Holy Mackerel! Sabres Win Dahlin Lottery!

[Thorner]

5 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

I just told Dom about this thread. He shouted, "I MUST SEE!"

Does anyone else mentally separate skaters and goalies in these thought experiments much the same way as Pitchers in baseball? 

[inkman]

On 4/28/2018 at 10:14 PM, PerreaultForever said:

FINALLY!!!!!!!!! Dahlin changes EVERYTHING. 

 

On 4/28/2018 at 10:15 PM, Iron Crotch said:

Build from the back. This is exactly what we needed! It's not the same old Buffalo, fellas. WNY luck as turned (see miracle 4th down play that got the Bills into the playoffs).    ?

 

On 4/28/2018 at 10:15 PM, miles said:

enjoy some losing dahlin. just kidding, i am very happy

 

On 4/28/2018 at 11:28 PM, Thorny said:

:lol:

 

I’d rather have Dahlin and Eichel than McDavid and Ekblad.

 

On 4/28/2018 at 11:58 PM, calti said:

Holy s...i will not mention Bobby Orr,.Not once.

 

On 4/29/2018 at 12:31 AM, Randall Flagg said:

We still have a lot of work to do to put a contender, even just for the playoffs, on the ice.

 

But when you're talking two pieces under 24 to build a franchise with, is there a single team you'd switch Eichel/Dahlin with?

 

Their competition:

McDavid/Draisaitl, or McDavid/Klefbom

Matthews/Marner, or Matthews/Nylander

MacKinnon/Rantanen, or MacKinnon/Makar

Laine/Trouba 

Barkov/Ekblad

Jones/Werenski

Kucherov/Sergachev

Pettersson/Boeser or Horvat/Boeser

Gaudreau/Hamilton or Gaudreau/Monahan or Monahan/Hamilton

Montreal's 3rd overall pick/Drouin or Montreal's 3rd/Galchenyuk :lol:

White/Chabot for Ottawa

Barzal/Beaullivier?

Keller/Strome or Keller/Chychrun

Parayko/Fabbri 

Aho/Slavin, Svechnikov/Slavin

Patrick/Provorov

McAvoy/DeBrusk

 

on and on

 

There's not a single under 24 duo that I would trade Eichel/Dahlin for. That's a helluva foundation, Jason. Do something with it.

 

On 4/29/2018 at 1:58 AM, Randall Flagg said:

Remember how often it would infuriate us that our defensemen couldn't make basic plays at the point? It was a win if the puck didn't bounce over their stick, or if they were able to fling it down the boards for a 50/50 battle, or if they didn't have an ill-advised cross ice pass get picked off (looking at you 82). 

Dahlin, with the puck on the blue line, does things I've never seen another hockey player do. His ability to use his hips and c-cuts to fake guys and create shooting and passing lanes is unbelievable. 

He and Jack will often have each other on the right side of a one-timer setup, too. 

Delicious

Interesting looking back...

 

[Thorner]

Considering how much Jack has closed the gap, I feel even more strongly about my statement now. 

Also attempted “gotcha” posts are THE worst 

Edited December 29, 2019 by Thorny

[inkman]

2 minutes ago, Thorny said:

Considering how much Jack has closed the gap, I feel even more strongly about my statement now. 

Yet the Sabres are still awful.  This is why hockey is tough to be a fan of.  The Sabres have two top 10 players at their positions on the team and they aren't good.  Yet teams like the Islanders barely have anyone of note and are one of the leagues best teams.  

[Thorner]

3 minutes ago, inkman said:

Yet the Sabres are still awful.  This is why hockey is tough to be a fan of.  The Sabres have two top 10 players at their positions on the team and they aren't good.  Yet teams like the Islanders barely have anyone of note and are one of the leagues best teams.  

I agree, it takes a coherent vision for an entire 23 man roster, properly executed. 

But who’s the second guy? 

