JohnC

He was a boy playing against men. With his peers he excelled. It's going to take some time for him to mature. Within his age group he ranked high. As a prospect this is not going to be a quick development. But if he is handled in the right way and not rushed the Sabres should get a return on their investment in a few years.

There is a wide boundary within the definition of the word. The one thing I know you are not is uncooperative. You are a fine chap. But on certain issues you can be obstinate. I can't criticize anyone for being obstinate because at times I can also be stubborn, as others have often told me. 🍺 https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/recalcitrant

You are a recalcitrant. 🙂

I don't intend to make excuses for KA but the reality is that Krueger was running the show last year. Adams was implementing Krueger's requests. All I can say is that we will have to see how tonight transpires, especially if the expected trades materialize. I certainly like the return for Risto. Hopefully the acquired picks turn out to be something worthwhile. There is still plenty of time to maneuver before the season starts. I recommend waiting for the how things turn out after tonight before making a judgment. I'm cautiously optimistic that after tonight the rebuild process will be accelerated and the timetable will be within a reasonable period of time.

Yes. If you complain about that I'm going to relegate you to the curmudgeon room and lock the door.

I know what will make the both of us happy. Ideally, it would be a Jack deal with Anaheim where we acquire Zegress plus and their 3OA pick in which we select Eklund. Of course with our first pick we select Power. How about that as a scenario? Would you find that as satisfying?

Everything you said about his inexperience is accurate. But starting off with the firing of Krueger he has done a number of positive things. He elevated Granato as an interim HC, and then made him the HC. In my opinion that was the right thing to do. He hired Karmonos to support him in his office. That was a good hire. He hired a respected stat analyst. Tonight's draft selection should be sound. Where I am holding my judgment, as I'm sure you are, is getting a credible return for the shipped out players. For me that is the big measuring stick. Added to the list that you are known to stress is how he addresses the goaltending situation. My point is let's wait a little longer before offering a scathing review.

I didn't say your position is ridiculous. You wrongly perceived my response. My point is that there is nothing unusual about the cyclical nature of success (up/down) for teams in this sport and other sports. You can't always be good because there is going to be an inevitable slide. My point is in comparison to Buffalo good organizations handle the down cycles more effectively. In a smartly run organization the upsides last a little longer and the downsides are shorter.

Most often when your good players approach 40 they are no longer on the team. Good organizations prepare for the torch being passed.

Sam Cosentino a NHL draft analyst talks about the draft and the Sabres' situation on WGR. This is a 10 min segment. He talks about Power and other prospects and also about the Jack situation. https://www.audacy.com/wgr550/authors/howard-and-jeremy

As I said in the prior post there is a life cycle in a roster. That's an inescapable part of all pro sports, especially under a cap system. What Boston has demonstrated for a very long time is that they are capable of steadily adjusting their roster as time goes by. That's what well run organizations do. Boston will have some slippage but what they won't do is fall into the enduring abyss like the Sabres have been in for a decade. To their credit Boston is a model of consistency. And to their discredit Buffalo is also a model of consistency.

Good organizations know how to handle the up/down cycle of their rosters. Young players get developed and older and declining players get replaced. It's likely there will be some slippage. But good organizations are aware of their current standing and the direction where the team is heading. Running a franchise is not a static endeavor. Constantly changing and adapting is part of the process. Boston has been good for a long time for a reason. Both the hockey and business side of the operation are well run. Buffalo has been stuck in the mud of mediocrity for a decade. The Boston franchise represents competency and stability while the Buffalo franchise represents instability and incompetence. There are obvious reasons why the Sabres are a mocked franchise. The reputation it has is the reputation it has earned.

Some people avoid the facts to pursue their smearing narrative. Hall mostly played under the disastrous coaching of Krueger. Once he was liberated from that foolishness he became productive. He wasn't the only player who was handcuffed by the former coach. I'm confident that Dahlin, Mitts and others are not going to offer testimonials about his stultifying coaching philosophy.

You are redundant. 🤡

Bull crappy! Reports are that Boston is going to re-sign him.

If he is such a franchise killing player why did he play well for Boston, including the playoffs, and probably will end up signing with them on a medium term basis i.e. 3 to 4 yrs? The characterization that he is a franchise killing player is absurd. Hall played for the Sabres last year and he like a lot of players got swamped by its dysfunction. He ended up getting traded to an organization that is well run and a talented team and prospered. Why is that surprising?

If the Sabres reach the 90 point benchmark with an infusion of young players added to an already young team I would be mildly surprised in a positive way. In my view how the team plays is just as important, if not more important, than how many points the team earns. There is no denying the fact that this is a rebuilding year. It may not be a total deconstruct but the roster is going to be significantly altered.

Montreal or Winnipeg seem like a probable destination.

I completely agree with you. However, toughness has little to do with fighting. When you watch the playoffs you don't see much fighting but you do see a lot of hardnosed play from the beginning to the end. That's what we need more of.

I retract my previous comment. I'm getting off that same horse and quickly riding away on my own horse. Switch to MMA or wrestling. You'll get plenty of blood that gets your juices going.

Success is predicated on talent and not thuggery. If you don't understand why the Sabres are a bottom feeding team then you haven't watch the games closely enough. We simple don't have enough talent to match the opposition. Thuggery doesn't compensate for its talent deficit. Adding more talent to a this roster does. What's obvious is obvious. Old time hockey is part of the dinosaur era of hockey. That pugilistic period is long gone. Get with the modern times and stop pining for the game that no longer exists.

I'm sticking with what I said and how I said it.

I'm not good at lip reading. What's he saying? 😉

If LA is the destination for Reinhart then Turcotte should be one of the players coming back.

The horse you are riding on is the same horse that I am riding on.