Thorny

The 3C is more likely I’d say, surprised early results say otherwise. 40/60 on a top 7 addition

This is very well said. Your points about the 4th line sort of brought home to me it’s tough to put TOO much stock in the improvement we’ll get there, when we literally, of course, improved the line that plays the least on the team. We didn’t just “happen” to need the players easiest to get. 4th line improvement was sort of the expected focus after elsewhere was addressed. I mean ideally we’d be bumping down players TO the 4th line, not spending assets on filling it out from afar The additions there ARE good. But there range of affect on the outcome isn’t that substantial relative to other areas that needing addressing Even the bottom 6 itself.. its weakest spot is the most important role: 3C

The forwards needed help when we had Casey. They definitely needed help + once we moved him. I do think we are at the ~ the same place with the forwards re: amount of help needed as when the season ended Adding another good forward is sort of the bare mimimim. That replaces Casey Then you are relaying on internal improvement and the identity swap of line 4 (plus Byram). We’d really need a Casey replacement, and another forward, to improve on the F unit we entered into last season with

Thanks I hate it

Honestly - I know arguing is what we all do for fun but forest through the trees on this: I think we’d all agree that the fact it’s even a debate if we are improved *at all* is enough of a sticking point, considering the OUTRIGHT improvement we deemed necessary at the *very least* coming in we might be a bit better or maybe a bit worse, but this was supposed to be, from KA’s own admission, a big offseason doesn’t jive he’s failing or failed or there’s more still coming and it’ll lead to success. Who knows, but it’s worrisome

If it needed to happen, what do you think of KA offering him a deal? Do you think it was good judgment?

A tragedy of circumstance lol there were lots of issues with covid that could be deemed tragedies but certainly not that they were WRONG about bridging Reinhart during Covid. It would have paid off. Other players were paid. Other teams paid players. You dismiss the variable of choice wantonly And clearly the risk of NOT paying Ullmark was greater. What team has been burned by Ullmark so far besides us?

It’s definitely this

Definitely disagree. Mucks it up, draws calls. Scores goals? I mean, he scores dirty goals in close. His D stinks but that can be masked And Hall and Eichel played 19 games together

It is optically funny but I do still really like the bottom 6 additions we’ve seen so far can’t rule out another move quite yet

It’s hard to say if it does, but if an internal cap exists, Adams is essentially an extension of Terry and you are right, it would all stem from him and we’d likely need a change at the very top and down to find success

I’m on record as not wanting to buy out Skinner, but Casey still stings more currently for whatever reason Hoping for a big year from Byram. We need it!

Dunno how much stock you put in these numbers but

Scorer is ambiguous goals or points?

Oh man does this ever write itself…almost comically so

This board rules, though these days will always be fun hockey wise because of it

There’s like 4 of 5 suggestions in here for how simply removing one of our better players in Skinner might make us better that, while grasping at straws, definitely represent more creative thinking than we’ve seen from Adams in 5 years lol

Lots of what Adams said today just seems utterly awful, he’s so hard to listen to. But I won’t judge the book by that putrid cover: I still think his moves look good if we get the one key addition, at least. You can smell his presser from here, but if he adds the guys he adds the guys. We’ll see how the rest of the week goes mixed bag so far

Looks more less like the moves of retaining a playoff spot

Hard to say. Bit worse on O but better on D prob. Sort of a status quo overall so far with a shift in the means slightly

We shall see

I’d honestly sooner accept that willingly

Now we are saying Adams can’t swing a deal because everyone else has prospects well no shite

Which is *exactly what I’ve been trying to…scratch that, the literal words I’ve said for 5 years* : Teams get a free 7 draft picks *every year*. Yes, the Sabres are “definitely going to get a gOod pLaYeR at 14. EVERYONE gets a good player. You simply do not make up the ground you need to with a purely draft and develop approach this is the bed Adams made. Gotta lie in it