Bucky Ecklund is at it again...

[X. Benedict]

Interesting!

 

I would be shocked if the Canucks gave up a #1 straight up for Max. There would have to be something else involved. Maybe the Sabres second 1st round pick? If the Sabres could get yet another #1 that would be a coupe for Regier.

 

Some interesting thoughts on Kennedy. I wounder if the Sabres would be willing to move Kennedy or another prospect in order to get that defensemen we all feel they need.

 

I am enjoying the Finals but Ican't wait until the off season is in full gear.

 

This is looking like the most interesting draft in years. How good is it? Even one of the Staal brothers is projected for the middle of the second round. You would think that a big 17 yr. old Staal would be a 1st rounder on name alone.

 

Vancouver is in really rough shape. Adding Max might be the final piece of the puzzle to guarantee that team John Tavares. ;)

[stenbaro]

Yes!

 

Adding talent can never be a bad thing. If the Sabres ended the off season with signing Miller and Pominville to long term contracts and Malone and Liles are wearing Sabres uniforms then the off season would be a huge success.

Liles is a joke..I would rather have a larger leader type defenseman..We already have Sekera who played solid and then some at the end of the year....I dont think Malone makes us any better or worse...I would love to see J. Smith and Mtty Norstrom..

[deluca67]

Liles is a joke..I would rather have a larger leader type defenseman..We already have Sekera who played solid and then some at the end of the year....I dont think Malone makes us any better or worse...I would love to see J. Smith and Mtty Norstrom..

The Sabres really need to get older, slower and injured. :wallbash:

[carpandean]

I would love to see J. Smith or Matty Norstrom..

Fixed. I think we need one veteran, physical presence on the blue line. Two and, as Deluca suggested, we start getting too old, slow and injured.

[deluca67]

Fixed. I think we need one veteran, physical presence on the blue line. Two and, as Deluca suggested, we start getting too old, slow and injured.

I'd take one in place of Pratt. I wouldn't rely on either to be in the top four. On the other hand if you can get Nordstrom and then sign Liles you have greatly improved your defense.

 

Weber

Sekera

Spacek

Lydman

Liles

Nordstrom

Paestch as the #7 because of his versatility.

 

Then you can move Tallinder to get maybe some more picks and maybe a prospect.

[awill29]

Yes!

 

Adding talent can never be a bad thing. If the Sabres ended the off season with signing Miller and Pominville to long term contracts and Malone and Liles are wearing Sabres uniforms then the off season would be a huge success.

 

True, but I still don't understand why we'd want ANOTHER 2nd-3rd line winger at 3-4MM/yr. It's not like we're at the cap minimum, we're about 5-6 million under right now. We want to extend Miller, that's about a 4MM raise. We want to extend Pommers, count on another 4MM raise. We want to sign a top 4 D-man, another 3-4M. We want a top 2 center, again, 3-4MM. We're probably dumping Kalinin, maybe Max, maybe Kotalik, maybe even Connolly...take off 7-8M...we're pretty close to the cap. And I didn't mention Liles or Teppo, or Gaustad/Bernier/Paille/MacArthur.

 

And even if management somehow pulls him from Pitt, where is he going? Who are we taking out of the line-up? If we figure 2 out of 3 are gone in Max/Connolly/Kotalik...Kaleta still needs a permenant spot...and maybe MacArthur is coming up? And we've got Gerbe waiting in the wings...

 

So, yes, I'd love to acquire tons of great talent, have them get locked up long term and then watch them develop into superstars, too. Yes, I'd love for Darcy to run out there and add some big-name, grinding, veteran, 30 goal-scoring leaders, too. But first, let's take care of our own talent, because I say we've got plenty of that already.

[stenbaro]

The Sabres really need to get older, slower and injured. :wallbash:

Lets bring in a puck giveaway artist in Liles instead.. :wallbash: :wallbash:

 

What a retarded statement..Who on our team is older and slower..If anything we are young and leaderless....

 

Brilliant

[carpandean]

If the Sabres ended the off season with signing Miller and Pominville to long term contracts and Malone and Liles are wearing Sabres uniforms then the off season would be a huge success.

