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His owner set him up for failure from day 1 with EEE and the whole position being gifted to Adams because he was willing to gut the front office and Amerks staff. But 5 years in, he is absolutely the author of all of ours demise. Before his first season even started, he went 1-year only on good young players you could count on to play top minutes/starts: Montour, Reinhart, Ullmark -- walking them to UFA (or in Reinhart's case, to a final RFA season where Adams was already in full rebuild mode). He got super-lucky with Tage Thompson's cheap contract, coming off of injuries and basically being an AHLer at that point. ---> and wasted it by not protecting him with the likes of Eichel/Reinhart on the team. Then, still in 2020 offseason, Adams went and overpaid on ... Hall (1-yr $8M with nearly full NTCs??) and Girgensons $2.2M/year?, and in later years $3M for Okposo's final season and $4M for Greenway. All good players who perform solid roles on their team; all overpaid for a team that was in yet another rebuild. Adams set that bar himself: he'll pay over top dollar to roles that other teams are paying much less for, and... at least since after the initial 2020 wave of 1-year offers, he'll overreact and extend any young player who wants to be here to a massive deal (Power, Samuelsson, Cozens) rather than risk a bridge. If he (and Pegula) had instead built a competitive hockey team first and foremost (build around Eichel/Reinhart/Dahlin) and not go cheap, they wouldn't have to overpay because players would want to come here to win, as opposed to come here to try to undo what Adams/Pegula have done -- and be over-compensated for it.

Keeping Wilford is like getting Lewis Hamilton to drive your Indie Car but putting a stock civic engine (wilford) in it and then being like "idk why he can't win!?!?"

That's why I put him with McLeod and Doan. Quinn likes the offhand side because it is easier to cut into the middle and shoot. With Doan and McLeod, it hides Quinn's defensive issues while giving him a puck carrier in McLeod and a dig it out of the corner in Doan, both of whom are good defenders. I think they want Kulich at center but I could see Krebs getting some time at LW instead of staying on the 4th line since Danforth is here. Greenway to me is almost strictly a 4th line player at this point. He can play PK, and get about 10 other minutes a night on the 4th line while being an adult in the room. I don't need him for more, even if Adams overpaid him. That's my logic at least.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/21/jeffrey-epstein-maria-farmer-trump "Jeffrey Epstein accuser urged FBI to investigate Trump decades ago"

The Sabres would have been better served if Forton was smart enough to draft Ziemer's in the 2nd and 3rd round more often.

You were too busy modeling your legs at the car dealership to be aware. 😃

Danforth? Jones? I guess I haven't been following closely this summer.

I see a lot of people putting Quinn on the left wing. He has enough trouble defending on his right to make me think that is not a good idea. My guess is that for now Zucker, Benson, Greenway, Krebs and Kulich are going to rotate up and down the left wing spots. The chances of the opening night line up lasting more than a few games with Ruff is pretty slim.

There's plenty of time for golf. They aren't locked in the practice rink. Maybe not every day but they can play.

I believe that the GM really wanted to keep JJP. However, JJP was determined to get out. It would have been a mistake to keep such a disgruntled young player who would be an UFA in another year. Was Peterka the best player in the trade? Probably so. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that this wasn’t a reasonable deal for us, especially if Kesseiring becomes a good partner for Power. As is often said: TBD.

Benson - Norris - Tage Zucker - Kulich/McLeod - Tuch Quinn - McLeod - Doan Greenway - Krebs - Danforth Byram - Dahlin Power - Kesselring Samuelsson - Timmins

Zach Benson is already a solid nhl player. Idk why we have to have this conversation repeatedly. Fully agree on the gt issue. Greenway staying healthy doesn't matter. Zucker hopefully does, Norris too, agree there. I worry less about power and Kesselring overall and more that Wilford was retained and Ruff is mediocre.

Do you not understand how elite Benson already is defensively? You don't think the points are going to come when he's getting time with good players and more than Ruffs stupid 14mins a game? Zach Benson is going to explode in terms of production.

