All Activity

Sorry but I don't believe this for a second. It implies Ruff is smarter than he is. It also is far from occams razor. They needed a center, analytics identified McLeod. Beck Malenstyn was Appert who played against him in the AHL. Lafferty and Kubel might have been an archetype Ruff wanted but suggesting they set some minimal bar makes Lindy look worse. Kubel was waived. Gilbert was big and tough and wanted to be here. They also dumped him so if Lindy wanted him... that didn't last long. Zucker. They needed a winger and I could buy into Lindy tossing out Zucker. I just don't see some mastermind type of thing going on. I can totally complain if Lindy ordered these parts because he then didn't understand this teams true weakness.

I also thought Larkin as 3C was fantastic for the USA.

If Lindy is the coach and also responsible for the roster, then this is Back to the Future. Lindy will be like the old style GM/Coach - like Punch and Scotty and Muckler all were for the Sabres. These men ran the hockey operations, coached the team (for periods of time), and they owned the roster. They delegated to the scouting staff for pro and amateur player evaluations, they had a contracts specialists to do the contracts/legal stuff. They decided on who to draft and on trades. Adams will probably be a VP of Hockey Operations and he will run the draft, manage the cap, go to the league meetings, and help with trades and coaching decisions. Like McBeane, both Adams and Ruff will report direct to TP. Not saying I want this. But it is a possibility.

My condolences.

Look at who was brought in from outside the organization this year... McLeod, Zucker, Lafferty, Aube-Kubel, Malenstyn, Gilbert Mcleod was brought in for the long term potentially as a middle six center. Plays fast and smart. Zucker was brought in as competent veteran leadership and exceeded expectations I think. Lafferty, Aube-Kubel & Malenstyn were brought in strictly to flesh out the fourth line with competent NHLers. For an AHLer to make the they needed to beat one of those guys out. They were essentially short term JAGs, but not liabilities like past Sabres JAGs have been. They're not blocking the young talent, but they are setting the bar at an acceptable level for a younger player to cross over to the NHL. Gilbert was strictly a depth acquisition, but one that provided some grit and toughness. Reimer was the new Craig Anderson type of goalie: Can still play but brought in to help goalie development. If those guys were brought in at Lindy's suggestion, that's the kind of roster building I want to see. Each guy brought something that Lindy wanted. That's a different kind of shopping than I would expect Kevyn to do on his one. I think McLeod and Zucker were probably on a list of maybe 5 named players that Lindy gave Kevyn and said, Get a coupla these guys, this roster needs that. He probably said for the fourth line he wanted a combination of speed, size and grit and Kevyn brought that in. Gilbert was largely inconsequential but was there when the Sabres needed him. I think Lindy told Kevyn: Give me a tough stay-at-home guy and Kevyn did that. Reimer was a good backup but I don't think he was as good as Anderson, especially from the mentor perspective (but maybe he was... I don't know). It's Kevyn pulling the trigger and making the acquisition but Lindy telling him what to acquire. Based on this year's crop, I can't complain. Lindy is ordering the parts and Kevyn is his procurement office.

I don't believe that Pegula is very much involved, if at all, regarding personnel decisions with the Bills. As you smartly point out, both McDermott and Beane keep the owner informed about what they are considering prior to making a decision. The difference with the hockey franchise is that he is more keenly interested in that sport than he is with football and lacrosse, two extraordinarily successful and well-run franchises. Pegula does have a history with hockey at Penn State, and because of that background he behaves as if he knows more than what he actually does. As an owner, he could do whatever he wants to do. Sometimes not being involved is the best involvement one can take. This franchise has stumbled since he took receivership of it nearly a generation ago. It's way past time for him to hire a competent GM, even if it is from within (Karmonos), and allow him and his staff to do their jobs without interference. As the story goes: When you find yourself in a hole the first order of business is to stop digging.

Plain and simple Adams has not had good results, TP may like him and trust him, but he must know by now that Adams plan is not working and that Adams is not nearly as talented and knowledgeable as Beane. Adams has 5 years and his team has regressed in the past 2 seasons. Beane is a baller with a nice haircut and a well fitted suit.

I can buy that; but is that really a change? Or at least enough of one to effect real change on the ice? Lindy says "I need X, Y, and Z", Adams still has to go out and do the shopping. You hand a cheapskate a shopping list saying you need these groceries and expect quality ingredients handed to you, but all the moron did was buy day old bread and store-brand garbage.

If his involvement with the Sabres is the same as his involvement with the Bills I will consider that out of the way. He attends the key meetings with the Bills but he does not tell them how how to run things, he does not hire/fire coaches, he does not randomly change the structure of the FO, he never talked about EEE nonsense relating to the Bills, he does not dictate a salary cap for the Bills - in fact he agrees to generous bonuses for the Bills players and spends far over the cap.

