mjd1001

how nice of him. since his MVP season, he hasn't scored more than 11 goals in one season....will be on his 4th team in 4 years...is on a 14 goal-per 82 game scoring rate over the last 3 seasons...has been a 'minus' player in 10 of his 12 seasons...and has been well under a point-per-game player since having a major knee surgery. But its great that he would do a team a favor and sign a multi-year extension (likely) for millions of $$s.

On the instigators today, Rivet made a point that I agree with. The difference in a player you draft from the bottom of round one compared to anywhere in round 2 isn't really that big. Look at the draft history of NHL teams in the past decade or two..and he is right. Of course you want the highest pick possible...but in a typical draft..the odds of a late 1st round pick (20-30) being a contributing NHL player isn't really all that much better than someone drafted in round 2. Once again, its BETTER to pick higher, but not that much better outside of the 1st 10 picks of round 1. If possible, you would be better looking to get a 19-22 year old prospect from a team than a draft pick. Unless the pick is in the top 10....a guy who is 20 years old you will have a LOT more information on compared to a 17 year old you are drafting at the end of round 1.

Ok, so the Blue Jays played here last year....the Jays will play here in front of FANS this year....they are the closest MLB team to the area (geographically), and they are the parent club of our minor league team. Most of the northern Suburbs can pick up a radio station that broadcasts all their games and has a lot of sports talk about the team (590am) So MLB, change your STUPID RULES so we can actually WATCH the Jays on TV on local cable for the first time in years (decades?)!!

I'd take Rolston over Ted Nolan 2.0. Nolan was great in his first stint with the Sabres....but conventional wisdom seemed to be that his coaching style didn't keep up with the game (and the players) years later in his second stint. Not everyone agrees with that of course, but from what I saw I agree with it. Ted Nolan 1.0 was really good...Ted Nolan 2.0 just was a bad coach for the current NHL.

I've got a simple one that has been driving me crazy for as long as I can remember, and it came to my mind this morning. People who get done smoking and throw the butts on the ground. Actually, not usually just throwing them on the ground, but they like to flick them across the parking lot as far as they can. I don't (and most other people I see don't) throw candy wrappers out the window of the car, or any other garbage on the ground outside. Very little other stuff just gets thrown on the ground so recklessly and with so little thought....so why is it acceptable to just throw the leftover cigarette (and filter) on the ground where-ever you are done with it?

So, about 6 minutes left in the game, and Skinner has the lowest ice time of any forward. So much for him getting more time (or earning/deserving it) under a new coach.

When I say a player is 'slow' I am more referring to how they play, not just top speed. Eichel vs McDavid for example. In a couple of fastest skater contests, they are almost the same speed. Eichel has been/is so close to McDavid in terms of top speed it is amazing. But Eichel 'plays' a lot slower than McDavid (considering their skating top speed is so close to being equal). Reinhart, I don't know what is top skating speed is, but to me he 'plays' slow, I never see a burst of speed from him where he is able to go around a guy or out-race someone to a puck.

I would be all for this. I grew up as a kid with the blue and gold, but honestly I always liked the red white and black better.

comparing eras and circumstances matter I agree. One reason WHY this feels like one of the worst teams ever is not just the pace they are on...not just how many points they have/don't have.....but it matters (to the fanbase) that this franchise is not only one of the worst teams in modern history as far as performance, but this is in the middle of one of the longest playoff droughts the sport has seen also. If I'm not wrong, this year they tie the record for the longest postseason drought in NHL history, with a good chance they break it next year...and this on top of being on pace for one of the lowest point totals in modern history..and chasing the longest winless streak.

