GASabresIUFAN

Our defense remains terrible.

This team would be better right now if KA had found the D version of Zucker and not re-signed Joki.

And look who is right behind him; Owen Power no less.

He is waiting until Adams is fired to come over.

This team needs a playmaking center and at least one stay at home D. Then again these needs haven’t changed since he dumped Mitts for Byram. This trade took away our best playmaking center and gave us a redundant LHD with a skill set we didn’t need. So here we are having to trade assets to replace a player we didn’t need to trade. I’d be thrilled with Zegras, but that doesn’t excuse Adams incompetence. He also needs to trade more assets to get the D he needs to clean up our terrible in zone defense. His re-signing of Joki was mistake here. He should have been traded for other assets and a legit defensive specialist acquired. Truthfully there is no way on G-d’s green earth that Adams can pull off even one of these deals before the deadline and doubtfully even then. He simply doesn’t have the skills necessary to make this team actually competitive. Sorry Lindy.

This is exactly what KA's rationale was and he figured one of his prospect would step up in the next year or two to make us forget about Mitts. The issue, like all KA decisions is based on assumptions that aren't based in reality. Cozens is not a playmaker. Cozens' shooting % outside of his big year are lousy. The biggest issue with trading Mitts was it eliminated the team's best forward playmaker with no one in the hopper to replace that skill set. PS. Our defense was and remains bad. They are still giving up way to many HDCA. They also struggle to clear the D zone when the opponent has a heavy forecheck. Power isn't physical at all (4 hits on the season) and he and Clifton are giveaway machines. Byram, for all his alleged offensive skill, has only taken 8 shots in 10 games, the lowest amount from all Sabres starting D. Clifton and Dahlin continue to take costly penalties. The truth about our defense is that they are a bunch of misfit toys. Lots of O skill and skating ability, but poor execution coupled with a complete lack of in-zone D skills are a huge negative for the team. How much better would this team be if KA had retained Mitts, still traded for McLeod, and then went out are traded for or signed a RHD stay at home D to play with either Power or Dahlin? We'd be better defensively, better skills at forward, and deeper at center.

Makar -7, McKinnon -5. Their issue was Georgiev in goal. He has a 4.62 gaa and an .822 save %. Casey -6 in the 1st 4 games as the Avs started 0-4 behind Georgiev's horrible play. Since then the Avs are 5-2 and Casey has 3g 7a in those 7 games.

About friggin time. Apparently Lindy reads this board.

I was trying to think of any moves (trade/fa) that actually made the Sabres better. I can think of many that made us actually worse or were a complete waste like signing Hall, E. Johnson, Comrie, Stillman, and of course Mitts for Byram. I also have a long list of meh or inconsequential moves like Pysyk, Reider, Kubel, Robinson, Lyubushkin, Lafferty, and Hinostroza. I also don’t like wasting a 2nd on Malenstyn who is on pace for 16 pts this season. Even moves like Anderson, who played decently for us, was a downgrade after Adams lost Ullmark to free agency. The McLeod trade is looking good so far on its own, but he is a definite downgrade from Mittelstadt. If we had to argue for the “good” moves, we are left with possibly Greenway and possibly Zucker and Clifton, but none have significantly improved the team. Clifton was actually a huge negative to start last season and Greenway is only finally showing value in year 2 here. Not exactly a stellar track record. For all those who are about to mention the teardown trades where we sent Eichel, Reinhart, Montour and Ristolainen packing, here is a look at those. The 1st 3 have all won a Cup with their new teams. From those moves we have a 1st line winger in Tuch, a 13th forward in Krebs, a backup goalie with potential in Levi, a top 9 forward in Greenway and some decent prospects that may (or may not) contribute to the Sabres in Östlund, Kulich, and Wahlberg. Right now, only Tuch is a consistent contributor 3+ years later. Would you trade Reinhart for Greenway and Levi? I’m note sure I would. Now add that Adams has never fixed goaltending after Ullmark left which is spotty again this season and never acquired proper partners for Dahlin or Power. What you have is the mess we have today where 10 games into the new season we are already looking for a big trade or two to fix obvious holes in the roster like a top 6 center and some stay at home D to repair on ice issues such as a lack of depth scoring, poor defensive play, poor special teams and spotty goaltending.

I find it interesting that some of the people who disagreed with my post also want trades to occur. My question is how can you trust Adams to fix the broken roster he created when he has a proven track record of being unable to evaluate NHL talent?

