GASabresIUFAN

True and Reed had Lofton and Thomas to take some catches away.. Still Diggs is succeeding with limited other top options and often getting double teamed.

Diggs is at 4000 yards and 28 TDs with 4 games to go in his 3 years here. These are Buffalo records for a 3 years stretch.

I agree on Jerry Butler but that raises the next questions. Is Diggs the best WR ever to play for the Bills? Reed is in the Hall, but I honestly think Diggs is the better player, although we may have been better off keeping the pick and choosing Jefferson. Bob Chandler, Moulds and Lofton have to be on the list somewhere.

Like becoming President or helping the Bills to 4 Superbowls?

Most of the assets you mention including the now head coach he inherited. He has drafted well and made some solid trades dismantling the old failed core. Everyone acknowledges these facts. However outside of getting Tuch in the Eichel trade, which specific acquisition from another organization has made this team demonstrably better? I'd argue none. His plan is draft and develop to build a core and go from there. Well the core is in place. Now that the core's is in place what's the plan to elevate the team? More waiting for more prospects to develop seems to continue to be the plan, except this is no help coming on defense or in goal from the pipeline any time soon! Truthfully this was the year to push the team into playoff contention and build on last season's improvement. He had unlimited cap space, the core locked up or under team control, and just a few areas of real need. Unfortunately, the value brand band-aids he hired, Comrie and Bush, have been mostly absent and haven't added anything really when playing. Now what? The answer remains nothing. My hope is that KA learns something from having failed to support the team after another good start and becomes more aggressive in filling the obvious holes in the roster. The GM's in Chicago and Pitt added guys like Campbell, Sharp, Hoosa, Gonchar and Recchi to shepherd their young squads to the playoffs. When will Ka doing something similar?

We have found them over the years. Hasek trade, the drafting of Barrasso, Sauve, Edwards, Biron, Miller with a late pick etc.. Had KA re-signed Ullmark to extension prior to his last season here we wouldn't be having this discussion and we'd already be a playoff team. ` But this wasn't the route KA chose to go. I think the solution is out there and it isn't Levi. KA is just going to have succeed in acquiring the right player. The "I tried" excuse is tired already. As master Yoda said. "Try not! Do or Do Not, There is no try!"

Do you mean why can’t we find a goalie who can actually win 4 games in a week? Good question. Maybe Kevyn Adams knows.

Absolutely. I listed it as the top priority for next season. My second and third priorities were a legit top 4 partner for Power and more proven D depth in general. However if someone asked me today what KA can do today to improve the GAA, I'd say it's much easier to get D help in season then goaltending.

I'm not sure anyone on the Bills agrees with you here. He is a rookie RB on a veteran team behind a lousy Oline. They liked Cook enough and his skill set to trade away Moss. They also have been expanding his role in recent weeks.

Fair enough, although I think we can make the goalies we have better by improving the D depth which I think can actually be done in season.

Really? How many guys play a top 6 role in the NHL? Quick math says 192 (6 x 32). Guess where Casey sits? He is tied for 134th in pts and is tied for 151st in P/GP. That's a top 6 level on most NHL teams. I also think he played very well with Tuch and Tage in the game against Pitt.

I think we are already there.

That’s the thing with the NFL. Just win and advance. Injuries are a huge part of the results in the NFL. The Bills have played without Pro Bowl caliber players all year including Hyde, White, Milano, Edmunds, Poyer, Miller and Dawkins, yet are still winning and the 3 games they lost were by a collective 8 points.

Like I said in my post, some of what I proposed is unlikely. That said, If Az is serious about moving Chychrun they will have to lower the price because no one is biting at the current price. He is a very good player, but not an elite one. I’m willing to pay a decent price to get him, but I plan to use him as a 3rd pairing player. On most teams he is a second pairing guy and on good teams he’s a 2nd or even 3rd pairing guy. Unlike KA, my plan is flexible. I know I need 2 more NHL D to make my plan work. If I don’t get Chychrun, I’d be just as happy to get Schenn and Jensen. Maybe my 3rd pair won’t be as dynamic offensively, but it could become a good shutdown pair. It would also cost less in term of assets and cap and actually bring in more veteran leadership on the backend which we also need. The key is to be flexible. One other note. If KA doesn’t want to invest in goaltending, then he better invest in better defensive Dmen.