The other 'bottom dwellers' who would be competing for the bottom of the league also had a 10 month layoff. Including New Jersey, who the Sabres have playd 16% of their games against. Everyone has dealt with Covid....including some teams in the Sabres division...impacting players on their team and the schedule. Injuries. This team has had a lot, but that is part of the game...and an injured team is the one we are judging, aren't we? I know that is part of it for me. I'm not watching the team play at full strength, so that is not the team I am judgeing No real training camp or preseason. Again, EVERYONE is in the same situation. If anything, the Sabres should be at a slight advantage in that they got a few more days in camp than most teams. Poor puck luck? not being able to put the puck in the net, hitting posts..missing chances...that is one of the very things that make a team bad. 8 team super league? The top team in points last year was Boston..you have only played them 1 time. NJ was one of the worst teams last year, you played them 6 times. The rangers and islanders were 'middle 10' teams last year, and you have played them 10 times. Maybe you are in a 'super division' but the Sabres have played more of the bottom of that division than the top. So what we have seen, so far this year...is a team whos record is where it is having NOT played the worst part of its schedule yet.

Right now the Sabres are on pace for 41 points over an 82 game season. -in 2016-2017, Colorado had 48 -in 2014-2015, Buffalo had 54 -in 2013-2104, Buffalo had 52 -in 2006-2007, Philly had 56 -in 2001-2002 Atlanta had 54 -in 2000-2001 Islanders had 52 -last year in 71 games, Detroit was on pace for 45 points per 82 I only went back 2 decades, to the turn of the century...and those were the worst teams I remember/found. So, if the current pace continues, yes, they will be the worst team/have the worst season of anyone dis century. 20 years. 480 seasons played by all the franchises of the NHL, dis could be the worst of dat. Oh, and as far as scoring, goals per game...they aren't there yet, but they are very close to having one of the worst scoring per game of any team in the past 2 decades. Another shutout or two and they will be there. There they are actually ahead of the 2 buffalo tank teams and Detroit from last year...at least for now. Worst team of all time? probably not. (Talk to me again if they lose their next 5 or 6 in a row with getting shut out 2 more times) Worst team of the last 2 decades? At the current rate...maybe, probably. A return of a healthy Eichel or healthy Ulmark may change dat. The most disappointing team of all time, the team dat is the most below where they should be/expectations? dat dis team just may be.

Honestly if dis is something dat was put in the board, I wish it would go away. For me, it makes many of the threads/posts harder to read. I don't talk in slang/accents, and I don't read dat way either. For those of us dat legit have a problem with it, can it be turned off??

According to the article, the Sabres are on a 14 game losing streak and the record is only 18? Only 4 more to go, certainly within reach!

I think Cam Atkinson was a 6th rounder also, right? Normally, 6ths aren't worth much. Heck, once you get out of the first, you are lucky to get a good player. But, with some exceptions, it is a lottery ticket. The odds of you getting a quality starter might be 100-1, an all star 1000-1....but those thing DO happen and the more lotter tickets you have, the better. Heck, I'd take a few extra 6th or 7th rounders each year and throw them at the best college or european goalie that my scout say is left on the board.....if only the Sabres had any real scouts left...

Well, they have now gotten to the point that by most of the measurable, they are 'officially' the worst. Last in points Last in points per game Last in goal differential per game. Last in goals scored Last in goals scored per game Only 2nd worst in goals allowed per game though.

If a large portion of team does end up going into quarantine again, does that make it a lot harder to make trades before the deadline?

I would not put Eichel on my like list either. No dislike, but not on my like list. Why? -He hasn't lived up to expectations. To me he always seemed to be billed as a 1a to McDavid. Not quite as good, but generational regardless. Top 5 guy in the NHL when he hits his peak. Year after year being discussed as a candidate for MVP. Has at least a couple of years where he would challenge for the scoring lead. He hasn't turned into that. -the teams overall performance. Is it all his fault, of course not, but when you are being billed at the best player on a team, as the team captain, and entering the peak of your career your team is literally being laughed at by the rest of the hockey world...it doesn't sit well. -Hes just not as exciting to watch as I wanted. When we heard about his speed (and YES, he is fast), I was looking forward to exactly my favorite type of player. Peter Bondra when I was a little kid, Pavel Bure, McDavid now. A guy who just gets you out of your seat when he flys up and down the ice. I have said it before, but Jack plays like the slowest fast guy I have ever seen. His end-to-end rushes are very few and far between, and sometimes he comes through the center ice zone with SOME speed, but almost every time he chooses to slow down once entering the zone and starts playing sideways. Maybe that is his style of play and what he is best at, but I was expecting north to south speed, and what I see (MOST of the time) is somone who looks like they are skating through mud as soon as the enter the Offensive zone. Does any of that make him bad? No, hes just a lot less fun to watch than what I was hoping for after reading his pre-draft hype years ago.