Edited December 29, 2019 by Thorny

[inkman]

2 minutes ago, Thorny said:

I agree, it takes a coherent vision for an entire 23 man roster, properly executed. 

But who’s the second guy? 

Tre White

[PerreaultForever]

3 hours ago, inkman said:

 

Interesting looking back...

 

Always easy to mock old optimism when it comes to the Sabres cause it almost always fails to emerge.

Still think Dahlin can be the real deal, he just needs good coaching and time to undo the damage Housley did by asking him to do too much too soon. Bruins benched McAvoy a few times in his second year and now he's their best D man. Don't give up on Dahlin just yet.  

[Taro T]

7 hours ago, inkman said:

Yet the Sabres are still awful.  This is why hockey is tough to be a fan of.  The Sabres have two top 10 players at their positions on the team and they aren't good.  Yet teams like the Islanders barely have anyone of note and are one of the leagues best teams.  

The Aisles have Barzal & Varlamov and 1 of the top 3 coaches in the league.  All that helps.

The Sabres are on the right track, but honestly don't know that they won't derail before reaching the station.

[Thorner]

6 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

Always easy to mock old optimism when it comes to the Sabres cause it almost always fails to emerge.

Still think Dahlin can be the real deal, he just needs good coaching and time to undo the damage Housley did by asking him to do too much too soon. Bruins benched McAvoy a few times in his second year and now he's their best D man. Don't give up on Dahlin just yet.  

Dahlin was fantastic last year for a rookie. I don’t think Housley was bad for him at all.

[PerreaultForever]

1 hour ago, Thorny said:

Dahlin was fantastic last year for a rookie. I don’t think Housley was bad for him at all.

Offensively fantastic. Not defensively. 

[LGR4GM]

Ask me again in September. 

[pi2000]

Islanders won't win a Cup because they don't have an Eichel or Dahlin.

Sabres can't even make the playoffs because all they have is Eichel and Dahlin.

It's easier to fill in around elite talent than it is to acquire the elite talent.   They just haven't finished the filling in part yet.   They played well against the beat team in the league, even out chanced and out shot them on the road.  It's not like they're getting blown out night and night out.  They're a lot closer than we think.

[Curt]

2 hours ago, pi2000 said:

Islanders won't win a Cup because they don't have an Eichel or Dahlin.

Sabres can't even make the playoffs because all they have is Eichel and Dahlin.

It's easier to fill in around elite talent than it is to acquire the elite talent.   They just haven't finished the filling in part yet.   They played well against the beat team in the league, even out chanced and out shot them on the road.  It's not like they're getting blown out night and night out.  They're a lot closer than we think.

I know it’s going against the grain right now, but they really are closer to being good than at any other point in like 7-8 years.  I honestly believe that.

Its just that a lot of people are currently in the process of coming around to the realization that they aren’t going to make the playoffs this year, so there is a lot of negativity being thrown about right now.  I’m sure those same people were not predicting playoffs before the season but some got their hopes up after some periods of good results early on.

I would say that the team is 2 top-6 (40-50 pt) forwards and slightly better goaltending away from being a solid playoff team next season.

[#freejame]

7 minutes ago, Curt said:

I know it’s going against the grain right now, but they really are closer to being good than at any other point in like 7-8 years.  I honestly believe that.

Its just that a lot of people are currently in the process of coming around to the realization that they aren’t going to make the playoffs this year, so there is a lot of negativity being thrown about right now.  I’m sure those same people were not predicting playoffs before the season but some got their hopes up after some periods of good results early on.

I would say that the team is 2 top-6 (40-50 pt) forwards and slightly better goaltending away from being a solid playoff team next season.

That’s where we finished last season too, which is the problem. 

[Curt]

18 minutes ago, #freejame said:

That’s where we finished last season too, which is the problem. 

No.  Last season there was only Ike, Reino, Skinner.

Now there is Ike, Reino, Skinner, Olofsson and Johansson (who is middle 6 as opposed to straight top 6 in my book.). The forward group is definitely improved over last season.