PerreaultForever

Agree. I am hopeful he makes a leap forward next year. My fear (for Dahlin as well) is we are rushing them along, expecting too much, not correcting bad habits, not teaching enough fundamentals and defensive responsibilities. Wouldn't be the first player we've ruined that way. So fingers crossed.

Road game to end I'd be surprised if they did anything but float and stink tonight.

Is it Jack not using his linemates or is it his linemates relying on him to carry the puck too much. Skinner heads to the net well but is not a puck carrier by any stretch. All too often I see Rinehart throw the puck to Jack rather than carry it himself.

The one I am slimly hoping will start next season after we hit gold in the draft, see leaps from our top prospects and sign 2 or 3 solid FAs. I am still hopeful it all comes together next year so I guess it's the new era I WANT to see begin :)

I have no idea how you can chart/compare two completely different prospects with completely different skills and attributes. They need to develop, but they need to develop different things. Only way Thompson makes it in the nhl is if he gets bigger, uses his size, and develops a little aggressiveness or even meanness to use that size. Right now he's just awkward. Olofsson has the speed and skill, he needs to work on his defensive game and maybe some strength so he can endure future closer checking and physicality. I see no desire in Tage to be a power forward, so odds are Olofsson's future is brighter.

With all due respect to RJ maybe it's perfect timing to revamp the whole thing to try to help create a new vibe for the beginning of a new era.

Don't forget Thompson. Without muscle added he will be a dud.

Couturier? Pipe dream, but I like it. Olofsson looks promising, no question about it.

Olofsson definitely has some speed skill and speed and should help this team next year. not sure he has the size or physicality for an 82 game schedule or a playoff grind but he can definitely contribute. At the start it looked like they were going to go out heads hung low but they picked it up, got a few bounces and faced an iffy not ready goalie so a good result for a final home game. Nice icing for Pommer to get one more goal. I would be surprised if we see him here next year though. Skinner? Who knows. So I guess a glimmer of hope.

I'm sure Matt believes this all to be true and I'm no fan of Bylsma or Murray but the simple fact is if he'd played better he'd have played more. He stunk and he slowly dropped off into nothingness and not a team in the league wanted him. Glad we can finally close the book on this one. Maybe not as bad a free agent signing as Leino but close. Bye Matt, enjoy your money.

yup. I don't care about our lottery odds I want to see our best possible effort for the last home game. I mean it is fan appreciation night right, so give us something to appreciate and a little hope for next year.If they stink tonight optimism will be difficult to say the least.

Totally. Gets turned around a lot too and is out of position. Tries to use his speed (which is his asset) but it gets him caught leaving the front of the net open all too often. This is kind of what worries me about how this Housley style D is being built. Risto, Pilut, Montour, Dahlin all guys being encouraged to play offense and rush with the puck but all getting caught out of position and displaying terrible D fundamentals. I think we may have ruined Risto over the years and fear we might do the same with Dahlin, although he does seem more potentially defensively able. imo he has the O skills what he should be concentrating on now is D and D fundamentals and I'm not seeing that we are doing that. He needs a pairing like they do in Boston with Chara beside the new kid for a year or two. We need more solid stay at home guys to balance with these O oriented guys and I am hoping Borgen will be one of those.

That's the half empty half full point of difference I think we have most of all. I see him as an inbetweener and you see him as more complete. For me he's not great at either aspect just competent at both so I see him as a 2nd liner. A good 2nd liner, but a 2nd liner. So if we were rival GMs I guess we'd have a hockey deal in the works :) As for the +/- thing I know we lose a lot so it's hard to compare etc. but I do think the big negs for our so called top players is troubling. They allow a lot of goals when they are on the ice which says they aren't spending enough time in the offensive zone and not scoring enough 5 on 5. Whether or not they can backcheck is a whole other discussion best put aside here. They are not a line that dominates, contrary to some popular views. I mentioned Ramsey because of his great +/- but I also think that is what this team needs. A solid line that can play up against top lines and shut them down, kill penalties and also score a little. That frees the top line from going strength against strength too, which they are failing at. I mean Ramsey Luce didn't outscore Perreault Martin, but they kept the other guys from scoring against them while they did their part. We really have nothing like that now.

I personally thought Borgen looked better than Pilut.

Only if he gets hit by Tchachuk.

