ddaryl

What Casey did in international play a couple of years ago still reminds us that his ceiling is high. All 4 on the list deserve solid consideration but I choose Casey using his international stage as the deciding factor.

Not sure if you are being sarcastic but I just like tipping my hat to the OP's who use these old skool references by sharing in the reference with a youtube vid or a meme

That don't matter, his name is on the deed. If he didn't want Housley then he should of stood his ground....

We will know if JBot is a keeper at the end of this season. If Krueger and the offseason pick ups don't move us up the standings and have us at least playing meaningful hockey during the end of the regular season then I will be done with JBot. Housley was a bad choice so this is his 2nd coaching choice. He won't be allowed a 3rd I expect fruit on the tree this year....

Germans ? forget it he's rollin.

I agree Murray was a disaster. He didn't build a team he tried to hot fix it.. He didn't do squat for depth or much for Rochester. Ridiculous cap management as well. Okposo was a sad contract. Murray had no sense of how ot build a franchise from the ground up for long term success... That is what Buffalo needed.. he was the wrong guy for this job. I like Botterill more at this junction because he has a long range plan for sustainable improvement. Even though he was desperate to ship out O'reilly for future cap availability, his work this offseason is impressive, and I fully expect another major move or 2. Botterill picked Housley but he also moved on from him quickly. Krueger looks like a good hire but that's a we shall see situation. Overall I do like Botterill's approach more than Murrays, but if we don't see a nice uptick in improvement this year then both of them will suck in hindsight

If he was THIS talented/motivated he would of played more games in a Sabres uniform. Until that talent shows up on NFL ice it doesn't exist. A change of scenery was perfectly fine and the return we got made it a little sweeter for Sabres fans. You cannot keep players in your system if they don't make the jump in a pre determined amount of years. Nylander never lit it up consistently in the AHL while others have made a bigger impact. Might as well get an asdet that's a little younger and has already shown some success in the NHL. As for the whole toxic environment. Meh not interested in hyperbole that happens when fans need to manufacture reason for the failures. Reasons for our failures are pretty straight forward. Started with Rigas, peaked with Golisano, and then exhausted all of us with Pegula's trying to tear it down and do a full head to toe rebuild. But we are on the other side of this, and fully believe the toxic environment issues are in the past, the team just needs to come of age now and grow. Many of you have lost patience. Mistakes were made, lessons learned. We are moving forward IMO not backward. Just got to stay patient ?

Not sure what this has to do with Nylander. How does an AHL'er lose the love of the game at age 20 ?

If Krueger can coach then we will see a serious uptick even if we don't bring in another player. Krueger is the real difference maker for this year IMO. If he is just marginally better than Phil then that could put us in playoff conversation I truly prefer Botterill sit back and let the 1st few days of FA playout... But the reality is any real significant player will come back via trade and that can happen 2 - 4 months or even the trade dead line...

you complete bypassed all meaning of what I was trying to say. Botteril sucks at this junction Beane is good to put it bluntly. I like how the Bills are being built I saw how the Sabres are being built and I do not like it. The O'reilly trade didn't have to happen the way it did and we got FLEECED. When the Bills make a blunder or pick up a player that just doesn't work out they are easily and quickly able to shed a contract and not take a big hit on the cap. That's how you make deals. Yes there are differences between the sports for crying out loud. The Sabres have been managed badly by their GMS. The Bills were managed badly but now have good vision and management. Sabres still have Botteril who has failed to shed salary cap or get a decent player in return fro the O'reilly trade and we have been set back a few years because of this. Krueger is the ONLY saving grace here. If he can coach this squad can improve, but my faith in Botterill is very bery very low now and I want a GM in here who can find value and diamonds in the rough and not try to trade for Kane's and O'Reillys, or sign the Moulson's and Okposo's to really really realy stupid deals.. This what the Sabres are doing and is the opposite of what the Bills are doing.

Yeah but there is also a mentality the bills have regarding FA acquisitions that impresses me. Finding players that have something to prove and are great locker room guys. Team 1st guys... that's what is separating the Bills return form the Sabres return at this junction. Not aging vets riding out bloated contracts that obviously don't want to be here. which is what the Sabres have done in regards to the RoR trade, or the cap stealing contracts of Molson and Okposo. Many of the contracts on the Bills can be jettison in a year or 2 with limited cap hits.

My hindsight being 20/20 the RoR trade sucked major sac. If we could shed all that dead cap weight we took back then I say it was a wash but we are hamstrung by Murray deals and this stupid trade, and I so wanted to like when it went down. If Botterill can't clean this up quickly we are in trouble IMO.. He needs to find some players that mesh well with the young studs. Not aging vets with bloated contracts

I too am in the camp where this guy got a raw deal in Edmonton but seems to have enough success where ever he has gone or done in life. There were no safe retreads that make me feel as optimistic as Krueger. This is a high ceiling type of hire with a moderate floor... We should be better than Housley teams at minimum. The tank was not the problem. As the score card stand the tank was miss managed by Murray mostly and because Botterill failed to shed cap hits, or get a significant asset with the O'Reilly trade, we are in a bit if cap hell and are limited to what we can do. The Bills are being rebuilt correctly finally.. Patient moves finding diamonds in the tough and a player types that buy into culture. The Sabres are not there and Botterill has tied his own hands some IMO.... If Krueger exceeds expectations and Boterill makes intelligent moves from here on out we can turn it around. Otherwise Botterill is gone in the next 2 and we get to reboot.

There is no case left to keep Phil The team has quit on him and he hasn't made many, if any, smart coaching decisions. This team is clearly better than their record IMO so Phil must go

when the entire team fails to take a step forward in year 2... Or collapses the way this team has in the last 2/3 of the season then you look for the common denominator. Botterill is not firing himself so the only option is to fire Housley. I don't see the Pegula's firing Botterill. As of this junction the majority of blame falls on Housley. If the next coach fails in similar fashion then we look at the GM.. But this offseason we will be looking for a new coach or the majority of sabres fans will sit home next season

This team will get better. They're still young and some of these kids are in their first full season in the NHL. They tend to burn out the last quarter. I wish Tage could become Dave Andreychuck. He has the size not the muscle yet. But his long reach should give him an advantage in front if he can take and dish out the beatings. Right now he doesn't dish it out much, and doesn't get in there and get dirty

great trade iMO.. and NHL expereiced D capable of playing top lines and 20 minutes a game for 1st and Guhle... You don't get a young player like this for less IMO

My heart says yes..... But their play since November says close but no cigar

I guess there is some merit to trying this, given our lack of consistent 2nd level scoring but no I don't pay attention to much of the non sense

That goal he scored last night was just gorgeous. The way he opened his skates to circle around the defender on a wide angle then fire that shot to upper far side from a short angle. Yeah I hope he's on board being Eichel's line mate for years. Just so damn purrty

sure they can... either way the teams creation will go down as genius

you just lost your posting privileged. HELL NO

Every single scouting report I have read every interview regarding him says he is a generational talent From what i can see he is definitely that

Dahlin is an off the charts talent.. Very exciting indeed