Zucker Norris TNT Quinn Kulich Tuch Greenway McLeod Benson Malenstyn Krebs Doan Dahlin Byram Power Kesselring Timmins Samuelsson

Unconventional and not going to happen, but I'd like to see the below offense be given a shot at working. I'd like to find a combo that puts Power on the 3rd pairing until he earns moving up but I don't like he and Samuelsson as left shots together. Benson Thompson Tuch Quinn Norris Zucker Greenway McLeod Doan Danforth Kulich Krebs Dahlin Kesselring Byram Timmins Samuelsson Power Luukkonen Lyon Spares: Malenstyn, Jones

idk, we never know. I just don't see the urgency or the true commitment to trying to win now. Doing everything possible. I see a hole in the line up. I see these things as all potential recipes for disaster: 1) Reliance on young scoring players emerging rather than going with proven vets. 2) Hope the goaltending rebounds. 3) Hope the injury prone roster stays healthy. 4) Hope that Power develops given a better partner to play with. I see all of these as potential flaws. Now the die hard optimist might say: 1)Quinn will rebound and emerge. Benson and Kulich will become solid NHLers. 2)UPL will rebound and Lyon will give us a solid reliable tandem 3)Norris, Zucker, Greenway etc. will actually stay relatively healthy and provide solid veteran play 4)Power and Kesselring will click and arguably become a top pairing giving us a solid D for the first time in years. Possible, but I'd say improbable. Could be some mix of both scenarios but I guess I see the probability of the bad much more than the good. I just don't feel optimistic about this line up.

The problem is there are about 3 teams actually selling and the rest are in either holding or buy stances. Could we beat an offer for Rust or Rakell, sure; but I sure as hell wouldn't bother because they'll be looking for our unprotected 1st or a protected 1st and Helenius.

Time is up for Quinn. imo he was rewarded for failure with the deal they gave him. So yes, there's an expectation, but I do not have the faith Adams has in him. Benson is 20 years old. He is a kid and he should not be top 6. We are pushing Kulich too fast and too much and I expect a sophomore slump scenario. Hope that's wrong. Power should start to show signs of getting it and maybe Kesselring helps further that but idk as we have not been developing him properly. Sabres are just "get in the deep end and swim kid" and maybe eventually he's good enough to get it on his own but have to see it to know. Doan I am not commenting on since I just haven't seen him play as I've said before. A veteran top 6 forward allows Benson to play on the third line where he belongs this year.

Sure, you can party there but Golf? You can’t golf there in the summer, it’s ungodly hot and $hitty, most of the players are probably elsewhere. The hockey season is fall, winter, spring - no time for golf.

Fair enough. Adams has been willing to trade younger core players for similarly aged players, when the team is out of it at the deadline or when the player makes it clear he doesn’t want to be a Sabre. Of course, for all I know he is working the phones daily trying to move Quinn and Samuelsson and a prospect or two for more experienced players.

This is very close to what I would go with. I actually really like the roster, from a talent perspective and from the angle of potential for future success. Of that roster though, how many players would you say have most likely already played the best hockey of their careers, or the best that is expected of them? I would say 5 or 6. Tuch, Zucker, Greenway, Danforth, Lyon. Maybe Thompson. Now do the same with the teams that made the playoffs last year. You need to get down to Montreal and Ottawa to get close. That’s great if we are still primarily focused on building for the future, and we are just hoping that this is the year we sneak into WC2. But it’s still a roster built largely on hope. If we are really serious about playoffs, this is the year to better balance the roster.

Actually, I was referring to Mittelstadt, Cozens and Peterka. And he would say all three (I just watched him say it in the case of Peterka) although he’s probably lying to himself in the case of Peterka.

I agree. I like all of those young players also. I’m not suggesting we dump them for futures. It’s time to move a younger player or two (or three) for a good veteran or two who can help us win now. This doesn’t have to be about sacrificing the future. A good GM can manage winning now while not forsaking the years to come.

This is year two of this argument. That the Sabres are not a group of kids on ELCs who nobody should have expectations for. You are right. They are not kids. But it remains that they will be one of the 2-4 youngest teams in the league. There is no question that they could all be transplanted to a playoff or contending team and play a meaningful role; in some cases they could play the very role on a contender that is expected of them with the Sabres. But collectively they lack age, leadership, and experience. Maybe this is the year where they reach a critical mass of key players reaching a point where skill overcomes collective youth and from here they are on their way. Maybe.

Yes. I’m referring to players who Adams would consider core players. And you are right, he traded Eichel, Reinhart, and Peterka. Now, which of those players did he decide to trade with the goal of being better in the moment?