Mango

Speaking of, aren't him and Donnie due for another extension?

You know how the Dallas Cowboys are the butt of a lot of jokes because of Jerry Jones? That’s the Sabres. Except instead of being an OK yet dysfunctional team, they’re just not any good and don’t have any redeeming qualities.

They’ve been playing him at a 67 game pace since the new year. You would have to go back to 2018 to find a goalie who played more than that. There are only 3 between 2018-2024 who have played that much. It isn’t sustainable for most goaltenders. Let alone one who just found his pro game.

“You must not be watching, because if you actually watch us play you can see we are playing hard” Alex Tuch tonight, probably.

Under normal circumstances in most sports, including hockey, if a player as a 2 month long injury with surgery they normally don’t go from zero team participation, to 100% practice practice and playing in a game all within 24 hours. So for me this isn’t just about the last 10 games. It’s the timeline of injury, first practice, 100% practice, to playing in a game. Had Quinn come back two weeks ago and been skating with the team, sure, I get it. You can’t talk about Quinn playing the last 10 games without talking about the entire timeline. In that context I just don’t see the value for the player.

Oh totally, of course JQ wants to skate, compete, and play. I was mostly responding to the posts that said Quinn was playing because of some legitimate value add to his career. That these games would be somehow impactful to his progression. They won’t.

8-10 games before a 6 month break from regular season hockey won't make an impact on a player with 94 career NHL games. He may not even feel like he has his legs back underneath him before the season ends. My quick $0.02 is that this move is to help protect Donnie and Kevyn by trying to see if they can use Quinn to get as close to 91 points more so than they believe they are helping Jack out.

This whole thing started off by me saying that it would be nice if we could somehow acquire 1C and push Tage to the second line. Albeit super unlikely. You told me that Tage was a true 1C based on pay and ice time. Mitts had the highest TOI of all the centers, now his pay as the 35th paid center in the league is commensurate with his performance and there is nobody else on the roster? Did you just come around to moving Tage down the roster?

You said “paid like a 1C”. The “on this team must have been silent” I guess. $7M is dirt cheap for a 1C right now, decent for a 2C, and an overpay for a 3C across the league. But you likely already know that. Worth noting that until a few weeks ago there was another center on this team that was getting more TOI than Tage Thomson.

I think the talk is Savoie and Kulich project to the wing. Tages cap hit of $7.14M this year is 35th among all centers across the league. He is not paid like a 1C.

Hahaha. I was more talking about this seasons failures vs expectations. They can’t fall too far behind the 91 point mark of the leash gets very very short for this regime.

Also not a doctor.... But we see in all sorts of sports, hockey included, that guys generally take a bunch of limited or partial practices after long term injuries before being a 100% participant and even then it isn't uncommon to limit TOI. Maybe it is fine. But as a fan, compared to what we have seen in the past, it certainly feels like a bit of risk for no tangible reward for the player or the team. My tinfoil hat says that the org is starting to hear more noise from the remaining Sabres fans and are anxious to save themselves the headache by getting as close to last years 91 points as possible so that Adams stand at the mic and say "we were basically the same as last year, 2 points away from 91 is one game going the other way. I would say we learned and grew more this year than any other".

My unpopular opinion is to get a true 1C and move JJP and Quinn up and keep something like Benson/Greenway - Thompson - Tuch as our second line and let Cozens compete for the wing in the top 6. I also understand real 1C don't grow on trees and the Sabres won't/can't sign one.

This is totally fair, I am not going to die on this hill. At the same time I look at Ryan Johnson, Peterka, and Quinn compared to somebody like Cozens specifically and I like the formers games a lot more than I like Cozens at the moment. All 4 of the players mentioned are 22 years old, but the 3 I like spent significant time in the AHL/NCAA. Where as Cozens was drafted and a Sabre from day one. We are complaining about his game more than the others and defending it with his age. Similarly I really like Levi, but he needs more time to bake in the AHL. He still looks too frantic to me. I don't think the Sabres suck at developing players. There are certainly some great examples. But I do think that the narrative that letting them develop live from day 1 is the best thing for them is overplayed. Just because some guys figure it out doesn't mean it was the best or most efficient developmental process.

