GASabresIUFAN

and I thought I was negative.

Last night was a joke. The Eichel line skated all over the place and created nothing. The three goals we scored were from winning puck battles, but time and again, we stopped forechecking. Where were the puck battle wins in the 3rd period. This team is a bunch of lollygaggers.

Vaccine passports I'm sure will be required but who is to say the vaccines will save people from the mutating virus? My guess is the vaccines will more likely become a annual Covid shot, like the current annual flu shot. Some kind of instant test is the more likely solution and that could be years away. The NHL is scheduled to lose about $1 billion this year without the fans. The cap is unlikely going anywhere for years to come as the club recover financially.

Hopefully, but who says that we are ever going to reopen arenas to 100% capacity. That said how do we win now? How do we navigate the cap for the next 2-3 years as it remain flat? Also when does Hall's production fall like most NHLers in their 30's? at 31 like KO or 33 or like Staal at 37? I'm not interested in that risk if I'm stuck with Skinner.

I'm going to somewhat disagree. The only guys who have been showing up up front this season are really Sheahan and Lazar. We do need more grit and forechecking in general, but it's the upper end guys like Skinner, Hall, Olofsson, Reinhart that need more commitment to that. Olofsson made a great forechecking play on Chara to set up Staal's goal and then never hit someone again for the rest of the night.

Yes, MAF made the choice to go to LV.

Playoffs this season? Here is the broader problem. We have 25 mill invested already in KO, Skinner and Jack. Now you want to add another say 14-15 mill in Hall and Reinhart giving us 50% of our cap in 5 players, two of which are or won't produce. This isn't workable. If Hall produces, I would love to keep him, but how? Either Skinner needs to go or we need to move on from Olofsson and maybe Reinhart. That doesn't work for me either because we have no RWs. I'm sorry, but keeping Hall long-term just doesn't work cap wise, unless we gut what few pieces we have.

No. He has a NMC. Also no way we can move KO's deal either unless he somehow goes on LTIR permanently. Skinner might be someone Seattle would take for a hefty price, but that could be worth it. We might have to eat some contract and give up a high draft pick or two. The better solution is getting him a real center to play with and hope his scoring touch returns.

Sorry Tom, but you aren't watching the same soft listless team I and many others are watching.

I thought about that when I picked Mike Grier. That is why I'm keeping RK in the organization. My thought process is the Mike is the behind the bench guy and RK is more the liaison between Mike and KA and helps set the vision for the club. An unusual structure I know, but I want Mike's toughness, intelligence, player experience and winning experience coaching this team. McDermott was never a HC before Buffalo. It's about finding the right leader.

We still need to try to win. My first move is a move toward winning by getting MAF here. That is both a short-term and medium-term step toward winning. I'm also not about trading Hall or Montour for draft picks. I want hockey trades to fix this messed up forward group. I should have made that clearer. I want new RWs, I also want guys with term or youth to build with. However this is evaluation season regardless. KA didn't hire RK, if he doesn't get results he and his staff could easily be done. So many guys are on short-term deals because KA rightly wants to evaluate what he has and doesn't have, however you don't bring in Hall and Staal to lose. Unfortunately even they can't solve all this issues here and more talent and better coaching is needed

It was as painful to write and it was to read. We kept layering mistake upon mistake and have so little to show for it. TM trading away key assets for ROR and crap plus poor drafting. JBot rebuilding the D, but trading away a gifted 2C for some magic beans, $8 in savings and then didn't replace him. 4 different coaches ranging from rigid, to inexperienced to motivational to great guy without a system. Edmonton has done the same thing we have for longer and they still suck and they have two of the top 10 players in the NHL. On the plus side Jbot really did a good job fixing the D. McCabe and Risto were here, then he added Montour, Miller, Jokiharju and Dahlin. Miller is the only real dud (and needs to go). Dahlin and Jokiharju are so young and have so much potential. If we can get them to reach that potential we'll have something special on the back end. We also have depth to replace guys as they move on assuming a couple of Laaksonen, Bryson, Johnson and Samuelsson can take the next step (hoepfully sooner then later). That's the one area of this team I'm not worried about. On the negative side the goaltending and forward group. Jbot tried to create some competition for Ullmark with Hutton and failed and since he traded away ROR we really have been running with one top line and 3 3rd and 4th lines. This year we hoped Staal would be a stop gap at 2C, but the tank looks empty. Therefore we have a top line, 2 4th lines and a couple of stray pieces. Fortunately, most of the guys are on short deal and can be replaced except the 2 big mistakes of KO and Skinner who consume 20% of our cap. I'd like Montour, but you have to give to get and we still need a 2C sooner then later. I want Cozens at center of the 3rd line now to get him ready for a long-term bigger role and maybe even 2C next year. I'm also willing to trade VO. I think he is a one trick pony. I know others disagree and will rightly ask how do you replace his scoring. Some of the changes will be dictated by player development and other my the FA and trade market place, but KA really needs to listen to any and all offers.

