respk
-
Posts
247 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Posts posted by respk
-
-
Looks like someone will be traded from the big club for a draft pick and this guy will be brought up. Sounds like a prototypical Nolan guy. :-)
-
I kind of hope Murray leaves Edmonton alone. Given the dysfunction and perennial losing of the franchise I would be concerned about the players coming out of there. With that many 1st round draft choices i would have thought that they would be able to stay out of the bottom just by talent alone. Hall maybe very talented but I wonder if he's a head case and would be toxic in the locker room.
-
that statement is soooooooo wrong. There are at least 5 other guys in this years draft that are looking to be 1st line players or top pair D. Its a terrific draft and goes much deeper than McDavid and Eichel. Dont, however, fall out of the bottom 7 (perferably not bottom 4).
That being said I am still Pro Tank and have not given up hope for them to fall back into McEichel contenders. I'll re-evaluate my Tank position in another 10 games or so.
Dont forget the #1 point leader in the OHL (ok tied with Strome) and #4 on your draft card- Mitch Marner.
As to the bolded above. Yes this is a very deep draft. But McEichel are clearly ahead of the rest of the forwards. Why settle for the second tier of forwards when just a few points less would get the team into the top tier of draft picks. You said don't fall out of the top 7 and preferably not bottom 4. I'm just saying don't fall out of the top 2. The top 2 appear to be significantly better than the rest and they all cost the same, 1 draft pick.
-
I really hope Harrington is wrong. What a wasted opportunity if the Sabres don't win the CHL.
-
That would put us 3rd worst in last years standings. Just enough to miss out on the two studs. Sounds about right
And would be a complete waste of time and draft choice. That result would be far worse than finishing at the bottom last year. Come on Murray pull the plug on this and ensure the Sabres draft 1st or 2nd or let's make a deal to improve the team and win a first round playoff series. No reason to be mediocre and finish any place in between.
-
I dont understand this line.
There appear to be two players in the organization that have the natural skill and ability to be top line, or first line, players. Grigs and Reinhart. maybe Armia as he has improved greatly. Everybody currently on the roster are 2nd line or lower. They may play on the 1st line for the Sabres but on a good team they would be good 2nd or 3rd line players. Of everything I've read on the current prospects none of them are expected to be more than 2nd or 3rd liners. Granted that can change as they mature. That's one of the reasons I think the tank is important. If the prognosticators are correct, McEichel should be a top line player.
-
First of all, there is no way to guarantee who will be available in the draft as long as the lottery system is in place. I believe McDavid and Eichel are unlikely to be drafted by Buffalo unless a lottery miracle happens. Therefore, why worry about it? You just have to play the hand dealt to you. Here is what I know for sure at this point: the Sabres have three 1st round picks in 2015. They will hopefully get 3 top players with those picks in this deep draft. In addition, Murray will deal away UFA's rather than get nothing in return. This should add assets to the team. In addition, there is still some dead weight on the roster that can be dealt for assets.
My guess is that Murray will package draft picks and player(s) to acquire established player(s). I don't believe he will keep all three 1st round picks.
The jury is still out on Murray until we can legitimately evaluate his actions separate from Darcy Regier's actions. The assets acquired by Regier were huge, but it is up to Murray to use them wisely. Time will tell. I am optimistic and hopeful for the future if Murray succeeds, but it is still too early to know how it will play out.
If a team finishes last this year, they are guaranteed to pick no lower than 2nd. Therefore they are guaranteed to have a shot at no worse than the 2nd player in the draft (McDavid or Eichel whichever one doesn't go first.) The tank really isn't about getting McDavid. It's about having the chance to get either McDavid or Eichel. Both of which are said to be "generational" type players. Both of which should be something the Sabres have only two of, first line players.
-
If I'm Murray, sitting in his position with the assets he has to work with, I'm a buyer working the phones trying to raid some if the rosters of the bottom feeder teams (ie edmonton) and teams looking for cap room (Kings, Hawks, and Bruins). The only asset off the table is their own #1 pick and some of the young guys.
I'm not making g the moves looking at this season, but setting myself up for next year and forward.
This should happen this summer and during next season, but not this year. It's one season too soon. Complete the tank, walk away with either McDavid or Eichel, maybe trade the STL and NYI picks for bodies and the rebuild is on. If they screw it up and don't get McEichel and end up picking 3rd - 10th I'm not sure you trade one or both of those picks.
-
I really hope Murray doesn't abandon the tank for a few meaningless wins or even the chance to lose a first round playoff. It just isn't worth it to miss out on a chance at McEichel and an improved rebuild. As a semi famous man once said "Sometimes, you have to pass on the good things to achieve the greater things." :-)
-
I'm hoping Murray gets going soon on the trades for prospects or draft picks. I'm not willing to trade the number of wins between finishing last and being the last playoff team for the opportunity to draft McEichel. McEichel is one third of the rebuild plan. I'm concerned about Edmonton though. They may not have to do any trades to out Tank us as they seem to be that bad/disorganized. Tank on! And soon!
