dejeanerret

Love me some of this. Can't wait to buy a jersey!

Colorado is smoking something crazy. Dzingel 26G, 56P, AAV $3.35m Reinhart. 22G, 65P, AAV $3.65M Compher 16G, 32P, AAV $3.5M ?

I'm more confident in Bots than I ever was in Murray. Credit Murray for obtaining the likes of EKane and ROR. He did trade away lot of capital but in hindsight it's not like those picks were used to choose superstars that could help us today. But his development skills as a GM were a train wreck. We held onto hopes too long on players that never truly developed. Rochester was constantly a hot mess. Whether that was the structure Murray created or the player skill levels, bottom line it wasn't happening. Pound for pound it seems Bots prospects are developing better than Murray's. I just like the structure Bots has in place. And the fact that most of his trades (all but the ROR one) have benefited our team makes me confident in his vision. We have a brighter future with Bots. I know many want to tie him to our 8 year no playoff drought and the one bad trade for ROR. He sucks....he's horrible....bla...bla...frick'n bla. But I only look at his time on the job and see the positives he's done and I have faith in him to take us where we need to go. Bots vision is long term. Some fans can't accept that, and that's OK with him.

Blackhawk fans are losing their minds over this deal. Joki was their future core and to trade him for a forward like Nylander whose production and effort rain question marks is apparently not a popular move. Hawk fans think the Sabres stole this guy.

She's a steal based on 26 goals and 56 points last year. 49 goals last two seasons on a crappy OTT team. We paid more for an injury prone Johannson

Think your right. It's tough though when you see a 26 goal/56 point 2C like Dzingel get signed for $3.37 AAV. That's a steal for Columbus and a player we could have really used.

If Bots heads into this season thinking Mitts is our 2C, we are in deep trouble. I don't think he does. There isn't anyone on our roster who can fill that spot, regardless of the "potential" they bring. We need a proven scorer at that position. FA wise, Dzingel is the best choice, but he is probably asking too much, so Bots is waiting to see if his price will come down. More likely, I see us obtaining a 2C via trade, with Risto and/or Nylander going the other way. Skinner-Eichel-Reinhart Vesey- ????? - Olafsson Sheary- Mitts- Okposo If both Eichel and Reinhart can build on their 2019 seasons, and we can get a guy at 2C who can score 25 goals/55-60 points, and our Dmen learn how to get the puck out of our frickn zone, we'll be in good shape.

All of this is spot on. When I say 65 points for first line, that's minimum output for all 3. Of course the top first lines have players in the 90+ and above point totals. You look at a team like Pittsburgh. They had no 2LW or 2RW. But there first line was massively productive, and they had a highly productive 2C which carried them to 100 pts. Besides Letang, there D was nothing to write home about, but Letang was so productive he made up for the others. With all that said, they got swept in the first round by the Islanders. When your dependent on one line and one Dman, it's easy for a good team to shut you down. When the Pens won the cup in 16-17, their scoring fit this model. It didn't in 15-16, but Fleury stood on his head that year during the regular season and post season. If you can't put up the numbers in this model, then you have to have a goalie who is top 3 in the league for a legit chance to win the cup. A perfect example of this is St. Louis. On New Years, they were in last place in the league. Their main goalie Jake Allen was struggling. His back up, Jordan Binnington, was 0-2 with a 3.51 GAA and .840 SV% in two mop up appearances. They were heading towards nowhere. A coaching change, Binnington gets RED HOT. Ends the season with a league-leading 1.89 GAA and 4th in the league with a .927 SV% allowing the Blues to finish 5th in the league in total goals against. Makes big saves during the post-season and they scrapped their way to a SC. Their horrendous start didn't allow their point total to match this model, but they turned it around and with a goalie who stood on his head made it to the promise land.

