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Agreed that there is still a lot to be seen, but given what he had to work with and it was his FIRST "realz" NFL experience, I was left wondering what all of the so-called experts were talking about.

I do not get all of the "hating" on Allen. I know very little about football other than the games I catch on TV, but last night Allen looked like he has the stuff to be something the Bills haven't had in a looooooonnnng time. The book on him at the draft, if memory serves, was that he has the tools but is a project: "inconsistent accuracy and decision making". If last night is the level of inconsistency they're dealing with in Allen, this guy very well could turn into a stud. I think McDermott is absolutely the right guy for Allen to develop under.

That's the state of the media in general right now, so, yeah.

The rocky relationship was detailed somewhat in the BNews Going Downhill thread and chronicled throughout the years on this site. That's all you need to synthesize the situation.

"Seems" isn't the appropriate word - "is" is the appropriate word. TV, websites, print, radio, all commercial media is for sale and is sold and sold and sold. What you read, see and hear is 95% of the time, or greater, a product for consumption.

He's being brought in to smooth over the relationship with PSE, no way he does anything to mess with that mission. The question is, how much long Harrington lasts after this guy is fully on-boarded.

This doesn't make sense. If Skinner does well here, of course he'll get an offer from JBot. Every team needs a guy who puts goals in the net, and if it turns out Skinner can do that for the Sabres, only a fool would let him go. Between the farm as it stands, and the current roster of picks we have over the next two drafts, JBot doesn't have to worry as much, now, about keeping the farm system stocked. I think he has taken care of the immediate needs there and has set himself up nicely for the next 2 - 4 years if his approach remains consistent. If he lets Skinner go, assuming a deal is possible with him and worth doing, then all JBot does is get stuck in constant re-building mode which no one wants. I think, if anything, if Okposo does well, he might be on the chopping block seeing as his NMC turns into a Modified NTC this season. That would easily clear cap room for Skinner, and help keep the team young(er/ish). The other guys he won't have to pay big bucks to for several season, so he has time. The only immediate need would be contracts for Skinner and Samson.

IKP, that was a very nice summary of all GMJB has done. Your grades are fair enough, especially for now, but I would review them after the season is over. I think the "culture change deals" could potentially be up or down-graded depending on how the season goes. If, for example, we can deduce that an improvement in the team's overall game is a result of changes off-ice, then I think at least the Kane and ROR grades should be upgraded. The reasons being: GMJB was able to properly define what "culture change" means/meant for the Sabres GMJB had recognized a culture change was needed and acted on that recognition GMJB had identified the correct parts to change that would: Effectively change the culture (whether for better or worse) Result in a culture change that actually benefited the team (the "for better" of the above)

From that and other videos I'd say Skinner has a higher hockey IQ and far more patience than Kane.

I have always thought that quality talent + quality coaching + the right chemistry/atmosphere/environment/culture = a chance at being successful. The VGK pretty much confirmed that. At the level we're talking about, you know, the highest level of hockey on the planet, all of this testing-the-waters, wait-and-see, moderated expectations, "it's-all-new-ya-know", is wasted breath. Obviously a settling and acclimation period is natural, but it shouldn't take all season. By December 1st, we will know what we have. I'm not saying they could be lighting the league on fire, but I am saying we'll know by then whether this team has "it" or not. HCPH shouldn't have all season to figure it out at this level. He either owns the team by December 1 or doesn't. Conversely, this core either gels by December 1 or is another bust - again, not necessarily winning every game, but at least making the KeyBank Centre fun to be at instead of the usual morgue.

I thought they should have been a bubble team last year with the talent they supposedly had. However, I think the past several seasons are strong arguments that chemistry is an X factor in all of this (same with the VGKs this past season). Coaching is an X factor, too, IMHO, although more black and white. Either the coach gets the team to click or he don't. Either the coach can match or out-match his opponent strategically, or he can't HCPH has a new tool-box now, and a year to figure out how to be a Brigadier General. He needs to show he owns those X factors.

I liked Kane's physical side, but his lack of hockey IQ was maddening. I'll take the 'Canes color guy at his word on ethics, but, frankly, anyone can "fall" at any time and I think we should all be aware by now who these guys actually are is pretty well kept from the general public. The net-result take above is a good one on the surface, so long as you're counting goals from an individual, but if Skinner is better at the game in his head, and is a positive contributor ethically, I don't think the net-result is 1:1. Skinner might have similar numbers, but his effect on the rest of the team would be to elevate the numbers of others as well, so his net-result should include an (hopefully) increase in production from his teammates. All of that said, I still don't know the guy enough to vote. I liked Kane, even with his peccadilloes, but there were definitely things I wished he would/could do better in-game. If he brings that, then, the vote is obvious.

Some people are suggesting 5 year contracts before we even see how he plays with Eichel and/or for HCPH. There might be nothing there and then we have another crappy long term contract. Let's see some games first before we start offering stuff.

I wouldn't offer him anything until he proves that he belongs here long term.

This is a good take. I think for Skinner it's not so much he may intend to sign with Buffalo and that's it, I think he is testing the waters here and at the same time looking at Buffalo as a way to improve his stats for his next contract. If it works out here, then awesome, he has a new home. If he doesn't like it here, he still puts in the effort to leverage Eichel to pad his stats and moves on.

