Thorny

Or I force it out of you by badgering you with quote tweets please stay

For me it’s not a “if the core can’t do it without proper support, they aren’t good enough anyways and we shouldn’t have hope” situation. I think that’s being mis-framed. Sometimes you just need a more well-rounded, competently built team. That view of the core you mentioned is more tailored to a scenario where you are merely considering the prospects of *winning a championship* (this is what I meant by mis-framed): the mindset this franchise seemingly can’t get away from. Yes, if the core isn’t good enough, no supporting pieces are going to vault the team to championship contender but for some reason the goal can never just be to scratch and claw with this franchise. It needs to just be about making the playoffs! There difference on that front can be as little as a point, we saw that last year. The difference between making it and not making it can absolutely be the situation we put our core in re: the maneuvering we do on the chess board, the supporting pieces we complement the core with. This season needs to be about THIS season. This season shouldn’t merely be viewed as a stepping stone to the “ultimate goal.” It doesn’t matter right now if the core is good enough to be a contender: just get them in the playoffs - just be mediocre. When the line is “mediocre”, yes, *every* roster spot is under the microscope. After 13 years, it absolutely should not be any other way

Unfortunately, the core doesn’t operate as an isolated variable relative to the supporting cast. In my estimation, id hazard a guess that we have a differing opinion on how much the core not living up to expectations is a result of them not being being properly supported, allowing them to do what they do best. Hockey has so much built in randomness, I honestly feel it’s often about timing, things just lining up and clicking for a stretch - it’s nearly alchemical. Even one small piece can change the chemistry and re slot the hierarchy, with the amount of supporting additions we needed, weaknesses on the roster, im not comfortable focusing in on the core specifically. I think it’s more about the timing of the overall collection of talent and it’s lacking and that’s on the GM

A lot of people think it should have been Mitts. Can’t deny Dahlin has had a down year relative to last, but it IS the All STAR game and Dahlin is a star so it’s fair enough

There’s more that goes into “talent” beyond sick snipes and dangles. Ability to play defence isn’t just systemic, 2 way ability is a talent. Knowing when to exert pressure is a talent. Goaltending ability is a talent. Goalie is a position on the roster like any other. We might have enough of one type of talent, the obvious/most used connotation of “talent”. But no, I don’t think the roster’s overall talent, the overall hockey aptitude that should be inclusive of, is playoff worthy. we are what our record says it is. It’s reflective of our roster We, in fact, lack talent on our roster league relative this season. We aren’t a well built team that doesn’t try.

Another thing is, I’m not sure his stock has stayed the same since being drafted, has it? It certainly hasn’t gone up. Often these mystery box pieces retain their most value when most of that mystery is still in tact. Adams needs to pick which ones to move on from in a PROMPT matter as dragging his feet will presumably only lower potential return. And all the more reason imo to deal our first this year: let some other desperate team pretend their fortunes are saved by a guy they “can’t believe!” fell to 8th in the draft who, assuredly, of course, is actually a top 3 talent. We don’t need another prospect. Deal the pick when it has its most value Sabres are a specific situation. We can’t afford for Adams to wait around on his surplus to mature when the needs on the actual roster are so significant, wait around for them to mature to the point the ones we are dealing have little value because at 23 they’ve revealed themselves to be the ones we don’t want. Way too late by that point I beg our GM to just be a GM and do work

Because every team has a guy they can point to who does well in a kids tournament. Literally every team - this isn’t a substantial avenue for the improvement we need, the ground we need to make up. None of it matters a lick if the GM doesn’t want to/ isn’t capable of building an actual team we are conditioned to feel these performances don’t matter because..they definitively don’t: not as a means for improvement, not with the means of operation we’ve seen. Proof has been in the pudding for a decade. Build a team.

No, we need a better mix of players The wjc is merely a tradable assets tournament as far as the sabres are concerned

I don’t even fully believe things are as bad they clearly appear until @dudacekconfirms it. For all I know he’d stroll back on here and say we are a fixed power play away from being a perennial playoff team. I’m not sure if his lack of posting of late is an indication that’s it’s undeservedly negative around here, or even scarier, that his absence is a result of it being deservedly negative.

Looks like Cedric Diggory

I think the prognosis around sabreland when we got him was “better than Jack Eichel” Kidding. Kind of

Got my hopes up for a prospect / nhl player swap for a moment

So frightening because dollars to donuts not only is this similar to the approach we underwent this past offseason, you can’t tell me this probably isn’t *exactly* what we hear from management heading into next season. So, just a preview:

Omg shoot me now

Status: currently flabbergasted and depressed at the Blue Jays shocking 180 decision this summer to apparently strive to become…the Buffalo Sabres

But apparently not his contract

Agree. They clearly don’t “elevate”. It’s not a good team that gosh darn it just won’t try. Other teams frustrate them because on balance we have an inferior roster (which can look like effort) and good teams plays down to bad PARTICULARLY when considering the sample size of an 82 game season and the randomness that entails Coaching is a factor but their record is reflective of their roster construction primarily.

Benson is probably paying more attention to the glaring holes throughout the roster and the fact the team needs to rely on him to the extent they do because of it

Well said.

Particularly when his first year as GM arguably should be included, too, for relevance: like this year the goal was playoffs and both of those times were seemingly KA’s worst rosters by result committed to record 54, 75, 91, 73 those are the point totals so far, with the last one obviously being a current pace 31st (last), 24th, 20th, 27th Those are the league standings placements it’s a bad collection of results

You white, you Ben Affleck You make a trade, you Tim Murray

The Sabres have been bad for 13 years relative to every single team in the NHL, teams that are operating under the exact same rules and regulations as the Buffalo Sabres. The Sabres have been bad at making the playoffs relative to every team that has ever competed in the NHL, ever. Arguments like, “where are you even going to find these good players?” “It takes time” need not apply: they are objectively wrong. Sorry, it’s not an opinion: if you are using the arguments, you are incorrect. Because comparing the Sabres vs every other team in the league we have been the outlier of outliers on the bad end. It’s not an argument, it’s a fact. It’s literally a fact. The aptitude of the folks running the team has been indisputably putrid. They do not deserve patience. We all, of course, grant them it willingly every day by showing up to this board. Because the fans are pure where the team is disingenuous. The fans deserve so much more. The fact we have threads being started about how it’s really all ok, when it really couldn’t get worse, sports wise, shows there are some who are literally happy without expectation. That’s the kind of loyalty the team laughs at as they cash your cheque. It’s admirable, I’m envious of it, but it’s sad that they are so taken advantage of. The franchise is a joke. It’s performed worse than every other franchise for a very long time. When we eventually do make the playoffs, it can no longer be a mark of aptitude: no plan will have needed to take that long. Adams already has earmarked himself as a bad GM. We just have to hope he eventually gets lucky. In a league where half the teams make the playoffs, a pretty bad GM should be able to get in once in 5 years

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What a sad state of affairs that’s all I’ll say