JohnC

One of the major developers in the MD/DC/VA area, Douglas Jemal, identified Buffalo and western NY as a marvelous place to invest and work in. He's often stated that Buffalo with its rich history and architecture were enticing inducements for him to take advantage of. The Seneca One project and the Statler Hilton are two of the many projects he has gotten involved in. Just as with the hockey team, outsiders are taking notice of the turnaround that has been going on. The outside perception of the area has dramatically changed to the positive.

Big Ben did lose a lot of support in Pittsburgh and with his teammates. His reputation of being a jerk and bad behavior was not a secret in that town. There were bars where he was not allowed in because of his prior inappropriate (understated) conduct towards women. Even his own family let him know how disappointed they were in him as a family member. To his credit, during his suspension he seemed to take the time to self-reflect on the destructive course he was taking. He then manned and took responsibility for his actions and put in the effort to what it took to become a better person. How he changed as a person is a good example of redemption.

Overall, I'm more than pleased with how KA has managed the operation. Of all the personnel decisions he has made there is one decision that I strenuously disagreed with: That is how he handled the Ullmark issue. I felt at the time, and still do, that he should have gone outside the contract parameters he set for this goalie to get a deal done. I thought he should have exhibited more flexibility in his effort to sign him. In my opinion, if Ullmark were on the roster last ylear, the Sabres would have been a playoff team. And this year, if Ullmark and Levi were the tandem goalies, the Sabres would be a formidable team. The past is the past, and you move on.

I have no problem with him in the starting lineup. When training camp starts (assuming he isn't dealt), he will be competing for a position on one of the lines. He'll either earn a position or will not. That's how it works. Because of Quinn's injury his chances of being on the roster and playing has increased.

The GM is responsible for assembling the roster. Ultimately, he will be held accountable for the success of the team. Success is not predicated on one position, but the goalie position is a factor in success or failure more than any other position. Most people would agree on that. And so would he. Is the GM taking a risk by maintaining the status quo in the staffing of the position? Of course he is. At least for now, he has made a judgment that he prefers the status quo over giving up assets to bring in another goalie. If the stance he has taken doesn't work out and is a main factor in the failure of the team, he would be held accountable. It doesn't matter if there are apologists for him or not. That's the reality he works in. And he knows that.

I'm sure you will agree that I got my robotic response down pat.

I am fine with Joki as Power's partner. And have said so many times. However, I have also said (many times) that if a better partner could be acquired to partner with Power, I would be fine with that. Why would I be against a better partner or even a forward replacing a lesser player? That's a sign that the roster is getting deeper and internal competition is ratcheting up. If Joki is moved down to the third pairing, then that pairing should be better than before. A roster with more talent is what every front office strives for. That's not only a good thing but also a situation that I'm not going to complain about. Is Joki a better partner for Power than Clifton is? I don't know. Players compete and determine where they should be slotted. And when the inevitable injuries occur the team with more depth handles the setbacks better.

I would still like to add a 4/5 defenseman to the blueline unit. As you well know, I'm not bothered by our current staffing in net. Add another good third pairing player to the unit and upgrade the lower pairings. In my opinion, Dahlin and Power are playing too many minutes. There is a need to better distribute the minutes within all the pairings.

Very often a decision not to do anything is the something that the GM decided to make. You and the majority don't agree with the status quo situation that the GM, so far, has taken. It appears that Levi is going to be our primary goalie with UPL and Comrie competing for the backup role. I'm not worried about the current goalie staffing. Instead of getting another goalie I would rather the GM bring in another 4/5 defenseman and put the goalies, whoever they are, in a better position to succeed.

That's the primary reason why that it is unlikely that he will take a leave of absence to play in a tournament.

I suspect that a poster here works for the contractor. You were ratted out. ☠️

Adamant no, unless there is an extension. Even if it were for two years. If the Sabres were looking to make another deal I would prefer it would be for another 4/5 defenseman.

Wait it out. I had a contractor do a complete remodel on my kitchen and bathroom. I mistakenly paid in full before the job was complete. After he was paid he refused numerous requests to do some minor calk work to completely finish the job. After a number of futile calls I got madder and madder. So I wrote a letter to the state consumer agency in the state that dealt with contractors. The person in the state office called him and told him that if he didn't finish the job by the next day, he was going to pull his bond, which would have prevented him from doing any work. He sent someone to complete the caulking job the next day. It took less than 15 minutes. Again, I recommend that you not complete the payment until the job is complete. If it doesn't get completed, you saved some money off of their unprofessionalism.

