Thorner

All reasonable. I definitely have a differing opinion on the bolded bit, that’s probably my biggest contention: playoff berths are things that can be shaped year over year, with a different GM and or strategy I definitely think we could have made it already, probably a couple times. The entire point of this strategy was to specifically de-prioritize the immediate for future success: build *sustainable* success. Adams said it himself. I happen to just be of the opinion it was more important to simply achieve a LEVEL of success first, and go from there. I’m glad you said we can judge Adams’ in the coming season because really by the timeline of his own plan we should have made it this season It’s me, right? It’s me

Of course, it’s just so easy to do now and yes I know your post was actually about the scouts. It’s just a funny distinction I wanted to raise because as of now, I’d rather have Jack’s career than Connor’s. We’ll see on the oilers this year tho i do know the Canucks are finished

It’s that simple for me. Me and Adams are very different (beyond the full luxurious head of hair thing). Adams is a Stanley Cup champion. I have decided a Stanley cup is never likely therefore useless as as both justification, and utter goal, of being a Sabres fan

He might value long term success as much as I/we do: I’m not inside his head. Seems like it’s plausible. But he doesn’t value a playoff berth in and of itself as highly as I do: I think that’s clear Both in terms of product value outright, and also strategically in terms of it’s usefulness as an almost alchemical tool in building future success for him playoffs are a “achieve by way of the successful implementation of..” and for me they are a little more of a “will result in more success” dynamic. For him playoffs are symptom of success, for me I think they may be cause, in large part - such is the nature of this mystical 13 year stretch

I think the way you worded it is pretty accurate. Adams is a man of conviction. No absence of the typical human stubbornness we are all prone to. As mentioned, the prevailing tone of that video is “I told you this would happen.”, it really was. There won’t be an urgency to turn over every stone in a pursuit of any lose cheerio that may provide the nutrients of a season in which we can finish top 16: but you can see it in his face and demeanour - there’s certainly an urgency for the a top 16 finish *by way of the natural fruition of his plan*. He thinks that’s probably this coming season but, the goal is never going to come before a descriptor of the process in any uttered sentence from him, do you know what I mean? Not sure if that answers your question

That’s the only way any dealing of future assets makes sense - that’s why you are dealing them. No one prefers to give up the better asset just for fun. It’s just that, if you aren’t willing to deal your most valued future assets, that’s fine, but the offshoot is generally a season filed with “well, who even was there?” you sacrifice the pick because you need to make the deal, not to present a message. Adams talks a lot of messaging but i haven’t seen him make any personnel swaps that seem a message in and of themselves

Won a cup as the best player in the entire playoffs, so, the ideal player to draft “lol”

There’s a statute of limitations on all this “when the poor culture started” stuff. It can change year over year simply by fielding a winning team. The mistakes of the tank aren’t a literal obstacle anymore. We missed the playoffs by 1 point last year, and that’s all we need to shake it: we weren’t prevented from gaining that 1 point by some mystical lingering culture force

People are saying his messaging has been on point this offseason, and I can kinda see it at times, but if you watch that there still seems an incredible resistance to simply uttering the words “playoffs are the goal.” the overall tone here was one imo more so of defensiveness: “if you remember 4 years ago, I said it would take time and patience. Well, you got it. Plan continues.” And he started out by carefully highlighting that it was his 5th year of GM. At first I was impressed: ok, he’s saying year 5, he’s saying it’s been a long time now and it’s go time. But he actually brought up year 5 to separate himself from the “13 years” frank led off with Haha

Because the league also primarily exists to sell tickets and winning gets you more games you can sell tickets to: the reality of the AHL is that it’s both. It’s a development league and a professional, entertainment based league, too. Tough balancing act for every organization. It does provide a good cautionary tale in general: our alottment of prospects doesn’t translate to winning in an inferior league, we can’t just graduate guys and win in a better league, it just doesn’t work like that. I understand we don’t have all our prospects together at the same time there but no team ever does, NHL or not. We didn’t even have prime Eichel together with ROR. A lot of team building is timing. Regardless of league

Benn is such a dirtbag

He’s been excellent all playoffs Rangers Stars would be a powerhouse matchup

It all got bumped from arguably pointless speculation to legitimately worthy discussion because of those comments Adams made (and didn’t make) at the end of season conference - I can’t even remember exactly what they were but it was a distinct “they thought they were already there!” thing which he went along with so…that’s exactly what we are talking about isn’t it? If you “think you’re there”, certainly “drive” is something perhaps on the table as a discussion point

This series is fun but you can’t pretend it gives you the vibes of a Dallas / Colorado playoff series when dallas’ sweaters looked liked this:

Only the Canucks are more finished than the Hurricanes

I dunno about fancy schmancy, but he was 2nd overall in takeaways this year Crosby was 8th ”I’m literally in love with buffalo” Alex Tuch was…4th. Overall!

And now the rest of this series is noooooooot I can’t shake the impression the playoffs were better before the in-division format

Also:

Unlikely to find a timid marine relative to a civilian. Timidness in a marine relative to other marines might still be a consideration These players are all very good at what they do. Greatness is longevity and the marathon allows even some apparently strong to fall by the wayside relatively There are definitely inferior doctors. Whether that comes down to intelligence is anyones guess but I’d imagine it’s a spectrum like anything else

The thing about Matthews is he was nominated for the Selke, too. So he’s better defensively than the other points guys, he scores way more goals than any of them, and he’s as good or better at even strength? I don’t see how he’s not top 3 he doesn’t have to win but 69 goals and Selke level D NOT being nominated seems truly absurd imo I think he missed a nom by not hitting 70. I think he might have missed because of that arbitrary factor. He’s literally the same guy at 69 but I think that could he a reason

Need Carolina to win this so the series is watchable

Matthews outscored McDavid this year when considering 5 V 5 primary points. So, goals and primary assists 5 V 5. Matthews had 38 g and 17a 55 points McDavid had 19 g and 32a for 51 points. I don’t think it’s a mark of Matthews being selfish, he’s a better player provably at even strength, especially cause his D is Selke level this year apparently McDavid’s advantage is on the power play and secondary helpers

Not at his cap hit

As long as it’s not a dogfight to reach a long term contract Specifically

There’s WAY too many people who talk hockey to generalize here though. It depends on the analyst Yes even after focusing on just the “credible” ones Also the draft comparables on tsn’s draft show for example are always the hall of fame guys and or superstars. Surely there are other players below that level that compare stylistically. They aren’t stupid, they know what they are doing. It’s just selling the product. I understand why they do it. I anecdotally do feel like a lot of people take the comps pretty literally for expectation. Skinner was just referenced in this way. As sort of a reasonably achievable level for an average first round prospect. Last year Thompson was Eric Lindros in a conversation I had on here