GASabresIUFAN

Girgensons - Adams; "I'm really glad we're keeping him, because there is something special about him." It must be his offensive output. Those 7 goals in 47 games this season are something very special.

Scoring 5 goals in 3 games isn't going to help you make the playoff.

Since Casey was traded for forwards have scored 1 goal 5 on 5 in 3 games. Our D have 3 goals and we have one PP goal. We have no forwards who can create offense. I will admit I like what I've seen from Byram so far. He plays aggressively and keeps the puck moving on the PP. No standing around with that kid. We could use more aggressive play like he provides. Maybe Power will finally learn something.

We have learned a lot of truth about DG and his team since the Mitts/Byram trade. 1) Byram sadly pointed out how poorly coached the PP was when he was actually telling his new teammates where they were supposed to go. Sad 2) Mitts has now pointed out how ill prepared the team is physically. Mitts about how hard the Avs work in practice compared to the Sabres illustrates why the Avs win and the Sabres don't. If these two incidents/comments aren't an indictment of DG and and his staff them I don't know what is. It's time to move on from DG and his staff. The next question is what can KA do to make his team a playoff team next season? The biggest issue is that he is going to run back basically the same roster he has right now. The following forwards are under contract (8) - Benson, TNT, Tuch, Skinner, Cozens, JJP, Quinn, Greenway. Krebs, who is now, for reasons only known to KA/DG, the 3rd line center is an RFA. Therefore the top 9 forwards are set for next year. Robinson will be cheap to retain and honestly, he has given a legit effort every night. I'd rather have him back instead of Jost and Girgensons. While there are 3 to 4 openings for depth forwards, there are no openings for defenders and this should scare Sabres fans. Dahlin, Byram, Clifton, Mule and Power are all under contract. There was a "X" post by the Sabres already touting are 4 great D 23 and under. Joki and Bryson are RFAs and at a minimum Joki will return. UPL is an RFA and will be re-signed. The only question will KA rush Levi to the NHL or sign a legit NHL backup. My guess is the cheap interfering ownership will want to go with Levi. By bringing back the 3 "key" RFAs (Joki, UPL and Krebs) at a max cost of $10 million, and then doing the KA absolute minimum on the depth players the Sabres roster will actually cost about $81 million. TP isn't getting his money's worth. Given that financial backdrop, don't expect any big spending this summer. The run it back roster is not a playoff team in the East unless a miracle occurs. They have no proven playmakers, they are talented on D, but don't defend well. Also the forwards still have no clue how to backcheck. The only way for the miracle to occur is for a new coach to come in and make a difference, for the kids upfront, JJP, Quinn, and Benson, become the offensive catalysts, for UPL to repeat this year's success but from day 1, and for the team to stay healthy.

So everyone is finally understanding what I’ve been saying for years. This clown has no idea how to build a playoff team or run a legit NHL team.

They are UFAs. They won’t be back unless KA does something stupid. Nevermind. I guess all three will be back next season.

Apparently. 4 deals done. Mitts, KO, EJ and Cooley out. Byram, a 4th and 2 7ths in.

Tage isn’t close. Last year was a career year and won’t be repeated.

Z and VO remain. 40 minutes left.

When you look around the NHL, the top teams (except WPG) all have at least one elite forward, most have two or more. The ones with only one usually a excellent depth behind the star such as the NYR with Kreider, Trocheck, and Zibanejad behind Panarin. 1 - Florida - Tkachuk, Barkov and Reinhart 2 - Van - Pettersson & JT MIller 3 - Bos - Pastrnak & Marchand (they're goaltending is elite) 4 - Dallas - Robertson 5 - NYR - Panarin 6 - Wpg - Connor? Scheifele? 7 - Col - McKinnon, Rantanen 8 - Car - Aho 9 - Tor - Matthews, Marner & Nylander 10 - Edm - McDavid & Draisaitl Would you put any Sabres forward on a list with these players? Maybe Cozens and Benson some day, but that day doesn't look very soon does it?

As I mentioned to the trade thread. Calle is a depth AHL D to bolster the Amerks for the playoff run.

You can ask for the world, that doesn't mean you'll get it. I would give them 3 good assets for him, such as our 1 in 2024, Rosen or Savoie and Ryan Johnson.

