jad1

Just because you sell guys like Sobotka, Hunwick, Thompson, Okposo and Mittelstadt as NHL players doesn't mean people have to buy it.

The jenga tower that is the Buffalo Sabres.

That makes sense, although I'm trying to figure out how Tage Thompson is helping them win now.

I think he's closer to a young Luke Adam.

If this is truly his plan, this franchise is doomed. There's a reason why a team like Toronto, who has a ton of self-grown talent on the team, signed the top FA last year. Hopefully Botterill is only speaking idealistically here and not practically.

You bring up a lot of good points, and I think you nail Botterill's plan (although I believe his plan is flawed), but I want to take a look at the idea that the Sabres haven't been developing talent, because I think the team has been bad for so long, that we're missing the fact that the team has accrued talent over the last six or seven years. Here are the first round picks of the Sabres from the time of the beginning of the tank who are still in the organization: 2012: Girgensons 2013: Ristolainen 2014: Reinhart 2015: Eichel 2016: Nylander 2017: Mittelstadt 2018: Dahlin They've added first rounders Bogosian and Skinner to the team via trades, so half the skaters on the team are first rounders. They are missing a group of developing 2nd rounders, but those picks were traded for better players in O'Reilly and Kane. So the Sabres are currently built by a group of first round draft picks and trades. That's pretty normal in the NHL. Back to the original idea of the thread that Murray screwed the team over because he made bad trades and left the team with no depth. I believe that this take is false. If Botterill kept Kane and O'Reilly, the team's top six would have been Eichel, Reinhart, Skinner, O'Reilly Kane, and Sheary. It's hard to say that the team lacks depth if that was the Sabres lineup. Murray had his issues, and probably should have been fired. However, he left a pretty good core of players for Botterill. Problem is that, for some reason, Botterill didn't 'believe' in Murray's players and traded them for future assets, which created holes in the roster and the depth issues that the team is struggling with.

The problem isn't the bottom 6 forwards, it's the top 6. And none of the players or prospects Murray traded away for O'Reilly or Kane are top six players. Murray's plan was to fix the top 6 as quickly as possible. He drafted or acquired Reinhart, Eichel, O'Reilly, Kane, Okposo, and Moulson. That was supposed to be his top 6. Moulson and Okposo didn't work out, but they were free agents, so it didn't cost the team assets. The defense rebuild under Murray was a mess. Bogosian's injuries didn't hel, and neither did Kulikov's, but the real issue was the defensive system implemented by Blysma. McNabb and Zadorov were traded, but probably wouldn't have fit into Blysma's puck moving system. Meyers would have been a good fit, and maybe Pysk. Again, not having Bogosian also hurt. After two years, Murray had built his top two lines. He was undone by the steep fall-off of Moulson and Okposo, and maybe by the inexperience of Sam and Jack. Defensively, he wasn't on the same page as Blysma, and probably traded a couple of guys (Myers and Pysk) who would have been a good fit in the system. And he was also hurt by his and his coach's inability to set the right atmosphere in the locker room. But I don't really think depth was an issue with Murray. He traded future assets with low reward possibility for established veterens to build his top two lines. In fact, s a fan, I'm more on-board with Murray's plan (although not his execution), than Botterill's, whose priority is to acquire future assets.

That article is crap. It completely ignores Murray's two major acquisitions, Kane and O'Reilly. Those two guys have a combined 61 goals and 114 points this season. Sure, Murray made questionable trades, but it's unfair to ignore the 100+ point hole in the roster that Botterill caused when he traded those guys for nothing. When you trade your all-star 2nd center and all-star winger, you're going to have depth issues. In a bizarro world where Boterill keeps O'Reilly and Kane and still makes the Skinner and Sheary trades, the Sabres don't have a depth problem. In fact, with that lineup, Mittelstadt probably spends a year in Rochester. Murray had his issues. For example, he was trying to build the Kings while his coach was trying to coach the Penguins. And he probably deserved to be fired based on his asocial attitude and his inability to relate to the young team he was building. The GM, though who caused the biggest depth issues on the team is Botterill.

Murray and Blysma were fired because of their horrible communication skills, not because they weren't yes men. Murray wasn't on the same page as Blysma, and the players seemed to have no idea about what the GM was trying to accomplish. O'Reilly, Kane, and Lehner all had off-ice issues to varying degrees, and the team management under Murray seemed incapable of handling it. Apparently tanking has an impact on the guys in the locker room. Who knew? Botterill seems to have 'fixed' the issue by trading or releasing all the 'problem' guys. So, problem solved.?

Botterill is going to waste the first 3 months of next season figuring out Housley is not the answer.

After almost two seasons, can anyone explain what Housley brings to this team? There are 10 first rounders on this roster, 8 of them went in the top 10, but the team has absolutely no identity.

Good to see Housley made the right choice in goal again. ?

I do admire his drinking helmet.

Like 80 or 90 or them...

The last time a player received an offer sheet was 2013. In theory, offer sheets exist, in reality, they don't.

Reinhart belongs on the first line. Eichel is a better scorer with Reinhart on his line. Without Sam, Jack becomes a playmaker, which is good, but Eichel opportunities to be a finisher are way down without Reinhart. The first line doesn't need a more physical player unless they are expected to beat people up. Other than that, they are great at puck possession, digging the puck in the corners and (with Reinhart) establishing a net-front presence. Of course that means that the Sabres need to build a second line, and hopefully Mittelstadt continues to improve to help with that.

Problem is that the Bills could have drafted their franchise QB the year before and not created the holes they did to draft Allen. I know Beane wasn't there in 2017, but he and McDemott knew how things were going to play out, so I assume he had some input. But I agree that Allen looks like the guy. That's why Beane better protect him this season. If Allen spends the whole year running for his life, I have no problem if the Bills cut Beane loose.

I think the jury's still out on both. Botterill blew his biggest trade and cost the team significant improvement with the O'Reilly deal. That's a huge negative. We'll see how things play out with Skinner contract and the trade deadline. Beane has made some good picks, but there are still massive holes in the roster approaching three years into his tenure. It took him way too long to figure out the QB position and too long to add speed at WR. The upcoming FA period and draft is huge, but If during the season Allen is still running around for his life, things will go south quickly for Beane.

At the time it was said, it was true. Peca and Hasek we lost during uncapped years. Drury and Briere we lost due to executive limitations on negotiations and budget. Having a deep-pocketed owner would have helped there. It's more difficult to buy a rebuild than to keep a good team together with a wealthy owner. The biggest area of impact is hiring coaches and GMs. Pegula struck out with Babcock, but both his GMs have been first-timers. Maybe he should have spent money on a GM and/or coach with more experience.

This franchise right now is Eichel, Skinner, Reinhart, Dahlin, and maybe Mittlestadt and UPL. You can dump the rest of the players, the GM, and the coach, and it wouldn't make a difference

If they can pick up a legit 2nd center at the deadline, they should spend the picks.

Yeah, that almost never works. Peca, Drury, Briere, Hasek, Lafontaine, Hawerchuck, Dumont, and Barnes were just a few of players the Sabres acquired by trades.

She'll love him when he trades Skinner for a conditional, lottery-protected 1st round pick, a middling prospect and a couple of salary dumps. After all, everybody loves the 'Botterill special.'

More embarrassing than being the first team to finish 31st in the NHL? Let's let Housley decide.

Botterill would never jeopardize the Amerks season that way.