-
Really hope Murray executes a trade or two shortly. He needs to take the steam out of these wins and get them back to the top of the standings. One or both of the goalies, Stewart, Myers and Stafford would be a start and then see where the team is in mid January. I sure hope they don't screw this up. I'd like to see Myers and a goalie sent to Edmonton. Helps the Sabres and hurts Edmonton tank efforts.
-
Don't think he'll come cheap but they may be looking for prospects mainly. Grigorenko may be a key piece there.
I hope not. We have several players in the pipeline with the "promise" of what Boedker would bring. Grigorenko has elite skills. Outside of Grigorenko and Reinhardt the Sabres pipeline is full of "projected" 2nd or 3rd line player in the NHL. Especially since Grigorenko has shown marked improvement this year, I don't think we should give up on him just yet.
-
Brace yourselves.
-
We're dead last in goals scored per game- 27% fewer goals per game (1.59) than the next lowest team (2.18).
- We're 25th in goals against per game.
- Our 5-on-5 GF/GA is worst in the league.
- Our goal differential is league worst.
- Our home goal differential is 2nd worst at -9.
-
Our road goal differential is phenomenally bad at-30.
- Our powerplay percentage is by far the worst in the league at 6%. Next lowest is 11%.
- We're 3rd in PIM committed per game. We lead the league in major penalties. We're 9th in minor penalties.
- Our penalty killing percentage is 23rd at 78.1%.
- We're dead last in shots for per game.
- We're dead last in shots against per game.
- We're dead last in winning percentage when the opponent scores first - 6.3%.
- We're dead last in faceoff percentage at 42.2%, fwiw.
-
We have the most regulation losses in the league.
So we have a little work to do but so far we're leading in many categories. I'm hopeful that the areas where we are down a little bit we can improve on quickly. Tank on!
-
We're dead last in goals scored per game- 27% fewer goals per game (1.59) than the next lowest team (2.18).
-
I'm hoping Murray is planning on competing for the top spot. I think the biggest concern is how far some other teams may be willing to go into the tank going forward. Edmonton, Arizona, etc. could have firesales and leave the Sabres out of the top two. While not absolutely crippling to the rebuild not winning the tank could possibly make the rebuild much more difficult and longer.
-
If they finish 30th the board will be fine, 29th or lower Valium for all!!
I think the only way this happens is if another team decides to tank and doesn't care what it looks like. I think if it starts to look like the race to last will be close Murray will trade enough players so that Buffalo wins the title. I can see Stafford, Stewart and the best of the goalies gone. Along with several of the defense and a couple of more forwards traded. Murray knows the high draft pick is crucial to the rebuild and I think he'll do almost anything to make it happen.
-
Current standings through games played 11/26.
Team ----- GP - L - W - OT - PTS
Buffalo 22 14 6 2 30
Edmonton 22 14 6 2 30
Columbus 21 13 6 2 28
Carolina 21 12 6 3 27
Arizona 23 11 9 3 25
Colorado 23 10 8 5 25
Winnipeg 23 9 11 3 21
Florida 20 6 8 6 18
Sabres back where they rightfully belong. Benoit w/ the giveaway behind the net on the 5 minute pp turned out to be HUGE. How Nolan can even consider not dressing him and Mess is difficult to fathom. :unsure:
Only 1 game tonight - Eulers in Nashville. Hopefully they can play like turkeys and find a way to blow the 2 points. It would give the Sabres' brass something to be thankful for (besides Mess & Benoit ;)).
Happy Turkey Day to those in the States; happy Thursday to the rest of you. Thanksvto SDS for this site and the mods for all their hard work. :beer: :worthy:
So what's the tie breaker for the top draft choice should a tie occur?
-
This would be a fairly big trade if it goes down. I vote yes for excitement.
We can't get too hung up on McEichel. I don't think we're bad enough to finish dead last and our chances of winning the lottery are 20% or less.
I want a McEichel but we don't NEED a McEichel. We need talent; if it's generational, thats just a bonus.
Why would we "suffer" through the last season and this one for something other than McEichel? At this point there appears to be a rather big drop off after McEichel and maybe Hanifan. yes it is a loaded draft but, since we have no chance of making a run in the playoffs, let's finish last and have the chance to pick the player Murray wants instead of selecting 7 or 8. If we don't get McEichel, then Murray will need to attempt to trade for some first line scorers as we don't seem to have them in the organization. This is the one piece we seem to be missing in our prospect pool. The Sabres do not have the can't miss candidate, outside of possibly Reinhardt, that can fill the first line roles. They don't seem to have those top line players. Lots and lots of 2 and 3rd liners though. If they don't get one of the top two draft picks, it changes the team building strategy. Murray has to trade instead of draft that top line scorer.
