Thorny

That’s why I drew the comparison, ya - - - ultimately it’s a lofty goal, Reinhart is one of the best players in the league - it’s an unlikely result. But the non-linear curve is one we are well acquainted with

A win today guarantees we reach the legendary “playoff spot by thanksgiving” standard. I’ve got a good feeling about it tbh. Sabres W. (We will be in a playoff spot by points%, regardless)

I agree. He’s going through his “well, Reinhart sucks!” phase right now. And will soon, in all likelihood, round out into, if not former #2 Overall Sam Reinhart level, a very good player. I don’t want to deal him in favour of keeping some younger, backwards-in-the-timeline prospect who’ll come up and probably look incredible in a small sample size first, probably go through a common adjustment to the league (as the league adjusts to him) period, then probably go on to become (if not Jack Quinn level), a pretty good hockey player. Is there anyone else younger we can trade? Up to and including a high (est) draft pick?

I was thinking about this, people we’ve recently fired who have gone on to achieve the same position or better in another organization. GM, coach, etc. I feel like, if Adams breaks the drought, and eventually down the line gets fired/replaced as GM, (every GM eventually does. except Kevin Cheveldayoff….(sorry, Kevyn, missed it by one letter)) I think he’d definitely be a lock for a shot somewhere else at GM. He’d be the guy who got the BUFFALO SABRES to the playoffs. The rest would just be noise

We are basically in Children of Men territory, now. Diego is gone; there’s no one young left

BOGO: Zach will be in the lineup, too, I believe

Exactly. Varying degrees. The post you responded to’s thesis was “you make a trade when there’s a good trade”. I mean, ya. No one is arguing otherwise. The disagreement stems from what you said: disagreements on the evaluations. Ie “what’s a good trade?”

kinda crazy how often the pieces we don’t really want seem to be just what the other team needs! 😉 imo If the deal has us sending out two pieces we would barely feel the sting of losing at all, it’s not enough

Everyone is saying the same thing tbh. There isn’t a single poster suggesting the team make a trade they feel is bad “just to do it”. The entire thing is arguing a straw man

Because most recognize that the easiest hack to winning later… *is* winning now. Our collective mindset was so perverted by the tank, I think. It still clings on. The “be bad now, to be good later” line of thought was a bill of goods sold and purchased and revealed as a lie, time and again you lay the first brick. You win a little bit first. You make the playoffs first by any means necessary, THEN sort the rest out. We were stacking bricks on a philosophical ideal and acted surprised when it collapsed

Not NECESSARILY re: Kreiderrrr, and If Adams can’t make a move he can’t make a move, but if we are sitting here looking at how swell his now-roster trades and signings are looking, and re: this summer, we do seem to be doing that of late, I can’t for the life of me understand why we wouldn’t want more. They’ve been the key to the positives How old is Zucker? 32? The thread is full of comments that he’s too old. We are far far more likely to be bit by youth than old age in our current format we are absolutely on the brink. The brink of a playoff berth. That’s the goal, now

“At least a few years from being cup contenders” the sabres aren’t a few years from anything. They are only a few years away from *what they MAKE happen*. Our two best players far and away are solidly in their prime RIGHT NOW. in a “few years”, Thompson will be in his 30s and his prime will be past. saddling ourselves with that type of thinking necessarily is a mistake. When the Jets made the playoffs in 2018 they were “ahead of schedule” in making the conference finals. Haven’t been back since. We JUST appear to *maybe* be getting away from “this year wasn’t about winning, anyways” and we are itching to sign up for another “woah woah, slow down” window? You make the playoffs and you see what you can do. You don’t want to trade for “fading” players, regardless. But if a player is going to be better, right now, and not drop off a cliff in the immediate future, than whatever future assets we are dealing out, it’s worthy of consideration. The improvements we saw this year aren’t from waiting: they are coming from the moves we made out of a sense of urgency

“W.C.K.A.H.E.D.?”

Who’s drawn more than he’s committed this year

The gains we are seeing are mostly from backing off on some of that willful suffering and instead converting some future assets to win-now components. I take the exact opposite lesson tbh

That’s kind of what I was getting at up thread. Ya, maybe this team this year ends up being the best team I’ve even seen in Sabres sweaters, ever….but we’ve spent so incredibly long in the desert I don’t really see the need to envision the team as exceptional simply because we find ourselves to no longer be “historically bad”. Anecdotally I almost feel some need reminding those aren’t the only two options, which we sometimes around here seem to pinball between. We’ve been trying to draw comps to 05-06 since we moved beyond it If this IS the best Sabres team ever…great! I’m still focused firmly on scraping out a playoff spot. That would be awesome

I mean, we are pacing for a total currently that usually falls well short of the playoffs..and the perception is it’s the highest point of Adams’ tenure, no less - and I’m not saying it’s not. I’d agree being cautious right now makes a world of sense. It’s pretty wide open: I could see us pulling away a bit, falling back a bit, or battling out in this range for a full 82. The metrics/data right now doesn’t lend itself to easy projective conclusions re: this season, imo

05/06, yup

Our fourth line hasn’t been good at much of anything, but I agree. Like I said, having 4th liners that can elevate in a pinch is probably the very last place you’d expect to find “depth”. That would be a luxury

It’s true, those guys haven’t been great. I’d imagine, though, that “this guy’s actually pretty good” being found even on down the lineup to 12th/13th man would be one of the final places depth would manifest

I love TNG series but for my money there’s no matching the original series. Kirk or bust for me. I also always rank Wrath of Khan first. Except my last rewatch. Into Darkness is an unheralded triumph imo. Yes, not something you hear a lot. The crazy thing with Wrath, and I just watched it yesterday, is how it grows in staggering power the older you get. Ultimate dad movie. The themes of age and “not going quietly into that good night” are ridiculously poignant The cinematography is a vibe and quite special

I’ll believe it when I see him get his deserved Norris nom

I just have a massive passion for that type of sci-fi. The old fashioned corny space exploration stuff. Sign me up all day I’m currently on IV: The Voyage Home in my Trek rewatch

The Matt Leblanc version isn’t even that bad