With us now 5 points out of the playoffs and have played 25 games (most in the NHL tied with TML and PHI) the age old question has to be asked....

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"If you want to know what I've been doing lately, I've been driving around from Tim Horton's to Tim Horton's, rolling up the rim. Haven't won anything yet. Thanks." - Lindy Ruff

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Girgensons for captain. Team Keep Nick DesLauriers forever.

@TJLuckman550

no

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Check out my website: http://www.artistzero.com

"That wasn't very nice...I do believe you killed my hat."

Driver of the FIRE LINDY RUFF Bandwagon since 2008.

Are you serious? We've won 3 in a row once and back to back only twice. Since January all of our wins were by 1 goal or shootout. 25 games isn't a small sample, this team isn't good enough for the playoffs.

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Always an outside shot since all games are in conference, but doesn't seem likely with this team.

I've voted YES!

I still believe and have very good cold drinks in my fridge.

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HOCKEY IS BACK!

Second to last in the conference, still the worst powerplay (I assume), we'd have to ride one goalie all the way to the end...

Not just no, Hell no.

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Hold my beer and watch this...

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Yeah, I think it might actually be more a question of can they suck bad enough to get Seth Jones at this point. Playoffs are not gonna happen unless everything I've seen changes. Even in that streak of 3 wins in a row they were more lucky than good.

With Myers and everyone else doing so bad on the blueline, fuck it, tank for Seth!!! Keep up with the Joneses!!

you're right about everything Stu.

the question here is IF we do end up with the 1st overall would you go with the obvious #1 in Jones or would you trade down a couple spots and take a future offensive allstar in mackinon

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"If you want to know what I've been doing lately, I've been driving around from Tim Horton's to Tim Horton's, rolling up the rim. Haven't won anything yet. Thanks." - Lindy Ruff

I'd go buy a Jones jersey the second they drafted him. He has an air of leadership about him this team needs, especially the young players. He also makes the simple plays 95% of the time from what I've seen. If there aren't gonna be any playoffs for Buffalo, that's really the only thing that would make this season worthwhile to me.

I'd rather have MacKinnon. He has potential to be an elite forward, something we haven't had in a LONG time, as well as adding more scoring other than Vanek, Pommers, Hodsgon, and Ennis.

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"Counting all the assholes in the room, I'm definitely not alone!" ~ Michael Poulsen, Volbeat, Still Standing.

Any team that takes a forward over Jones is being run by fools. MacKinnon isn't a Stamkos/Tavares "can't miss" prospect, even his own teammates like Drouin might turn out better. Jones is the real thing, and hopefully he'll be coming off a Memorial Cup run too.

Oh, the other reason I think Jones would be a great choice for Buffalo is because he's black, like about half the city's population. The Sabres have not done a very good job crossing the traditional color-barrier in hockey, and they have a real opportunity to grow their fan base in the black community with the city's demographics.

1. Hockey has never really done well crossing the color-barrier. I doubt having a black guy on the team will appeal to a different group.
2. Just because you have a stiff for Jones doesn't mean Mackinnon sucks. Jones won't magically make this team better, and I'd say we need a forward>defense.

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"Counting all the assholes in the room, I'm definitely not alone!" ~ Michael Poulsen, Volbeat, Still Standing.

Well, I disagree that we need forward more than defense. As far as MacKinnon, I never said he sucked, I said I'd rather have Jones because he's better. Pretty much every scout in North America agrees with me.

As fa as drafting to fill team needs vs. taking the best player available, I live in a town that has been majorly burned twice by trying to draft to their needs. The Blazers took Sam Bowie over Michael Jordan in the draft because they needed a big man and had drafted a guard a year before (Clyde Drexler). Then they did basically the same thing 5 years ago thinking they needed a center, so they drafted Greg Oden instead of Kevin Durant. Those were two drafting mistakes that probably cost the Blazers championships.

Take the best player available. Buffalo fuckin needs it.

At the World Juniors:

Jones- 7 games: 1 goal, 6 assists
MacKinnon- 6 games: o goals, 1 assist

And that was with MacKinnon not on the top line and thus not facing other teams' best defense pairs. In that case, on that stage, it's not even a competition as to who was better.

1. Um, it's basically tied up as to who will be the #1 pick. So no, not all people agree with you. Not all scouts agree with you, either.
2. Where the shit did basketball come from?
4. A 7 game comparison?

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"Counting all the assholes in the room, I'm definitely not alone!" ~ Michael Poulsen, Volbeat, Still Standing.

Look at TSN ratings: #1 Jones, #2 Drouin, #3 Mackinnon. Jones has been consensus #1 since the world juniors (yes 7 games), with Mackinnon recently falling to 3.

Is there something wrong with comparing sports?

Over that 7 games, MacKinnon was playing with some of the most talented players in the CHL, and the FORWARD who you say could be "an elite scorer" had one assist. A DEFENSEMAN on a team most people would consider less talented than Canada outscored your "elite scorer" by seven times, from the blueliine, playing against the best junior forwards in the world. Oh, but that's just 7 games so it means nothing right?