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I would like bennett but his cost is that much ?

I agree that the GM overestimated where the team was at based on the surprisingly good results of the 22-23 season. Instead of building on that success, he made an assumption that this team was on track to move up the ranks. He was wrong in his assessment. He should have built on that prior success (meaning adding players) instead of coasting from that prior success. As a lot of people have already stated: He miscalculated. Each year is a new year. It's not just about improving your team, it's also about competing with teams that are also taking actions to improve. It's not a static league. Our GM seemed to be too comfortable with where his team was at. He should have been less nonchalant (@Thorny's incisively biting word) and more proactive.

There are very few "national" writers or commentators who know a lot about the needs of individual teams. If fairness, it is a lot of work to have a great handle on the prospects and a deep understanding of the needs of the teams that are drafting. There are a couple of non-team-specific hockey podcasts I listen too that I typically enjoy when they are talking about teams other than the Sabres. When they do Sabres talk though it often seems superficial and not well-informed. I think this is the case here. If Dickinson is there at 11, I don't think the Sabres will be scared off from taking him just because of their strong depth at left-shot D. If they take him though, it won't be because then need to add a dynamic two-way D threat.

I think Dudacek was correct to point out that the precedent is for these rebuilds to take significant time to yield results. That said, we did miss by a point in 22-23 and most of us now agree that there were moves Adams could have made to get this team into the playoffs, or to more aggressively compete for the playoffs, that season and certainly in the season just past. There is a degree of incongruence in the argument that this process takes lots of time when one considers how close we were to getting in just 13 months ago.

Something to remember about the rebuild that Adams undertook in earnest after the Krueger firing, is that the Sabres were not a team that had been good for years and was crumbing due to age and the wear and tear of playoff runs. He was starting rebuild on a team that had been bad for years. While he moved out Hall, Montour, Risto, Reinhart, Eichel and (not purposely, Ullmark), he was not in a position of starting from scratch. The team that he started a rebuild with had drafted in the top 10 every year post- Eichel-draft and had also fairly recently traded Ryan O'Reilly for future assets. Adams started a rebuild with a team that already had the following assets: Thompson (2016 draft), Mitts, Joker, Luukkonen (2017 draft), Dahlin, Samuelsson (2018), Cozens, Johnson (2019) and Quinn, Peterka (2020, the first Adams draft). Then he had the luxury of a 1st OA in year one of the rebuild with Power. The base of talent that already existed when the Adams rebuild started, is why we were able to come within a point of making the playoffs in 22/23. The disaster he took over was more due to toxic culture than to being bereft of talent; this was not a rebuild that was starting from near ground zero, such as what is happening in Chicago and San Jose at present.

You have a good perspective on where we were and where we are now. @dudacek demonstrates in detail that the GM decided on a major deconstruction, and then reconstruction. Based on how the GM wanted to rebuild this flattened franchise, it was never going to be a quick fix (@dudacek's central point.) There was a tsunami of bad decisions that led to Jack and multiple UFAs on this team (now thriving on cup contending teams) to be determined to get out of this wrecked franchise. It has gotten fatiguing reprising the past and pointing out what went wrong. That's not a major challenge to do. It's like shooting at fish in a well-stocked barrel and then act as if you accomplished something challenging. By the time the upcoming season arrives, the GM will have had enough time to show that his long-term strategy to rebuild is a success or failure. (Your point.) This has to be a constructive offseason where he adds the necessary pieces so at the minimum get this team into the playoffs. If our GM succumbs to his conservative instincts and sticks with the status-quo, then his tenure will clearly and fairly be labeled a failure.

This is obnoxious. Do not communicate like this here.

May 2024, consolidated rankings

It is time. Deliberate, slow and long term should have an expiry date of April 2025.

Most of the draft boards are getting finalized soon. There are only a handful of players still active, Memorial Cup or World Championships. I like the chatter about no consensus top ten, meaning a variety of highly rated guys could end up being available at 11. I know BPA is usually the way to go but I can’t stop thinking of current needs, even though the pick could be 3 years away from putting on a Sabres jersey. Lindstrom, Yakemchuk, Iginla and maybe reaching with Jiricek are the guys I like.

Not me. I spent 2 weeks in the ICU because of that rat. I was diagnosed with Marchanditis. They prescribed a dose of Bennett. It helped. I'm better. Much better.

Lots of passion here @Thorny I am still going to hope Adams plan is the right one for the long term, it’s already failed in the short term, as you mentioned 5 years is long enough. Since he started with a deliberate, slow, long term approach, that is what we have and were we are.

