GASabresIUFAN

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.

Hopefully, the plan is for all 3 Sabres goalies to retire or play elsewhere next season.

and Josh Bloom. So are Adam Fox and the Hughes brothers. PS: Why does it matter? The 2020/21 U20 Canadian team - Cozens, Quinn, Krebs & Levi.

The Sabres are at 72 points with 13 games left. They finished with 75 points last year (32-39-11). DB's best team finished 2015/16 with 81 points (35-36-11). We have 33 wins YTD, but are going to need 5 more in the next 13 to top that 2015/2016 team.

There are plenty of personal milestones to reach. 30 goals is still possible for VO, Skinner and Cozens. 15 for Quinn. 10+ for Krebs and JJP. 50 is still possible for Tage, who also only needs 13 points from 100 for the season. Dahlin needs 1 goal for 15 and 12 points for 75. Power needs 2 points for 30. Mitts 8 for 50. The last Sabres with 50+ goals and/or 100 pts were Patty and Alex in 1992/93. Last Sabre with 90+ points was Briere in 2006/7. Only 4 Sabres have ever scored 50. Alex, Patty, Rico and Danny. Only 5 Sabres have ever reached 100 pts in a season; Gilbert (2), Alex, Patty, Robert and Turgeon. Only 9 players have had a 90+ point season; Gilbert (5) Patty (3), Hawerchuk (2), Briere, Turgeon, Andreychuk, Martin, Mogilny and Robert with 1 each. Last D with 70+ points was Housley in 1989/90. Last D to 15 goals was Zhitnik in 1997/98 and last D to 60 points was Housley as well. Only 3 D in Sabres history have had 60+ in a season. Dahlin (1), Van Boxmeer (2), Housley (8). From a team standing point, winning 7 games down the stretch will give them 40 wins; the most since 43 in 2010-2011. Scoring 8 more goals will give them their highest output since 2006-07’s 308. Scoring 34 more goals will match the output from 1993-94 with 282, besting 2005-06’s 281. They have allowed 256 goals against. Right now we are a minus 8 for the season. If they can keep it here, they’ll finish with their best differential since 2011-12 when they were -12 for the season.

So yes, I believe that a little introspection is necessary. I’ve called on DG for months to alter the system to protect the goalies and try to limit the odd man rushes. I actually think KA has a basic idea of what to do. Getting Greenway and Stillman at the deadline was about getting tougher. Getting Lyubushkin was as well. Trying to get Chychrun was about upgrading the top 4. All of these are good signs for the off-season. Whether or not he can execute the vision is another question. From an off-season standpoint, the weight room is key for our young group. We have 8 players, many of them core players, under 24. Power, Joki, Dahlin, Mule, Cozens, Quinn, JJP and Krebs all play an important roles for this team. but because of being physically immature, they tend to get knocked around, including Mule. Just wait until he fills out. They need to hit the weight room and get stronger. For the remaining games, DG needs to get them refocused. He needs to tell them not to worry about the playoffs, but just go out play hard each period and try to win each period. They aren’t making the playoffs, but they need to learn to fight through adversity and play hard.

I agree that would have been ideal. However you don’t know if TP put limits on KA’s usage of his money for this type of deal. Remember that retaining cap comes with a real $ cost. In addition, most of the transactions were West players heading East. KA rightly didn’t want to help our opponents get better on our nickel.

The Goal is to make the playoffs! That's the only relevant goal at this point. How do we get there? 1) Get better goaltending. 2) Get better defensemen. 3) Learn to play tougher. A legit 4th line center who can win draws and kill penalties is now crucial. 4)KA now needs to focus less on development and more on winning. That means that outside of Dahlin, Power, Mule, Tuch, Cozens, Quinn, and TNT, every asset in the organization is available for the right price. Levi, Savoie, and Kulich will also be very difficult but not impossible to acquire. However, everyone else and every draft pick is available for the right price. Östlund, Rosen, Johnson, UPL, Mitts, VO, JJP, Greenway, Jokiharju, Krebs, Jost, our 1st in 2023 and 24, and both 2nds this year are available, but we have to get the right pieces back. This is going to be KA's biggest challenge. He has no experience building a winning team. This is his first attempt. I said before the season that we need to not only score more goals but learn how to limit them as well. The Sabres are allowing a whopping 3.63 GA per game. Our team save % is .891. Our PK is now down to 71.88%. Incredibly these are all worse than last year. To make matter worse, this team has regressed just when they needed to gel and play their best hockey of the season. DG needs to look in the mirror and so do the players.

Does it seem that they have given up?

It was joke.

Starter, as in the opening night lineup barring injuries. Basic the top 12 F, 6D, and 2G I think you are in general agreement with me Skinner TNT Tuch JJP Cozens Quinn Mitts Krebs ????? Greenway ????? KO (or Z if KO walks) Jost Dahlin Mule Power ????? Jokiharju Lyubushkin Stillman ?????? UPL This means trading VO, Comrie, and Bryson (or waiving and then assigning them to Rochester if not claimed). Not re-sign Vinnie, Girgenson (or KO), and Clague. Anderson retires.

I think there will be a minimum of 3 starters being changed. I’m hopeful for a 4th line center upgrade as well. Depending on how the kids do in camp, they could force someone else out as well.

@Crusader1969 and @LGR4GM in the Sabres missing the playoffs spread discussed roster changes this off-season. They pondered up to 5-8 roster changes for 2023-24. Crusader thinking 3 max and LGR saying there was 0 chance we'd have 5-8. I answered with the following but thought my answer was more appropriate here. It's an interesting question. How many current players return? There are only 6 FAs, including 4 UFAs ( KO, Z, Anderson and Vinnie) and 2 RFAs (Clague and Jost). Only 1 player on the current roster is certainly not returning and that is Craig Anderson. The rest who knows. In theory, if none of the FAs return that is 6 open roster spots and there is reason to believe that 3-4 may not return (Vinnie, Anderson, KO/Z, and or Clague) F - Cozens, Tuch, Krebs, Tnt, Skinner, Greenway, and Quinn will be back. Mitts and JJP are also almost certain to return unless KA is willing to trade one to help another area. VO is out of favor in general and should be traded. Greenway is getting either KO or Z's job and they'll probably re-sign Jost. Vinnie is likely going to try his luck elsewhere. (2-3 changes?) D - Dahlin, Mule, Bush and Power will certainly be back. Stillman was acquired with term. He'll also return. Joki is well-liked and I assume he'll be back unless needed to upgrade Power's partner. I'd move on from both Clague and Bryson. (1-2 changes) G - UPL and Comrie both stink and both should go. (1-2 changes) Like it or not 4-5 rookies may vie for roster spots next year in Johnson, Levi, Savoie, Kulich, and Rousek. There easily is potential for 5-8 roster changes. Dump Bryson, Clague, Vinnie, Anderson, Comrie, and one of Z or KO and you're there. Trade VO and your at 7 current players sent packing. We actually have had 5 roster changes during the season. In - UPL, Clague, Stillman, Greenway, and Jost. Out - Bjork, Asplund, Fitzgerald, and Sheahan. Comrie is on IR.

..... so after we draft Bedard, who will be our second round picks?

Lol

Are we back in the Bedard sweepstakes?