I'm OK with that. I argue with many people on this board, but I think much of the core (jack and Sam included) are overrated by the fanbase. That doesn't mean they aren't good players, just not as good as many here think. Oddly enough, I'll add Girgensons to the player list of not only who I think will be back but actually WANT back. The guy chips in more than an occasional even strength goal, and he is one player you can't say doesn't play hard almost all the time. Girgs wouldn't turn this team around, but his style of play, and quite honestly, his production (he was in the top 5 in even strength goals for the Sabres, over the last few years he is one of the better players on this team in even strength goals per 60 minutes) is something they need/miss.

Existing GM isn't a bad idea. In my mind, no worse than a Director of Hockey Operations. What you really need is just someone in the room that Adams feels comfortable working with, but will also have different opinions than Adams. What any good GM (or leader of any kind for that matter) needs is someone to bounce ideas off, and someone who will give you a different point of view to open your mind to other options.

I'm not disagreeing with you, but I think it is a matter of perspective. When things are going bad and the coach doesn't change lines....a certain group of people come out and say stuff like "Why are the lines always the same" or "Move things around Try anything!" If the coach does shuffle lines, then other say "they can't get any chemistry that way" or "leave a group of guys together for a while". For the most part, I think people are either in the camp of "keep lines together to develop chemistry" or "change things up as soon as they are going bad" ......and when things go bad, you hear from the group that isn't getting what they want out of the lines.

I don't think any GM has much of a right to make major decisions without running it by the owners, and if an owner doesn't like a decision I don't think the GM can just go and do it anyway. if it happens at all, it is very, very rare. In most cases, the GM can do the research, come up with the candidates, and tell the owners who the GM wants..and just hope the owners agree. Some owners might be a little more hands off (do the work and just let me know before you decide), others may be more hands on (owners sit in on the meetings and give their opinion to the GM)...I just fear that Terry is more of the 2nd kind...and he isn't great at doing it.

Its going to be close. I think the Sabres end up with 14-16 wins. Unless the Bills go deep in the playoffs this year, that will be tough to beat. It'll be close, but I'm going with the Sabres here.

I'd be OK with Ellis... They went with an older guy in Krueger, an older former player (with asst experience) in Housley, a somewhat younger cup winner in Bylsma.....none of them really worked with this roster/core. If you want to try Ellis, I'm fine.

I think there would be an initial bump in the quality of their play, but after a couple weeks they would start to play with the bad habits and bad effort that this team (and this core) has shown through the last few years and 3 coaches. It strongly appears that this coach and this team aren't meshing and RK is not a good coach for this lineup/roster, but I just think this Roster isn't that good. Whether it be a lack of effort, or overrated talent, with the best coach in the world they would at most be a middling team.

Looking more into this...If you look at how former players are doing with their current teams this year...versus what they did under RK's system here last year...most are playing the same or even worse with their current teams than they did with Sabres last year. I'm not saying RK is great, but THIS is not the argument to make that he is bad, if anything it shows it is more the problem of the players than the coach...because they do just as bad, if not worse, when they leave Buffalo. Marcus Johansson is producing worse this year than with the Sabres last year Vesey and Sheary are putting up less points, and not many more goals, than last year with the Sabres. Larsson has 3 goals and 1 assist in 22 games this year, less production than with the Sabres last year. Again, Krueger isn't good for this team, we know that...but if anything this supports the players are just as much at fault because they simply aren't that good. they are not doing much better once they leave his system.