JohnC

I just disagree with your take. What Jack knows is that KA is determined to get value for him. And the best way to have that happen is for Jack to demonstrate that he still has it in him.

Jack is not a fool. If he wants out that the best way to facilitate a trade is for him to demonstrate that he is back or near back to his old form. That is the best situation for him and the organization. Whether he is happy or not to play well is in his best interest.

My inclination is that he will need surgery to fix the core problem that he has. Even if he is getting better with rest and physical therapy that doesn't mean that the disk issue is fully addressed. If he continues on with the rehabbing until December, after which another assessment is made, and then it is determined that he can't play without making the injury worse, he will still have to decide which surgery will be most appropriate. No matter which surgery is chosen at that time it is unlikely that he will be able to play post surgery this season if it is delayed. I'm sure that KA's asking price is high. And it should be. In my view KA is handling this situation smartly. He is not going to give away a major talent unless the return is substantial. That's not going to happen until Jack demonstrates that he can return to his former level of play. What's becoming more obvious (to me) is that the Jack trade issue is going to take a lot more time to sort out. I have had disk surgery on my back. There were days prior to the surgery where I felt great. And there were days for inexplicable reasons I was stiff as a board. I see him getting the surgery sooner rather than later.

If Comtois (a @dudacekfavorite) was included with Zegras I would consider the deal. The ideal scenario in a Jack deal is getting a potential first or second line center plus some more. The center doesn't have to be a first line center right away but at least have the potential to be that caliber of player.

I agree with you that it appears that the new agent has changed the dynamic from stuck in the mud to some movement toward resolving the situation. It appears that Jack's side of the table has come to the realization that KA is not going to give up his valuable asset for pennies on the dollar. And the only way for him to be dealt sooner rather than later is to do whatever he has to do to demonstrate that he is healthy and capable of returning to form. The shame of the situation is that the surgery (whichever one) could have happened nearly two months ago. We still don't know for sure what is ultimately going to happen in this saga. However, to KA's credit he has handled this challenging high stakes situation well by not feeling forced to do something he doesn't want to do in order to be done with this mess.

Regardless what surgery he ends up having if he would have had the surgery 4-6 weeks ago the healing and rehabilitation process would be well on its way. If I had to guess I would think that he is going to have the fusion surgery recommended by the Sabres. I just don't see him getting the replacement surgery and risk having his contract voided. I'm not sure that is the case. It's just as likely that he and his agent recognize that until his health status is clarified he won't be dealt.

Although you have not fully returned to complete normal are you steadily getting better? Is the next month better than the previous month? As I said with Hoss I wish you the best. I don't wish this infection on anyone.

We fundamentally disagree. By constantly churning over GMs and coaches there is going to inherently be philosophical changes in the organization. It doesn't matter what the organizational structure or flow chart is because the philosophy on how to build a roster is going to change with each different GM. Murray certainly had a different approach to roster building compared to the diffused front office he took over for. And then when Murray was replaced by Botterill he had a different mind-set on not only building a roster but also in building-up the minor league system. And when Botterill was replaced by KA there was another shift in the approach to roster building and toward running the organization. And when KA took over as the GM I believe (some agree and others don't) that Krueger wielded the most influence in the hockey operation. The point I'm emphasizing is that this constant churning of staff had a predictable effect of destabilizing the franchise because there wasn't enough continuity and follow through to build a solid foundation. I'm just hoping that the Pegulas learn from their mistakes and allow KA and his staff the time and space to do their jobs

I have never said that everything the Pegulas have done is bad. So I don't know why you said that. What I did say from an overview perspective is that their stewardship has been poor as evidenced by their record. The reorganization was initiated during the Botterill tenure. The owners wanted him to dramatically cut staff. He refused to do it. He ended up being fired. He didn't get fired for his hockey performance. He got fired because he was unwilling to significantly cut the staff to the degree that the owners wanted. So he was fired. Then KA was brought on and it appears that Krueger gained a lot of influence during this period of time. Last year, under Krueger the wheels came off and KA seemed to become the most important person in the hockey operation. What has happened this past year since the departure of Krueger is that the organization has been re-staffed in a manner that most organizations are staffed. So what essentially happened was that the reorganization that was initiated by the owners was quickly changed to what normal franchises do. Why was another organizational change made? Its simple: The owners' austerity organization plan was an abject failure. I addressed the Pegula reorganization plan post Botterill. It was a failure. I'm not sure what you disagree with.

I don't want to get involved in repeated back and forth exchanges that are nonproductive and have a tendency to get nasty. All I can say is your observation is spot on.

You can evaluate the franchise in any way you prefer to do. You can use any metric you want. Any way you want to look at it the record during their tenure is not something to have pride in. The owners can hire whoever they want, fire whoever they want and get involved as much as they want. Ultimately, sports franchises are judged on their record. It's not impressive. That's the essential point.

