Archie Lee

Injuries and poor usage derailed his career; he did not need to be relegated to 4th line duty by the Housley years. We could have used 4-5 more players with his character and skills.

My recollection is that there was a report after Housley was fired, that Ruff would have interest in returning to Buffalo. He was an assistant with the Rangers at the time. I don't think he was seriously considered by Botterill, who hired Krueger.

Thatcher Demko was a 2nd rd pick in 2014. In March 2021, during the late-starting covid year, he signed a 5 year extension with the Canucks at $5 million per season. At the time of the extension he had played 62 games, had a career save % of .910 and was 34-31-4. In 2020-21, the year he signed his extension, he finished with a .915 save %, which was good for 15th in the NHL that season. The league average save % that season was .908. Demko was 25 years 3 months when he signed the extension. UPL was a 2nd rd pick in 2017. He's played in 84 NHL games. He is 39-35-8 with a .904 save %. This season he has a .914 save % (tied for 11th with Demko). The league avg save % this year is .903. UPL will be 25 years old on March 9th. I can't recall if people thought the Demko deal was a good one at the time? I do remember thinking that it was the benchmark for any deal if we wanted to keep Ullmark. There are 25 goalies in the NHL with a cap hit of $4 million and higher this season. 19 at $5 million and higher.

By New Year’s, it was not realistic that we would get to 95-96 points. If that is what it will take then it is just too late. The path since New Year’s has been to get to around where we finished a year ago and hope that Tampa or Detroit falter. Last night stings a bit as had we held on for the win it would not be a stretch to say we had moved into the position of the non-playoff positioned team most likely to make a run. No real change in my view, though: need to get to DeLuca .500 by game 76 or so and then nearly win out from there. If they do that, we will still be in it at game 79-80. We need at least 1 win against Toronto/Nashville to hopefully encourage Adams to add something on Friday that can give the team a little boost.

If the team continues its winning ways this week then I suspect the only two UFA’s we would be looking to move are Olofsson and E. Johnson. Neither will return much and their cap levels might require double retention for a team to even give them consideration. I don’t think either will be deemed worth the effort for another team. Though I still think Olofsson has a 7-8 goals in 9-10 games streak in him that could help a team get into the playoffs or through a round or 2. If making the playoffs (or even taking a run at the playoffs) is even a remote possibility come Friday, then I don’t think the return on Okposo or Girgs would be worth upsetting the current progression. Both are playing well. It would be nice to replace Olofsson and E. Johnson as roster options with two players the team would have more faith in. I heard or read that the Oilers want to make a splashy add but need to move out a couple pieces; Foegele and Kulak were the mentioned odd men out. Foegele is a UFA but would be a good bottom 6 add down the stretch and a potential Girgs/Okie replacement next year. Kulak has two years left at 2.75, which is high for a bottom pair or 7th D. But down the stretch I think he would be a good depth add and looking ahead to next year, if Kulak and a reasonably priced Bryson are our 4th pair, then I think we would be in good shape on the blue line.

Moneypuck has us winning the game over 60% of the time. They have Tampa at less than 2 expected goals in the game. I thought we played a pretty solid road game. There is not a lot of “sand paper” in our game, but I don’t expect that to change mid season.

I’m not trying to convince you of anything, merely pointing out that an anecdote from over 50 years ago is not evidence that if you get rid of fighting the game will be dirtier or have more dangerous stick infractions.

I was wondering the same. Per CapFriendly though, with Dougie Hamilton on LTIR, they still have around 8 million in deadline space. We have 35 million in deadline space.

There is a lot of data that exists from the more than half century that has passed since Wayne Cashman nearly lost his tongue.

We aren’t making the playoffs. But we can make it interesting if we can get to real or DeLuca .500. We are four games below now. All of the current non-playoff teams ahead of us, are also below real .500. Detroit or Tampa would need to dip a bit. We don’t need to get there in a week. Just get there by game 70-72 and there still might be time. I don’t think it’s happening, but it could. The most Sabres-like ending to the year would be we finish strong and pass all the non-playoff teams ahead of us and Philly, only to miss the playoffs because we are 6th in the Atlantic.