Don’t forget that part of any big trade is making the cap hits and roster positions work. Like us AZ is near the cap floor. If they move Chychrun they will have to take money back to stay cap compliant. They may also want a D back to make the roster work. We can make a deal work. I’d offer Mitts (or Krebs) Östlund and a top 10 protected 1st in 2023. I think that is more than a fair offer and its very close to the stated price.

They are having OLine issues (Saffold) and the dropsies at receiver including Diggs. Knox is being used as a blocker to shore up the Oline. Ike Boettger will be back in a couple of weeks and that will help. I’m perfectly OK with winning with a stellar D. I"m a Georgia fan afterall. In fact this teams reminds me a great deal of Georgia. Inconsistent but sometimes dominate offense and seems to suffer in bad weather. A team that’s excellent defensively but is weakest in the D backfield. A team that had a lull mid-season when injuries struck especially with the QB playing through an arm injury. Like GA, now that health is returning, the team is getting better. Bills are 4-0 in the last 4 and GA, since the bad Mizzou game, has crushed everyone they played including 3 ranked teams. In the bad weather at UK they controlled the clock and game by rushing for 250 yards and only seeding 6 pts.

I kept Mitts over Krebs because he is top 6 insurance in case of injury. He plays both center and wings and DG moved him up with Skinner suspended. That said, if I were KA I’m listening to all offers for anyone outside our top 6 forwards and top 3 D. If I have to move Joki to get Chychrun I’d consider it.

When the Bills beat Miami that gives us a 3 game lead with 3 to go. We then have to win one of our last 3 to secure the Division. We play the Bears after Miami and that should wrap things up.

