mjd1001

I hope they protected Risto because they have a pretty good trade for him lined up.

Personally I think that IS significant. It is different in Hockey. 12 games are worth 24 points. 24 points is the difference between finishing first overall in the league and finishing 8th to 10th. 24 points is the difference between what is usually the last playoff team and the worst team in the league. In the NFL, 2 games means MUCH less (on average) in the standings than 12 games does in the NHL.

To me it means nothing at all if you trade someone and he wins a cup in the first year there. If the Sabres don't win it, someone else will and I don't care too much who that is. Its like people that say you can't trade him in the division or you want to trade him out west. If you could trade him to the Bruins and get an extra 7th round pick than you could by trading him to Vancouver (if the other parts of that trade were equal), then I would trade him to the team that gives the Sabres even the slightest bit more. If the ultimate goal is to win the cup, you are going to have to be better than everyone else, whether it is Boston, the Rangers, Vancouver, or L.A. The reputation of the Sabres is one thing and one thing only. How good are they? If the Sabres get better and who they trade Jack to wins a cup....great. All I care about is the first part of that equation.

I kind of agree with you. There are many people posting here who way overvalue what his return would be. On the other hand when you read stories from out of town those people are undervaluing him, many media members and fan boards wanting to throw a couple second or third line players at the sabres and a late first round draft pick. The real value is someplace in the middle. Many people overvalue something that is on their team but the truth is the very best year Eichel had he still was barely in the top 10 in scoring..... he has had numerous injuries....and his current injury is a major concern. Now might something really strange happen like the Sabres get what a lot of fans on this forum asking for? Unlikely, but it could happen. However, people on this board may have to come to grips with the fact that he's not the mega superstar many think he is and the return in his trade will be good but not off the charts great. The... "If you don't get the huge offer in return just keep him" crowd likes to say that, but the direction of team, what the GM wants and what Jack wants himself... That might not be the reality.

I've been struggling to put into words the reason why I'm okay with him being traded and why I actually want it. The first part is what you said, trying to read between the lines it doesn't appear as if he kind of wants out, the feeling I'm getting is that he really wants out, in a bad way. He probably kind of wanted out last year but it is accelerated well beyond that. The other thing is, for me to enjoy this team I at least need the illusion of players wanting to be here and playing for each other. Is that realistic? Not all the time. I'm sure a lot of sabers teams in the past had players that we all loved and we thought liked being on the team in Buffalo and it may not have been true.... But at least if that is hidden behind the curtain so to speak... I can still enjoy the team. Once it's out in the open and I know players aren't happy here I just as soon rather move on and bring in some that still give me the illusion that they want to be here. Does that make for a better team? Not really, but for me it makes a more enjoyable team.

This is re-visiting a topic that has been discussed many times, but it hasn't been brought up for a while. The 'tank' in itself wasn't the issue. The DEGREE of it, and how it was executed was. -The Sabres should have had a better/more robust scouting department all along. Mistakes were made at the 'beginning' of the tank, and the scouting staff was gutted recently. -Murray made some decent movies, but 'accelerating' the rebuild probably was a mistake. -It is a topic on these forums, but it 'appears' that when the owners 'meddle' in the hockey dept. bad decisions are made. No hardcore proof on this, and most owners will want to be involved in decisions....but many feel Terry make some bad decisions that he didn't have to be directly involved in. Any one of those would be bad. However, each one amplified the others and made them worse. You don't need a veteran coach. You just need a better one. You don't need the highest paid scouting staff in the league, you just have to make sure you don't have the lowest. You don't need an owner who is 100% hands off, but you do need one that has a little better 'luck' when he does step in and make decisions. All this will pass, this franchise will get better on the ice.....the only question is how long will that take and just how much better will they get.

I don't see a huge urge to move him. As other have said, he only has 2 years left. He SEEMS to be a good teammate. When he does play, he is actually pretty productive. You don't give assets to anyone to take him. If someone WANTS him then you can move him, but nothing beyond that.

3 way deal. Still hard with Boston, but something like Boston gives up some more 'veteran' pieces that the Sabres don't want (but still in their prime now).....to another team, then THAT team sends even younger pieces to Buffalo. I can't think of exactly how that happens, but it is more likely than a one-to-one deal.