The obvious thing to me is to put Olofsson with Thompson and Tuch. Olofsson has played well with Thompson before (that 70's line). In my opinion Olofsson and Skinner have never meshed, but Olofsson might thrive with Tuch on the other wing. Olofsson is streaky. Maybe he could cook up until the deadline.

I don’t personally disagree with your point. I would just add though that the “goal” you refer to (having good goaltending to start the season) is a bit nebulous. Whose “goal”? Yours? Absolutely. Fans in General? For sure. The actual GM? It doesn’t appear that was his goal, necessarily. Rather, it seems he and his staff were unsure of what they had with their 3 goalies (2 prospects and a journeyman) and were going to roll with 3 and hope at least one emerged. They had their preference, clearly, and he wasn’t ready. Just a reminder that the, mostly short-term, goals of us fans don’t necessarily align with the goals of the actual GM or decision makers.

I guess that's a doable buy-out. It's hardly a good thing though, to have $4,$6,$2,$2 million in dead space for the 4 seasons after next; that is about when we should be spending to the cap in order to win hockey games. If moving on from Skinner is something the organization decides to do, much better to see if he will waive his NMC for a handful of teams and eat 50% of his salary and attach a pick if needed to get rid of him. We are going to be paying him to play elsewhere either way, so we might as well avoid the cap hit for the additional years.

Here is what I think will happen: - After the season one or two assistant coaches and/or Rochester coaches will be either let go or reassigned and there will be at least one new assistant on the Sabres' staff next year who is not currently in the org - Starting as soon as the trade deadline this season and through off-season free agency, there will be at least three player acquisitions that will address missing elements; specifically they will target veteran players who play with edge/grit. At least one of our top forward prospects will be traded in these deals. - Granato will be back to start next season and keeps his job if things go well (ie: they start well and stay in a playoff spot); he will be a mid-season firing though if next year goes south like this season has

I don't know if I love it or hate it, but the complete hypocrisy that hockey coaches, players and fans display in these moments is breathtaking. As if the Senators would not respond to a player from another team acting as Grieg did and as if the Leafs would not be outraged if a player did to one of them what Morgan Reilly did to Grieg.

Did Zemgus garner no interest last year? Or were the Sabres not sellers?

I'm gonna lay off this topic after this post as I don't want to come across as obsessed with my views on Benson being in the NHL. To be clear, I really like Zach Benson as a hockey player. To the bolded, I do think Adams and Granato got fooled by the kid with the most confidence. Benson's confidence is off the charts and his personality fills a room. If he came to any of our houses on Christmas day, within an hour he would be greeting people at the door and asking them what they want to drink. Kulich and Rosen I think showed up at camp feeling the pressure of maybe needing to take the next step and like a lot of young players, they wilted a bit. That's not to say they lack confidence, just that their confidence levels are closer to normal. None of this is a criticism of Benson. That confidence and his personality type will serve him well in surviving this crap-show of a season. But Adams and Granato tricked themselves into thinking the kid was ready.

This isn't surprising to me. Although they are frequently pilloried by Sabre fans as being replacement-level 4th liners, any objective review of the 4th lines of NHL playoff level teams, most-definitely including the Bruins, reveals that Okposo and Girgensens would be upgrades to many rosters.

In a lot of ways Benson reminds me of Reinhart early in his career. A high hockey IQ, responsible in all areas, good playmaker but lacking in the speed/size/strength combo to fully flourish (though Reinhart is bigger). Reinhart, who was the 2nd overall pick and who was 8 months older than Benson at the time of their drafts, went back to junior for what was his 19 year old season. This year we opted not to send Benson back for his 18 year old season. In time I think Benson will develop similar to Reinhart. I don't mean he will ever have a year like Reinhart is having this year, but Benson will be a very good top-six winger with probably a bit more hate in his game. Regardless, my frustration is that Benson should have been an asset left in junior where his strengths are highlighted and where the mystery remains about how his weaknesses will translate to the NHL game (for that matter, I think he should have been a long-shot to make the team next season). By keeping him in the NHL, we have highlighted his weaknesses (he is small, slow and has a weak shot). He has 1 assist in his last 16 games. He should have been in the mix (with Rosen, Kulich, Savoie and Östlund) as a high-end prospect that we are willing to move in exchange for legitimate veteran help. As is, we have committed to having a 19 year old in our line-up next season who to this point has shown he is not ready to consistently contribute on offence. More than any other move by Adams, this unforced error has caused me to question where he is taking the team.

