dudacek

People have been very slow to keep up with what's been going on post-Krueger. They're hanging on to this old version of Terry Pegula, puppet master, when the latest Sabres failures are really more of a case of the owner being too patient and hands-off. Terry was painfully aware of his reputation as an interfering owner with a quick trigger finger and has leaned hard in the other direction with Adams. He's hardly been absent, but he's trusted in Adams and his plan well past its due date. @Thorner and I disagree on the necessity of what Adams did in the great sell-off of 2021, but I think we are in full agreement that the deconstruction was the easy part. The tough part is how you react and adjust when your plan starts getting punched in the face. I’d argue that the Cozens trade was the first time Adams has adjusted at all. Adams decided it was going to be a slow and steady build through the draft process. Adams selected and signed and developed the cornerstone pieces. Adams decided who should coach them and who should surround them. And Adams has stuck with his course until “I believe in the guys in that room” has become a meme. This is Adams' team. These are Adams' failures. Terry's crime this time basically amounts to allowing that to continue.

Any chance we get any of this?

Interview on GR radio yesterday.

I've never bought into the desire of some fans to turn reporters into a conduit for their anger. I just hope they do their jobs. "Six months ago, you said this was a playoff team. Where did you go wrong in terms of that evaluation?" "We heard talk from Lindy about changing culture. What specifically does that mean? How is the culture flawed and what do you need to see it become? "A number of players had disappointing seasons, should we expect more core pieces to follow Dylan Cozens out the door as a result, or will most of them be back? "Do you expect Jiri Kulich and Zach Benson to spend significant time in your top 6 next year? "You've been talking about adding a defensively reliable top 4 defenceman for some time now, should fans expect one to be added this summer?" "Special teams failures arguably cost the team a playoff spot this season, who is accountable for that and how will it be fixed?" "Your goaltenders put up some of the worst statistics in the league this year, do you intend to add a veteran NHL goalie to the roster?" "Are you planning to spend at or near the cap next season?" 'How do you plan to bring fans back into the building next year given your track record?" These are some of the hard but utterly professional questions I'd like to hear asked

I'll be surprised if Harrington doesn't take this angle.

Once again my sarcasm font fails to properly engage.

I did this exercise a few weeks back, but look at the number of players who were flat out excellent in their projected roster spot: Dahlin, Thompson, McLeod, probably Tuch, Krebs if you considered him the 13th forward? Then you look at the outright failures: Power, Samuelsson, Jokiharju, Clifton, UPL, Quinn, Cozens, Greenway (health), Lafferty, Aube-Kubel it's easy to see why they're a 77-point team.

I suspect there is nothing the Sabres could do in the off-season that could get me excited about next season and I know I will be watching next year regardless. I will once again try to enjoy each win this group of Tyrod Taylors may have in store in the faint hope they eventually lead me to an Andy Dalton moment.

What reasons have we been given to believe otherwise?

I was just meaning that he flat out confirmed that Ruff was coming back and pretty much said the same about UPL. Said each would reflect on what went wrong and come back better. He believes in them.

Not sure how many heard the Adams radio hit on WGR today, but he did not sound like a man who expected to be fired this weekend. And if he’s here, then so are Ruff and UPL.

Yep, although that seems to be something the Sabres hold in high value in all positions. The thing I hear Lindy harp on most of all is puck management. I expect that — more than physicality, or handedness or defensive aptitude — to be the theme of the players they add and subtract this summer. Norris for Cozens is the obvious example, but the Bernard-Docker for Jokiharju flip is dramatic in that area. Clifton, Quinn and Samuelsson probably the next three on the list in terms of coughing it up? I mean Thompson, Dahlin and Power do it as well, but for those three, the number of positive passes far outweighs the negative.

I always take it as laughing AT me. Unless i was trying to funny. Then it means I am ***** hilarious.

