Derrico

Little guys are sick today. The three year old slept with wife and I and I woke to him puking all over me. Wouldn’t trade it for the world. Happy Father’s Day to all those out there living it. Most exciting, rewarding, stressful, tiring commitment you will ever accomplish. All worth it in the end. Cheers.

That was a good read. Thanks for posting.

Agreed. If UPL is healthy he gets the playing time in Roch right?

I like the two Tampa and hope something gets done there. I know it's the forward group that needs upgrading the most but I can't stop thinking about Trouba. That guy can be a monster and if Risto is dealt in the Tampa trade then he would be the perfect replacement IMO. What's the deal on Kessel? Does he have a NMC? If not would you entertain the idea? Can you imagine a top line of Skinner - Eichel - Kessel?

You mean your in a trade speculation thread, spout off multiple detailed posts about ROR whom has nothing to do with the thread but can’t name one player the sabres should trade for....in said thread?

Yes this. ROR is an excellent hockey player but he is not a leader. On a vet team with guys who have been around awhile this is a fine/great player to have. On a young team trying to figure things out I don't need my vet coming out with 'lost love for the game' *****. Good for you winning the cup, it just was not the right fit at the right time here unfortunately. @TrueBlueGED - I love you man, one of my favorite posters actually....but you have to let this ***** go man. Please. There is an ROR trade sucked thread specific to this discussion. It's over with and not healthy to rehash this trade in every thread we have. I usually don't care but in this instance if we could keep all ROR trade discussion to the appropriate thread that would make our community a better place. I'm ready to rock and roll with RK;, don't give two shits what Tim Horton's ROR runs into now of days. Yes, the pro-ROR lovers were right that we should of kept him. Can we all please move on now.......

I hope he works on his shot and specifically one timer this summer. Eichel demands so much attention on the opposite half wall on the pp that there will be some great looks for him going forward. Stick Reinhart in front and I could see Dahlin hitting 60 this year.

Don’t know anything about this guy but if he was saught after and he drops another franchise after one season to jump ship this is a good sign. RK is reported to still be well connected within the league despite his time away. Seems like a dude that would make a good impression on people and maybe good quality coaches could be lured to join RK over here.

I hate that return in the ROR trade but you gotta let it go man.

It better cost less than us giving up a 4th to bail a division rival out of a terrible contract in an offseason in which they almost HAVE to unload it. I'll take Marleau and Toronto's first next year for *insert ok but not super high end prospect here*. If we gave Toronto a 4th for Marleau I would be completely done with Botts. Don't forget that due to the contract and leafs need for cap space this offseason Marleau is 100% a net negative asset and Toronto better throw in a sweetener for someone to take it off their hands....

Dahlin is ranked too low here imo.

Zaitsev no but Marleau still only has one year left. Whoever takes him better demand something of substance like next year's #1.

Ya that’s why you probably just trade the first for his rights if you wanted to go that route. Kappenen is a sneaky good player for them so I will be happy if he moves on do to cap constraints. Also keep in mind it’s likeky Toronto can move marleau and that would free up some space.

That old guy is an ass hat. I don’t like the 8 years but I don’t agree that all the other gm’s must be mad at Jason now. Wait a couple more weeks to July 1st and then comment.

I think you go bpa no matter what. Saying that I would love to add another high end centre. I’m confident in mitts long term future and I like the idea of asplund and Davidson but you cannot have too many good young centre prospects. Who knows what RK sees, maybe he wants to move mitts to the wing ala Reinhart. I would place preference to centre over wing but again, just go bpa.

There’s always one guy who is ranked outside the top 15 or 20 in May and end up being a top 7 or 8 pick. Newhook is that guy isn’t he? Literally never heard the name until a couple of weeks ago and now the name keeps showing up in top 10 rankings.

I'm very hopeful that Montour will get that status in the next year or two. You beat me to it NS but yes, Montour too.

To your first paragraph - yes he was ‘gifted’ skinner due to circumstances but he still got it done. I realize skinner had alot of say in where he went but I’m sure there were more destinations than just Buffalo and Jason got it done. I don’t think this should just be completely discounted. To your next paragraph you already gave the answer. I think the Pegula’s wanted ROR gone. Period. It came to light that his brother was sabotaging one of the Sabres first round picks. TPegs threw ROR a bone by signing his brother to a ludicrous AHL deal. Then his brother turns around and messes with nylander (read up on it if you don’t know details). Then ROR comes out publically crying about losing his love for the game. There is no doubt in my mind TPegs said ***** you I want him and his brother gone. Think about it, it was highly rumoured Carolina would have offered more if Sabres waited to pay the bonus. Trade gets done with mediocre return because Pegula said I’m not writing another cheque to him. Maybe it’s out there the sabres are VERY eager to trade him before the bonus payment. Cash strapped teams like Carolina are out and others are lowballing as they know the sabres deadline is imposing. Long winded way of saying I’m pissed off with the ROR trade but I really don’t think it’s all Jason’s fault. He was in a really tough spot imo. Next point. Home town discounts very rarely ever happen anymore. Toronto is the ‘hockey Mecca’ of the world and nylander, Matthews and soon to be marner are sticking it to the leafs and there are no home town discounts. That’s a huge market and a winning team. If no home town discounts are happening there then I doubt it’s anywhere outside of a couple tax friendly states. So I’m not concerned about hometown discounts. Big mistake in this point unless I’m wrong after next year Montour is an RFA not a UFA. Buffalo completely controls his rights unless there’s a (never happen) offer sheet. Also why is he not the right partner for RD? I thought he looked pretty good playing with him at the end of last year. I would love seeing them paired together next season. To the last point I would disagree in that Montour was and is a very nice add. The only reason he isn’t getting more praise around here is because the team went into the crapper which included way more reasons than Montour. This was a very saught after prospect. I think your criminally underrating Montour and he will be one of our biggest surprises this year. Living in the gta I listen to a lot of leaf radio and they had been fantasizing about trading for this guy for the past three years now. I’ve spoke with many leaf fans who can’t believe all we gave up was an incredibly late first and a good but not great prospect. I think in 3 years you will rethink Jason’s ability to evaluate talent. Especially considering the potential in the past two drafts.

No I like this discussion. I get the feeling, based on communication issues of past coaches and Ralph’s previous experience that he will have much more of a voice when deciding on acquisitions and other player personnel. Then again, that’s how this thing should be run. Get some super smart people and have them work together to fix this thing. Check your ***** ego at the door if you have a problem. This team needs to find a way to start winning now and I have no interest in hearing people getting butt hurt. Someone had posted a few days ago video of Krueger giving a bit of a speech to the majority of sabres employees. Is it typical for a coach to engage day to day employees in that setting? I think Krueger will be much more involved in working with Jason to bring in the right players. More so than any other predecessor thus far. Don’t think that is a bad thing at all.

***** me

Pi's 'Anaheim' source or Jeremy White's 'super secret' source the least reliable?

Outside of OV or some of the elite it's pretty tough to AVERAGE 30 goals a year over the next 6 seasons. One injury that lasts more than 20 games and that's likely not happening.

Hey man, I know I'm sure ready to start watching this team win. We better not be going half in half out. Botts has to have a big offseason. We can't waste even one year on this Skinner deal. I'm on board with Skinner the player but I will never be convinced that an 8 year deal to a 27 year old is a great idea.

What if the 'Because Buffalo' comes when he's eating up $9 mil in cap space over the last 2 years scoring 15 goals and 28 points?