BillsFan4

NHL skills competition is on tonight at 8pm (EST). Eichel is doing the fastest skater event again (seems like it’ll be a yearly thing...). I still think he has a chance to win it if he has a great run.

I really hope this guy gets the help that he so clearly seems to need.

They actually played a pretty damn good game outside the first 7(ish) minutes and the last 7(ish) minutes. Nashville came out strong, but then Buffalo pushed back. It went back and forth. 1-0 Sabres. 1-1 preds. Then that killer PP goal with 6:30 remaining in the 3rd. Buffalo was struggling leading up to that Nashville PP and just never seemed to recover. Yeah I’m looking forward to seeing what they can do after the all star break, especially if they get Skinner back right after the break and hopefully Olofsson back in early Feb (if not sooner!). They definitely have the opportunity to stay in the playoff race. I still don’t expect them to make it, but if they can even stay in the race till the end I’ll consider it a pretty nice step forward for this team. As you said they usually fold like a cheap tent (and we have many of the same players as last year so I don’t know how high I should have my hopes). I’m going to a couple home games coming up after the break. I hope I don’t regret it... lol

https://theathletic.com/1478914/2019/12/21/pompei-mahomes-or-mitch-here-is-what-nfl-execs-said-about-them-before-the-2017-draft/ Mahomes or Mitch? Here is what NFL execs said about them before the 2017 draft (Athletic sub. required) Sound familiar? Thought this was was an interesting read and a good reminder that Mahomes was far from a sure thing (which is why so many QB needy teams passed on him). A lot was said about his mechanics/footwork (I remember a common thing was people saying no one had ever succeeded in the NFL with footwork/mechanics as bad as Mahomes), him struggling against quality opponents, having a losing record as starter, and that qb’s from air raid systems are a big gamble, etc. Sure, it looks like the Bills screwed up passing on Mahomes, but at the time many thought it was a smart move to stack assets for what was almost universally considered a much deeper/stronger 2018 QB class. I know now I thought it was a smart move at the time. I don’t do the deep dives into college prospects that some do, so I rely on what I read and the little I watch. Mahomes was the only QB I wanted but I thought pick #10 was too high to draft him (shows what I know! ?).Everyone said it was a great draft for CBs and 2018 was the year to take a QB. So I applauded the Bills for making what seemed like a smart move. I was worried they’d draft a QB in a weaker 2017 draft class and then pass on a QB the next year in a much stronger class (like what happened in 2013 with EJ Manuel). Its also worth mentioning that Kansas City was a very good team even before Mahomes, with elite weapons on offense. They had 11, 9, 11, 12 and 10 win seasons in the 5 years under Andy Reid before Mahomes and made the playoffs all but 1 season. He stepped into a pretty ideal situation, especially w/Andy Reid mentoring him.

This is crazy

Kyle Shanahan + SF’s run game vs Andy Reid + Mahomes should be a really exciting Super Bowl! I hope Green Bay at least outs up a fight though. They’re getting embarrassed right now.

The titans are playing some great football, but I expect Kansas City’s offense to get going at some point here. They’re too good to keep contained all game. Ultimately i I don’t really care who wins anyway. I was kind of rooting for KC to see Andy Reid potentially win his first Super Bowl, and because I think a KC vs SF or GB super bowl could be really exciting. But the titans franchise has never won a Super Bowl, and they were the #6 seed in the east so I can find reasons to root for them too.

Ah, damn. Almost an amazing interception...

Thats the real issue right there. I am not at all worried about how Bogosian factors in to defensive depth. As I said we have plenty without him. I don’t know if you can actually move that contract though (Bogosian’s agent is reportedly working hard behind the scenes to find a trade partner). But if you can move it, then you absolutely do it, as long as you’re not taking back worse contract. If you can flip Bogo (even with 50% retained) for a 7th or something, I’d definitely do it. Or for a forward with a similar expiring contract. I’m obviously not willing to take drastic measures to move Bogo. But if you can actually move him in a Frolik style trade, or even for a bag of pucks, I wouldn’t think twice. I would do it in a heart beat. It would solve a bunch of problems if they could actually move Bogosian. (Btw, I was just joking around in the post that started this conversation. That’s why I put “slightly used” in italics. I doubt anyone actually wants Bogosian).

I want Bogo gone because he’s disgruntled, because he sucks ans because having 8 defenseman on the NHL roster is causing issues with multiple defenseman. So, if possible I’d like to get rid of our worst and most expensive defenseman. He’s keeping guys like Colin Miller out of the lineup (and I guess Miller’s not too happy either). I get the depth argument which is why I’m not looking to get rid of our good defenseman (unless it’s for a good top 6 F) because we will need that depth next year and beyond. But they don’t need Bogo and (as I already mentioned) having too many defenseman is causing issues. The Sabres have excellent defensive in Rochester to call up (Nelson, Gilmour, Borgen, Hickey, Bryson, Redmond, etc) if needed for a playoff run, and even without Bogo they’d still have to scratch a defenseman most nights. They have 8 defenseman on the roster right now. NHL teams don’t make a habit of carrying 8 defenseman for a reason. Same reason it’s rare to carry 3 goalies (though it does happen on occasion).

