PerreaultForever

garbage.

That only happens if Cozens isn't ready or good enough yet. I'm pretty sure Cozens is the preferred option and that leaves no place in a healthy top 6 for Olofsson. I wouldn't be surprised if Olofsson is dealt if (stress IF) the Sabres don't like the number arbitration gives him. Take it to the bank. This will NEVER happen.

If Reider and Eakins are also the primary PK guys it'll mean Olofsson misses some shifts, or perhaps is the extra guy for the 2nd PP unit. I think the bolded part is spot on.

Not necessarily. Remember Kreuger put Vlad up with Skinner and Johanson. he likes that 3rd guy being defensively responsible idea for balance. That could be Reider, letting Olofsson focus more on offense. Tage could be penciled in as Kyle's eventual replacement. If he is good enough he will be in the line up but I think the veteran gets first crack.

I read on nhl.com the early projection is: Hall-Eichel-Reinhart Skinner-Staal-Cozens Reider-Eakins-Olofsson Girgensens-Lazar-Okposo Krueger was quoted as saying the plan was to play Hall with Eichel. 6 or 7 million dollars worth I guess. Impossible to say who it'd be for, but it would have to be value.

We don't need a centrefielder. and thumbs up to everybody who is old enough to get that joke.

hate to say it, but I think we missed the window of goalie upgrade potential and we're going to ride out Ullmark/Hutton for the year. Not sure Arizona is actually looking to unload Kuemper and Vegas might trade Fleury but I think they announced they were keeping him to keep the price high and I'm not sure I'd want to pay it. Unless some team has a really good prospect you want to gamble on I just don't see it happening.

Guess? The reason is easy. I was a kid, started watching hockey, I first saw Boston beat St. Louis and thought that Bobby Orr guy was pretty cool but then started seeing those Buffalo games on tv though and this French Connection line put a beat down on Montreal and that was it. After that I was a fan of Gare, Schoenfeld, King Kong, all those guys, and most of all Rick Dudley with that headband cause that was just so damn cool and unique. What a great era for Sabres hockey that was!

My guess is inter divisional play only and another expanded bubble playoffs. Virus isn't going to be better before January, 2nd wave is only starting and flu season could cripple hospitals. Absolutely no way Canada is going to open the border unless things in the U.S. change drastically. So that's the real issue, even if they follow the baseball plan, how do you run a season with 7 teams segregated from the rest?

Could be we now have a bit of a Malkin-Crosby type situation. Eichel and Hall play on different lines but Kreuger puts them together at key moments or when we need a push. There could be some movement between the top two lines and some double shifting. Hall, like Eichel, generally gets extra ice time.

Definitely could be. I'm just not sure what that 3rd/4th line will be. Have they fully relegated KO to the role of a 4th line checker or do they think maybe he can still do close to 20 goals with a decent center? Not that Larsson was awful, but that line despite their chances had trouble scoring. Similarly, if they don't make any further trades and the RFAs are all here where is Olofsson going to end up if the idea is to play Cozens with Staal? Olofsson-Eakins-? Thompson? I have little faith in that. Could be KO, could be Zemgus. have to wait and see I guess.

I'm not going to dissect or nitpick your analysis, I simply don't agree with the premise, and that is that the focus is on more goals or players who score more goals. Maybe if we'd signed Hoffman or someone like that I'd buy your theory but I don't think these changes are because of goal scoring. The team has shifted slightly in the direction of grit and character and I think that was Adams plan more than goal scoring. As for your last sentence that I bolded, I have no doubt that'll happen but mostly because of Hall being added to the roster so that we now have 2 top lines (however Kreuger plays them) and should have a much better PP. It won't be because of Thompson, Eakin or even Cozens (yet). The question marks that remain for me are 1.) How much does Staal have left in the tank and how motivated will he be? He's going to stop producing at some point, I hope it's not for another year or two. 2.) Will our goaltending be good enough or at least consistent enough that we don't lose close games with dumb easy gifts from goalie gaffs which we've seen all too often from both of them. 3.) Are we deep enough to endure injuries and how will the bottom half of the roster hold up? To me we're still a little weak at center and could be a bit bigger on the 4th line. Girgensens is overvalued imo but Girgs-Eakin-Okposo isn't terrible, but I'm not sure what we do with Lazar and Thompson and if we play Cozens up with Staal, what becomes of Olofsson? Olofsson-Thompson-? (Eakin?) what exactly is that line? So I still think we need one more solid 2-way forward. I'm hopeful a young guy steps up.

I'm not sure you can work out the mathematical argument using totals they got with the Sabres and you need to look at their entire careers and their ages. Johanson had some 20 goal seasons and I'm sure Minnesota expects that. Vesey was just under 20 before he got here. So if you can use Eakin's old numbers for the prediction you have to cut that both ways and say that's pretty much a wash (Hall is obviously an addition). Rieder's a low scoring penalty killer isn't he? So I'm not seeing this theory at all. What I do see in Eakin, Rieder and Staal, for Johanson Vesey Larsson is a little more character, a little better defensively and a little more grit. 3 for 3 that's a trade I would make in our favour. I'd still like to see another PK guy on the roster, but maybe that'll be an improved Asplund.

