DarthEbriate

This comes down to JBot/Sexton/Greeley, though. Taylor doesn't pick his players. So if you want want to develop prospects, then get them to Rochester --- don't have them all on Ilves or in the NHL already (Jokiharju, Mittelstadt). Joker earned his way to the big squad, but he didn't need to be there to start the season -- they had adequately filled the roster to account for the injuries at the start of the season. If you just want to save money while we don't have AHL hockey, then yeah, I guess gut it. But then you have to rebuild everything again, and might have lost a decent coach. (And it looks bad to the next people you try to hire.) GM Sheevyn could have easily axed them next week after the candid conversations, or just let the contracts expire in 2 weeks. There was no need to slash the AHL staff.

I almost added a "/ Lazar" for the fourth, but figured to just promote Asplund vs. the RFA. Kahun is a also an unknown --- he may have higher upside than either of them although he's played mostly wing last season (because Malkin).

The question would be, are you comfortable going into next season with playing time among centers as: Eichel (pp, final pk shift) Larsson (pk) Cozens (O-zone, pp) Asplund (D-zone/pk) / Kahun

It's always the same two songs! C'mon, it's time to expand the set list.... What's he going to do, record a 45 single and... that's it?

Now is not the time for billionaires to make light of job loss. The ownership has often seemed out of touch with the regular populace -- "lifestyle" comments, etc. The optics of this would not help them. Things that are not the problem with the Sabres operation: 1. Eichel. 2. Sabretooth.

Well... sure. If Cozens can average just under a point-per-game (albeit a huge percentage of O-zone faceoffs), skate 18 minutes, and be a plus player (so, overall somewhat defensively responsible) as a rookie and win the Calder hands-down. Sign me up. But as a GM, I'm not trusting him to do that any more than Mittlestadt should have been trusted to do the 2nd line role in his first year.

I guess this is the best catch-all thread for this speculation: one philosophical difference that stems from running Rochester as a place to develop more prospects simultaneously will be fewer European and collegiate draft picks. Yes, they're good for letting develop on their own timeline and then bringing them to ROC, but you'll need more CHL-ers if you want to have ROC stocked with more prospects. They can still have the veterans, and still grab the collegiate undrafted guys at the end of the season (or in spring, because seasons change). But -- you won't have their rights for up to 5 years while they develop.

And we need draft picks to make those picks. We have 6 picks this year and 5 in 2021 because of trades. We have fewer darts to throw at the wall, we can't give away all the ammunition (and in fact, should be reversing that trend to get additional picks for our vets). Like getting a 4th for Scandella instead of a 2nd... that's bad. But even worse is turning that 4th around for a once-solid but now washed-up rental.

Search your feelings.

Now, if it can ever be proven that this is true and that it was Adams' plan all along... he's got better foresight and script-writing help than one dear Emperor Palpatine. Emperor Sheevyn Adams!

I'm good with new GMs bringing in their people. But if there are disconnects, then first I (as new GM) want to know why the views weren't aligned. And I want to know what the causes were. For example, if it's playing style --- why is the AHL coach running a different system? (Is it because he has dominant D players (Pilut, Redmond) and is coaching to the strengths of the team, which is good coaching -- getting the most out of what you've got. OR is he fundamentally opposed to Krueger's slower system and refuses to change? Which is definitely bad, because we want to be able to call up players and have them fit in Buffalo seamlessly.) They have months to figure this out and it's easy to cease contract negotiations. Instead, it was an axe a few hours later. And I agree it hasn't been said yet, but from the Pegula perspective why have a Rochester coach if there's no 2020-21 season planned? It's certainly leaner to not hire a new staff until the league has a timeframe to restart.

More communication. Now --- can they be brought in line? Or, Adams can come in and do an evaluation period with them over the next month and then just not re-sign them. But this was premeditated and the entire press conference focused on cash.

Part of the communication breakdown. Something as simple as JBot trying to get his crew locked up so at least they have salary/parachute before the axe falls. Pegulas trying to save cash.