The Athletic came out "player cards" and they say pretty much what we'd expect. We are getting great contract value for the top 6 forwards (including Skinner) and top 3 d, and Anderson and nothing from anyone else. I think that is probably a very accurate assessment of the team, except it's a little harsh on Jokiharju who I think when healthy has been very solid this season. In fact it seems to be playing out much as I expected to start the season. This is what I wrote in the Expectations for 2022/23 thread. I'd like to take that a step further and look at the team and try to think of how I'd approach the fix and try to anticipate how KA might do it. Forwards Top Line - The return of Tuch, Tage and Skinner picked up where they left off last season and have been even better. This is a great development for the team and they are all in their primes. Hopefully this means they'll be at this level for at least the next 2-4 years. Tage looks like the truly elite player this franchise has been desperate for up front. Second line - the Kiddie Corps. Cozens, JJP and Quinn have found nearly instant chemistry and it's elevated them all. The Cozens ytd is the player Jbot anticipated when he drafted him. Quinn and JJP's historically great seasons in the A last year are translating to the NHL. These 3 are quickly cementing themselves as core players now and in the future. I expect Cozens to get a similar deal to Tage's this summer. Now the question marks begin. What are the futures for Mitts, VO, KO, Z, Jost, Asplund, Vinnie and Krebs. Casey, VO and Krebs are all signed for the next year. If I were the GM, I'd trade VO as soon as I get the right offer. We are desperate for D help and many teams are desperate for goal scorers. To me this has hockey trade written all over it. However, hockey trades like this are very rare at the deadline meaning that it's more likely the VO is traded this summer when teams have more cap flexibility. I think Mitts and Krebs get another year, especially because they remain RFAs giving KA a longer runway to make a decision. I would trade one but not both in the right deal for either a top 4 D or goaltender this summer. That said both have limited futures here if they don't step up and contribute on a more regular basis. Jost and Asplund are RFAs. Neither really adds much. I had hoped that Asplund would take another step forward this season, but that doesn't seem the case and at 25 now seem unlikely. He'd be cheap to retain and is still good defensively, but is that enough to keep him? Jost has been decent since he arrived, but certainly isn't worth 2.0 per season to keep. I can see KA re-signing to a two year deal with a pay cut to 1.5 per season. I don't think KO, Vinnie or Z have a future here any longer. Vinnie is currently the 13 or 14th forward. If he wants to reprise that role next year, I guess KA might retain him, but I think he'll go elsewhere looking for PT. The best thing we can do is trade KO to a contender at the deadline and give him a shot at winning a Cup if he wants to go. As to re-signing him, I think it's possible because of his leadership on a 1 or 2 year deal at a much smaller cap figure; say 3 mill per season. However I suspect that this is his last season in Buffalo unless he retires and moves to the front office. Of the 3, I think Z is the most likely to get re-signed. He isn't really giving us 2.2 mill worth of play, but he brings a skill set that is absent from this team and also absent from the farm system. That said, he could also be moved to a contender at the deadline looking for forward depth and physical play. Defense Not a much to say about Dahlin, Samuelsson and Power. They are excellent and are the core of this defense hopefully for the next decade. After them there is almost nothing. Jokiharju is signed as has been decent this season when healthy, but seems better fit for a 3rd pairing role than the 2nd pairing job he now holds. Lyubushkin has been ok the few games he has played, but he really hasn't made the team better. He was signed as a stop gap and will return for year two of his deal, but hopefully he'll be upgraded then. Bryson also has one more year, but keeping him beyond this season seems like a mistake. He just doesn't bring enough to justify a roster spot any longer. The depth after them is garbage and they all need to be replaced. Fitz is a good AHL D and Pilut probably as well. Neither would see any minutes for a good hockey team and shouldn't here. Goaltender Comrie was a good value bet by KA, but doesn't look comfortable playing behind a team with Buffalo's style of play. He has one more year to prove me wrong and I hope he does. Anderson has been stellar YTD and was early last year as well, but wore down as the season progressed. I expect him to hang it up at year's end. If he were interested, I'd also give him a chance at the deadline to move to a contender. UPL is a bust and the sooner we admit it and move on the better. None of these goaltenders are part of the solution. Comrie should return next year as the backup or 1B and KA needs to find away to bring in a legit starter. Waiting for Levi is not a legit strategy. So where does that leave the Sabres long-term. It basically leaves us with 9-11 players; Tuch, Tage, Skinner, JJP, Cozens, Quinn, Dahlin, Power and Samuelsson as the core and Mitts (or Krebs) and Jokiharju as depth. This illustrates how much work there really is to do. If I were the GM I'd be more aggressive in filling out this roster for next year. I might even be tempted to work out a deal for Chychrun even if it were a slight overpayment. After the 11 players I mentioned above, I'd bring back Bush (as the 7th D), Comrie, Jost, and Asplund (as the 13th forward). I'd move on from Bryson, UPL, VO, KO, Mitts (or Krebs but not both), Fitz, Pilut, Anderson and UPL. I'd retain Z, but only if I can't find some cheaper who does the same thing. The moves 1) Trade for a goalie without trade protection or "wants to come here" Maybe we can sign Varlamov? I'd also like to make a run at Adin Hill. 2) Chychrun as the 3rd D pair anchor - Obviously this is aggressive and expensive for a guy to play on the 3rd pair. My goal here is to even out the minutes some with the first 2 pairings and partner him with Jokiharju to make a 3rd pair DG can confidently play 18+ a night. I'd also pair him with Power on the 2nd PP to allow Power to freelance more on the PP like he did at Michigan. 3) Defensive D partner for Power. Essentially a veteran Samuelsson type guy for Power. Nick Jensen is at the top of my list. Luke Schenn also makes sense. 4) Savoie gets one of the vacant forward slots with Mitts/Krebs on the 3rd scoring line. 5) Find someone like Compher or Woods to anchor the bottom 6 even if we have to over pay. We have to get more physical and need an controlled emotional leader in the bottom 6. 6) I'd like to give Rousek a chance in our bottom 6. Obviously the odds of most of these ideas actually coming to pass are small. Still I think it's the correct frame work if KA is serious about winning next year The team would look something like this Skinner Tage Tuch JJP Cozens Quinn Mitts Compher Savoie Girgensons (?) Jost Rousek (Asplund) Dahlin Samuelsson Power Jensen Chychrun Jokiharju (Lyubushkin) Hill and Comrie

