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Looking at the Belmont at Saratoga entries today and noticed a horse named Malarchuck is entered in 5th race. 4/1 morning line. Being sired by Nyquist one would assume he is named for Clint. Salty race but he is pretty good horse.

71-65-15. Is that even a winning record when you factor in that overtime losses are still losses? An absolute winner who rode one stretch of good hockey in 2023-2024 to a big paycheck. 22 goalies started 50+ games in 2024-2025 - UPL had the worst SV%, GAA, GSAA, and GPS. There's like 2 goalies who had worse seasons that i can even see - Ersson & Georgiev. If were stuck with him, so be it - but he should not be a part of the "plan".

Byram is RAM tough! Oops, I just plagiarized that from Dodge pickup trucks.

In my view, this is how the rest of the league would see their order (highest to lowest): 1.) Peterka (68 points as a 22/23 year old; he is a potential elite 90 point winger) 2.) Kulich (gets the edge on Benson because he can play centre, is bigger, faster, and has an elite shot)\ 3.) Benson 4.) Helenius (potential centre) 5.) Östlund (potential centre) 6.) Quinn (trending down) 7.) Rosen (trending down) If I was going to tier them it would be: 1.) Peterka 2.) Kulich, Benson, Helenius 3.) Östlund, Quinn, Rosen

You are not changing your opinion, that's fine. But the priorities argument is not a good one. You can package Quinn in a trade to get a goalie or a defenseman. You bring up team priorities as if you have to trade a winger for a winger, you know better than that. This teams priorities and needs are the reason Quinn is even in the discussion, he still has some value in the trade market, you typically have to give something to get something. On this team Quinn is the a lowest ranked forward held over for last seasons top 9, he cannot play center and his game is not at all suited for the fourth line. His skill set is redundant with several other wingers, including prospects in Rochester. I would much rather keep Peterka and move Quinn. What will likely keep Quinn on the Sabres roster is the fact that Peterka allegedly wants out. If Quinn has another lackluster season like the past one his trade value becomes very zero.

While better coaching may have a part in it, I think the main reason ex-Sabres do better on other teams after leaving here has less to do with the coaching on those other teams than it does on the fact that we serve as a farm team for those teams who acquire our players after several years of developing at the NHL level.

Link?

Perhaps, but evil can certainly phuck things up and hurt a lot of people on the way.

What's that Swedish coach with the beard been up to?

Gonna take another 5 or 6 years of misery to enter the Sabres/Jets relm imo LOL... but good call

I’m curious what the value of some of our young players are. How would they rank as a trade asset. Now, I’m not ranking these guys, but curious what other people think. Peterka Benson Kulich Quinn Östlund Helenius

It was difficult to see that Mike Peca signed as an assistant coach as well... like you couldnt find a spot for him...? But I think our coaching situation is similar to the WWE it is basically scripted to what is going to happen next.... Not sure their plans for Ruff the boot or the FO, I feel like Appert is the next anointed shill after we miss the playoffs this year... Pay him peanuts, move him up dont hire a replacement just shuffle responsibilities and save money... plus Terry likes them... so all is well in the Sound proof bubble that is the FO.

To be real I think the Sabres have the worst coaching staff in the league. Not a single change has been made. Beyond pathetic. I think Prospal in Rochester has a future so they will let him walk. Leone had a promising year.

I really like Kulich a lot and would hate to give him up. If you proposed JJP, our first pick and a B level prospect, I would say yes.

Ruff benched Zach Benson for taking a penalty that wasn't even a penalty. He's ALWAYS been like this where vets or his favorites can ***** up but young guys beware.

It's a mistake to get fixated on an outside player as if that one acquisition is going to be the answer to our roster problems. When you thin out your roster to harpoon the big what you end up putting yourself in a vulnerable situation in a business that injuries are an expected part of the landscape. What happens if the so-called star player is injured? Then what do you have to show for it? You end up thinning out your roster and have less of an ability to absorb the injuries that will likely happen. I'm not automatically against making a bonanza deal but you have to be smart about it. The proposed deal that included 9OA, Kulich and Östlund for Robertson is not necessarily a steadfast no for me but I am very hesitant to make that deal. Kulich is ready to play for us now. And our first pick and Östlund could be used to deal for another quality player. We need to thicken our roster, not thin it out.