TSN and SN guys have been talking about McDavid rumblings and unhappiness for a few months now. It's understandable. He got an early playoff taste so the current situation is even harder to stomach and the future isn't bright. He may want out for real eventually. I suspect, if we do not improve, we will start hearing the same things from or about Jack. Interestingly today I heard them saying the new nhl rebuild model is 3 years. Anything longer is considered failure. They pointed to the Rangers who, if they sign FAs this year (Panarin rumor) will be right on that 3 year target. I think with what free agency is now this is a valid view. So.....JBot sign those FAs and let's go playoffs year 3!!!!!

Reinhart has played 329 games for the Sabres. He has 85 goals and 117 assists. His +/- -58 Forsberg has played 393 games. He has 145 goals and 157 assists. +/- +31 Johansen 281 games 50 goals 162 assists. +/- +29 Arvidson 276 games 100 goals 84 assists +/- +38 So would I trade Reinhart for Forsberg straight up? In a heartbeat. For Johansen? Less appealing but he is a better playmaker so yes. For Arvidson, yes. We desperately need people who can put the puck in the net. The line as a unit is better balanced though. We need another guy on that line who will carry the puck as well as Jack so he can find open spots and not have to fend of 2-3 defenders every rush. People say Jack takes nights off. Personally I think he just gets tired of being the only one carrying the load. I know a lot of people don't put any stock in +/- any more but I still do. I think it still tells a lot about us. Incidentally, Risto worst ever currently at -145 vs. Craig Ramsey who ended +324. A modern day Luce/Ramsey combo would be really good for this team.Heck just give me a modern day Bill Hajt.

Yup. Big time. In prison now I think.

Surprisingly good effort. And for all those who scoffed at the Skinner Okposo line idea.........so there. We finally had some secondary scoring. Eichel was on his game, but unfortunately couldn't do it alone, we are just too talent thin. Good effort though. If we'd seen this all these past games I wouldn't have lost my optimism.

Wow! I think I was saying something earlier somewhere about Buffalo fans having a tendency to overrate their players...............

Has more to do with seeing what Olofsson can do in that spot. Skinner is a known entity but it hardly matters. Of course since Housley assures us the culture is in a good place and they are playing hard to the end https://wgr550.radio.com/articles/news/housley-our-culture-good-place we will see an awesome effort tonight won't we? LOL Pilut-Nelson ? Predict your minus number now............I say -3 on the night.

I will add this, Housley's recent comments about how the team is still playing hard and the culture is good makes me think he should be fired though. Everyone can see this team has quit and is lifeless now. I've seen eliminated teams on rebuilds and they are playing spoiler with energy and enthusiasm. We have lost it. Lying to the media/fans about the obvious is just dumb or maybe even condescending. How stupid does he think Buffalo fans are?

The real difference we have here is when you add the word "big" to "error." So we can dicker about big or little error, but it was an error. There is a long list of errors/mistakes that have been made (mostly by Murray but also maybe by JBot, time will tell on the latter) and they add up. Drafting Sam over Draisaitl is one of them. Kane trade - small error ROR trade - BIG error drafting Sam - small error trading 1st for Lehner - big error other smaller ones but that's enough to slow any rebuild (along with the lottery loss). They add up. I'm not suggesting things are all Sam's fault by any means. He is what he is, but I think what that is is not what we wanted him to be when drafted and never will be. He's a solid second line forward. If you think we can win with him as a top 3 forward I think you are wrong. For me that means we are lacking in talent. If Sam is my 5th or 6th best forward I have a good team. Not before.

I'm not. You're making it an argument between us when my mentioning him was only a small section of the larger overall point, which was that we do not have enough talent. Sam, as our top RW has 20 goals. You want to be the best, your top players have to be better than that. That's just Gourde on Tampa. Kucherov has 39 as his actual counterpart. Looking at the draft, Draisaitl has 47 on an equally crap team to us (and if you want to try the he plays with McDavid line, that was my argument for many of Sam's assists so don't bother). So sure, defend Sam all you want to, but the fact is that drafting him was one of our big errors in rebuilding this team and he simply isn't as good as other top line players. On most teams he is second line at best, and his on again off again work ethic and defensive errors would probably get him benched on strict teams like Boston. he is not a star player, and if you view him as one, you've set the bar way too low.

Not "we", Murray. It was clear what his idea was. McDavid with a tough scoring winger (Kane), ROR as 2 way 2C. Lehner emerging as a #1 goalie. So you get Eichel, okay still good. Add Nylander to complete top line but the plan went to s##t. In hindsight, a defense anchored by Risto, Zadorov and Meyers would look pretty good now. Compher adding more toughness and solid secondary scoring. White or someone similar with the Lehner pick...........we might not be a cup contender, but I think that would be a playoff team on the rise.