We all know the Sabres are a swimmer in the ocean holding on to a life raft and trying to stay afloat. TP got lucky that the Bills have become excellent because they got the right guys in charge. I just finished an Athletic article on McDermott and what a great hire. However building a football organization is much easier then building a hockey one. No guaranteed contracts, drafting mature players who you expect to step right in etc.... The question right now is whether this "rebuild" of the Sabres 3.0 is salvageable? I think it is, but I'm not sure KA is up to the task, but he is so raw who knows. He certainly is no Beane experience wise. That doesn't mean he can't succeed, but it makes it that much harder. The team just doesn't have enough talent up front and in goal to win on talent alone. They also don't have a coaching staff or enough experienced players steeped in winning to help them all buy in. Short-term we need playoff caliber goaltending for the next 3 years. UPL maybe the future or even Portillo, but that is years away. Ullmark is a solid NHL goalie, but his terrible save % on the PK gives me serious pause. I actually want MAF. He is a proven winner and leader. Right now Staal is the only one we have. We also need to hope that the kids come in and make a difference over the next 2 years. Samuelsson, Johnson, Bryson, Cozens, Quinn, JJP and others step up quicker then expected helping to salvage this mess. However internal prospects won't be enough. We need the guys to stop being soft and I have the first part of the solution. I'm bucking RK upstairs. His D system has done a great job of suppressing the opponents opportunities, but his special teams and offense are awful. He also has them playing soft. He also is killing Dahlin by to much structure and not enough creativity. As a team, to much perimeter and not enough forechecking. The solution is easy. Hire Mike Grier to coach this team. He isn't soft, has received excellent reviews as an Ast Coach, is part of the Sabres family, and understands how to build a winning environment. If he coaches as he played, relentless, this team will change in a hurry for the positive. I'm also trading Hall at the deadline to get more depth in the organization up front. I'm not investing another long-term deal in a 30 ish player. Outside Jack, Cozens and maybe Reinhart, are their any true core pieces in our forward group? I'm also taking a page out of the McDermott playbook and deciding to trade away any guys who aren't committed to winning. DR let Ruff and Drury set that new tone. MAF and Grier can change the tone here. So far I've seen only 3 Sabres who have put forth real effort all 5 games; Lazar, McCabe and Risto. That's it. Identifying who to keep and who to let go is hard and this is where KA's inexperience hurts us. IMHO there are only 4-7 players on this team that I want long-term and a couple I'd be fine with keeping. They are Dahlin, Risto (really), Cozens and Jack. I'm fine with Reinhart and Jokiharju, if he makes progress also, and possibly McCabe. I want to get faster and more physical. The first step is playing the kids as soon as we are truly out of the playoff picture, which should be soon. R2 and Mitts need a long look see this season to see if we have anything there. I might even throw Quinn in for 6 games or so to see how he does. I'm probably also recalling Bryson and Samuelsson to give them a taste of the NHL and see how they react. Other then the core guys mentioned earlier, I'm done with most everyone else including VO. I'm buying out KO after this season. I'm trading Hall as I mentioned earlier, unless I can find a taker for Skinner. I'm hoping (giving them an incentive) Seattle takes Miller off our hands. I'm extending Risto because we need a physical presence and his improvement over the last season plus is remarkable. I may extend McCabe, because we have no else like him and he meshes well with Risto. I'm keeping Ullmark for now to learn from MAF and also to balance PT. Everyone else, trade or let walk. I'm also only taking FAs if I can from winning organizations. I know this doesn't guarantee anything (see Conor Sheary), but at least they understand the buy in to succeed. The truth is this season is probably no longer about a playoff birth. It's about KA evaluating the organization top to bottom, from RK down to the 4th liners in Rochester. If he is honest with himself, he'll probably see what I see, a few good pieces that need to be kept and taught to win and the rest that can be flushed away. There is a reason that there are no Bills drafted players on the Bills that weren't drafted by McDermott, that there are 12 ex Panthers on this team and that Jerry Hughes is the only holdover from the previous administration.

