FrenchConnection44

Really. If they just landed a physical, 2-way forward we’d be in a much better spot. Just no toughness on this team. Some try (Cozens) but they just aren’t made for that role. Sabres seem bent on primarily under 6 feet, 160-185 pound forwards who all look like future Lady Byng candidates.

To be fair, they are taken seriously as a talent feeder for Cup contenders. 😂 🤦‍♂️

Sure. But it’s not as if they are “lucky,” they drafted Bergeron in the 2nd, Marchand in the 3rd, as well as Pastrnak & McAvoy in the first after the Sabres drafted their players. The year they drafted McAvoy we drafted Nylander. 🙄 They get McAvoy, we draft Ryan Johnson - now 23 and still borderline NHL. As much as people talk about Buffalo’s pipeline, none of our picks have panned out to be stars. Closest is Dahlin but that’s one guy. We have been mediocre to poor evaluators, frankly. If at least one of Kulich or Savoie or Rosen and Ryan Johnson (soon to be 23) are not in the lineup playing well this year, then if not a failure yet, it will be a disappointment given all 3 were first rounders and need to start showing high talent potential. And if Power isn’t 230 and beastly then we are not instilling a work ethic and developing talent either. I don’t think Adams could draft a strong two-way or defensive forward over 200 lbs if he were paid half a mil for each one. He certainly hasn’t been able to recruit one in free agency.

Well, one draft iteration is not a legit sample size. But what happened or didn’t in the past week is neither here nor there to my comment. I’m not directly complaining about Adams (though there is plenty to complain about). Just stating that few appear willing to make a deal with us for our prospects / picks. They want our guys when they make the NHL and we are forced to trade or let them go in free agency. We have been a feeder club for playoff teams.

Watching a lot of the videos he seems like a slightly more solidly built Zach Benson. Not a fast skater, not a big shot, but good intangibles and gritty. I guess Brandsegg-Nygard was too big of a two-way forward, and too much what they don’t have for Adams to draft him (“Brandsegg-Nygard has a professional body already, at 6-foot-1, 207 pounds and is the type of prospect the Wings have focused on in recent years. He's a two-way right wing who is as responsible on the defensive end as he is offensively, with a hard shot and good playmaking ability. He's a physical player who searches for contact with that strong body and plays with an edge.” Detroit FP). Nah, don’t need a player like that! And there is your 6+ ft 200+ pounder. We shall see.

Seems like they did exactly what you didn’t want to happen. Passed on Eiserman and went with a “complete game” player. 🤷🏼‍♂️ Although it could be argued they passed on the guy with the most complete game who went one pick later, Brandsegg-Nygard

So … our picks and prospects are not in high demand and no free agent is hot to come to Buffalo. Guess teams have figured out - better to copy the Panthers / Knights MO - wait til the player is developed some, becomes dissatisfied with the Sabres, then get him for a few prospects and add a cog to their Stanley Cup run. At this point we are just a AAA feeder franchise.

Right. It remains to be seen. On the surface it makes no sense if they are drafting these players. They don't need more prospects - especially long term prospects and the further down the board one moves the more long term and uncertain the prospect becomes. They need talent influx asap. It only makes sense if they are making a trade with these picks in some way.

The voting by Jim Matheson. Lol. That’s some real homerism right there. 3 Oilers. I think a case could be made for Barkov, McDavid, or Bob. Barkov shut McDavid down in the first two games. And McDavid was ineffectual in game 7. And Bob had 4 great games, not 3 like McDavid (really, 2). He gave up 5 goals in the 4 wins. Of course, Barkov was a big part of that. As well as the rest of the Panthers team defense. I’d have voted for one of the Panthers. It was a strange series. One of crazy streaks. Which makes MVP voting difficult. Based on which set of games?

