PerreaultForever

My comment is based on what's left in the tank, not on the past. At his age a lot of players simply lose it and he showed signs of slowing down already. Can we get a good year out of him? maybe. Is it a guarantee? i think not. Pageau is definitely better imo.

We disagree in magnitude I guess. I see it as a small step not a huge one. If Staal was 30 it would be huger than huge. At 35 or 36 it's a hope and a wish. I guess it also means we're not so concerned with "fast" any more. Don't get me wrong, I like Staal, I'm just not sure he's got a lot left.

So 10 more years then? :) I definitely want playoffs, but I also don't see it happening without more than this Staal deal (although it is a small start).

To be a true playoff team yes, nothing has really changed. Staal is old and faded and although theoretically might be a better fit for the moment it's not a big fix and for an actual playoff team you'd have to think of him as 3C at best if not 4C. I don't see him as much more than a placeholder to be honest.

Meh, I'm not sure it qualifies as "big." Although he is 6'4"

age obviously. The upside, Staal is an actual center, has played with Skinner, good character guy, fits the hole and hopefully gives Cozens (or longshot Mitts) time to evolve into the 2C. Oh, and cheaper. The downside, he's old as dirt and might be past it. Also, it might mean that's it for 2C for now. I see this as a one season deal nothing more. Adequate, maybe decent, but nothing to get overly excited about. Dealt at the deadline if we suck again.

This. Asplund could be decent though.

The kids definitely. That's always the case and nothing new there. Good teams draft well and take leaps forward when a bunch of kids mature at the same time. The downside of that is to make cost cutting easy I think they will rush too many kids (with cheap contracts) into the line up ready or not. As far as the GT goes there are goalies available so maybe but the 2C? I just don't see it happening without a big trade but that's been discussed in another thread already.

So the question is why are they not trusted? Perhaps it's because of the contradictions given by non expert and non medical people? Here in Canada we put the doctors in charge, listened to them (mostly) and have done much better as a result. Were they right on everything? No, it's a new disease and they have to update and modify, but it's informed leadership led by science and fact and not wish fulfillment or desire for an outcome. I know Americans like to pride themselves with being the best and better than other countries and so forth but if almost the entire world goes in one direction and you are going in another is it not right to wonder if maybe you're going the wrong way?

Indeed.

In terms of building competitive teams it is interesting to consider the Islanders approach over say, ours. They lost their superstar, Tavares, for nothing, and yet are a better team now than when they had him. Lots of good decisions made by that team, many of them that we could have made but didn't. It's telling. Tampa will still win and who cares. Bogo must feel like he died and went to heaven.

"negligible" is a funny word that can set the line in different places but what you said earlier was "zero risk for under 40" Zero risk was what I said was blatantly false. There's no argument with anyone that the elderly, the infirm, people with diabetes etc. are at greater risk, that's a no brainer, but the idea that everyone else is safe is misleading and gives a false sense of security. Another fact check example: https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-factcheck-covid-19-underlying-idUSKBN22V2YQ There's lots of examples. There was a young Uni kid in Montreal a few weeks back that was an athlete and perfectly healthy and he died to the shock and dismay of doctors. That was on the CBC tv news. They have no idea why last I heard. Further, in full agreement with SwampD, it's wrong to just dismiss co-morbidities. As a society, you're supposed to support and protect the vulnerable. That's what a caring society does. So, as I said above, ignoring doctor advocated rules, not wearing masks, etc. is simply selfish and shows a lack of concern for others. It is, in fact, the attitude that leads to the label of "the ugly Americans" globally that I'm sure you've heard of at some point in regards to travelling tourists and such. It's why the U.S. Canadian border remains closed and it's why there's a travel ban on Americans entering numerous countries. You know, the U.S. prides itself on it's patriotism. If you were at war you'd listen to your war experts, your generals. So why you don't listen to your disease experts, your doctors, just boggles the mind.

Maybe. but maybe he was just Andy Bernard on the Office. A yes man who agreed to work for cheap and do whatever the owners wanted. This seems the more likely possibility but you never know, he might surprise. Wait for some evidence of that I guess.

What makes you think he has a clue?

not sure how you prevent granting it (if it happens). This past season he seemed to step it up and played with what looked like his all (if he has still more it's a scary thought) and that was the first year I'd say that about him for a full season (or full cut off season to be specific). If he truly wants out he'll quit on them and float, I'm sure of it, and then you're stuck and the trade value drops as well. In all likelihood if he truly wants out it'll be behind closed doors and we'll only hear about it with a rumour and denial and only if it fails to happen will he come out publicly with a demand/request. Heck, it may have already happened. No way to know.

