Around the NHL: PTO Season Becomes Waiver Season

[Tijuana Donkey Show]

I’m at acceptance. Jack Eichel is going to lift the Stanley cup in a couple weeks.

FLA looks even more impressive to me

I think both EC teams look better than the WC right now by some margin. But at the rate they’re going they might take 76 periods to sort thag series out.

 

[Snippit]

It's becoming more and more clear to me, the problem in the "Eichel era" was not Eichel or any of the players, but that we simply hired 3 absolutely awful coaches in succession, each worse than the last.

This Cassidy Eichel is quite impressive, I think Granato Eichel would be even better. Then you look at Montour, Reinhart, ROR...list is on and on.

Krueger was just absolutely awful.

 

[Sabre Dance]

It's becoming more and more clear to me, the problem in the "Eichel era" was not Eichel or any of the players, but that we simply hired 3 absolutely awful coaches in succession, each worse than the last.

This Cassidy Eichel is quite impressive, I think Granato Eichel would be even better. Then you look at Montour, Reinhart, ROR...list is on and on.

Krueger was just absolutely awful.

Yes but Eichel and Reinhart weren’t building Vegas and Florida like they were in Buffalo, those were cup quality teams before they got there. So I’m not going to ignore that. Their team success shouldn’t surprise anyone.

But it’s still hard to take for me. I think my emotions are coming from the narrative Buffalo fans and media are trying to create on social media. That somehow it’s win win and we should be happy. It’s very far from win win right now. Sabres have a long way to go. We’re still on the outside looking in. I’ve seen Sabres management screw up things very fast before. They’re definitely on the right track.

 

[K8fool]

it's s timing and entitlement thing.. Reinhart wouldn't have matured as fast without being humbled and challenged , not being the ',guy,' like he was in buffalo ( unearned). He's looked himself in the mirror and decided to anything to win.. Much credit to him and Montour clearly was destroyed like dahlin under a Coach whose methods are outdated .
Eichel also thought he knew best and was Jordan and was not.. He was severely humbled and the fans booing him motivated him actually realized his team had his back and Cassidy busting his entitled little balls also brought him to a cross roads he NEVER WOULD HAVE COME TO , as Jesus in Buffalo. He elevated the third line and came alive like a strong mitts here and was humbled and has really given his all and like Sam R he is the reason they've advanced so far in the playoffs.
Both grew up leaving their entitled self at scores or emotionally Young , and both didn't start well but really decided w their coaching and self assessment that doesn't happen in buffalo as quickly if at all..
Tage and Skinner do not blossom w a room dominated by cliques of insecure eichel and quiet sam. A cocky Tage might have remained unchallenged in the correct manner by an aware Granato.

I don't believe Hall eichel and Reinhart are better players than Tage Skinner over Hall and Tuch whose drive and understanding of buffalo truly elevated the Team and the team truly elevated him which May have been lost by idiots like Stone and Alex the Girl Peetrangelo.. Eichel like Kane can hang party and give his all..
Dahlin and Samuelson do not become great for years with cliques and the honor and grit and EMPATHY that is Kevyn A and the PERMISSION and strength and patience of Donny G ..

Ullmark is an emotional little clique overrated young man also poisoned by their group over team and we have nine guys and prospects that may outscore all who were traded..I think each will push each other and All Buffalo players and castoffs may look like a dream team of Murray and Botts but they both COULDN'T SEE THE BIG PICTURE AA WELL AS mr kevyn adams as well as Kim pegula eho reconcognized the traits of Adams
We will compete and overcome the East Teams if they keep pushing and getting better.. Vegas has no honor until Stone and tranny Alex P lead the scum angle as Edmonton is clearly the better team that League is trying for ba competition where there is none except cheap succes injuring players Vegas and other scum teams have mastered.. i haven't watched much bu5 Gudas and Leaf Schenn Seem like the nearly honorable tough snd hard bust mostly honorable guys that elevate their teams without embarrassingly cowardly shites like trouba stone Pietranny . I think thachuk is an idiot and Edmonton embarrassed and showed how to stomp hum. No team except sabres and any fast tough team will have succes consistently against the tool family thachuk , maybe Dallas if they decide to actually Play and Benn and Seguin decide they aren't the second coming perimeter leafs stars that might break a nail..

These teams are simply WILL .and Desire and Eichel Reinhart seem to have grown up and have that will and incredible vision and finesse.. Only Seguin and Benn w young stars have to decide all in sacrificing their body which Boston thought would never happen. The rest have heart and Ottenger is better than Hill is Dallas aside from Robertson and pavelski decide to physically stomp cowardly vegas captains giving a tough team like carrier a bad name.. Vegas like Edmonton.. ruining league plans..

