Drag0nDan
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Posts posted by Drag0nDan
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On 2/17/2021 at 3:30 PM, LabattBlue said:
1 - They are not as talented as you believe
2 - IMO there are issues with the "system", "culture", and "togetherness"...all leading to less than desired results on the ice.
I am just speculating and have mentioned this before, but I get the feeling that these guys really don't care for each other.
Eichel had 24 even strength goals last year in the same system. What has changed?
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Just now, Kruppstahl said:
I have said from Day 1 that Hall will be gone prior to next season. This deal worked out really well for both parties, actually. It made sense and took advantage of some unusual circumstances that aren't normally present.
Of course Hall is gone at the deadline; he always was going to be gone at the deadline.
The only people suggesting otherwise are Sabres fans.
He does have a full no trade clause though. I think he'll waive it - but its limiting in who we'd be able to trade with.
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9 hours ago, SabresBillsFan said:
The paragraph about the culture is spot on. It’s pathetic this team.
I agree, as I think he might be part of the problem with this team. He looks unmotivated this year when he needs to lead.
He's got the C. Needs to put on his big boy pants and get to work. Krueger/Adams can get fired and you'd be standing there on coach number i dunno 4, and GM 4?
He's like a Towns in minnesota (NBA) - stats and highlight reel plays, a "superstar". But the team always stinks (i know he's missed time this year). They trade wiggins for russell (whos like towns best friend) - and now wiggins is playing a role with the warriors. Towns will probably get his 4th coach, but what does he care? He's got his max contract. When its over he'll go sign with the celtics or lakers or something. Could say the same for stafford in Detroit... he wasn't the problem entirely - but his massive contract indicates he needs to be the man, and the man needs to elevate the team. If you're so good to justify that deal, why does the team lose more than they win?
I think Jack would be smart to avoid the diva reputation, play out the string - and sign with someone else when its all over. The trade demand might not go anywhere, and it only harms you in contract negotiations in the future.
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11 hours ago, Thorny said:
Colour me legitimately, significantly surprised at the fact we have but 2 regulation wins in 12, pacing for 9 in a 56 game season. This is not something I thought remotely possible, even given the mentioned outside factors, considering how our forwards looked on paper.
To me it was more: will we have a top 3 Top 6 unit or a top 5 unit? Bottom of the barrel 5v5 production is a mind boggle.
Finding a second scoring centre is proving elusive. I hope it doesn’t take as long to replace ROR as it has trying to find a goalie since Miller.
Still time to turn it around. Shrinking runway though.
The nice thing is... all of your games count extra. Dropping 4 points to the islanders, while getting 0 isn't great though.
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8 hours ago, SabresBillsFan said:
I don’t know why you think RK won’t get canned. As the coach this squad hasn’t done *****. You have a 9 million dollar player playing with 3rd and 4th liners! Kyle Okposo for 6 million hasn’t done *****. RK needs to find a way to get something out of these two. In all honesty both of these contracts are terrible. Hall will probably walk at the end of this season as will Staal which neither have really done much.
Skinner played about 5 periods with jack and they scored 0 goals and honestly it was the worst jack looked all season. The 3rd period he got moved down for thompson, and that line seemed to have some chances. Oloffson also seemed to play sloppier with skinner.
39 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:I rarely (if ever) lay this on my fellow fan, but — did you watch the game? I was hoping the whining about Skinner being stuck on the fourth line would start to fade out after the last two games. The last Skinner saw of Eichel was after he made a perfect pass to a wide-open Islander in the offensive zone. It might be the last he ever sees of him. Why is the coach at fault here?
THANK YOU! He's a mess in the neutral zone too. Do we just have to find a coach who will let skinner do skinner things and keep him happy? Why can't the guy just play friggin hockey? He's not drawing penalties anymore, hes shooting from outside, he's not in position for rebounds, he's not a great passer, and now he can't shoot anywhere but directly into the goalie. He's a disaster to watch. I don't want him on Jacks line.
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3 hours ago, Carmel Corn said:
If GMKA wants to make a real statement that he is truly in charge, then I would love to see him fire Ralph and find a way to sign Gallant. That would tell me that he isn't afraid to act like the boss and tell the players, fans and perhaps even inept ownership that he isn't fooling around and is taking his job seriously.
He hasn't even coached a full seasons worth of games....
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7 minutes ago, Ruff Around The Edges said:
I agree,
I still think the utilization of Skinner is more the problem, I still think he can be 'somewhat salvaged' and be a 30 goal guy and not make the contract look as incredibly bad as it does right now.
This team to me just lacks a true pulse, lack of physicality and grit is overwhelming IMO.
He can't score 30 goals if he continues to shoot this poorly. It's like he's aiming for the goalies stomachs. He was supposed to be a 5x5 driver, not just along for the ride with jack and sam.
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10 minutes ago, Ruff Around The Edges said:
Agree 10000000 percent.
I start watching this team and then I start thinking 'maybe I can do some things around the house' and barely watch.
This team is infected with Eichel-15 and as of now it has taken on many strands. I'm sorry but I am tired of Eichel. Move on from him NOW.
