GASabresIUFAN

Bedard late than never?

I don’t agree. We took Thompson when Stl balked at Thomas or Kyrou. We have Savoie, Kulich, Östlund or Rosen. Giving them Östlund or Rosen should satisfy any team.

We asked for more D depth in the organization and bam LA delivers. I don’t know if this is a good signing or not, but at least it’s recognition that the depth is needed. Hopefully this is another sign that KA actually has a clue what needs to be done to fix the team and help them take the next step.

It depends on my other options. I'd might do one of the top prospects and a 2nd for Saros, but not a top prospect and a first. I'd consider a first (2024) and Rosen however.

If Sabres management had a brain they’d leave him in Rochester for another year. He needs to get stronger as do all the young Sabres. After watching JJP struggle often with the physical nature of the 82 game NHL schedule, I suspect Kulich and Savoie would struggle as well. There also might not even be a spot for him on the forwards next season. If you go with the premise that KA/DG would want him in a top 9 role, where would he play? Even if VO is traded, you still have 10 guys under contract or control pencilled in or fighting for those 9 jobs (Skinner, TNT, Tuch, Quinn, Cozens, JJP, Mitts, Krebs, Jost and Greenway). Another candidate for a top 9 role is Savoie, who because of his lack of AHL eligibility is more likely to make the Sabres next fall. All that said, Kulich is my favorite prospect. This is the one guy in last year’s draft that I desperately wanted KA to draft. Frankly his game reminded me of ROR, as in someone who would contribute all over the ice. I think he potentially he could be a perfect 2 way center for this franchise. PS His contract slides another year if kept to Rochester all season next year.

and refusing to invest in real goaltending. 😎

Of the 21 guys I looked up 13 became NHL starters at 25-27. 2 others at 24. Only 3 didn't play in the A, but all 3 came from Eastern Europe and had considerable pro experience there. So it's still possible UPL becomes a viable starter in the NHL, but he clearly isn't one yet, and had he been playing for a competent franchise, the only NHL experience he'd have is as an occasional injury call-up.

I don't think we even have to look at fancy stats to see that he isn't an NHL goalie right now and probably will never be one. Just compare his AHL numbers to any of his peers in the NHL. His numbers in the A are worse than everyone I've looked up. From Jake Allen to Markstrom to Husso to Binnington to Logan Thompson to Stuart Skinner. Skinner is the closest I've seen to UPL's lousy numbers, but that was only one season, not 4. Skinner's last two AHL campaigns featured save % of .914 and .920. UPL has never come close to those numbers.

Like Demko, Saros and Hart for example.

Pray. If they are, this team can’t make the playoffs unless they magically become good goalies.

Another reason to let KO move on this summer. The following is what I wrote in the thread quoted above.

Every move by Adams on the goaltending front has been awful except trading for Levi and until he is the starter here the jury is still out. Keeping Hutton year 1. - Mistake. Letting Ullmark walk with the lame excuse of not blocking UPL and wanting to create "real" competition. - Mistake. After all how do you get real competition if you don't have real players at the position? Failure to have a plan B when Ullmark walked (as he should have). - Mistake. Scrapping the bottom of the goalie barrel for the last two seasons to find goaltending because UPL stinks. Hiring Anderson, Comrie, Dell, Tokarski, and Subban. All mistakes. Believing that UPL was ready to compete for real minutes in the NHL. - Mistake. Not willing to trade any quality assets to get help at the most vital position. - Mistake. Trying to acquire cap dump goalies with NTCs. - Mistakes. Drafted a goaltender in the 2nd round who doesn't even have a .900 save % in Finland's juniors. - Mistake. Honestly, if UPL and Comrie are in camp next fall, Adams should be fired immediately.

With a mix of VO, KO, Z, Bryson and Clague. Dumping the special teams and D coaches should also be considered.

Our management didn't want to "block" the elite prospect that was UPL while saying competition is important and therefore let Ullmark walk, without bringing in real goaltending to create the stated goal of competition for jobs. Boston management said Ullmark please come here and play with our top prospect Swayman and now they have the best tandem in hockey. Apparently, they weren't actually worried about real competition. Last I looked there are two goaltenders on each team in the NHL (except us, we have 3 bad goalies). Boston said we need two good ones, while Buffalo said screw that we don't care if we have any credible goaltending. Since Ullmark walked, we've had Anderson, Dell, Tokarski, Subban, Houser, Comrie, and UPL. UPL can't even beat out that sorry lot. Talk about bad management and a lack of real competition. One team makes good decisions and competes for a Cup even with one of the older forward groups in the NHL and one group makes terrible decisions and fails to give an emerging team the support it needs and deserves. I don't know if Granato is the answer, but I do know he can only work with the team he is given.

