Speculation: Buff Too Big?

[Grind]

Back tracks on what?

This was the source of all the fuss:



That is all of it.

Best I can tell, he posted a number and stood behind that number.

i actually quite appreciate the stand he took in his follow up/

 

[truck]

All of this and in my opinion I still do not think Byfuglien is untradeable, as Lawless suggests

Un-tradable is to Buff as -

Final offer is to Kane



Un-tradable is to Buff as -

Good defense is to Jokinen.



S*** My Lawless Says

 

[garret9]

All of this and in my opinion I still do not think Byfuglien is untradeable, as Lawless suggests. I still believe there will be teams out there who will drool over Dustin Byfuglien's talents, size (yes... size), and Stanley Cup ring on his finger. A GM like Paul Holmgren, just for example, may be a firm believer that if he can get his hands on Dustin Byfuglien in a Flyers uniform, it could all come together and click for Big Buff.

I think Lawless is fooling himself when he says...



Seriously, every damn GM around the league knows Dustin Byfuglien is built like no other NHL'er out there, for better or for worse. And at the end of the day, his resume, point totals, ice-time logged, among other statistics, speak for themselves. There will be a GM out there who will pony up and pay for the services of #33 if Cheveldayoff so chooses to deal him, his weight be damned - in my opinion.

As for trading him, Chevy isn't going to give him away. So unless a GM gives Chevy what he wants, Byfuglien will remain a Jet in my view. With that being said, I still think Byfuglien (and Burmistrov) will be dealt this summer, perhaps in a couple weeks at the NHL Draft. As I have mentioned previously, this team needs some changes and tinkering, and adjusting the core with these two in my eyes is a fine place to start. One thing I will say, is if Chevy does deal Byfuglien, he's got some work to do in order to make that defence viable given Hainsey is also unlikely to be back, depending on what the return is for Byfuglien, of course (forward, defence).

I think it could be an interesting summer, or next couple/few weeks for that matter. We'll see.

Yup.

Buff has pro's and con's... just like 97% of the league...
If used right (whether here or elsewhere), he will help a team do magnificent things


EDIT:
I wonder how much Buff having a "bad year" was attested to having only about 1/4 of his 5v5 TOI with Enstrom this season....

 

[JetsHomer]

He gained 25-30 pounds in 90 days while playing over 1000 minutes of professional hockey? I don't want to say it's impossible but I don't see how he could have done that. That would be hard to accomplish unless all you did was eat McDonald's every day and didn't work out at all.

Buff is already huge so he would burn a lot just doing nothing. Only way to gain that much weight is if he was eating 6000+ calories a day.That's a ridiculous amount of food. I'm trying to gain weight so i try to get about 2800 a day and I still find that hard sometimes.

 

[ajmidd12]

Great, even PuckDaddy is "reporting" on Lawless and the blogger now....

http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nh...end-winnipeg-season-131116224.html#more-60878

Difference is he doesn't think Buff is untradeable.

We wouldn’t go that far, based on his talent and unique skills set. But there’s no question that getting a proper return for Dustin Byfuglien must weigh heavily on GM Kevin Cheveldayoff.

See just how quickly these rumors spiral out of control?

 

[Potrzebie]

Great, even PuckDaddy is "reporting" on Lawless and the blogger now....

http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nh...end-winnipeg-season-131116224.html#more-60878

Difference is he doesn't think Buff is untradeable.



See just how quickly these rumors spiral out of control?

I love this part:

(Lawless goes to great lengths defending Pete Tessier’s reputation in the piece, which is probably why he left out one word in describing his hockeywriting career: HockeyBuzz, where Tessier blogs.)

 

[ajmidd12]

I love this part:

T'was my favorite as well

Made me smile.

 

[Duke749]

Just kinda glanced over this thread but it seems waaaaayyyy too many people have a problem with his weight if it is true. Now, there is only one thing regarding him being able to gain weight as the season goes on, that one should worry about, and that's continually putting it on in the offseason and not come into camp at a half way decent weight. But we haven't seen him go overboard once with his weight coming into camp.

And if his weight peaked at the end, then that is one of the most astonishing things you could see in an athlete. His best play was at season's end. Once again, all he proves is it's his drive that is the only thing people should question about him. His weight is irrelevant for the most part.

 

[Gump Hasek]

Difference is he doesn't think Buff is untradeable.

The point isn't really that he is untradeable per se, but rather, that he is "untradeable" when one considers the potential return of a fit Byfuglien in trade versus the current version. Near every NHL player is tradeable; the value of the return is the issue. I'm quite sure the Jets would prefer to garner the highest return possible if they were ever to trade him.

 

[jetsfan101]

Just kinda glanced over this thread but it seems waaaaayyyy too many people have a problem with his weight if it is true. Now, there is only one thing regarding him being able to gain weight as the season goes on, that one should worry about, and that's continually putting it on in the offseason and not come into camp at a half way decent weight. But we haven't seen him go overboard once with his weight coming into camp.

