mjd1001

I'm partially there on you. Although based on the general view on this forum, your post could be taken as sarcasm. This season is probably lost. That sucks. This team needs a big time, legit top 4 VETERAN D-man. A legit 27-30 year old guy at the top of his game who has hundreds of games of experience and has seen it all. Not a vet that USED to be a top 4 guy. Not a vet who is really a 5/6 guy but you convince yourself is a top 4 guy. A Legit, quality, for sure top 4 guy. I still don't think defense always has to come at the expense of offense. I don't see odd-man rushes as being a bigger issue for this team being allowed than any other team. I see how the forwards play in their own zone as the big thing. You can push and press as much as you did last year...go ahead and do that....what needs to change is how you play WHEN the other team has the puck in your own zone. They have, and still do suck at that. Tage and Cozens. Game by game I cannot think there is any issue bigger than those 2 and their drop in scoring. On January 24 of LAST year those two had given you 47 goals between them. This year they have 22. Less than half. 25 behind last years pace. The Sabres have 11 one goal losses, probably another 3 games that were 2 goal losses that WERE 1 goal losses before allowing an empty net goal. So basically, they have 14-15 games that they were training by 1 goal at the end of it. Sprinkle in those 25 missing goals from Tuch/Cozens pace of last year to this year...and how many of those 1 goal losses turn into points? Changing NOTHING but Tage and Cozens producing at last years rate and you are probably in the playoffs. Suppose they had 'career' years last year and you don't get that, but you get a 20-25 goal pace from Cozens and Tage gives you his production from 2 years ago? That alone probably still gets you close to a playoff spot right now. Yeah, a lot of problems with this team (No GOOD vets on Defense, forwards are getting SLIGHTLY better in their own zone but still bad), but primarily those 2 guys scoring. You need to fix them.

I agree with you in the fact that I don't put this first/primarily on Granato. Are him and Adams responsible for the support staff and assistant coaches....that might be true. But I STILL think Granato is a good coach for this team at this point, but I think the development staff and assistant coaches are a problem. What is the difference between this year and last....you mentioned Thompson, Tuch, Cozens, Skinner, Samuelsson, Power, and Dahlin. They aren't different players. Its either injuries (which falls under the category of luck) or something else. What else has changed? Granato is the same, but the Assistants/Support staff HAVE changed. Before you trade in the entire car (Adams and Granato) that has problems, maybe try to pinpoint what the problems are (things that have changed, assistant coaches/staff)) and fix those. If that still doesn't work, then trade the car in AFTER you tried the initial fix.

Where has the goal scoring gone and why? last year they led the league in goals scored for a good portion, and finished 3rd in the league in offense/goals. This year, their BEST guy in terms of points is....tied for 61st in the league (lower when you consider games played/pts per game) Their BEST guy in terms of goals scored is....tied for 46th in the league.

Ok not sure where to put this as its the morning after, but looked at the goals allowed last night. First goal: Sabres have ZERO idea how to play in their own zone here, mostly the forwards. Again, All 5 guys seem like they are squeezed into a 30 square foot area of the ice, with EVERY other part of the ice wide open (by the way, Most were just standing there, not doing much. Look at the screenshot I Attached below.) The shot taken for the goal was from an Anaheim guy not even in the screen. The puck carrier behind the net has a couple options, including getting the puck to the totally uncovered guy on the faceoff dot, or the one out of the screen who could have time to EASILY get in a bad pass and control it,step up into the wide open slot, take a shot from where he was (Where the entire Sabres team provides a screen or an opportunity to deflect it in) or just look around for a better option. 2nd goal allowed: PP. Cozens again. I can't say this enough, when the Sabres hold their position, whey they just stay there in the PK box, they do well. Time after time after time you see them keep that PK box sound and the other team just passes the puck around and wastes time or takes a shot the goalie easily handles. The ONLY way they get in trouble is when they start chasing. Well...they were holding the box pretty well, then Cozens, for some reasons, decides to chase the puck to the boards on a play there was basically ZERO chance he would get to it...which allows the opposing guy to take his time and look for a clear lane to get the puck through to the net which allows the goal. Not the worst looking 'can't stop chasing the puck' offense by Cozens ever, but him leaving his spot was what started the 3-4 seconds that led to the goal. What needs to happen to get Cozens to stop making decisions to chase pucks and leave defensive zones wide open over and over and over? 3rd goal allowed: Clifton fell over nothing. 3 Sabres forwards were watching on the other blueline, all in the same place for some reason, but they were down and were looking to press so I can't complain that much....my only thought is why were they all standing so close together they could almost hold hands? No real mental mistakes, just bad luck/bad skates/bad skater. Below is the picture I mentioned, all 5 Sabres guys in one spot, 4 of them doing nothing but looking at the puck carrier, none of them with any sense of where anyone else is on the ice. The guy on the faceoff dot is wide open, the guy who takes the shot is wide open inside the blue line, no one has any idea who to cover. And, this isn't just a luck snapshot, if you watch the replay for a few seconds, this is how they are playing.