Considering the last 10 games are they even providing adequate leadership?

So maybe the person who should be on the hot seat is the guy who keeps hiring bad goalies? If he doesn’t get real goaltending this summer he should lose his job. I don’t care if Levi comes in and plays great in his 3-4 starts. Asking a 21 year old goalie just out of college to carry a playoff caliber team is wrong.

When does Levi start? It seems our goalies have nothing left to give.

and it only took a decade.

and sad. What it means is that the GM failed the team. Every successful rebuild I've ever seen has at worst decent goaltending. Most have good to excellent goaltending. There is an adage that you build from the goal out for a reason.

Let me tell you the story of how Connor Bedard became a Buffalo Sabre.

I keep missing these wonderful games on Tuesdays. A tragedy. Has the team given up?

After I made my original post, I realized that this topic would morph into a discussion of next season as well. Z, KO and Jost are the relevant FAs in the group. Jost is an RFA. Greenway was acquired to replace Z or KO. My guess is KO is moving on. The Sabres are still weak on the puck and don’t back check consistently. The forward group needs to get tougher and stronger. The kids will need to spend the offseason in the weight room. I’d like to see KA acquire someone like Haula to center the 4th line. A line of Z, Greenway and Haula might be able to give the Sabres a reasonable facsimile of the Greenway, Foligno, EK line in Minn. What happens if Savoie makes the team? He can’t play in Rochester next season and has nothing left to prove in the CHL. Where does he fit. My guess is we trade VO and pencil Savoie into the spot. What about Krebs and Jost? Where should they play if Haula (or someone like him) is acquired? Does Jost become the 13th forward? Do we like the idea of Mitts Krebs Savoie? What if DG likes Mitts Cozens Quinn as the 2nd line? Does JJP Krebs Savoie sound workable? I’m assuming for now that Kulich doesn’t make the team.

Despite all their success this season, the forward group is currently a jigsaw puzzle with pieces that don’t fit right now. Yes, the top line has had a great season. Yes, Cozens has been awesome as well. Quinn is developing nicely. For everyone else the season has been a series of ups and downs and nothing is really working right now. The combo that worked best came after the waiver claim for Jost. The kids worked well with Cozens, Jost gelled with Mitts and VO and Krebs gave the Vets a boost on the 4th line. Now VO’s production has disappeared since DG broke up the kid line. Mitts flourished for a while with Jost and then Cozens, but the change cost VO. Quinn and JJP hit the wall, with only Quinn recovering. Krebs was elevated to the 3rd line but that hasn’t really worked. Jost has been a healthy scratch for some reason. Defenses have adjusted to TNT slowing his scoring pace. Tuch’s injury certainly helped muddy the waters. Now we are trying to integrate Greenway into the mix. With 13 games left and the playoffs becoming a non-factor, what should DG to reinvigorate his forward group for the remainder of the season? What should DG/KA be looking at for next season? My first reaction is to focus on next year. I’d put the lines back together that worked well earlier in the year with one change. I’d rotate Greenway in on the 4th line giving Z and KO days off and also swapping Greenway in for anyone who is nicked up. Skinner TNT Tuch JJP Cozens Quinn Mitts Jost VO Z Krebs KO - Greenway So why back to this? One, it worked. Two, we need to get VO going to enhance his off-season trade value. If we can get some secondary scoring again maybe that will loosen things up for the top line. Three, getting JJP back to a comfortable line might get him going as well. Fourth, odds are the Greenway is going to be on our energy line next year. He might as well try to develop some chemistry with those players.

I agree. We aren't going to see what Greenway can do until he has a training camp and time to really practice with the team and learn his role. DG also needs that time to figure out how best to utilize his talents. Since we are out of the playoffs it's best to keep him in the lineup and continue to get him acclimated to the team and the team to him. Still, I'd like to see him bang some more. That line with Foligno and he was extremely effective and they took the body more often than not. From a lineup standpoint, I'd play all the kids, I'd even rest Mitts, VO, Z, and KO to max the kid's PT. We have nothing to lose at this point.

Samuelsson has 102 NHL games under his belt. Dahlin is our most experienced blueliner @ 342 games. Bush is second at 266, Joki 3rd at 260, Bryson 4th at 164, and Stillman 5th at 148. Next is Mattias at 102, followed by Clague (88 games) and Power. Not exactly a heaping load of experience. Bush is the only one with playoff experience totaling 7 games.