PerreaultForever

It's not the right approach though. Yes, you accumulate and keep your draft picks initially and you primarily build through the draft. this is correct. BUT, you start with the goal and you build out from there. You build the culture before all the offensive talent. You create a work hard attitude and an expectation when you wear the jersey. Team play and toughness and no excuses for lack of effort. When you have that in place and are basically hard to play against, then you add the offensive talent into that culture. Talent that you have drafted and matured in the minors. They become part of the culture because it's already in place. We're doing it backwards (again).

Garbage teams. Garbage hockey. One team had a goalie so they won.

Oh now I'm "jaundiced" that's a new one. What? Did I need to put smiley faces after each line for you to make it happier? Oh wait, those are yellow................... This has come up before, but you have the 2 year view and I have the 11 year view. I take a longer view. Probably it's since I started watching this team in the 1970s and I refuse to lower my standard of excellence and expectation to where it is in this era. My standard comes from that era and stays there. No team in any sport should take 11 years to rebuild and STILL not make the playoffs. If that's "jaundiced" so be it.

Well of course he's a believer. That's why he's here. He's a big part of the master plan. "depletion within the unit" is the same thing as saying we lack defensive depth but doesn't piss off his boss. Greenway ineffective due to injury? Don't buy that for a second. Minnesota dumped him because he was ineffective. This is just a way to buy time, hoping you can find a way to get him going and fitting in somewhere. He certainly wasn't going to say "ya, idk what Kev was thinking there, the guy's a stiff"

I don't disagree with most of this but I would just say this isn't really a public shaming forum. We discuss hockey here, not just the Sabres. I wouldn't want to go on and on about this topic in the general "around the league" thread but a separate thread is fine and eventually the topic gets old and buried and we move on. Anything related to hockey is a relevant topic here and with Briere being named interim Flyers GM the timing of this incident made it even more relevant.

To the first sentence, it goes way back and is too involved for the time it would take here. If I was in Buffalo I could take you out for a few beers and some wings and we could go over this for a full evening, after which you'd say ya, that might have been better. A few things as examples. Would not have traded all the draft capital TM traded away. Would not have traded for Evander Kane. Would not have traded for O'Reilly. Would not have traded for Lehner. Would not have traded Marcus Foligno (he'd likely be captain right now). Would not have hired any of the coaches we hired from Bylsma to Granato. Would have given Ullmark more. Would not have drafted Nylander. Would have traded Skinner and Ullmark prior to deadlines if they didn't sign for the max amount in my budget. Would have traded Reinhart earlier when he appeared to be ready to peak and thus have gotten more for him. Possibly traded Eichel earlier. SO MANY MISTAKES and most of them glaring errors I disagreed with when they happened. But all these things lead to other things so it's kind of impossible to answer your question reasonably. If I reversed some of TM's early mistakes we'd have already done better so draft picks would have been lower but maybe FAs would have come here. I guarantee you we wouldn't be an 11 year losing joke. You could wear a blindfold and throw darts at a spinning wheel of options and come up with better results than some of the Sabres decisions have been, I don't understand your middle paragraph but as to the last sentence, absolutely not. If we'd made the moves we needed and made the playoffs I would be very happy and would look forward to making more moves to be even better next year. I would expect us to lose to Boston quickly, but it would still be a big big step forward. There's an illusion around here for some that the team is better, but let's wait for the final standings. At the moment, if you actually look, we are roughly exactly where we were last year.

Don't know what's changed down there but Florida really making a push for the playoffs and could be the dangerous wild card team.

So because Danny was awesome for us his son gets a pass on his bad behaviour? The internet does bring things to the forefront that used to stay hidden. the world has changed. You don't get to jock your way out of as many things today as you did back in the day and that's just the way it is. We should be better? No, HE should be better.

Well we learn 2 things here. Kevin says size doesn't matter, and Devon has a "thickness".

Ya, you do need all that, but adding the player(s) through those missed trades would have helped. Step(s) in the right direction at least.

But maybe your organization doesn't end up being a joke with an arena filled with Bruins fans. Maybe the less committed fans will come back when they see the effort by management and the move in the right direction (those not on this board where everyone should be committed but the ones who want to be fans but just can't until it gets better). Maybe you start to sell some seasons tickets again. Maybe when free agents see the steps forward like making the playoffs, maybe then they start to rethink the idea of not wanting to come to Buffalo. Maybe players drop us off their 10 team no trade lists. perceptions do matter at this point. Most people aren't die hards like the ones who stick around here year after year. As for "blow your whole load" that's nonsense. When you have drafted well and have multiple prospects you can spend some draft capital on making improvements. So you lose Savoie but you gain Chychrun. How is that blowing your whole load? You get a D man already broken in and ready to maximize his potential. You no longer have a D depth problem. He's still yours for next season after this. The whole season. So you play next year with a top 4 of Samuelsson Dahlin Power and Chychrun or you lack D depth keep a pick and maybe Savoie is ready, maybe he contributes a little, maybe he plays in Rochester maybe he's no better than Mitts maybe he's Nylander. A lot of maybes and a lot more waiting. and if I was managing this team we would already have made the playoffs.

I know a lot of people hate the goat, but I just remember we had a lot of team toughness in that era and they seem to play harder and better in them so I can't shake that identity thing from those jerseys. But yes, the 4th line like that is what we need. Gaustad was a good PK guy too. We could guys like that for sure.