He'll be 23 in may and has two 60 pt plus seasons already under his belt. He would be an upgrade over Mitts at a locked in cheaper price.

We need a top 6 playmaker, he's young, talented, played for the USNTDP, played against the Canadian 5, he's locked up for two more years at 5.75 and he's an RFA after that. Yes he's on IR, which makes him a perfect buy low candidate for a fresh start next season.

Don't all Swedes?

Don't be dissing Calle. He is an AHL depth D for the stretch drive in Rochester.

I'd re-hire Ruff in a second to replace Granato. He is the only coach in Sabres history who proved he could adjust his style to maximize the players he had. No coach can succeed without good players, but some coaches, and I include Ruff in that group, can make a good group better. Of the 3 highest peeks in Sabre history, Ruff was the coach for two of them.

The fans don't give two sh....s about which players score goals as long as their team scores more than the opponent. My point is the KA made an inept forward group worse and that has been born out so far by the forward groups' lackluster performance the last two nights. So if Byram scores 20 goals next season and the team misses the playoffs again, do you really think the fans will be happy? I doubt it.

My consensus board had him 39th with only 3 of 14 analysts giving him a 1st rd grade. Poltapov was 40th on the consensus board.

All great players can score and pass, that's what makes them great. McDavid's stat line this season is 23g 77a. I'd say he is a playmaker first, despite being one of the best goal scorers in the league. Gretzky was much the same way. McD has 326g and 624a for his career. Compare to Skinner 353g 311a. Which of these players likely drives offense and which one is primarily a goal scorer? Except Matthews and Sam Reinhart, all the top 15 forwards in the NHL all create significantly more than they score including MacKinnon, Kucherov, Panarin, Nylander, Miller, Rantanen, Draisaitl, Petterson, Marner, M Tkachuk, and Thomas. Most have 1.5 to 2 assists for each goal they score. Outside of Casey, of our forwards with over 20 points, only Cozens has a similar type ratio.

It's not just Mitts. It's the structure of the team. KA and DG have zero idea how to build structure a lineup or build out a roster. None. All the top 9 forwards are basically the same player except Greenway and maybe Benson. Now most of the defenders (so to speak) are varying degrees of the same player except Mule and Clifton. This isn't how you build a team. You need guys who different things. We need more physical forwards, more playmakers and less shoot first guys. All the forwards can pass. Last year Skinner was much more focused on passing and his line excelled. This year he is back to only shoot first and he is a drag on all his lines. You mentioned Quinn, but he to is a shoot first guy. JJP is an excellent passer, but he to has been a shoot first guy this season. I get that DG wants them to shoot more, but you have to be smarter than that. These guys have all played hockey enough to know that sometimes a shot isn't the best play.

None of this can happen with the current coaching staff and without at least one or two legit playmakers added to this forward group. We no longer have any forwards who can drive offense unless Benson takes a major leap forward next season. We also have a series of square pegs that we are trying to drive into round holes on defense. The D structure was made worse by adding Byram. We don't have enough defenders who actually play defense well. We also aren't physical enough at forward or defense. The team's improved defensive numbers come primarily from the improved play of UPL. We have allowed the 8th most HDC in the NHL and our HDSA are worse than last year.

Who? What playmaking wingers? Quinn is not a playmaker. Never has been. Benson is the closest and he hasn't exactly created much offense as a rookie despite max effort. JJP and Tuch have good passing skills, but again are more scorer than playmaker. Of the guys coming up only Östlund is a playmaker in the true sense of he word. Rosen is more in the Tuch/JJP mold and Krebs is just bad.

That's a meaningless stat as it reflects the terrible PP and the failure of most of the other 12 forwards. Casey is 37th in the NHL in EVP with 39 EVP. JJP is second with 34. Casey also lead with 27 EVA. The next closest is Dahlin at 19. The scoring problems don't have anything to with Casey's departure, but Casey's departure turned a bad situation worse. Your other question is also meaningless. Who cares how many goals they each score going forward. The question should be is the team better today after the trade than before? My answer is that they aren't better. The offense is going to be worse and I don't think the defensive play will improve either. Outside his injury history, there is nothing "wrong" with Byram the player, except that his in zone play is below average. Granted that makes him just all the other Sabres D. There is a reason Colorado made him available.

I saw that as well and started fast forwarding the game at that point. I realized that the Sabres are hopeless.