GASabresIUFAN

Nevermind, I just saw a graphic on Sabres.com that we had Hayden, Eakin, Bjork, Hagg and Pysyk on the ice at the same time. Obviously talent is a huge issue. One other thought, to build a winning culture, the players, coaches and management need accountability. We have none.

Casey’s bonehead play against St Louis is still bugging me. As soon as I saw the bad pass I knew it would cost us the game. I also was annoyed that Granato failed to pull the goalie earlier when we had them hemmed in their zone with two minutes left. These are the types of errors that good teams with good coaches don’t make. So I ask when do we stop making those mistakes. Why didn’t Casey just send the puck in deep in a tie game? Why wasn’t DG aggressive when the team has nothing to lose? Obviously personnel remains an issue. We are fielding the worst line in hockey each night. Our defense outside of Dahlin and Jokiharju is either young or exceedingly mediocre. The goaltending remains bad. Despite these handicaps we are in most games most nights. When do the lights go on and we start winning those close games? Is Granato part of the problem or is this mostly a roster issue? Does he know NHL skills but not NHL strategy? Is his and KA’s attitude that wins and losses don’t matter right now part of the problem as well? Do we not have the right vets here to teach the kids to win like Drury did?

Depends on what they say and do. IF the government deems them a risk to public safety they will be sent home.

Was it just me last night, but did anyone else think DG should have pulled the goalie when we had them hemmed in their zone with about 2 minutes left?

Actually John, as non-citizens who are here on work visas, they actually don't have the same constitutional rights as citizens. The 2nd amendment doesn't apply. They can be sent packing because they support Putin.

I don't really see to many Russian's here. 🙂

No question KA wanted this team to tank this season. However, KA's statements when the Ullmark deal failed have me questioning whether he does realize how important quality goaltending is to a rebuilding team. I share your that he won't get the message and will instead rely on UPL and who knows what else. I'm hopefully, as I noted above, that because of the cap situation he'll stumble on making the right decision and go get a Quick. I doubt if we are taking a big cap hit from a team that it will be to costly.

I'm am in full support of the Ukraine and it's people. I also agree that no Russian athletic team should be allowed to participate in any tournament anywhere in the world as long as they hold any territory that belongs to the Ukraine including Crimea. However, the Russian athletes in the NHL are not making war. They are here legally and should be allowed to remain and play. The caveat here is open support for Putin. What do you do then?

I think many here and even KA seem to miss that point. Quality goaltenders in this expanded NHL are hard to come by. Getting a good goalie locked up for 3-4 years is a good thing. Even if UPL and Levi or Portillo supplant him in the next couple of years, the signed player is still an asset that can get traded for other players, prospects or picks.

I said they should have never suited up for the Sabres this season at all. I would have waived Eakin and hoped someone grabbed in. I would have stapled Bjork as the 14th forward. I would have never signed Hayden and once Murray out played him in camp. I would have waived Hayden and let him hit people in the AHL. I also would have re-signed Caggiula. They are all garbage. RIght now, DG and KA should send all 3 guys to the bench or expose them to waivers. They should recall Murray and give MacInnis a look.

Are you talking to yourself?

I disagree. UPL will almost definitely be in Buffalo but KA will go out and get a proven vet like Quick for multiple reasons. First, we need to get to the cap floor. Getting a goalie with a $5 mill contract is a great place to start. Second, KA knows this team needs to take a significant steep forward next season and solidifying the goaltending is key to the turnaround. Having a cheap vet along side UPL won’t work. He needs someone who can carry the load of UPL can’t or gets injured again.

Well we are getting there. We will have two new goalies next season; UPL plus someone else. On defense Miller, Butcher, Hagg and probably Pysyk will all be gone replaced by Power, Samuelsson and Fitzgerald. At Forward Hayden, Eakin, and Caggiula are gone and likely Jankowski and Bjork as well. Their replacements are Quinn, Krebs and probably JJP. The roster turnover is already happening. The question is how long does each kid get in the NHL before the season ends to get them up to speed heading into the off-season. For example do they limit Quinn to 9 games to slide his contract? When do they return Samuelson, Krebs and Fitz got the AHL playoffs?

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/dominik-hasek-calls-ovechkin-chicken-*****-wants-nhl-suspend-all-russians-143643183.html The Dominator wants them suspended.

I don't remember any HC being above the GM. RK may have held some sway given KA complete lack of experience, but RK was not about KA in the team structure.

Here is how GM Kevyn could get to the cap floor and improve the team without blocking any of the kids. https://www.capfriendly.com/armchair-gm/team/3086576 I acquired Orlov and a 5th (2023) from Washington for Bryson and LV's 2rd in 2023 I acquired Quick from LA for a our 3rd in 2023 and the Washington 5th in 2023 I re-signed VO (3 years at 4.5), UPL (2 years at 850), Jankowski (2 years at 825) and Pysyk (2 years a 1.1) I figured Bryson was expendable with the additions to the organization of Power and Johnson. I also re-signed Jankowski for C/W depth.

