JohnC

Adams traded a pick to move up to get Peterka. It appears/hopeful that maneuver added a potential second-line caliber forward to the system. With the number of second and third round picks we have in the next couple of drafts maybe that maneuver will work again to add another high quality prospect or two into the farm system.

With respect to the highlighted commented of yours I totally agree. The organization has recently added a bulk of draft assets to its bucket. As you suggest are they going to make good use of them? The more assets you have the more room there is for error. Most draft analysts thought our last draft was solid. Will they make good use of their multiple high picks in the next draft? We shall see.

Odds are more likely than not that these three players (Peterka-Krebs-Quinn) will be on the Sabre roster next year. It wouldn't be surprising that at the end of the season this troika or at least one or two of them will be given a stint with the big club, if not sooner due to injuries. I'm not suggesting that they any of them are now ready for top two line responsibilities. If you add Samuelsson and Power to this young mix you can see the roster significantly reshaped in the next year or two.

I agree with you that the Peterka/Krebs/ Quinn line shouldn't be rushed beyond their development stage. My point is that these three players and the other players that I mentioned are arguably at the minimum second line players. These young players with potential are in the system and are not far off to moving up the ranks not only to the next level but also to higher lines. I wouldn't be surprised that the trio I mentioned will be on the Sabre roster next year, and if not, shortly thereafter. The timeframe that I think is reasonable is two years.

If you factor in the Krebs acquisition in the Vegas deal that included Tuch you can see KA in the not too distant future putting together two genuine top six lines. The current Rochester line of Peterka-Krebs-Quinn should in a short period of time be moving up to the big club. At the minimum they are second-line players. And with Tuch you should be able to assemble another top six line with some of the young players currently on the roster. Some of the candidates for one of those other upper lines could come from the group that includes Cozens, Mitts, Olofsson, maybe Asplund and Thompson. However, I see Asplund and Thompson more as good third line players although they are not far off the mark as second line players. What is becoming evident is that KA is adding enough talent to fill both the top and lower lines. Clearly the roster is being thickened with more talent spread throughout the lines. Upgrading the roster in general is better than being too reliant on a star player.

As I said before it is a different market with its own characteristics. When the product on ice isn't as positive as it is now the Vegas ticket buying market won't crater as it is in Buffalo because the hotel and entertainment industry will be able to provide more ticket support (through customer comps) than the Buffalo business community could.

This is a well thought out and written analysis. Where I disagree with your take is that with respect to the course of treatment there was a genuine disagreement between the two parties. The medical experts for each side simply had different medical judgments regarding which procedure was most appropriate. In my view this is simply was a case of medical professionals disagreeing. You can't fault the organization for relying on the medical opinion of their expert/s; and you can't fault the player and his camp for being more receptive to the views of their medical experts, especially when the timeframe for healing is much different for each procedure. The more information that comes out the more apparent it becomes that Jack wanted out. He felt that he was stuck in a situation with the prospect of a dismal future. I understand his stance and I'm not critical of it. Considering where the franchise was from a competitive standpoint this breakup was inevitable. As you astutely noted looking back KA handled this situation wisely. It took a lot of fortitude to be patient and hold out until he got what he considered the best deal he could in this high stakes situation. The return he got certainly fits in well with his rebuilding strategy.

Attached is a link of an article from the Hockey Sporting News by Tony Ferrari. There were other topics I could have attached this link but it is related to the Jack trade. It gives a very positive outlook on the future of this team based on the prospects that are in the system. It listed the young players who are not far away from making the jump up to the NHL. They are the same players that are frequently cited in this forum. It's going to take some patience. https://www.si.com/hockey/news/after-eichel-what-does-the-future-hold-for-the-buffalo-sabres

As you well know Las Vegas is simply a different market than Buffalo. Every hockey market has its own unique traits. Nashville, LA, Minnesota, Toronto, Montreal, NY etc. have there own unique traits that distinguish each of them from other markets. As I stated to @Pimlachwhen your team plays in front of an empty building I wouldn't be in the business of criticizing another market's authenticity when since its inception the team has played in front of capacity crowds. And it should be noted that when Toronto plays in Buffalo the crowd is dominated by the visiting team. Maybe now is the time to be a little more humble and less critical when judging others.

Just because there weren't fans to meet Jack at the hotel that doesn't mean that the people in the area, and even tourists, aren't authentic hockey fans. Did the fans even know when and where he was coming into town? Vegas has been selling out since its inception. That's to their credit. There is no need to denigrate their fanbase especially when our local fanbase is understandably dormant.

You make a good point that one of the more prominent attributes that best describes KA is that he is a collaborator. He has assembled a quality staff and listens to their input. He is very deliberate in getting as much input as possible and then for the most part makes a consensus decision. Some executives are ego driven and want their staffs to follow their direction. That's not how he operates. He seems to be the type of person who is as much receptive to the input of the lower level staff as he is to the higher level staff. Without a doubt he is not a high profile top-down executive as he is a person who creates an environment where there is a team effort in working toward a decision. His management style is very modern and far from being old school.

If Jack was healthy he would be playing in front of a capacity crowd in Vegas. If Jack was healthy and still with Buffalo he would be playing in front of a less than half full arena. My point is that there are plenty of hockey fans in Vegas. Make no mistake about what I am saying here. I have no criticism for the fans in the local area losing faith in the organization and demonstrating it by their refusal at this time to buy tickets to the games. Even the GM has acknowledged the organization has to earn back the fans' support.

