nfreeman

Well, I think we need to see how the season ends up. Last year they finished with 76 pts, 2 years after JB took over a team that finished with 78 pts. They currently have 29 wins and 66 pts with 19 games left. If they go, say, 12-7 and finish with 41 wins and 90 pts, I think most here (but definitely not all) would be inclined to bring JB back. But if they go, say, 7-12 and finish with 36 wins and 80 pts -- so the net gain is 2 pts in 3 years of JB's tenure -- I and I think most here will be inclined to cut him loose. Either outcome is quite possible.

You are an excellent poster and I regret having to say this, but the bolded is #hammymath.

I'm sure the Islanders' fans would prefer that they score more goals. Do you think they would trade their team for the Sabres? It doesn't matter why the Islanders have outperformed the Sabres during the JB era. It only matters that they have done so -- just like pretty much every other team in the NHL. Again: JB is accountable for the results. He took over a team that was in pretty much the same place that the Isles were in when LL took over and has to date improved their results not one iota -- while LL was improving the Isles by leaps and bounds in much less time than JB has had. JB doesn't have to match the best results that anyone has achieved, but it would be nice if his results weren't at the bottom of the freaking barrel.

The Islanders hired Lamoriello in the summer of 2018, after JB had been with the Sabres for 1 year (the Sabres finished DFL that year, btw). The Islanders had missed the playoffs in the previous 2 years, including an 80-pt season in 2017-18, and had ONE playoff series win in the previous 15 years. Then, a couple of months after LL joined, the Islanders lost Tavares -- a better player than ROR -- and got nothing back in trade, since JT left as a UFA. Did the Islanders continue to muddle along in suckitude? No. They hired Trotz, brought in a goalie named Robin Lehner, made a bunch of small moves and improved by 23 pts to finish with 103 pts and knocked off Pittsburgh in the 1st round of the playoffs. They are a near-lock to make the playoffs again this year -- in LL's and Trotz's 2nd year. It doesn't need to take one hundred years of solitude. JB is accountable.

1st bolded -- whoa. So TT can't be sent down next year w/o clearing waivers? If so, that's an important roster fact that I hadn't realized, since it means that TT is 99% likely to be one of the 13 forwards in Buffalo next year. 2nd bolded -- it seems like most posters here think JB will have the option of bringing Zemgus and Larsson back. I am skeptical that this will happen, and expect at least one of them to sign elsewhere to escape the chronic losing. If I had to guess, I think both will be gone -- and I think JB's plan is to replace them with Lazar and Asplund. 3rd bolded -- abso-freakin'-lutely, and while I generally like RK, I think he has butchered the Skinner situation and the Sabres' special teams, both of which have been critical coaching failures that have materially hurt the Sabres' results this year.

Yes -- and guys with NTCs.

There may or may not be a carryover, but I think the Sabres' results in the last 20 games will affect TP's decision on whether to bring back JB.

The end of the Nashville-Calgary game was crazy — Granlund tied it literally at the final buzzer and then won it in OT. The Nashville crowd was incredible. I’m envious.

This isn't that complicated. Discussion of non-sports events does not give anyone a free pass to vent about politicians, unless it's done in the politics club. If you can't discuss a non-sports event here without taking shots at politicians you don't like -- then don't discuss non-sports events here. And don't pretend you're not doing something by hiding behind BS like "everything is political."

Pls keep all political BS in the politics club. Thanks.

JFC. Can you pls calm down and knock it off with the pi**y comments.

Excellent hockey game so far. The Sabres look determined and are getting good goaltending. Colorado has to be the fastest team in the NHL, innit? Late in the 2nd I was thinking how useless the Vesey-Lazar-Frolik line was -- and then they get the GTG. Similarly, Reino has had a mediocre game so far IMHO -- and I frequently find that when I say that after 2 periods he has a very strong 3rd. Go Sabres.

Please do not post links to illegal streams. Thanks.

