mjd1001

He doesn't excite me. Hes been in the league for basically 5 full years...hes 24 years old (basically, he is who he is, not much development left) and he has proven to be a guy you can pretty much expect 6-10 goals out of per year. By the same point in Berglund's career he was pretty much a 20 goal scorer year in and year out...and in an NHL where less goals were being scored overall at that.

More scoring is needed, but when you break down the roster, it is going to be hard to find what they need in a trade. What do they need? First line looks set. Sign Skinner, keep him with Eichel. Second line...Reinhart looks like he is producing more and more without Eichel. Can he do even better with Eichel? Sure, but this team needs SOMEBODY to produce on a different line, and I think he is it. But find him a Center or another winger than can give you 20 goals and 50+ points with him. Can that be Mittlestadt and Olofson next year or in 2 years? 3rd line. Sheary and Thompson, maybe Erod...next year...whatever combo you use..can you get 40-50 total goals out of a third line? Do any of those guys contribute enough to do it with another year experience? 4th line. No idea. I like Larsons play, but you need to get 15-20 goals, MINIMUM out of this line. So what do you REALLY need up front for scoring? A 2nd line player to put in 20 or so goals playing with Reinhart. Who is that? Is a trade a long term answer for more goals on the 4th line? Do you need a 3rd liner or is what you have on the team (and in the system) enough?

While I would always want the Sabres to have more cap room (better to have it than not to have it), it is getting to the point of it not mattering as much as it should. Sure, there are different decision makers, but what percentage of long(ish) term contracts have the Sabres given out...or traded for guys with multiple years left....how many of those have been good decisions where the guy lived up to the contract for the majority of its length?

The way he was playing, No, they don't miss him. Its really a simple answer to this question. If a guy is going to be your 2nd or 3rd line center, you needed the Berglund of any year other than this....a guy who will put in 15-25 goals for you over 82 games. 2 goals in 23 games? Nope, they don't miss that guy.

I agree with that. When we drafted Eichel, I viewed his as the '1b' to McDavid who was '1a'. Like a Malkin was at #2 to Ovechkin. Or the Doughty at #2 to Stamkos. I thought McDavid would be the Generational player, while Eichel would be the borderline generational, Top 10 in the league player. He's not. Eichel is probably a 'top 25' player..and by that he is about as good as the whole bunch of players in that 12-30 range. Is that bad? Of course not. If he stays that good for his career, you have a bona-fide star, who has the ability to take over games AT TIMES. He is just not the type of player that is going to carry a team to win after win after win and dominate entire playoff rounds. What you do have is a true #1 center, an all-star player. Just realize he is a piece to build around, not someone to carry the load all the time.

disheartening I was going to use exasperating, but that would imply I'm very emotional....disheartening more shows my feelings plus me losing interest.

After Pegula bought the Sabres I was happy with what I heard. Quickly, even before the Sabres decided to tank, I came to conclusion he/they were not good owners. About the time they bought the Bills, I thought they were pretty bad owners (good people, good at business, but almost clueless about owning a good sports team) Right about now, I think they are climbing that learning curve. But that still doesn't mean they are good, maybe approaching 'average'. And BTW, I'm not only basing this based on my opinion of the individual moves they make..but more the 'whole picture feeling' I get. Things are 'getting better' with ownership, but they still have a long way to go.

Top forwards: Edm has McDavid, Draisaitl, Nugent Hopkins vs Buffalo's Eichel, Reinhart, Skinner. IF the Sabres resign Skinner, then this slightly goes to Edm (McDavid and Draisaitl beat Eichel and Reinhart...while Skinner Beats Hopkins...but can't make up for how much ahead Edm is with McDavid and DRaisaitl over Jack and Sam) Rest of the forwards: Not great for either team, but I'll give this one to the Sabres (I'll admit that might simply be because I know more bout them and because I think they have a little bit of home in Roch where Edmonton has less hope in their minors.) D-units: I think Buffalo has it here now (slightly) and has it by a wider margin the future (projecting what Dhalin will/might be) Goalies: Its just about even here...present day and future. Overall, if NOTHING else changed, I slightly like Buffalo. Of course, things change every year. How much cap room/dead weight contracts are on each team? What will they do with that room? Who develops off of the minor league team?