I have had discussions on Twitter where I have actually agreed with what someone is saying. However, I still get attacked by them. Why? Apparently if you don't agree with someone word for word, there are too many people just itching for a fight. Either that, or they are just so eager to make their point that if anyone replies to them they barely read the reply they're just going to attack everyone and restate what they want to say. Besides a rolling news feed, it has the potential for great discussions, however there are too many people that just want to pound their chest and say look at me... Or I'm right and you're all idiots.

I am good with keeping Risto. Yes, I have criticized him a LOT in these forums. No, I don't think he is a good 1st paring D-man. YES, if they could get a top 15 pick for him or a legit top prospect I would still trade him. But I don't NEED him gone. I think he could be a very good 2nd paring D-man (keep his minutes under 20 minutes per game.) He then could be on your 2nd team PP (or at least fill in if needed) and he can Penalty kill. You have to resign him for a few more years, but IF this was his role, I'd be ok with it.

Exactly, with a LOT of NHL experience. older and with a lot more experience than guys like Mitts or cozens

The guy might be great, and at this point just bringing in anyone with some kind of talent is better than the vast wasteland that the Sabres have had just about everywhere recently, but another Penguins guy? I don't get as upset as many on here, but at some point...are the best people to hire REALLY just from Pittsburgh? You wonder if they are doing a thorough interview process to fill these roles...or are just bringing in people they are comfortable with.

He might flourish under Granato even more than he has in the past. On the other hand, he might be worse. Granato may be a coach who focuses on giving the 'young' guys a chance in key spots, letting them get confidence on the PP when they normally wouldn't. Granato may want those younger guys to take key minutes as a way for them to develop. IF that was/is the case, that would mean Eichel would get a little less chance/less ice time in those situations than he has in the past.

Me too. It is becoming tiresome to think about and read about, yet that is what we do on forums and as fans. There are only 2 ways out of this for Eichel that make sense for the team: 1.) He stays, and he stays long term. There is a press conference/statement where he says something like " I plan on playing in Buffalo for at least the remainder of my current contract. I'm committed to the team and the city. It has been frustrating the last few years, but especially after talking to the GM and new coach, I'm as committed as ever to turning our franchise around, no matter how long it takes" Personally, I don't think that is going to happen, but that is the only way I think he can stay and have it work for the Team. 2.) he gets traded. I'm in the camp of wanting him traded...why? Because I WOULD want him to stay but only in the circumstances listed in 'option #1' above, and I just don't think that is reasonable or possible right now.

When it comes to driving....going down a road and seeing someone coming out from a parking lot or side-street wanting to turn onto the main road you are on. But instead of waiting for you to drive by.......they fail to come to a complete stop at the stop sign to make sure they are out in front of you, but it is so close you have to slow down considerably to not hit them. Then you look in your rear view mirror and see NO OTHER CARS behind you. If they just waited a few more seconds, they could have easily turned onto the main road behind you. But no..if it requires actual FULL STOP at a stop sign, most people will have none of that.

My wife is from New York City, she was there to visit family recently and said it's worse than when she lived there. On the other hand we just took a trip to Boston. It was great. The newer seaport district neighborhood felt safe at all hours of the day and night, it was amazingly clean and pretty vibrant.

They get more ice time. That is a big part of it. And 2nd, in their own end, they potentially 'own' half the ice, forward assignments are a bit different.

I really do not understand not wanting to trade him in the conference or the division. You trade him to wherever you are getting the best offer. If the Rangers, or Boston, were to give you the best offer, many of you would actually take a WORSE offer just to keep him in the other conference?

Agreed. The hiring of the coach was going to be a 'news event, but I'm really looking forward to the roster moves. Lets get to those now.

Not related to whether vaccines should or should not be mandatory but.... It appears Covid rates have stopped going down and are now rising not only in the rest of the world, but slightly in the USA as well.. -For the first time since early Spring of this year, the week-over-week number of cases in the USA is rising. -In the U.K. They had a long string (weeks) with less than 3,000 cases per day, every day. Cases have shot up in the past couple weeks and now they are back above 15,000 new cases per day for almost a week. -For most of the last 2 months, the vast majority of states (some days of reporting all 50 states) had falling cases. As of today however, 20 states have an increasing 7 day moving average of cases. -A new 'gamma' variant is spreading through Brazil. The current vaccines we have appears to be much less effective against that variant. I don't know the 'correct' solution but this thing needs to be knocked out once and for all. I hope it isn't the case, but if these small short-term trends continue.....I personally do not think this country will go back into any kind of lockdown..but I can see restrictions on large gatherings (sporting events?) start to come back this fall IF we get another huge spike in cases.

