Marvin

I thought long and hard about Rico. I think he's the top of the next tier.

They do appear to be looking around anyway. Having said that, it would be consistent with Terry Pegula in his business to hire an up-and-comer like Granato. Indeed, going with someone better established would be somewhat out-of-character. We can but hope he gets it right.

Much as I loved Drury, IMHO, this is obvious when it comes to talent -- Eichel hands down.

Let's see. Dominik Hasek is a clear #1. Gil Perreault should be a clear #2. The next tier, based on my perception and statistics, include Bill Hajt, Jim Schoenfeld, Danny Gare, Mike Ramsey, Dale Hawerchuk, Pat LaFontaine, Alexander Mogilny, and Jack Eichel. So he is at worst 10th on my list.

Put this in another thread. I can engage there. Let us not contaminate a GDT.

10 years has worn on all of us. I empathise.

Rehab and disgust at GMJB fixes my limp, but I still have a nasty twinge.

Nice catch. Thanks.

I am using the following as a base line-up for discussion (5 forward lines, 4 defence pairs, and 3 goaltenders). Please follow-up with where I am being too optimistic. Skinner-Eichel-Reinhart Asplund-Mittlestadt-Thompson Ruotsalainen-Cozens-Bjork Reider-Sheahan-Olofsson Caggiula-Girgensons-Okposo Dahlin-Bryson Borgen-Jokiharu McCabe-Ristolainen Samuelsson-Miller Ullmark Tokarski Pekka-Lukkonen Let me take what I perceive as our weaknesses in decreasing order of importance. 1. Goaltending. This is the most glaring. Tokarski and UPL are fine for Rochester, but we need 2 in Buffalo. 1 can be Ullmark. The other should be someone who can play at least 30 games. This probably must happen in free agency. 2. Experienced mentor for the young defencemen. The youngsters are very promising, but need to improve their defencive awareness and positioning. I need someone headier than Ristolainen, Miller, or McCabe back there. As a group, they still don't pass well enough and are mistake-prone. I think we can find this kind of player in free agency -- preferably 2. 3. Bottom 6 forward depth. I need the entire 4th line to be like the LOG line has been the previous 2.5 years and the next 3 guys up to play that way effectively. We need to be able to still ice a solid line-up even if there are a few injuries. For far too long, we have had a least 1 line getting crushed for most of the season. These guys make up the bulk of free agents at forward. 4. Variety of forward. Yes, I wish more of that top 9 finished their checks. Indeed, Skinner could be that much more effective if he learnt it. However, you will need to move someone out in a hockey trade to acquire that kind of player.

Pirates?

Yup. If I were him, I'd be pretty insulted too if a team trying to lose traded for me for the explicit purpose of downgrading in goal.

Skinner is most effective on a line with other shooters. He is a great garbageman. And because he is a shooter, he needs someone else with finishing skills on his line. As we are stuck with him for several years, the Sabres need to maximise his value to the team.

Musk Wind

This is one reason I am in favour Dahlin-Borgen and Bryson-Jokiharu for a bit more balance. IMHO, the third pairing should be a defence-first pairing.

If we wan Reinhart to be a centre, then he needs to learn from this experience.

I wonder if Cozens would work better there in Eichel's absence.

It needs to be completely redesigned when Eichel is not there. Sam is good, but not as good as Eichel at distributing the puck. This is partly because he has not been a centre for long.

I am less afraid of the 7th year or even an 8th than most are here. Sam's game is headier than most; thus, I think he has a longer shelf life as a productive player until potentially his mid 30's. Yes, he may hit a wall sooner, but I don't think so.

"Wow, this is ugly now. Glad the kids are in bed." --- Rick Jeanneret

Another point to think about: Given what people on other fanboards (e.g., hfboards) are posting the players whom their teams will protect, Seattle may put a premium on getting centres: there appear to be many good defencemen being expost and many of the 7th forwards being protected are the team's #3C. Which of our forwards, who are likely to be exposed, qualify as NHL centres? Is there a good reason to pick that centre over Miller?

Let's alter our point of view slightly. What do you do if they want a quality depth player such as Bjork in order to take Miller? What is the maximum you would offer Seattle in picks to take Miller? How do these answers change if you expose Ristolainen versus Borgen. That would inform my decision more than other things.

dis udder.

20 April calls for 3:30 of "I Am the Walrus"? On the other hand, this is me:

We have too many centres who are too good next year, so we should trade Eichel? This is right up there with the time Capitol Records releases "Ticket to Ride" as a song from the movie "Eight Arms to Hold You". Why don't we see how the offseason shakes out first and then what injuries mar training camp before we go trading Eichel or Reinhart. I could stand rolling 4 lines and 3 pairs every game. Let's figure out the goaltending, coaching, assistants to the GM, scouts, etc. before getting so far ahead of ourselves. If next year's training camp comes and we go 5 lines, 4 pairs, and 3 goaltenders deep (cf. 2005-6), then let us thank our lucky stars and live with it.

I personally had given up.