The scouts and office staff and AHL coaches are pennies compared to the costs of a facility. Even shedding player salary (and maintaining the cap floor) isn't going to quickly build sufficient cash flow to fund a stadium. Now, sell the Sabres (is that what's best for the Sabres franchise?) ... that'd be the cash that can fund a stadium (and keep the NFL cash coming in).

Not yet. And from that standpoint the AHL coaching staff doesn't have anything to really do for the foreseeable future. But, you don't have to axe them. You can wait because they're not earning that much money, or you can furlough, or you can meld them with your NHL staff.

That would've been a fantastic trade for us to make --- and Chevy --- at the time. But now, Winnipeg has gotten good seasons out of Morrissey and Pionk. Had to do a little research on their caps --- and our old friend Kulikov comes off the books as soon as their season ends. If I'm Chevy is it now still valid at all, or do I want a full renegotiation (and I believe I can scam a rookie GM)? And of course -- we have to wait until they're out of the playoffs. It could still be there and it'd be the perfect move to make. Just like you say, GMKevyn has to start assembling his Rolodex and making all the calls and redoing all the due diligence for himself (and by himself now as he has no support staff). It's going to take months. Which is fine, as no Sabres/AHL hockey is on the schedule.

Yes --- but was Kevyn in on the knowledge? And were the deals with teams already out or teams in the running? Or, does he have to wait months for it to reengage? He also has to get connected with the other GMs of the league first. I really hesitate on these initial trades by someone who may never have been involved in any negotiating. He doesn't have GMTM's endless stock of draft picks to go get someone he likes. His best trading chips are unsigned RFAs. Back to waiting. Are the Pegulas going to approve taking on any salary at this time? Can he even negotiate with his RFAs, or does someone else need to "set the market" first after the season concludes? We have to think small market strategy again here.

Ready are you! What know you of ready? For eight hundred years one year have I managed Sabres (at that time). My own counsel will I keep on who is to be in Sabres sweaters.

@SwampD Without rewatch, he was basically just himself. He's excited, ready to go, we've got some guys who love to play. Enthusiasm/determination regardless of situation. But we haven't heard anything on role with GMKevyn, what his needs are for his lineup, etc.

No --- but that should have been the carrot/handshake. Sign now, and we'll get you into the NHL with an NHL paycheck for the close out of this season. It shouldn't have been anything in perpetuity. Next year, you've got to go to training camp and earn your spot, but we foresee some AHL time while you build your repertoire for the pro game and acclimate to the physicality and grind.

Is this sort of clause common for Top-10 picks? This saddens me. If he's not ready and his teammates know it, how does that help anyone --- especially Mittlestadt? (Apart from prestige and pocketbook.) But think long-term! We want him to appear out of nowhere ready-to-go like the Pittsburgh guys (Guentzel, Rust) or any of the Red Wings of the previous 2 decades (not the most recent few years).

So really... we need to make a mix tape of Khachaturian's Sabre Dance, into Hurricane 2000, into Yakety Sax. If only time would speed up so the Sabrepede could chase through the suffering all the quicker.

Mmmmm... Porgtayto, porgtahto.

Along the lines of every year the porg is dry --- and you keep using a new bird and you've even replaced the old oven once --- maybe it's the grandma/grandpa tandem that's doing the baking of the porg. Obviously, the solution is: this porg needs more gravy!

Too many to quote on either topic: I still like JBot's goal of stocking Rochester with vets to keep the team stable and competitive. The drawback is how far it skewed that way because 1) we're drafting at the top of the draft and our best prospects are NHL-ready without AHL time (Reinhart, Eichel, Dahlin), and the others who needed time there weren't given it (Mittelstadt), or they're doing their development in Europe instead of in Rochester (Ruotsalainen, Davidsson, Rousek). That and the glut of D-men got to a ridiculous extreme last season once people got healthy. The thing on Hutton's eyes. Typically, you don't wake up one day with bad eyes. It's something that comes about gradually and your brain adapts, and then your doc says "Maybe you should try reading glasses" and bam! Holy four-eyes, Batman, I can read it crystal clear! So I trust Hutton the least on this issue over the span of a single season. He's noticing something is off, but as a healthy young goalie, it's not registering as the cause. That's on check-ups/physicals to catch, which really might not be caught until some time elapses or until the offseason.