GASabresIUFAN

It's a concern, but with last change at home, DG can get the matchups he wants and should be able to deploy a checking line against the top centers in those games. That said, I think Cozens and Mitts have a better chance then many people think of standing up to good competition. Dylan has that work ethic and Casey has developed that work ethic since being sent down. Both played tough minutes at times under DG last year and held up pretty well. I'm actually not all that worried about those two. Their wingers are another matter.

Everyone knows my distain for what KA has done this summer. The goaltending fiasco leading to Tank 2.0 (or 3.0 depending on one's point of view) has been a huge problem for me and others and is the wrong direction for the team IMHO. However even in that there are some positives in the moves so far. The Good - 1) Committing to the youth movement. This is something I wanted last season when he had better support for them, but I'm happy we are finally there. 2) Hiring of DG - With positive #1 we need a teacher as the coach and I think DG is that man. 3) Trade of Ristolainen - I think KA got max value here. I also like Hagg and think he could thrive here with a very defined defensive role. 4) Signings of Joki and Mitts - While the $ for Jokiharju were more then I expected, getting both key guys locked up for the next 3 years was a good decision The Neutral - 1) Depth signings - Hinostroza, Pysyk, and MacInnis - I think all players have more to give then the contract $ spent. I know MacInnis is likely ticketed for Rochester, but he is a guy who could surprise under DG. Even if they don't rebound, they aren't a burden $ wise and are here only on 1 year deals. 2) Not giving up assets to retain Borgen during expansion. It would have been nice to keep him, but Pysyk is a more then adequate replacement. 3) Hiring of a good analytics guy. Proven hire, but will they listen to him. If they do, this is a good move. If they don't, then it's a waste. 4) The draft - I liked the overall talent KA found in the draft, but even here there was some inexplicable decisions. 1) No centers when we have none in the pipeline 2) all the Russians - lots of talent but remaining questions about when and if they'll come over. 3) The reaches in the 3rd round. Talented guys but no reason to draft them that early with no Jr track records from last season to go on for them. That said, it looks like solid value on the picks after the 3rd. With Top overall pick Power going back to college and no ETA for Rosen's coming over to the NA, I like the draft, but still a neutral (really an incomplete) until we see how all these kids do and get a better handle on when they may become Sabres. The Bad - Where to begin 1) Acquisition of Butcher. Could be neutral if he plays well and we get a decent pic for him at the deadline. Solid offensive player but a problem in the D zone. Basically a LHD version of Colin Miller. Wasn't a necessary player for this roster with Dahlin, Miller and Bryson already here with a similar skill set. Currently our second highest paid D at 2.8 mill for next season. Yes we got a 5th for him. Yes he is only on a one year deal and his cap hit would have helped us with the cap floor had Jack been traded. Yes, we may get another pick for him at the deadline; maybe. Still he is taking money that should have been allocated to goaltending and IMHO is blocking Bryson from assuming his place on the roster, which is something KA said he wouldn't do. 2) Hayden - Still cant figure out why he is here. Why add a guy who wasn't even good enough to play every night in Arizona, who doesn't score, can't pass, can't win a draw, doesn't skate well and doesn't kill penalties. At best he is our 14th best forward and 10th best winger. Will move to neutral if and when he gets waived and sent to Rochester on his 2 way deal. 3) Reinhart trade - Simply put we didn't get enough for a top line player and former 2nd overall pick. I also don't like that he was traded in the division. Signing him for one year would have allowed Mitts and Cozens to continue to be eased into bigger roles and I think we could have received as much for him at the trade deadline. I do like Devon Levi and have zero problem with adding more quality goaltending depth to the organization. 4) Eakin and Caggiula - why are they still here? Eakin is a shell of a former decent player who was a disaster last year under both coaches. Caggiula who was acquired on waivers last season (and re-signed this off-season) add virtually nothing after being claimed. KA could have done more with their roster spots. The Ugly - 1) Goaltending - Failing to sign Ullmark followed by "pivoting" to the signings of the retiring Anderson and the incompetent Dell and then telling us he is Ok with our goaltending. 2) Being a cap floor team - Pretty sorry state of affairs for this one proud organization, which under The Pegula's ownership and KA's deft hand has become a laughingstock. 3) The Jack Eichel trade and surgery mess. A symptom of Ugly #2. Obviously, once he deployed the Tank 2.0 off-season strategy, he lost me and his grade was going to be an F for his work this off-season. However it would not be fair or accurate to say everything he did was bad or ugly when it wasn't. I also hope KA send UPL down to be the starter in Rochester and someone bails KA out by waiving a competent goalie at the end of camp.

Hopefully this saves Jack's career and hopefully this helps the player and the organization move forward be it together or separated. I've been saying we need to ask Jack to waive his NMC as part of this negotiation since the beginning. It is the only real thing Jack has to offer the Sabres to get them to change their position.

