kas23

We do have Savoie, Kulich, Rosen, etc coming down the pipes, but I think they are more of an unknown than Mitts. Bird in the bush… In the worse case scenario, we sign Mitts to a reasonable (ie tradable) contract. If he continues to improve, then great. If he continues to improve, but so does a youngster, you trade one of them. Either way, you’ve developed talent to receive great value back in the trade. We don’t have to decide this anytime soon. Ideally, anyone who we don’t have a spot for but who is decent will be traded for futures to start the cycle all over again. Makes sustainable winning.

No doubt. Hart will be much hungrier that an older guy. But sometimes that hunger comes at the expense of other players. If KA thinks Hart is a standup guy, Hart knows he may be playing for his next contract elsewhere, or even is comfortable sharing the spotlight here, then by all means, bring him in.

I like Hart and do think he would be an improvement over UPL or Comrie. That said, is this the type of player we need? The dude is 24 and likely still has ambitions of being The Guy somewhere. I don’t think this is something we can offer. While competition is good, I don’t see him as a guy who will man the helm until a guy 3 years younger than him is ready to ***** his job away. Will he play nice or be a dick? It may be better bringing in a vet who knows his role. That is, shoulder the load for a couple years, knows he isn’t the future, and who will serve as a mentor to Levi until he can walk on his 2 feet.

I actually think it’s much more to that. I give McBeane 120% credit for identifying and getting Allen. But, minus Allen, I’s skeptical they aren’t a well-built team. I don’t know if this is a reflection of coaching or GMing though. And I do understand this can be said about any NFL playoff team with a franchise QB. The Sabres are a well-built team and they’ll get their due. I still think the Sabres will have more championships than the Bills in 20 years.

It says he has 36 years of prior coaching. By that picture, he must’ve been coaching since the age of 10. Must be a prodigy. Edit: lol. Must be an aged photo. Guy is 60.

I don’t think the “depth” of the draft matters to “outsiders” either. Most drafts have average depth outside of the first few picks and definitely after the first dozen or so picks. That didn’t stop Sabre insiders from picking JJP at #34 in 2020 or Kulich at #28 last draft. I’ll let them roll those dice.

If he goes on LTIR, he would only be useful in 2 main situations. A team (like the former Sabres) looking to get above the floor. Or, a team that wants to stash him until the playoffs (Kucherov him), anfter which activating him would no longer have salary cap implications. However, a team must be cap compliant on day 1 of the season. So, they would have to sign him after the start of the season, or move other players around prior to the start if they signed him prior to the start of the season.

I don’t know if it was the same dude, but whoever in the scouting dept was clamoring to pick JJP and Kulich should get a fat raise.

Put a copy of that pic in JJP’s stall.

I guess. Kinda like Levi and Tuch needing to step back and recharge after finishing their gut wrenching seasons.

So, I say something you disagreed with and you think it has something to do with some conspiracy theory? Quite an odd response, don’t you think? Nothing I said was unreasonable.

Here’s the thing. The Amerks have played a lot of hockey since the Sabres season ended on April 14th. Minnesota’s season ended on the 8th. He still could’ve used a couple weeks to recover. These games would’ve been a fantastic gauge on where Johnson is as a player, what he needs to work on over the summer, and importantly, a chance to gel with future teammates. Now none of this has happened. If he excelled, it would’ve raised some eyebrows that he could be on the Sabres roster next fall. Now, all he has is training camp to prove himself. My guess is he spends the whole next season in Rochester now. This is perfectly fine with me, but I wonder if this is perfectly fine with him.

Well, there’s goes that dumb theory that the Sabres would’ve preferred a late 2nd rounder in 2024. That said, I have real concerns on why he didn’t sign earlier. In the least, he could’ve played in every Amerks playoff game. He doesn’t seem like a competitor.

I don’t think anyone is disputing his leadership. The amount of leadership he supplies probably rivals that of Donnie. No one disagrees. The issue comes down to whether he still has gas left in the tank to make a meaningful contribution on the ice. That’s the debate. I agree the best player on the ice doesn’t necessarily deserve the C. But, if a player isn’t cutting it on the ice, or getting restricted ice time in anyway, do they still deserve to wear the C? Or, said another way, do you cut a better player’s ice time in favor of a player wearing the C?

I’m fine with this signing. As long as he becomes more familiar with the press box. I also would like a fair and open training camp. If Rousek beats out Okposo, then let Rousek play. As KA would say, I don’t want Okposo blocking youth.

This is total fake news. Sounds just like sour grapes coming out of a rival, just because Toronto sucks and this is what they have turned to to “win”. I have no doubt they offered a 5th (which is around the same the Rags offered for Eichel, I believe), but believing Buffalo would actually give him up for that (ie. a “deal in place”) is laughable.

Unfortunately his father is dead now, so we’ll never know. I wonder what else is keeping him there.

Pretty much. This guy could be battling with future teammates in helping the Amerks playoff run. Instead, he’s probably sulking somewhere.

Coddling territory

Nothing said in there is going to give any NHL GM a warm fuzzy feeling inside. Maybe he’s just biting his tongue though.

I agree. But we aren’t the ones to throw that stone.

Great news. Defense reinforcements are coming.

This is just strange. I’ve never been to Tempe, but areas around airports are usually wastelands due to the plane traffic. What else do they want to do with this land? Plus, it looks like this was going to almost completely privately funded. I guess they don’t want nice things. Sounds like it was really a referendum on how popular hockey is in the desert.

He’s committed to University of Michigan. I don’t think my heart can take it.

I prefer Dirty Sanchize