I wish MIttlestadt was doing better, but in the big picture I don't think he is 'off track' for a 20 year old 1st year center. He is 'on pace' for 12 goals and 12 assists this year. That is with getting 30% less ice time than the top forwards (30% theoretical scoring chances). And while he has been used on the PP, he has less than 1/2 the ice time of the top guys. Give him a few more minutes ice time (esp on the PP) and I think his numbers will be a bit better. As this is his first year in the league, it is probably better he is getting less ice time and not being forced into bad situations/pressure situations with a heavier work load.

Unless there is a major shift in the playing style of the NHL...just stop signing middle age free agents (or trading for them and then signing them) to long term contracts UNLESS they are great skaters. Overall, how much more proof do we need that in the long run, signing just about high priced free agents usually hurts more than it helps by the mid-point of the contract? Resign your own, only use Free agency if you find a screaming bargain.

The goal song is awful. I hate it almost as much as the annoying train whistle at the Bills games. If the game is good though, I think the 'gameday experience' will be good. The problem is....the Sabres are just starting to be a decent team..and they still have too many 'bad games' at home. And I don't mean just losses...they just score too few goals to be all that exciting. With that said....the building itself isn't that great. I have now been to quite a few of the newer Arenas around the league....they aren't just better than what we have here...they blow it out of the water. The general appearance of the places...comfort of the seats...ease in getting around (concourse width and entrances/exits), food choice and quality....the list goes on and on....it is just more 'fun' in a lot of other arenas to spend a couple hundred dollars for 3 hours than it is in our building.

Comparables? Maybe. I think the biggest thing overlooked by the media and most fans (not all) is cap percentage. In the year you sign him, what is the percentage of the Cap space you are taking up? Kane got $10.5 per year (cap hit, all that matters really) in a year where the cap was...$71.4 million. 14.7 percent of the Salary Cap. What is the estimate of the Cap next year...$84 million is what I though I read? Kane's deal..at the same percentage of the cap in his first year..would have to be about $12.4 million if he signed it this offseason. I don't like Skinner at $8.5...but about 10% of the projected cap space in year one...and less and less as the years go by. I can live with that I guess. The question we should all be answering...if we really want to consider comparables...is what Percentage of the cap we want to pay Skinner in year 1 of his deal...and then compare it to other players in terms of what percentage of the cap the first year of their long term deal was.

7 or 8 years is what it looks like it will have to be. I'd hope for 7, but you have to give him what he wants to sign. 7 at $62 million....or 8 at $69 million. I am thinking it will be in that area. 8 at anything above $75 million and I start to cringe a little bit. 7 years at $55 million or less and I'm rejoicing.

I'm OK, with it...when the playoffs roll around, I don't lose sleep over it...I just watch the games. But I think I'd prefer the 1-8 in each conference system...and just get rid of divisions totally.

Here is the reason to break up something that is working. The Eichel-Skinner line also worked when you had Pominville on it. If Reinhart is truly playing better then see if he can give you a lift on a different line. Also, it would be better now to make a move like that to 'try out' some line combos and see how things work. The more time you have to try out different combos, the better the chance you have of finding something.

In the past few pages of this thread, I have downplayed Reinhart quite a bit. Once again, if he is playing like he is now..I'm good with him. What I want to see him do to progress as a player is to become a consistent guy on the scoresheet which he has been for sure lately. With that said...I'm almost ready to see him on a different line again. If he is gaining confidence and his play is getting better, lets try it to see if he can give any kind of spark to another line. I don't want to split up Eichel and Skinner though.