https://sports.yahoo.com/hurricanes-hamilton-suffers-broken-fibula-out-for-extended-period-172325246.html Dougie Hamilton broke a home in his leg last night. What a shame. He was having a Norris caliber season for Carolina. I wonder if they’ll be in the market for another defenseman now? Rumor was they were looking to add to their blue line before the Hamilton injury. Can we interest them in a slightly used Zach Bogosian? ?

https://theathletic.com/1529144/2020/01/15/pronman-2019-20-midseason-nhl-prospects-ranking/ Pronman: 2019-20 midseason NHL prospects ranking (Athletic sub. required) He has Cozens as the #2 prospect outside the NHL. Trevor Zegras is ranked #1. Zegras and Cozens are the only 2 players in the “elite/high end” tier. The #3 prospect (Bowen Byram) is in the next tier down (high end). I wont lie, Zegras was my preferred pick on draft night when he was still on the board at #7. But Cozens has really grown on me and I actually think he might be a better fit on the Sabres than Zegras. Zegras is a heck of a play maker, but Cozens adds a skill set that the Sabres don’t currently have. Pronman says it came down to Zegras vs Cozens for the top spot -

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/16/sports/hockey/yukon-dylan-cozens.html N.H.L. Draft Pick Inspires Dreams as Big as the Yukon nice story on Dylan Cozens

I would think that Dahlin most likely ends up at #2 on this list. He has the rest of this (regular) season as a 19yr old.

He definitely had a lot on his plate, but I thought he handled it pretty well. I felt like he continued to improve all season, and I kind of like that he wasn’t babied. The Bills weren’t expected to compete for a championship this past season. It was really the first year of the “build” phase of the re-build. So why not try to develop Josh into a complete QB and force him to learn/grow, instead of running some gimmicky offense that only caters to what he already does well and doesn’t force the same type of growth? Those gimmicky offenses always get figured out. Then teams start taking away what that QB does well (Lamar in the playoffs for ex) and now that QB has to start learning how to do more of the things that he wasn’t as good at in order to adapt+overcome. So I guess I just look at it as Josh getting a head start on that process. Why not try to develop him into complete QB now instead of later? I guess you could argue that he wasn’t ready for it, but I don’t think it hurt his development at all. If anything, I feel like it helped it. Im not saying I agree with everything Daboll did or anything, and I’d like to see more of what Josh does best mixed in. But overall I’ve been pretty happy with the way Josh is developing under Daboll.

Personally, I don’t think that’s the question to be asking right now. IMO That’s like skipping from step 2 all the way to the last step. For me, the question is, is Daboll the guy to develop Josh Allen into the franchise QB we think (hope) he can be? And so far, I’d say Daboll seems to be developing Josh Allen pretty nicely. I don’t want to mess with that under the assumption someone else might do a better job. My Grandpa used to always say “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!”. Until Josh Allen develops, the Bills aren’t going to be competing for championships. Yes, exactly this.

Yeah, I think it’s freaking some people out... ? (j/k)

Krueger’s been great for Ristolainen. Im so glad that he’s happy here and wants to stay. We are finally seeing start to fully live up to his potential and I’m glad it’s happening in a Sabres uniform instead of watching him get traded elsewhere and thrive.

GTFOH Giants. I’m glad the Bills denied it. There’s no reason to let Daboll interview for a lateral move unless the Bills are trying to get rid of him (which quite clearly they’re not). I want continuity for Josh and the entire offense. Daboll has been good for Allen’s development so far and there’s no reason to mess with that IMO. People like to assume a new OC would be better for Allen but the opposite could also be true. If most of us agree that Josh is developing pretty nicely so far, why do people want to mess with that? I’ve been a Bills fan (and a sports fan in general) long enough to know that the next hire isn’t always automatically better than the previous one.

?? I loved Girgensons quote. Yeah, they can definitely hire him if they want. They already hired Ron Francis as their GM months ago. It’ll all come down to what Gallant wants. If he’s content to sit back for a year then it seems like a no-brainer hire (though the pressure might be high to repeat what he did in LV). But I think he’s going to get quite a few offers this offseason (maybe sooner). I’ll be surprised if he’s not tempted by some team to get back to work sooner. It would be pretty cool to see him to go Seattle though.

Right? lol That would be awesome. But I don’t think he will last that long. If they came into the league next season I feel like it would be a lock. But they don’t start playing until 2021/22 season. I can’t imagine another tram not hiring Gallant before then, unless he decides to wait for Seattle or something (they’d have to make him a ridiculous offer I’d think). I just don't want him back in the east. I could see New Jersey going after him (if they were smart), but it could hurt them not having their long term GM in place right now. They kind of have to hire a GM first, unless they’re planning on naming Tom Fitzgerald full time GM.

Just finished listening to McCrimmon’s press conference (uh... uh... uh... uh... uh...), and yeah, it definitely seems like a hasty decision to me. He couldn’t even say exactly why Gallant was fired. Said it was a gut feeling and it’s hard to describe the reason unless you’re around teams every day. Then he even says how the team is still in the playoff mix and the bottom hasn’t fallen out to force Gallant’s firing or anything like that. He was actually touting that they’re still in the mix! Feels like change for the sake of change more than anything else. I would be left with an awful lot of questions about Kelly McCrimmon if I were a VGK fan. Deboer is going to be under almost immediate pressure to win.

Seems like an overreaction to me. Yeah, they’ve lost their last 4 games, but he’s had unprecedented success with the LVK’s expansion team. They were in the Cup finals in their first season of existence! (which was only 2 years ago)