I actually don't like this (because I hate the leafs). yes, he's old, not what he was, but that's still a pretty good 700,000 signing. He still, even at this age, gives them more for one season than Lazar gives us. Surprised he didn't go to Boston for that price, but maybe they didn't want him or he still hates them from way back.

Of course he would. The game is faster because the rules changed and you can't hold and hook like you used to, but back then he nailed players who put their heads down and tried to tear across the ice. When they were full speed and he caught them doing that it was light's out. be the same today, except, obviously, he'd get penalized now cause they don't really allow that (which is a shame).

Just an obvious example. Weber, Doughty, Pietrangelo, Chara (past tense). names that come to mind. Guys who have dominated their own end. they still exist.

Kind of like in current politics the pro and con lines are drawn and nobody and nothing is likely to change anybody's mind. I believe it because I see signs of it in games and I've always said I don't see him breaking a sweat enough. People accept the critique of Mitts as someone who had it easy and excelled easily and came in with no work hard attitude but I've always seen Reinhart the same way, he's just better than Mitts so he still doesn't have to break a sweat to be an NHL player. But he quits on plays and he makes his linemates do the heavy lifting. I don't like him and I'm still hopeful they trade him for player(s) who work. The argument's pointless because the minds are made up but I will also not forgive him quitting on that play in Detroit. Never seen that before that I can remember. Certainly never from a so called leader. Unforgivable. I truly believe if the guy actually gave a damn and worked Boston style, he'd have better numbers and more impact than Marchand does for them, but he doesn't he won't and I doubt he ever will.

Ya, but I'd say everything bolded IS what toughness is all about and that is exactly what we tend to lack. We might have a Hedmann/Lidstrom in Dahlin, but we could still use a Scott Stevens.

but I'm NOT saying that. You're making up an argument against a position I never took. My position, which I've stated repeatedly is a BALANCED team is what wins. If you have a lightweight skilled team that totally lacks physicality you can get pushed around and eliminated easily (eg. the Leafs). You need a BALANCED team so that you can push back if and when you run into opposition that tries to intimidate you. If not, you're the Red Army against the Broad Street Bullies and you're going home a loser. Again, I'm not equating that, you are. Usually D men are more one thing over another but if you can get a complete player that can do it all well obviously sign him up. The argument was that Pilut doesn't add anything we don't already have and if we are going to improve the D, we need guys who are better in front of the net, better battlers if you like, but that generally comes with bigger more physical bodies. I think you can go too far in any direction, but to be really good you need a deep team that can adapt to the game thrown at them. I personally believe Jack is at his best when he's more physical and he does have a little snarl in him and he's not a little guy. But for him to be able to be mean and throw his own weight around (like a guy like Ovi does for example) you need other guys on the roster who will allow him to not have to be the one to drop his gloves on those occasions when the other side pushes back. Kucherov's actually a pretty nasty guy and the fact that we did nothing to him in Sweden was the beginning of our season's end. Those Columbus games by the way were really close and if that long OT goes the other way Tampa might not have come through that series again. A lot of these things can flip on a dime. The tough guys did their part and they helped keep their opponents honest and the talent prevailed. One dimensional hockey never wins.

If you want Cozens to learn bad habits and useless play. I'd much prefer Cozens either play with high end talent or on a checking line first where he learns to play 2 way hockey completely as he adjusts. Slow and steady development. Not in between a slacker and a giraffe.

You aren't going to stay so locked in your belief system that you simply refuse to see what was obvious are you? You can scoff at Bogo all you want to, it's an easy target, but you know full well Tampa got over the top by shifting their team towards less skill and more toughness. Everybody, and I mean everybody and every so called expert has pointed this out. It's damn obvious. You said the same sort of things when St. Louis won, with their toughness. and you probably said it about Washington before that but I don't remember. Balanced teams, teams that CAN play tough when needed AND be skilled, those are the cup winners. Few exceptions. probably only Pittsburgh with Crosby at his best, but they too got ousted numerous times by lesser/tougher teams like Philly and Boston. I won't disagree on Borgen though. I am hopeful he will sooner than later be good enough to be part of one of those pairings. and maybe Samuelsson too.

Control the front of the net better and let the goalies see the puck.

It makes sense with the border closure and it gives them the opportunity for a nice experiment. A lot of Canadians like the idea of a Canadian division (and vice versa for the American tv deal). I can see this working, even if it does make losing the Buffalo Toronto thing kind of weird.

Right which is why Tampa won the cup 2 years ago rather than this year where they dressed 7 D men, played Maroon, etc. and often outhit their opponents. Right, it's a dead style.

I remember that. little Brian Campbell knocked out Umberger once too. Everybody can do it once in a while, and little guys can knock out big guys but in no way do I consider McCabe a consistent tough guy. He's a very average sometimes inconsistent D man. Not a bad guy to have at the right price, but nothing special either. Bottom line, our D is not tough and is not tough to play against. There is some potential there, but we do not get better adding Pilut over the current 6. I stand by that.