And if his weight peaked at the end, then that is one of the most astonishing things you could see in an athlete. His best play was at season's end. Once again, all he proves is it's his drive that is the only thing people should question about him. His weight is irrelevant for the most part.

Could not disagree with this more. The first 15 games of the season, he played like a Norris favourite. He was absolutely remarkable. He faded dramatically after coming back from his injury, and only seemed to get back on track in the last couple of weeks. Not to the level of early season, but like what we saw most of 2011-12.

 

[SensibleGuy]

Yeah I agree Jetsfan. Even though Buff scored some points in those last 7 games, he wasn't playing anything close to what he was like the first 15. His defensive game wasn't nearly as sound and he wasn't hustling around like the beginning of the season...

 

[winterpeg]

Buff has looked like this:

He no longer does. We pay him big money to compete at a sport, the expectation of a professional athlete is that they should be in peak shape.

It is entirely fair to expect him to be at least as fit as he is here. "Unique Build" or not.

If you cannot keep your weight under 300 Lbs, you are either not making the appropriate effort necessary (almost always the case) or you have a medical issue that needs to be addressed. Especially if you are a professional athlete.

 

[Hobby Bull]

Uh, why would we want to trade him?

 

[garret9]

Uh, why would we want to trade him?

Returns:
I like Buff but if the value of keeping the player is less than the value of trading the player, why not?

Depth:
Jets have many holes in their depth. RHD is probably their greatest strength top end and depth wise (LW is probably equal for top end but not depth). Trading is usually best handled for asset management or for filling area of weakness from area of strength.

That said,
I'm not a huge trade Buff guy... if it happens and works out for the better, sweet... but I don't have any pitchforks putting most of our players on the block.

 

[KingBogo]

See what Lawless does? Gets threads like this going. Hack of a journalist.

No he doesn't posters on this board get these threads going. I originally posted this article on the back end of another thread earlier this morning with the naive though Buff's weight/lack of conditioning could be discussed without every 2nd post being about Lawless. He is a columnist who writes opinion pieces, he is doing his job. It doesn't mean that one of our most talented players couldn't be more with a better work ethic.

 

[wpgsilver]

My buddy mentioned this to me this morning, my initial question was whether or not Lawless wrote the article.
I don't buy it.

 

[truck]

My buddy mentioned this to me this morning, my initial question was whether or not Lawless wrote the article.
I don't buy it.

What's not to buy? Somebody told Tessier something (possibly based on first hand knowledge, possibly with info picked up via word of mouth). Gary cited Tessier's as a reliable source of sources and wrote an article to cause a stir.

That is as good as Gary operating the scale himself. Right?

FWIW, I think Tessier is a pretty stand up guy.

 

[KingBogo]

What's not to buy? Somebody told Tessier something (possibly based on first hand knowledge, possibly with info picked up via word of mouth). Gary cited Tessier's as a reliable source of sources and wrote an article to cause a stir.

That is as good as Gary operating the scale himself. Right?

FWIW, I think Tessier is a pretty stand up guy.

We can quibble about Buff's actual weight, but the bottom line he is heavier than ideal and his conditioning can be questioned. He is in his late 20's and the likelihood of him changing his ways diminishes with every passing season. The question is do you take what you can get for him now and move forward or hold onto him and hope for the best.

IMO it is starting to look like Buff will be moved. I think he still holds a lot of value to a team needing an offensive d-man and are closer to contending. The Jets are better served by a young legit top 6 forward and a young defensive minded 2nd pairing LHD. If you can get some sort of combination of this I believe Chevy pulls the trigger.

 

[Waldo]

This would be my recollection of Buff's conditioning......

I believe he trained under supervision during the summer and was in reasonable shape come September. When the lockout occurred he was no longer able to associate with members of the Jets organization. Hence, he regressed and was not in the same shape in Jan/Feb as he was in Sept. Joki, Pavlov, and others were not in playing shape when the season commenced. Hopefully, he trains hard this summer and comes back in shape.


I'm sure this was the case with some players on other teams as well. As for Lawless, didn't he go ballistic over the Kane/Las Vegas thing and try to run him out of town. Big apology later. Isn't he the one suggesting Noel will be axed? No talk about that now. Noel wasn't about to be axed, it was made up. Wasn't the bit about Burmi wants to be traded also from Lawless. He's a hack and keeping his Editor at the FP happy. He's also generating interest in his radio show. Does anyone here think he is a serious Journalist?

 

[Flair Hay]

This would be my recollection of Buff's conditioning......

I believe he trained under supervision during the summer and was in reasonable shape come September. When the lockout occurred he was no longer able to associate with members of the Jets organization. Hence, he regressed and was not in the same shape in Jan/Feb as he was in Sept. Joki, Pavlov, and others were not in playing shape when the season commenced. Hopefully, he trains hard this summer and comes back in shape.


I'm sure this was the case with some players on other teams as well. As for Lawless, didn't he go ballistic over the Kane/Las Vegas thing and try to run him out of town. Big apology later. Isn't he the one suggesting Noel will be axed? No talk about that now. Noel wasn't about to be axed, it was made up. Wasn't the bit about Burmi wants to be traded also from Lawless. He's a hack and keeping his Editor at the FP happy. He's also generating interest in his radio show. Does anyone here think he is a serious Journalist?