I think another thing being lost is that it's not really about where Norris ranks on the depth chart. It's about whether or not he can help this team more than Dylan Cozens did. i don't think people talk enough about the hockey rationale behind this trade. I think @Thorner tapped into something interesting here that no one has really followed up on: the Sabres seem focused on centres who are positionally sound, manage the puck, and can finish, as opposed to the more stereotypical puck carrier/puck distributor; A lot of that could be due to the unusual amount of emphasis they've placed on defencemen who can move and distribute, but who also need to be covered. Dylan Cozens was killing the Sabres with transition turnovers and defensive reads that just couldn't be absorbed in the Sabres high-risk blueline-led system. But he theoretically added some ES offence, some edge and some puck-carrying ability to the middle of an Ottawa forward corps that needed it. Josh Norris, meanwhile, theoretically added some ES defence, some puck management predictability, and some special teams ability to the middle of a Buffalo forward corps that needed it. His addition fits with the way they've molded Kulich, the move to replace Mittelstadt with McLeod and the decision to slide Thompson to the wing where he has more freedom to freelance and make mistakes.

Interesting we're seeing a visible manifestation at the ticket window of what anecdotally I'm hearing from so many friends and neighbours. Over here in BC, southbound border crossings were down 25% from what is typical this time of year. As long this post remains up I can't leave it unchallenged. That $200B is as much a welfare cheque as the money you give to your grocery store. It is money Americans were freely choosing to spend on Canadian goods and services because they thought that's where they were getting the best bang for their buck. It's about as far away from welfare as one can get. If you want to spend that money on more expensive American goods and services, I can respect that choice. But don't justify it with lies.

While Power misses what should be a hard summer of strengthening and conditioning and preparing himself to take a step next year.

The Power thing has been underrated around here. A long-term injury and rehab would rob the Sabres of one of their best levers for improvement heading into next season.

I have no idea what Marner values most or why, but where he wants to live has to be some kind of factor. Access to friends and family certainly weighs into such decisions, not just for the player, but also his spouse. Personally, I think for most athletes the underrated motivational factor is ego: Does this team make me feel important and wanted?” Does this team give me an opportunity to be the best version of the player I think I am? If it’s not that, money might be paramount to some, lifestyle to others, security to still others. Some want an opportunity to grow their brand, others want a chance to hide. All these factors and more coalesce into as many different packages as there are players. There is no one size fits all.

Clearly better and on a contending team? Kucherov, Rantanen, Nylander/Marner… that’s 3 contending teams with clearly better right wingers than Tuch. Pastrnak is better, but he’s not on a contending team… Reinhart, even though Sabrespace told me he wasn’t a first liner on a contending team. Maybe Vegas, but Stones pretty old and beat up and smaller and slower…the stats are pretty much the same… Help me out here, who am I missing?

It’s not an easy fix, and it’s a harder sell than some other options. But I’m a little sick of Adams leaning into the idea that “nobody” wants to come here. Jason Zucker and Jordan Greenway just signed as UFAs who could have easily moved on to greener pastures. Dahlin, Thompson, Cozens, Samuelsson, Power, Luukkonen have all recently made long-term commitments. Reinhart and Mittelstadt both indicated they were interested in doing the same but the team didn’t share the interest. Going a little further back Skinner, Eichel, Okposo and O’Reilly did the same during the drought. None of these guys had to sign. It was well-reported just two summers ago that the Sabres were coming off no-trade lists and getting more attention from agents, and it wasn’t because of palm trees, it was because at the time they were starting to look like a team on the upswing. Adams can sell easy travel, a chance to play with Dahlin, a chance to play with Power, a chance to play with Thompson, a nice place to raise a family, cheap housing, easy access to southern Ontario, the appeal of being in a hockey city without the pressures of a Canadian market. He’s got money to spend and futures to leverage. And there’s also that little thing about the 400-odd players who don’t have any way of vetoing a trade to Buffalo. His barriers aren’t unique and they certainly aren’t any higher than those facing the 1st-place Winnipeg Jets. Stop making excuses and do your ***** job.

Right, I mis-phrased that. Was Willander the guy they had targeted as someone they were looking closely at at 13 prior to Benson dropping? I got a vibe that year they were high on him.

I have no issues with the concept of Norris as a 2C upgrade to Cozens next season. And agree completely with the above. Adams might lack the capacity to upgrade the top 6, but the Sabres don't.

Any idea if, as I suspect, Willander was actually the guy the Sabres were targeting in 2023?

Wasn't talking experience, was talking proven production in an upper roster role. The 35-goal season, obviously, but also 91 goals and 158 points compared to 51 and 125 for McLeod and 29 and 93 for Krebs with fewer games played. if you want to throw Lafferty into that equation, he's 40 and 90.

So no chance in hell.