GASabresIUFAN

You can be “un-involved in the day to day”, but still put the franchise behind the eight ball. For example TP tells his GM here is your internal salary cap, but allow the GM to spend it as he see fit. Another example could be simply saying the GM is not allowed to retain salary in any trades. This isn’t day to day involvement, but it does handcuff the GM. The two examples are how I feel TP meddles besides his terrible management hires, and so I think that’s what the agents mean. Adams can make any hockey personnel decisions he wants in terms of contract $ and term and trade any prospect, player or pick as long as he doesn’t spend above x$ and doesn’t retain any salary to get the deals done.

The fall starts in the second period. We have scored 67 goals in the first. It then drops to 54 in the second and we have now scored 57 in the 3rd. We have only allowed 42 1st period goals. That numbers jumps to 71 in the second and 71 in the 3rd. It’s pretty clear that our performance as a team falls off in the 2nd and then carries over into the 3rd.

It could be that the Sabres come out hard and fast and their effort and attention to detail then fall off as the grind of the game continues? It’s kind of like a sugar high to start the game and once the sugar gets out of their system they crash and go to sleep. or It also could be that good teams don’t take them seriously and then once they get behind they start picking up their intensity, start physically man handling our weak players and grind the Sabres into submission. or It could be that our team’s flaws get exposed over the 60 minutes, especially our poor defense and penalty kill. The defense and PK get exploited time and again as the game progresses destroying the hope created by the quick start. or It could be a mix of all these issues.

Yet we have one of the worst PK in the NHL. Maybe the problem is bigger than one player? Maybe that player isn’t as effective on the PK as alleged?

The D in the 3rd period was the most activated I've seen by this team all year. They literally skated a tired Ducks team into the ice in the 3rd. They probably should have had 6 goals.

Yep.

The Sabres lead the NHL in scoring first this season. In fact they've scored first in 35 of 55 games. Unfortunately, they only have 18 wins when scoring first and 12 regulations losses. Their 12 regulation losses when scoring first is 2nd only to Chicago. Their 17 losses (Reg & OT) when scoring 1st is also second worst to Chicago's 19. They also have 6 losses after leading after 1 period. This is the second worst in that category as well (Chicago has 8). Defense wins championships and this team doesn't have any.

You forgot that we are also 22nd in ES goals allowed (in other words we have allowed the 11 most goals 5 on 5. Our defense also falls apart as the game progresses. We are 6th best in the NHL in least 1st period goals allowed at 41. However he have allowed 70 goals in the 2nd period (3rd most allowed) and 71 in the 3rd period (4 most allowed). Our offense also slips significantly after the 1st. We lead the NHL in goals in the 1st period with 67, but our 54 in the 2nd is 19th and our 54 in the 3rd is 21st. Hard to win in the NHL if you can't hold a lead. The problem with this team is defense and special teams.

Different team, different system. He thrived here and our team was better with him. I actually don’t have an issue with the McLeod trade as I did earlier. Since being demoted to the 4th line McLeod has really picked up his game at both ends of the ice. I still wouldn’t commit to him long term but how much better would we be with both Mitts and McLeod in the top 9?

Except Zucker none of the players you mentioned are seasoned vets none have actually upgraded the roster. Since these players were added and guys like Mitts, Skinner, VO, and others were subtracted the team is worse. The only two legit non-goalie vets Adams has added that could be argued are upgrades are Zucker and Greenway and both are 3rd line players (or would be on a real team). There is no question McLeod has been good but he isn’t a 50+ point player like Mitts or any sort of playmaker like Mitts. He is a downgrade. Byram has improved this season but the analytics say he is being carried by Dahlin. At least he’s better than Power. Still is he worth another huge long-term Adams contract? I don’t think so as his in zone D is still very suspect. Malenstyn, who maybe the only 4th line acquisition who has somewhat done what was expected, is playing over 4 minutes a game less than he did with Wash last season and they don’t miss him at all. Their front office must be laughing at Adams for giving them a 2nd for him. Maybe all 3 of these players are part of the Sabres future, but remember all 3 were dumped by teams with Cup aspirations.

...and they are still at the bottom of the Eastern Conference and 4th worst team in the NHL. At least it's more entertaining.

Nice win. Sad they didn't have this kind of effort for most of the season. They blocked shots, played hard until the final whistle. A few guys even tried to stand up for teammates. This game showed why the US lost to Canada in the final game of the 4 Nations..... Too many Rangers.

Is it me, or do the Amerks have much more fun playing hockey than the Sabres. Sure winning is a factor, but they just seem to play with more joy and enthusiasm.

Since when has that ever mattered to the Sabres in the last 14 years.

Similar numbers in college as well. Now Devon has to do it in the NHL consistently.

https://www.nhltraderumors.me/2025/02/nhl-trade-rumors-sabres-utah-linked-to.html Adams allegedly interested in Kesselring from Utah. No idea why Utah would consider trading Kesselring given his low salary and 2 way game, but kudos to Adams if he finds a way to get him. I put the likelihood of this trade at 5%. https://www.nhltraderumors.me/2025/02/report-sabres-henri-jokiharju-drawing.html Finland's head coach called Joki "really solid." Great, Adams trade him now. https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/news/casey-mittelstadt-seth-jones-join-latest-trade-targets-board-colorado-avalanche-chicago-blackhawks Byram 4th, Mitts 5th, Cozens 7th, and Quinn 16th on their trade board

Power is worse. I've said this in the Power or Byram thread, but one of them needs to be traded.

Speaking of the Beatles; didn't Sir Paul sound horrible last night? Back on topic US vs Canada again. Not surprising.

...The sun will come out tomorrow....

No not exactly, but at 23 (24 in July), most media members stop listing him as a 'prospect." I use a broader definition of 24 years old and still waivers exempt, but writers like Lance, or the guys at the Athletic use a less expansive definition. I use the broader definition because both TNT and Mitts spent considerable time in the NHL before going to Roch and finding their games. For example: This is Wheeler's definition from the Athletic https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5919859/2025/01/08/nhl-prospects-rankings-2025/

If his skating is good enough he’ll have a 10 year + career. Same for Komarov. I’d like to see Novikov to get some games in the NHL soon to see where his skating is.

Lance has published his top 10 prospects. Kulich is No.1, but does anyone have TBN subscription for the other 9?

Since rebuild 3.0 started and outside of draft picks Tuch is the only one and he gave up a top line center to get him. Byram is the only top 4 defenseman he has acquired and he gave up a top 6 forward to get him. Zucker is a 3rd line forward on a good team. McLeod is probably a 3rd/4th line center on most playoff teams. Greenway is also a 3rd/4th line player on good playoff teams. Everyone else he acquired are 4th line/bottom pair players or AAAA players. Since he came to Buffalo, Adams has let an all-star goalie walk (Ullmark). Traded away a top line all-star center (Eichel), a top line all-star winger (Reinhart), a top pair D (Montour) and a top 6 forward (Mitts). He has only arguably replaced Montour with Byram. Eichel and Reinhart are on the top lines for their countries in the 4 nations tournament. Ullmark is also representing Sweden.

Lighten up Francis.

Just got a chance to see the highlights of the USA/Finland game. Nice shot by Joki to get the first goal for Finland. Unfortunately for Finland the Sabres curse kicked in and they gave up 6 straight goals after taking an early lead.