mjd1001

I'm not saying paying guys early works all the time, but I think if you want to be 'great' and not just 'good', you have to take the chance to do that. Again, you won't always hit on them, but when you do lock up guys early, you get McKinnon on a team friendly deal that helped you win the cup, Makar making $9m (most think that is a bargain), Drasaitl making $8.5 through most of his prime, Hughes in New Jersey who is probably already a top 10 player making $8m long term for the next part of a decade as he gets better...etc. If you wait to pay your guys until they 'prove it', you have Toronto. You don't have any 'busts', but you end up paying the top 4 of your 23 guys over 50% of your cap. Sure, they 'proved it' to you first, but you end up paying more...that is the recipe for having a very good team but also the recipe for not having a great team.

I'm a fan of this weather. For me, perfect weather is partly sunny/mostly cloudy (30-70% cloud cover) with morning temps in the 50's and afternoon highs near 70. Light jacket weather for most of the day. I lived in Florida for 4 years (and in south Carolina for a few months) and I hated it. My wife and I could both lose our jobs here, have our property taxes double, and I still would find a way to NOT have to move to a southern/hotter state ever again.

I am seeing something about Florida that I started to play attention to a few years ago on various teams (and have brought this up a few times in the past on this board) that gives me a lot of hope for the Sabres. They have what quite a few (most, NOT all, but MOST) of the top teams have had in the past decade or so that is under-rated by many. A very talented D-corp that is almost ALL in their 'peak' age. (late 20's, very early 30's). Many of the top teams in the past few years had this in common. Guys on the back end (MOST of them) who have at least 6-7 years of experience, but haven't hit that 'over the hill/too old to keep up with the game' wall yet. There seems to be something about defensemen more than forwards, you really need that 500-800 games of experience for many to truly become great in your own end. Its like repetition after rep, hundreds and hundreds of times finally makes your decisions back there automatic. Florida truly looks like that when you watch all 3 of their pairings back there. Buffalo, on paper, may have the most talented D-men that we have seen in a while across the entire league, but they are still lacking in age/experience. If they don't blow the back end up and keep that talent together, it might be the glue for a great team once these guys (as a group) get 2-3 more years of experience.

I think he is fine for the job. Is he amazing? does he have any calls that are great/legendary? No, not at all, but I don't have any problem with his day to day calls of the game.

Barrasso was only here for 5 years, but he was really good and had a bit impact. Goalie stats were a bit....worse...in that era so its hard to go by them, but don't even consider his time and cups in Pittsburgh. Just in Buffalo: 5th overall pick in the first round. 18 year old makes the team, wins the Calder AND the Vezina his rookie year. In his 5 years here, he finished in the top 10 in voting for the Hart 3 times, 1 Vezina win, 2 Vezina runner ups in total....Led the league in Goals against average his 2nd year. He was very important to this team.

I agree with most of what you said. When Krebs arrived here I was down on him more than most on this board, but now I think many have swung WAY too far the other direction, basically saying he is borderline useless and a bust. He MAY be, but its still too early in my opinion to judge that. He may turn into a pretty good player but it could happen this year, or it could happen in 2-3 years from now. But, as you said, I want to give him a chance here, but don't want to COUNT on him. If you bring someone else in for that role, that other person plays there. IF Krebs takes a huge leap forward, then sure you can slot Krebs into that slot, but I don't want that to be THE plan.

I agree, Tampa is good for now. Most of their key players are still in that 'peak age' before they hit a bit of a slide. Hedman? The number of minutes have to be adding up for him over his career, but this team is in or near their prime in most areas, and they do have some 'decent' youth mixed in. Now, they will not have either a first round pick or a 2nd rounder until 2026. That will potentially hurt them 4-5 years down the road. Their prospect pool is empty of any talent that you could even consider anything but a potential fringe player. They have like NOTHING (Howard, a former 31st overall pick has a chance, but he seems more a small-ish tweener right now). Other than Howard, they have had a total of ONE top 50 pick in the past 6 drafts and that one they traded away. But with the picks they traded away, they still have managed to keep the roster from being not 'too old'. Pittsburgh is rapidly aging out (Crosby will be 37 at the start of next season, Malkin 38, Letang 37, Karlsson 33, Rust 32, Smith 33). Tampa's key guys (Kucherov 30, Point 28, Hagel 25, Cirelli 26, Hedman 33, Sergachev 25), well, Tampa is in a lot better shape for the next year or two at least.