Eichel is a great talent that will not equate to many wins. He should have not been handed the captaincy so quick and easy. It almost feels like Buffalo bends over backwards because they fear so badly that they will upset him and he will want to leave. Something stinks with this roster, and you have to look at the top.
While Eichel has big trade value, move him. Move Ristolalinen. Heck, even move Dahlin at this point.
Taylor Hall: Nice idea but this could be a blessing in disguise. Move him and get what you can and do NOT fall for that trick and sign him long term like they did Jeff Skinner.
Hire a real Team President, allow the GM to do the dirty work and build this franchise CORRECTLY up and down.
Enough IS enough.
I'm honestly open to trading anyone, no one should be considered untouchable. Skinner you're stuck with, same with okposo. Buyout skinner could create some space, but it prolongs the pain even longer since he's so fresh into his deal. Okposo should just go to the minors - those minutes need to be given to someone else who can actually contribute long-term.
Eichel if traded would get you a haul of stuff - but I refuse to take another terrible deal for a "problem child". Reinhart would also get a decent value.
There are so many overpaid bad contracts on this team... its impossible to build. Skinner, Okposo, Miller, Hutton. 1/4 of the payroll - and you get 4 points from all the skaters (1 of which seems to have forgotten how to score, another how to play hockey, and miller isn't a capable defender), and some really poor goaltending.
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Just now, Taro T said:
Do owners that don't care at all allow the GM to sign $8MM FAs?
In the pandemic with a static salary cap no less.
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7 minutes ago, Cascade Youth said:
Yeah they'd give up some goals. But they'd put pressure on the other team and actually be watchable. And it would at least play to their strengths instead of covering up their weakness (poorly I might add). They've got a generational talent at "offensive defenseman." They've got Eichel in his prime. They went out and spent $8M on a 1-year rental of Taylor Hall. They chose not to get help at goaltending. I didn't make these decisions, they did. Open up the damn offense. This is an absolute disgrace.
Honestly i thought dahlin looked a lot better last night. On the other hand i thought eichel looked considerably worse.
I can't say open it up offensively when i have irwin/davidson/borgen playing minutes. I also think Miller is not very good. His inconsistencies tend to kill offensive chances.
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17 minutes ago, Pimlach said:
Our top 6 players have talent and should score goals. Eichel, Hall, Reinhart, Olofsson, Staal, and Skinner. The 5v5 numbers are terrible. It has to be this system. What a shame to restrict our talent by using a system designed only to make your weakest players better.
Then score some goals? It's either in the goalies belly, or wide. They fan on 1 timers. You aren't going to get 20 chances a game, they need to start capitalizing on some of them.
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7 hours ago, MODO Hockey said:
Knew we would lose thise one, i read Ullmark played bad but seams we only had 20 shots on goal aswell so thats something right there.. god this team blows and the reason behind that is this annoying sh1t coach. I cant believe ppl even still have faith in this idiot.
I didn't really feel like the islanders put up much in the way of scoring chances. Buffalo didn't either. The game just sort of happened. Then it ended.
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21 minutes ago, WildCard said:
Ralph needs to go, and we need experience back in charge. A GM and a HC with experience.
So they should fire adams after like 10 games? It's not as if he's the one who... hired RK and extended skinner/okposo, or signed hutton. They were missing 5 regulars for that game... and several others were away from facilities sick. With a limited amount of space - he brought in Staal (an upgrade over Johansson), rieder/eakin to shore up the PK (which has improved), Hall (whos been almost a PPG player).
The PP is still solid - they just can't shoot. I don't know what it is, but this team cannot shoot. I don't know how skinner scored 40 goals, because he's reliably shooting it directly into the goalies stomach. Hall and Eichel are well below career averages shooting.
And goaltending is still a huge problem. They have 1 capable goalie in the organization (who if he didn't miss time last year, they'd have made the playoffs). They spend like little to no money on it, and it shows.
15 million on okposo and skinner... and they have combined for a point. 1. I don't care who skinner plays with... 1 point? Why is he getting outscored by sheahan lazar and rieder?
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9 hours ago, CallawaySabres said:
The problem is not only a lack of a second line Center, our first line Center savior has all but checked out and seems to be waiting for management and ownership to send him off to a city where he will thrive..
I feel like he's either trying to be like lemieux and make some insane play and turn it over. Or he's just waiting for something to develop and isn't doing the little things.
Last night looked like he was playing on a line with 0 chemistry. No one was in the right place. He looks in front, nobody home and turnover. Cycle it around, nobody home and turnover. Just no sustained pressure in 5x5.
The entire team can't pass, and having guys like irwin in there makes it even worse.
47 minutes ago, Cascade Youth said:Strategy.
RK has them playing defensive hockey which seems to favor 2-3 high-quality chances per game over putting the puck on the net and taking chances.
It’s horrible to watch and it isn’t working. And worse, it announces to his team that he lacks confidence in them.
Open it up and we'll see how bad the goaltending really is though. It's a catch-22
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14 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:
I want the truth. Basically I take issue with being openly lied to.
Oh you think you're entitled to it?!