 

[VaporTrail]

Watch Vegas win the Cup and Eichel get the Conn Smythe too lol

 

[Push Dr Tracksuit]

I mean Eichel vs Reinhart cup final a year after being traded is just a cruel joke.

Also ITS NOT A WIN WIN TRADE! At least not yet. I keep reading this everywhere. The Sabres actually have to be good first.

Yes, I’m having an emotional breakdown.

I think this is the core mistake with the Eichel hate. The value of the player and the success of the trade are not the same. But this isn’t anything spectacular to say it’s at the heart of every mr softy song, everyone who blamed vanek, ROR loosing the love of hockey. The most conflated topics in team sports is individual success vs team success. And what makes it worse is that many fans will freely interchange the 2 to fit their narrative.

 

[OkimLom]

It's becoming more and more clear to me, the problem in the "Eichel era" was not Eichel or any of the players, but that we simply hired 3 absolutely awful coaches in succession, each worse than the last.

This Cassidy Eichel is quite impressive, I think Granato Eichel would be even better. Then you look at Montour, Reinhart, ROR...list is on and on.

Krueger was just absolutely awful.

The 3 coaching hires lead directly to all of the issues the players had while being here. You can trace the problems with the problem players back to the absolute incompetent decision making by the coaches. I’m not a fan of saying one thing is a problem, but if you had to, I’d be hard pressed to think of one that was so impactful.

 

[Diaspora]

it's s timing and entitlement thing.. Reinhart wouldn't have matured as fast without being humbled and challenged , not being the ',guy,' like he was in buffalo ( unearned). He's looked himself in the mirror and decided to anything to win.. Much credit to him and Montour clearly was destroyed like dahlin under a Coach whose methods are outdated .
Eichel also thought he knew best and was Jordan and was not.. He was severely humbled and the fans booing him motivated him actually realized his team had his back and Cassidy busting his entitled little balls also brought him to a cross roads he NEVER WOULD HAVE COME TO , as Jesus in Buffalo. He elevated the third line and came alive like a strong mitts here and was humbled and has really given his all and like Sam R he is the reason they've advanced so far in the playoffs.
Both grew up leaving their entitled self at scores or emotionally Young , and both didn't start well but really decided w their coaching and self assessment that doesn't happen in buffalo as quickly if at all..
Tage and Skinner do not blossom w a room dominated by cliques of insecure eichel and quiet sam. A cocky Tage might have remained unchallenged in the correct manner by an aware Granato.

I don't believe Hall eichel and Reinhart are better players than Tage Skinner over Hall and Tuch whose drive and understanding of buffalo truly elevated the Team and the team truly elevated him which May have been lost by idiots like Stone and Alex the Girl Peetrangelo.. Eichel like Kane can hang party and give his all..
Dahlin and Samuelson do not become great for years with cliques and the honor and grit and EMPATHY that is Kevyn A and the PERMISSION and strength and patience of Donny G ..

Ullmark is an emotional little clique overrated young man also poisoned by their group over team and we have nine guys and prospects that may outscore all who were traded..I think each will push each other and All Buffalo players and castoffs may look like a dream team of Murray and Botts but they both COULDN'T SEE THE BIG PICTURE AA WELL AS mr kevyn adams as well as Kim pegula eho reconcognized the traits of Adams
We will compete and overcome the East Teams if they keep pushing and getting better.. Vegas has no honor until Stone and tranny Alex P lead the scum angle as Edmonton is clearly the better team that League is trying for ba competition where there is none except cheap succes injuring players Vegas and other scum teams have mastered.. i haven't watched much bu5 Gudas and Leaf Schenn Seem like the nearly honorable tough snd hard bust mostly honorable guys that elevate their teams without embarrassingly cowardly shites like trouba stone Pietranny . I think thachuk is an idiot and Edmonton embarrassed and showed how to stomp hum. No team except sabres and any fast tough team will have succes consistently against the tool family thachuk , maybe Dallas if they decide to actually Play and Benn and Seguin decide they aren't the second coming perimeter leafs stars that might break a nail..

These teams are simply WILL .and Desire and Eichel Reinhart seem to have grown up and have that will and incredible vision and finesse.. Only Seguin and Benn w young stars have to decide all in sacrificing their body which Boston thought would never happen. The rest have heart and Ottenger is better than Hill is Dallas aside from Robertson and pavelski decide to physically stomp cowardly vegas captains giving a tough team like carrier a bad name.. Vegas like Edmonton.. ruining league plans..

