Marvin

Since we are rehashing 1999, I might as well state my position: They ignored every other rule in overtime, so why not that one too?

IMHO, that's not nonsense. I would take those brothers very seriously. They know better than anyone else does.

That would sorely tempt me at #3. The age thing usually so works against players born later in the year that some leagues have age gradations by half-year. I read somewhere that a majority of draft "steals" are those who are smaller because of their age. If he is in the top tier while still being one of the youngest players in his draft class, then we should very seriously consider him.

FWIW, no one I know in Columbus knows about anything between the Sabres and the Mad Cows.

The NHLPA would never stand for that. If Eichel signs a waiver and the surgery goes awry or he is hurt, the Sabres would have no liability, a voided contract, no cap hit, etc. The NHLPA would probably have to cover much of his health bills. If the Sabres OK it, then they are on the hook for the contract and potentially much more. If the surgery goes awry, the Sabres have a $10M cap hit each season he contracted for until they could LTIR him. If he is permanently hurt while an employee, they are responsible for his health for the rest of his life. The NHLPA would be absolved of the responsibility. Can you imagine the potential liability lawsuit? "Of course you are responsible. You could have told me, 'no.'" That is what this is really about: who is financially responsible if something goes wrong? IMHO, the Sabres don't advise the surgery, so they should stand firm, regardless of what the players and talking heads say. Edit: Yes, I understand that this would make Buffalo an even lesser market for the players than it is already. Life sucks, then you die. Assuming he is being honest in this, which I see no reason not to, how is is passing a physical after a trade? Even if it is waived for the moment, it is a non-zero possibility that other teams' doctors would tell the lawyers that it is a bad risk and then nix the trade. This is much, much harder than anyone in the hockey world seems to think. The fact that the only people who don't seem to be cavalier about Eichel's health are viewed as the bad guys makes me despair at human nature.

I don't think he was wrong last year. Had the team been healthy and had an average PDO, they would have been passable. They would not have been good, but they would have been tolerable.

This is the wisdom I wanted to state, but could not elucidate properly. We will not win the trade for Eichel (or Reinhart, for that matter) on paper. I accept that as fact and look for what I can get. It is why I keep saying that we could get some good players buried in their system and looking for a break. The #2C who gets bumped because he's now overpriced as a #3C but thinks he could be a low-end #1C. Guys who play their total games and are disciplined regardless of the situation on the ice. These are eminently obtainable players in any trade.

Real life: Best case: the other team's #2C before the trade, 2 prospects at most a year away from breaking into the league, and a couple of conditional picks depending on Eichel's performance. Worst case: grab-bag of futures, cap dump.

They had to: there was no international travel to start the season.

If you are into British slops, erm, soaps: Dead Enders Consternation Street

This is Kevyn Adams's ideal. Let us see if he can do it.

That is a long-winded way of saying, "I hear the same rumours you do, so I threw a few darts at the wall to see what I could come up with to pad this out."

IMHO, Gorges was unquestionably our 2nd best defenceman behind Myers on those teams. The rest of that defence was as bad as most of the forwards. One of the reasons The Tank was doomed to fail was because most of the veterans were at least 1 level too high in the line-up and could not lead by example while the other players could support their examples like torn jockstraps. Addendum 1: that team iced a maximum of 3 defencemen at one time who belonged in the NHL: Myers/Bogosian, Gorges, and Weber. Addendum 2: that team had no top-line forwards, maybe 3 top-6 forwards in Ennis, Moulson, and Stafford, and only 2-3 more who had earned NHL shifts were above the 4th line in Gionta and Foligno with maybe Hodgson. Girgensons, Ristolainen, Zadorov, et al. belonged in Rochester. How the hell can veterans lead and youngsters learn good habits where half the defence have no business being in the NHL and 9 forwards who either should have been learning in the AHL or were barely 4th liners? And when things went well, the GM would panic and trade decent players -- particularly goaltenders who gave the team and coaching staff confidence. If you want to know why the culture now sucks, it starts with The Tank. You can't magically turn things around the next season after two seasons of that bilge.

I am as clueless as he seems to be. It is not at all obvious to me. Please spell it out in simple, but complete terms.

I would prefer a different kind of player to get a better mix.

The bucket doesn't need any pucks for a trade to unload Eakin to be worthwhile.

Thank you. Seriously, every little bit of support matters. Last year, when the pandemic began, my mother was diagnosed with cancer. She had 6 months at most. She was of Chinese descent. When I was getting her food, drink, and medicine to help her, I would get grabbed, pushed, jostled, etc. People would just start yelling at me about how I was trying to kill every American. When I, in my turban, light beard, etc., commented that I was a native-born citizen, the MAGA-hatters would tell me that's not a real American. You can not imagine the problems I have had. And it's better now here than it was in Columbus, Ohio in 1998 -- and from Sikhs I know there, it is far worse now than it was then. The worst part is that there is no concept of working towards "the common good". The world is changing too fast for some people and not fast enough for others and no one is willing to adjust or compromise. $50 per Sabres game is cheap compared to another trip to BryLin.

IMHO, if Eichel is traded before he hits the ice and proves he's more-or-less back to normal, I expect any trade for him will have a couple of conditional picks and some mid-range complimentary pieces.

And when you don't suck, it's even worse.

What blows my mind is that Krueger had incontrovertible evidence that the LOG line was his only reliable defencive line. What the hell was he thinking? It's like he was more driven by fantasy than the cartoon character Ralph Phillips.

Before I buy tickets, I need to see positive moves which I deem correct. If the coaching, line-up, and farm team look acceptable, I will get tickets and take my risks. I am still a fan, after all. You can question my character, intelligence, or whatever all you want. The stress relief of just being just another fan for 3 hours for 40+ times instead of an n-word, towel-headed terrorist, a deliberate spreader of the China virus, destroyer of America, or being deemed unamerican because it is only the country of my birth (depending on the year, context, and situation) is worth a couple grand to me. It beats the hell out of bursting into a rage or into tears because of all the discrimination, finger-pointing, angry looks, or flat out threats I deal with then I leave the house.

I have written and read better fan-fiction. Good amateurs could have written better stories.

How much does this create an imperative for a big name coach?

I trust virtually everyone here over Botterill every day of the week.

Are you saying that Wayne Simmonds and Vladimir Sobotka might have been inferior players to those who were getting less ice time? Heaven Forfend!