thewookie1

That’s where I don’t excuse them. It’s like the best they are willing to do is give it the old college try. Either that or they refuse to upgrade small, only large. Essentially Pegula won’t sign off on new lucrative contracts and dead contracts if the change is negligible.

@Brawndo mentions we talked to a candidate for replacing Wilford but he turned us down. Could the franchise honestly be trying but be effectively getting stonewalled at every opportunity while also being too incompetent to find a way out of the mess. This isn’t to say Adams is innocent; he needed to be fired last year during December’s spiral, but could it be possible his smug/self-righteous persona that emerged is a sign that he’s trying, getting denied then being ridiculed by the media about it constantly. I do honestly wish we could know how much of our issues are self-inflicted versus environmental and or out of our control.

That's the trick, we are doubtful to get within 5mil of the cap ceiling so we can go 1 mil + 3mil in production/games played based incentives Plus you can convince Pegula of the possibility he doesn't hit all 3 incentives

Here's a random idea that could be a clever way to get another scorer Max Pacioretty, he's still unsigned and still wants to play Played very solid in the playoffs for the Leafs and even increased his hitting. In lieu of trading for a more assured upgrade; I'd throw him a 1mil contract with a few incentives and just see how it goes

Pretty funny; regardless of our situation I can appreciate the social media team’s effort for fun. Dallas and Toronto are the best.

There are 4 primary issues with Rust 1. Age 2. His stats are inflated by Crosby 3. Many potential buyers 4. Defensive play is questionable at best Also I have zero interest in moving our 2026 1st or Helenius for him. If you can use other pieces I can grin and bear it but don’t trade our only legit C prospect and the only safety net we have for next off season

I’d certainly offer Tuch 8x8.5mil and then see if we can grease his palms on the side akin to how the Leafs do with players. Want lifetime Bills tickets? I don’t think we or anyone could offer Tuch 8/7x 10 mil, it’s just not feasible for any team in the NHL

He sums it up rather well, unlike the NFL a player cannot renegotiate a contract nor can a team approach a player to do the same.

Egos might be bruised

Frankly I’m not surprised by the skill point, the last couple years we’ve had off the chart levels of talent but it’s typically squandered in numerous ways. Part of me feels some players just don’t desire to buy in regardless of the coaching. Peterka possibly being one of those guys in possibly seeing their way as better than the overall strategy. And with the current situation we have I can’t blame them for letting those doubts creep up but they need to lock down. Clifton also brought up a commonly noticed attribute of the team in how it will play great against solid to great teams then turn around and play piss poor against lower end teams. The worrisome part is Clifton seemed perplexed by the issue in his own right. He put genuine effort into giving the most accurate answer he could and corrected himself about preparation. It boils down to the same issue that lingered with a Cozens interview early on last year where he referred to the team almost taking weaker teams for granted. Almost making me imagine the roster as a whole has a strange tendency to see themselves as far better than their record entails. Or, possibly some players see weaker teams as possible cash cows for easy offensive production and thus don’t play the 200ft game they are supposed to.

I was commenting on the 1st part The 2nd part I sadly agree with; I feel like we are running on a ***** treadmill

Because of course; the only way to be angry with your favorite team is to feel utterly hopeless, say they deserve to lose all their great players and complain when anyone wants to do anything but that.

He can still be traded rather easily; he's not a UFA for 2 years and we see acquisitions like that all the time.

I frankly don’t care about the players and their environment. Unless they are being abused and/or shorted on paychecks they should be held accountable to their commitments to the team that drafts and/or signs them. They get way too much money to feel sad about their situation. I can understand their logic but that still doesn’t mean I give them any quarter in regards to it. Just because I can logically see the Japanese reasoning behind Pearl Harbor doesn’t mean I don’t hate what they did or those involved in that context. Just because an action is logical doesn’t mean it absolves the decision maker of all critique or backlash. Peterka is where Eichel was prior to his first game here; I hate him but really don’t loathe him. As long as Peterka doesn’t make idiotic comments about the fans or the city it will likely remain there for several years until it just simmers out. That’s how most fans operate in regards to players. They don’t have a plan, they have a spattering of ideas with no cohesive strategy besides some overarching theme.