Agree on the theory that all the guys who left felt entitled while they were here and underperformed as a result. The fact that we were, in the end, willing to move them at all is testament.

Also agree that the players here now approach the level of talent that left and far surpass them in effort and attitude. I don't know that Granato could have fixed the old core here. But the kick in the ass fate dished out got them to reassess and improve.

So I'm happy (in hindsight) to call this latest tear-down and reboot a win/win/win/win for the players that left, the teams that acquired them, their replacements here, and the Sabres.

 

[Jim Bob]

Why Flames got it right by choosing Conroy as next general manager

The Calgary Flames got it right by hiring Craig Conroy to be their new GM. The people’s choice will be announced Tuesday as the organization’s choice to lead the franchise into a new era — a tricky new chapter that requires familiarity, above all.

www.sportsnet.ca

I hope Craiger gets a chance to really mold the team into what he wants.

He was a good person when our time at Clarkson overlapped. And he has paid his dues as he worked his way up through the Flames front office.

 

[Jim Bob]

Staple: NHL teams should be calling Garth Snow for front-office openings

Why hasn't the former Islanders GM gotten any interest around the league for various openings this offseason?

theathletic.com

 

[Tijuana Donkey Show]

Eichel winning The Cup and Con Smyth actually doesn't bother me for him or the Sabres. He was a bad teammate here, he needed a change, and Buffalo needed to reset. These things happen. We got good value and both teams are better after the transaction.

What I am not looking forward to is the constant knee jerk fan over reaction from people who have barely been paying attention. The "oh classic BS franchise, another great Sabres player lost and wasted".

Otherwise I don't have much rooting interest.

I do think Carolina and Florida both look better so far. But they have played nearly 11 periods over 2 games. It is going to be tough to rebound if the series keeps going this way.

 

[TageGod]

Yes but Eichel and Reinhart weren’t building Vegas and Florida like they were in Buffalo, those were cup quality teams before they got there. So I’m not going to ignore that. Their team success shouldn’t surprise anyone.

But it’s still hard to take for me. I think my emotions are coming from the narrative Buffalo fans and media are trying to create on social media. That somehow it’s win win and we should be happy. It’s very far from win win right now. Sabres have a long way to go. We’re still on the outside looking in. I’ve seen Sabres management screw up things very fast before. They’re definitely on the right track.

A PPG winger Krebs + for a disgruntled player under experimental surgery is not a win-win trade?

 

[TehDoak]

Eichel winning The Cup and Con Smyth actually doesn't bother me for him or the Sabres. He was a bad teammate here, he needed a change, and Buffalo needed to reset. These things happen. We got good value and both teams are better after the transaction.

Eichel's biggest issue with being in Buffalo was that he wanted to win and the management kept shooting itself in the foot. Winning will soothe over enough issues, losing exacerbates issues. We kept losing.

What I am not looking forward to is the constant knee jerk fan over reaction from people who have barely been paying attention. The "oh classic BS franchise, another great Sabres player lost and wasted".

I think it's a bit of a vindication of the talent level we had here. O'Reilly, Eichel, and Reinhart was the makings of a great forward core. Heck, Add in Kane to that too. And Foligno. And closer to prime age Okposo.

However, the cost paid, between tearing the previous group down to nothing, not addressing the defense, and the amount of faith put in Risto/Bogosian/Gorges/McCabe to lead the D was hilariously misplaced.

The murray era was an absolute wasted opportunity. As was the Botterill era. And if we aren't careful, the Adams era will be too.

 

[joshjull]

Jack seemed like the only one to show up from the drop of the puck for Vegas. He had a great game

 

[Weltschmerz]

Jack seemed like the only one to show up from the drop of the puck for Vegas. He had a great game

It was somewhat funny when they made him an example how a 200 foot game looks.

 

[Tijuana Donkey Show]

Eichel's biggest issue with being in Buffalo was that he wanted to win and the management kept shooting itself in the foot. Winning will soothe over enough issues, losing exacerbates issues. We kept losing.




I think it's a bit of a vindication of the talent level we had here. O'Reilly, Eichel, and Reinhart was the makings of a great forward core. Heck, Add in Kane to that too. And Foligno. And closer to prime age Okposo.

However, the cost paid, between tearing the previous group down to nothing, not addressing the defense, and the amount of faith put in Risto/Bogosian/Gorges/McCabe to lead the D was hilariously misplaced.

The murray era was an absolute wasted opportunity. As was the Botterill era. And if we aren't careful, the Adams era will be too.

