dudacek

Yes, but I think that still fits, despite the fact Ruff is clearly more qualified than Krueger. A big part of Dahlin's struggle was Krueger trying to change the way he played and all the mistakes were a factor of Ras trying to do things that didn't come naturally to him. I think there was definitely some of that going on with Power, who had never had an NHL coach besides Granato. Remember how much Byram struggled in his own zone when he first arrived? And then how he talked about being much more comfortable in Ruff's system, and it showed? Power went from +8 to -13 on a team that generally improved at 5-on-5 and was noticeably more mistake prone

It was kinda painful listening to that and realizing how far outside the NHL mainstream the Sabres are. The context was Sullivan and Tocchet and how aggressive the Rangers will be and who else might be interested, with absolutely no suggestion that the Sabres may be a player for anything and anyone. Just 'some kinda change likely', with the implication that it won't be anything juicy. How could it be? We're the poor, slow cousins of the NHL community.

When I look at ways to improve next year’s team, can’t think of a better bang for my buck than Owen replicating what Rasmus did in year 4 after a bad year 3. I still see the high-end potential and think the coaching staff/system change/contract got in his head this year.

I agree with both points. With the cap rising the way it is though, he’s going to want more. I think $5.5 this coming year equals $6.8 in year three. If he’s going to play hardball, I’d be tempted to let him go to arbitration, although the threat of an offer sheet looms over that. But it will buy us a year to make a decision on him and Power and leave us room to dump Samuelsson and slide in a $5-6M real RHD like a Pulock into his spot.

I believe the number GA quoted was something like that over 7 years. I want to say $7.3M maybe?

Honest question because I have yet to do any homework on Byram’s comparables: How many D 2 years away from UFA, with a career high of 38 points and stats that crater away from a stud like Dahlin have signed for anywhere near $8M? I mean besides Owen Power 😁? The Sabres don’t have to give him term. I can’t see him getting that kind of coin in arbitration with his numbers. I regards to your bigger question, the first thing I would do is dump Samuelsson, a much inferior player on a far worse contract. The second thing I would do is fix or trade Power, preferably fix, because the idea of those 3 D at their peak on the same team excites me. Like you, I’m not a GM either. That’s all I got.

Bottom line is you’ve avoided my central point. It’s not that Byram is great, or that he shouldn’t be traded, it’s that if you trade him, how are you replacing his minutes and making the defence better? Byram and Dahlin was THE MOST EFFECTIVE DEFENCE PAIRING IN THE NHL (sorry for the yelling, but it’s a fact that everyone chooses to ignore) Why not keep that and concentrate on the real problem: improving the 2nd and 3rd pairs?

He has to get a lot better to what? Earn a $50M contract? Agreed. To help the Sabres? He already does. Byram gave team a full season of 20+ minutes a night as a plus player against the other teams' best. I'm shocked at how many people seem to take that for granted. How many Sabres defencemen have done that over the past decade? Pretty sure there are 4, and people want to drive two of them to the nearest airport. The 3rd is Dahlin and the 4th is Brandon Montour, another skilled D this board stupidly wanted to get rid of. By all means, trade Byram. Just understand that even if you are replacing him with somebody different who can eat the same minutes, you still haven't made the team any better.

I’d be more interested in discussing this if I thought you’d actually watched him play.

Because he's the Sabres 2nd-best defenceman and at 23 with only 246 NHL games is likely to get better? (To be clear, I wasn't saying Byram should be signed to that contract, only that the math seems to fit, based on that $5.3M value this year GA posted.)

I think our internal shuffle thinking isn't giving Terry enough credit. How about Marty as head coach? Rob Ray as GM?

Damn, I was trying my best 😁

Clearly its because new GM Joe Juneau (Terry says he's a rocket scientist, you know) is trying to get Dick Smehlik signed on as zone exit coach before they announce anything.

