Alaska Darin

If anyone can recognize a lack of pocket awareness, it’s Dan Orlovsky.

I think in the old NHL defensemen took a REALLY long time to develop but today's NHL salary cap demands they get thrown to the wolves. Even 10 years ago an 18 year old would NEVER be on an NHL roster. Most wouldn't see a roster until age 22 or 23. Additionally, they are FAR more ready now in every way at a much younger age. They get better training, better nutrition, and better coaching throughout their careers. The big key for Dahlin is staying healthy. As long as he can stay on the ice, he's going to be terrific and one of the best players in the NHL very quickly. "His floor is Drew Doughty". Yeah, I'll take that.

I think he's managing like a guy who has never managed before. The "instinct" will come with experience. I don't disagree with you, I just don't think you fall out of bed into the top job into the sport and don't require an adjustment period. I can't imagine my first managerial job being the New York Yankees.

So much young talent. Today Domingo German started his first game and had a no hitter through six when he was lifted. The bullpen gave up 4 in the 8th and all looked lost but they got 3 back in the eight on a RBI single by Gardener and a two run double by Judge. Gleyber Torres hit a walk-off three run homer in the bottom of the ninth to win it...in his FIFTEENTH career game. I understand it's easy to hate the Yankees based on history but this is a good group and they play hard for 27 outs every night.

The worst is Matt Carpenter for the Cardinals. A few years ago, he was a contact hitter who was tough to get out. Then he started hitting over 20 homers and striking out like crazy (career high is 151). He's now hitting .165 and absolutely refuses to adjust to the shift. I can't believe Matheny keeps trotting him out there at the top of the lineup.

That hot start seems so long ago.

Agree with pretty much all of that too.

Couldn't agree with this more. He's a more important player than Conner McDavid was because there has literally NEVER been anyone like him. We may have just won the most important draft lottery in NHL history.

He was a rookie when he was 16.

Dude...the movie Slapshot exists for a reason.

It's nice to see you have a new crusade. Looking forward to all of your ridiculous takes over the next season.

Dahlin is going to be very good out of the gate but he most likely won't be a Norris candidate for about 3 seasons - defensemen generally take a few years to develop and there are only a handful of legitimate Norris candidates in the NHL. Teams that have them are generally perennially in the playoffs and Cup contenders. Vegas isn't really winning with castoffs. The way the NHL handled the expansion, they were able to get some good talent and stockpile picks to use as capital. Their front office did an excellent job starting from scratch and creating a winning culture. The Sabres should have been playoff contenders this year and the same can be said with just a couple of roster tweaks this off season . One of the problems with consistent losing in sports is how hard it is to overcome the mindset. JB is pretty much saddled with O'Reilly unless he wants to give him away for a song. Other NHL front offices read the internet too. That contract is somewhat of an albatross right now but O'Reilly has the ability to play to it.

Except I didn't say that and it's not the first time in this thread that you've tried to make a strawman. Thanks for being one of those guys. I truly appreciate your permission to boo the lawn gnome. If you want to swallow his junk because of some honorable thing you "think" he did, have at it.

This is seriously the argument you're using? Seven seasons without making the playoffs and 3 seasons during the period finishing at the very bottom of the league would be devastating to every market in every sport. Somehow Buffalo still manages to be at the very top of NHL television ratings pretty much every season and is now starting to produce locally developed players who are getting drafted, which is probably because it's an anchor hockey market. It's also why the NHL has hosted the draft, combine(s), World Juniors, multiple outdoor games, etc. Jesus H. Christ...attendance stats for a historically bad team. Really? You got one thing right: He's a tiresome dullard. He also had pretty much zero choice on supporting the franchise. The next original thought Gary Bettman has will be his very first.

I wonder if Pettine is going to be able to stop the run in Green Bay.

I didn't say anything about anchor franchise. I said anchor market.

Sure it is, which is why so many non-profitable teams have moved on to better places since. Right? Betteman and the rest of the "decision makers" understand that Buffalo is an anchor hockey market. There was zero chance that anyone sitting in that seat was going to let a team that basically invented "fans in the plaza" and consistently has the highest television numbers move when teams like Carolina, Florida, and Phoenix existed in the states they were in at that time. There wasn't ONE market that was even NHL ready, much less a better fit that Buffalo. There still aren't any today, which is why QC is building a new arena. Seattle had to promise the NHL to spend $600 MILLION just to renovate their arena (built in 1962) to be ready for 2020/21. The Houston Rockets' owner back then wouldn't even entertain the idea of sharing his arena and revenue with an NHL team. That's changed since the team was sold in 2017, but we're not talking about 2017. I guess the Sabres were almost on their way to the Emerald City/QC/Houston but thanks to Gary Betteman, we were saved. Sorry, not buying it one bit.

The Sabres were NEVER moving. EVER.

That's pretty much revisionist history, especially when you look at how long it took to get Winnipeg and Vegas online and why Quebec still doesn't have a team. Gary Betteman sucks.

I booed Gary Betteman as soon as I saw his face. Such a tool.

His style of play really wasn't appreciated until much later in his career because he wasn't a banger and wasn't flashy. I also think he was overshadowed by all the talent on those loaded teams (Shanny, Hull, Federov, Yzerman, Chelios, Robataille, Larionov, etc.). He was pretty much the perfect defenseman and always made exactly the right play.

Karlsson was sixth among defenseman in scoring and tied for the points lead on his team. He was not the reason the Senators didn't make the playoffs. Great, great player but hockey is a team game so no man is an island. Dahlin is going to be a huge star in the NHL if he stays healthy. Huge.

Lidstrom is retired and was in the playoffs EVERY SINGLE SEASON of his career. Karlsson played with a significant injury most of this season and was a shell of himself. He was the best player in the NHL last season and was the biggest reason a significantly overmatched Ottawa team took the eventual Champion Penguins to 7th game, losing in double overtime..

If he's Nik Lidstrom, we're winning Cups. Lidstrom is the smartest 2-way defensemen I've ever seen. Dahlin appears to be a much bigger version with more wiggle.

Interesting conversations all the way around. 1. I have no issue with the Sabres not being "all in" for big dollar free agents. Far too many of these guys are getting huge contracts for past production and never come close to the dollars they're playing for (I'm looking directly at you, Paul Stastny and Kyle Okposo). That being said, O'Reilly is a little different because he signed the deal at such a young age and it pretty much locked him up for his entire prime. 2. Dahlin is a VERY unique talent and literally has every tool in his toolbox. That being said, it will be probably 3 years before he plays even close to a Norris Trophy level so everyone needs to be patient and understand that SEHL men's hockey is not close to NHL hockey. He's going to have struggles along with his signature moments. 3. College free agents are going to be the next big market. Hopefully the Sabres start winning a little and are able to leverage their deep-pocketed owners to move to the front of the line a few times. I've never thought the draft lottery was rigged. Honestly we may have won the most important one ever for our franchise. Guys like Dahlin are VERY rare.