AS I CURRENTLY SEE IT:

With these OT points accumulating and a weak home stretch of the schedule left, chances of us picking top 5 are

If our pick is 6-10 and we plan on using it I prefer the idea of Finnish D Juolevi. A great skater, reliable enough on D, with high end creative /offensive upside? -- yes please.

Of course, we still need another elite forward before we can really be a problem in the East. BUT not picking in the top 5 seems to force our hand via trade or..... $TEVEN $TAMKO$

If we do manage to find that especially competent (25+ G) scoring winger to fill out the top six, we should finally have enough offense to make a serious bid for the Stanley Cup Playoffs next year.

Our bottom six (and goaltending) should be consistent & useful enough with 82, 22, 12, 28, 44 & ...Fasching?

As far as Ristolainen's alleged regression, I see a player bogged down without any help in the form of a good/smart D partner, and exhaustion due to constant match-up nightmares against the toughest competition. Is he going to be a top 3 D in the entire league? Maybe not. But he will still be good enough to be a #1 on a great team. BTW... He is 21! He will get better and needs some help.

Which brings me to my last point:
Making the playoffs is one thing, but to win a Cup, we likely need to upgrade 3 of our 6 defenseman. AT THE VERY LEAST we need a #2 to play with Risto, and a #3 to play with Mccabe or Pysyk. My eyes and the stats tell me Bogo is (in his prime no less!)... bad at hockey. I guess you could talk me into the value in having him on your third pair for added size? and toughness? -- Anyway I don't want him in my top 4 if I plan on winning it all.


Thank you for giving me a place to vent -

Strange though, Quennville's new deal pays him 2.75 mil/yr
- Sabresfan-365

I'm not saying it worked...at least, not yet.

I'm not saying it worked...at least, not yet.
- buffalofan19

It did in the summer (based on the contract info that was released). It could be that NHL teams don't feel there's as much value in high end coaching as there is in the other NA pro sports.

AS I CURRENTLY SEE IT:

With these OT points accumulating and a weak home stretch of the schedule left, chances of us picking top 5 are

If our pick is 6-10 and we plan on using it I prefer the idea of Finnish D Juolevi. A great skater, reliable enough on D, with high end creative /offensive upside? -- yes please.

Of course, we still need another elite forward before we can really be a problem in the East. BUT not picking in the top 5 seems to force our hand via trade or..... $TEVEN $TAMKO$

If we do manage to find that especially competent (25+ G) scoring winger to fill out the top six, we should finally have enough offense to make a serious bid for the Stanley Cup Playoffs next year.

Our bottom six (and goaltending) should be consistent & useful enough with 82, 22, 12, 28, 44 & ...Fasching?

As far as Ristolainen's alleged regression, I see a player bogged down without any help in the form of a good/smart D partner, and exhaustion due to constant match-up nightmares against the toughest competition. Is he going to be a top 3 D in the entire league? Maybe not. But he will still be good enough to be a #1 on a great team. BTW... He is 21! He will get better and needs some help.

Which brings me to my last point:
Making the playoffs is one thing, but to win a Cup, we likely need to upgrade 3 of our 6 defenseman. AT THE VERY LEAST we need a #2 to play with Risto, and a #3 to play with Mccabe or Pysyk. My eyes and the stats tell me Bogo is (in his prime no less!)... bad at hockey. I guess you could talk me into the value in having him on your third pair for added size? and toughness? -- Anyway I don't want him in my top 4 if I plan on winning it all.


Thank you for giving me a place to vent -
- trikkdaniels

Great defenseman don't get bogged down by their partners. They make their partners look better than they are or might be. Ristolainen needs to be that.

Great defenseman don't get bogged down by their partners. They make their partners look better than they are or might be. Ristolainen needs to be that.
- buffalofan19

This isn't true at all (especially with young defencemen)

Here's shattenkirk's #'s :






Note the two years where he saw a lot of Jackman as his partner..

https://www.nhl.com/news/...nnial-classic/c-279504236

This blows

AS I CURRENTLY SEE IT:

With these OT points accumulating and a weak home stretch of the schedule left, chances of us picking top 5 are

If our pick is 6-10 and we plan on using it I prefer the idea of Finnish D Juolevi. A great skater, reliable enough on D, with high end creative /offensive upside? -- yes please.

Of course, we still need another elite forward before we can really be a problem in the East. BUT not picking in the top 5 seems to force our hand via trade or..... $TEVEN $TAMKO$

If we do manage to find that especially competent (25+ G) scoring winger to fill out the top six, we should finally have enough offense to make a serious bid for the Stanley Cup Playoffs next year.

Our bottom six (and goaltending) should be consistent & useful enough with 82, 22, 12, 28, 44 & ...Fasching?

As far as Ristolainen's alleged regression, I see a player bogged down without any help in the form of a good/smart D partner, and exhaustion due to constant match-up nightmares against the toughest competition. Is he going to be a top 3 D in the entire league? Maybe not. But he will still be good enough to be a #1 on a great team. BTW... He is 21! He will get better and needs some help.

Which brings me to my last point:
Making the playoffs is one thing, but to win a Cup, we likely need to upgrade 3 of our 6 defenseman. AT THE VERY LEAST we need a #2 to play with Risto, and a #3 to play with Mccabe or Pysyk. My eyes and the stats tell me Bogo is (in his prime no less!)... bad at hockey. I guess you could talk me into the value in having him on your third pair for added size? and toughness? -- Anyway I don't want him in my top 4 if I plan on winning it all.