-
I think Nolan survives next year, but no longer than that. So, I give you espn's rankings of head coaches, FWIW, and the list of NHL coaches FA
http://espn.go.com/n...nhlrank-coaches
Nolan ranks 26th
Nolan is clearly an overachiever if he can be ranked 26th with this team.
-
Some of it has to be on Nolan and the coaching staff. But a large portion of the blame has to be leveled at the players. I also think Murray is saying what he has to to make it look like the Sabres are trying to win. I think Murray architected this team very carefully so that it would not be better than last year. The lack of effort is what has surprised me so far. Lack of effort is mostly on the players. I think the team is right where he wants it to be. We'll see what happens when trades start. If Murray trades for players that can help now or if he trades for future players and draft picks that will pretty much give a clue as to what his plan was.
-
After this year I really think we'll see significant improvement in the Sabres next season. With either McDavid or Eichel stepping in, some of the other youngsters ready to move up and a package deal trade for some scoring I could see significant improvement in 2015-16. There are a lot of if's but I wouldn't be surprised to see them be on the edge of the playoff hunt in 2015-2016 and in the playoffs in 2016-2017.
-
Great night for the Sabres tonight!
Imagine how much it would suck to somehow finish 2nd (regular speak) in the NHL and end up drafting 5th or something after all this....
If the Sabres don't finish with the 1st or 2nd pick in the upcoming draft, the pain of watching them last season and this will be wasted. Hanifin, or a second tier forward, just won't cut it.
-
Why? Because the team around McDavid will still be awful.
Why would that be the case? The tank and drafting of McEichel is only a part of the plan. By next year 2 or 3 of the recent draftees should be ready to contribute at the NHL level. Murray makes a couple of good signings in FA and the Sabres get better. Even if we don't tank, Murray still needs to make good FA signings and the recent draftees still need to get to NHL level. So those two items are the same between each plan. The tank plan is better because it provides the chance at a "generational" type player and the non-tank plan does not. What is the true cost of the tank? Worst case about 42 wins over a two year period. A two year period where the Sabres had no chance of doing anything in the playoffs even if they did make them.
-
I knew this team would be bad but I really thought they would be better than last year. With the moves that Murray made I was wondering if he had done too much as I am a big fan of the tank. I thought they would work and battle to loss after loss. I didn't think they would be this bad. This is Rolston bad. But there is always someone that is worse off. Can you imagine being a Carolina fan? Ouch.
-
The very interesting time will be what happens if the sabres are running about 20 or so in late December early January. Does Murray trade away assets in an effort to finish last or does he stand pat and see what happens. I'm hoping he trades away some assets for draft picks. (Stafford, Myers, Stewart, etc. ) and finishes last. To attempt to make a push for the playoffs would be very counter productive. No player or coach is going to tank but the roster can be manipulated so that the team finishes last.
Shouldn't tankers and non-tankers be happy? We have a GM that stripped down an old core that wasn't working and had an active free agency bringing in talented players with the goal of improving the team. It takes a few years to rebuild a team, and it's not like the sabres are actually trying to lose or skate an AHL team like last year.
We had a bad team last year, and the team is trying to improve it (including free agency and trades: Stewart, deslauriers, neuvirth). It's not likely we will make huge strides (tankers are pleased) but the team is actively trying (non tankers be happy)
I don't get the debate to be honest. The gutting of this team occurred, and now we are rebuilding. The whole concept of tanking if kind of goofy. We aren't intentionally trying to lose. We gutted the team for future assets, and it so happens that means your team will be bad for a few years. There is no argument for this season, the sabres aren't going to decide to a) lose on purpose and tank or b) win on purpose. They are going to try their hardest, and if we happen to win it will be because of the young core taking huge unexpected steps. If we suck, then development is on schedule and we'll have a high draft pick. And then hopefully next year we will take a step forward or else we will suck again. The team will continue to add players, and develop our young core
Sorry for the ramble, on phone haha. Its just with all this tank vs. nontank arguments, people forget that it bears very little resemblance to what is actually occurring. The team is activly trying to win and get better, and when they make the jump, they make the jump. End of story. They arent going to trade young players for vets or anything, but if they have an opportunity to trade for a good young player they will. If they have an opportunity to sign a good vet, they will. They are no longer trying to manipulate this team roster to suck and skate and AHL tearm
The tank is 1/2 over...
in The Aud Club
Posted
If we weren't so close to being able to get McEichel, I wouldn't be a proponent of the tank. But since we are, there's only a difference of a few games between finishing 30th and possibly out of the top ten, tank on. Those few wins are not worth losing a chance at McEichel. Any rebuilding plan that includes the tank as one of its facets has the chance to be a much deeper and quicker rebuild than a rebuilding plan that doesn't include the tank. It provides the most options to rebuild with little or no negatives.
No matter if Murray screws the tank up or not, it's over after this season. The day after the season ends the rebuild should be full on.