It seems like a lot of people are ruling out Jack going to certain teams because they don't have the prospects to send back. Just remember it doesn't have to be only two teams involved. A multi-team trade is certainly more complicated and less likely to happen, but who's not to say Jack can't go to Columbus, Buffalo gets one piece back from Columbus... Columbus sends another piece to a third team, and the third team sends another piece back to Buffalo or something like that. That could also be why a trade is taking longer, there might be more moving parts than we know.

I want Granato to be named coach. With that said, a lot of his 'success' at the end of the year....is it really success? -He got better results than Krueger, that is for sure, and he did it with a depleted and young roster. -But Reinhart was on a streak where he got something like 13 goals in 13 games at one point. Had he NOT been that hot, just how good would this team have looked? -Also, its not like they had a winning record with him. Not even after the winless streak was over till the end of the year did they have a winning record. Again, I want Granato to be named head coach. But I also know that if he is....this team is likely to still struggle for wins under him (as they would under anyone) for at least the first quarter or third of next season. Without Reinhart or a healthy Jack, that is for sure in my mind.

There is an issue on this board that you can just chalk up to people being different. -There are some of us who want the Sabres to do a 'proper rebuild' strip it down to the studs and take your time. No shortcuts. People like that enjoy the rebuild..they enjoy the team getting a little bit better year after year. -there are others of us who just want the team to win. No waiting, no long rebuilds. Get a baseline of young players (a core) but then add to it players that will allow you to win now. Other teams do it, why not the sabres? Of course, many people may say they are in the middle but almost everyone leans toward one side of the other. Most of the arguments I read on this board are between people who fall into one of the two categories above.

That is the one issue with the 'if you don't get what you want just don't trade him' theory. If you don't get the offer you want and decide to hold on to him, what then? The situation you bring up will probably occur. If Adams/management really wants Jack out of here, but you don't move him...doesn't that derail the plans you have for what you envision as your 'new' leadership core? Will guys like Dahlin, Cozens, Mitts...will they really take control of the team and talk in the locker room if Jack is still here (especially if it is a disgruntled Jack?) The only other option is, you need to have a conversation with Eichel SOMETHING like this: "Jack, you are under contract for a while here. You are a big part of this team but not the ONLY part of this team that matters. You might be the best player on this team now, but we aren't making decisions that revolve around you...we ARE making decisions where you are a key part of the team but everything doesn't run through you. You will be treated (and payed) like one of the best players on this team, no more, no less." If you want out of Buffalo, you have to get on the ice, put up numbers, be a great teammate to your current teammates and be a 'good soldier'. It'll make it easier for us to trade you" I'm not sure if that conversation happened already or not....or maybe it happened in previous years and Jack is beyond it at this point.

I don't know specifics on him, but I can relay some information from a good friend of mine who is a huge Coyotes fan: 1.) the Roster wasn't the greatest, but the fanbase wanted to see more of an improvement from the team under him. From the middle point of his first year to the end on Arizona, they were consistently a few games above or below .500, no real improvement. 2.) The team seem to be guilty of 'sloppy' play under him. They would frequently make 'simple' mistakes and would not learn from them. 3.) He would roll his lines seemingly based on a schedule. Even with down by a goal or 2 in the third, the 2nd and 3rd line would seemingly get almost as much ice-time as the first line. His hottest/best players on the forward lines would not get 22-23 minute per game on a regular basis like on other teams. 4.) They never really were good on special teams. Through his entire time, they were average on the Penalty Kill, and had a below average PP. Worse, the PK and PP would seem to be at their worst when they needed it most (close games). 5.) They didn't control play well under him. I know at one point last year, my friend told me since Tocchet took over, the Coyotes were outshot by a larger margin than even the Sabres. 6.) A lack of development of their talent pool/draft picks under Tocchet. Not many of their high draft picks turned into what fans expected. I'm not how much of that is actually true, again this is what I heard from a friend who is a big Coyotes fan and watches their games as much as possible. And of course, how much of that is on the coach/coaching staff vs the overall talent of the players?