I think reality might be a bit close to this, minus Pesce. The top 4 here that are going to get the majority of the minutes will be Dahlin, Power, Bryam and Samuelsson. Clifton will be on the third pair with 'whoever'. And, I'm OK with that. In the 2nd half of the season when the forwards 'started' to play better in their own end, the D looked a LOT better. Plus they are still young, they should still be getting better. I'm not all that upset with status quo on the D, as long as some changes are made to lines 2/3 up front.

He may have been playing a slightly different style, but (statistically) his drop in production came down to simple shooting percentage especially from right in front of the net/high danger area. 2 years ago he converted at a very high rate, this year was closer to his average. -Cozens 31 goal season, he shot overall 14.7%, every other season: 9.0% (this year), 8.1% and 6.5%. -His shots on goal this year compared to last are very close, 211 to 200 (seeing he played 2 less games this year, almost identical in terms of shots per game) Its not that he wasn't getting to the high danger spots, or playing a much slower game, he simply wasn't converting. In the high danger areas (The area within 29 feet of the center of the goal and bound on both sides by an imaginary line drawn from the faceoff dot to 2 feet outside the goalpost): -2 years ago Cozens had 68 shots, scored 13 times, and had a 19.1% shooting percentage. -This year he had 54 shots, only scored 5 goals, a 9.3% shooting percentage. Most all of his 'missing production' wasn't due to less shots, wasn't due much to shooting from different areas, wasn't due to not skating as hard, wasn't due to less offensive zone time. He (pretty much) had the same shots, from the same area, had the same top skating speed, similar 'top skating speed bursts'...all within a very small percentage. The spider charts say all of those were 'about' the same. The single thing that was different about his game that you can see 'statistically' was WHEN he had those 'high danger chances, he converted at less than half the rate, and had 8 less goals from that area. Now, I can't tell you if those shots in the 'high danger area' were any more contested than they were last year or not. The stats available don't show that. But in terms of how many shots he gets off (about 200 per year), where he shoots from, a few years of stats show Cozens is who he is....the one thing that will determine his production will be his shooting percentage. Is he going to be close to the 14.7% guy we saw 2 years ago? or is he closer to the shooting 8.3% guy he has been the rest of his career (even factoring in this past season in that number)? Maybe its a confidence thing. He was great in the IIHF 2 years ago and carried that into the regular season with a great regular season. Last year he didn't play and didn't have a great season here. This year, maybe he comes out of it super confident and it carries over to this year.

Cozens does well in this tournament. I don't think he played last year, but in 2022 I know he tied for the lead in goal scoring in the tournament.

I thought the difference for Boston was Pastrnak. Guy is elite. Over the last 7 seasons, 5th in the league in goals, 6th in points, he shoots close to 15%, and over that time scores at almost a 50 goal per 82 pace with last year over 60 goals. He was a relative non-factor in the playoffs this year. Before this year he was over a point per game player in the playoffs, and had 35 goals in 77 career playoff games (over a 37 goal pace). This year, 4 goals and 8 points in 13 games (25 goal, 50 point pace). Not AWFUL, but for sure a lot less than they needed. Also, I don't know if anyone else noticed, but when you watched him he seemed a non-factor, even against the leafs. I never got a sense he was dangerous, on the verge of anything big. I, too, wonder if he was injured. The non-productive playoffs came on the heels of a regular season where he had no goals in his last 5 games, and only 3 in his last 12 games in the regular season.

William Nylander Signs 8 year, $92m extension Jan 8. -Before Extension: 37gp, 21g, 33a (47 goal, 73 assist, 120 point pace/82) -After signing: 49gp, 22g, 25a (37 goal, 41assist, 78 point pace/82) Pettersson Signs 8 year, $92.8m extension. -Before Extension: 62gp, 29g, 42a (29 goal, 56 assist, 85 point pace/82) -After signing: 33gp, 6g, 14a (15 goal, 35 assist, 50 point pace/82) There could be other factors, but it does kinda look at least a little like 'getting their money' had an impact on their play.

I'll watch the conference finals, and there have been some good games this year, but the playoffs haven't been as exciting as I thought. When they started I was thinking...I'm going to LOVE this, there were so many good matchups. And there were/are, just I haven't gotten into the playoffs as deeply as I though. And as far as Vancouver goes, Pettersson was a letdown. I really thought going into this year he was going to take another step and clearly become a top-10 player in the year, but he faded big time down the stretch and, as others have said, didn't help much in the playoffs. Something happened to him in mid February..an injury? Hit 'the wall'. I'm not sure but... Pettersson: -through Feb 15: 28 goals, 44 assists in 55 games (42g, 66a, 108 point pace/82) -Since Feb 16 (including playoffs): 7 goals, 16 assists in 40 games (14g, 33a, 47 point pace/82) That is a major, MAJOR drop in production.

