And you don't really know how a full season of Ennis will turn out... or if Gerbe or Mancari show up... heck Leopold is a bit more offensive than Hank and Weber can be a shut down guy .... you add in the chemistry of the top lines and pray for health through the season and your top 6 could all see an uptick in points... do not discount what Ruff brings to this team, he knows how to get blood out of a stone and with Miller and Meyers anchoring the backend... we just need a little more out of guys the CAN do a little more... heck Stafford might even play like a man this year?! MIGHT!

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Buddy, its just that it gets reeeeeeal old listening to people rehash something we all know.

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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

Exactly. You bring no element other than "Darcy doesn't do anything! He did this but it isn't good enough!" How the hell do you know? Excuse us for getting angry, but you seem the type that's hard to please.

You say we need scorers, like the 40-50 point range, yet we already have plenty of those. What more can Darcy do for that?

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Girgensons for captain. Team Keep Nick DesLauriers forever.

@TJLuckman550

but do you agree that Ennis MIGHT be THAT 50 point guy you want? He COULD come in a blow it up.... you like stats and numbers... take what Ennis did in the play-offs and put that over a season...

Heck give Ruff a few extra pieces and see what he can get out of 'em... and with Ennis, Leopold, and some competition in the top 6, you might see the points you want out of this team... If TV is healthy most of the season with what he showed with Ennis and Roy... that line could be just silly....

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That line could be very nasty. A lot of speed with those three boys

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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

Im tellin ya, some of the kids COULD step up this year and be the player everyone is looking for! I'd be happy if Darcy was done... he kept the team competitive, didn't put us in any cap crisis, and is giving his young talent a chance... there is nothing wrong with that on a team coming off of winning the division...

the only thing i don't really like is the Kaleta club arbitration deal... Darcy really just needs to get a deal done with him, he is one kid a wouldn't mind over paying a little for, because i just like everything about him.... home town kid, living the dream and i love his game... puts a smile on my face to see him blow someone up and then that person get the penalty on top of it! so pay the kid.... even if its a little more than you want to Darcy... i won't hold it against you

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Yeah, when you have a forward that is the deepest guy into the offensive zone on the forecheck AND still the first forward back on defense, you lock that guy up.

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Proud LGBTQQ Individual

I agree whole heartly about this, this is a place to for opinions and if people don't agree with this then just don't post.

Anyways I agree with you BlueandYellow this team needs a bona-fide top six forward and if no one else see's this then they are stupid.

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just call me Brad

Twitter @BUrbanowicz13

but do you see that Ennis COULD be that guy?

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Not yet, they still need a supporting cast.

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just call me Brad

Twitter @BUrbanowicz13

We're going to be strong offensively this season if Vanek can stay healthy, especially with Ennis and Gerbe set to be full time players.

Our top 3 lines are going to TERRORIZE teams on the scoreboard.

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Wheelhouse

He should use the money he saved by shipping out Lyds and Hank. He really could fork a few extra dollars for a fan favorite. It's not like we're in a cap crisis either.

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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!

exactly and your not talking 3 mill or anything silly either... some have cited a 4th liner's deal in minny being the catalyst for this and i think that deal averages $1.4 over 3... I think Kaleta was around $500K last year... so push him to a mill per.... hell i'd love if my company would double my pay in a year.... of course this is why im not a GM, Im spending with my heart...lol

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If Kaleta went to Arbitration he won't get much anyways. And Darcy will easily sign him to that deal.

It's the only bargaining thing a RFA even has and he can only use it once in his career.

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Kaleta is in Sabres-initiated arbitration, not player-initiated arbitration.

explain...

4th line - McCormick, Goose, Patty K
3rd line - Kennedy, Neids, Grier
2nd line - Pomminville, Timmy, Hect
1st line - Ennis, Roy, TV

Not sure where to put 'em -- Stafford Gerbe (portland)

ok I may have the wingers screwed up, left vs. right.... but what supporting cast?

A top line of Ennis Roy TV could be sick... Ennis could be the top line winger we need... he was ridiculous in the play-offs

A second line of Pommers, Timmy, Hect could be solid... Timmy and Pommers could both bounce back from average 2009/10 seasons...

and your 3rd and 4th lines are pretty set.... and with Stafford and Gerbe and Ruff's affinity for playing line juggling, it gives him lots of options...

So what supporting cast? You have a machine in TV, a young shifty kid in Ennis who was the best player in the play-offs once TV was off the ice... two solid C in Timmy and Roy.... Pommers could play a little better... Hect is a solid as can be 2 way guy who i hope stays heathy all year.... a great shut down line and a crazy checking line... McCormick and Kaleta centered by Goose is just mean!

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Let me defend myself about Stempniak. I don't think he's "the guy", just what Stafford should be at this point - a 20-25 goal scorer. Stempniak shouldn't get slammed for not scoring much in Toronto, they were (are?) a joke for a few seasons. Stafford hasn't progressed, and I'd like Stempniak if no other top two RW can be acquired. I would see him as a reasonable alternative as long as he isn't getting paid over 3 mil per. He would also potentially open Stafford's eyes up with some competition if he didn't get traded. I'll bet that so far Stempniak has hoped for a 3.5-4 mil deal and it won't happen.

As for this thread...if (IF) Darcy is done I'll be disappointed. I like every move so far. I think Leopold is at least as good as Tallinder, and Weber should be ready, and Nieds adds more experience and leadership. But...there is cap room to add a very solid player and push this roster into a Cup contender on paper. If that one player isn't acquired there will be a handful of young players that have to step up. Ennis, Kennedy, Stafford, Mancari, Gerbe...I don't know what to expect, but the best I could hope for from any of them doesn't equal the 25-30 goal, 70 pt guy with toughness and experience that I want to line up with Vanek and Roy. Weber and Leopold won't run the PP either. I like them on the team, but they aren't the bigger pieces that could be had with the cap space available.

Ennis is good but who knows if he is going to keep this up during a full season, they still need a FORWARD who has NHL experience who is not a third line depth guy. Also putting pressure on Ennis to be the secondary scoring is not that great of an idea IMO.

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just call me Brad

Twitter @BUrbanowicz13

You gotta roll the dice at some point on young talent... and Ennis showed me enough in the play-offs to roll the dice on him as a top 2 line winger... he is in no way a 3rd line cat with what he showed playing on the top lines in the play-offs... you need to give him a shot and see if he can make it work... and if he can't maybe you've pissed stafford off enough by sitting his ass in the press box to start playing like he should consistently....

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I think they should blow up all of the previous line combinations and start from scratch. I would phase in the physical checking line forwards onto the scoring lines, and create 3 lines that have finese and grinders. I'm really concerned about having tangeble options when faced with physically stronger teams in a 7 game series. Ruff needs to plug grinder guys into scoring lines so the finesse guys don't get beaten into submission by the time game 6 rolls around. They don't have the perfect blend of forwards to achieve that but they have to try anyways.

I'm talking about stuff like:

Gasutad-Connolly-Pomminvile
Vanek-Roy-Grier

Don't get me wrong, I like a nice tic-tac-toe play as much as the next guy but in the playoffs you need garbage goals. Those are the goals that win Stanley Cups. Every line needs a guy with the stones to crash hard to the net and open up lanes for the skilled forwards. Those grinder guys can score off of their shins their faces whatever. Who cares. As long as they are taking one defense man to the net with him and making life miserable for the goalie at even strength and especially on the power play!

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"I love that you know how to do that." Cheryl/Carol/Crystal

"And I love that I have an erection that doesn't involve homeless people." Kreiger