Curt

I would honestly downgrade Oloffson from top 6 to middle 6

What are on ice operations? Adams has expressed a different philosophy and the front office structure has been changed significantly to align with that philosophy. As for player acquisitions, no one can know yet, we will see. To be clear, I’m not saying that Adams is good, just that he is different from Botterill and has structured the organization in a way that Botterill did not/would not.

I don’t know if the Pegulas are specifically interested in analytics. I do think they were interested in ways to slim things down. They were pushing to be economical and efficient as they said many times recently. Im with you. I’m under the impression that the analytics ideas are Adams’, not him just parroting the Pegulas.

Sure, maybe, or maybe he actually believes in what he is doing. I can’t know his mind with any certainty. Regardless, he is doing it, and Botterill didn’t. That’s a big difference between the two.

I think the potential issue with that is clear, but I’m going to say it anyway. An organization needs to decide what it values in players from both eyeball and analytics scouting. Then find players that meet their criteria in both of those areas. If you eyeball scout, then go looking for numbers that tell what you already believe, you will be able to find them, because there is an immense amount of numbers out there. The problem is that not all of those numbers are important, and you will be able to find something to support your eyeball scouting, regardless of whether it was good or not.

Well, the apparent fact that Adams wants to run a slimmed down, more analytics focused organization, and Botterill apparently really really didn’t, is a difference in itself. Additionally, Adams speaks about integrating analytics into the decision making processes in a way that Botterill never did. Furthermore, that restructuring has resulted in the Director of Analytics be named an Assistant Director of Scouting, so there actual follow through on that integration. In the end I guess it’s possible that Adams is just going to do whatever the Pegulas tell him every day, but I’m going to assume that he was hired because his vision aligned with the PegIslas’ vision, and that he actually believes in the things he is doing and saying, not that he is a mindless Pegula puppet.

It was fairly obvious. Especially since Pegulas stated that Botterill was fired because he wasn’t listening to them and wasn’t on the same page regarding the organization restructuring. They told us exactly why they fired him. No person is really someone else 2.0. Adams has already made significant changes and has expressed a philosophy that quite different from that of Botterill. The Pegulas are the power behind the throne, always. Adams is GM, Krueger is coach. I don’t know why Adams would be taking his orders from Krueger. Agree on all counts. Pegulas actually told everyone exactly why Botterill was fired. Adams is very different from Botterill.

Yeah, I don’t see Skinner as an awful defensive player, but I do think he is probably below average. Often playing a high risk/reward sort of defense where he pressures very hard for giveaways.

I think it’s also possible that all of the above are true, people are complicated. Skinner may be a talented hockey player who can be a bit of a prima donna with occasional attitude problems who had an off year, but still has huge potential to rebound.

This is my hope honestly. With everything so completely crazy, I just hope more and more people are thinking that something boring and normal looks pretty darn fantastic. But then you have the Republican Party attempting to paint Biden as the most left wing guy you’ve ever seen, which is absurd, but some people will believe what they want to believe.

Yeah, not a point per game, but I was trying to illustrate a point. Some guys can be very productive at lower levels, but then need to conform to a different role in the NHL. Larsson is an example. Asplund should be very productive in Alvensken, even if his NHL role does not project to a high scoring player. Larsson, As a 19 yr old in the SEL: 36 pts in 49 games As a 21/22 year old in the AHL: 81 pts in 95 games Thats more production than most Sabres prospects. When Larsson was a prospect there actual was a hope/expectation that he would be a productive offensive player. More like a 30-40 point middle 6 C, but still, more than he has produced.

But Larsson did sort of light it up at lower levels. Scoring at nearly a point per game at times.

What everyone else said.

.......they are not making a stand for social justice, as the athletes in many other leagues are. ?

They might not get paid for the games they don’t play. They can make a stand whenever they want, like any US citizen can.

I get the age thing, but these two old guys couldn’t be much more different. I don’t get the indifference.

Skinner, Frolik, Simmonds. That’s just the past 2 years

This requires some sort of explanation.

“Battle for our nation’s sole” “Fight to preserve democracy” Stuff like that. Like I said though, this is on another level, to the point that it’s a caricature of anything based in reality, and I think in general Republican fearmongering has been much more extreme.

I got about 1/3 of the way through. Very strange public speaking voice/tone there. Fearmongering has been going on from both sides recently. This is on another level though. I guess you do what you gotta do to keep your job as GF of a first son of the United States of Trump. EDIT: I watched the rest. I especially liked the part where she took shots at California. The governor there is here ex-husband. smh. She just sounds completely phony. Also, I don’t trust people whose mouth makes a frowning shape even when they are trying to smile.

What’s not true? I didn’t say that fans are wrong. Looks like fans and unaffiliated sources are on the same page. My point was that, ok, perhaps the forward prospect depth is not terrible, there are guys who will likely be NHL players, but there is a lack of prospects who project as top 6 forwards. I didn’t mean to imply that the prospect pool is actually in good shape, though looking back, I see how it could read that way.

Good points. I think it’s more that people (Sabres fans) have become very pessimistic that any of those players, apart from Cozens has a future as a top-6 player.

If it really was just one bad year, then maybe, but that’s not what it is. Holtby was really really good in 2014-15, 2015-16, and 2016-17. Then he was bad in 2017-18, average in 2018-19, and terrible in 2019-20.

I’m sure GMs vary a fair bit in how much they take into account need and their current prospect pool. I would think most weight it at least a little. I think it’s useful to think about it in terms of tiers (draft prospects who you feel are close in value). If you already have several good LD prospects, not many good forward prospects and the #8 pick, you should probably only draft a LD if he is clearly better than the forward prospects available (in a tier above them). If there is a LD and a couple forwards in the same tier available, then it’s probably best to go with a forward. Thats my philosophy. Take need (prospect pool need, not necessarily NHL roster need) into account when choosing between players within the same tier (players rated very close in value).

Why didn’t Simmonds use his veteran leadership to inspire Eichel to play better? You are kind of spelling out my point of view. Simmonds’ veteran grit isn’t going to save the team. They need better players.