Sorry, but this is blatantly untrue. While it is correct that healthy people and younger people are at far lesser risk, the idea that it's nothing or zero risk is misleading and wrong. Google it and you'll see. For example: https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/04/08/young-people-coronavirus-deaths/ (and please to whoever, no nonsense about 'fake news" please. A dead person is a dead person, these are not made up or fictitious deaths for any agendas. the whole fake news thing is simply designed to obfuscate and obscure facts so that people stay in their chosen lanes by rejecting anything that doesn't support their pre-existing view) The fact is that scientists and doctors are still learning about this thing and it has some odd behaviours/characteristics. For example, one of the things is that while the virus itself doesn't kill some people it somehow (they haven't figured out how yet) it confuses the body and sends it into overdrive so in a sense it overreacts in fighting it. Somewhat I suppose like a person with hayfever whose body overreacts to a foreign smell/pollen and goes into fits of sneezing to expel something that isn't actually harmful at all. In this case the person's own immune system goes into such a state of panic they end up dying by stroke, heart failure or other similar things due to the stressed out system. The good news on that research is that treatment options are better now as they have found in some patients cortical steroids help calm the immune system down and can lead to a recovery. Again I suppose (I'm no expert) like nasal sprays for allergies. But, and this is the main thing, it does seem to affect different people in different ways and even some healthy young people can die from it. So little things like wearing masks, distancing, keeping your social groups small, these are not that difficult and to not do them, well it's simply selfish and uncaring cause at this point we still simply don't know everything there is to know.

It might be a year where a lot of FAs who would normally be seeking long term for security will end up taking 1 yr. deals hoping for a normalization the following season.

As time goes by some statistical numbers will be thrown off as many young healthy people (ignoring distancing) get it but come out of it fine so the percentage of the total for deaths etc is thrown off. But, at the same time lost in the stat deaths and serious cases for the elderly or infirm will rise and that stat might get buried by others. The U.S. is like 50 different countries handling it differently so no wonder it's a little messed up.

With you on loving physical hockey but do you really think we'd get that? I dunno, there's been some physical moments in this bubble hockey but overall I think the nastiness and level of intensity and physicality is at an all time low. Am I wrong? Is it just my perception with the somewhat flat bubble atmosphere (no boos and home crowd stuff)? Certainly not the same level as last year, but maybe in this era that was the outlier. Wish Jamie Benn was a Sabre that's for sure.

It's not doom and gloom, it's simply accurate. Sad to say. I read a thing that said Boston was considering a major overhaul (figuring the veteran core had their shots and it's over for them I guess) so maybe they already have their eyes on him since they know that's where he dreams of being. I dunno, moving a big name top guy isn't easy no matter the destination but I'm sure we can screw it up and trade him for a bag of peanuts. When's the next "generational" player due in the draft? Maybe we have plans to tank for him.

If he signs.

Yup. I was basing the comment on what he did against Vancouver but you are right, he has not been as good this series. Decent, but not great. Certainly not as good as Khudobin. Myself, I was wondering if he was getting tired and wearing down with this many games mostly every other day. He's been in rotational situations last couple years and this might simply be too much for him. He's still not giving up a ton though so I'm not sure he'd be lit up by Tampa like you say, but at this rate we will never know.

Never forget the tax advantage Florida teams have. Tough to compete with that if they spend wisely. Of course on the other hand look at all that money going to Stamkos and currently not helping them at all. Good/lucky(?) drafting. Same for Carolina. Hence they could cut loose a guy like Skinner and do better after. So drafting well is the key always, not spending. and drafting well lets you spend less for years too. So on the one hand I guess getting rid of a scouting department is fine since maybe they didn't earn their money. But the plan is (?) virtually no scouting department? Ya sure, that seems like it'll work................

I pretty much feel that way about all 4. If I have to pick I prefer Vegas, but really don't care.

I don't know why this is surprising to people, it goes hand in hand with what was being said when JBot and all the scouts etc were fired. Cost cutting and fiscal restraint. Why did you think they'd spend on players??? The Sabres won't be alone in this approach. Arizona and Pittsburgh mentioned above and I'm sure there will be others. The next season will be a challenge to say the least in terms of generating revenue so a lot of owners are going to just spend as little as possible until things are fully back to normal.