For me, it lays out like this: First line: 65 points or more Second line: 41-64 points Third line: 25-40 points Fourth line: 24 points and under. Based on this, the Sabres issue was they simply had no second line. Do they have players that produced 2nd line numbers before? Yes. But they didn't do it last season. Was that on Housley? Perhaps. But I look at a player like Sheary who the Sabres hoped would be more of the 53 point producer than the 30 for Pitt, and he ended up being the latter. Okposo went from being a solid 2nd line producer to 3rd line production. Was that the system? Or a player whose age is catching up to him. There are some unknowns in this. For example, if you play Olafsson with a solid 2C and 2LW can he produce over 41 points? I think so. That guy is dynamic. Middlestadt scored 12 goals and 25 points, barely squeaking into 3rd line production. For me, he is a 3rd liner until his production tells me different. That's why Pommer's return to me isn't as vital, cuz he's a 3rd liner at this stage of his career. We have guys coming up that might be able to fill that 3RW With the Vesey deal, the jury is out. 17 goals and 35 points puts him at a 3rd liner in my book. But that was an improvement from 28 points the year prior. Another similar jump and he could be a 2nd line performer. That's why the 2nd line scoring in my mind was so critical to our failure. But one has to ask, was that lack of production on the player, or the coach? Will Krueger be able to allow some of those 3rd liners who put up 2nd line numbers in the past replicate them, and help those on the brink of 2nd line numbers achieve those goals? If Bots is thinking Vesey at 2LW and Olafsson at 2RW, then no question we need a 2C center. I find it incredible to believe we won't achieve that this summer. Keep in mind, the Skinner deal wasn't done until August. The summer is young. But make no mistake without that 2C the Sabres are in jeopardy of falling flat on their face next season. Thoughts?

Thought Miller would be perfect for us. That's a steep price to pay for a 2C though. Agreed. You want something to happen but it has to make sense.

This is why some Sabres fans are so sad. They whine and cry about a player's attitude and demand he get's traded. Everyone was laughing at the trade when St. Louis was in last and the Sabres were in first, saying "told you so" to the Blues. Now he's on the verge of a Stanley Cup and the trade is the worst in team history. I was a proponent of trading OReilly at the time. I felt you couldn't have a player like that in the lockerroom who is looked upon as a leader. It's a culture killer, and one of the reasons why the Avs wanted him out of Colorado. In hindsight, it seems that Housley's coaching style may have been the culture killer, and OReilly's comments may have been more of an indictment on that, then the type of attitude and mental toughness he possesses. Had the Sabres not traded OReilly, they may have been better last season. But it was obvious he wasn't a fit with Housley, so who knows. As for the trade, while Sobotka and Bergland were disappointments, I'm excited about Tage Thompson and the 1st we received. It's too early to tell whether we won or lost the trade because the main pieces in the trade were a focused on the future. 3-4 years for now we'll know. A perfect world would have OReilly on a team with a coack like Krueger, whose more of a mental coach than Housley. But bottom line it's done, and to continue to whine and complain about it is one of the reasons why Buffalo fans are looked upon as whiners and complainers. It's easy to criticize in hindsight. We all make decisions at our jobs that may look bad at some point, then look good months later. Or just end up not working out. Sports is not different. Let it go. Move on.

You can lose sources quickly in sports with all of the turnover. Woudn't surprise me if he just lost the ability to connect with execs and players due to his overt negative tone. When you continually tear into a team, they tend to want to talk to you less. As a fan, I need a writer who can identify both negative and positive in a situation. Sullivan seemed to always take a negative, whiny, approach to every article, which I'm sure meshed well with many of the Bills and Sabres fans who are also whiny and negative. But after a while, that grows old on a fan like myself. I followed him on Twitter for a while, and vast majority of the comments below his negative takes were critical of his negative tone, telling him to shut up...or confirming why the BN dumped him. When you mix in the fans AND team execs being tired of his constant negative takes, it becomes a business decision.

