Curt

In my opinion, this isn’t really feasible at a high level. You kind of need a lock down defensive line that you can send out for a key shift in the defensive zone, or to take extra shifts when protecting a lead. It doesn’t need to be numbered a 4th line, but you need one that can fill the role. I don’t see anything’s like that listed above. Also, it’s generally not maintainable from a financial standpoint.

It’s not a sin tax. The rules against gambling aren’t in place because the NHL/NFL think gambling is immoral. It’s to protect the product. In some circumstances, gambling could lead to situations where a player could be tempted to influence the game for gambling gains. That’s what the organizations are trying to eliminate.

They maybe were holding off on signing him because they knew he had a potentially long suspension coming his way.

Was going to say the exact same thing. The issue should be whether he can play. It’s not entirely clear which scenario works out better financially.

This phrase has been around for some years, but I would say it’s not that widely used. I think the kid actually used it incorrectly. It’s an acknowledgment of agreement with something. It’s like an abbreviation of the phrase “ you bet”. ”Hey, you want to go see if that old grouchy guy down the street will buy some candy?” ”Bet” (You bet) (You bet I do)

I say if a player does some BS, the guys on the ice handle it immediately. I don’t really want guys to spend half a game going out of their way to deliver extra hits. That’s playing right into his hands.

In fact I’d argue that is exactly what they want. A player like that wants you to jump over to boards thinking “I’m gonna get that guy” instead of focusing playing good hockey. @PerreaultForever

Yes, I don’t disagree. I’ve pushed back in years past against people saying we need to make trades or bring in high priced FAs in order to make the playoffs NOW. This offseason was my personal inflection point. I would have like a better defenseman, as the additions were acceptable, but barely. And I am not comfortable with the goalie situation at all. The current emergence of Benson as someone who will almost certainly be another useful player and possible star, in a couple years if not right now, makes we even more comfortable with the idea of trading a couple prospects. I expect Adams to be on the lookout for in season additions, like Greenway last season. I’ll give him this season. If they don’t make the playoffs, I’ll be disappointed, and I expect serious upgrades before the 2024-25 season. If none materialize I’m going to go sharpen a pitchfork.

While I understand what you are saying…… In the context of this specific discussion, I don’t like Hanifin. I’m a little concerned about the fit, as another LHD, and I’m also concerned that he is not that good. I have major concerns that he is an average #4 D who is going to require a contract far in excess of what he provides.

Yeah, I’m not sure if Hanifin is who I would go for either. For me it’s not a bad idea because it’s shortsighted, it’s probably a bad idea because Hanifin isn’t particularly good or a great fit.

Currently the Sabres actually have too many forward prospects. There aren’t enough spots to give them all NHL shots. Especially at the roles that they project to fill. They will need to move some of them in the next 1-2 years. What would be your plan for that?

One note that kind of adds some perspective to this. Orr’s first 250 games were when he was ages 18-21. Makar’s were when he was 21-24. Big difference there.

Goalies are weird. Sometimes they just play really well. Last night the whole team played really well. I’d say that if Comrie keeps playing well, keep giving him opportunities. A month from now it could easily be Levi who is playing better. Sabres just need to ride the hot hand.

ESPN box score says 16,179.

Greenway-Thompson-Cozens looks like garbage??? I think it could work great! Greenway doesn’t suck.

I mean, it’s not, because this isn’t the NFL. It is unacceptable, but sometimes ***** happens. Id expect a W too, rest advantage at home.

Greenway-Thompson-Cozens Skinner-Mittelstadt-Tuch Peterka-Jost-Olofsson Girgensons-Krebs-Okposo Line changes are interesting. Stinks for Peterka, but I can’t really come up with something better, unless they broke up Girgs and Okposo. Olofsson needs to go. Peterka-Jost-Olofsson should be the lowest TOI line, and the other three lines look good.

I think he is fine. Not great or awful. He has the physical tools and the will. It’s just that he is a big transition offense guy, so it can probably be tough to find the balance between getting back deep to help and finding opportunities to get out on the rush. Plus he is still pretty young, so I expect him to keep improving in this area as he gets older.

To the bolded, they didn’t though, they didn’t outscore the opposition by doing that. Some games they did, but on the whole they came out on the negative end.

This is correct. It actually supports what Thorny was saying. No player can drive a team all on their own. Gretzky was incredible, but his supporting cast was so good that they won the Cup without him.

I don’t get what was wrong with the post.

Rochester Americans GM is Jason Karmanos. FYI

Please do not call Ryan Johnson RJ. It’s just way too soon.

I know that Adams/Granato have said things like that the past couple years, but they were pretty consistent throughout the whole season in those cases, stressing development/improvement. This season they have shifted to stressing that they need to start winning. They publicly set expectations. I would hope that if they miss the playoffs, at the end of the season they don’t back track on that. They would need to acknowledge it as a failure to meet expectations. This team? As in this group of players? Never, because they haven’t been together very long, they were purposely playing a transition offense heavy style, and they are very young. I don’t think you can hold this group of players, coaches, and front office responsible for all the sins of the past 12 years. I also disagree with your overall premise here. I think that a kinda fast and loose, offense first team can definitely transition into being a more well rounded team with good defensive structure. In fact, I think that is a quite common process of improvement. NJ went through this kind of process. From 2021-22 through 2022-23. Their offense came first and they made defensive improvements after. Toronto too started off all offense, no defense several years ago and made big defensive improvements the past few years. Tampa Bay definitely went through this too when their championship core was coming up around 2013-14. Washington also famously did this over a period of a few years culminating in their cup win. Im sure if I dug around more I could find other examples. It may not be YOUR personal preferred way to develop a team, but I don’t think it’s automatically wrong or guarantees failure. Interesting thing is that it looks like this defensive improvement sometimes goes hand in hand with a coaching change. (Glances over at Granato, then quickly looks away)

It’s just so subjective that you’ll never get a sizable group of people to agree on a definition. Dominate games or change the course of them? With what kind of consistency? Tage Thompson can dominate games or change the course of them. Dahlin can too.