Derrico

@JujuFish - I think you have to stay in the league. No choice man. You're a dynasty. Your the Bill Bilichick of our league. I'm sure when the September days get shorter and the football season is ramping up you will be full go ;) Ok @Eleven, I think we should have enough for a Winner's and 'Relegation' League. Ours is now full. I had you, SDS and gilbert on the wait list but there have been more since then. Did you want to set that up? Shall we keep the leagues fairly close in terms of points etc. so we can continue on the 'Winners' and 'Relegation Leagues'? As had been discussed, the top 2 teams in the finals from the Relegation will move up to the Winners. Likewise, the bottom 2 in the winners will fall down for the next season.

@jsb - you were next on the wait list. Do you want in?

Sure can.

Ya seriously JuJu. You need to be in this thing after being in the finals all 4 straight years. But unlike the Bills you actually won it 3 times........ Waitin on you too @Thorny

I was never good at following directions :) Edit - Ask my wife ha.

NS, I like you but man, you can **** off with that nonsense! How can they win the draft lottery and have the cup parade already drawn up in the same season??

Wldnwoody, Ink and Hank are in. @TrueBlueGED and @Thorny we're waiting on you guys. @JujuFish have you decided if you want in or not? Looking to try and figure out numbers now if possible.

Isn't that what you lawyers do all the time :) That's the most optimistic take you've had in months.... Ok, that's better ;)

Thanks SDS. I like the feature. I used PM's but this way is easier.

Alright, let's organize these two leagues so we can figure out when to have the draft etc. This will also let us know if there is enough people to start the second league. I know we're a ways out but before you know it it'll be September. In the Original Winners league we have confirmed: North Buffalo, Narco, Taro, pi and Wildcard. To the following, can you please confirm if you are in again for Fantasy Football: TrueBlue, Wldnwoody, Ink, Thorny, Hank and JuJuFish.

Ya, I love the club idea. But to first organize, I'll make another post in the main board.

Dahlin is big but I'm also really high on what pilot will bring. I know he's a 'rookie' but isn't he like 22 or 23. No reason he has to start in roch if he impresses in camp. That can lead to more reasonable minutes for Risto. Guhle is knocking on the door. Yes he took a bit of a step back late in the year but there were times he looked pretty damn good imo. Hes at an age where it shouldn't come as a shock if he's a regular and takes the next step.

Oh God I hope not.....will be an interesting training camp. I agree to a certain extent. But I also think our D being much improved will contribute to offense. Be that getting the pucks to forwards in stride, keeping possession out of our end and even contributing more than the almost nothing we got last year.

I do get it. I've been fooled before also. But instead of adding those guys which were low end signings (I believe those threads still had us recognize it as depth signings) we're talking a 1st overall and 8th overall pick. Plus another pick who is a late round but put up huge numbers in the SHL. I just feel like we have more than snake oil this time. Could easily blow up and it's not the case but I'm still much more excited about this coming season than some of the previous few years.

Avatar bet or charity bet?

To the bolded, yes very much agree. But you look at, again, Toronto, more recently New Jersey and Colorado. I don't know about Jersey but I know the Avs have also played a bunch of young kids recently. Look how quickly they turned it around. I keep saying it but it really is a young man's league. Eichel has his warts but he's a hell of a player and (hopefully) entering his prime as early as this year. At some point this has to get turned around and when it does, I think it's going to be faster than anticipated.

You think Nathan Beaulieu is playing 59 games this season?

But that's the thing. I'm believing guys like Larsson (throw in a Pomminstein too) get pushed out of the lineup due to the youth movement. Also, I don't really mind Baptist. Think, no more Matt Moulson (from the get go). No more Matt Tennyson. No more Fedun. No Falk. No Georges. Seth Griffith played 21 games, Josefson played 39. GONE.

Man, I'm more hopeful than I have been in the past to be honest. Maybe it's just the unknown factor that keeps me hopeful (as opposed to the knowing they suck factor). But as I mentioned in the other thread, I think there is a large enough influx of youth that this thing can take off. I'm not saying they're going to break out like 2005 but I also had almost no hope for that team going into the season either. A lot of their youth came right in and surprised. I know Mitts didn't put up eye popping numbers in NCAA. But he looks good man. Sad to admit but I actually watched some of his college games I was so desperate for hockey (Sabres were out of it by Halloween) and he looked better than the numbers he put up. It reminded me of Eichel's rookie season where he could of easily had 15 more assists IMO if he played with someone who could finish. Dahlin is suppose to be the real deal. He could transform the defense in year one. I know D take longer to develop yada yada. He really could. Maybe unrealistic but I have high hopes for Oloffson this year. I think he's a regular by the second half of the season. He put up huge numbers last year. Plus, Liger has talked him up all along and he's been right before haha. Pilut. Another guy that could have a nice impact that not many are projecting. The SHL isn't the OHL. It's a very high quality league and he was just named the best defenseman in the league. Maybe he comes in and takes a job in camp. Maybe by December he's in the top 4. I donno, but I can't wait to find out if we have something here. Why the xxxx can't we find our Zaitsev?? I don't know. In years past it was well maybe Bailey or Baptiste will finally take the next step. Now there are like 6 young guys that could be good. I don't know they will be good. But damn, this year feels like more hope to me then in the past. Young man's game. I'm hoping that similar to Toronto, our high end prospects all come together and surprise some people.

Agreed on Nylander but no chance Sabres had average goaltending last year. I don't know how you define it but Lehner was 3.01 and .908 and Johnson had 3.55 and .891. Those are pretty brutal numbers.....

Doesn't have to be mutually exclusive. I think we're going to see a big influx of youngins throughout this season and let's hope it ends up like Toronto where they just start to take off from it. This isn't 1995, it's a young man's game. I think adding Mitts, Dahlin, Oloffson (I bet he's a regular by the end of the season) and another surprise young guy will make this team more competitive quicker than some think*. *team gets atleast league average goaltending

Apparently he went under at around 6am. That's either one he'll of a night or its probably not a factor.

I'm telling you guys, Baptist will be in the starting lineup.

Is Bailey and Baptist off the team in the above? I could see Bailey clearing waivers but I would hate to risk it. I think Baptist is already a good bottom 6 guy and would almost certainly be claimed. I would much rather play him over any of those 3.

I'm not predicting this at all but can you imagine what that would mean to this franchise? Adding mitts and Dahlin is already huge but a turnaround for Nylander to come close to his potential would speed this rebuild up. He is the exact position this team needs upgrading the most. Still not holding my breath tho.