I can see it: Let's say Lindy is in charge of roster makeup, identifying needs/roster holes, and giving Adams a shopping list. Adams job as GM, then is to fill those holes with the closest thing he can get that meets Lindy's requirements. Adams handles the contracting, cap control, etc., the business side of the equation, and Lindy manages the roster. To some extent, isn't that the McD-Beane dynamic?

My hope was that Kevyn would also be that kind of person. I think we've seen he doesn't really know how to properly steer Pegula, or maybe he hasn't found the right partner (or perhaps he has in Ruff and we'll see that in the coming season.... rose colored glasses scenario)

So lets take this at face value. Lindy is in charge of the roster making him the de-facto GM. That means one of 2 things - Adams is keeping the GM title as a figurehead (what purpose does that serve exactly?) or he's being reassigned within the organization. Option two would lead me to believe it's some sort of title promotion because what GM has ever accepted a demotion? Even if this hypothetical promotion is largely symbolic, what kind of message does that send throughout the organization? That failure in one job just leads to you getting advanced? "Accountability" was the buzzword last summer, that is an action completely devoid of accountability. And Lindy as GM? What experience does he have as a personnel guy? And lets dispel with the notion that Lindy is some infallible legend of the game. He was a good coach his first go-round with the Sabres. Had some great seasons, won a lot of games. But ZERO cups. And since he left Buffalo the first time? He's coached 9 seasons (4 in DAL, 4 in NJ, and now 1 back in Buffalo); in those nine years he's logged a respectable (not great) .531 points %, and made the playoffs 3/9 years. Again, what experience does he have as a personnel guy? Want an experienced guy like that as a POHO in an advisory role? Sure, fine. But making the calls on the roster AND coaching? Come on, man. WTF are we doing? My familiar refrain - this is not a serious hockey organization.

You might compare that crew to the team VGK obtained in the expansion draft. Everyone was "second best" but with a good system and a good coach they went all the way to the SC finals in year one.

Kinda like my marriage. My wife and I discuss every decision. I let her make the little decisions and I make the big ones. 30 years in, and there have been no big decisions.

I know this is a popular sentiment but if he hires the right person, he doesn’t have to get out if the way. He is as involved either way the Bills, if not more, but Beane and McDermott know the fine art of making their boss feel heard without letting him make bad decisions. These are all multibillion corporations now led by alpha males and a few females. They all meddle.

Personally, don't believe Pegula doesn't care about winning. Believe he actually cares deeply about it. But considering none of the avenues he's taken to get to a place where the Sabres are winning, and he's taken several different ones, with many nearly 180 degree direction changes included; believe it's more accurate to say he doesn't know how to go about icing a winning team. And nobody he's had in charge of it was able to do so in the time they were given before he pulled the plug and changed direction. Heck, he's even had the same individual change direction (Regier from Golisano's "the only directive is you must make a profit each year" to let's spend to the cap and bring in the highest profile FA's that will come here, to "suffering" and Adams go from "get the guys Kreuger and Eichel want" to "EEE"). At some point, he needs to not only get the right person in charge but also give that right person the time to get the team he wants. The good thing is, at this point, there is so much youth around that can be converted into good current hockey players (maybe not great, but good) and there is a base (Dahlin, Tuch, Thompson, a few others) that can currently be augmented that the right person shouldn't need anywhere close to 5 years to get back into the dance (it should be doable this coming season) and they should be able to be true contenders in 3-4. The bad thing is, since showing Regier the door, the results say he hasn't come anywhere close to finding the right person yet.

Most of the time I want him to do less, not more. Hire better FO leadership and get out their way - do that Terry.

Kreider was an extra winger who would not have played, and barely played, without injuries. He was there for leadership. Thompson and Tuch have a lot to prove as 3 zone players to make Olympics. Thompson on wing helps his chances. If the top two are Eichel and Mathews, there is no place for Thompson as center. Also no place for 30 percent on draws. Hopefully, he will be full time winger next year. Better for him and the Sabres.

I’m not expecting any changes except maybe to the intern to the assistant janitor of the Sabres locker room. Sad, very sad that Pegula doesn’t care about winning.

Glad I never got the gambling jones. There has been some intimation that gambling has been an issue for him and the openness which they discuss it still feels weird to this old codger.

I’d be more interested in discussing this if I thought you’d actually watched him play.

Just because he is the Sabres 2nd best defenseman(your words, not mine), doesn’t mean he should be locked up long term. Instead, maybe it is an indicator of just how bad the blueline group is…and how desperate the clown show FO should be in terms of a makeover.

It's funny to keep reading things like Friedman saying he "expects changes" but he can't say if they are big or small so they might just be reserved parking spaces.

No one smashes a stick like Markstrom. That was not even one of his better ones. I think the guy is a wannabe axe murder.