However at some point you have to adjust your plan. Plans aren't written in stone because players develop at different rates (or not at all), circumstances change and a good GM changes with it. We have one of the top offenses in the NHL. This is clearly ahead of schedule. So what. That should be treated as great news. Instead it's being treated like it's a problem. Tage the last 2 games is already trying to do to much because he knows that if they don't score 5 we don't have a chance to win. The defense because of injuries and poor depth is in shambles. Your coach can not longer trust the depth D to play a significant role. The waiting for a prospect to develop into an NHL goalie has failed. So we are at a crossroads. KA can either properly support his team and turn this season into a positive experience or he can flush another season down the drain, continue to instill a losing culture, wasting another year of the prime of the team's quality young players and further alienate the fanbase. Not surprisingly he is going down the second road. I honestly think he is afraid of making a mistake. Since the solid trades of the old core, he has taken the "value" approach to his acquisitions. Last year he signed only low cost veterans looking for a place to stay in the NHL. This season he spent a little more on Comrie and Bush, but really hasn't received any value on those contracts. His sole in season move to date has been to claim another forward on waivers. He did try to get experienced goaltending, but was unable to convince the goalies to waive their NTCs to come. Sadly to fix the roster issues with his team he is going to have to take a risk. He is going to have to move some of the forward depth in the organization to secure better depth in goal or on defense or become a much better sale person and learn to convince players with a choice that Buffalo is again a destination and that will include an overpayment or two contract wise. Given his inability or unwillingness to deviate from his set plan, at best I think this team is on the verge of being done for the year and won't be playing any meaningful hockey come February for the 12 straight year. At worst rebuild 3.0 is in danger of already failing because the system doesn't have any close to ready D (ok maybe one if Johnson signs that is a huge if) to build depth from and Levi, while an excellent prospect, may still be 2-3 years from making an NHL impact. This is not a smart plan. Also just as a reminder, if we draft successfully and get 2-3 good players from every draft, it can still take 10 years to build a team solely through the draft. Does that make sense to anyone as a good plan? All good teams bring in outside help through trades and FA signings. Many of these acquisitions are key pieces of the puzzle.

Anything is possible. At some given how poorly our depth D were (and are) performing, the GM needs to do something the help his ream.

One of the other things we aren't really touching on is KA's failure to complete the "important" deals he is trying to make. He can't seem to sell even struggling goalies like Murray and Gibson on his vision of the future.

So! He makes us better now. This team needs to learn how to win. Winning more games now helps this season and helps the kids learn how to win long-term. Also Bear is an RFA after this season. KA could consider it a year long try out for the future and he could also by moved at the deadline for other assets. To me it was a no brainer given our injury situation and lack of depth.

That shipped sailed because of the 8 game losing streak. Right now his job is to make this team better. The top 4 D are fine and are the core of the future. His job on the D is to take the liability that is the 3rd pair and find away to stop hemorrhaging golden opportunities to our opponents each time they step on the ice. The only deal out there that could possibly "move the needle" is Chychrun. KA won't even part with a 5th rd pick for an upgrade over Bryson, why would he trade significant assets for Chychrun? The really stupid thing about his moves is that are organizational depth is at forward. We literally have zero depth in goal or on defense yet he refuses or isn't capable (or both) at addressing those issues. In almost criminal.

We weren't trying to move the needle. We should have been trying to build depth to have at least capable players playing for us as the injuries took their toll. Anyone who is an upgrade on Bryson, Clague, Fitz or Pilut should be welcome with open arms. I'd much rather have someone a coach can legitimately play 16-18 minutes a night vs. someone the coach can only play 8-12. Oh by the way, the night Bryson on played 8, Fitz only played 6:30. Competent GM's help their team by whatever means necessary. We have 17 mill in cap space, yet weren't willing to risk a few $ and a 5th to improve on Bryson etc.... The excuse it's not in the plan is simply BS. He pickup up Jost and that certainly wasn't in the plan.