There are exceptions to the rule, but they truly are exceptions. Majority of draft picks that turn into good/great players drafted 5th to 15th overall, it does not work that way. Also, Selanne, TOTALL different Era, different NHL, pretty much a different game.

Nice way to add to the conversation! I swear the attituded on this board are getting worse and worse as each day goes by. The highlighted comment was part of a larger post, but I guess you just felt the need to throw a 'duh' out there didn't you?

Probably wasn't going to stay up for the whole game, but I'd go as long as I could if it was tied or the Sabres were up. I didn't think 5 minutes in they would be down already. Hope they pick up their game and win, but I'll be checking tomorrow morning.

22 is really young for a forward. Guys taken in the 5-10 range of the first round sometimes they don't get 'it' until they are 23-25 years old. With that said, Cozens had such a good year last year that its a real disappointment to see this year, espeically with how bad he is in his own zone. And, you are paying him $7m on his new contract to score you 25+ goals per year, I don't think 10-20 goals is going to cut it starting next year.

It's a message board. Isn't that what opinions are for? I have every right to say that I don't like it... Just as you do to respond to my last post which obviously you just did. If me complaining about it gets annoying enough to you, You could just block me... Just as if I get tired of hearing that made up nickname so much, I could block those people. It'll make for a lot less conversation, but oh well.

The point you make about it eventually working is interesting. There might be parts of 'the plan' that make sense, but it just isn't structured that well. I posted some of the below a couple weeks ago: Something to consider as far as team defense goes: Last year Vegas wins the cup, with a very veteran D-group on the blue line. Seattle has surprised many with how good they have been since being in the league, and they did it with a very veteran D-group. This year: Winnipeg 1st in the NHL, average age of their top 4 d-men: 30 years (all of them 28 or older) Vancouver 2nd in the league, average age of their top 4 d-men: 29 years old (Hughes is the youngest at 24, everyone else a lot more experience) Boston 3rd in the league, Average age of top 4 d-men: 28 (no one under 26) Florida 4th in the league: Ave age of top 4: 27.5 (no one under 27) Now how about Buffalo? Ave age of top 4: 22.75. ( ALL of them 24 or under) So maybe the problem isn't development of each individual player, just how they chose to put the roster together and whether there is support for the correct players at the correct time? You can develop your forwards but you BETTER have experienced D behind them. Or if you are developing your D-men you BETTER have experienced forwards in front of them. This team? Neither. The very few Vets they have had are NOT guys who are going to support their teamates with great defensive play (Okposo included), that is for sure.

Maybe a reason that the Bills can't seem to beat the Chiefs in big games is that, when it comes down to it, the Chiefs and Mahomes play better against zone defenses than they do man-to-man, and the Bills/McDermott play primarily a zone. The Bills under McD have always played primarily zone. Of the top 5 teams that play the most zone in the league besides the Bills that KC played this year, Only Chicago is on that list (and Baltimore coming up plays a ton of zone). Historically the Bills have had trouble with Mahomes obviously, and this year against Chicago, KC put up 41, their BEST point total of the season and Mahomes had over a 127 QB rating, his best of the season also. And Chicago wasn't exactly bad, they had 7 wins and overall allowed less points that Detroit, Philly, and the Dolphins (all playoff teams) and if you take out that KC game, they allowed less points per game than also Cleveland and the Rams. On the other side of its, KC vs the teams that play the most man-to-man: The Raider, Pats, and Chargers are among the top 5 teams in Man-to-Man. KC is clearly a better oveall team than all of those, yet they barely got by the Chargers scoring 13 points in their first game (winning the 2nd to a worse team), Lost to the Raiders scoring only 14 in another, and beat the Pats by 10 in a game Mahomes threw 2 ints. Mahomes had 3 total TD's in 2 games vs the Raiders. Yes, Mahomes is good enough that he has good games vs both man and zone teams. However, some evidence exists that, espeically in big games/playoff games, the excels more vs zone teams than he does vs man teams. It may not be that the Bills have a Bad D or that McDermott is a bad coach, or he is always outcoached by Reid...it might be simply he is a Zone coach (no doubt about that) and the chiefs/Mahomes can exploit a zone D much better.

I do, and a couple people who liked my initial post do, and anyone who is responding to this (you)) do also enough to make a comment...so....yeah, there are people.

Agreed, but I just have this feeling watching that even when Tuch and Thompson are playing, they aren't fully healthy.