Why is this even here? He isn't a center (although described as one). His FO% is 25% over the last 2 seasons. He plays less then 10 minutes a night when he plays and then it's about 50% of his team's games. He doesn't score as evidenced by with 9 pts over the last 2 season. He doesn't kill penalties. The scouting report says he is good around the net, add size, but needs work on his passing. He isn't fast and also isn't quick. He basically sounds like a smaller John Scott with slightly better hands. Lets not forget that he wasn't tendered by Arizona, the other worst run franchise in the NHL and one of our main competitions for the 1st overall in the draft next year. It should also be noted he signed a 2 way contract. This implies to me that KA thinks there is a strong likelihood he ends up in Rochester. Honestly I'd much rather see what the bigger and better Brett Murray can do with a call up here and there then ever insert Hayden into the lineup.

Where is he playing? He is a C/RW with 14 pts total over the last 3 seasons. Who is he beating out for a job? He isn’t playing ahead of these 9 wingers Skinner, VO, Girgensons, KO, Asplund/R2, Thompson, Bjork, Hinostroza or Caggiula. At center we have Mitts, Cozens, Asplund/R2 or Eakin. He won’t play ahead of any of these guys. I see him as our 14th best forward, 15th if Eichel is healthy. I think Macinnis is more likely to make the Sabres the Hayden. Obviously injuries may give him a shot at lineup, but as it stand right now, he should be ticketed to Rochester.

Rochester. Injury callup maybe.

I watched the reply and honestly Allen is forcing a lot of throws. He also isn’t getting the ball out quickly. The reason is partly on Allen, but the guys also aren’t getting open. Still some of Allen decisions are very questionable.

My hope is that he partners well with Butcher and they become an un-expectantly strong 3rd pair. Like Hagg, I hope the coaching staff asks him to keep it simple.

But to go deep into the playoff we need our best players to be our best players and Josh needs work.

To much soccer being forced on me by ESPN I guess.

So glad I tuned in at 2 all. Final 2-5 Bruins. Maybe KA will add these goalies to our NHL rotation. Get used to this score.

Making their first Cup final and beating the Russians (1st 2 times).

If we want to be harder to play against, physically tougher and with guys that give effort every shift, then Murray and Samuelsson need to be Sabres sooner then later,

Who?

TM didn’t follow the plan. He had followed the plan he would have drafted players with the draft picks on that sheet instead of trading them for injured players and malcontents. I supported Jbot as well because I thought he had a plan and I agree that execution was lacking. KA has no plan that I can discern other then to save Terry’s money and pray the kids Jbot acquired become good players. The failure to replace Ullmark with an adequate replacement was the last straw for me. I have zero faith that KA can build a good hockey team. Wormtongue is a perfect name for him

I have a copy of this plan on my computer. Can you imagine if they actually followed the plan?

Well at least I get to watch 10 games this season. I’m not paying to watch.

Can we find one NHL goaltender?

Hagg is the one guy I expect to surprise. He was asked to do to much in Phily. Here I hope he'll only be asked to play physical and help clear the zone. Basically play a simple game. If he does that, we might get from him what we got from McCabe.

Thank you. I feel like Pacino in Scent of a Women. There is a right path and a wrong path and for the last decade we inevitably take the wrong path. I’m arguing the Tank 2.0 is the wrong path to support the youth movement. Why is this the wrong path? Simple. We need to give our youth movement the best chance to succeed and Butcher doesn’t help that cause. He doesn’t bring anything we don’t already have on the roster in Miller, Dahlin and Bryson. We also have a budget this year of 60 mil. Butcher is now taking 5% of that budget money that should have been allocated to goaltending instead of a redundant player. Hagg and Pysyk make some sense because they are more in zone oriented players and Pysyk is a RHD which we needed. They are also cheap. The argument that we got a 5th rd pick to take him and hope to get another pick at the deadline for a skill set we didn’t need doesn’t move the needle for me, especially when I don’t think we have the personnel to bring out his best play. To me Butcher is just a symptom of the bigger problem with this organization. We have no idea how to build a roster and place our core players in a position to succeed.

...... in 3-5 years

You should care if you think they’ll bring back assets at the deadline. The better they play the better the return. Also Pysyk if he plays well could easily return given out lack of RHD

Lol, I never thought this team would be good this year without upgrades in goal, without upgrades for defensive D and a first line center. Absent these improvements we had no chance. KA did none of the above and we are worse for it. I was just pointing how we are spending money in the wrong places. I do think Miller and Butcher could be useful with the right partners. Sadly those partners aren’t on our roster unless Pysyk can play 20 minutes a night of solid in zone defense.

Colin Miller 2.0. Paying 6.7 mill for Butcher and Miller. No wonder the team stinks. Top paid D right now - Miller and Butcher Top paid Forwards right now (w Eichel on IR) - Skinner and Okposo (15 mill). That's nearly 22 mill (38% of our cap) for 4 players no one in the league wants out of our 58 mill in cap spent so far. No wonder this team stinks.

Where is Bobby Boucher when you need him.