jad1

Makes you wonder if the Raiders are a football team or a cult.

So nice that we can enjoy Mark Davis' haircut during the broadcast.

Dude can stick handle in a phone booth. He's awesome.

Ray was right on that. Miller had no reason to chase that guy. Should have taken away the passing lane.

Dolemite

I'm not forgetting Reinhart or Olofsson and I believe that they are part of the solution, but the Sabres without Eichel are easily one of the worst three teams in the league.

I think that I'm in the same headspace as you on this topic, but just because he talks about it doesn't means he understands it. I can talk about a gaping chest wound all I want, but if i walk around with one for two years and try to fix it by stuffing it with pine cones and chewed bubble gum, it doesn't mean I truly understand what it is or its urgency.

Don't we already know how good Botterill is? What are we really going to learn in another year about him? After 3 years of Botterill the Sabres have NO offense beyond Eichel. NONE. He had 3 first round picks last year and an immediate need for a center. He drafted Cozens (good pick, but years away) and used the other two on puck-moving defensemen. He doesn't seem to understand the need or value of a 2nd line center. He didn't understand it when O'Reilly was here, and he doesn't understand it when he's needed to replace O'Reilly. His approach to fixing this position (i.e. playing 3rd line wingers at 2C) suggests that he will never be able to build a playoff-caliber offense. And to top off his incompetence at building a legitimate NHL offense, he has also spent the last 3 years building a historically bad PK unit. So what are we exactly looking for in the next year to prove Botterill is a good GM? A miracle?

It's just his turn in the tank. Eichel will be up next.

Good effort; tough loss. They need to win on Friday. Can't lose two in a row and stay in the race.

Well that was fun while it lasted. When's the next trade deadline?

If Botterill is still the GM next season (and he probably will be), the Sabres 2C will be 19 year-old Dylan Cozens. That'll last about 20 games, and then he'll try Johansson again, and then will give Mittelstadt another kick at the can. Botterill has had 6 tries (sum of the trade deadlines, FA periods, and drafts) to bring in a legit 2C since trading O'Reilly. He came close Monday by trading for Kuhan, but he quickly stated that the Sabres will play Kuhan at wing. So after 6 tries, what makes anyone believe that Botterill will do anything other than put all the pressure on Cozens to be the guy, while continuing to spend all available cap space on bottom six wingers and puck-moving defensemen? Maybe it'll work. Cozens does look promising. ?

You're a Sabres fan, right?

At this instant, yes.

Yeah, he drinks four or five of them before every game.

And we see the ying and yang of Botterill's last two trades. It's all coming together now.

And he'll make it to the NHL during Eichel's 7th or 8th season?

Yeah, I guess what I'm conveying is that Botterill doesn't have the ability to make the type of deal the Sabres need for a 2c. It's going to be Cozens or bust as long as he's the GM. That's a massive amount of pressure on a 19 year old player.

You could have written this during last season's deadline day.

There are other ways to improve goaltending than trading top 6 fowards.

And the Sabres would go nowhere with another substitution trade rather than an addition trade.

Reinhart is a 65-70 point winger. If you can't build a winning team with that type of player on the roster, you shouldn't be a NHL GM or coach.

Hard to make this argument when Murray also landed O'Reilly and Kane, two guys who added 100 points to the top 6 forwards. Botterill traded away those 100 points for nothing. The foward ranks were decimated when Murray took over, and rebuilding the top 6 fowards was his number one priority. What's Botterill's priority? Building out the top 11 defensemen before addressing the 2C? GMs have to actually build an NHL team, and that requires more than just the draft. Neither Murray nor Botterill have done a good job of this, but with Murray at least there was a plan. Botterill's plan has no rhyme or reason to it, other than building out the defense to an absurd degree.

This criticism is kind of insane. We all knew what type of player Skinner was before Botterill re-signed him. He's not a grinder; he doesn't drive a line; he's not captain material. He's not Ovechkin or Malkin. He's a sniper. He needs a setup man. We all knew this. He was signed because he has the right skillset to maximize the team's $10 million investment in Jack. He was signed to play with Eichel. So what does Krueger do with the guy who was signed to play with Eichel? He doesn't play himwith Eichel. What does Botterill do to find a center to play with his expensive sniper? Nothing. Punishing Skinner for not doing the things we all know he can't do by putting him on a line with AHL grinders doesn't make any sense. Olofsson has complicated the issue by playing so well on the top line, so that makes the investment in Skinner even more sketchy. But does anyone really believe that Botterill would have done anything to fix the offense with that cap space if he didn't re-sign Skinner? And finally, Marty's suggestion to play Skinner with Eichel the last 10 games is just crazy. First, Krueger had the opportunity to do this when Olofsson was injured. Second, what if teaming Eichel with Skinner actually works? How stupid does the Sabres management team look, waiting 72 games to try something that worked so well last season? The criticism directed at Skinner should really be focused on Sabres management and its total lack of a roadmap to build the team.

Gee, who saw that coming.