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13 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:
The truth would have been nice. "We followed the protocol and were safe. After we played NJD we had covid, it is clear that it can be spread via on ice contact." It wouldn't have even been hard but again, they gotta be good little boys and not rock the boat or say anything mean.
He knows what we all know - you want him to just throw his reputation away for the purposes of what stirring up a hornets nest? thats already stirred?
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On 2/6/2021 at 11:43 AM, Curt said:
When Mittelstadt was drafted, they didn’t need a 2nd line C. That was a full year before O’Reilly was traded.
And yet - it made o'reilly "expendable"
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On 2/4/2021 at 3:04 PM, inkman said:
Not disagreeing but who have they drafted for need?
Ehhh my biggest ones were "nylander - the winger to play with jack" and "mittelstadt - the 2nd line center behind jack".
Perception might be greater than reality. But either way, i didn't come away from either pick as the BPA. Nor did i with the 1st this year tbh.
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9 minutes ago, DarthEbriate said:
I think it boils down to vision. The decision was made to tank. Fine. Tank-vision on the McDavid timeline. All well and good. But since that decision, we’ve had DR-vision and Sabres University-vision, then PLF/Nolan-vision, then PLF/GMTM vision which quickly became just GMTM-vision. Now, the tank is over and it’s time for rebuild vision. So we have GMTM/Byslma-vision, JBott/Housley-, JBott/RaKru-, and now Kheevyn/RaKru-vision. And each of these combinations takes the team in a slightly different tack. Is it win now, or just compete hard, is it overpay washed out players or just ice an AHL roster, is it build the center-spine or build an attacking d-corps, is it play heavy or play small and fast? Our feeble skills are no match for the power of the hockey stability. We have paid the price for our lack of vision. And all this points to the ownership changing the slate every 2 years.
The constant use of the 1st round draft pick to fill the current hole always bothers me. The guy probably won't play for a year, and he probably won't be a valuable contributor for 2. So just try and get - good hockey players.
Also - goaltending, we're just consistently poor here.
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3 hours ago, Ruff Around The Edges said:
To me the choice is easy.
The crazy part the O'Reilly trade is a distant 2nd but that does not mean that trade wasn't a disaster on its own.
You trade for Skinner, that trade in itself was excellent. You pair him with Eichel. Skinner scores 48, THEN you pay him as if he is Patrick Kane. THEN you move him OFF the Eichel line and move in Olofsson and the you have to pay Olofsson more as well.
Skinner as a 9M dollar cap hit for 7 more seasons playing as a 4th liner with currently 1 point to me qualifies as easily the worst contract in the NHL currently, and might go down as the all time worst when its all said and done.
The level of fail with this is breathtaking.
Botterill... the gift that keeps on giving...
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3 minutes ago, Torpedo Forecheck said:
I don't know about panic. We've been competitive games in all but the 6-1 game, and we won it! We do have some questions, like what's going on with Skinner/Coaching staff etc.? Second goalie?
I also maintained that teams that weren't in the playoff bubble started out behind the others who were. Are we as good as Wash or Bost? not a chance. Are we competitive with the rest?-yes. Are we better than anyone? no.
Oh and no way Jack is checked out!
Dahlin needs to be a lot better. If the hall move to the staal cozens line is permanent, i'd personally like to see skinner with eichel and reinhart. Oloffson can still get his PP1 minutes and play with sheahan and lazar. Send okposo to the press box, or figure out a way to get him on LTIR for the balance of the year so you can buy him out. Maybe he's just getting his feet under him with the limited offseason but he looks like john scott out there.
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1 hour ago, LabattBlue said:
Is any team taking a cap hit of $15 mil and getting so little production out of their duo, like the Sabres are with Skinner and Okposo?
Based on cap hits? Seabrook/Toews (not sure on toews LTIR cap hit), Shattenkirk/Lundqvist/Deangelo
I get not wanting to have like 8 buyouts on the books - but the 800K for cody hodgson isn't exactly hamstringing the team at the moment. This: https://www.capfriendly.com/buyout-calculator/kyle-okposo looks appealing to me, if he doesn't hit permanent LTIR. Lower cap hits for 2 years and 2 years with a million dollar charge that replaces the 800K for hodgson. Get it done this offseason, the guy can't play.
Skinner on the other hand has a fair amount of years left so its pretty much impossible to trade/buy out. He's still playing alright, he's still creative - he's just not finding the net at the moment.
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19 hours ago, LGR4GM said:
You know how I know Krueger is full of *****?
Considering how much they traditionally start in the dzone too - those bottom numbers are even better. Okposo has been a gaping hole on the ice to me. Just messing up transition, poor fore/back check, never in the right place, and his passing is terrible. -
10 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:
I’m with yeah buddy.
So build a line where Skinner is the focus but with players who might work skill wise. Lazar and Sheahan aren’t those players.
It's not as if anything is permanent. He can play his way up the lineup. Cozens is starting at wing, but he could move to center. To me, none of the lineup is truly set in stone.
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William Borgen, demoted to how good can he be?
in The Aud Club
Posted
Can we even trade skinner? Botts gave him a full NMC. I don't think he wants to be here though, so he'd probably be open to a change of scenery and Seattle would probably be the only team with a hint of interest based on what comes with him.