I'd LOVE to be able to split them up and have some of their production go to a 2nd line. The problem is from what we have seen so far..is when anyone leaves Eichel's line...their production basically disappears. There is no way I'd split up Eichel and Skinner. If you think Reinhart can give you anything on a different line..then I would do that...because it is likely who you plug on the other win in Sams place will give you some production there.

He is on the verge of being erased from existence. Its a thing that is currently going around quite a bit in Superhero movies superhero TV shows.

Was it because he thought there were too many locations? or not enough of them?

Not too much of a difference. I didn't take the time to 'rank' the sabres in this aspect, but they are still close to middle-of-the-pack. If you take out the top 4 goal scoring forwards and take out Defensemen scoring and use that as your definition of secondary scoring...the Sabres have 30 goals for the season. The NHL average is 34, so they are only 4 goals behind. Vegas has 40, Nashville has 43, Tampa has 54, Toronto has 41, and Washington has 43 on the high side of things. A lot Worse than the Sabres? Boston has 25, Carolina with 27, Edmonton 21, Minnesota 26.

That trade doesn't seem like anything an NHL writer of any kind would come up with. That seems like something only the most hard-core Blackhawks fan could dream up...and a fan that over-rates his own players more than just about anyone else in that city. Proposing a trade like that is something that would get you laughed off of a talk show in any city in the league.

We'd all LIKE more secondary scoring, but to be honest, the Sabres aren't that bad in that area. What do you consider Secondary scoring? If you look at the league and take away the top 4 goal scorers on each team (I figured 4 because the Sabres first lineis basically is Eichel, Skinner, Pomminstein, and Reinhart....all spending time on the first line and their top 4 goal scorers). Take away those 4 players and how many goals does the rest of the team have so far this season? 47 goals total. How many teams in the league now have more than 50 goals from their non-top-4? Tampa, Ottawa, Detroit, Toronto, Vegas, Nashville, Washington, and Colorado. 8 teams total. How many teams have less than 45 from their non-top-4? Boston, Edmonton, Colorado, Carolina, St. Louis, L.A. and Chicago. 7 teams total How many teams have 45-50 from their non-top-4? Everyone else. 16 teams including the Sabres. In terms of 'secondary scoring' The Sabres are pretty much right in the middle.

I'm not sure I want him at all with that 10.5 million dollar hit for the next 4 years after this year. Would he make this team better on the ice? Yeah, sure, for this year and next year for sure. But that contract in 2-3 years from now...if he starts to slow down even a little bit...that contract may be the thing that keeps you from being a true contender in a couple years. Any deal for him would just START with the Hawks taking Berglund and his deal..and that just slightly softens the contract hit that comes with Kane.

I guess my point is I don't think he is a first line even strength scorer. If we are going to rank him..on a good team..and only this year so far..he is a 'second line' scorer. If you look at his whole career, he would be a border-line 2nd/3rd line even strength scorer. When you combing that with his defensive play and non-use penalty killing....all 3 of those things combined make him a 'replacement level' player in those aspects of his game. What do I consider a 'replacement level player'? For me it is someone who would be an average 3rd liner on an average team. If you ranked the 'ideal' starting lineups for all 31 teams..you get 124 forwards (I know there are more than that because of roster issue/injuries, etc), but a replacement level player is someone who you would slot into the 60-90 ranking. Below 90, and they are not replacement level, they are worse than that.

Once again, how can I have a discussion (argument) with someone who is cherry-picking players or cherry-picking a set of games to make their point. The only reason people do that i when they are DESPERATE to make their point. This is where either you DON'T READ WELL or just want to bang your head against the wall. I said he was a 'replacement level player' when you took all aspects of his game together besides the powerplay. I said he was pretty good on the powerplay..but he was replacement level when you combine the rest of his game...meaning Even strength AND penalty killing ability AND overall defensive play. Now tell me...how is pointing out one stat regarding his even strength production over just a certain time period proving anything about the actual point I brought up. You want me to back it up? Go back to my post and try to respond to the actual points I made and the parts of his game I referenced. Don't fall all over your ego regarding the point you are trying to make while doing that though.