Thorny

The goal is to build a good team not one slightly better than the one with DC Not really sure where I’m losing you here Adams can “win the trade” yet still not properly build out the top 6. Obviously Norris being a good top 6 player is more important and a greater reflection on Adams than merely “being as good as Cozens, anything else gravy” Adams doesn’t get to artificially lower the bar for what’s expected of a top 6 C merely because he installed a very bad one for a time are we grading him on a curve? lol

Madness…Madness!

That..doesn’t make any sense the goal when building a team isn’t to “find a guy at least better than Dylan Cozens”. We were counting on Dylan to be a top 6 C, and that’s the role we are penciling Norris in for, now. That Dylan failed to deliver doesn’t absurdly lower the bar for the next guy where are only need him to marginally replace the failed guy: the playoff line doesn’t follow suit You are thinking in terms of how one might evaluate a trade, I guess. But “winning trades” is a shade of the importance of team building. What matters most is how well he fulfills the role of top 6 C. Anything beyond THAT, is just great Adams’ duty to field a legitimate 1C/2C supersedes his duty to win the trade for Dylan Cozens. Norris’s primary objective isn’t to prove the trade right, it’s to be a good top 6 C. What good would simply avoiding being a net negative while notching 1 goal be if there’s a gaping hole in the top 6? Essentially- we definitely aren’t in a situation where it’s “avoid being a net negative and anything else is gravy” which is basically what you said

“you need to build a balanced team.” No shite. It doesn’t mean you trade your most talented players to do it Trading Eichel and Reinhart wasn’t an “opportunity”, it was a horrendous step backwards. That’s already proven out “too many elite players, not enough warriors” is nonsense. There’s literally no meaning there, as they aren’t “either/or” propositions. The issue has never once been that we’ve had “too many elite players”, I promise you. That’s not possible on its face. The abilities you are alluding to that fall under the category of, for lack of a better word, “grit”, also are encompassed by “talent” and can factor into what makes an elite player elite as much as anything. The ability to play the game in winning fashion. Defensive ability is a talent. Being able to consistently work hard in a way that best facilitates your skills making an impact is also a talent. - - - Also for the record, stop being such a baby about getting a “big red” X. Why is it so “big” to you? Take it up with the moderators if you don’t like the feature. Frankly it’s an easy way to disagree with your posts when I oft-need to. The post I gave you that gargantuan X on hardly deserved these paragraphs. It was devoid of context with one sentence of erroneous logic - that’s what I was responding to, that it made intrinsically no sense. - - - You were obv referencing my post above yours when you said “elite”, and you completely missed the point. “That we’ve failed to properly supplement”, I said. Of course you need balance. You didn’t make the connection to that I was talking about was the fact we aren’t *doing well* by the elite players we HAVE had by properly rounding out the depth of the team. Any of the “elite” players you’ll deem to have failed will not have been brought up in an environment tailored to success if you are referring to any of the last 14 years, due to the lack of overall talent and balance and depth (ie - the make up of the team). That this is actually congruent with your musings, that escaped you at the time, no doubt.

This reminds me a lot of Reinhart tbh, I remember quite stupidly arguing that he “wasn’t even an nhl player” sometime in his 3rd year, or 4th year post draft, the season where he utterly flipped the switch after that outdoor game in some sweet jerseys We’ve been in this spot for so long and been spoiled by the like of Eichel and Dahlin, picking so many elite, all star level players (that we’ve failed to properly supplement) that we’ve forgotten a longer development curve is often the case, especially with D. Even top picks in a weak draft

Power is definitely baring the brunt of baby/bath water philosophy right now - almost shocking after 14 years of this

That and the golden goal “IGGY!”

He hasn’t handled Levi patiently at all

Agree, relatively speaking our playoff drought is actually shorter than other teams - when you factor in revenue, that we are in no way responsible for, it becomes clear that the competitive disadvantage foisted upon us leaves us in an indisputable “what could the sabres have even done?” situation

BANG!

Boogie Nights is a damn masterpiece. Super excited for One Battle After Another

Good point by Shrader, I’m not sure. Still I don’t think picture of health would ever be an apt descriptor of the man I met him once at a club here, shook his hand (actually true). He complained of a broken finger afterwords (not actually true) Can’t polish a turd

That’s a negatory must have made a deal with the devil that last year

Mattias Bogosian A detriment to your roster

Come on Taro

Way too many

Also a friendly reminder that preseason games mean literally nothing

I think you are more likely to get stiffer tests from those fighting for jobs

And I read the other day you don’t get anywhere without heart

Derp

Preseason pledge

Demotion by promotion, but ya

I think Max is going to bounce back just fine. One of the benefits of the veteran mind They’ll need him. Tony Taters back today. If he somehow goes yard, good things are gonna happen

I still think they take it, a lot closer than it looked mere days ago though