I think comparing the Sabres to other teams based on age is tough because they aren't just young. A ton of these kids have been playing in the league for 3-5 years. At what point do you draw the line between age and years played? Take Cozens for example, he is 22, that is young. When would one expect him to be a consistent high level NHL Player? 26? But if we say 26 then that means he will have spent 8 years playing in the NHL which is certainly a veteran. My quick $0.02 is that by constantly throwing these kids in the deep end at a young age and waiting for them to learn how to swim we are actually delaying their development.

Why? Rochester is trying to make a run. I am not sure a couple games getting their butt kicked without real life NHL talent and leadership around them is any good. Experience for the sake of experience without the proper structure/support doesn't make a lot of sense. If there was a strong vet presence or a decent group of really quality NHL play then sure bring them up and let them have a go.

I think kids are coming out of the draft way further into their progression these days and it is causing us to overvalue some of the pieces in the system. I expect one or two more skaters to make the roster, but I don't think they will be ready or make any big impact. Devon Levi is one of my favorite Sabres in a very very long time, but he still looks jumpy to me. I would like to get somebody else in the back up UPL for 24-25. College (olympic) sports at big time athletic departments are known for being a total meat grinder. They throw everything at these kids. College coaches talk a lot about "development", but if you ask the National Team coaches they will tell you that there is very little development in big college programs. They wish they developed athletes because they don't have the skill needed to compete internationally. It is just survival, and a lot of those kids pick up a ton of bad habits just trying to get by and are burnt out by the time they decide that they want to go to the Olympics/World Championships. After seeing UPL playing at a 67 game pace this year, Dahlin at 30 minutes, and the rushing of Levi, the "kid line", I am not sure the Sabres are a developmental team. I think they may be a meat grinder.

Is there an aggressive GM inside of Kevyn Adams? If there is the holidays probably just got a lot weirder at the Adams house. For Kevyn's sake I hope that Don Sweeney used lube. But seriously I don't need an aggressive GM, I need a good GM.

Sorry. Yes. Stupid typo.

Since the new year they’re playing UPL at a 67 game pace. No goalie has played more than 67 games in a season since the 2016-17 season. I don’t think any of this is a developmental process. There isn’t a plan. I don’t think we have a “kid line” because we are developing them live. We’re doing it because the roster stinks. 67 games for UPL isn’t great for him. Levi still looks jumpy, being in blue and gold next year won’t help him shake that any quicker.

With the new COO hire somebody should ask Adams " Now that that Pete has joined that staff, based on your 4 years as GM here in Buffalo and the current product on the ice, do you think more or less fans should be showing up to the arena? With somebody directly managing the business side of the team, how much pressure is there from the higher ups to actually field a professional hockey team?"

I wish somebody would ask Pegula about it. "Terry, the Bills are near the top of the league in ticket sales and attendance. This community has been showing up in large numbers even through a historical drought. Given the exorbitant cost of the PSL's for the new stadium, the fact that this new stadium is the largest ever public subsidy for any stadium ever, and the fact that you are struggling with general maintenance of the Key Bank Center, is it fair to assume that you are struggling with the business ops and profitability of sports ownership? Otherwise how do you explain putting such a hefty tax on the fanbase that is already providing you with historical subsidies?"

I no longer trust Adams to make any more meaningful roster moves. I don't trust his vision for this team.

Also the PSL's in most stadiums/arenas get you priority access to concerts, soccer, boxing, WWE, monster trucks etc. You increase your value with priority access to other events. The new stadiums PSL gets you 8-12 football games per year. That is it. That's the list.

Kirby, who works in pro sports on the business side, said in another thread that the Bills aren't known for being a well run org on the business side. I am fully confident that if the Bills are without both Allen and Bean that they will crash and burn just like the Sabres have. Terry may very well go from "the savior" to the least favorite person in Buffalo in the next 10 years.