The original ROR deal didn't go through because it was about the bonus money. And the ROR St. Louis deal was rushed because the owner didn't want to pay the bonus. So the bullshiit that you are slinging originates from your own rear-side aperture. That's the point that you refuse to acknowledge.

With respect to your first point what we do know is that after gutting the scouting department the organization went back and started rebuilding/staffing it. The constant churning of staff was a primary reason why this Pegula franchise was not only unstable but also highlighted by its record a dismal failure With respect to your second point I got the consecutive number wrong but the primary point was that this team quit on its coach and was spiraling down the path to epic failure with the Pegula hiring of the coach. With respect to your third point you make an excellent point. It is just as likely that no money was saved because of the obligation to pay off contracts for fired employees. In hindsight the organization was slimmed down, the outcome on the ice was disastrous and in the end there is a good chance that money was not saved. That's not a very smart way to run an operation/business.

For more than a year Pegula was without question a penny-pincher. Why do you think that he fired Botterill after he refused to carry out the owners' dramatic staffing cuts? Pegula ordered the gutting of the scouting staff with the belief that a reliance on video was just as good as reliance on scouts? How did that turn out? As far as firing Krueger who was leading a team that quit on him and was the HC whose team hadn't won in nearly 20 games what did you want to the owner to do? He hired Krueger who was out of his depth and and an abject failure. What else was the owner going to do? Give him an extension for his team's consistency? The reason that he is paying Krueger not to coach is because the owner made a stupendous blunder in hiring him. As the owner has painfully learned when you make bad hires it can be costly. Yes Pegula is rebuilding a staff that he deliberately eviscerated. What he is doing is going back to having a normally staffed operation after he ordained that the Sabres be abnormally run with its austerity model. Where did it get this bedraggled franchise? We were the worst team in the league by far last year? What you are perversely doing is akin to giving credit to the person who stabs his victim because he administered first-aid to the person that he cut. That makes no freaking sense.

Pegula is not concerned with cap ramifications. He is concerned with the bulk $$$ regardless how it is categorized. If you multiply $1.5 X 5 yrs. you get $7.5 M. That would be in the range of the total salary retention that is referred to by some accounts for a Jack deal.

There were reports that Carolina was willing to offer a lot more for a ROR trade than what St. Louis gave us. The condition was that there needed to be some salary retention. In hindsight the Carolina offer would have benefited the team much more. If Rossi and Boldy were part of a deal that included a first round pick a reasonable salary retention would make sense especially when considering that the Sabres are dealing a prime player who not only is not fully healthy but alos who may never be the player he once was. Let me also add that this team has been mired in the muck of mediocrity during Terry Pegula's decade long tenure. As an owner he has made a lot of blundering decisions that has kept this sunken franchise submerged.

Terrific news. 🍺

I sincerely hope you are feeling better and on your way to a full recovery. I wish you well.

Do you know what is more important than cap space especially for a team that has plenty of cap room? Adding potential first or second line players to the roster for a rebuilding team.

Reinhart is smart enough and mature enough to make his own decision without being overly influenced by any other player. There is no doubt that both players talked about the team and their situations. But in the end Samson acted in his own best interest just like Jack is doing.

The issue over the conditional pick is a miniscule issue. It is between getting a first round pick if conditions are met as opposed to getting a second round pick if the Jack playing time isn't met. The substantive return are the two top tiers prospects plus the first round pick in 2022. As for as retaining salaries I'm sure that the 2.5 m can be negotiated down to between 1.5-2.0 M. Very often when a high salaried player is dealt the sending team is required to take back another player/contract. So retaining salary is not much different from adding a contract in order to get a deal consummated. As the saying goes: Let's not let perfect be the enemy of the good.

You would nix a deal on the conditional pick? I would take that offer in a heartbeat. With Rossi, Boldy, Quinn, Peterka and Rosen in the pipeline you can see the accumulation of talent for the top two lines in a couple of years. What that would represent is legitimate hope.

No one is sucking you into a topic that you consider to be bogus. You are partaking because you chose to do so. There is a simple solution to your aggravation: Don't respond to the topic you find questionable. By responding you are increasing the responses. It's like a person who repeatedly goes to a restaurant he doesn't like in order to complain about another meal he just consumed. Avoidance is the solution. There are plenty of other topics on the proverbial menu that you can comment on.

Pegula, as with most businessmen in every field of endeavor, have as their first priority the financial soundness of their business. If he can have a one game attraction/event outside of his usual market which might expand his market (within his territory) then what is wrong with that? If he was moving more games to Hamilton then I can understand the hostile reaction. In this case it is for only one game. I'm not bothered by this proposed game at all. Quite the contrary. I'm interested in seeing what the attendance will be and what the portion coming from the Toronto market and the Hamilton and Buffalo market.

If Pegula can put a game within the Sabres' geographic territory and make money off it then what's wrong with that? It's one game that will bring in more revenue per game than normal for a franchise that many people report is losing money. (There are many ways of interpreting the finances. I don't want to get into that complicated and murky area.) And what's wrong in trying to cultivate a market that is untapped and within its territory?