JohnC

What last night's game demonstrates is that even when the other team has more talent, with good goaltending you can compete with the opposition. As you highlighted it is an imperative that the GM enters next season with another quality goalie who can keep this team competitive while its roster gets steadily bolstered. As you and others have consistently stated that having a major deficiency in goal undercuts what the organization is trying to accomplish in the rebuild. What should have happened last offseason needs to happen this next offseason.

Despite the disappointment of the outcome, I thought this one of the better games that Sabres have played. UPL was the #1 star for us. He was a big goaltender who used his size and positioning to make stops. There was little scrambling even when he was under pressure. He allowed a juicy rebound that ended in the net but other than that he looked stellar. No one can argue that he didn't belong. There is a calmness and efficiency to his game that is quite impressive for a young goalie. Both of the goaltenders in this game played well. Other than in the first period I thought the Sabres matched the Rangers evenly. Where the Rangers played demonstrably better than us is on the PP. They impressively moved the puck around and maintained control of it. What is encouraging is the play of Tage. He is getting better and better. For a big player he has an ability to skate with the puck on his stick and move into the open areas. I just wish he would do a little less dangling and shoot the puck quicker. One big positive in this season is his play. I didn't think he would be this good. And now that he is more physically developed there is still more potential to tap. Dahlin is starting to get a lot of negative attention from this room. I'm just not seeing his play the same negative way as the critics with the jaundiced eyes are seeing it. Defensemen who handle the puck a lot are going to sometimes lose it. Overall, he is smartly handling the puck and getting it to the right spots. This team needs more and better finishers. They are in the pipeline but it's going to take more time before they arrive.

If the Sabres traded their lowest first round pick with other picks to move up to the middle of the first round which prospect would you find enticing to pursue? KA's trade up for Peterka appears to have worked well. Maybe he can duplicate the maneuver?

If you look at the prospects that @LGR4GM listed you can see the talent base in the organization swelling. How many of them (Quinn, Peterka, Krebs) will be NHL ready next season? When you include Samuelsson and Power to the prospect pool you are looking at half a dozen young players on the roster next year or soon after. Tuch should be on the ice this season so you are looking at half a dozen new players added, all with upside to their game. What will be the pace of the infusion of players? With the current Rochester group the primary prospects most likely will be funneled in between the beginning of next season to before the ending of the next season. That's quite a major transition. Of all the prospects in the system the most intriguing prospect to me is Levi. If he becomes what his college play indicates he could end up becoming in a couple years or so our anchor goalie.

Yzerman upgraded the goaltending position last offseason without giving up much in the way off assets. The Capitals made a pre-expansion deal with Seattle to expose their young backup and then have him traded back for a second round pick. My criticism of KA is not that he didn't re-sign Ullmark because the player had the ultimate say in where he wanted to go. My problem is that when you have a free agent player where there is a risk of losing the player you should have a reasonable fallback position just in case you couldn't get a deal done. The goaltending issue entering this offseason wasn't necessarily about addressing the position for the long term. It was to find a reasonable option for the position for the short-term and buy yourself some time to address it for the long term. Because of Anderson's age was he really going the best option for the short-term to bide time until either one of the younger goalies in the pipeline would be ready or for the short-term give the organization more time for a longer term solution? I don't believe it was.

It's way too early to tell but the Levi acquisition in the Reinhart deal could turn out to be the most impactful acquisition in the trade-off of players. Right now, he is one of the most prominent college hockey players. At first I was disappointed in the return for Reinhart. I'm now much more upbeat about it.

Whether one agrees with how the GM is doing his job what is clearly evident (as you demonstrate in your incisive responses) is that it is clearly understood that rebuild plan is being implemented. That in itself is a good sign especially when compared to this franchise's gyrations that mostly involved patchwork signings and rushing prospects when they were not ready. Mitts and Tage would be examples of that misguided approach. KA has spoken on more than a few occasions on how he is going to handle the prospects. The central issue when deciding to bring up a prospect is whether it is in the player's best long-term development. He stated he would rather error on waiting on preparing a player for the NHL if he believed that the player will be better prepared for the elevation. As you wisely pointed out the one thing that is often forgotten in assessing KA as a GM is his work in staffing the hockey operations. He has added quality people who are well respected throughout the hockey world. KA's style of management leans toward collaboration. He is secure enough to surround himself with talented staff. And his selection of Granato as the coach indicates that everyone is aligned in what needs to be done for the short and long-term. It's a frustrating process for the fans to be subjected to. But if handled adroitly it will be the best strategy to turn things around the fastest.

I'm out of town so that is probably why you are blacked out in the local market.

I'm listening to the game using that link. I'm not sure what the issue would be.

Try this link: https://www.audacy.com/wgr550#/questions

I also don't have ESPN+. If you have the NHL Package you should get the full package. I'm getting tired of this shiiit!

@dudacek and @Taro TDoes he have the potential to be a #2C?

How did the Casino know you were counting cards especially if the stakes were not exorbitant? Or were they?