Agree on wanting Edmonton and not liking southern teams winning. I prefer more traditional franchises to win. The Kings are a minor exception since they’ve been around. But still go for northern teams. A Florida reporter tweeted this. This really ticks me off. We should have tanked for McDavid. SMH. Had a solid lead over the Oilers for the top pick thru game 68. The Panthers appear to be the Sabres parent club and we are their AAA talent feeder at this point - which makes me want them less (I’ve never gone in for rooting for former players, even ones I liked, to win a cup with another team. It only irritates me. 😊). Was really rooting for the Rangers. I may watch a game or two in hopes McDavid plays well and can score. Had Dallas won I would likely not have watched a single game of the finals. That said, I think the Panthers are the better overall team with the better goalie. And they have the number one agitator in the NHL in Tkachuk. Hate that guy with a passion. But wish we had him on our team. Or a player like him. It will be interesting to see how the Oilers plan to deal with him.

That statement that he could see in October / November that “it just wasn’t there” - something was missing - is really what many of us saw. Which is why several of us were calling for Granato to be gone in early December. I do like Dahlin calling out the team for not showing up in camp in great condition. And that they need to this upcoming year. Several of these guys need to get a lot stronger. Probably 2/3 to 3/4 of the team could stand to add - at minimum - 10 lbs of muscle. It’s very doable with the right diet and weight training. A high school kid can do it. There is no excuse for Power not to come into camp at 228-230 (after playing at 218 lat year) given his frame. And to be quicker, faster and more dominant. Zero excuses.

So the Sabres South are better than the actual Sabres. Have to admit, frustrating to see us serving as a farm team for the Panthers.

Pretty exciting to see. Good write up.

Watching the Hurricanes on the road is like watching the Russian Olympic team with their red and white uniforms. Almost feels like they copied them.

It's time to start penalizing ***-***** like that. But could not believe they didn't call Marchand on that hook/interference just before the Bruins scored their GW goal.

I am fully content with this. (Eff the whole "wash, rinse, repeat" bs. He took Buffalo to the Stanley Cup Finals - granted it was with arguably one of the greatest goalies in NHL history - still he did that) He has a TON of experience in the NHL (unlike Granato). He had 8 playoff appearances in 14 seasons with the Sabres. Who wouldn't take that after the last 13 years? His successful stint with the Devils, where he guided a relatively young team, further demonstrates his coaching prowess. He's either developed into or had a winner at every franchise he's been with. He's a Buffalo man. Now, Adams needs to add at least 2 high-quality, tough, physical NHL players this offseason—ideally one two-way forward and one top-4 D man.

Was anyone seeing it in Casey 3 years ago? I don’t see that comp, though. Krebs is a different sort of player. I am fine with Krebs coming back but needs some real competition.

New captain.

I don’t think we are that big. Tall maybe. But only Samuelsson and Girgs and Tuch are actually big. But none of those are tough or rugged players. Cozens, Tage, Power are all tall kids but all of them could use another 10-15 lbs of muscle to those frames. And they need to toughen up. Really, bring 1-2 vets, at least one forward, who can come in and play rugged NHL style hockey. That, combined with some work ethic to develop their bodies in the offseason, and I think the team could be significantly improved to go with a coach who holds them accountable and has a system (some of the players may have even forgotten what that means).

Well, when a loss will actually benefit the team and elevate them 3 spots into the top ten of the draft, they can’t even do that right! Granato has to go. They also need a veteran and they need a revamped player development section. The whole front office is too slim in that regard.

Ah. Hadn’t paid attention there in a bit.

Gotta Lose. Once we were eliminated (really even before we were technically eliminated as we were a couple of games prior to that for all intents ..), I’d have brought a bunch of guys up and let them play. And I would not care about winning too much. We want the best draft position possible. Even if we decided to trade it for a vet the higher the pick the better.

I meant he didn’t write anything within the content that showed any evidence related to the title. It was just rehashing the problems.

Is anyone else just completely fed up with Granato and his press conferences? Along with his coaching, to say the least?

Scheffler is great. I am totally meh on him as a fan. My favorite golfers over the years have been Jack (started watching golf in 1970), then Freddy, then Norman, then Mickelson (I chatted with him at the Masters practice round in 1993. Been a fan ever since; in spite of LIV). Not a huge fan of anyone on the leaderboard. I kind of like Dechambeau (I’ve mostly been a fan of players others hated. When I was a kid, every golf fan on earth loved Arnie and hated Jack. So I rooted for him).