Archie Lee

Eichel 23. Reinhart 24.

In the Covid shortened year, we missed the expanded playoffs by one point. In the 8 games before the season was suspended, we went 2-6. During that 8 game stretch, Eichel had 1 goal and 0 assists; Reinhart went pointless. One could look at that and conclude Eichel and Reinhart weren’t cornerstone players. Or, one could look at it and say the Sabres needed better depth so that the team would not completely falter in the stretches when Eichel and Reinhart weren’t producing.

Two recent signings that I think apply to Tuch: 1.) Konecny $8.75 x 8, he will be a UFA at age 36 in 2033 2.) Buchnevich $8.0 x 6, he will be a UFA at age 36 in 2031 Tuch will be 30 next offseason. Offensive #'s for Tuch are very similar to Konecny and Buchnevich. If we wait a year, a new group of wingers likely resets the bar. I imagine it will take $8 - $9 million per year x 6-7 years to get Tuch extended.

To me this speaks more to a very positive view of Tuch that people have, far more than it does to anything negative about Dahlin. Tuch is a basically local guy who has a near year-round presence, and who has an outgoing and joyous personality. Dahlin is much more reserved. I think fans love both players. Tuch is the sort of player who wins these sort of fan voting awards. That's not a knock on either of them. The Sabres have 3 players who are cornerstone pieces for a playoff level team, in Dahlin, Thompson, and Tuch. They have a number of other very good NHL players. There really is no excuse for Adams being unable to build a team around them that is playoff capable.

If the media won’t pursue and reveal this, then what are we doing here? The Sabres, Pegula, Adams, can’t have it both ways. They can’t stress how important this all is, how they need to get it right, how people need to want to be here, and then when they are questioned, after floundering epically, ask “why so angry?”.

“Verbal flogging sessions” can lead to actions. Yes, in the world of journalism pro-sports is the sand-box. Holding Adams accountable for his failings is not as important as, say, holding the federal government accountable for sending a man to his certain death without due process. But Adams’s performance as GM, either matters or it doesn’t. Maybe it isn’t worth the time and effort of the Buffalo sports media to hold Adams’s feet to the fire over what is one of the worst records for an NHL GM in the post-expansion-era of the league. But, if so, then why would the Buffalo Sabres be worth anyone’s time, not to mention anyone’s money and emotional investment?

The off-season is a time for optimism. Once we get to the draft and free agency, I will likely be able to squint hard enough to see a scenario where whatever moves Adams makes could, possibly, if multiple things fall into place, and a couple of teams unexpectedly falter, get the Sabres into a wildcard spot. With Adams as GM and Ruff as HC, I can’t imagine anything unfolding between now and October that would have me believing that they ARE a playoff team, though.

Montreal clinches. They go from Stanley Cup Finalists, through a full rebuild, to playoffs, in 4 seasons. Also, Montreal was in last place in the East on American Thanksgiving. Ottawa, Edmonton, and St. Louis also get in despite being out of a playoff spot on Thanksgiving.

I should just clarify that I think "the players weren't in shape" narrative is bogus. Last year the scapegoat was Granato (I'm not arguing he should have been kept). The players needed accountability and structure and Ruff was the man to bring it. Well, the team was, if anything, less accountable and less structured. It can't be that Ruff was a bad choice, so the blame will now shift to the players not taking the off-season serious enough.

I’m just whistling through the graveyard.

Looking back at some dates, in 2017 the season ended April 9th. Murray had an end of season presser. Then he and Bylsma were fired on April 20th. I guess there is faint hope that evaluations can still happen. There has to be somebody in Pegula’s sphere who will tell him the situation is a disaster. Guelli? One of his kids? Bettman? Or is there no one who dares tell him what he doesn’t want to hear?

The point here, in my view, is that Adams structured his off-season around remaking the fourth line. Think of all the energy that went in to scouting Malenstyn, Lafferty, and Aube-Kubel. The energy that went into determining their value, negotiating the trade, dealing with the agents on July 1 to get contracts worked out. And, he literally could have just re-signed Girgensens, Jost, and Robinson, and it would have made no material difference. It's not that Girgs, Jost, Robinson, were difference makers and we just didn't realize it. It's that our predicament has nothing to do with out 4th line, or our 3rd pairing D, or who the back-up goalie is. Of course those things are relevant, but THE issues are that we are managed by a man who has clearly displayed he is not up to the task, and we we are coached by yesterday's man. And they will both be back. Seeing Girgs, Robinson, Jost, Cozens, Comrie, etc., playing roles on playoff teams while we finish at the bottom of the Conference standings, doesn't mean Adams dropped any balls specific to any player. It just confirms that he really has no plan. To the extend that he had a plan, it has failed.

