GASabresIUFAN

Step 1: Fire the Coaches (aka making someone else the scapegoat for the GM's poor roster construction) - Donnie, Christie and the Video Coach Fired! \ Step 2: Hire a new coach - let the search begin. Step 3: Fix the friggin roster. Current roster situation 14 Sabres under contract for next season with a cap cost $65,406,050 Forwards (8) TNT, Tuch, Skinner, Benson, Cozens, JJP, Quinn & Greenway Defense (5) - Dahlin, Power, Byram, Clifton and Samuelson Goalies (1) - Levi RFAs: UPL, Krebs, Jokiharju, Bryson and Clague UFAs (who may return): Girgensons, and Robinson Step 3A: re-sign or trade key RFAs - Honestly the only 2 relevant decisions are Joki and UPL. UPL must be re-signed and IMHO Joki needs to be traded. Step 3B: Fill roster holes. Up front, this team needs an entirely new 4th line and probably needs a top 6 center. This offense needs to be more physical, add some playmakers and guys willing to drive to the net. KA also needs to answer what the long-term future is for Skinner as a Sabre. Could be bought out this off-season? On Defense: I'd trade Joki. I'd then acquire (trade or FA) a top 4 RHD who knows how to play defense. With 5 D under contract and Ryan Johnson ready for an NHL role, I'm not expecting much change here. In Goal. This might be the most interesting decisions to watch. How much and how long do they re-sign UPL and whether they add a vet in order to leave Levi in Rochester another year (option A) or do they anoint (again) Levi as a NHL goalie in tandem with UPL (option B). I suspect KA will go with option B. The overriding roster questions are can KA re-invigorate the offense? Can he finally get the team to improve defensively? Will he make the team more physical and who will replace Mitts as the primary playmaker on offense? Prospect Watch: Besides Levi and Ryan Johnson, which prospects have the best chance to make the Sabres net fall? Savoie, Kulich, Rosen and Novikov top the list, but all will have to have great camps to force their way onto the roster.

There were only 4 players who truly improved year over year - JJP, Quinn, UPL and Joki. Not surprisingly UPL and Joki need new contracts. This past season feels like the curse of Ralph Krueger.

I’d like to see this as points % or pts per game coached. I did the math on Lindy and his was 1.104 pts per game coached. That’s about 91 pts per season on average.

The case for Ruff is simple and good. He is a Sabres. He is the only coach to lead this team to the conference finals or better with two distinctly different player groups (Hasek Era and Briere/Drury window). He understands what it takes to win in Buffalo. Someone else mentioned he failed other places. I’m not sure I agree. In Dallas he got them to the playoffs for the first time in 6 years, reached the playoffs twice in 4 years, won a division title, and his record was 165-122-41. In NJ he took a rebuilding club to the playoffs in year 3 and was fired this season when his team was hovering at 500. He was 128-125-28 in 3+ years in NJ Granato’s record in Buffalo was 122-125-27 with no playoff appearances.

Quinn should not be on his list. Yes his production fell in total numbers, but that was due only to injury. He actually increased his goal and pts/gp. His goals per game went from .187 to .333 and his pts per game went from .493 to .7. He was on pace for a 27g 57 pt season.

Who will be the next coach of the Buffalo Sabres? How extensive will the coaching search be? The obvious candidates are no NHL experience Seth Appert and Sabres re-tread Lindy Ruff. Are there any other serious contenders? Will TP spend on Brind’amour or someone else of that quality? During TP’s ownership we have hired re-tread with a Cup (Bylsma), NHL Rookie coaches (Housley, Granato) and one semi-experienced coach from left field (Krueger). So what’s next?

I think you are giving Adams more credit than he deserves. The 1st period starts made some coaching changes inevitable and the captain goes down with his ship. A bolder GM makes this decision mid season after the Sabres only won 17 of their first 41 games. The O and 1st period issues were all firmly established by then and KA did nothing. I do wonder whether this decision was made by Adams at all. TP is on the hook for DG’s extension and all major money matters all flow through him. I also wonder if this decision happens if Ruff was still coaching in NJ. I’m now firmly in the TP wants Ruff as the next coach camp.

How does Ellis still keep his job? His job performance was the worst on the staff.

What year is learning to back check and learning to drive the net on offense?

Sadly, both guys will be back.

HDCA (775 through 81 games ytd vs 881 in 82 games last season) and SCA (1803 vs 1957 last year) are both down. This is pretty illustrative that the defense is better. Unfortunately it also proves that the defense remains poor. Our HDCA is the 6th worst in the NHL (we were 4th worst last season) and our SCA is 12th worst vs 11th last season. So while the gross numbers are better so was the entire NHL and our position relative to our peers is about the same. The Sabres have needed improved defensive defenseman for years and KA’s response has been to add Stillman, Lyubushkin, Johnson, Clifton and Byrum; a pantheon of defensive stalwarts. Does this guy have a clue?

