dudacek

I maintain Jack is one of the top 10 assets in the league. That factors in his production, position, contract and potential moving forward.

Well put.

Yep. Some call it the Krueger line.

Yeah, but only by me. 😜

7 goals in 20 games is nothing to dismiss. Thompson should be protected.

Dylan Cozens rookie year prorated stats over a full season: 8 goals, 18 assists, 26 points — pretty similar to Mittelstadt's 12/13/25 rookie season. He is currently on a 19-game goalless drought and has scored once since Feb. 23. How confident are we that he can put up 40-plus points next year?

For sure. I wrote my post before seeing yours. It keeps circling back to the question: if our injured guys return, can we make the playoffs by simply adding a top6 wing and a good back-up?

Just to be clear though, we are making the following changes to a team that has gone 9/9/2 in the past 20 Risto —> Jones Sheahan —> Jenner Tokarksi —> Merzlikins Miller —> McCabe Caggiula —> Girgensons Reider —> A new guy who should be our best winger. I'm not saying I disagree with you, but those are some pretty significant upgrades. If they can't move us into playoff contention, we are a long ways away.

What if we trade Jack in a hockey deal that addresses some of our holes? Jack and Risto for Merzlikins, Jenner and Jones? (spitballing, not advocating) Is this a playoff team? Olofsson Reinhart Cozens Skinner Jenner ??? Asplund Mittelstadt Thompson Bjork Girgensons ??? Okposo McCabe Jones Dahlin Jokiharju Samuelsson Bryson Borgen Merzlikens/??? You'd have enough space to add a $6 million winger and a $3 million goalie to fill in the ???

Please forward this idea to the Sabres. It would mean so much to the fan base.

Man deserves better than to end on this note (or the past 10 years). That said, even though I want Rick to go on forever, there have been some times this year where his performance made me sad.

I am so happy I don't listen on radio. A small part of me says "let's see what he can do with a team worth calling." A bigger part says he just doesn't have "it." I don't dislike him, and I understand we've been spoiled with Rick, but we still deserve better. Marty and Duffer are very capable. Marty is very likable, Brian less so, but they work well together and provide good content. Ray is great when he is allowed to be himself — needling the others, going of on weird tangents, making self-deprecating jokes, and taking potshots based on what he is hearing and seeing ice-level. He sucks as an analyst. I wish they would add another voice to dissect the game and just let Rob do his beloved teammate thing so I never have to hear "the Sabres need to slow things down" again.

Let's start with the obvious ones everybody mentions: Richard, Howe, Beliveau, Orr, Gretzky and Lemieux. So four more? Most oldtimers would say Bobby Hull. Crosby for sure. Ovechkin? I'll say McDavid has shown enough that he'll be there. Jagr? Messier? Bourque? Lidstrom? Guys like Perreault, Dionne, Clarke, Bossy, Esposito, Forsberg, Mikita, Potvin, Trottier, and Robinson have to be in the conversation. Then guys that nobody is old enough to remember. Doug Harvey won 7 Norris trophies as best defenceman and six Stanley Cups. Eddie Shore predated the Norris, but he won four Hart trophies and was a 7-time 1st team all-star. I mean your guys are definitely in the conversation, but they aren't slam dunks.

You're not counting anyone who played before 1980?

'06 had better goaltending for sure. Perreault and Martin were definitely better than anyone on 'o6 for sure and Luce, Robert, Gare, Schoenfeld and Korab were as good

74-75 squad for me.

Yep. Myth making. Publicists and spin doctors should be required to study Drury’s Sabres stint as a textbook example of how to market athletes.

He gave everything he had. I have no quarrel with how he performed on the ice, just how he treated the city and the franchise.

My understanding was that Golisano didn’t sign it immediately for whatever reason and Drury got offended and withdrew his agreement. I heard the second part as well, which is not an act of good faith, IMO. Don’t get me wrong, the Sabres certainly weren’t blameless, but the majority of people behave as if Drury was blameless.

Drury was a very good hockey player whose on-ice accomplishments were inflated a tad by the circumstance of wearing the C at the right time on such a deep team, and some myth-making story-telling (Little league, Stanley Cup photo, cheap Golisano). He is nowhere near an all-time Sabre in terms of on-ice career or single season achievements, or off-ice service to the community. He didn’t want to be here and he left as soon as he could.

If the story about Golisano leaving the contract on his desk is true, why didn't Drury or his agent do what a normal human being would have done and called and asked him to send it over? Straight prima donna move. This place would crucify Jack Eichel under the exact same circumstances. The deification of Drury around here doesn't pass close inspection. The guy who skipped town for his beloved Rangers, cost the Sabres Briere in the process, and has treated the city and the franchise with nothing but disdain since Black Sunday?

I do not believe this for a second.

This is crazy given the gains the Rangers have made under these two. I hope Drury fails, partly because New York, but mostly because of his sour disposition and the open disdain he has for a city that put him on a pedestal.

I would probably look to enter next season like this: Skinner Eichel ???? ???? Reinhart Cozens Asplund Mittelstadt Thompson Girgensons ???? Okposo Dahlin Jokiharju ??? ??? Samuelsson Bryson Borgen If those ??? are Eakin, Olofsson, Bjork, Miller and Risto we probably didn't do enough, even with two strong goalies. But the off-season will absolutely be a failure if we do not at least acquire two strong goalies and a top 6 physical winger.

Lots of teams have had success with a corps of talented youngsters emerging at the same time. But I think the support around them matters and I'm not sure we have that.