BillsFan4

Not so sure about that one. Edmonton has been as bad as Buffalo at developing players. They actually might be the only team worse than Buffalo... (before Ken Holland anyway). They went something like 10 years without having a contributing player drafted outside the 1st round of the draft. Iirc I think they hit on like 1 second round pick in that entire time or something ridiculous like that. Draisaitl would be Draisaitl no matter what team drafted him.

https://www.cover1.net/buffalo-bills-harrison-phillips-acl-tear-recovery/ ‘I DIDN’T HAVE A DAY OFF’: HARRISON PHILLIPS TALKS RECOVERY FROM ACL TEAR, GROWTH AS LEADER This was a good read.

Isles tie up the series with Boston at 2 games each. I love it!

If they trade Eichel for a pile of crap that really, truly might be the last straw for me.

🤢🤮 shill

I didn’t even watch the lottery draw. Just saw that Buffalo won. I guess I’m glad they won it but I can’t say that I’m really excited or anything. This feels nothing like when we won the Dahlin draft lottery. There’s no player I’m overly excited about in this draft. It’s nice to have 1st pick of any player we want but I don’t exactly have a ton of faith in this scouting staff to get the pick right, and now it’s just more embarrassing if they miss.

didnt even know this was tonight.

I Don’t blame Adams for this one. Davidsson hasn’t done much to be worth signing. and to be fair to botterill, the rest of that 2017 draft actually looks ok, especially now that Mittelstadt is finding his game. Mitts, UPL, Laaksonen, Bryson, Weissbach. Time will tell on UPL and the rest but it looks like we might get a few contributors from that class (which is more than I can say for many of Buffalo’s draft classes).

Get to see some of these changes in person on Friday. Super excited!

Damn, that was an epic choke by the leafs. They’ve taking choking in the playoffs to another level. It’s like a new art form. When will they ever be given an easier path to the conference finals? Montreal then Winnipeg...

brutal for CBJ fans. For whatever reason they just cannot keep star players in Columbus.

Crazy! What a series. Cant believe it’s going to game 7 after the leafs were up 8n the series 3 games to 1. They have to get it done on Monday or I have to believe there will be changes to the core (unless the write it off as the team just missing Tavares). 😂

I would absolutely ******* HATE trading Reinhart for a goalie. Especially someone I don’t even consider elite. I’d put Merzlikins right around Ullmark, personally. Reinhart was top 10 in the NHL in goals this past season. Merzlikins is not top 10 in any stat. Never has been. He’s maybe a mid tier starter IMO. Oh, and he already made comments about Buffalo a while back.

This doesn’t surprise me at all. I know I stopped watching last season, and I’ve always been one who watches every game (even through the tank years). But this last season I just lost all interest. I couldn’t do it anymore. I did start watching again towards the end when it looked like they were finally giving an effort again, but even then I’d only tune in for maybe 1/2 the game, or I’d only 1/2 watch while I was browsing on my computer or something.

really good podcast/interview with Don Granato.

Looks like Dion Dawkins put on weight.

No. He was the much talked about “favorite” among hockey media but Botterill never even ask permission to interview him. When asked about it he said he “had too much respect for the PIT coaching staff” to break it up (or something along those lines), which I thought was odd. Made me think there was some reason he wasn’t interested in Tocchet (from their time together in PIT).

Pretty much every player we traded away this season looks better after leaving. Except Staal. Hall. Montour (he’s looked pretty good for Florida). Even Jonas Johansson looks like a competent backup in Colorado. and it’s not just this season either. ROR won a selke and a cup and the Conn Smythe (playoff MVP) his 1st season away from the Sabres. Sheary found his game again. Marcus Johansson looks decent for Minnesota. Beaulieu looks decent for Winnipeg. Even Bogosian looked passable.

Yeah, for real. We see it happen over and over again. Wtf is poisoned here? Clearly SOMETHING is toxic in the Buffalo Sabres organization.