Oh of course we should cheer on players who leave us because we deserve to suck? That doesn’t even make sense. I love the Sabres, I love Buffalo and if one ***** on us then I’m naturally going to dislike them no matter how legitimate or absurd their reasoning is.

Just like the U.S. I may not always agree with everything we do but I'll always be proud to be an American and loyal to it. The Sabres are being ran by idiots but in the end they are what we have and we have to put up with it. We can vehemently disagree with the team and its management while still being loyal to the team and demanding the players do the same regardless of the circumstances. Unless the team isn't paying the players their agreed salary or have suffered 20 years here, I don't want to hear anything about a player being sad and wanting to leave.

That doesn't even make a lick of sense; we are powerless in this whole situation. I can't tell Terry to spend money, sell to a local owner who will keep them here, or the like. If I had that sort of power then it makes some sense. But I and neither can any of us do so. Whoop-de-*****-doo, toughen up kid; there are far worse situations to be in then with a cheapish NHL team making 750k, soon to be 7mil, a year to play a sport. We don't get paid, and many of us could only dream of his job. I'm going to pat him on the back and say good luck because he can't put up with the same pain us fans go through year after year.

If the shoe fits; I can be furious at ownership and the front office but I'll always put the Sabres over any players' desires. We aren't paid to root for the team; we have personal connection and desire to see the team succeed. Even if from a purely logical basis it may be logical to ask out; that doesn't mean it magically make player's decision fine. If fandom was purely logical then there would only be band wagon fans following super teams

The Sabres are a franchise as long as they are here and with a team in the NHL registry; no matter how beat down or violated it may become. If you want to hold this absurd belief then leave us be and find a new team because obviously your loyalty isn't to the crest.

I am a Sabres Avatar, these players make millions regardless of where they go so I have zero sympathy for them if they end up on a bad team. You can try and play the moral high ground all you want but I'm a Sabres fan regardless of the situation. And true fans of a team aren't going to care what legitimate or assinine reasoning a player has for leaving; you are either with us or against us at the end of the day. Few players ever surpass that, Ray Bourque being one such example for Boston fans. Why should I care if JJ has a short time period to succeed? Is he paying me money? He can want out all he wants but that doesn't mean I'm going to give him a pass because the front office and ownership are inept. Why not fix it, why not work to improve the circumstances by some means. It's not like we have the access he'd have to the team upper-echelon. If you ask to leave, you are an enemy to this team, it's fans and that's all there is to it. NO matter the caveat.

Losing Peterka hurts but I agree with @LGR4GM in this regard. The team is at best fractionally better with a trade of offensive pop for a bit more responsible play in theory. I understand being jaded, I understand not trusting anything they do but I can’t exactly dwell on that while also trying to enjoy and cheer for my favorite team. So I much rather approach this with a glass half full and possibly delude myself into believing they have a legit shot at the playoffs because anything else destroys the entire premise of being a fan. I’m high cynical in many aspects of my life while working with government/finance stuff so I can’t approach this with a similar mindset or I’ll go completely nuts.

It's obviously more nuanced but how many players has Adams kept hold of that have more or less asked to leave?

He always has leverage here; love the kid but to get him to sign originally allegedly required promised time in the NHL during his "1st year" Now while he's certainly embraced his time in Rochester now; bringing in Silovs would of just pissed him and/or his agent off. Complain enough and Adams would trade him, but he can't since he hinged much of his past 5 years on developing Levi to be our 1G and he isn't one to deviate

That was arguably the only good goalie on the market available for trade; that being said trading for him would of made Levi next to impossible to re-sign and Adams doesn’t exactly look at a 3D, much less a 4D, map.

McLeod is a high tier 3C and low end 2C from a traditional view. His contract is spot on for his value. You could do better but also far worse. Plus he has enough talent to fill the 2C role for stints even on a solid team in theory.