jad1

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.

Yeah, maybe Adams can find a guy like him in FA this offseason.

Sam Reinhart will be fine

Chalk it up to Stockholm Syndrome. Posted this before, but Granato is 7th all time in most games coached with no playoff appearances. Only 6 other teams in NHL history have been more patient with a coach's inability to lead his team to the playoffs. Currently, Granato is the 6th longest tenured coach in the league. 26 teams have found reason to fire their coach since Granato took over in Buffalo. Many of those coaches were fired after posting a better season than Granato did. Not sure about the GM record, but my guess is that Adams is also high up on the playoff failure list. It is not the norm for the fans of an NHL team to endure this level of ineptitude for this long from a coach or GM (not to mention from the overall franchise. There is nothing new under the sun for another season of Adams and Granato. And this isn't coming from a place irrational impatience or hatred. By any NHL standard, Adams and Granato have worn out their welcome. It's time to thank Adams and Granato for the pipeline and turn the team over to guys with a better plan on how to turn that pipeline into wins on a nightly basis. How will Pegula manage to find these better candidates? Same way he managed to hire Beane and McDermott. Pure luck. At this time though, I'm will to bet on pure luck over another season of Adams and Granato.

Playoff rules from 1997.

This only applies if the team scores enough in the last two periods to make up for the no-show in the first. And Granato's Sabres don't do that. They lose too many games in the first period. Hopefully we're watching Granato's swan song in Buffalo.

That's why I said that Adams needs to also go. But would different players make Granato's powerplay work? Would different players develop team toughness and grit if Granato didn't hold them accountable for playing in all 3 zones? Can you imagine Granato standing on the bench screaming 'You don't run our captain' at the other coach? The problem is roster construction and coaching. Both Adams and Granato need to go.