I agree with bolded. What's weird is the amount of substantial changes they have actually made over this 14-year debacle: Embark on an aggressive fantasy GM plan to push a middling team into contention Open the checkbook for the most high-profile free agents willing to sign. Fire the most successful coach in franchise history Embark on a deliberate two-year effort to be overtly terrible in an attempt to acquire a franchise player(s) and build with youth. Fire the most successful GM in franchise history Hire a beloved former captain and star to run the team, and a former cup-winning GM to advise him. Hire a beloved former coach to teach grit and passion. Hire a gunslinging super-scout to be GM Trade away the captain and pretty much all your key skaters Trade away your all-star goalie and the face of the franchise Embark on a fast-track plan to flip your futures for a contending core, built around a size model Sign a name free agent scoring winger to a multi-year, big money deal Sign an older well-respected name free agent scoring winger to a smaller deal to be leader Make one of the biggest blockbuster multi-player trades in franchise history Trade away a first round draft pick for a new franchise goalie Open up your treasure chest of futures to trade for the biggest-name player on the trade market, sign him to a huge contract Draft a franchise centre, sign him to a huge contract and eventually name him captain Sign a high-profile former Stanley Cup winning coach Sign another bigger-name free agent scoring winger to a bigger multi-year, big money deal Fire your high-profile former Stanley Cup winning coach Fire your gunslinging GM Hire a touted up-and-comer from a Stanley Cup winning organization to be your GM Embark on a slow, methodical plan to build through bargain basement shopping, mobile defencemen, and a aversion to long-term contracts Hire a touted up-and-comer who used to be a star player for you to be your coach Draft a franchise defenceman, sign him to a huge contract and eventually name him captain Trade one of your biggest-name players for a big package of middling veterans and futures. Acquire a soon-to-be UFA one-way scoring winger sign him to the 2nd-biggest contract in franchise history after a great half-season Fire the touted up-and-comer who used to be a star player for you as your coach Let the "franchise" goalie you paid a first-rounder to acquire walk for free. Hire a completely out-of-the-box choice as your coach Fire the touted up-and-comer from a Stanley Cup winning organization as your GM, not because of slow progress, but because he wouldn't listen Hire a completely out-of-the-box choice as your GM because he used to play in the NHL and you know him and trust him. Embark on on a last-ditch plan of telling the out-of-the-box GM to give the out-of-the-box coach the players he wants in order to make your franchise centre captain stop complaining and asking to be traded. Sign yet another big-name free agent scoring winger, this time to a short-term contract with full trade protection. Fire your completely out-of-the box coach Embark on another sell-off aimed at rebuilding from with in with youth, and this time really mean it. Trade away the captain and pretty much all your key skaters for futures, or let them walk for free Let your goalie walk for nothing and continue what is now an annual tradition of starting the season with troubled or unproven players in net Draft another franchise defenceman, sign him to a huge contract and eventually name him...no wait, he's not captain yet. Stop spending to the cap Hire a long-time NHL assistant with a reputation for player development as your coach Invest heavily in an analytics department led by one of the field's most touted minds Patiently wait for the kids to develop, and betting on their progress by signing some to long-term deals before they've fully earned them. Fire the long-time NHL assistant with a reputation for player development as your coach Re-hire the most-succcessful coach franchise history Start making a few changes to and around your wrong core. ???? The only thing that hasn't changed over the years — aside from the magic veteran winger band-aids — is the losing. As much as it's a tragedy for us, it's also a true comedy, actually. Really, not making a substantial change when one is clearly needed might be the one thing they haven't tried. 🤣

And yet... https://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=120939

That's the real young kid who can skate, right? Remember thinking he had sleeper potential. Nice to see the progress.

Thought of @LGR4GM watching Konsta. In no way shape or form is that kid’s game “small”. Looks like he’s going to have that perfect fire hydrant hockey build and there’s no fear in his game at all.

I was like “wow Komarov is actually hanging in there against a monster”D then that happened. Overall, Amerks havent backed down an inch in the physical game despite the Crunch being very aware they need to play that way.

Aside from one 42-point blip, Foligno has been the same 25-point player for 8 years in Minny that he was in 5 with Buffalo.

Sorry for quoting myself, but I think this is sorta related to the Shadeur Sanders stuff going on right now at the NFL draft. Lots of kids yet to be drafted. Pretty much all of them because no NFL team had them #1 on their board when their turn came to pick. Few are losing their minds over any of them, but Sanders is breaking the internet. The only thing different about Sanders is the story that was built up around him.

It was interesting you talked about touches and who needs them. Norris came with the scouting report of being able to make a difference with just quick touches.

Fiddler-Schultz's goal was a nice snipe. The other four goals in the game were all of the greasier variety. The Amerks, even with all their youth, seem to be comfortable playing the kind of hockey the Sabres struggled at.

LOL. So you're expecting me to disprove my point by remembering the hits I said no one remembers 😜 (The goalie factor is definitely something that makes that one stand out more than, say the two we saw on Kulich this spring.)

I think it has more to do with sample size. I mean in a lot of these case you are talking about 3 goals or 2 over a span of 70 minutes. I was shocked to see how little time lines actually spend together.