Yeah. Seeing Adams, Ruff, and UPL, in the same sentence when it came to coming back next year just took me back to being a kid and watching Sesame Street: one of these things does not belong. I get it though.

My prediction: This year's narrative will be that the players were not in shape, that many of them were not mature enough to have good off-seasons when it came to training, and it will be up to the players to take things more seriously in order for the team to get to the next level.

For those who think Pegula is cheap, keeping Adams and Ruff in lame-duck roles for the final year of their contracts will only cement the opinion. Not to mention that it also could negatively impact the prospects for upgrading assistants. The coaching profession being as transient as it is, there will be no shortage of candidates if they do make a change in assistants. But the Sabres won’t be the first choice for the best candidates to begin with. Add in that Adams and Ruff will be lame-ducks, and the Sabres won’t have elite assistants knocking on their door. Of course, maybe Adams and Ruff have earned extensions.

I would not take big issue with the Sabres trading or moving on from UPL. But, in the big picture, how is he catching shrapnel here? 😀

There needs to be the sort of culture change that only occurs with a change at the top. Adams has not made the playoffs in 5 seasons. Ruff has made the playoffs, as a HC, 3 times in 9 seasons since he left Buffalo and never twice in a row; he’s the oldest coach in the league. No other team would hire either man for their current roles. Even if they were to somehow ice a team that grabs a wildcard spot next season, these two men are not the future. Failing to fire them on Friday morning is just to delay the inevitable.

At least we will beat the Flyers. Get Lindy #900. Reimer can end his career with a win. Good vibes headed into the off-season. Adams can build on the momentum.

According to PuckPedia, Saros's NMC does not kick in until July 1st this year. He currently has no trade protection. Starting July 1 he has an 8 year $7.74 per year deal. The first 6 years he has a full NMC. The last two he has a NMC and partial no trade. He will be 38 when the contract expires after the 32-33 season. He is having the worst year of his career with a .896 save %. I think Nashville would listen. I would prefer we look for a Head Coach who actually has a recent history of installing a sound defensive system that stresses structure and helps goalies, instead of a coach whose system lacks structure and puts stress on goalies.

I realize that with the bolded you are making a practical statement. I agree with what you have written. But man, is this what it has come to? Our GM is on the verge of joining a very dubious group of only 6-7 GM's in the modern history of the league who have been given a 6th season with a team after missing the playoffs in their first 5 seasons, and his big trade acquisition, who has 5 years left at $7.95 million per season, can't be counted on and we should just consider it a bonus if he remains healthy. The absurdity of Adams (and Ruff) even being considered for 25-26, cannot be overstated.

Thanks. Agreed...so long as by defense you mean "Team Defense". That means better coaching (starting with the head coach), a better system, better structure, better support from the forwards, a couple of d-men who defend better, and better goaltending.

Honest question, what does it mean that we are -159 in scoring chances and -100 in high danger scoring chances?

In Adams’s tenure they have typically ended their seasons with a win or multiple wins at home. I will never cheer for a Sabre loss. But there could be a silver lining to losing the last two at home this year. Maybe ending the season on a 4 game losing streak, having Montreal and Ottawa pass us in their rebuilds, knowing the discourse that exists league wide about how directionless the team is, will drive Pegula to make the rationale decision to move on. If you are going into year 6 with a GM, and that GM is going into the final year of his contract, and you are not sure if the GM should be extended, then the GM should be fired and replaced. It’s not complicated.

Like most players in the NHL, Skinner never single-handedly tanked a team’s chances of making the playoffs. Dylan Cozens is another such player. That doesn’t mean they are necessarily players you want on your team, but they aren’t playoff boogie men.

With this shootout loss, the Sabres maximum point total on the year is now 83. So they will have fewer points than a year ago. Meaning Don Granato coached the Sabres to back to back seasons with higher point totals than what Ruff will get out of the team this year. Ruff is the oldest head coach in the league and in his last 11 season starts as a head coach he has two winning seasons.