It is far from certain that the Sabres are up and coming. They could easily go 7-13 in their last 20 games, limp home with 80 pts and fire everybody. Palat plays on the 1st line with Kucherov and Point, so moving to the 2nd line in Buffalo with Skinner and crappy JB middle-sixer isn't an upgrade. (I agree that Johnson would have the opportunity to play a bigger role.) Whether they could help us isn't the question -- it's whether they would want to leave a perennial cup contender in low-tax, sunny Florida to join a perennial bottom dweller in cold, gray, snowy, high-tax Buffalo. I would give them that pick for either of those guys in a heartbeat, but there is NFW that they trade Point, especially not for #11 overall.

Well, Palat is a LW, and Tyler Johnson, although a C, is 5'8", expensive, in decline and turns 30 this summer. It also seems pretty unlikely that either would waive a NTC to leave Florida and come to Buffalo.

I agree -- they will figure out a way to offload one of their expensive vets and keep Cirelli. I also think there is NFW that JB trades Cozens this summer under any circumstances.

The recent winning streak also provides more hope for meaningful games in March, as opposed to last year when the bottom was falling out at this point in the season (although I admit the similarity to last year's point total and standings position is a bit unsettling). Keep hope alive!

At this point, I feel the same way about Mitts that I felt about Nylander: he has some skill but probably not enough skill, will or hockey IQ to be an effective top-6 NHL player, and we should adjust expectations, and roster plans, accordingly. However, also like Nylander, he is young, not expensive and under team control for a while -- so there is no rush to make a decision on him. If someone offers a Jokiharju-level asset for him, I would pull the trigger, and I wouldn't hesitate to include him in a package for Cirelli or other strong 2C candidate, but I wouldn't dump him for a lower-level asset. In the meantime he should stay in Rochester and learn the game.

I was not a fan of Vanek’s but I certainly wish him well in his future endeavors.

I agree with much of this, but I also think: - Skinner played in a frustrated and petulant way for much of the season. - In doing so, Skinner lost a bit of his razor-sharp scorer's edge -- so that now, despite playing with more determination and Skinner-PITA-ness, he's not burying his chances like he did last year. - The decline in Skinner's play relative to last year has materially harmed the production that the Sabres would otherwise have gotten from their 2nd line (again, acknowledging that Skinner deserved and needed better linemates) and power play -- which in turn has cost the team wins.

What's the problem with discussing why the Sabres, who are dying for a 2C, didn't obtain one who was traded yesterday for not that high of a price?

His team's jerseys have the players' nicknames, not their full names -- e.g. Cozen's jersey says "Cuz" and his teammate Stringer's says "Strings."

True, but "he might have done X" is not the same as "he did X."

The Sabres have 66 pts with 20 games left. To get to 96 pts, they'd need 15 wins, or 14 wins and 2 OTLs. 12 of their last 20 games are on the road. They are 10-19 on the road. So even if they win 6 out of their 8 home games, they'd also need to win at least 8 out of the 12 roadies -- which would mean essentially doubling their road winning percentage. It's not crazy to think that Toronto or Florida might self-destruct, but the odds are well against both of them doing so. It's also pretty unlikely that they'll get the kind of goaltending they'd need to accumulate 14-15 wins against their schedule. But they have Eichel, and RK, and Dahlin, and a number of proud, strong, nasty SOBs like Risto, Larsson, Zemgus and McCabe who are PO'd that they've never been this close and who will crawl across broken glass to get there. So hell yes there's a chance, especially if they get good goaltending.

This conclusion is not supported by the tweet you posted. Just because the Sabres thought their offer was better than Carolina's (that's assuming the tweet is accurate, of course) doesn't mean Florida saw it that way. Alternatively, Florida may have thought the Sabres' offer was slightly better, but preferred not to trade VT to Buffalo unless Buffalo's offer was substantially better -- which also would not be a case of Florida "not going to trade him to Buffalo."