What about Kulich, 9oa, and something else like a B level prospect?

I wasn't a fan of the Ruff hire then and still feel the same way now, my guy was Berube and I think it would have made a difference because there is no way he was keeping that staff that we had. Why would Ruff come here and not be able to pick his own assistants? Probably because nobody was clamoring for him any longer until the desperate Sabres came along. Maybe he can salvage this group but the knock on him in New Jersey was he didn't hold players accountable and we saw it so many times, Power was never benched for his horrendous defensive lapses but he'd bench guys like NAK/Lafferty etc. (Which I agree they should have been due to lack of bad play but so should Power and others). The entire hiring of Ruff was to bring fans back into the seats, they unfortunately couldn't give a crap about winning imo which was displayed when we had a 13 game losing streak.

Terry and Kevyn have decided that Appert is the next coach and this is Ruffs last year. It's basically the dumbest thing in hockey after the repeated terrible seasons to keep all the assistants and just promote your AHL coach. These guys don't have an ounce of the mentality needed to get better. It's all about their friends and keeping the ppl they "trust" where outcomes are irrelevant. Yes, we have a coaching problem starting with Ruff who Adams lied to us about. They had a fake search and hired Terry's nostalgia hire. Appert is here because Adams likes him. Why Wolford is here still is beyond me. His defense is soft.

Hell no! What you're offering is nothing but foolishness that sets this plagued franchise further back. My fear is that our Howdy Doody GM gets desperate just to show that he is doing something and makes a similar deal that thins out this already insufficient roster. If you want to make a big splash that will meaningfully upgrade this team, find a capable #1 goalie. That will do more than any of these imaginary fantasy hockey deals that one can concoct. An example to follow is Washington. They added Logan Thompson and Charlie Lindgren with medium deals that resulted in a top tier backstop for them. And it should be noted that they also made a series of medium deals that helped to infuse the roster with vigor for a fading SC team that was starting to age and fade. That's what happens when you have a smart front office that is creative and resourceful. Compare that to our rickety operation led by a dullard GM and an obtuse owner?

I like Quinn and still think he can be a player. I don’t see him as anything but a throw in here. If we trade 9OA, Kulich, and Östlund for Robertson, then we need to be really sure it will get us in the playoffs and that Robertson will extend. I’m not sure. I think the reason Robertson is available is because Dallas wants to contend for a Cup and they think he is at least a full tier below Rantanen as an overall player. What about Benson + 9OA? If we value Benson more than the other assets, then that is what Dallas might want.

I guess in the flurry of all the trade rumors and the watching of the finals. Are we maybe looking at the roster totally wrong? All of these ex sabres are doing well on other teams (sure, the rosters are likely better) but this sabres team has been so bad for so long that we are stocked with actual talent. The constant is the coaching has been, trash. After Bylsma, we went down a rabbit hole of first timers and hogwash, Rolston, Krueger, Housley, Granato. Perhaps a couple of them had some ok ideas, but it clearly never translated to the team. We never had a DeBoer, Gallant, Berube, Maurice to get the most out of our players.... Don't even get me started on the assistant coaching staff 🤢 Could a premier coach come in and get more out of this group? I guess that's a difficult question to answer but it appears the Sabres are unable to still play team defense, take very dumb mistimed penalties and seem to not have a lot of accountability for their poor play. Don't even bring up the not having each others back portion of it. The PP/PK has been bad for years now, we can't win a face off in a close game, etc etc. I suppose, do we think if we got a top 5 coach this year (including new staff) with minimal changes otherwise to the roster, could that be enough to make it? This is less about KA, who has been a joke of a "Manager" and more about the bench boss and team interaction.

What about Kulich, 9oa, Quinn, and Östlund?

No.

Watching the cup Finals first game in a small market took me back to some brief moments like that as a Sabres fan. My kids are in there 20's and could care less about how far away we are, but I'm just sad about my broken franchise.