There is certainly a goalie issue, but in their defense the defense has been terrible. The 1st and 3rd goalies allowed in the Panthers game are clear examples for the issues with the defense. That said the Sabres are 3-2 when the goalies save 90% of the shot or better and in the two losses the Sabres offense failed to show early in the year.

Can we fire Adams and get a real GM before redoing the roster?

Not the way he is playing. The problem with Byram isn't solely his fault. He, like Dahlin, is a victim of Adams poor vision for the D group. Getting skaters who can move the puck is a fine idea, but getting skaters who move the puck, but can't play actual defense is not a good idea. Byram is in the second category and we already have Power as that player. If we really want to fix this team we need 1-2 D first D and a top 6 center. I don't think Adams has the skill set to see the problems with his roster or the ability to execute the moves to make those tough decisions. I'd start by trading Cozens and a prospect for a top 6 center.

The anchor in a tug of war is the participant that can't be moved. The anchor on the relay is the final runner just like dropping anchor on a ship at the end of a voyage. An Anchor in sports also can have a negative connotation as in that player is weighing the team down and that is how it was used in the OP. It's kind of like "goat." Before it got applied to Brady or Michael Phelps as the greatest of all time, calling someone a goat meant that the athlete blew an important play such as Bill Buckner.

To bad KA traded away a center for the failing Byram and then didn't get a top 6 center to replace Mitts as most of this board wanted.

It can also keep a ship from moving forward.

I hate to say this, but Quinn's problem is Cozens. Their games don't mesh IMHO. Despite claims on this board that he has playmaking skills, his highest and best use is that of a sniper. With Benson hurt, there is no one on the 2nd line capable of driving offense.

.... and Power hasn't been much better. I said the Byram Power pair was a mistake in camp and I'm not surprised that it failed miserably. When Cozens, Power, Byram and Quinn are your worst players, your team is in trouble. Power and Cozen are grossly overpaid at 15 mill. Combine them with Byram and Quinn is a huge problem for this team as they are central players to Adams rebuild. Quinn and Byram, two other high draft picks, are at least playing their way into cheaper contracts. To bad Casey only has 13 points (6 goals) in 10 games. No way the Sabres could use a player like that.

This was my first instinct as well and wrote earlier that I doubted whether Lindy would change things when he had 2 lines working. However, Cozens and Quinn are too talented to not get anything from them and they are not working as linemates. Unfortunately to try to get them going means changing up the lines. The other issue is what is the highest and best use of Dylan Cozens. I think his best position is as a winger. I remember that moving Casey to the wing got him going, helped him gain confidence and he was able to migrate back to center and remain effective. McLeod as also played so well, that it couldn't hurt to try him with scoring wingers like Cozens and Tuch.

Dear Lindy, Please try Cozen’s on the wing! Please! I know Quinn hasn’t earned the job, but I’d like to see how the following looks JJP TNT Quinn Cozens McLeod Tuch Zucker Benson/Krebs/Kulich Greenway Whomever Lafferty Whomever

So after watching the Panthers game, it’s pretty clear TNT has the O skills to be an elite center. Sadly, nearly everything else is lacking. Watching him vs Barkov is pretty clear which one does everything for his team and which one doesn’t.

Bad defense. Power was trash again today, but so were most of partners in crime. I don’t blame UPL tonight. He was hung out to dry by a team unwilling or unable to play good defense.

It feels like we are a 500 team like everyone else. The good news is that they are a 500 team that has won 3 in a row for the first time in who knows how long.

One issue that must be worked out is how to handle prospects drafted from the CHL that sign with a US College after a few season in the CHL. Does the NHL team retain that player's rights when the move to college or do the rights expire like any other CHL player? If an NHL team does retain the rights, how long are they retained for? Would it be a 4 year max between the two leagues or up to 4 more years once they enter college? Also what about ELC slides? If you sign a CHL player to an ELC, but then that player goes to college, how long would the ELC slide. I'm assuming since college athletes are really no longer "amateurs" that a kid can sign an ELC and still go to college. Maybe not, but that seems more logical given the current NIL environment.

I like the 3rd goalie idea. The only issue is that aren't enough good goalies to go around now. I'd like to see a change to the PP and Penalty Shot rules. 1). If awarded a penalty shot, a team can elect to take the 2 minutes instead and/or in the alternative a team that take's a PS and misses is still awarded a 1 min PP. 2) I'd like to see PPs broken up by a period ending, the team on the PP, if they are in the O-zone when the period expires, get the faceoff at the start of the next period in the O-zone.