I would do the bridge deal. He should follow the Dahlin model of a bridge deal and then follow it up with a deal that falls in line with the market rate for a player of his caliber. The bottom line is he should do whatever he believes is in his best interest.

Vegas got Eichel in a trade. I consider him to be an elite player. In my view, the return on Eichel was more than fair. What it did for the Sabres is add two players, one of which (Tuch) turned out to be a high-end player. The dealing of Eichel also internally reconfigured the roster in that it elevated Tage's role, and with the addition of Tuch contributed to building a quality first line. I'm not fully disputing your premise about the difficulty in acquiring an elite player. But in the Buffalo/Vegas trade there was a multiplier effect for Buffalo that balanced out the trade of our star player.

I'm not suggesting that our blueline staffing is at a premier level. But compared to last year this unit is much more presentable. And if Ryan Johnson is able to move up after a stint in Rochester it will look even better. A far cry from last year!

As time goes by the ROR trade looks better and better. We got Tage and a probable future defenseman. In the aftermath of the deal ROR and the Blues got their Cup. As with the Eichel deal it worked out for all the parties involved. It won't be surprising that of all the deals that KA made during the trading of the old Eichel core that the most consequential deal might turn out to be the acquisition of Levi in the Reinhart deal. Very often it takes time to get a better perspective on the impact of any particular deal. Sometimes the immediate, short-term assessment of a deal becomes much more positive as time goes by.

When Krueger is your coach it's not a surprise that "sure things" get downgraded to being "not sure things".

What caliber of pairing player do you project Ryan Johnson at? I thought he would at best be a third pairing player when more developed. Others felt that he could rise to the second-pairing. Where do you believe his ceiling is as a blueliner?

The GM is not demanding a "hometown" discount from the players. That's not an accurate depiction of the contract signings from much of the core. The players who have signed agreed to get their contracts reworked sooner and are willing to take less for immediate guaranteed money that is more than their current contract. Dahlin took a different approach than some of his teammates. He took a bridge deal rather than sign an extended contract. The player and his agent calculated that waiting longer to sign a longer term deal will prove to be more financially beneficial as the market-rate for players of his caliber increases. When Eichel was here he got a long-term extension. If he would have waited and become the player that he is now, he would actually be paid more now. The GM was willing to give an extension to Samuelsson sooner rather than later because the organization felt that in the not-too-distant future he would project to be a higher cost player if it signed him at a later time. Both sides in the bargaining setting make their own calculations for what is best for their own respective needs.

Sometimes the evidence is so overwhelming that even with fraudulent messengers most people should be able to discern what is real and fake. Hucksters have always been around. There are enough quality sources to make a reasonable judgment in most cases. The intermingling of politics and science is a toxic mixture.

A lot of people don't believe in science. And a lot of people reject the reality that is visible with their own eyes. Or another way of saying it is they believe what they want to believe regardless of the facts.

You know very well what I think is going to happen regarding the goalie staffing. I don't believe that they are going to bring in another goalie. (That's my opinion.) If KA brings in another goalie, I'll support the addition. If KA doesn't, I'll support his stance. We'll just have to wait and see what happens.

I appreciate your response. I'm hoping that the additions of Johnson and Clifton will improve the PK. There's no question that Granto emphasizes the offense over the defense. But there has to be more balance between the offense and defense even while acknowledging that the roster is built more around the offense than the defense. I'm just not as concerned about our backstopping situation as most here are. In my mind this team squandered at least 10 points because of their incapable PKing. Improving that part of the game will put this team in a better position.

I agree with you that correlation is not necessarily causation. But how UPL has played doesn't necessarily reflect how he will play. Will he get better? I think so but can't say for sure. What I can say for sure is if our team becomes more committed to playing a more responsible two-way game, that our goalies, all of them, will be better next season. @LGR4GMhas on more than a few occasions made the cogent point that in our last 18 games or so this team demonstrated a greater commitment to playing a tighter and more defensive brand of hockey. And it resulted in a good record. For me, the critical issue is more about playing better team defense than it is about the play of our goalies.