I know people can't stand Marchand and Boston....but to think as fan how great it must have been to watch a team with Bergeron and Marchand on it, through their prime, for the greater part of a decade (lets not forget Chara through some of that time) Only 1 cup for them, but aren't those the type of players that almost EVERY fanbase says they want but never really get?

Carolilna is just a somewhat better version or Toronto...if you are a fan of that organization you have to be frustrated and wonder what else you can do -3rd most wins in the league since Brindamour took over -3 seasons in a row with 110+ points (would have been 4 if you project out the previous shortened season). Their last 4 years were better statistically (in some cases much better) than even the 2005-06-07 Sabres teams. Sure, a lot more fun and Sabres fans would trade their success for ours recently, but you have to wonder...the Hurricanes are still young but what else can they do to get to the cup? The 3rd most successful team in the league (2nd in the conference to Boston, Had Boston's regular seasons stats not been so inflated by last season, Carolina would be above them).

Landscaping people/companies. We live in a community where a landscaping crew comes in and cuts the lawns and trims. When they trim they often scalp so low they kill the grass, and when they cut the lawn they drive so fast that when they make a turn, they dig the grass right out of the lawn and leave marks or entire bare spots. The good news is our community isn't that strict, a few of us have 'opted out' of the service, and we cut my own lawns now. (we have close to 1/2 an acre, so not enough for a riding mower but by hand it takes close to an hour..but I have time, I don't mind it). The Landscaping company is also fine with it, they said simply submit a list of homes for them not to touch and they will abide by it. My complaint is this: -I submitted officially to the community to have me taken off the list of lawns to be cut and it was confirmed. -When they started cutting the lawns a few weeks ago the guy who owns/runs the company showed up and I reminded him. -When the workers that trim came by, they saw me and asked if I was getting the lawn cut, and I told them, no, our house is on the list to be skipped. -I cut the lawn 2 days ago so it is OBVIOUS our lawn is shorter than both of our neighbors already. Yet 20 minutes after confirming to that guy on site AGAIN that we are to be skipped...., the guy on the mower is not only driving through the backyard cutting it, but there is another guy trimming and making a mess of everything he touches. It should not be this hard to get a company and its employees to actually do the most basic, simple things in their job.

To me its done by hopefully the top guys staying healthier and a better Power Play. -A healthy Tage (and him on a slightly better PP) gets you close to 50 (maybe more if everything goes right, 20 more) -Tuch COULD give you anywhere from 5-10 more than this past year. -Cozens hopefully can get back to 25 (5-10 more) -Peterka has a chance or progressing and giving you a handful more (another 2-5 more) -You get 10 more (give or take) more from a healthy Quinn. -5 more from Benson -The D-corp gives you 5-10 more than this past year. Of course if all that did happen it needs to offset (in my opinion) -5, maybe 10 less from Skinner. (I think he is about to hit that 'over 30 year old' wall, hope I'm wrong) -No Mitts (assuming his replacement is less productive) -Dahlin might give you more points, but less goals.

With Okposo, I 'liked' him as a person and 'kinda' as a player, but he was drastically overpayed. As far as leadership, He's respected as a person, he knows how to treat teammates well, but that is about it. In 2021-22 and 22-23, his play was better (on the ice) than many on here were saying (although still not worth his contract), but the last year it fell of dramatically (I'm not talking about just production, I'm talking ability to win battles, ability to keep up with the play, etc.) But the biggest issue with is game, that I never really thought of until this past year, is that he was given credit for being a leader, a 'vet' who knows how to play the game especially in a defensive responsible way, but I don't think that is true. Zemgus I think is a good 4th liner, he skates hard, hes fast, he battles hard on the boards and wins those battles, he plays positionally well.... but Okposo never really was any of that. Many said he was a good 4th liner simply because he was 'experienced' and could put in a few goals from there. but he didn't fit the role at all. In his own end, knowing how to pick up the right guy, playing positionally, I think he was actually bad. We tend to think as a 'veteran' he knows how to do that, but I don't think he ever learned that part of the game. When he was with the Islanders, they weren't the 'lock down' Islanders they are now, he didn't learn or play that game when he was younger there. And of course, I don't think he picked up on much of it under any coach with the Sabres.

