SHAAAUGHT!!!

I thought the “it’s not the coach” narrative was put to bed when we kept watching the Sabres outplay top teams when they felt like it, and then the next game went back to sleepwalking. We have an above average team, and they have the ability to be a playoff team, they just need to be motivated to play solid hockey every night for 60 minutes. I can count on one hand the number of times we’ve seen that this season. Could you imagine if we had someone like Torts, Ted Nolan, or Lindy Ruff here running practices? I bet the Sabres wouldn’t have such poor starts and inconsistent efforts.

I’ve recently assigned the Sabres to the Non-Watchable list.

It’s almost like these players (Johnson and Benson) that haven’t been coached by Granato know how they are suppose to attack the puck. Everyone else on the teams knows how to do it, but only does it when they “wanted to back Donny.” Weird. It’s almost like they know how to play the right way, but choose not to. Weird…

The refs in this league are suckers

Completely agree that defensive play is also an issue, but that isn’t necessarily on the players. That lack of preparation is on the coach. He talks about it, but I don’t know if Tony really understands what “accountability” looks like in this league…

I really hope after this game everyone will stop saying the goaltending situation is not a problem. The Sabres do NOT have a #1 tendy on this team this year and it has been obvious all season. Levi will be great, but he’s not there yet…

Jack Edward’s is a chode, but he noticed what almost every hockey person noticed: Levi is a good goalie because he is fast and smart. That is going to help him respond to deflections, while a goalie like UPL is counting on his size to take away more of the net. Watcing Levi play this season after watching UPL play was like watching an 80s goalie play and then Hasek coming into net the next game. UPL and other large goalies are slow and clunky in comparison to Levi, and that’s where Levi’s competitive advantage lies. I’m curious if we start seeing more Levi type goalies in the league the next 5-6 years if he breaks out the way everyone expects him to.

Adams missed the mark this off-season, but Clifton is not the problem. Joker and Bryson are not good for this team and should have been moved with picks and/or prospects for a top 4 defenseman, the coaching is horrendous, GMKA did not make enough moves over the summer, Okie is not a good captain (great guy, bad captain), and no one bothered to learn how to take a face off this summer. I think that might cover it…

Kane obviously “doesn’t want to be here” with this signing. I hope the Sabres FO remembers this over the summer and doesn’t sign him. He would have been a good depth piece to add this year to help on the PP and add some experience, but there should be better players available over the summer.

Sorry for the delay, I’m traveling a bit for work this week. Core should be 6, no more than 7? Why you say? Because 7 is 3 defensemen, 3 forwards, and a goalie (current Sabres “core”). It is also 2 defensemen, 4-5 forwards, and a goalie (sometimes). Let’s do the math next. Specifically for the Sabres because duh: Position, Name, Salary (or projected salary during core years) Goalie, Levi, $4.5Mx3 after ELD Defense 1, Dahlin, 11M Defense 2, Powers, 8.4M Defense 3, Mule, 4.3M Offense 1, Tage, 7.1M Offense 2, Cozens, 7M Offense 3, Skinner, 9M Offense Core +1, Tuch/Casey, 4.8M/6.5M First off, yeah, Skinner is your core. You don’t sign guys for 8 years that aren’t your core. Once skinners contract is over you can either go down to 6 core, or add someone like JJ here, who I think is a 5M+ player and fills a critical need (strength on the boards, vision) once he is at his peak. Second, you will see the salary demands assumed here take up 2/3 of the available cap space assuming a $84.5M cap. So basically you have to sign 16 players with 1/3 of the projected available cap space. This is why there is a core, and why I think you have to build flexibility into your roster. Because if 1 or 2 of these guys get injured or flames out the Sabres go from a position of strength to one of uncertainty.

Is Kane better then VO? Of course he is. Sign him for 2x4.5M, sell VO for a 5th. Call it a day.

I think a good GM builds some level of flexibility into his lineup. You can’t do that if you have 8 guys in the core where they are all making 7-10MM+.

I’ve been thinking about this contract a lot lately. Sabres have their core, but Casey is a nice Core+1. So what does a Core+1 get paid? I’m thinking less term, less money than the core, but enough money to keep him feeling good about his situation, but also low enough to make him easy to trade, while giving him a chance to sing another 6-7 year deal when that one expires. Im coming in around 4x6.5 with no special clauses.

Ryan Johnson had 8:20 of ice time, and Bryson had 6:27. We need a poll on when Bryson gets traded or sent down because it’s not if it at this point it’s when

I hope they trade him for a 3rd/4th round pick (assuming the Sabres would have to send a 6th or 7th back the other way). I think he carries enough value to get picked up if he hits waivers so we should be trying to get value out of him.

NHL app is terrible. Still isn’t showing the Peterka goal for some reason. I had to go back through the game thread to make sure I didn’t imagine that goal….

I typically stay away from former athletes/coaches books because it’s typically self-indulgent BS, but I’m really excited to read this book.

Pretty sure that’s a different thread my guy 😂

Idk, worst case Ontario we get and offensive defensemen that gets 70+ points a year that can quarterback the 1st or second power play (depending on how we utilize Dahlin on the PK. That is worth an $8M AAV in 2-3 years no problem

Granato was taking about how he needs to coach differently now that the players are older and the playoff window has opened. I’m expecting GMKA to take the same approach. This to me is the biggest question mark on his tenure. Can he play the trade deadline and FA market correctly for the team we have going forward? Right now that’s definitely a TBD

This right here is exactly why I’m ok with the $8.35M. I don’t think people realize how much additional cap space there will be 3-4 years from now, and that it will allow GMKA a lot of flexibility to sign coveted free agents that add key attributes to the team that we may need to make a deep playoff run. I’ve been negotiating contracts (albeit not for sports teams) for 16 years and GMKA continues to impress me with his ability to correctly quantify a players value to the franchise. This is why I still hold out hope for Bryson…

Dahlin may have been asking for full term, but his agent may have been using a 5 year deal to negotiate a higher AAV for an 8 year deal. Either way I’m glad it’s done, I’m glad it’s 8 years, and I’m glad it’s at a reasonable AAV

Fitzgerald and Bryson are equivalent, as in they are both waiver wire fodder. Bryson missed the wire today but he will be there by the end of the season because he’s JAG Im glad the Sabres are done picking up guys like Fitzgerald. Stillman is literally the worst D we should have in this team, and I’m not even tying to be mean aboot it. Stillman’s a decent defensemen, he’s just has his obvious flaws

If Anaheim isn’t able to sign their core RFAs they are going to have to rebuild or at least retool. So they might be willing to take on some short term “garbage” to move $s. Plus I don’t think VO, Joker, or UPL are garbage, I just don’t like Jokers or VOs game for this team and UPL still has value. Throw in a 1st and a young high end prospect this could make sense to a team like that. Remember, this is the same team that just overpayed Gudas, traded for Boosh, and has Kassian on PTO. I don’t think it’s that far fetched.