Pimlach

Did Adams really use Granato develop the talent? Krueger hired Granato, Boterill hired Krueger. When Krueger was fired Granato was there and given the job, no real coach search. Did Granato really do an any better job developing young talent than several other top candidates would do? He played kids and had trouble getting his team to play a consistent and balanced two way game.

It’s excellent. They have a national award winning pizza, a Detroit style, which is sold in squares. They sell out almost every day because they make one batch of dough for it every morning and when it’s gone it’s gone until the next day.

The Utah Saints ?

The NFL drafts from college and they can own the rights to the player until that player reaches UFA status as a pro. The NHL can draft an 18 year old player and if that player goes to the NCAA they can lose the rights to him after so many years (3 or 4 or something like that). My point is that teams can lose the rights to a player because he stayed in the NCAA, which I view as unfair to the team that drafted him at 18.

The opposite of the NFL, which means the wrong way to do it.

More Lindy influence? Seems like they would (and should) know this already.

Peach fuzz

Of course. We added McLeod, I was referencing my thoughts before that that move was made because I did not want to see them hand 3C to Krebs. If he can win the job someday that is fine. Right now I think we are ok with Tage, Cozens, McLeod, Lafferty, and Krebs. Adding a top 6 winger would also be good. Both Zegras and Farabee are talented players, and both are in their teams respective dog houses. Not sure about either of them to be honest.

I could be accused of saying that Cozens in not a 2C because I wanted the Sabres to make a splash and get a 2C that can move Cozens to 3C. Why? 1. Because of the way Lindy mixes and matches lines, the 2nd and 3rd lines could end up being more balanced, and 2. I do not want to hand 3C or even 4C to Krebs. He still might improve, but he did not earn 3C yet. Back to Cozens, everything about last year was bad from the very start and he was one of the guys that took it hard and his play was impacted by it. He has another year under his belt and I expect that he gets back on track.

The grittiest Sabres forwards were Benson, Cozens, and Greenway. Now you can add Aube-Kubel, Lafferty, and Malenstyn. I want to see the last 3 be gritty as a Sabre. No players are going to go out swinging without top cover from teammates. On defense Clifton and Dahlin and Gilbert have toughness and grit. If these guys stick together they will finally have enough grit to more than hold their own.

Glad I do not pay for that news service. 2022 = F They did nothing but the "no blocker" policy. They were lucky that several players had career years and there were very few injuries. 2023 = F They did very little, only Clifton ended up helping them. The Mitts- Byram trade was too little to late for 2023. This was the year they should have made real moves in the off season but they rolled it back and ignored the Quinn injury. Injuries happened all season long too and the lack of depth was obvious. 2024 = B- Above average for the Sabres, but how hard is it to find 4th liners? This grade could go down or up, depending on how much the new guys do, but there are no big impact players added so far. This is a "sum of the parts" concoction to fix the bottom 6 - we shall see.

He looked tentative in his 4 minutes of game time. Gave away the puck at least one time that looked bad. I thought it must be jitters.

Unfortunately, lots of things were better. Less is more at times.

Who much does he want? Anyone know? He made $775K last year. Give him a decent raise

Lindy as GM? That would shock me. Lots of business stuff to deal with, contracts, etc. If they promote from within then Karmanos is indeed the most logical one. Lindy in advisory role is possible, depends on the next two years and how they progress from his efforts. Never know. He could be like Dudley and stay in the game for a while as a consultant/ advisor.

Come on. It’s year 5. Finally seeing changes that are not minimum wage. Still not ready to swim in the deep end.

Should. He might be gone, sure. But I think he stays and fits the plan forward for now.

Some info I’m willing to share a little of from older connected folks: - As suspected, there was no coaching search. It started and ended with Lindy. - Lindy working his tail, and everyone else’s, very hard right now. - Lindy has a big say in roster reconstruction. Much more than the previous guys, but the store was closed on the previous guys. - They still have big problems getting players to come here. Not viewed as serious about winning. - Lots of love for Dudley. Not just for winning but his entire career as player, coach, and FO. Some disdain/regret about Sabres not utilizing him. They say his knowledge runs deep. - Not spending to cap is still the plan, saving $ for our own. Slow rebuild continues. Counting on best players to improve. - More confidence about improving team play under Lindy Not much else. Mostly polite silence on current regime.

I really think the store is closing on Ehlers and Necas. Ehlers is not worth the asking price for one year. Necas does not want to be here. Done

Sabres were really that slow? Eric Robinson was the Sabre going nowhere fast.

Meh. I want a more physical presence back there. Joki teamed with Power was so easily dominated in front of our goalie last season. Watch the playoffs. You could never trust this pair in crunch time. I know he has some positives but he brings nothing special other than RH shot. Steady, serviceable but not adding much.

I’m gonna disagree. I think Greenway is very effective defensively, and on the PK. He has a physical side to his game. His playing speed is fast enough and it may be complimentary to the others. I want to keep him and see.

Well maybe not, but lots of things Lindy said they needed to improve upon are getting addressed, even if in a low dollar cost way. It could be Lindy’s influence. It could be KA has permission to spend more. It could be Adams is learning on his own. Probably a combination of all. This season should be interesting to see how it all shakes out.

They really don’t have “big contracts” to hit, not yet anyway but they will come. The past two seasons he easily could have signed more and better vets to short term contracts, just like they are now doing, and got closer to the cap, with no threat to the future cap, and maybe they win more and make the playoffs. Looking at these signings, it feels like Ruff is teaching Adams right now. Adams is doing simple things that he would not do before. Let’s hope he doesn’t blow the UPL situation, like he definitely did with Ullmark Pegula has been extremely frugal with the Sabres. The place they play in has needed a roof for years. They are finally getting a modern scoreboard. The arena needs even more work. Meanwhile, the Bills get everything they need.