I don't live anywhere near Buffalo and have only been there once. I have no connection to the city other than I am a 50 year, near life-long, fan of the Sabres (and, much more recently, the Bills). I don't have a connection to the Sabre "franchise" either. I don't care who owns the team, how much money they make or how much they could be sold for. My connection is to the team. The team I root for is the Buffalo Sabres. I could never cheer for the Salt Lake City Sabres.

The #'s are a bit misleading though. Benson may lead in the % of his shots that are from the 5-7 foot tough area, but if you apply the %'s from the data you highlight, he is 6th on the team in the number of shots from the 5-7 foot tough area. The top 6 are: Skinner 46 Cozens 36 Peterka 34 Tuch 33 Thompson 32 Benson 29

I agree with you that Mittelstadt is not the 3C. Right now he is our best centre. Whether he will be, over the bulk of what could be a long-term contract, is unknown. It could be that Mittelstadt's below average skating is a worry to them in the context of a deal that would take him into his 30's. I would personally extend Mittelstadt. I think the Cozens/Thompson deals are basically templates with there being an argument for Mittelstadt to come in a little lower based on goal scoring outputs. I would give him 6.5 x 7 and not lose any sleep. I'm not concerned about the cap and in particular am not concerned with the impact it would have on retaining either Quinn or Peterka. In the summer of 2025 if Quinn and Peterka have both earned high $$$ long-term extensions we can find a way to move off Skinner or Tuch or one of the 3 centres if we need to. Or, we can trade Quinn or Peterka as we have lots of wing depth in the organization. Even Mitts, Cozens or Thompson can all move to wing if Krebs eventually pushes himself up the line-up or Östlund hits. That said, outside of Dahlin there is no player in the organization that should be untouchable. While I reserve the right as a fan to hate any trade, I will say that from a philosophical standpoint I would only object to a Mittlestadt trade if the return was futures. Even then though, I would be ok with a Mittelstadt futures trade if the stated intent was to then move picks/prospects (including those acquired for Mitts) in the off-season as part of a team remake. In other words, trading Mittlestadt for futures during a lost season doesn't need to set us back for next year, if the intent is to then use futures in the off-season to acquire veterans who re-set the roster.

I heard Bruce Boudreau on the radio this morning talking about Foligno. He coached Foligno in Minnesota. He spoke about how Foligno has developed into a complete player who can be fully trusted in all situations and implied that he had not been good defensively early in his career. He thought the recent contract Foligno signed, even at Foligno's age, was something many team's would gladly take. Patience with young players is important.

Of the 10 youngest teams in the NHL to start the season, only the Flyers currently occupy a playoff position. Of the 7 oldest, only Carolina and Dallas*** (who, yes, like all NHL teams, "has young guys") are currently in playoff position. https://media.nhl.com/site/vasset/public/attachments/2023/10/17309/By The Numbers 2023-24 Opening-Day Rosters.pdf In a year where there should be no excuse for the Sabres to not be actively trying to make the playoffs, there is really no excuse for the team to be as young and inexperienced as they are. They had cap and assets available to bring in veteran players at key positions and chose not too (a point you have made and that I acknowledge you are correct on). There is no denying though that they are young and that they are not the only young NHL team that is struggling; indeed, nearly all of them are. That's not to say it's an outright excuse for poor play. Surely, though, there is a reasonable balance that can be found between acknowledging that youth and inexperience are factors in the team's inconsistent performance and making a blanket statement that the Sabres are too young?

I learned a long time ago that nothing I think, feel or express has any bearing on how any of my favorite sports teams perform. I can buy a ticket or not. I can watch on TV or not. I can come to places like this and share my thoughts and enjoy reading the thoughts of others, or not. There are probably 10-12 people associated with the Sabres whose opinions matter when it comes to the performance of individual players. Three or four people whose opinion matters on the performance of an assistant coach. Two people when it comes to the head coach. One when it comes to the GM. None of them post here. Like most of you, I take this way more seriously than is rational. That's the great thing about being a fan of a team: you get to experience the highs and lows of extreme emotions over something that is ultimately meaningless. No doubt though, we are overdue for some joy.