Great trade. I liked JBots, but now I like him more. I was at first a bit dubious as to how this happened, but the narrative makes sense - except for details on why Skinner was pretty much done in Raleigh. Those making fun of his figure skating past - ridiculous. That's like making fun of an engineer who aced their high-school math curriculum. Re: the three first rounders, I think we should keep two of those and reserve the other for either a trade to help the D, or a deadline deal, if necessary. There's a lot of new parts to this team, now, and I think in no way can we predict who is going to work well with who, but I hope the chemistry is right this time. Here's hoping HCPH doesn't screw this up. The only thing missing from this summer is Royal Blue home jerseys. I'm seriously ready for the season to start at this point.

Any point of view is defensible, it's just a matter of whether the POV is more chatter to add to the din of discontent or whether it is meaningful enough to stand out and warrant scrutiny. Not to harp on Iron Crotch, or anyone, really, who is not happy with the moves JBot has made, but I'd like to know what these voices/authors think JBot should do otherwise? I'm no fan of Schopp, but I can relate to his frustration with callers who throw out XYZ ideas without vetting those ideas first. It's the constant swirl of negative energy that gets old, and with Pegulas I'm convinced they at first were sensitive to it, hence the reason for the ridiculous moves the organization made the first three years or so. Someone made the point that exGMTM was an over-correction for exGMDR. I can buy that narrative seeing how things turned out. Murray wouldn't have made the moves JBot did, in my opinion. Indeed, I think Murray was out of ideas on what to do. Anyway, I think JBot has shown a little creativity and bravery so far. The D should be improved, and way more deep than the last several seasons. I think Kane would still be here if HE wanted to be here, and ROR would have been gone regardless. But now that both are gone, JBot is ready to trust his younger forwards more to get it done. That's brave, and outside the conventional wisdom you find in places like this and in the media.

"Blind"? I think dudacek's summary is rather objective and reasonable, backed up by obvious facts. If anyone could GM a hockey team, as you're implying, why are the Sabres still in the basement? Why isn't the spread across the league measured in tenths or hundreds of a point, instead of whole points? I think if anyone is blind, it's those who look at stuff and find fault with it, but never try to offer alternatives. The-everything-is-just-wrong-because-it's-wrong crowd.

Great post. Love the optimism. Depth and development have been sorely lacking long before the tank, and JBot is finally attempting to address both, at least it seems from out here. With the ages our core players are at, now, I'm hopeful we see the likes of Eichel, Reinhart, Risto, and frankly, Ullmark emerge as players capable of carrying a team. That's all we need, right now, is those four to take a step forward in their overall development. The changes, so far, ALMOST seem like they were made purposely to help this happen. I don't want to give JBot too much credit...not yet, at least, not until another season has passed. Then you have Mittelstadt and Dahlin starting their pro journey as this happens, I'm actually kind of jazzed about this coming season, unlike the past few off-seasons. As far as Nylander goes - I hope to God someone got fired for neglecting him. I know COR was moved because of what he did, but someone in the organization needs to keep a FAR closer eye on what's happening to these kids outside of the rink. I don't mind giving Nylander another two seasons to see if he can recover from what happened, but the Sabres need to help that kid out. The Sabres development method, process, strategy, whatever it is has reflected their on-ice play, in a weird way, just neglected, half-assed, and taken for granted. One of the signs of how well JBot is doing will be on how serious they take and refine player development - Nylander might actually be a test case.

I agree with this take. I think Hutton has the right attitude, and could very well post better numbers with more frequent games. He's apparently just fine with being a mentor, which is one of the reasons he was hired, so...

Actually, now that I think of it, ROR was the epitome of the Nolan Way. Hard work, persistence, always going. It made him miserable.

How do you not use a face-off specialist when you have one? How do you not use a skilled two-way forward when you have one? Player usage in instances like this aren't black and white matters. ROR wasn't in the same category as Matty Mo, where doing whatever with him made sense. ROR can still play. If he can still play, then for the money he gets you put him out there. The Sabres needed wins - he's one of the best players on the team, you play him. What kind of lashing would Housley have received if he didn't use ROR for ROR's supposed strengths?

The only thing the Sabres really lose in this is a face-off specialist. Otherwise, the tactics, assignments and roles will obviously change. Having ROR on your team forces you to rely on him, because, you have ROR on your team. Well, now they don't, and therefore the door is opened to change. In the case of the Sabres, change is definitely needed. On ROR's skill/talent: skill and talent are not synonymous with success and winning. I'm not suggesting the Nolan Way, but I am saying that there are many, many talented and skilled people in the world who can't get it together and become a success, or, at least, be a successful team player. Team building in any context is an art, Any person in a leadership capacity should know this. Getting a group together that is successful is the same no matter what the task. For kids sports teams, you have the tiers of talent; in business you try and hire correctly, rock bands; a professional kitchen - it's obvious after a while when someone doesn't fit. I think Mittelstadt did enough over the past week to help JBots with this decision. It'll be a young team out there - hopefully it'll be fun to watch.

What a bunch of old bingo ladies. This trade makes total sense. Years of losing, and the last person here to fix it didn't get it done. JBots is trying a new direction. It's exactly what needs to happen if the Sabres are going to find a way out of the failure loop. What sucks is that fans may have to wait and see what happens, but for a supposed "hockey town" many fans seem pretty impatient and fairly ignorant of what it takes to make a hockey team work.

Replace your power supply.