I agree. That was a frustrating era with talent available. A conversation I would likely join in with more often if not for the current state of the team. It is a different regime and things seem to be trending steeply up.

I don't see any value in spending much time thinking about Eichel this summer. And I don't have any ill will and likely won't relish if he loses the next 4 in a row to Dallas.

 

[Tijuana Donkey Show]

A PPG winger Krebs + for a disgruntled player under experimental surgery is not a win-win trade?

Meh, both teams are better. I wouldn't give the players/picks back for Jack and I don't think Vegas would either.

With the benefit of hindsight, I don't think the experimental surgery issue was about the surgery if that makes sense. If Tuch, Tommers, Dahlin, Power, etc. wanted the same surgery tomorrow I think GMKA approves it without hesitation. The issue with Jack was that he wasn't committed to us, and we weren't committed to him. 31 other teams likely allow the surgery but Buffalo wasn't going to risk losing trade value.

 

[Diaspora]

Eichel winning The Cup and Con Smyth actually doesn't bother me for him or the Sabres. He was a bad teammate here, he needed a change, and Buffalo needed to reset. These things happen. We got good value and both teams are better after the transaction.

What I am not looking forward to is the constant knee jerk fan over reaction from people who have barely been paying attention. The "oh classic BS franchise, another great Sabres player lost and wasted".

Otherwise I don't have much rooting interest.

I do think Carolina and Florida both look better so far. But they have played nearly 11 periods over 2 games. It is going to be tough to rebound if the series keeps going this way.

Schmeichel.

 

[Sabre Dance]

A PPG winger Krebs + for a disgruntled player under experimental surgery is not a win-win trade?

You’ve got to have team success. We’ll see how the Sabres continue to grow.

 

[TageGod]

You’ve got to have team success. We’ll see how the Sabres continue to grow.

I would imagine the success of the trade evaluates the individual players in a vaccum. ROR trade is a win-win now that it gave us Tage. Team success for sabres is better without Eichel so already a win-win. If Tage doesn't lift the cup did we lose that trade?

 

[brian_griffin]

The 3 coaching hires lead directly to all of the issues the players had while being here. You can trace the problems with the problem players back to the absolute incompetent decision making by the coaches. I’m not a fan of saying one thing is a problem, but if you had to, I’d be hard pressed to think of one that was so impactful.

Sabres Eichel would still have been a shitty leader and petulant child dickhead Mass-hole if the coaches were anyone but Tortorella, Kenan, Hitchcock, Sutter (and a couple others). Eichel needed to be put in his place. In Vegas, his "place" is much smaller, the pot of stew much larger, so he can't ruin the taste on his own.

 

[tsujimoto74]

Meh, both teams are better. I wouldn't give the players/picks back for Jack and I don't think Vegas would either.

With the benefit of hindsight, I don't think the experimental surgery issue was about the surgery if that makes sense. If Tuch, Tommers, Dahlin, Power, etc. wanted the same surgery tomorrow I think GMKA approves it without hesitation. The issue with Jack was that he wasn't committed to us, and we weren't committed to him. 31 other teams likely allow the surgery but Buffalo wasn't going to risk losing trade value.

That's not true. It was reported at the time trade talks were happening that at least 1 GM had expressed interest and then been told "no" by his team's medical staff.

 

[KrakenSabresMike]

I would imagine the success of the trade evaluates the individual players in a vaccum. ROR trade is a win-win now that it gave us Tage. Team success for sabres is better without Eichel so already a win-win. If Tage doesn't lift the cup did we lose that trade?

No bc oreilly wasn’t winning a cup that year or prob any year since here. Like eichel, team context of his role matters

 

[Sabre Dance]

I would imagine the success of the trade evaluates the individual players in a vaccum. ROR trade is a win-win now that it gave us Tage. Team success for sabres is better without Eichel so already a win-win. If Tage doesn't lift the cup did we lose that trade?

I think it’s obvious the Blues made out better in the trade, so far. The Sabres are happy with the return but they definitely didn’t win. Emphasis on the win.

Win win would be when the Sabres start winning with Tage.

I would say a good win win trade in Buffalo sports was the Bills trading the Mahomes pick to KC. Both teams are winning franchises because of the trade.

 

[TageGod]

I think it’s obvious the Blues made out better in the trade, so far. The Sabres are happy with the return but they definitely didn’t win. Emphasis on the win.

Win win would be when the Sabres start winning with Tage.

So if Tage makes the hall of fame but Sabres still suck it is still a lost trade?