BillsFan4

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.

Same here. If they get a ROR like return for Eichel, that might be the last straw for me. If they trade Eichel, it better be for a return they just can’t say no to. I want at least 2 really high end players back in the trade. Like the other team’s best young player and best prospect, +. The rumors they want “the equivalent of 4 first round picks” scares me. I feel like that’s a somewhat silly bar to set. Who gives a F what round a player was drafted in if he’s not playing well. They might think getting the “equivalent of 4 first round picks” will make it easier to sell to the fan base, but it won’t if those 4 players/picks are mediocre. And there’s a lot of mediocre/crappy players picked in the 1st round playing in the NHL. Like Ryan Strome from NYR for example. He was a 1st round pick (5th overall, 2011) but he’s mediocre. His best season in the NHL was 18g, 59pts. Or Julien Gauthier (1st round 2016. 4th liner in the NHL). If those 4 first round pieces look something like: -Ryan Strome -Vitali Kravtsov -Julien Gauthier -1st round pick I don’t think any Sabres fans are going to be happy. I’d much, much rather have a player like Adam Fox (who was a 3rd round pick that signed in NY as a college free agent and looks like a 1st pair defenseman) and 1 other high end piece (like LaFreniere). Give me quality. Botterill did similar with ROR. He needed 5 pieces. He went with quantity over quality. I don’t know if He wanted the trade to look lopsided on paper, or what. And I remember when the trade went down, places like Pro Hockey Talk reported “wow! A 5 for 1 trade! That’s crazy!”. But any knowledgable hockey fan actually looking at those 5 pieces knew immediately the Sabres got totally screwed. If they trade Eichel I really hope the main value pieces of the trade are A prospects and good NHL players. I have zero interest in draft picks making up any significant value in the trade. Sabres don’t need to rebuild for another 5+ years. They need to start winning now, and you don’t do that by trading a franchise #1 C for draft picks.

So stupid that the Sabres would burn bridges over an injury (if that’s what happened). Especially in a totally lost season like this one. They knew Eichel was already unhappy. Why make it 10x worse? I truly don’t understand their thinking on this one... This organization is a mess.

what a crap year to have the best odds at #1 overall. Well, at least I won’t be nervous watching the draft lottery drawing this year! 😂

Like who? IMO There aren’t even dozens of currently employed team presidents that are better than him, let alone dozens that are available (at least that I know of). I’d rank him in the top 10 as far as team presidents go. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:NHL_team_presidents There are about 6-7 guys definitely ahead of him, and then IMO he’s in the conversation with a few guys for who would come next. He rebuild STL front office and scouting staff and the team has been a perennial contender ever since his time there. He completely rebuild Columbus’s front office, scouting staff and team from league joke to one of the more well respected front offices and scouting staffs in the NHL. (exactly what needs to happen in Buffalo) Both STL and COL consistently improved during his time there and he left with both teams having winning records. He also did a pretty great job in NY. I don’t get what’s so unattractive about him?

I mean, he’s not Tod Lieweke or Brendan Shanahan. But he’s better than our current team president, by a mile. I think he’s done a pretty good job with every team he’s been with. The Blues was a “learning on the job” team, but they steadily improved during his time there and they have been a consistent winner ever since. A lot of the guys he helped draft eventually helped STL win a Cup. Columbus was a rudderless team before he came on board (very similar to Buffalo) with 1 playoff appearances in their entire history and they made the playoffs 4x in his 7yrs there and were steadily improving before he left (and before this season). They had 5 of their best ever seasons under Davidson and were the 9th best team in the league (by wins) during his tenure (and 4th in wins during his last 3 years there). and the NYR have blown by the Sabres rebuild in 1/3 of the time. Hes helped put together some very strong NHL front offices and scouting staffs. He’s a well respected front office exec and would bring instant respectability to Buffalo’s front office (something they desperately need IMO). He hasn’t been out of work for more than 3 weeks as a team president. He’s also a good person, so I think he would fit the “culture” requirements of the Pegulas.

I would obviously say yes. But I think Adams did mention something about adding to the front office staff, so hopefully! I would be somewhat surprised if Gorton doesn’t get other GM looks though. Vancouver seems like a good potential fit (if they move in from Benning). I’d be all about adding Gorton if he was interested though. Id be good with Gorton as our GM but I don’t see that happening (and it’s probably unfair to give up on Adams so quickly anyway). He put together a really nice team quickly in NY. But he also had the advantage of the NYC draw. Seems like every free agent wants to play in MSG.

really interested to see how Drury does. He’s turned down a number of other GM interviews over the years (including an interview with the Sabres) and even a couple of GM jobs iirc. Curious to see if he’s the next Steve Yzerman (hope not!) or if the hype was unwarranted.

Sadly, this is probably true. 😢

The Sabres should be calling Davidson immediately! I don’t see them having interest in Gorton unless it’s an AGM role (which I doubt he’s interested in). But I can’t think of a more perfect hire than Davidson as team president. It would be a home run hire IMO. But I’d be surprised if he had interest in Buffalo. I’m sure he’ll have plenty of other offers.

Same thing just happened to me on my iPad. I got a pop-up (virus) telling me I won some prize and there was no way to go back to the article so I had to just close it.

this may have already been posted

😂

Guess they’re making it a priority to get after opposing QBs and I’m good with that.

Damn, I wanted to see QBs go 1-4 (just because it’s never happened before).

Ryan Miller announced he is retiring after this season.

You fully vaccinated now? How are you feeling so far?

https://lastwordonsports.com/hockey/2021/04/20/buffalo-sabres-young-players-shine-under-don-granato/