What's actually tiresome is missing the playoffs for the longest streak in league history and being the joke of the league. Of course the same rhetoric keeps getting posted, because it's the same problems every season. As for Chychrun leaving, well anybody might leave, but if you start winning you reverse that desire. Chychrun would have made the team instantly better. Savoie? who tf knows.

Well yes, but Adams has to do those things first. I think it's hard to build properly and fit people into real roles if there are line up holes. For an overt example, you can't ask a team to play a solid checking game if they have zero faith in their goaltending to hold a one goal lead or they have to come back from early deficits. Everything has to be built in layers, and imo we are doing it backwards. I've said ages ago, you prioritize and fix goalie FIRST. Then the D then the scoring. Anyway, assuming he fixes (most of) the holes, Granato has to stop being the kind teacher to some extent and has to demand effort and excellence. You don't give full effort and do your job you sit. He needs to teach them a proper defensive system and put that first and make them play it. Play your position, do your job. This is all on the coaching, and if the players don't buy in they are the wrong players. Once he clearly defines each player's role, they have to do their job as I said. Again though I'm not sure it's possible without filling the holes first. For example, I want Cozens and Dahlin and Krebs and so forth (everyone actually) to play big and be aggressive, push back, but I'm not sure they can and will continue to do that without more grit in the line up so that they know they will not be alone and guys will step in. Everything kind of feeds back on itself and one thing leads to another. This is why Philly signed a meathead like DesLauriers. It's not that he's a good player, but just being there, players knowing he's there for them, that makes other guys in their lineup unafraid and thus they can push a team like we have around with impunity. Same thing happened in Minnesota with Reaves. Reaves talent makes him marginal at this point, maybe even a liability, but since they got him that team has been winning and guys up and down their line up are playing more physical. The team got better. We desperately need physicality for the 4th line. I know the soft skill no fights contingent will scream old school out dated hooligan blah blah blah but look at what all the playoff teams in the division did. Every single one of them, even Boston, added more, not less toughness for the playoffs. It is still part of what hockey is, like it or not. Yes, ideally I want Brad May not Rob Ray, but until I find Brad May if Rob Ray is all I can get I'm still adding him. It'll still help, and think about how nasty and fearless Krebs will get if he's got that guy on his wing to help fight his battles against the bigger guys when they emerge. It'll be contagious. (and switch to the goat heads 🙂 )

You're absolutely right, he shouldn't be THAT important, but on a team with a D this thin he is. If you compare to what we just played, a Stanley Cup contender D, Forbert is injured and was out. They rested Orlov and Zboril who can normally not crack the line up and he had a good game against us. But they still start McAvoy and Lindholm and maybe, MAYBE if you get down to Carlo you're at Samuelsson's equivalent but if Samulelsson was on the Bruins he'd either be in Providence, rotating in like Zboril or at most playing in the bottom pairing (Forbert's spot). That's a reality check.

Just a couple examples from today of why Minnesota didn't need Greenway for "toughness". https://www.hockeyfights.com/fights/n267293 https://www.hockeyfights.com/fights/n267294

life for Linus on a winner This is where the laughter was coming from (to reference the closed thread). It's fun to be on a winner.

I'm sure he did take that view and it's a big F U to the fans and so you get a rink filled with Bruins jerseys. Would it be worth it to make the playoffs? Yes. Absolutely yes, because you need to change perceptions for the fans AND the players too. You have to get everyone seeing and believing in a step forward and making the playoffs, even exiting early, would be a monumental step forward and would help with creating that culture they say they want. Instead, they just learn to lose again, accept losing, and nobody will want to come here.

Same things they needed going into this season. - a solid starting goalie - a solid D partner for Power - a 2 way checking 3C - grit and toughness in the bottom 6 - defensive depth We added a tiny bit of D depth with Stillman, but really just swapped him in to fill the spot Fitzgerald had.

To some extent it's possible. The culture they are (were?) attempting to build is (was?) a fragile thing and when basically no help came at the deadline some players may have thought well, that's it for this year. Pride? Even if they signed long term deals (because it was their best $ option under this CBA) I don't think many of these players feel particularly connected to the blue and gold. I doubt there's anybody (maybe Tuch) who want to play the rest of their career in Buffalo the way some guys feel about Boston. It's not that they necessarily want out, but I doubt they'd be heartbroken if traded to a contender.

Dahlin is a battler. I think that's a certainty. The problem with the team is when he battles he's left to battle alone. When he was roughing it up with Frederick nobody came in to help as he got popped in the nose. If that was Bergeron on the Bruins the other 4 Bruins on the ice would have all got in there for him the moment the rough stuff started.

Ya but those stats are for all year which includes when those guys are out there too. The PK is a weakness. The 4th line has some leadership and character but it's not very good. Jost was waived by Minnesota. He's not that good. Sure, we miss Samuelsson, but if a team is that thin that it falls apart with one injury you'll never win will you, because injuries happen to every team every year. Management threw this season away by not improving it and filling the holes that have been there all year and there have been ways and moments to fill those holes. They intentionally did not try to move forward. We are, once again, teaching people how to accept losing, setting the bar incredibly low, and putting all hope on rookies and draft picks that won't make a difference for years. Why would anyone pay to see this crap?

Sorry no, it's not decent. https://www.statmuse.com/nhl/ask/which-team-has-the-highest-penalty-kill-percentage-2022

What force? This team is Jar Jar.

Ya, this idea of unleashing potential is pretty unrealistic. He's 26 and pretty much is what he is. Minnesota gave up on him and we now see why.