Villie Leino?

[chernobylwraiths]

6 years 27 million?

[chernobylwraiths]

spelled his name wrong too

[Crisis]

i'll try and reserve judgment... we literally have no centers right now. a deal has to be getting made for one otherwise i don't understand this

[YardRat]

I like this signing. During the playoffs, I shuddered whenever Leino or Giroux were on the ice. Maybe a little pricey for his regular season stats, but he seems to step it up in the playoffs, and that's when you need to produce.

[jamze132]

This is a solid move. He will fit in nice on the 2nd line.

[The Jokeman]

I would have preferred to land Tomas Fleischmann who ended up in FLA.

[TheGhostofJimKelly]

I am not a huge fan of this move but I like the other ones.

[JD]

For those not excited.. dude averaged a point a game, for 21 games.. in the PLAYOFFS.

Do we have anyone on our roster that could do that? Answer: NO

[Meathead]

darcy/lindy commenting, currently on the front page of sabres nhl.com page

http://sabres.nhl.com/index.html

after watching that vid its obvious to me the sabres have slotted leino as their c2 probably hoping he can be c1 soon. they say they will try to find a trade but you know how that goes, i wouldnt hold my breath

so they basically made a dramatic upgrade in size, maturity, and to a lesser degree talent along the blueline to leverage their strength in goal, and to bolster their emerging superstar defenseman. then they added someone they believe is just entering his prime as a top two center - and compared to richards probably saved 3-4 million dollars

theyve got a ****load of defensive prospects in the system, just gushing with talent there. also still have some excellent farm forwards who are getting closer to being nhl ready, including several with nice size and toughness. so a trade is still quite possible, or perhaps they ride with what they have and see if anybody else steps up internally

it would be awesome if they could pull off a trade to get a bonafide c1 here, but that looks unlikely. even if they make no further key moves they still are much better than they were last season

[TheGhostofJimKelly]

For those not excited.. dude averaged a point a game, for 21 games.. in the PLAYOFFS.

Do we have anyone on our roster that could do that? Answer: NO

You don't have to love this signing and still be OK with it. Yes, he had a point per game average, but he had nice linemates. Last year he didn't have a point per game in the playoffs. Will he transfer if he is put at center with Boyes, Pomminville, or whichever they decide where he goes? I don't think this is going to work out the way some of you think, I hope I am wrong, but I just don't see it.

[TheGhostofJimKelly]

I am not the only one:

Leino was the beneficiary of the hockey trifecta -- puck luck, good linemates and very soft minutes. His shooting percentage of 16.2 percent was good for fourth among forwards playing at least 40 games last season. Fifty-eight goals were scored by his most frequent linemates, Daniel Briere and Scotty Hartnell, and he saw almost two-thirds of his starts occur in the offensive zone against the weakest competition that opposing teams put on the ice.

General managers will recall Leino's impressive 2010 postseason in which Philadelphia advanced to the Stanley Cup finals, but without teammates such as Carter and Richards to handle the tough minutes, it's likely his production level drops to single-digit goals.

http://insider.espn.go.com/nhl/insider/news/story?id=6711778

He also doesn't care for Erhoff.

Playing with the Sedins -- the last two Art Ross Trophy winners (top NHL scorer) -- and Ryan Kesler -- the reigning Selke Trophy (top defensive forward) winner -- certainly helped Ehrhoff post a career high in points (50) and tie a career high in power-play goals (six). More than half his goals were assisted by one of the Sedin twins and nearly two-thirds of his assists came on goals scored by Vancouver's prolific trio of Kesler and the Sedins.

Part of his success can also be attributed to getting almost two-thirds of his starts in the offensive zone, good for fourth among blueliners who played more than 40 games last season; it's much easier to score when starting from only 45 feet away than it is when starting in your own end.

Having Roberto Luongo, a Vezina finalist, in net doesn't hurt, either. Ehrhoff was on the ice for a minuscule 2.19 goals against per 60 minutes of short-handed time, only slightly worse than his 2.06 at even strength. Among blueliners who played 40 games and had more than two minutes of penalty-kill time, only Los Angeles' Willie Mitchell saw a better save percentage (.961 versus Ehrhoff's .950) on the ice while the opposition had the man advantage.

In other words, a large part of Ehrhoff's value comes as a result of dominant play around him. Take him out of this environment, and his value should drop considerably.

[OpIv37]

Sorry, but I call that argument out as bull**** when people are able use it to defend Poz and I'm calling it out as bull**** here.

Fact: individuals who play team sports look better when they have better teammates around them. Who's to say Ehrhoff wasn't helping the Sedins look good instead of the other way around?

Ehrhoff and Regehr were put in good situations and did well in those situations. What else do you want from them?

On top of that, we have Miller and our overall talent has been upgraded, so that makes it easier on the guys we already have.

[SabreEleven]

Sorry, but I call that argument out as bull**** when people are able use it to defend Poz and I'm calling it out as bull**** here.

Fact: individuals who play team sports look better when they have better teammates around them. Who's to say Ehrhoff wasn't helping the Sedins look good instead of the other way around?

Ehrhoff and Regehr were put in good situations and did well in those situations. What else do you want from them?

On top of that, we have Miller and our overall talent has been upgraded, so that makes it easier on the guys we already have.

Are you being positive? :feint:

[OpIv37]

Are you being positive? :feint:
Just trying to be consistent.

And while I'm disappointed that we couldn't get Richards, the overall talent on this team is improved. We, as fans, got greedy and expected Pegula to do it all in one off-season. Hell, one DAY even. The reality is that he did way more than what the previous FO did, and it's a huge improvement that we were even in the Richards sweepstakes.

Is the current lineup gonna get us a Cup? I doubt it, but we are several steps closer than we were a week ago.

[Ebenezer]

Just trying to be consistent.

And while I'm disappointed that we couldn't get Richards, the overall talent on this team is improved. We, as fans, got greedy and expected Pegula to do it all in one off-season. Hell, one DAY even. The reality is that he did way more than what the previous FO did, and it's a huge improvement that we were even in the Richards sweepstakes.

Is the current lineup gonna get us a Cup? I doubt it, but we are several steps closer than we were a week ago.
Why can't they win the cup? This was a team that was 14th in goals against and 10th in scoring. They just added more defense with Ehrhoff and Regehr while losing Montador and Butler and being able to ditch Morrisson in the minors - pure upgrade. To improve the offense they only added Leino but will get back Roy who will be returning after missing more than half a year while potentially losing Connolly - pure upgrade. This team is better than they were at the end of the season. How many teams in the east have improved themselves this much since the end of the season? On paper - at this moment - this team is a contender (possibly favorite) for the Northeast division and I'd bet top three contender in the East. The thing that sets hockey apart from other sports is that any team that makes the playoffs can get hot and get on a run and make a semifinals. There is no reason why this team, as assembled right now barring injuries, couldn't make a run at at least the semi's.