GASabresIUFAN

I'm not pissed that he traded Casey. If you look at my posts from last off-season, I felt even before the season that KA would trade Casey. I was pissed that he was traded without an immediate and adequate backup plan at 3C and a for a redundant defenseman. Also your "66 goals" post is a silly stat. Casey's job was to create for his teammates which he did very well. He has 77 assists for the Sabres in his last 144 games (last 2 season before the trade) with the club including 59 at EV. Tuch is the only other playmaking forward on the team as good as Casey was. I understand that you still have hope that this leopard will change his spots and will finally do what must be done. I get it. Unfortunately, he has had multiple opportunities to get the necessary upgrades and we have yet to see him make the necessary move. I truly don't understand why you think it will be different this time. For all of our sakes, I hope you prove me wrong!

He was supposed to put his big boy pants on last off-season and he did spend the most he has spent an UFAs. He spent 10 million on Clifton (3 x 3.33) and 3.25 on one year of Eric Johnson; one 3rd pairing player and one player working his way out of the NHL when he needed partner for either Dahlin or Power. How has that worked out? The 2 years prior he desperately needed goaltending to bridge the gap until his prospects developed and instead of investing in real goaltending to support the rebuild he gave us Dell, Anderson and Comrie. You can't tell me there weren't better options available. In addition he has completely failed to properly support the team in season. Jost and Robinson isn't support. Getting crap players like Stillman at the deadline isn't support. Trading your 3rd line center while in contention without a backup plan for a redundant D isn't support. The only quality deadline move so far is a 2nd for Greenway and he was having a terrible season when acquired. This team has missed the playoff the last 2 seasons because our terrible GM has no idea how to fix the problems with his roster. All he is going to do this off-season is more Taylor Hall type gestures.

You think the jury is still out on KA as a pro player evaluator? I think the jury has returned a verdict. He’s guilty of being terrible. Good - Tuch Mediocre - Greenway, Anderson, and Clifton Bad - Comrie, Bjork, Lyubushkin, E Johnson, Robinson, Hall, E Staal, Krebs, Jost, Stillman, Dell, Pysyk, Eakin, Hagg, Butcher, Hayden and Subban. You can add his terrible decisions to re-sign Okposo, Jost, and Girgensons and the failure to move on from Olofsson. I’d say that’s a piss poor record of pro talent evaluation. That’s what you get when you shop at the clearance bin at Walmart and have no clue how to construct a roster.

More a function of UPL than the defense. The Sabres allowed the 6th most high danger chances (791) and allowed 7th most high danger shots (505). So while UPL was stopping the puck, the defense continually put him behind the 8 ball. It’s why we were always playing from behind, it’s one of the key factors in why the Sabres gave up a league worst 97 1st period goals.

He was a D coach last year and the defenders are still lousy in our zone and it was part of his job to fix it.

How do you convince players to come and play here if you can't even find good coaches to come and coach here?

Keeping Ellis and Wilford on this staff is 4 things 1. A proof that this organization has no clue how to build and run a winning organization. 2. It’s also may be proof that no one in NHL circles with a functioning brain wants to works for Adams and the Pegulas. 3. It’s also proof that you can’t fix a problem that you can’t identify even if it’s obvious to everyone else. 4. It’s also a giant FU to the fans.

Don’t threaten us like that. If they given him an extension, it may be time for me to give up on the Sabres. It will be even more proof that Howdy Doody has no clue how to build a winning team. After all how do you fix a roster if you can’t identify the problem?

How the flock is Matt Ellis still a Sabres coach?

Komarov was an essential player to that Championship. He was Quebec’s 2nd leading D scorer and their leading goal scorer by a defenseman in the regular season. He had a strong playoff as well. This season he exploded once he was traded. He had 50 points in 38 games with Drummondville. He is having a very good playoff as well. Drummondville is up 2-0 in the Q finals. He was the Q D of the Year this past season (Bouchard Award - the Q’s Norris).

https://theathletic.com/5475246/2024/05/10/quentin-grimes-tyler-myers-mom-nba-nhl/ Nice article in the Athletic. The Piston’s Quentin Grimes, 10 year Myers’ junior, is Tyler’s half brother. They share the same mom. Myers grew up in Calgary with his Dad, while Grimes grew up in Texas. Apparently they are the first set of brothers to play in the NHL and NBA.

I was looking at the box score from the Amerks game and three of our top prospects had a rough game in the most important game of the year. Rosen was -3, Kulich -4 and Levi gave up 4 goals on 19 shots.

By the way, I re-read our discussion and I did some math regarding the possible returning roster. I calculated the numbers based on the players who have already moved on (Johnson, Okposo and Mitts plus all the UFAs) The Sabres are potentially bringing back 75% of the man games played, 79% of the goals scored, 83% of the assists and 81% of the points. They are also bringing back 88% of the starts in goal and 90% of the games plays by a defenseman. The forward turnover is primarily all the bottom of the roster players (KO, Z, Robinson, Jost, Murray, Biro and VO). The only exception is Mitts. Those 7 players accounted for 17% of the games played last season, but only 11% of the teams points. To say they won't be missed is an understatement.

There are two relevant lists. 1. FAs who can help us and want to come here. This is not going to be a list people here really want. These are all going to be 3rd and 4th line forwards and depth D. I also don’t think KA will give out a big FA contract. So far, since the Hall fiasco, Clifton is his biggest ($) and longest outside FA deal. I’m not expecting anything larger this summer. 2. Players available in trade without NTC/NMC. Again a difficult list. I think we’ll have to shopping at cap strapped teams, but it’s not going to be a long list. Another requirement is the guy having some term (1-4 years?). The other part of the list could be an RFA a team can’t afford or isn’t a good fit on his current team. The only player I’ve found so far that fits our needs and who could be available is Anthony Cirelli. The issue with Cirelli is the 7 years remaining on his deal, which is probably too much term given the depth of our forward prospect pool. I’m sure there are others, but how many? Looks like another off-season of scrapping the bottom of the barrel.