This makes sense actually.

 

[truck]

We can quibble about Buff's actual weight, but the bottom line he is heavier than ideal and his conditioning can be questioned. He is in his late 20's and the likelihood of him changing his ways diminishes with every passing season. The question is do you take what you can get for him now and move forward or hold onto him and hope for the best.

IMO it is starting to look like Buff will be moved. I think he still holds a lot of value to a team needing an offensive d-man and are closer to contending. The Jets are better served by a young legit top 6 forward and a young defensive minded 2nd pairing LHD. If you can get some sort of combination of this I believe Chevy pulls the trigger.

I agree that a trade is a possibility. I understand both both the pros and cons.

What is oddd to me is that Buff being big isn't new. Gary has ragged on him about his weight before, recently even.

The number was the only new spin on the Buff bashing. The number supposedly made him harder to trade. I don't buy that part of it.

Problem is he can't be moved in his current state.

His current state is that of one of the best scoring D men in the entire NHL.

The is true today, was true yesterday and has been for the past 3 years. The idea that there is no value there is laughable.

Buff is still Buff. Buff has always been big. Nothing is news. Nothing has changed.

 

[allan5oh]

The thing is, if we were to truly be a contender, I think Buff would get himself in better shape. I also think he'd get himself in better shape being traded to a better team.

 

[KingBogo]

I agree that a trade is a possibility. I understand both both the pros and cons.

What is oddd to me is that Buff being big isn't new. Gary has ragged on him about his weight before, recently even.

The number was the only new spin on the Buff bashing. The number supposedly made him harder to trade. I don't buy that part of it.



His current state is that of one of the best scoring D men in the entire NHL.

The is true today, was true yesterday and has been for the past 3 years. The idea that there is no value there is laughable.

Buff is still Buff. Buff has always been big. Nothing is news. Nothing has changed.

I think what is changing is that Buff/trading Buff is becoming a bigger & bigger topic of conversation and is being seen as more and more likely by the fan base. A couple weeks back I was at a get together with a lot of die hard Jets fans and trading Buff and what we could get for him was probably the biggest topic of conversation. Even my brother who wears his Buff jersey to every game and has been a huge fan since day 1 was speculating on his value on the trade market. I think you are seeing a gradual turning against Buff, primarily based on weight/conditioning/perceived lack of commitment. At some point Buff will either be moved or we will see a renewed commitment to conditioning. I don't think we can have the status-quo going forward.

 

[scelaton]

He gained 25-30 pounds in 90 days while playing over 1000 minutes of professional hockey? I don't want to say it's impossible but I don't see how he could have done that. That would be hard to accomplish unless all you did was eat McDonald's every day and didn't work out at all.

It's actually not that hard at all. Weight gain occurs mostly from over-eating and exercise has relatively little impact. For example, 30 minutes of NHL hockey probably burns not much more than 400 calories, whereas a pint of haagen dazs or a big mac meal will add on 1200 calories. Over the course of a month, a big eater could easily put on 10-15 pounds, despite playing pro sports. There is some metabolic selection bias in NHL athletes in that those who 'tend to put on weight' don't usually make it as far as Buff has, but it is mostly about nutritional discipline. The good part is that it can melt away pretty fast as well...with discipline.

The point isn't really that he is untradeable per se, but rather, that he is "untradeable" when one considers the potential return of a fit Byfuglien in trade versus the current version. Near every NHL player is tradeable; the value of the return is the issue. I'm quite sure the Jets would prefer to garner the highest return possible if they were ever to trade him.

I quite agree, Gump, I would call Buff under-tradable, based on the above description, which ultimately does the organization a disservice.

Could not disagree with this more. The first 15 games of the season, he played like a Norris favourite. He was absolutely remarkable. He faded dramatically after coming back from his injury, and only seemed to get back on track in the last couple of weeks. Not to the level of early season, but like what we saw most of 2011-12.

Agree with the above. He has under-performed during the second half of both of the past two seasons, and I am sure it is directly or indirectly related to wear and tear on his muscles, back and joints. The strain on joints rises exponentially with weight gain.

No he doesn't posters on this board get these threads going. I originally posted this article on the back end of another thread earlier this morning with the naive though Buff's weight/lack of conditioning could be discussed without every 2nd post being about Lawless. He is a columnist who writes opinion pieces, he is doing his job. It doesn't mean that one of our most talented players couldn't be more with a better work ethic.

This sums it up perfectly. The stuff about Lawless, while nowhere near the malicious levels of previous threads, is really not the issue here. The issue is that Buff is an immensely talented D, whose size will shorten his shelf life and decrease his optimal performance. Sure he's good, but he could be even better, for longer. That should matter to management and fans alike.

 

[blueandgoldguy]

Well, this is very disconcerting if true. Dont' want to trade the guy regardless. We may very well lose Hainsey by the looks of things and I don't want to see this team going into next season without 2 of our top-4 defensemen and no adequate replacements.