Signing one D man that isn't above average and resigning unimportant players is being a good GM? Sure, it helps, but not as much as he needs. Last 3 years he hasn't done much more than that. Sure, I am complaining, but I did come up with ideas for him to be a good GM. If he doesn't make a good signing this year, he is officially a bad GM. You can't sign mediocre players with minimal talent and expect to win the cup. Only reason we are winning as much as we are is because Miller is a goalie machine. Remove him for a mediocre goalie and we suck. Miller gets us far but we need MORE to go farther!!!

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

and you underestimate what Lindy brings to the table and the input he has on HIS team... you think its just Darcy shopping for players without Ruff's input.... and you obviously miss the point that Lindy can simply do more with less... give Lindy a solid goalie and he can make a team play....

one d man that compares to Hank thats a little more offensive than Hank... yeah thats a bad GM...

unimportant players... like Grier... Weber... McCormick...Kaleta... you still have to fill out a roster and those guys are not bad for what they bring to the table...

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Why does everyone hate Chris Butler? He had one bad year, a sophomore slump. Sure, it was a horrible one, but remember the season before this when he was our best blueliner with Rivet? I do, and I think that Chris Butler will be back this season. He knew he had an off season, so I doubt he's just sitting at home moping about it saying that he hopes he can turn it around. I bet he's working his ass off this offseason to make himself better so he can improve from last year. I think the Rivet/Butler pairing will be pretty solid again. Put Weber with Sekera to see if they can bring back the magic, and Leopold with Myers and I think we have a damn solid blueline. It may not be the most experienced in the league, but still pretty solid if they can all play to the potential we've seen them with before. Then with GoalieBot 3000 behind them, I think it'll be pretty tough to score a goal on the Sabres this year.

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"Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid." ~ Han Solo


We truly are not worthy of Miller!

It's because after only one bad year out of two everyone here is ready to throw him under the bus already. Same with Sekera, and Sekera didn't have a terrible year at all.

If our GM was ready to trade away everyone who wasn't a superstar in the first two years then this team would be exactly like Toronto, or worse, the Islanders.

Defense takes awhile to learn, it took Campbell 5 years of playing in the NHL before he became a defender of his capabilities. Green wasn't as offensive like he is now his first year either, it took him a few years to get that scoring touch. There are always exceptions to the rules, but you don't give up on a player in two years, that is not enough time to see how he can play.

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Nikolai Zherdev has been confirmed to be negotiating with the Sabres and Leafs by his KHL team from last season.

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mechaphil

ehhhh....at what price would be my concern

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Hold my beer and watch this...

Not trying to be negative here but do you really think the sabres are going to bring him here? They are staying away from russians.

For me I wouldn't mind the sabres taking a chance on the guy he's had solid numbers.

This.

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If it were a short term 3-4M deal, I'd be ok, something like 1 year 3.5M or 2 years at 7M I'd be quite content

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"She's like plan C after an 18 pack"

Squanto 7/27/2010

I'd be interested to see what he could do with Vanek and Roy, for sure. I'm expecting him to get $3M if he returns to the NHL.

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mechaphil

If thats true, you'd think Zherdev would probably only want a one or two year deal so he can make a push for the big money he knows he probably won't be getting here. He did average 24 goals, 35 assists, nearly 60 points and a full 82 games BOTH seasons before the move to Russia. I think the Sabres are against drafting Russians because of the lack of a transfer agreement, but I think we can all say that if Darcy makes this move.....it would def add credibility to our first line and allow us to move Stafford, or stick him on the second line where he fits a little better and wont be relied to to score as much.

Vanek/Roy/Zherdev
Ennis/Connolly/Stafford (Stempniak)
Kennedy/Hecht/Grier
McCormick/Goose/Kaleta

I actually like this line-up and I think moving Stafford with a pick and prospect for another D man, and signing Stempniak would make for a pretty damn entertaining team

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"I can't really hear what Jeremy says, because I got my two Stanley Cup Rings plugging my ears...." -Patrick Roy in reference to Jeremy Roenick's trash talking

You forgot Pommers...

I thin it just proves how expendable Stafford is though. That line up looks kinda solid, and it would allow us to possibly move Stafford + for a real 3rd line center, and let Goose play 4th line where he belongs

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"She's like plan C after an 18 pack"

Squanto 7/27/2010

Well, numerous sources have come forward to debunk any talk of Zherdev talking to the Leafs. Meanwhile, his agent won't talk about his negotiations with the Sabres, saying "let's talk about it at the end of the week".

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mechaphil

Holy Crap I knew I was forgetting someone. But, you're right, it means we could move Stafford, which Im all for. It will end the CMAc/Paille/Stafford era of garbage high picks that seemed destined for 3rd line duty (hehehe.....duty)

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"I can't really hear what Jeremy says, because I got my two Stanley Cup Rings plugging my ears...." -Patrick Roy in reference to Jeremy Roenick's trash talking

KneeGrows, you've got one glaring, heinous error in your line-up - you put Hecht at center. That's a massive no-no.

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mechaphil

YEah, I HATED him at center last year but thats when he was playing on the second line. I think he'd do fine on that line with Kennedy and Grier. I also debated sliding Kennedy to Center, or throwing in a pick em between Goose and McCormick for 3/4 center duties

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"I can't really hear what Jeremy says, because I got my two Stanley Cup Rings plugging my ears...." -Patrick Roy in reference to Jeremy Roenick's trash talking

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_d ... nhl,253719

Zherdev apparently asking $4 mill

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Hold my beer and watch this...

The Hecht-Connolly-Pominville line was very good, why split that up?

We all expect a 2nd line of Vanek-Roy-Stafford/new guy. What's wrong with a 3rd line of Kennedy-Ennis-Grier? Putting Ennis on the 1st line makes an all small, no board work line. Putting Hecht down on 3rd line LW makes Kennedy the 3rd C, and last season proved he's better at LW. Anyway, I think the best combo is...

Hecht-Connolly-Pominville
Vanek-Roy-new guy/Stafford
Kennedy-Ennis-Grier
McCormick-Gaustad-Kaleta

Too much unless it's a only a one-year deal.

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mechaphil

I wouldn't trust Zherdev's effort unless it was only a 1 yr deal - with the motivation to produce for a bigger contract next season (somewhere else I'm sure).