jad1

He plays for the Sabres and (reportedly) is not lifting his NTC. My guess is that floundering doesn't bother him.

It's not Ruffs forte, that's the point. Liger correctly points out that Karmanos has been here almost as long as Adams. Adams has also built out a strong analytics department. Do you think that he's finally going to add experience and grit to the lineup on Ruffs' advice? What is Ruff telling Adams that he doesn't already know? I believe that Ruff will be a very good coach when the team is iced. I would expect him to elevate the play of the Sabres young core. But is he going to tell Adams something he isn't already hearing from a pretty good staff or something he doesn't already know? I don't buy it.

Why does everyone assume that Ruff is making moves? He didn't play that role in his last stint with Buffalo; Regier made roster moves. Ruff is a coach, not a scout or GM. He's had enough success in the league that if he wanted to be a GM, some team would have given him the opportunity. But he never made that move. This is on Adams. He can seek Ruff's advice, but Adams is responsible for player acquisitions.

How else will we retain the Best Pipeline award for the nth season in a row?

It is. Kind of surprised San Jose made this deal.

It looks like Ben Bishop is about to be paid (again).

Yeah, it's not like Kulikov is ever going to win a ring...wait, what?

Yeah, this deal really turned the roster into a mess. In addition to your take on replacing Mittlestadt, the Sabres really need a couple of veteren, stay-at-home defensemen in the top four to pair with Dahlin and Power. Bryam isn't that type of player. It'll be interesting to see what Ruff contributes to the construction of the roster.

Is he joining the staff to help Matt Ellis with the power play?

Yeah, they probably don't remember him. Not the sharpest knives in the drawer, that bunch.

He'll get moved up in the organization next year when Adams is (deservedly) fired.

How many Sabres fans too young to remember Ruff are there?

Well this thing is officially in the sh###er.

He's going to waste another season next year. The roster needs significant upgrades and nothing Adams has done as GM makes you believe he can get the job done. Any coach who signs here better be willing to sign a defacto 1 year contract. Because Adams replacement next year is going to want to bring in his own guy.

I know that Adams doesn't want to hear that the Sabres are young as an excuse, but it's not an excuse that they are too young, it's a fact. Young players are inconsistent, and the team suffered from inconsistency this year. The Sabres have 10 players under the age of 24 on the roster. For reference, the Panthers have one. So if Adams decided to fire Granato because of his game management or line decisions, or he lost the room, fine. But if decided to fire his coach because his 20 year old top 4 defenseman or his 22 year old goalie didn't play like seasoned veterens, well that's on Adams, not Granato. Youth is not an excuse, it's a choice. A choice that Adams made over and over again in refusing to age up the lineup.

I agree with your take about what a coach is looking for from his GM. But in his press conference, Adams mentioned that he looking of a coach to elevate 'this group' of players. He also talked about balking this season at the high cost of UFAs. And his keeping Ellis and other assistants to be repurposed on the new coach's staff leads me to believe that Adams is very much entrenched in his own way of doing things, and is not really looking for input from the new guy on staff or roster construction.

So Adams will most likely will be fired next season when the Sabres miss the playoffs again because he has shown himself to be completely incapable of making the lineup changes he claims he needs to make. Which means a veteren, experienced, successful coach basically will be here for a season before he's fired by Adams' replacement because that replacement wants to hire his own coach. And, to to top it off, the new coach needs to keep Matt Ellis on his staff. Oh yeah, this is going to work just fine.

Right, same point. The guys offered interviews or jobs by the Sabres turned them down for better opportunities. In other words, the candidate didn't say the Sabres are offering me 1 out if 32 jobs in the NHL, so I'm taking it. They weighed the Sabres opportunity and found it lacking. The veteren, experienced coaches that we want Adams to chase will also have other opportunities and, my guess, will turn down Adams, as they find his reign in Buffalo lacking.

Only if the point is that the candidate coach has no other offers or opportunities outside of coaching or chooses not to take a break from coaching. So it's not as simple as the Sabres offer a veteren coach a contract, and he automatically accepts it.

Sabres have been turned down by experienced coaches over the last 13 years, so this isn't true.

I doubt that's where this is heading. What experienced coach is going to want to coach under Adams? Adams keeping his job makes Granato's firing a rearranging-the-deck chairs type of move. My guess us that Appert is named the new coach.

Right here.

It's all down to luck.

Sure this team will be good when the the 22 and 23 year olds turn 25 and 26. By then, though, this franchise could lose 100 more games, and miss the playoffs 3 more seasons. Adams needs to add skill and experience to the coaching staff and roster, but has turned this franchise toxic to those candidates. Adams is a failure and his performance has not merited the patience that this franchise is demanding from its fanbase to continue his plan.

Byram is definitely a good player, but he's redundant, and will be out of here in a couple of years.