Mine would be: If the Sabres ended the off season with signing Miller and Pominville to long term contracts and Marleau and Norstrom (no "d") are wearing Sabres uniforms then the off season would be a huge success.

 

Those two fill holes that we have, while your two might be upgrades to similar players that we have. We have no fifth (total, not rank) center and only 1 1/2 of ours (Roy and Connolly) are good enough to play on a top-two line. Marleau (or a similar player) could fill that role. We also don't have a physical, defensive-minded defenseman. Norstrom (or a similar player) fills that role. Add that they both bring veteran leadership and our three main holes are filled. Then, we'd just need a reliable back-up goalie ...

 

Don't get me wrong, both of the players that you mentioned would be nice, but I don't see them as the primary moves that we need to make. Plus, I'm not sure that even RJ could make hearing "John-Michael Liles ... John-Michael Liles ... John-Michael Liles ... " tolerable. If he calls him Liles most of the time, fine; otherwise, I will go crazy.

[X. Benedict]

Lets bring in a puck giveaway artist in Liles instead.. :wallbash: :wallbash:

 

What a retarded statement..Who on our team is older and slower..If anything we are young and leaderless....

 

Brilliant

 

If Buffalo wanted to go the route of Smith...which I don't think they have any intention of doing,

they could probably just ask for Jay McKee back (a fifth rounder, a few practice jerseys, and picking up that salary would probably do it.)

[shrader]

Don't get me wrong, both of the players that you mentioned would be nice, but I don't see them as the primary moves that we need to make. Plus, I'm not sure that even RJ could make hearing "John-Michael Liles ... John-Michael Liles ... John-Michael Liles ... " tolerable. If he calls him Liles most of the time, fine; otherwise, I will go crazy.

 

Well its not like you ever heard him say Jean Pierre Dumont.

[stenbaro]

If Buffalo wanted to go the route of Smith...which I don't think they have any intention of doing,

they could probably just ask for Jay McKee back (a fifth rounder, a few practice jerseys, and picking up that salary would probably do it.)

The difference between Smith and Mckee from what I have seen is Mckee is a bit more of a shot blocker where Smith is a bit more physical and a very good vet. presence..Smith is a UFA..And only earned 1.9 mill...i would rather have Smith

[deluca67]

Lets bring in a puck giveaway artist in Liles instead.. :wallbash: :wallbash:

 

What a retarded statement..Who on our team is older and slower..If anything we are young and leaderless....

 

Brilliant

I love when posters use the word "retarded" while making a statement that makes themselves look foolish.

 

Liles averaged .66 turnovers a game. Had 2 in 10 playoff games.

Nordstrom averaged .65 turnovers a game. Had 13 in 18 playoff games.

Jason Smith averaged .42 turnovers a game. Had 7 in 17 playoff games.

 

The Sabres are young now. Next season their core will be a year older. That said I will agree some verteran leadership would be nice. There is no reason why that veteran couldn't be a player who can skate and is relatively healthy.

[stenbaro]

I love when posters use the word "retarded" while making a statement that makes themselves look foolish.

 

Liles averaged .66 turnovers a game. Had 2 in 10 playoff games.

Nordstrom averaged .65 turnovers a game. Had 13 in 18 playoff games.

Jason Smith averaged .42 turnovers a game. Had 7 in 17 playoff games.

 

The Sabres are young now. Next season their core will be a year older. That said I will agree some verteran leadership would be nice. There is no reason why that veteran couldn't be a player who can skate and is relatively healthy.

 

He lost ice time in the playoffs against Min cuz he gave the puck away..ALmost cost them the game..One playoff does an argument make..Youre Beloved Briere scored many times in the playoffs but because his style you dont like him..But here you throw stats out like this...I love it when "posters" spew out foolishness using stats (sarcasm on)...

[deluca67]

He lost ice time in the playoffs against Min cuz he gave the puck away..ALmost cost them the game..One playoff does an argument make..Youre Beloved Briere scored many times in the playoffs but because his style you dont like him..But here you throw stats out like this...I love it when "posters" spew out foolishness using stats (sarcasm on)...