No he doesn't get a pass for signing Eakin. Ralph's guy or not, the GM has the final say and he signed the contract, gave him more then one year and for $ million. It Nor does he get a pass for acquiring Bjork or signing Hayden. All were terrible decisions. Makes you wonder about the guys running the organization and the lineup.

I’m shocked, Shocked I say. I can’t believe that the 3 worst players in the NHL on the same line are the worst line in the NHL. Good thing we’re paying Eakin over $2 mill to be this bad. No Kevin isn’t tanking. Right!

I agree that Vinnie is better the Bjork by a wide margin. If you go back to last off-season thread, Vinnie was one of the guys I had on my list for value acquisitions by the Sabres. I was very glad that they signed him. I would much rather keep Vinnie then Bjork. I never wanted Bjork in the first place. However, KA doesn't seem like a guy to dump signed players or bury them in the AHL. Bjork has no trade value and Asplund is under contract for 830K. I expect both players back next season. Remember this isn't me playing GM, but me trying to predict what KA is going to do. Given his goal to let the kids play, to not block the prospects and to add assets to the organization, I find it much more likely that KA trades Vinnie for a decent pick then re-sign him.

I've said real goaltending, not 40 year old formerly retired player. Although in all honestly he didn't get any help this night.

Well that was terrible.

I started late. That was one of the worst played periods of hockey by the Sabres this season. If Montreal was a real team we’d have been down 4-0.

KA's failure to address the goaltending has been the biggest issue with this club. I believe had we had adequate goaltending this team would have already turned the corner. The stats support this conclusion. For the last two years in games they received good goaltending, they play at a playoff level pace. That is where the comparison to 2005/06 has the biggest hole. That team had Miller and Biron. We have nothing. Even in 2003/4 the combo of Biron and Noronen had a gaa of 2.54. Our goaltending mess this season is allowing 3.55 ga/gp for 28th in the NHL. What made the 2005/06 team so good on offense was balanced scoring where 10 forwards have 16-30 goals including 6 with 20 plus for a 3.37 gf/gp. Our current squad's goals for per game of 2.67 (23rd in the NHL) looks anemic, but is nearly identical to the 2003/4 2.68. When you dig deeper the offense's potential become clearer. Mitts and Tuch missed most of the season so far with injuries and we have been forced to play Hayden, Bjork, Caggiula, Eakin and Jankowski consistently which has severely limited the offense. On the positive's, Skinner and Thompson are on pace for 30 goals each, Cozens and KO for 20 each with Tuch on a 25 goal pace. Now add full years of Mitts, Krebs, Quinn and possible a healthy VO and you have 9 guys who have the talent to score 20 or more (including 5 guys who have already scored at that level or better) in the NHL. Unless we fixed the goaltending and get better defensively, a blooming offense won't make a difference except for in entertainment value. However if KA manages to fix those issues, this team will turn around and quickly just like we did late in 2003/4.

Dude, take a breath. I agree that the 03/04 team took a major step forward at the end of that year. I already posted in another thread that I wanted KA to be a buyer at the deadline to improve the D and goaltending to help the team turn a similar corner this season. I was posting earlier how I think things will play out in KA land. I also admit that there aren't perfect parallels with the Briere/Drury teams, I think we are headed in a very similar direction. Obviously we don't have a Teppo, Lydman, Miller or even a Biron. However this new group with Power and Dahlin are considerably more talented then Campbell and Kalinin and I think the forwards project similarly. Max -JJP - Similar style player. Obviously Max was already proven by 2005, but was a 30-40 pt player in 7 of his 9 years in Buffalo Drury - Tuch - Drury was mostly a 25gt 35a guy. Tuch is outpacing those numbers with a bigger role here then in LV, but brings similar leadership Kotalik - VO - I think VO is a better player, but Kotalik at his best was a 20g 22 assist kind of guy. Briere - Thompson - Briere was awesome in 06/07 w 95 points but otherwise in his prime was a 30 goal 40 to 50 assist guy. Danny was 25 when he broke out in 2003. Thompson is on pace for 30 goals and 30 assists at 24. Connolly - Krebs - Tim was 20 when he came to the Sabres in 2001 and for his career was a near 1 to 3 goals to assists scoring about 45-55 pts per season. His peak was as a nearly pt a game player at 27. I think Krebs is a very similar player with 6a and 9 pts in 17 NHL games with the Sabres as a 20 year old rookie. Roy - Mittelstadt - In his prime Roy was a 25-30g, 40-45 assist guy. Mitts clearly has similar potential if he can stay health. Vanek - Skinner - g/gp career - Vanek .36; Skinner .35 Hecht - Girgensons - Hecht is obviously the better player, but Hecht was a hard nosed player who could play up and down the lineup and all 3 forward positions. Z is the same but his hands aren't nearly as good. Gaustad - ??? Pominville - Quinn - Obviously Quinn is completely unproven. However Pommers made the NHL full time at 22 and once there was a consistent 65 to 80 pts player for us with 20-30 goals per season. Pommers in his last full AHL season put up 30g 38a in 78 games. Quinn ytd at 19 has 18g 35pts in only 24 games with 2 pts in 2 NHL games. Just imagine how good this kid will be at 22. Grier - Okposo - KO is the better player. Mair - Murray?