In previous years, I have been a huge proponent of getting rid of many Sabres due to lack of production. This season, as in past seasons, disappointment seemed to find it's way through many of their 2nd and 3rd lines. But after taking a step back, seeing the dismissal of PH, and seeing the success of previous Sabres on other teams, I think withholding judgement may be in order. Let's start with a few of the obvious: Risto: Was one of the "stubborn" players Bots was talking about during last off season, and his locker cleanout interview recently showed he wasn't a fan of Housley's system or culture. In two years with Disco Dan, Risto was a total -30. 2 years w/ PH, he was -66. His shot % dropped below 3.2% for the first time in his career. He was always paired against the opponent's best line, and he wasn't the only player on the ice. His work ethic cannot be questioned, yet PH system didn't work for him. We can send him off to another team for a scoring 2C and watch another former Sabre succeed, or allow a new coach use him and play to his strengths and sign a 2C via free agency or through trading another piece. Sobotka: Yes, I was one of the many who said just shelf the guy in January. But he came out and said PH was using him in a different role, which curtailed his scoring. Square peg meet round hole. He went from 11/20/31, -6 in St. Louis to 5/8/13 -20 in Buffalo. He took half as many shots in Buffalo this season (71) than he took in St. Louis last season (131). I"m a bit skeptical in blaming Sobotka cuz of the result of ROR for the Blues. Here is a guy who was 24/37/61 -23 in Buffalo and deemed the problem to 28/49/77 +22 in St. Louis and deemed a leader. That's a 45 plus/minus jump. Many fans wanted ROR shipped out. That's a whole 'nother post. Okposo: Here is a guy who this past season had his lowest goal and assist total in a non-strike season since 2010-2011. He was -7 in one year w/ Disco Dan, and -43 in two years with Housley. Some may contribute that to his age, and the fact he was recovering from a serious concussion two seasons ago, but the negative attitude in the Sabres locker room and lack of a true 2C probably had more to do with that than anything. Keep in mind earlier in the season during the Sabres stretch run in Oct/Nov he was 5/6/11 in 15 games, yet 8/5/13 from January 1st on. I think a solid 2C and a new coach and system may turn his numbers around. Scandella: He also struggled in PH defensive scheme, with horrendous give aways and bad decisions. But I think he was another player who didn't work well in PH system. He had double digit assists in 4 of his last 5 seasons until putting up a measly 7 this year. His shot total went from 138 last year to 83 this season. I believe he was another player who the culture took a toll on him. Hutton: Here is a guy who stood on his head on many nights, yet went from 17-7 w/ 2.09 and .931 last season in St. Louis to 18-25 w/ 3.00 and .908 this year. He was left out to dry on many nights. Although he played almost twice as many games w/ the Sabres than last year with the Blues, a better team in front of him would have helped his numbers greatly. Also, when you look at Lehner, who openly criticized the Culture in Buffalo, went from 14-26, 3.01 .908 w/ Sabres to 25-13, 2.13 .930 w/ NYI this past season. Almost mirror images of the same player with a different team. Is it the player, or the team? I'm not a GM, and I'm not saying "keep everyone for another year". Change is good. But before we cast off players who were the ire of our fury and have struggled this season with a coach that clearly was in over his head, I think it's important to take a deep breath. Last year a fan posted that they ran into the parents of Justin Falk while on vacation. The parents stated that Housley was soft on veteran players, and was afraid to bench or ride them when they underperformed. Looking back on that today, PH record and on ice performance reflected that softness. This team simply lacked mental toughness through adversity. They talked about it last year, and it still was an issue this year. It wouldn't surprise me if he lost the respect of the locker room because of it. I just hope Bots doesn't react and pull another ROR based on the performance of a player in a system that lacked structure and a culture that lacked discipline. Would I want to see another high scoring 2C or 2Winger? Of course. But if that happens, and then that player underperforms here, are we going to go through the blame game with them again and trade them away? Or do we look at the bigger problem, which is the voice and direction they are following?

Bottom line it's difficult to gauge a players performance based on how Housley used him. Sobotka even came out stating his scoring took a hit based on the role Housley assigned him. Once a new coach comes in that may change. I'm reserving judgement

Our next coach will be Chris Taylor Book it