Pimlach

If Krebs is to remain a Sabre it will be as a 3C. He has to show he is ahead of the next wave (Savoie, Rosen, Kulich, Östlund), this is his time to do it. He is not suited for 4C at this point in his career. The 4C position needs a stronger defensive player, a better faceoff guy, and better PK skills. That should be a shutdown line.

Krebs is getting 3C time. They want to see him produce with Peterka and Benson. Probably a good move at this juncture.

You haven't been around much lately. Enjoy the Amerks game.

John, my comments on your review of the defense: We have Dahlin and the rest are all question marks. Everyone after Dahlin is tradeable with the exception of Power who needs a longer look and who's contract makes him almost impossible to move Mule had a rough year. Hopefully he gets better next year. We desperately need more physical presence from a guy with his size. His ability to play a tougher game, to clear out the front of the net, and to be rugged and durable is still a major question mark. He has big potential still. Power had a sophomore slump. Not gonna comment further, just leave it at that. He is going to be very highly paid next year and he needs to grow up faster than the average defenseman because of it. He has a ton of work to do this off season. Not sure Adams did him any favors - this kid will be making $8.35M and wont be 22 until November. 😞 We lack the big, strong, steady stay at home RHD that would help Power immensely. This is a major need. We don't need another Clifton - we need a top 4 veteran in his prime years to steady this group and take minutes away from Power. We should be able to add this player and keep Mitts. The addition of Clifton is fine for the 3rd pair. He hits, he is a tough middle weight player, he shows ability to clear the net and to be rugged. He has periods of being error prone but as a 5/6/7 that is normal. The addition of EJ will end this after this. He was a one year addition, a 3rd line guy now in the twilight of an excellent career. I am not sure he got through to the youngsters, I hope he did. I would love to pick his brain after the season and get his real thoughts on this group and the entire organization. Joker - he is playing well most of the time. He does not fill the bill as a top 4. His game is similar to Dahlin, Power, and R Johnson - a puck mover and not a heavy hitter or a defense first guy. His presence "blocks" adding the big tough defensive defenseman that we still need. More of a 5/6 that can move up to top 4 in a pinch. Very tradeable IMO. Ryan Johnson - he has played well in sheltered minutes. He looks to be smart, good skater, good passer, his head is up and he is usually composed. He lacks ideal size and strength, but still very young and will get stronger, will rely on mobility, passing and breakout skill to become a solid NHL player. Due to injuries on the team his minutes have gone up lately and he is looking much more like a rookie now. In fact, I thought he was targeted by the Ducks. Despite not having the last line change the Ducks had their best line out there against RJ for all three 2nd period goals. We hardly saw RJ in the 3rd period. Coincidence? This speaks more about the terrible game day coaching that we continually get from Don Granato and his staff. I will be watching Ryan closely tonight as I expect Montreal will try to take advantage. Bryson - an AHL/NHL tweener and a 8/9 guy on the roster. In summary - the defense is better than last year, improving on that was not a high bar either. Some of it is the better goaltending (UPL). Some of it is the better players at 5/6/7. Some of it is the system changes that focus more on defense (and consequently stifles our ability to score). There need to be changes next year. This still not a playoff caliber group but just a few moves away from it.

When does this ever happen? I hope they play to win. I want to finish strong. They have a good shot to win this on the road. After all, they have less pressure on the road.

Everybody that posts here should read this. Thanks for posting it. I know I’m not crazy after all.

Granato himself should have told the team to knock it off. If the veterans guided them to the wrong decision, and they did, then they are the wrong veterans, and this should have been overturned by the coach. The younger players just learned the wrong lesson and got away with the wrong behavior. If nothing else Adams should have ended all this salute bull crap as soon as he knew about it. There should have been no story outside the locker room. This is dysfunctional.

Some very good observations and comments. Some bad ones too To be clear, I have no hatred towards this group. I even defend them - Power, Cozens, EJ, Zemgus, etc - it’s documented all over here. I don’t boo, never have, but I don’t hear any boos that aren’t deserved either. I was ok with being a loyal Sabres fan and just accepting another losing season when all of a sudden the Harrington article hits the BN. The Secret Veteran interview rubs me wrong, why secret? The veteran leaders side with the young millionaires who don’t like the coach being booed. In Boston, the fans are right when they boo, their coach and their captain just said so. Yet in Buffalo it’s different. It hurts their feelings to hear boos, that’s what our coach and captain have to say about it. Look at the standings. What do Boston fans have to complain about? Marchand said they have the right to cheer or boo. Such a progressive city, people exercising freedoms and all that stuff. Granato tells us that the players feelings are hurt, and some signed extensions. I have a hard time understanding why a coach of a professional sports team would tell us that. Do they want to void the contracts now? Are they not men? Are they not professional hockey players? Is the fan base supposed to carry guilt now? Should we feel bad? I wish I didn’t know about any of this. I thought the franchise was heading up. I just commented on off years happening in a rebuild (see Detroit last year). Now I’m not sure about the direction of this team any more.

