JohnC

You are portraying the GM's stance on this situation as being whimsical. It's not. He is basing his position on the most appropriate surgery on the best medical advice he could find. Jack's preferred surgical procedure is an outlier procedure and not recommended by the majority of medical people in the field. The GM is not out to get Jack or use him as a foil to demonstrate to the hockey world that he is a tough GM who is not going to be taken advantage of by those in the business. If that was his motivation for dealing with this complex issue it would be self-defeating. Jack has options if he wants to exercise them. But he is not willing to do so at his financial risk. If Jack feels so strongly about this particular procedure then he should simply get it and assume the financial risk if it doesn't work out as well as expected. I have no animosity toward Jack. This injury has sidelined him most of last year, and there is a good chance that not only could he be sidelined for all of this year but also there is a chance that his career can be in serious jeopardy. However, even understanding why Jack feels as he does the one person I'm not going to criticize is the person leading the hockey operation who is following the best medical advice he for this type of injury. I will say it again: I have no problem with the way KA has handled this situation.

If someone else posted this link I apologize for the redundancy. Within this post game Sabre.com link is a 14 min clip of Granato commenting on the training camp game and his comments about some of the players. He's a pleasure to listen to because he is usually very clear and succinct when answering questions. https://www.nhl.com/sabres/news/sabres-prepping-for-game-pace-with-blue-vs-gold-scrimmage/c-326366714

I don't see him as a top two line player but I see him being a good third or even fourth line player who can contribute. Don't knock the importance of those lower line players. For the past number of years our lower lines have contributed little offensively. Getting something from those lower lines helps out.

When you look at our prospects on the blueline and the young players already with the big club it's becoming evident that in a couple to a few years this organization will have assembled a quality unit. Dallin/Joki/Sameulsson/Power/Johnson/Bryson??/Laaksonen/Pilut??/ are young players that still have plenty of upside. Brick by brick the ramshackle house is being rebuilt.

Don't try to figure out why the moderator deleted your post. I was sanctioned on a factual post I made on the Covid issue. The moderator went bazooka on me. His intemperate response to me was outrageously out of proportion to my post. He acted as if I impugned his mother. At first I was upset being penalized and then I cooled off and realized that part of life is dealing with erratic behavior. Don't let it bother you: It's like water rolling off a duck's back.

@Brawndo is the answer man. When he speaks people should listen.

He will be given an opportunity to be our primary net minder. If he struggles he will be sent down. If you are hoping for a surprise don't count out Dell. Is our goal tending as bad as some of our pessimists (most notably @GASabresIUFAN) who are in a state despair over the current staffing? I'm wary but not ready to jump off the cliff yet. Too many people are making assumptions. I simply don't know.

Krueger had a strong ideological approach to the game. He also had a strong belief in himself. When things started to go south his reflexive response was to more ferociously adhere to the tenants that he strongly held. This very smart man who was used to being at the podium spouting his wisdom in eloquent terms didn't understand the simple dictum: When digging yourself deeper into a hole the best way to get out of your predicament is to stop digging. Too much talking and not enough listening.

Someone else (?? want to give credit to the person) wisely pointed out that goaltending is one of the most mercurial positions in hockey or even sports in general. One year a goaltender can play at a Vezina level and then the next year fall off the cliff and play at the Hutton level. A couple of year's ago the Flyers' Carter Hart, a rookie, took the league by storm. The next year he struggled. Could Dell, Anderson or even UPL surprise else this year? I don't know! What I do know is that anyone who confidently assumes one way or another how any of these players will play is residing on a thin limb on tall tree.

I strongly believe that Adams is determined to get some value for Jack. And that is not going to happen until the player demonstrates that he can return to his elite form at some point. That's why I have concluded that this is a long term game. We may be a year away (if ever) for an ending to this saga. What many people here fail or are reluctant to consider is that Jack may never be what he once was.

This franchise has been subjected to a series of missteps for a vey long time. So it is unfair to single out one section of that catalogue of failures. However, Krueger's reign as the HC was an unmitigated disaster that set this franchise back to unimaginable depths. Whatever talent he had on the roster playing in his "system" resulted in the suppression of their respective individual talents in order to be subordinated to his stifling "system". What was a little peculiar was that Granato was on Krueger's staff. As soon as Krueger was dispatched the former subordinate in many ways flipped the script and did the opposite of what his former boss did. The line of demarcation was the coaching changeover where we watched an unpalatable game under the former coach to a more palatable and entertaining game under the new coach. The talent that was once strangled was allowed to breathe. And you didn't have to be a hockey maven to recognize it. People can criticize the GM for a lot of things; they can't do it for his coaching selection.

The conundrum in a proposed Jack trade is that no team is going to give up a prime prospect for him until he proves that he is healthy or on his way to regaining his health. It hasn't happened up to now and I don't see it happening until Jack's health status is clarified. It's like a vehicle deeply stuck in the mud with no tow truck on the way. Nothing is moving!

