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My initial thought after the read is get some of the kids up, get them some playing time, take your lumps next year and push from there on. I don't think tossing a ton of cash at a guy like Richards is the answer. Get your young guys some playing time and try to win while they are early in their career and don't cost a ton.
Our bevy of homegrown 20-30 goal scorers hasn't been getting it done. We've done a pretty good job of developing average to (arguably) slightly above average talent, but we need at least one bona fide bell-ringer at center and a nasty presence back at the blue line.
YardRat Wall of Fame #56 DARRYL TALLEY #29 DERRICK BURROUGHS#22 FRED JACKSON #95 KYLE WILLIAMS
Our bevy of homegrown 20-30 goal scorers hasn't been getting it done. We've done a pretty good job of developing average to (arguably) slightly above average talent, but we need at least one bona fide bell-ringer at center and a nasty presence back at the blue line.
You could argue that Myers could be that guy on D and Roy could be the guy up front. The point is, no one has really spent a ton in free agency and won since the lock out. With a ton of money you guys could bring in one guy but get into a bidding war and soon that guy better be awesome or you have a 7 million dollar 15 goal scorer creating cap problems forever. Having the same coaching staff for like a decade or so might be an issue too.
Also do you ever think that if you guys decided not to match on Vanek, you guys would be scoring some sweet picks right now?
He's never going to be Crosby but I think he has potential as a playmaker. He was on a point per game clip when he went down. How many teams have a stud centre that you guys covet? Maybe half the teams. Maybe.
True elite centres:
Crosby, Eric Staal, Malkin, Stamkos, Backstrom (although probably less effective without #8), Datsyuk, Kesler? (Maybe because he had 41 this year but I don't know if he's there yet), Brad Richards, Henrik Sedin, Thornton, Toews.
So That's 11. You could probably make an argument for some others (Krecji, Mike Richards) but again that's still a very small percent. Plus 2 teams have 2 guys on my list so that makes only 9 teams with a what I consider to be a truly elite centre. They are tough to find and I would argue not entirely necessary to win. A good face off guy plus who is a good passer and reasonably defensively sound is almost as good and not at all crippling financially. 7
Now having said that most of the recent success has been with one of the teams that have, so it kind of blows my theory but I still believe it had a lot more to do with surrounding cast as opposed to the one guy.
I enjoyed the article and is the reason I goto TSN over ESPN for pretty much anything sports related. You would not find anything even close to this on ESPN, and for people who don't know much about the Sabres, gives an in-depth look at what they may need for the upcoming season.
Besides this is probably the first Sabres article I've read since the elimination... for some reason this year pissed me off more than years past.
He's never going to be Crosby but I think he has potential as a playmaker. He was on a point per game clip when he went down. How many teams have a stud centre that you guys covet? Maybe half the teams. Maybe.
True elite centres:
Crosby, Eric Staal, Malkin, Stamkos, Backstrom (although probably less effective without #8), Datsyuk, Kesler? (Maybe because he had 41 this year but I don't know if he's there yet), Brad Richards, Henrik Sedin, Thornton, Toews.
So That's 11. You could probably make an argument for some others (Krecji, Mike Richards) but again that's still a very small percent. Plus 2 teams have 2 guys on my list so that makes only 9 teams with a what I consider to be a truly elite centre. They are tough to find and I would argue not entirely necessary to win. A good face off guy plus who is a good passer and reasonably defensively sound is almost as good and not at all crippling financially. 7
Now having said that most of the recent success has been with one of the teams that have, so it kind of blows my theory but I still believe it had a lot more to do with surrounding cast as opposed to the one guy.
We have the surrounding cast in place, IMO...we need the match to light the gasoline.
YardRat Wall of Fame #56 DARRYL TALLEY #29 DERRICK BURROUGHS#22 FRED JACKSON #95 KYLE WILLIAMS
as much as i want the sabres to go after richards, i think the better money would be spent bringing in a guy like Webber on the blue line, and lock up the top D paring for the long term.
Crosby, Eric Staal, Malkin, Stamkos, Backstrom (although probably less effective without #8), Datsyuk, Kesler? (Maybe because he had 41 this year but I don't know if he's there yet), Brad Richards, Henrik Sedin, Thornton, Toews.
So That's 11. You could probably make an argument for some others (Krecji, Mike Richards) but again that's still a very small percent. Plus 2 teams have 2 guys on my list so that makes only 9 teams with a what I consider to be a truly elite centre. They are tough to find and I would argue not entirely necessary to win.
thats why 3 of the 13 guys mentioned are in the Finals
RIP Tommy D! 12/25/1978-9/9/2008
If you make something "Idiot-proof", they'll only make better idiots!
as much as i want the sabres to go after richards, i think the better money would be spent bringing in a guy like Webber on the blue line, and lock up the top D paring for the long term.
thats why 3 of the 13 guys mentioned are in the Finals
Maybe because there are usually just two teams in the finals ...
8 of them have been to the finals and 6 have won Cups
Almost every Cup winner has a star center.
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