I do think that Pegula gives orders from on high and a big push for 'promoting from within' or 'what he is comfortable with' is one of the biggest long term problems with this organization. So many other things that are problem stem from it. With that said, Appert as one of the assistants? I'm OK with it. We'll see how it goes obviously, but I am not going to hate on a move and say it simply is a bad decision because of 'how' it is perceived to have been done.

Too much, because you have to take dollars/cap into consideration. In Thompson you get a guy that over the last 2 years scores goals at a 41 goal pace per 82. He is signed long term for $7.1m per year In Matthews you get a guy who over the last 2 years scores 57 goals per 82. He is signed long term for $13.2m per year (close to double tage) Matthews is clearly the better/more productive player, there isn't much doubt to that. But in a cap league where when you start to compete you are close to that cap, I'm not sure I'd even want that trade with even a little beyond just Tage when you consider the money, and what that extra $6+ million can do for you when you get to that point. I personally think Tage was playing injured this year and next year I think he is back to being a 50 goal scorer, or very close to it. I also think Matthews is getting 60 or more again. I CERTAINLY would not want to make that trade and throw in Cozens. And the 11th pick this year. And 2 additional good prospects. Not even close. (Also keep in mind Matthews does not elevate his play in the playoffs, he is actually LESS productive in the playoffs than the regular season, and there is 8 years of sample size showing that)

Apple's website. Its been like this for years, but if I go there to look at a product and use the mouse wheel to scroll down, that means I saw what I wanted to see and want to, you know, SCROLL DOWN. Yet half the time when you try to scroll down their product page, you actually do scroll down..the other half the time it takes their pictures/animations and, well, animated them, and you have to scroll and scroll and spin that mouse wheel 5 times as much as you should have to just to get to the next part of the page lower.

When looking at his 'relative' underperformance compared to other stars in the league (hes not BAD in the playoffs, he just doesn't elevate), and seeing this over 8 years now.....what you said seems to be the most likely answer.

Matthews is a better player than Marner, but I'd rather have Marner 'for less' than Matthews for more money and more of a return. Matthews makes this Sabres team better for sure, even with a big haul going back to TO. A problem I have with him is he doesn't seem like he is a 'likeable' superstar. I get the sense even from Toronto fans...he's a league MVP, multiple time goal scoring leader, former first overall pick, has made the playoffs just about every year he has been in the league, he's nominated for best defensive forward.....you would think he would be the most popular and most liked player in Toronto sports by a factor of 5....yet for as many people that like him in TO, I get the sense there are a lot that don't. He just doesn't have a connection to the fanbase. I put that more on him and less on the fanbase in Toronto.

Here is a thought for why you DON'T trade the pick. You trade one or two of your other former first round picks and keep this one...why? The age of the pipeline. The guy you draft this year is going to what, 17 or 18? You have Östlund, Kulich, Rosen, and Savoie that are all 20-21 years old...why trade the pick for a guy of that 'talent level' who is 17 but keep all your 20-21 year olds? If it is a choice between the 2, I'd rather move one of the 20-21 year olds...and keep 1 or 2....and also keep the 17 year old...rather than move the 17-18 year old and keep all the 21 year olds. Space things out. You have an excess of prospects that are 20-21...I'd rather move one (or two) of them and keep the 17 year old so if or whenever this team gets good, I have him just about ready to move up to the roster when the core of my team is starting to age. Again, I know you can trade this pick AND a prospect...but I'm saying if you are moving 1 or 2 pieces and that is it, I'd rather move the 20-21 year olds (because you have 3-4 of them)

Its going to be hard to say they should or shouldn't trade the pick because we don't know (and maybe never will) know what the offer is for it. There might be a great offer, there might be garbage. Its hard to say "trade the pick because they need help now, not in a few years" when you don't know the return. This is where you need trust in your GM. Yeah, a lot of people don't, but he is going to be the one that knows what offers you can get for it, and he is the one that will make the decision. If you are shopping it and getting 'subpar' offers in your opinion, then you keep it, you make the pick, you develop the player, and then there is nothing saying you can't trade that 'prospect' (or any other first round pick) anytime after. The thing those who want the pick traded might have going for them is Lindy Ruff, and the hope he has roster input. I'm pretty sure he would rather have a player that can help him NOW than invest in one that MIGHT help in 3-4 years from now.