I caught some of the Anaheim game with Washington. I was very impressed with Zegras's offensive skills. I would appreciate it if some of our astute talent evaluators here will give their thoughts on a comparison between Zegras and Krebs. What's your take @dudacek, @LGR4GM, @Thorny @Taro Tor anyone else? If Krebs is in the same echelon as Zegras I would be ecstatic. I predict a Sabre win. The back to back after an extended SO game can be depleting. UPL is being given an opportunity to display his talents even if it is for a short-term basis.

In general, I have little problem with how Adams has handled his responsibilities. But I do, as many others, have stinging criticism for him on how he has handled the goaltending position, the most important position on the ice. Ullmark was a free agent. Even if the GM felt that he was going to be able to sign him he should have had a better fallback position just in case it didn't work out. Not doing that has put this team in a difficult competitive position when it needed to that way. Compare how Yzerman addressed the position without giving much away in assets to how Adams handled the goalie situation? There were simply better options for our GM to resort to if Ullmark couldn't be signed. https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/nhl/red-wings/2021/07/22/detroit-red-wings-acquire-goaltender-alex-nedeljkovic-carolina/8058296002/

No. Have the Bandits been bad for a decade?

When KA took over it was understood that this was not a quick fix task. Fans understood what KA meant when he stated he was going to start the process of rebuilding the right way with players who wanted to be here. This was clearly rebuilding process understood by all. But that doesn't mean that the team within the confines of a rebuild can't be competitive and entertaining, especially after being subjected to a team that has been stuck in the mud for a decade. I'm not a KA basher. With the exception of addressing the goalie issue in a meaningful way I believe he has done a good job in not only adding talent to the system but also upgrading the staffing within the organization. Where I and many others have intense criticism for him is not having an acceptable fallback position to the most important position on the ice. It went beyond being a bad miscalculation. It was a display of gross incompetence that has to a visible degree set back the rebuild . There is no doubt that without the Canadian market (due to covid) to buttress the local US market it has had a major affect on attendance. But what has had a greater depressing effect on the market is a half a generation of ineptitude that has made this market steadily wither. You are misguided if you are assigning more blame to the fans than to the organization under the current owners.

Have you ever been a student in a classroom where the teacher has lost control of a class with the kids running amok? You can then replace that teacher and with the same group of students dramatically alter the situation where the students thrive as a group and individually. There are coaches who can take a group of athletes and the end result is team failure. And it is not unusual where a coaching change can result in the team thriving with the same players.

Chicago's Tyler Johnson just had the same surgery that Jack had on his neck. https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/32779647/chicago-blackhawks-tyler-johnson-sidelined-neck-surgery

I understand the point you are making about the individual aspect of morale and attitude. But in the work world in all fields of endeavor you can put an individual in a dysfunctional organization and get a certain level of production. If you move that person (especially a young employee) into a more positive and nurturing environment you will get more production and a faster rate of actualizing one's potential. I'm not disagreeing with your general point. I just feel that this new young core has only been exposed to team failure in their professional careers. I believe that it does have a negative effect on a player's development.

The young players such as Dahlin, Mitts, Tage etc have been exposed to losing for their whole careers. This isn't a one year hurdle that they need to work through. Success certainly entails working through adversity. No question about that. But having the right support system also is a factor in the development of players. In the workplace or even in a school setting the more positive environment there is the greater chance there will be for growth.

Your time-line is accurate. That doesn't change the fact that his goalie decisions on his short watch have been damaging to the point of negatively reverberating beyond that one position.

Your fear is my fear that the reprise of the disillusionment of the prior core could/has ???? spread to the promising new core. When the youngsters see a former player such as Reinhart who wanted out and ends up in a cup contending situation that their acceptance to their current plight is even less tolerable. Do you know what is worse than being sabotaged? Self-sabotage!

I'm not sure that prior to free agency that KA knew what caliber of goalie he was going to be. Or whether at that point he wanted to make a conclusive judgment about him as his franchise goalie. Was it the wrong decision? It certainly was because he didn't seem too interested in finding better options. That's the source of my complaint about the GM on this issue. As you indicate how things have turned out only makes sense if the plan was to tank. And I have no doubt that the Pegulas would be receptive to this strategy because in the short run the contract obligations would be much smaller than if this focused on winning in the present.

With respect to the Ullmark negotiating or any negotiations for that matter there is usually movement from both parties. That wouldn't be surprising. We don't have all the details about the negotiations but one story I heard is that when Boston made an offer his agent took it back to Buffalo and required them to exceed the Boston offer in price and term. (Is that true? I can't say for sure.) The answer was no. My main criticism for KA is not focused on the inability to signing Ullmark as it is not having an adequate fallback position if a deal couldn't be consummated. It shouldn't be much of a surprise that a Buffalo free agent would want to go somewhere else where he had a chance to win, especially after being stuck in a losing organization and facing another rebuild. That's mostly why Risto, Jack and Reinhart wanted out. In general, I don't think our thoughts on how the organization handled the goaltending situation are much different. And I agree with you that the organization made a decision to go through a rebuild without the disillusioned former core. Was it a calculated tank? I would say yes. My fear is that the psychology of losing will contaminate another young core to the extent that it did with the previous young core. As you well know as someone who is a paying customer this franchise needs a jolt of action before the withering fan base withers to the point of near extinction.