I just saw this in the Athletic from 1/10/21. https://theathletic.com/2308397/2021/01/10/nhl-goalie-rankings/ It seems to mirror most of the thoughts here. While, I like Ullmark, he still is in the bottom half of the league. Is he really a playoff caliber goalie? No sure. However KA has no choice but to get help. MAF would be nice. However, some how he needs to upgrade Hutton now. Ullmark plays his best when forced to earn his job. Maybe that's true for the entire Sabres roster.

To disgruntled players for each other. Yawn. The Jets are better off because they got a top 6 center. Laine isn’t Ovie. Roslovic is a fine middle depth player. My guess is CBJ trade Laine this off-season.

Good Airplane reference. My first reaction to this news was “Surely they can’t be serious”, but then it passed. Now It’s admittedly a terrible song for a terrible network and company.

You would think they get them some decent size monitors to watch on. Broadcasting across the board has been terrible. My daughter and I watched an IU basketball game on a national broadcast and had the same sensation. The guy sounded something like this “went to dinner with the wife and kids”. “IU has the ball” “We order two large with pepperoni and mushrooms”. “My daughter said she doesn’t like mushrooms” “Now Michigan St with the ball”.

It's crazy to think we can pull off the deal. Would you trade Sam for PLD straight up? PLD makes $5 mill for the next 2 years. We have $1.25 in cap space. We'd have to clear more then one someone to make it work and we still need goaltending. So come up with a viable trade that clears 4-5 in cap to bring on PLD or is a cap for cap trade such as Reinhart for PLD. They aren't taking KO from us or Girgensons. They want a top 6 forward back. We'll they only viable candidate is Reinhart. I don't see that happening. You can put a package together such as Miller, Eakin, Mitts, our 1st, & Johnson. This way the cap number is close, they potentially get 3 guys for this year's lineup and if Mitts succeeds then they end up with 3 1st rd quality picks/players and we'd finally get a real 2C who could be here for years to come. The roster might look something like this Hall Eichel Reinhart Olofsson PLD Cozens Skinner Staal Sheahan Reider Lazar Okposo (when healthy) Not to worry. It isn't happening anyway.

The problem with this team is talent and a soft roster. We have mediocre goaltending, other then McCabe and Risto, who really takes it to the other team? We need our forwards to start knocking people into next week. We need to forecheck like crazy and over come our lack of talent with tenacity. Unfortunately our coach is Mr feel good and Mr. Softie. I'm actually rethinking this roster. I want one physical power player on each line to do dirty work. If Edm can run Semenko and McSorley (although he had some O chops) with Gretzky, why can't I run someone like Sheahan with EIchel and Hall? Hall Eichel Sheahan - Sheahan plays hard and his large presence should create space and protection for Jack and Hall Reider Staal Reinhart - This line needs a speedy forechecker. Skinner Lazar Cozens - Lazar is tenacious, Cozens has energy every shift. So does Skinner. Maybe a line of three guys who play all out will create some results. Olofsson Eakin Thompson - I'd replace Thompson with a playmaker, unless Thompson stops try to be a finesse forward and focuses on using his big frame to hit someone. Lets take the gloves off and beat our division into submission.

Uncle. It's time to let the Sabres just simmer on the back burner. I did that for years with the Bills and it helped. Keep up with the team, but don't invest much because it won't be rewarded.

Skinner

Lol. They are so bad. Jack can’t even score in the shootout.

This game or 20 games from now?

Thompson sucks

Staal making Reinhart look like a speedster.