We don’t have…. 1. Accountability at any level of the organization 2. A winning culture 3. Good coaching 4. Any elite forwards 5. A competent GM

We need a 3rd poll category - "Undecided" As much as I don't think KA has a real master plan and that I believe the coaching staff needs to be replaced, I do believe with the correct tweaks, this "core" could become a playoff team. 1. Goaltending - once a black hole of failure now there is hope both short term and long-term with UPL finally developing and Levi. I do think Levi needs another year in the minors and KA should sign a veteran backup. That's not going to happen however . 2. Defense - there are some good pieces here. Dahlin, Byrum and Clifton should each anchor a pair. I like the idea of Mule combining with Clifton for a rock'em sock'em pair. I'm not sold on Power and KA needs to take advantage of Joki's best season and trade him. I'd also put Power on the market to see what is offered for him. We need atop 4 RHD. 3. Forwards - There are some really good pieces here, but they aren't meshing as we'd hoped. The whole offense took a step back with the exception of two players (JJP and Mitts) so of course our goofy ball GM traded Mitts. I believe Quinn and JJP will be our best forwards next season, just in time for their new contracts. I don't believe TNT or Cozens are elite centers. TNT is a 2 and Cozens a 3. What the Sabres really need is an elite center, which isn't happeneding unless we win the draft lottery. I like Tuch. I know people here love Benson, but all I see is a guys who keeps getting knock on his butt and off the puck coupled with a few great plays now and again. Until he is stronger on his skates and add some body mass, his production will remain 3rd/4th line level. Krebs needs to go, so do Jost, Girgensons, and Robinson, but some changes higher in the lineup are also needed to move this team forward.

Atlanta Sabres? 🙂

I think you mean stagnates.

They should have signed Mitts and traded Cozens. Maybe Cozens has better upside, but he certainly doesn't seem to have a decent hockeyIQ

The D metrics are improved but not enough to cover for the decrease in offense. https://naturalstattrick.com/teamtable.php The Sabres have allowed the 7th most HDCA, last season they were 4th worst. The totals are better 881 last season vs 759 YTD, but the entire NHL is better in this category. This is about an 11.7% improvement year over year. Last season the Ducks were the worst at 1055 HDCA and 15 teams allowed 800 or more HDCA. This season SJ is the worst at 862 and only 4 teams so afar have given up 800. Scoring chances against are also improved from 11th worst to 14th worst and overall the numbers are also improved somewhat from SCA of 1957 down to 1773 YTD. That amounts to about a 7% improvement year over year. Sadly those improvements aren't helping the team as the offense has fallen even more. HDCF are down 12.5% year over year and SCF is down 11.9% If they keep Granato, he needs to replace his entire staff except Bales. The improvement in UPL, especially given the limited improvement of the D, is a testament to Bales coaching and UPL's work ethic.

I'm hoping they trade this pick for an actual NHL player.

No idea.

To the SLC Tabernacle? SLC Saints?

How is this for context? Murray acquired 1 more pick then he traded away, but downgraded the quality. From 1/2014 to 4/2017 - Murray acquired 14 draft picks (1 1st, 5 2nds, 6 3rds, a 5th and a 7th) and traded away 13 (2 1sts, 6 2nds, 4 3rds and a 5th). However, he downgraded the quality of the draft picks. He acquired 6 premium picks (1st & 2nd rd picks) and traded way 8 premium picks. (a net -2 Premium picks for those counting at home). Did he make more picks that we were allocated? Yes, but Regier had already acquired 5 premium picks for the 2014 & 2015 drafts (and traded away a 4th rd pick) before TM was hired. So while TM made 25 picks, the net for over the allotment is really from Regier.

Don't try to argue with the TM apologists. It's just not worth the effort.

Yes he did. Compare the quality of his draft picks to Jbot and KA. He drafted horribly. How many top 3 round busts did he draft? Nylander, Cornel, Asplund, Guhle, Pu, Fitzgerald, Johansson, Martin, and Karabacek. In fact, his best top 3 round pick after Eichel & Reinhart is Lemieux and he said he wanted out before he even got here. TM’s only draft pick on the roster is VO and he is in the pressbox most nights.

His headline said expect firings, but made no reference to actual possible changes. He outlined what went wrong and probably used messages on this board as the reference for what went wrong. Truthfully there is better insight on this board then in that article. In your should we keep Granato thread, we do a better job of outlining who should be fired and why. Personally I'd start by firing Howdy Doody.

This team was eliminated from playoff contention on October 12, 2003 with a 5-1 loss to the NYR. It just took another 77 games for the math to catchup to the eye test.