Thank you for giving me a place to vent -
- trikkdaniels

Blind hatred

This isn't true at all (especially with young defencemen)

Here's shattenkirk's #'s :






Note the two years where he saw a lot of Jackman as his partner..
- Sabresfan-365

I like Shattenkirk, but he's no where near a franchise #1 D IMO. He's a solid 2.

19 is right. If Risto is supposed to be a #1 on a cup team, he needs to make players around him better. I think he does on occasion

I like Shattenkirk, but he's no where near a franchise #1 D IMO. He's a solid 2.

19 is right. If Risto is supposed to be a #1 on a cup team, he needs to make players around him better. I think he does on occasion
- sbroads24

Disagree on shattenkirk but that's for another time.

He has done it with Gorges for most of the year. The point i was making is that the impact and degree to which he makes them better has limits. He can't make gorges faster, smarter, stronger etc. It's why i used the jackman-shattenkirk example. He's put up #1 numbers most of his career except the year he was paired with a past his prime Jackman.

Disagree on shattenkirk but that's for another time.

He has done it with Gorges for most of the year. The point i was making is that the impact and degree to which he makes them better has limits. He can't make gorges faster, smarter, stronger etc. It's why i used the jackman-shattenkirk example. He's put up #1 numbers most of his career except the year he was paired with a past his prime Jackman.
- Sabresfan-365

There could be other factors involved as well. I don't think Gorges is as bad as his numbers suggest. He takes on all the hard defensive shifts, but is never gifted the offensive opportunities Risto is. Not saying Gorges is very good, because I don't think he's anything more than a 4-5 on a good team, but I don't think he's dragging Risto down to the measure people think he is. A lot of Risto's struggles are his own doing (or not doing)

He didn't choose the leafs over the sabres.

He chose toronto over buffalo.
- Sabresfan-365

I think he did it because of ego. He thinks he's the best coach and if he can get the Leafs to something approaching respectability in 2 years then he'll prove it. So far he's done a bang-up job, and I'm not being facetious, he somehow moved out the deadweight and brought "his" players in and they're headed in the right direction. Also, even with the 4th pick they're getting another uber talented player.

There could be other factors involved as well. I don't think Gorges is as bad as his numbers suggest. He takes on all the hard defensive shifts, but is never gifted the offensive opportunities Risto is. Not saying Gorges is very good, because I don't think he's anything more than a 4-5 on a good team, but I don't think he's dragging Risto down to the measure people think he is. A lot of Risto's struggles are his own doing (or not doing)
- sbroads24

100%, however a lot of the mistakes he's making in his own end are things that you wouldn't see if the pairing as a whole was top pair worthy. Overaggressive chasing of the puck, forcing plays etc. He's trying to do too much imo.

I think he did it because of ego. He thinks he's the best coach and if he can get the Leafs to something approaching respectability in 2 years then he'll prove it. So far he's done a bang-up job, and I'm not being facetious, he somehow moved out the deadweight and brought "his" players in and they're headed in the right direction. Also, even with the 4th pick they're getting another uber talented player.
- Wetbandit1

Was this not a unanimous opinion before he signed there? what more did he have to prove. I still think it came down to the city.

Disagree on shattenkirk but that's for another time.

He has done it with Gorges for most of the year. The point i was making is that the impact and degree to which he makes them better has limits. He can't make gorges faster, smarter, stronger etc. It's why i used the jackman-shattenkirk example. He's put up #1 numbers most of his career except the year he was paired with a past his prime Jackman.
- Sabresfan-365

Yeah, Pavel Bure never made his line mates better. That's an extreme example of course. Karlsson is probably another. Some, even Hall of Fame players, don't necessarily make their teammates better.

Yeah, Pavel Bure never made his line mates better. That's an extreme example of course. Karlsson is probably another. Some, even Hall of Fame players, don't necessarily make their teammates better.
- Wetbandit1

Karlsson is the exact opposite. He makes literally everyone he plays with considerably better.

Was this not a unanimous opinion before he signed there? what more did he have to prove. I still think it came down to the city.
- Sabresfan-365

I think this gets overlooked with Babcock/Stamkos. Babcock already won in this league.

Stamkos hasn't, and doesn't want to wait 3 years to have a shot

Karlsson is the exact opposite. He makes literally everyone he plays with considerably better.
- sbroads24

Offensively.

I think this gets overlooked with Babcock/Stamkos. Babcock already won in this league.

Stamkos hasn't, and doesn't want to wait 3 years to have a shot
- sbroads24

Is that enough for him to choose Buffalo (or anywhere else) over Toronto?

A little disappointed we didn't get an outdoor game for 2017.

A little disappointed we didn't get an outdoor game for 2017.
- Sabresfan-365

It should have been Toronto and Edmonton and they could have called it the Tank Tournament.

A little disappointed we didn't get an outdoor game for 2017.
- Sabresfan-365

We should for 2018 when we have the Wolrd Juniors and the outdoor game, "Hey Gary, the rink will already be there, so might as well use it, eh?"

We should for 2018 when we have the Wolrd Juniors and the outdoor game, "Hey Gary, the rink will already be there, so might as well use it, eh?"
- Wetbandit1

For some reason i thought was 2017, hence why i was disappointed so nvm. But thats what i was thinking too, plus you have to figure the team should be good by then.

Offensively.
- Sabresfan-365

True.

Did we get Olli ?

Did we get Olli ?
- SABRES 89

We're trading Moulson for Olli.