When it comes to the draft, I'm starting to think it doesn't matter as much as we want until this team puts even more into development. Benson...he's OK, but hes hitting a wall, but he is the on player recently that made the team right away and looked good, but he had minimal time/contact with the Sabres development system. The rest of the high picks....some that look better than others, but no one that is turning this team around. 10 top 10 overall picks in the past 11 years, and how many have turned into legit NHL stars/gamechangers? Eichel won a cup but hasn't lived up to the 'semi-generational' label. Dahlin still has a chance to be elite, but hes not that this year. Reinhart seems to be having a truly NHL impact level season, but years after he left the Sabres and almost a decade after being drafted. I mean, I guess the development isn't truly BAD on this team, but its certainly not good.

UPL is easy enough, and its mostly universally accepted.

Being 'physical' and being 'hard to play against' might or might not be the same thing. When I think of hard to play against, I think of what an opponent would think. What is the type of team they want no part of, the type of team that shows up in your arena and can't wait to get the game over with. A team where they have to 'worry' about being a fight, that isn't what I am thinking of. To me, the hard to play against team is one that give 100% effort ALL time time. Up by 3, down by 3, doesn't matter. No matter the score, a team where as an opposing team I can't take a single shift off or I'm going to be embarrassed. I can't turn my back for a second...I can't coast for a second. A team that can be physical in hitting just as bad as they can be a pest, not letting me ease up chasing a puck at all. I see one player on this team that is like that all the time, and that is Zemgus. Its not the opponent always being afraid of being hit, it can be as simple as everytime the whistle goes after a puck over the glass or icing, they turn around and an opposing play is 3 feet away from them or less. I don't need them to pick up the hitting, I NEED them to just be relentless, no matter the score. I don't want an opposing team to think that if that team gets up by 3 goals that its going to be a fun/easy night.

Well, if Tage is/was a 45+ goal scorer like last year, the Sabres had the bargain of the century. If what he is...is a guy that CAN give you 40, but will also have years where he is up and down like this year and gives you 30....then you are still getting what you are paying for.

I'm actually good with Dunleavey. Is he great and memorable? No, but I have gotten used to him. I'm being honest, RJ to me was pretty bad his last year or so, he was behind the play a lot and made mistakes. Dunleavey is not as good as Peak RJ, but I'm find with him now.

Martin played because they did not want a different holder for Bass (how did that work out?) As far as Miller, I agree with you that I wish he could be gone. But his contract is close to 100% guaranteed (or something close to it). You'd have a better chance of moving on from Diggs (post June 1st cut) than you would from Miller. Miller, however, I though had his first DECENT game of the year last week.

I just don't understand why we are using nicknames for players that are made up...when that player already has one....and the first time or two I saw it used on this forum I didn't even know who they were talking about.

"6k" two times in your response? Now you are just intentionally trying to work it in. I do agree that he likely will get at least $2.8-$3m per year, unless his play really really suffers for the rest of the season.

UPL was drafted in the 2nd round in 2017....so..I thought I'd look up what other goalies were drafted in the year or two before him (that might be on their 2nd contract now), how successful they have been and what they got paid at a similar point in their career: -Connor Ingram (3rd rounder, 2016). Waiver pickup. 3 yr, $5.85m contract. (1.95 per year) 7 career wins upon signing -Philp Gustavsson (2nd rounder, 2016). 3 yr, $11.25m contract. (3.75 per year) 32 wins upon signing -Carter Hart (2nd round, 2016). 3 yr, $11.9m contract. (3.97 per year) 49 career wins upon signing -MacKenzie Blackwood (2nd round, 2015). 3 yr, $8.4m contact (2.8 per year) 24 career wins upon signing -Ilya Samsonov (late 1st round, 2015). 1yr, $3.5m contact. (3.5 per year) 79 career wins upon signing All had some NHL experience before signing those deals. Various degrees of success...overall stats in many cases slightly better than UPL, but UPL may be playing better now (if he keeps it up) than some of them did. Add inflation/the cap rising since those deals were signed, I think the price for UPL is going to be in the $2.5-$3m per year (possibly more depending on length) if you want him for 2-3 years. Is he worth it? maybe, but if he keeps playing solid for the rest of the year, that just IS the going price for goalies of his age/draft status/experience. No way you are getting him for $2m per year...$1.75m per year...as some are suggesting. That is just not the going rate. UPL has 31 career wins now, likely to be in the 40's by the end of this year when you have to think of re-signing him.

I'm hoping he will be fine. But, what is 'fine' Is it close to 50 goals like last year? Close to 40 goals like the year before? 45 goals per year which would be averaging his last 2 years? If last year was a career year do we totally throw it out and look at the previous year? If we do, he is still WAY off that pace. And if that is what he is fine....but.....the team being where it is now is in large part because of his dropoff in scoring. Compared to last year, this team is allowing LESS goals, it is the scoring that the issue is. Tage and Cozens combined account for about 70% of what is missing from last year. So, what Thompson should we expect and what is 'fine' for him? And as he goes, so does this team.

Back to what we thought they would be...except Cozens off of 'his' line and swapped with Mitts. Wonder for the reason instead of trying to put him with his linemates from last year to get him going long term.