Some “give you the chills” harmonica by Lee Oskar. War - City Country City

No doubt Adams is here because he was a known commodity, he carries out orders, he listens, and I am sure he is very smart too. He was not on an NHL GM path, and yet he became one suddenly. Up until this year his teams showed slow but steady progress, He has a stockpile of prospects from trading away some very good assets He jumped the gun locking up a few kids and that could become a big problem, or he could look like genius someday. He settled for very poor goaltending in the past and now he is fortunate that UPL might actually be good. If his own acquisition (Levi) develops then Adams could look like a genius again. We are all waiting for him to ship out dead weight and use some assets, especially his prospects cache, to reshape and improve the roster and produce a strong team. This reluctance is driving the fan base crazy. Granato is there because Adams wants him there.

You jump the gun by thinking a player said the city was a dump, but extensions came up so … Winning. The Bills have a very good Coach and GM, and they have a franchise player. If the Sabres had that then this isn’t a conversation. The fact that booing hurts them so much that they talk about it to the coach amazes me. They are men. The season after the Sabres lost the SC to Philly they had a down year. The fans booed a little, first time in 6 seasons that the Sabres heard boos, and it was very little for a game or too. Peter McNab said something about it to a reporter. Imlach was pissed. He shut him up. They had dog houses back then. McNab was traded before the next season. Times change.

The Bills get Cart Blanche funding and Beane knows how to push out the cap $$ out into the future The Sabres are on a budget. This was explained in the Covid era when the family sold off failing parts of their businesses, and tightened the purse strings in an effort to achieve long term viability and maintain the family lifestyle (their words). The Sabres were put on a budget, and also had major layoffs. Boterill resigned rather than comply with “efficient and economical “ policies. PSE eventually dissolved and the Bills and Sabres are separate again, Sabres are still on budget. Bills spend to full cap.

I think he could thrive if healthy and on a better line. Tuch is fine but Skinner is lost and not doing anything. I am still not sure that he isn't better at wing if he played with Mitts at center.

Let’s keep the harp blowing going.

Move on and learn.

You think most of the team is better this year except Tage and Cozens? Power, Samuelsson, Skinner, VO, Tuch, Okposo, Krebs, Dahlin and Levi - All of them have played consistently worse than they did last year. Quinn is excused by injury and his contribution is sorely missed. Thats 12 players that declined and most of them are targeted as Core Players and stars. Mitts, Joker, Girgensons, and maybe Comrie are about the same as last year. Other than Mitts that is not much. Peterka, UPL, and Greenway are clearly better than last year. We added a better 3rd pair rotation (Clifton/ EJ/RJ) than last year and Benson has been helpful most of the time. Jost and Robinson are a not applicable

Just like a coin flip: Good luck for the Bills => McDermott and Beane and Josh Allen Bad Luck for the Sabres => No Coach, No GM, No Savior The Bills success has little to do with Pegula and much more to do with how the NFL operates. The NFL is a league that does things to increase parity, and to help the best future head coaches and future FO staff become known and available to other teams. The NFL is fed by one draft pool that is much better scouted and much better understood. NHL drafts players that are very young. They have different rules for Jr Hockey, different rules for NCAA, and different rules for Europe/Russia. Its harder and slower to re-build in hockey team.

Protest? What is this, Lord of the Flies? Their protest will start with anger and choice words, no doubt some comments about it not being fair. Then hopefully it dawns on them that this happens all the time in hockey and that they had a major role in their coach getting fired. After that they better grow from it and move on.

This is a great post. You are one of the best posters here so don't worry about it. I find myself getting too riled by all that has happened this year and that probably comes off as negative too. Especially frustrating when I can see it coming, and then watch it happen, and observe the organization say and do nothing. I had high hopes, I should have known that standing pat plus all those young players that just had career years was a recipe for a decline this season. I just posted in another thread that I think the slow roll rebuild is going to continue for awhile. That said, lots of rebuilds have a good year, followed by regression, and then make a jump. I just hope we have enough internal leadership, and enough accountability, to make it happen finally.

I think Pegula and Adams are going to continue to slow roll this rebuild using their own internally developed prospects almost exclusively. No more spending to the cap until they break through with their current core No more big free agent signings or major trades No more coaching changes when the next coach is going to be similarly hamstrung like the current No money to spend on the Arena until the Stadium progresses

The leaders missed a golden opportunity to lead and teach. That includes the coach and the GM.

And the irony of that statement is we still don't have a 4C that plays that role better.

Well this thread is specifically about Girgensons and I will never support an idea such as waiving a player that is tradeable, just to avoid getting a "Bjork" or a 7th round pick. Moving on from Girgensons and Okposo is not a stroke of genius by Schmoe. Everyone here already knows their time is up, and it was probably up last year. To my thinking Schmoe is just making an attack on a player that doesn't deserve it, and any message that comes from waiving Girgensons just screams to the rest of the league - "look at the Sabres, they are still idiots". If we want to talk rationally, without all the message sending bravado, then yes - It is time to move on from Skinner and Okposo and Girgensons. They will not be part of whatever fixes this mess. This team is not going to the playoffs. If they can't trade Z and KO at the deadline then you simply do not re-sign them. The Sabre cannot afford to treat these players like crap, and then say we are trying to fix the culture.

I can get behind moving Okposo and Z. Especially Okposo’s comments about not saluting. He blew a leadership opportunity right then and there. I specifically said add vets with tread on their tires. Young vets.