The Sabres are at a point that anything should be on the table to improve the team. Our shopping list is long and we have the assets to acquire the pieces At a minimum we need 1. Top 9 center 2. An entire upgraded 4th line 3. a top 4 RHD. If we need to trade our 1st rd draft pick to get it done, so be it.

Komarov (5th rd 2022) and Novikov (6th rd 2021) have made the biggest strides since being drafted. Komarov will be a nice addition to the Amerks next season and we'll see how things go from there. It's funny about draft classes. How quickly hope for some of these kids can fade while others blossom. 2021 started with such promise. Power was 1st overall. Rosen was a solid pick if a bit early. Nadeau and Kozak looked like real bargain picks. Poltapov and Kisakov looked really talented and Kisakov even made the jump to the AHL earlier than expected. Now a few years later, Rosen still hasn't made the jump to the NHL and looks like he'll need a 3rd season in the A (but did lead the Amerks in scoring (50). Kisakoc and Kozak are struggling for PT in the A and Poltapov remains in Russia. Power is in the NHL and eating minutes, but hasn't yet made the impact we hoped. However Novikov was the real find in this draft and could be the shot in the arm our D needs in another year. He was arguably Roch's best D this past season and added 23 pts of unexpected O to go with his size and good in zone play. I'm excited to see what he can do next fall and how quickly he gets a callup to the NHL. 2022 is still all systems go. The Big 3 are all making progress. Savoie obliterated the WHL and he and hopefully Östlund join the Amerks next season. We really need Östlund's playmaking skillset. Kulich lead the Amerks in goals, and like Rosen, needs another year in the A. Neuchev, after a tough transition to NA, came on strong. Komarov had a dominate year in the Q and Lindgren had another good year in the WHL and hopefully will be signed to an ELC. Richards also had a nice freshman season with UConn.

I don't disagree, but that is what others have said when I also posted that Adams hasn't brought in any 2nd line (or 2nd pairing) talent. The bottom line is the only time he has acquired decent talent is by sending out as good if in better talent. The Mitts trade was a "hockey" trade, but I'm not convinced it has or will make the team better. As I've also said before Byram is redundant to Power. We may want to move on from one to save long-term cap because I don't think a top 4 containing Byram, Power and Dahlin is workable or affordable long-term. No surprise. but hopefully it doesn't rule our getting a good center for the 3rd line. Krebs is not the answer.

Wasn't he often relegated to 3rd line duties and primarily given O Zone starts to minimize his lack of back checking? Wasn't he also done in the NHL by 31?

I've said this before and the usual response is well he acquired Tuch and Byram.

The Leafs will never ever trade Taveras to the Sabres. Also Taveras has a full NMC. If he wants to stay to Tor, he's staying. If he wants to move, he'll pick a team that is a Cup contender next year, not the Adams lead Sabres. What about Sean Monahan as an alternative? He is 29 (30 in Oct), had a nice rebound season (59 pts - 26g 33a) and can play all 3 forward positions. He won 54.9% of his faceoffs (nearly 1300 draws) and is from Brampton Ontario. a two 2 years 10 mill total contract might do the trick. I think he'd slot very nicely into the 3rd C role, and maybe even drop Cozens to the 3rd C role.

UPL/Levi is happening next season ready or not. Adams is committed to his prospect or bust strategy in goal and has not learned a thing from his mistakes and failures so far. The good news is UPL finally stepped up and it looks like Levi has his confidence back. This bodes well for next year. This prospect or bust strategy in goal has cost us two playoff appearances the last two seasons. It wasn’t the sole reason for the failures, but a primary one. So even if the UPL/Levi works next season, bringing back the D group as currently constructed and all the current and rfa forwards is a mistake. We must change the culture in Buffalo. We must improve the PP. We must find some playmakers. We must become more physical. Ruff is a good first step. Ruff will want to roll 4 quality lines. The Sabres have 7 (8 if you include Skinner) quality forwards and a desperate need for talented centers.

No. His job is to make the Sabres a winning team and he has failed in that task miserably.

Levi's saved 101 shots of 106 against the last two games for the Amerks. UPL was more consistent last season and mostly played well. Levi was up and down, but he seems to have found his groove again in the playoffs for the Amerks. Levi may use the confidence earned this playoffs to take his game to another level in the NHL next season and become the No. 1 goalie. The great news is maybe just maybe the team will have competent goaltending for 82 games next season and wouldn't that be a nice change.

Good thing we traded him without a plan to replace him. We have no 3C NHL ready prospects, Krebs isn't good enough and most of the guys who'd be perfect for the role have NMCs so they aren't coming or have expensive contracts (or want an expensive contract) or both. Take, for example, Anthony Cirelli. Good hard working two way center. Comes from a championship team and only 26 (27 in July). He also doesn't have a NMC (yet) and is on a team that may have to cut payroll. Sounds like an ideal fit. However this player's max offense has been 43-45 pts. He hit his career high in goals (20) and pts (45) this past season. Unfortunately he is under contract for the next 7 years at 6.25 per season, or about what it would have cost to keep Mitts (back to back seasons of 59 & 57 points).

Sadly we are in full agreement on this. GMHD has no idea how to improve this team. His whole plan is to hope that the kids mature on their own into winners and he can supplement on the fringes.