the difference in price between trading him now and trading him as a rental.

I wouldn't call Gibson's contract a nightmare if he's giving you the top 10 goaltending he's capable of — $6.4 million until he's 33. It is a gamble though. More food for thought is that he has no-trade that kicks in July 1. If they are having second thoughts there, it's gotta be now. As I said elsewhere, whispers are that the sabres have kicked his tires and they love them their USAHockey guys. I only do it if Zegras is included though. We might have to send UPL back.

Serious question, which group would you rather have, 5 years later? Kane, Bogosian, Lehner, O’Reilly, Asplund, Deslauriers, Kulikov or Grigorenko, Zadorov, Myers, Lemieux, Armia, Roslovic, Pysyk, Compher, McNabb, Cernak and White? Now that the draft picks have settled out, I think that’s the net of players still in the NHL. I think I go the first group, largely on the strength of O’Reilly.

It worked when the Blues fans did it for O'Reilly.

Markus signed an extension earlier this year. $3.1x3

Calgary is about to lose Giordano, is desperate to shake up it's core and should be interested in the concept of Risto. Tkachuk is a dick with a poison pill contract and is a body they would move — he carries as many ?s as Jack. They'd dump Monahan in a second, I'm not sure I want him. not sure they'd part with Lindholm. Pending UFA Gaudreau is available. Can we sign him? Pelletier is exactly the type of prospect Adams seems to covet. Between the will and the pieces, I can see something happening.

How much of Eichel's current mood is frustration over losing, how much is frustration over this health situation and how much is a growing conviction (fed by friends like Bogo, ROR and now Hall) that he will never reach his personal goals (championships and superstardom) in Buffalo? I think there is slim chance the first two can be addressed in the coming season, but only if the 3rd hasn't fully taken root. Personally, I think the failure of Krueger was the last straw and his mind is made up. He 'has to think of Jack Eichel.' And even though I blame the Pegulas, not him, I don't think I will ever be comfortable with the idea of him as the captain of the Buffalo Sabres again.

It was a team exec, and I think the point was simply that the return would have been better last year before neck injury and two goals.