Curt

Here is a nice primer by Steve Kournianos of The Draft Analyst on his top-32 prospects for the 2021 draft. He gives a short paragraph scouting report on each guy. https://www.thedraftanalyst.com/2021-nhl-draft/2021-nhl-draft-rankings-top-32-march/ When thinking about guys for the Sabres, I’m looking for guys who have non stop motors, play a 200 ft game, go to the center of the ice, aren’t afraid to play physical, and have high character. As many of those as possible.

I think Reinhart is a much better player at ES. Better passer, better decisions with the puck, better on the boards, better in front of the net. I think Reinhart does a lot of things well at ES, while I don’t think Olofsson really does anything above average there and should be in the bottom 6. Reinhart is good on the PP too, though Olofsson is probably more dangerous. Their skill sets on the PP are totally different.

Whoa, I think this is flat out wrong. Olofsson and Reinhart are not at all the same type of player.

All Reinhart has to do is go to arbitration this offseason, take the one year deal for however much, then he is a UFA after next season.

Yeah, it wasn’t really related to the merit of your point.

He was 30, “only” in his 10th season. Lidstrom didn’t hit the NHL until he was 21.

2022 draft is looking to be extremely good. 2021 draft, yeah, kinda.

With a team this bad, I think you need to be willing to explore all possibilities. I like Reinhart a lot, so I kinda hope he stays, but the way his contracts have progressed, it seems like he is headed straight for UFA. So, I get it.

Funny

Is anyone else surprised that Darryl Sutter is now the Flames HC?

5 Step Plan to Revive Sabres Competency: Step 1) Fire Krueger. Step 2) Have an interm HC for the rest of the season. It could be Don Granato, Seth Appert, or even Kevyn Adams. Step 3) Between now and the offseason, hire an experienced, successful FO person to oversee the hockey side of the organization. Step 4) Hire an experienced, successful head coach. Step 5) Fill out the front office by hiring an Assistant GM or 2, and a couple of analytics scouting people.

Looks like he is trying to play connect 4, while everyone else is playing checkers.

This is great. I hope a lot of people got it.

So, is Ralph saving his job in this game?

I don’t think this how the NHL works though. There aren’t bad teams that blow everything up and are then cup contenders after a couple years. It’s much more common that decent teams make slight improvements to be good teams, and good teams make slight improvements to become cup contenders. It’s generally a league of incremental improvements. I’m not saying that all the players on the Sabres’ roster are fine, I’m sure there will be changes. I don’t think that all on the top talent needs to be shipped out before the team can find success though.

This is embarrassing obviously, but embarrassment seems like the only thing that the Pegulas truly respond to. I hope that they feel embarrassed enough to find some humility, take a step back, and act on that other rumor floating around. They need help running this team, and I hope that they do bring in a very experienced FO person to oversee the hockey department and be the conduit between owners and everyone below.

Nah, he’s mellowed a bit. Also, he is tough, not dumb.

He wasn’t really drafted that high. #51 overall, mid-late 2nd rounder. If that guy becomes an NHLer at all it’s a good pick. His prospect status did get pretty pumped up for a while though, at least in the public sphere. Seems like Botterill sold high on him.

I gave the press conference a close 2nd listen and here is my breakdown of most of the answers Adams gave, and my inferences regarding them. First, anyone who was expecting to get dramatic answers, inside information or blatant throwing of individuals under the bus should not expect that from a GM press conference. My Press Conference Notes: -He is not happy and it’s not acceptable, sounds like he is near the end of his rope with the team, pissed even. -He has full authority to make decisions regarding players and coaches. -Team doesn’t show enough compete or passion. -He and coaches thought the team wasn’t too far away this offseason, so he took a short term approach. They focused on 5-on-5 scoring, special teams, and character. -How do you justify keeping Ralph on? He has to look at everything both big and small picture, do what’s best for team long term. -Eichel has not requested a trade. -Adams doesn’t believe in a full fledged rebuild. Sounds like he is more looking for opportunities for incremental improvement as opposed to a tear down for futures. -Asked about how Pegulas and he value continuity within organization vs. the cycle of firings every couple years. He says you hope for continuity, but that continuity only happens if there is success. -On Skinner benching. Had long honest talk with Jeff’s agent. He didn’t say that it was a joint decision. He said it was Ralph’s call. Praised Jeff for positive attitude through it. -Asked what has gone wrong, specifically. Not enough compete, battle, not enough good scoring chances and too many against. Goaltending has been solid. Said Linus had been playing at a very high level, omitted mentioning Hutton. -On Rasmus Dahlin’s struggles. He is amazing with the puck, players will have ups and downs, have to work through it. Brought it back to talking about having a team identity, and everyone needing to raise their level. -Covid, injuries, adversity are not excuses for how things have gone. No excuses. -Culture means having a team spirit with everyone working together for the greater good, and accountability to each other. Team isn’t there yet, they need to do more, aren’t driving each other enough internally. -What’s wrong with Jack??? Not going to talk about what’s going on with a player day-to-day. They will give updates when they have them. -Is Krueger being too inflexible with his system. A system needs everyone to really buy in. Sees times when not all players are playing system the same way. -How much are you looking to tweak the roster at this point? Looking for solutions every day. Having conversations all the time. -Team needs to be grittier. It’s both an issue of current roster construction and how you draft and develop long term. -Because of Covid, he is actually around the team a lot more. Talking with team/players all the time, building relationships with them. Players know it hasn’t been good enough, it needs to turn into action. -Why know goalie move? Looking everyday. Asking is there an upgrade over what we have? Goaltending has been solid. Not the reason we are where we are. Ullmark had been great. Again conspicuously omitted mentioning Hutton. So, also, some things he did not say. He did not say that Krueger has that infamous vote of confidence. In fact it sounded like things really need to improve in a major way (or else), and soon! He did not say that the he is comfortable with the current goaltending situation. Yes, he said the goaltending has been solid, but he also praised Ullmark and conspicuously avoided mentioning Hutton. He also said that he is looking for an upgrade every day. He did not say Jack is injured, but also didn’t say that he was healthy. Not going to talk about it. He did not give one single excuse for any of the teams failings. He did not say that he had any part of the decision to bench Skinner. To the contrary, he said that Krueger makes the decisions regarding who will play and what their roles are. My big take away is that Krueger is on thin ice. While Krueger has a good relationship with both players and Adams, the team is not playing together enough, or for each other enough. That needs to change, or Krueger is out.

What hurt feelings?

John Tortorella?

There is absolutely no precedent for the tank that Buffalo went through. Go look at the records and goal differentials. Toronto did nothing close. I don’t think anyone ever has.

Is this true? OMG. Pegulas better get that help that we were hearing about today. Sooner rather than later!

Maybe it’s because the Sabres have lost 10 of their last 12 games (including this one). That could be a reason that no one is defending the coach right now. Maybe.

If Guhle passes waivers he will be with the Anaheim AHL team.