I don't want to get involved in a spat. However, from my reading I don't think he is trying to be condescending. He simply gave his responses point by point to some of your responses. As @New Scotland (NS)perceptively points out this topic appears to have run its course. Not because it isn't a worthy topic but because there hasn't been any movement or change in this extended stalemate. You are one of the better posters in this forum. I don't always agree with your takes but I always consider them because they are well stated and reasoned. I've noticed that in this extended topic that the level of friction has increased among the contributors. As I said in a prior post more attention should be paid to the players on the ice than to this current Jack situation unless there is a change in this non-moving drama. I hope you receive my comment in the spirit it was intended.

Why would it be in a violation if both parties agree to the change? It's not unusual for a player to waive or modify their NMC or trade clause in the signed contract. So if both parties agree to it then I don't see what the issue is.

You ask a very penetrating question regarding how many teams are open to the ADR procedure? What if the answer is not many, at least to the extent that they would be willing to give up substantial assets until the results are known? Jack can get the ADR procedure but it will be at the expense of invalidating his contract. So far he hasn't been willing to take that course of action. When one looks at this situation it is not too difficult to understand the stances of each side. The problem for Jack is because of the CBA the contract favors the organization's side. I do believe there can be a resolution in this stalled situation. In order for there to be movement he will have to modify the contract where he will be assuming the financial risk if the end result doesn't work out. So far he hasn't been willing to do that.

Maybe more extra strength bleach should have been added to the wash? 🤡

You may be bothered by hearing the reality of the Jack situation but that is where the GM and the organization is at. Jack is not going to be around during this extended interlude of uncertainty regarding his health situation. Bringing up the issue of the captaincy of the absent Jack is not a gratuitous assault on the player. It's an obvious issue that he has clarified. It no longer is a lingering issue because it is now a settled issue. There is nothing wrong with that.

Not necessarily. The sensations that you are feeling are the same convolution of feelings that all of us are feeling. We would like this saga to be over with and resolved one way or the other. Sometimes the hardest thing to deal with is not the challenging situation in of itself as much as the length of time it takes for it to be resolved. This high stake issue (for the player and franchise) was never going to be a quick fix situation. And that is why it has become so exasperating. Maybe the best approach is to put it on the shelf and focus on those who are on the ice.

I agree with you that he does stress a high tempo style of play. It's not so much a complex system as it is a style of play. But as you pointed out that in itself is a system.

Great clip. The one thing that is obvious is that as a coach one of his strongest attributes is that he has an understanding of the psychology of the player and person. My sense is that he is not a system coach. His approach is to understand what the specific talents are of the individual players and then attempt to put them in the best situation to succeed. He seems to understand the challenging situation he is in and is embracing it. He is the right coach at this time.

The proverbial dirty laundry is already hanging outside for everyone to see. This is one saga that not only isn't hidden but can't be hidden. So being discrete at this point is futile. KA is open and transparent where he is at on this situation. That's the right approach to take. He is not going to get involved in a tit for tat public spat. He clearly said where he is at and where the other party is. Part of the job for any GM is to answer tough questions relating to players and situations. His answer is clear without much need for additional elaboration. In my judgment he is handling it well.

The worst thing that Adams could have done is to refuse to answer any Jack questions. Not answering the biggest issue hovering over this organization wouldn't stop the questions that would continue to follow him now and in the future. The GM gave a status report of where he is with the issue and where the player is with the issue. There's a fundamental disagreement between the parties on the right way to medically proceed. It's hasn't changed. That's where we are. Overall, I have no problem with the way the GM has handled this issue.

Under this particular agreement even if there is a medical arbitration the organization has the last say. I don't believe that it was always that way under previous CBAs. But in this CBA the union agreed to the change because they either weren't paying attention to this specific clause or because this type of health and treatment conflict has rarely come up. I suspect that in the next CBA negotiations the union will be more attentive to this type of issue.

My understanding is that under the current CBA the organization has the deciding say on the treatment for an injury. The Jack camp can't overrule the organization's decision unless it wants to invalidate the contract.

Sometimes you get involved in a situation where there is no simple or quick solution. There was never going to be a quick resolution to this complicated health issue because the first responsible course of action was to see if over time it could heal by itself. It would have made no sense to resort to either one of the surgeries until this first extended wait and see phase was gone through. As far as the friction between the two sides that was inevitable. The organization wanted to take the more cautious and conventional surgical approach and the player side wanted a less than conventional surgical approach that at least theoretically had a shorter rehabilitation period. It shouldn't be surprising that these two different views resulted in conflict. It simply was inevitable. Overall, KA has handled this situation as well as can be expected. He is not going to give up a valuable asset for pennies on the dollar for the sake of getting ridding of a problem. That is the right thing to do. If it takes another year to resolve the situation, then so be it.