ska-T Palmtown

Maybe Adams was like "how aboot 4x$4M?" ... i can see not dignifying that with a response, lol.

I also don't think trading for Byram solves Dallas's cap problems. He wants too much. The have like $5.73 or something. (notice the there is no "M" after that number, like five bucks ... seriously)

He has essentially played full seasons in 2 out of his 3 years in the NHL. Seems like the injury season should be looked at as the outlier, no?

I feel like I was mostly in some sort of broad agreement with your post. I was mostly using your post as a way into the convo, tbh. That said, while we may differ on our exact feelings of the JJ trade (and admittedly, I focuses almost entirely of the effects of that one trade in the second half of my ramblings), we both feel you can't judge the trade without the context of what happens around it, ie Terry simply pocketing the $5.5M or GM Howdy Doody actually doing something useful with it. In the end for me, if the Sabres make the playoffs this year, the JJ trade is water under the bridge.

I think there is some value in saying if, If, IFFFFF, the Sabres uses that $5.5M savings to get Robertson or Marner, etc - then we could look back on the series of moves having been an overall success - and that would be more meaningful, at least to me. By itself, still not happy with this trade. I liked JJ's game. There, I said it. It seems like some people (not necessarily you, JohnnySea) seem to think that strong 2-way forwards grow on trees. I am not even sure that brand of hockey is coached at the younger levels anymore. Even looking at the list of F's that get Selke votes, many of them are "meh" overall, but the crowd is thin. In one of the other threads, it came up that the Sabres were 3-29 when scoring 2 or fewer goals. Solve the goalie, become an acceptably mediocre team that comfortably eeks into the playoffs. Can some of that come from better D? Sure, I guess. But without JJ, they may play MORE games scoring 2 or fewer goals, thus necessitating a proportionally stronger performance from the D and G. Classic Looney Tunes where Daffy is trying to plug the holes in the dam, but runs out of fingers (? you, the kind disney ducks have)

I am fascinated by the Sabres going 33-17 when scoring 3 or more. I know few teams average 3 a game, but the Sabres did it FIFTY times. 50 games, 218 goals ... so for 61% of the season they averaged just over 4 goals per game. The other 32 ... 3-29 ... WTF? 47 goals ... or a paltry 1.5 (if you round up) ... 🤮 Scoring 2 or fewer 32 times and having your goalie bail you out (checks notes ...) THRICE!?!?! We can rag on the defense all we want - but ladies and gentlemen of the jury, we need look no further than between the pipes. Nothing further your honor. edit: tagging @stenbaro since they did the original work - I don't want to take credit!

45 points puts you at around 150th in the league in scoring. 91 of those players are listed by ESPN as "C" or "D" (yes i know there is discrepancy between where they are listed and where they play) ... that means ~ 60 wings scored 45 or more points last year. Given that 2 wings per team play on the TOP line ... one could make an argument that 45 points as a wing is borderline TOP line production. Not sure where the arbitrary nature of "45 points is not top 6 production" comes from. But stats don't back it up. I think there was a long discussion on McLeod in this same context. In today's watered down NHL, not every top line player is putting in 90 points ... Edit: Dang, @dudacek typed less and beat me to it! and I was totally debating the point 🙂

While I don't agree that "all" of Sabrespace would still be negative after a playoff berth and a quick exit - you do have to admit it is not too hard to imagine all the "blow it up, we are terrible" threads after said first round exit. What I also so is the (fairly substantial) "Hey, we could end the drought this year" crowd morphing into the "OK, we made the playoffs, here is why I think we could build on it" crowd. After FOURTEEN freaking years, there is actually a shocking amount of optimism around this playoff-desert team, lol.

TF? It would be pretty easy to argue a lot could change (I won't definitively say it will, since I am not a mystic soothsayer with the ability to see and/or predict the future) ... for one; the "they never make the playoffs" stink could come off - leading to coming off a NMC list or two? Attract a slightly higher tier FA? I won't be so bold as to predict a Bills-like turnaround since the Sabres don't have a JA17 just yet (nor do i think "franchise-altering QB" translates to the NHL unless we land another Hasek?) Players have hope for once in their miserable careers that staying in Buffalo is not a death-sentence? Instead of wilting like delicate flowers in a heat wave the following spring, they gut it out and make the playoffs again? This time with some added confidence and experience? The city and fanbase can let loose with a small sigh of relief that maybe, just maybe, they aren't actually cursed? I know we are all down on what is going on ... but to imply nothing would change if they made the playoffs? A bit hyperbolic, no?

had not really meant to steer the thread - jAcK QuInN iS AlWaYs HuRt is just one of my trigger points 🙂 That said - similar to @LGR4GM's comment above, I think he has the potential to be a 30g scorer (he has the SHOT, that is for sure) - given he has had more apples than goals I guess 30-35a as well?