Realistically I don’t think they can buy him out until summer of 2023 the earliest. If they bought him out in 2022, he’d be on the books for 10 years. $8.8M $1.3M $1.3M $4.3M $6.3M $2.3M $2.3M $2.3M $2.3M $2.3M 2023 doesn’t really look super great either, but more manageable. 1.6 1.6 4.6 6.6 2.6 2.6 2.6 2.6 2024 starts to look more realistic. 1.4 4.4 6.4 2.4 2.4 2.4 man, what a terrible ******* contract! I’d say “thanks Botterill” but I read/heard the Pegulas got involved.

Some info on the surgery Eichel wants: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2219656/ I can see why the Sabres want him to exhaust other options first.

I don’t blame the Sabres for not wanting him to get an artificial disc replacement as anything but the last option. I don’t think they’re in the wrong here. I don’t really think Eichel is either for wanting the surgery. I’m sure he’s in pain and wants to be able to relieve it and get back to the only thing he knows - training for + playing hockey. Now, The way Eichel handled his end of season press conference is a different story... I get he’s frustrated but he didn’t exactly handle it like a professional and team captain. As much as it hurts, I do think the Sabres need to trade him and reset (but only if they get the right offer). He’s been through too much losing, as have a number of other current Sabres. I think that’s a big reason for these loonnnggggg lasting mental collapses/meltdowns every season when things get tough and I’m not sure anymore if you can overcome it with some of these guys on the roster, especially if they already have 1 foot out the door. Trade them for some high end young talent and a couple good veterans. Vets that are leaders, aren’t washed up and are actually able to still perform on the ice. Kevyn Adams has a chance to pretty much completely rebuild the team with a couple/few good trades. Eichel and Reinhart should both hold SIGNIFICANT value. Hopefully Adams is up to the task... I just hope KA doesn’t cave in to the pressure and end up taking whatever the best offer is because he feels he has to trade them (or the Pegulas tell him to). I hope the Sabres realize that they don’t have to trade Eichel this offseason, even if he does officially request a trade. He’s under contract for 4-5 more years and his NMC doesn’t kick in until after next offseason. Don’t trade him unless a team offers the right deal. To buy more time with Reinhart they can qualify him and offer only a multi year deal. If Reinhart refuses and takes them to arbitration, Sabres can then elect for a 2 year deal giving them time to trade Reinhart for proper value. If that fails and for whatever reason they can only get Reinhart under contract for 1 season, then they obviously have to trade him. They could wait until the deadline (and also keep trying to get him signed) but that would be risky.

I don’t think they’re asking him to play through a herniated disc. My guess would either be that Eichel is in a lot of pain and just wants it to be better (when you’re in that type of pain, you just want it to be be), and/or he wants a trade and knows it’s not happening while he’s injured. the ab and rib injuries are another story. I guess he’s an some type of ab injury for 2 years now.

So it is Eichel who wants surgery, and the team doctors want him to wait. Surgery on the neck/spine is pretty risky. There’s a decent chance it limits him in the future, or puts him at a greater injury risk. That type of surgery usually results in some loss of motion and/or nerve damage + scar tissue. If Eichel is pushing for surgery so he’s ready for training camp and the Sabres are pushing him to exhaust all rehab options first, even if it means missing time next season, I’m actually surprisingly on the Sabres side here. I get he’s frustrated, especially if he has a herniated disc that’s likely causing him pain. But I kind of wonder if he’s getting some iffy medical advise here. I’m guessing maybe Eichel went to a (likely good) surgeon, who (surprise!) advised surgery. Maybe he will ultimately need it, but why rush it just to get back a little sooner? I see zero reason to rush into a neck/spine surgery before he’s exhausted all other options first. There’s no risk in waiting + rehabbing vs. much more risk in surgery. I wish we knew more of the details but I doubt we will get much from Kevyn Adams on Wednesday due to HIPPA laws.