PerreaultForever

Sportsnet seems to have added this to their schedule for us Canadians so I can watch it on the big screen. Not sure if that's a good thing but why not. I got nothing better to do. Is Malkin still out?

DeBrusk is an interesting question mark. His work ethic in Boston has been questioned, but that's Boston. He's not enough of a "Bruin" for them if you get my meaning. The question would be, would he fit in a more open offensively minded style team and do well or is he a little lazy etc? Bruins likely want to unload the contract for some other plan they have targeted. Palmeri is one rumour for example. He might be worth the gamble as part of a larger deal but I wouldn't risk a lot on him. We need more hard workers not potential floaters. Since our season is bust, Adams should look at a Kane type deal maybe. Get an injured guy for next year. In the Bruins case maybe Carlo. Something like that. Adams needs to be creative and think forward and out of the box.

So then firing everyone was just cost cutting and throwing away this season?

I'm concerned Adams will wait too long to move (or worse resign) Hall and won't get a decent price for him as potential trade partners go to their plan Bs or Cs and also lose their cap space(s).

Cause here is what will happen. He does horrible with this crap D in front of him and he starts to second guess himself and loses confidence. He does great (which he might) and we decide we don't need a veteran goalie and we will rush him in for next season. It'll be like |Carter Hart. Hextall got fired for not giving in to rushing him and despite some early success he's now falling apart. Hextall was right. and look at how Carter \Hart has fallen apart this year .

I'd expose Miller but I'd trade Risto here at the deadline if this was the plan.

Sure, let's bring another promising prospect up too soon and expose him to this pile of crap. Why not. It's what we do. This organization is idiotic.

No, it's true if you look at the details and not just the headlines. I agree with this. I also don't feel there is a need to protect Lazar. He's been a fine 4th line pick up and he works hard, but he's hardly an important piece of the future. He's only valuable to a team that sucks monkey balls like ours.

no. we need to stop ruining prospects. keep him as far from this disaster as possible.

Not that Johanson was all that, but isn't it so Sabres to trade away a goalie and then the very next game get an injury and find us needing a goalie?

Ya, but it's kind of true. Kind of. They come here when we overpay them. Can you remember the last home town discount signing we made? I can't. Skinner leveraged JBot with such an incredible squeeze he never should have been signed. Nobody offered Hall the money he wanted in this covid uncertainty year. Okposo was made an offer he couldn't refuse. We are definitely NOT a desirable location aside from players who have few other options. But whatever. To the D question. The team would be insane to leave Borgen unprotected. Make a trade or leave a veteran for them. Fixing the D is difficult, I agree, which is why I'd say pick D in this draft as it's D heavy. The future of this D is in the hands of Samuelson, Johnson, maybe Dahlin, Borgen, Bryson, and whoever we pick this year.

Gotta get in there before the Kraken wakes.

It was nice to have a game that didn't feel over until the very end. There was a little more jump in some of them but overall the same type of mistakes and the same problems. I enjoyed Thompson almost fighting. Good to see. Now throw a body check once in a while okay Tage? Use that body. As much as I love Cozens I am worried that we are going to break him like we do with so many youngsters. He shouldn't be on the top line (yet). Seemed to be a little more life and communication on the bench. That was good too.

Wow. Some f you have a lot of faith in an interim coach creating magic. We shall see I guess.

I've noticed you're smitten with Eklund, and I won't argue that he is potentially a good player, but I've not seen him ranked #1 anywhere. he usually comes in around #5 give or take. Power on the other hand is usually ranked #1 to #3 depending on who it is.

I think here and now feels like the lowest because of covid. Hockey is a good stay at home entertainment option and thus it's a huge letdown to have a season over so soon.

imo it's a mistake to draft immediate need in round 1 of any draft. You take best player available, always, and in this draft, it's likely a D man. We trade for the forward you want.

Sounds like the cat has more push back than most of the players on the roster, sign it up. I know what you mean though, there's no upside right now. The only discussion/argument is on how much of the roster to get rid of and we're already talking draft. Sad, just sad.

We're not really disagreeing that much but what I think the team has to plan for is a post Risto world. Whether that is sooner because we trade him or at the end of his current contract I would think it unlikely he wants to retire a career Sabre after all the losing he's been through. In any event, when you're drafting D men you need to be thinking 3-4 years down the road. The pipeline has to keep flowing because not every prospect is going to pan out as we all know too well.

going to just agree to disagree on this one.

Cozens?

I agree with everything you said except this. The "big names" haven't gotten it done for years and are for the most part under achievers so I think they are the core of the problem.

Big strong D man who can also skate. here is one quote from last year: "Schmidt is a man amongst boys on the ice, and uses his strength to eliminate opposing offensive rushes as well as to hulk his way up the ice for an easy carry-in. However, his hockey sense is also promising, as Schmidt shows innate abilities to read opponent tactics and to shut down any offensive opportunities. He shows intelligence with his stick as well, either through smart positioning or aggressive poke checks to eliminate potential scoring chances." he also seems to be on a rapid improvement curve which bodes well for the future in a somewhat guessing game draft year. Now as to the need, RHD. I hate Montour and want him gone. He probably will be. I've also lost faith in Jokiharju. He can skate and move the puck, but can't play D. Risto might also get traded but even if he doesn't that leaves Risto, Miller and Borgen. Schmidt replaces Miller in 2-3 years. Fundamentally our D is a mess due to changing philosophies and mismatched random pairings. We need big stable defenders to pair with the puck moving skaters we've seemed to favour lately. I want to build this team from the goal out, the reverse of the plan(s) over the last 10 or so years. In a perfect future world he might pair well with Samuellson as a total shutdown pairing on PK and late games with (gasp) a lead. But that's far away and wishful.

Nope. Too slow.

A sixth round pick can be good. Mark Stone and Andres Lee as examples.