To be fair (although it is football), the Bills had a 17-year drought and the Sabres are currently tied with the J-E-T-S at 14 for the longest active streak. I honestly don't see the Jests ending theirs this year, so here's to hoping the Sabres can!

Rossi - 0.55 pts/game in 185 games Quinn - 0.54 pts/game in 178 games Granted Rossi's point totals were 1 (in 19 games!), 40, then 60 and Mr. Quinn has gone 37, 19, 39 ... but as of today - no real overall difference. We'll see what '25-26 brings, i guess 🙂

Sports hernia - same thing Ras (probably) had to start the 24-25 season. It does weaken my point a bit ... I guess if he gets injured this year, I will hang my head in shame and embark on a whirlwind apology tour 🙂 If he doesn't? Man, ain't nobody ever heard as much "I-told-you-so"ing as I am gonna do!!!

Jack Quinn's "inability to stay healthy" is a myth. He had ONE SEASON where he had two bad luck injuries, otherwise: And he was benched for at least 2 of the 8 he missed in 24-25. Pleez stahp! Also note (for others who like this narrative, too) - the injuries did not diminish his play. Since coming back from the Achilles injury - 58 pts in 101 games, roughly 0.57 pts/game and it was 0.49 before. If someone wants to say the injuries set his development back, sure. I think he even said he wished he had been stronger to start last season. Quinn is at least as good as he was his rookie season ...

The only way I care about the 2026 1st round pick is if they have a shot at 1OA and McKenna. But ... that means they sucked balls again in 25-26 ... so that means I probably no longer care? Vicious cycle.

Understandable, for sure. And I stressed that I sensed sincerity in his words. Being a Buffalo sports fan has just taught me to be wary. I really liked Zucker's answers and liked the way he handled himself and he appears to have some sick ink. You could 100% see his enthusiasm on the bench when a teammate succeeded. And he always looks like he just scored his first NHL goal when he scores, so excited. 10/10 - totally glad they re-signed him. I would hope everyone in that lockerroom is/was disappointed they were not the one that broke The Streak sooner. Anyone who doesn't think "man, if i had just ..." does not care about winning and should probably leave.

It is all well and good - and I think there was a ton of sincerity in his answers, but we'll see next year. I am a Sabres fan, so I am conditioned to react this way; but if he has all this clarity the day after the season ends about what he could have done better as a "older guy", where was this clarity after game 5 or 6 or 10 of The Streak? I want to believe him, I really really do - having a player like the one he sounds like in that interview is crucial for this team, I just hope (which is a sh1tty thing) that he can put it into action next year.

Because of the way the Sabres are constructed top to bottom, more is expected from players lower in the depth chart. But given that we are in the upper 1/3 of the league in GF, I would say the players are generally scoring at the appropriate rates (perhaps they have a few more 1-2 man efforts, which is reflected in their lower than average assist rates i think?) They just need to find the players who can play some team defense!

But "top 4 defenseman" is not actually that great of an achievement ... that means he is in the upper 2/3 of all defensemen? #1 overall pick ... yikes. Or to put it another way, only 1/3 of all NHL defenseman rank below him? The Sabres need him to be a guy that would challenge for the #1 defenseman on half the other teams in the league.

I always assume the "haha" reaction means people are laughing WITH me .... right?

My own personal blind spot lies in the fact that none of the players (Maybe Bryson? and 24-25 Quinn - and maybe Laffer?), taken in a vacuum don't have a place on a playoff team. Playoff teams are not some magical top-to-bottom McDavid clones. All playoff teams have role players. Evan freaking Rodriguez did just fine for FL. The problem with the Sabres, as Mr. Thorny, PhD has pointed out repeatedly is that the construction of this roster forces those players into situations that they would not face on a playoff team. Make the upgrades with vengeance and a cold, calculated malice, Mr. GM Howdy Doody!

His blocked shots and shorties combined with is essentially point/game play does not actually seem to understate this play. I think what does that is his moderate stretches of inconsistent production. Whether via injury or if he is just by nature a little bit streaky. This is not meant as a damning critique of Sir Alex. I like him and I bet ol' GM Howdy Doody took plenty of calls from playoff teams looking to pry him away from us.

It is scary, but I have really come around the opinion that the Sabres have too many "OK" guys. I think that forward group is better than what they had this year and although it might be younger (with the subtraction of Zucks?) - it feels more ... mature? That third d pairing is a little scary and I would like the Sabres to make the playoffs next year, but dice are meant for rolling, I guess.

I still have PTSD from their heroic run to 9th a few seasons ago. Suddenly they were playing tight D, controlling the puck and scoring just enough to win. It was incredible. I was standing at full attention as to what the following year would be ... then we saw it. I just can't buy into these late season mirages. Marner is ideal. Scoring, playmaking, and upper end defensive skills for a forward. I realize cap hell is the future if they go that way. But ... why can't they be the team that takes the swing and attempts to defy all the odds?

Arguing on the internet with people who are very likely complete strangers is every person's god-given right! 😉