One guy who I never wanted was Matt Cooke. That guy tried to injure people.

Yes, I get that you think the Sabres didn't need to reset in in March of 2021 because: The 25th-place 81-point (prorated from 69 games) 2020 team was pretty good and trending upward. The Sabres 31st-place 54-point (prorated from 56 games) 2021 team was a mirage because Jack Eichel was hurt and COVID I get that you think that team had enough pieces that it could have become a playoff team relatively quickly with the right tweaks. And that you think Adams has pushed that possibility back when he did not have to. The point I was trying to make was simply that it is not typical for a really bad team to turn into playoff regular in 2 or 3 years. I didn't even mention Adams, let alone the hyperbole-filled bold. That's all you. If you want to discuss whether the reset itself was prudent, sure. When I check my 'real world context' from March of 2021 I see: a franchise player whose health will probably make him unavailable for the coming season an owner who is unwilling to give that player the surgery he wants a roster and a failing season unlikely to keep Eichel happy, or deter him from a trade request, no matter what new offseason promises I make my best healthy player, Sam Reinhart, saying he would not be signing a long-term contract with us my $9M winger coming off miserable 14- and 7-goal seasons my $6M big free agent acquisition unlikely to stay, or bring back a big haul in a trade half my defence corps — Montour, Ristolainen and McCabe — headed toward free agency and not wanting to talk contract uncertainty as to whether or not I can re-sign my starting goalie an owner who may or may not back off on the austerity program he launched during COVID a dressing room that had grown 'toxic' due mostly to the wear of years of constant losing a reputation among players and agents as a place to avoid These are issues I can't ignore. Even if I do accept handwaving the 2021 disaster as just the product of an unhealthy Jack and the bubble, I don't think an 81-point team can withstand all that, let alone a 54-point team. And I don't handwave 2021. Every team was in a bubble. Every team has injuries — you've said it yourself several times. And whether you accept it as representative or not, the Sabres literally did morph into a .330 team. My take in that moment is that I don't see this mix becoming a playoff team relatively quickly with the right tweaks Regardless of how we got there, or what we've done since — I guess I need to stress this is not about Adams' overall performance as a GM — I think a reset at that time was absolutely the right move. I respect your take, I just see it differently.

He will since he's still playing. Tied with Coyle at the moment with 59. Which is a pretty high total as they are only half way through. Gudas had the most hits last year for the full playoffs with 91. Much more hitting in the East this year than the West overall. Vancouver has the most hits by a Western team though by a fair bit. https://www.statmuse.com/nhl/ask/nhl-hits-leaders-2024-playoffs

I just bought Fontaines DC tickets the other day for September. Also Johnny Marr and James .

That was my view before this season started. We missed the playoffs by one point and rather than make a concerted effort to take a leap forward and make them his attitude seemed to be "oh 1 point that's nothing, we are fine. All I need is Conor Clifton"

Goalposts are heavy. Put them down. Stop lying as well. It's not a good look.

Yes, that was hyperbole.

Well, the 4 seasons ending in 20-21 included 2 seasons below .400, which is the mendoza line that was cited in dudacek's original theory, one at .463 and one at .493. That is a pretty pathetic 4-season run -- at the end of which their best player demanded a trade (and I'm not sure why you think we could've kept him at that point -- it's pretty clear that he was done playing here at that point). And the best player coming back in that trade, Tuch, missed 32 games in his first season for the Sabres, 21-22. So, again, the 50 games was not a non-indicative small sample size but rather was entirely reflective of how atrocious the state of the team was when we arrived at the summer of 2021, as well as the beginning of the 2021-22 season. Now this is a fair criticism.

Suzy Bogguss was outstanding tonight. Every song was great. It was just her on vocals and rhythm acoustic guitar, and a stand-up bass player and lead guitar who both provided backup vocals. The sound was great. This pic is from the last row (the venue only has about 200 seats).

I will straddle the fence here. I think Adams took over a disastrous situation, did a good getting things turned in the right direction, and then messed up by not approaching last off-season with enough urgency. Now we see if he can do what he should have tried to do last off-season.

Much like Andersen in Carolina, I have no trust in Skinner as the Oilers goalie in the playoffs

I am guessing Keefe ends up in NJ if he wants it or his buddy Dubas brings him to Pittsburgh and cuts Sullivan loose who ends up in NJ.

Rod needs to get himself a legitimate goalie if he’s going to take the next step in Carolina.