And here I was being nice and not even using the most damning stat of Brian Campbell averaging .746 turnovers a game. He also had 24 turnovers in 13 playoff games. What was that term you used, "giveaway artist "? Adding Liles on the blue line makes the Sabres a better team. If Smith and Nordstrom were healthy and younger the same might be said for them. The one thing about veteran leadership is that the player in question needs to be on the ice to be effective.

[tom webster]

I'd take one in place of Pratt. I wouldn't rely on either to be in the top four. On the other hand if you can get Nordstrom and then sign Liles you have greatly improved your defense.

 

Weber

Sekera

Spacek

Lydman

Liles

Nordstrom

Paestch as the #7 because of his versatility.

 

Then you can move Tallinder to get maybe some more picks and maybe a prospect.

 

Let me be the first to say it, Weber will not be one of the team's defensemen to start the year unless there is an injury or two.

Also, Nordstrom will either stay in Dallas or go back to his homeland.

Finally, if they add Malone and Liles but plan on using Hecht at center, the off-season will not be successful.

[gregkash]

I'm sure a defensive minded trap guru like Lemaire would love to acquire great two-way, defensively responsible players like Max and Al.

 

The trap is just an overload of players. It doesn't have to be 12 selke players on the team. They might be willing to deal Gabs 40 goals for 2 20 goal scorers, for depth reasons.

[carpandean]

Let me be the first to say it, Weber will not be one of the team's defensemen to start the year unless there is an injury or two.

Also, Nordstrom will either stay in Dallas or go back to his homeland.

Finally, if they add Malone and Liles but plan on using Hecht at center, the off-season will not be successful.

 

It seems that you may be right about Norstrom:

http://starsblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2...r-norstrom.html

Effectiveness isn't a question for defenseman Mattias Norstrom.

 

At 36, he played well in the postseason despite a sports hernia that might have severely limited some players. And he still has a fire for the game.

 

But his family stayed in Sweden during the season, and he wants to talk to his wife Kristin and their two daughters before deciding on another season in the NHL.

 

"For me, it would be giving up something I love for something I love more," said Norstrom, an unrestricted free agent. "Family comes first."

 

The Stars would be his first choice if he plays next season, he said.

 

 

 

I definitely agree about centers. It probably wouldn't be Hecht to start, it would be Connolly. But, if Connolly or even Roy gets hurt, that would leave Hecht centering a top line. That's a bad idea. Bringing in any of the other parts is fine, but fix the holes we have first.

[stenbaro]

And here I was being nice and not even using the most damning stat of Brian Campbell averaging .746 turnovers a game. He also had 24 turnovers in 13 playoff games. What was that term you used, "giveaway artist "? Adding Liles on the blue line makes the Sabres a better team. If Smith and Nordstrom were healthy and younger the same might be said for them. The one thing about veteran leadership is that the player in question needs to be on the ice to be effective.

Lol..

 

 

Dont you think we have enough smallish defenseman..I have had it seeing larger forwards control our lower end by pushing around our smaller defensman...As far as being on the ice both those two I mentioned played the majority of the season..Another thing to consider is when you have a physical mentality and use it you are going to get injured more..I think we need more of it..We have a ton of guys on our team that dont hit or dont play with an edge..All I am saying is I would rather add that than add a puck moving defensman..Hey if we get 1 of each i could live with it but if we only add 2 give me the tougher physical leader type players..With that said we are probably both in Never never land and they wont sign anyone..LOL

[Kristian]

The trap is just an overload of players. It doesn't have to be 12 selke players on the team. They might be willing to deal Gabs 40 goals for 2 20 goal scorers, for depth reasons.

 

True, but they still need to have a clue about where to be on the ice to play the trap.

 

That takes care of Al but Max, as we all know, is as clueless as they come BOTH on defense and offense.

[apuszczalowski]

Why would Mineosota deal away someone like Gaborik, their top player, for an unproven guy like Max who's skills are probably the opposite of what you would want in a trap system? Max is the kind of player that is going to, if ever, flourish in an open offensive system, in the new NHL. He would probably be better off going back to Europe to play if he really wants to thrive since the NHL is starting to going back to the "old NHL" now. I can't see a team like Mineosota taking him when Gaborik is asking to leave because he wants to play in a system where Max would be best in.