No doubt the timeframe for judging Adams is too short to come to a conclusive assessment on his body of work. But in that short stint he has hired a coach, handled a draft, assembled a staff and acquired assets for players that needed to be moved. Even at this very early stage of his tenure on those tasks I would say that he has done a good job. The current GM is candid that he is rebuilding this roster. And that is what he should be judged on. There are some very good prospects in Rochester and in the college ranks who should add an infusion of talent to this roster in the not too distant future. In addition, he has a large number of draft assets that should restock the system. I'm not going to get carried away and deem him a success. That still has to be determined. He has a good rebuilding plan and is executing it. As you have often said everything is predicated on the level of talent on the roster. It is going to take time and patience to having that level of talent to be a serious team. The issue then becomes will the owners give him the time to accomplish it? I hope so.

One of the major problems that has plagued this organization is the constantly churning of staff. That needs to stop! So far I like what KA has done with respect to assembling a front office and coaching staff. As I stated before I thought his draft was sound and that his return for the players that he dealt was solid. What I'm certainly not going to do is prematurely declare this GM a success. And what I am not going to do is advocate for a change in the front office so early in the GM's tenure. That would only continue the organization's recent history of turning over the staff. What this organization desperately needs is stability. You do that by giving the staff in place the time required to implement their rebuilding plan. And then you make a judgment about it.

There already is a management team in place. Is it capable? It appears that KA has systematically put together a good staff. Time will tell. I thought that our last draft was very good. And for the most part the return for the departing players was solid, especially for Risto and Jack. If eventually Levi becomes a franchise goalie then the Reinhart return will look a lot better. Again, only time will tell.

The Sabres certainly have draft assets. The issue is will they smartly utilize them? I hope so.

The bigger problem is not players wanting to come to Buffalo as it is players in Buffalo who get tired of the losing want to go elsewhere. That is exemplified by Eichel, Reinhart and Risto who were determined to get out of town.

Krebs/Cozens/Mitt/Tage/Arttu. No question that these players are not fully developed but that's not a bad starting point to work with for the next couple of years. In the next draft the Sabres will have three first round picks. It wouldn't be surprising that at least one top-tier center prospect will be added to the system.

The only free agents the Sabres will be interested in the next few years or longer are middle and lower tier free agents. It's not a secret how KA is going about rebuilding this limited roster. He has repeatedly stated the strategy he is going to take. As evidenced by the Jack trade and other deals this offseason it will by developing the young players and draft picks accumulated in the purge of players. The critical issue for the battered fan base is what is the timeframe to become a competitive team? In my opinion it is going to take at least another couple of years. That's where we are at.

I agree with you that Granato was taking on a big challenge when he pursued the job and accepted it. However, Granato knew exactly what he was getting into. He was aware in advance that Jack and other primary players were going to be traded. And he was well aware that he was taking over a rebuilding team. What makes the coaching task even more challenging is that when you take over a thin roster there is little margin to absorb setbacks. In a long and grinding season you will face injuries depleting your roster when you have little reinforcement behind you. You already can see the toll it is taking with the loss of Mitts, Joki and to a lesser extent Samuelsson. His challenge is to keep the players' spirits up and playing hard regardless of the situation. Granato excels as much in understanding the psychology of the players than he does the strategy of the game. He is going to have to maintain some degree of survivability until the upcoming batch of prospect players are ready to move up the ranks. As you pointed out that is going to be a major challenge. It is going to take time to turn that corner.

My fear is that during this rebuilding process the players get beaten down not only because of the mounting losses but also because too often they are being dominated. After being in such a losing and battering environment for an extended period of time it has to have a depressing affect on you. It certainly got to Jack, Risto and Reinhart. My hope is that this poisonous spillage doesn't contaminate players such as Dahlin, Tage, Mitts etc. Don't think that the players playing in front of visiting venues with near capacity attendance compared to the home games where attendance is embarrassingly low doesn't have a negative effect on the players. I simply don't see the home team attendance being very robust for some time. Granato has a major challenge on his hands in keeping this team's spirits high enough to compete. It's a long and grinding season. I hope that he can maintain the players' confidence up while they go through this challenging period.

They will be playing in front of an empty building. That is so sad.

Why would you want to trade Olofosson for a second round pick when he is demonstrating that he is capable of being a second line player who can score on a team that lacks scorers? He's been a pleasant surprise that has come up from your own system. He's a player that you should be happy to have and not eager to dispatch.

What's Krebs upside? Is he a second-line player? Assuming that Tuch gets fully healthy, and with the probable elevations of Peterka, Quinn, Power, Samuelsson next season or sooner, on top of the Krebs addition you can see this roster fairly quickly being remade. It's still going to take time for this turned over roster to mature but the near future looks promising.

What is unusual about an agent attempting to control the narrative on behalf of his client? That's part of his job. And regarding the issue that people don't have an understanding of the medical issue associated with either surgery why is that surprising? Just look at the Covid vaccination issue and the ignorance that many people display over that issue. The Twitter world is a world of hyperbolic bullshiilit. It is having absolutely no influence between the parties involved. Don't allow yourself to be distracted by the loud inconsequential sideshows.