SabresVet
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Posts posted by SabresVet
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1 hour ago, triumph_communes said:
Islanders did just fine without Tavares
Aside from them having much better forward production, a Stanley Cup winning HC, and better goaltending, yes, it's a very similar situation comparing NYI to BUF.
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44 minutes ago, Marvin, Sabres Fan said:
In case you haven't seen me say it:
Terry Pegula became a billionaire in part because he looks for up-and-comers who have fewer external biases and fresh vision compared to his competitors. He, as a general rule, seems to view experienced people who are available on the open market as retreads. LaFontaine, Murray, Botterill, Housley, Adams, Granato, Beane, and McDermott are all in this mold. Krueger was miles out of the box, which would have appealed to TP. Ryan and Bylsma are notable exceptions -- from his point of view, they are probably examples of why you don't hire retreads.
I'm not here to discuss TPegs' business acumen. I know someone (take it FWIW) who has proximity to the team and had first-hand experience with him. The picture you paint is vastly different, at least in hockey, from what I've been told. The Pegula's took the word of NHL types for whom to hire and it all backfired. And, ownership is notorious for their role in hockey operations.
Perhaps you believe that Jason Botterill wanted to offer Skinner an 8 year deal. Or the same term with Eichel. Maybe you know that Terry did not like Russian players and did not want to select them in the draft. Bottom line is you cannot overcome bad ownership, especially when it influences personnel so deeply.
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22 hours ago, Taro T said:
IF Eichel (& Reinhart & Ristolainen) truly is (are) a bad apple(s) then the team is better off w/out him (them).
Personally, don't believe that's the case but have never interacted directly w/ him (them).
And, not believing that he belongs in the Turgeon / Housley move them out basket, am not looking forward to seeing him (them) shipped out to try to reset the rebuild to target Dahlin's prime rather than Jack's. That's setting up for 2 more years of bad hockey when they can literally be 2 moves away from competing provided Granato proves himself to be a good coach.
IF things go right, they could be a good / very good team 3 years from now shipping the supposedly "rotten core" out the door. But they can be a good team next year & a very good team the year after by tweaking what they have rather than blowing it up.
After Adams moves that looked good (or reasonable in a worst case) blew up in his face last year, have a hard time believing he's right about the guys soon to be moved being bad apples. And if they aren't bad apples, if he's as wrong about them as Botterill was about O'Reilly, then we're about to "suffer" again for absolutely no good reason.
Hating what this off-season is shaping up to be.
I'm hating that we're going to be sold on a rebuild that features "guys who want to be here." You have to question a franchise that has alienated its best two forwards. Still, there's something deeper going on beyond the losing which is driving trade demands. I think promoting Adams to be GM, gutting the front office, and other cost-cutting demonstrate a lack of willingness to win. That doesn't get fixed by hiring a first time NHL HC or young players with potential he's coaching.
It's been 14 years since Drury and Briere departed. This off-season will rival that one for organizational ineptitude.
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8 minutes ago, Zamboni said:
Resolution:
1. Jack has decided he won’t get the surgery. And to play this season for the Sabres.
2. Jack has decided he won’t get the surgery, but wants to be traded.
3. Jack has decided he wants the surgery and because they are at an impasse with the Sabres he wants to be traded.
4. Jack has told the Sabres he won’t get the surgery… Although he definitely wants it. He will play for the Sabres until the NMC kicks in and then demand the trade.
Any others?
Jack does not get the surgery because the team says no. Buffalo seeks a trade but receives less than ideal offers. Jack begins 2021-22 on the team, proves that he's healthy, and is traded during the season.
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7 minutes ago, Brawndo said:
Reading between the lines on Vogl's tweet...how could it be anything but a pending trade? Conversations "happening every day" points in only one direction especially considering the team is not budging on the surgery Jack wants.
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16 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:
The Sabres hired Jason Karmanos from outside the org like 2 months ago.
Adams was definitely a "we trust him" hire.
No front office is going to be purely in-house hires. Key is that the decision makers, i.e. the GM and above, are found inside.
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10 hours ago, pi2000 said:
I mean, just... yeah... it sucks nobody decent wants to coach this team, and I don't think that will change while Pegula is running the show, unfortunately.
They're going to have to catch lightning in a bottle to get out of this mess... Is Granato that guy? I hope so, but damn, try and do better for once.
The Pegula's are beginning to mirror the decisions of the late Ralph Bills years. After hiring outside their universe executives and coaches who didn't produce, the circle of trust narrowed. GM and HC searches were then limited to people whose relationship to ownership is already strong or they're a known entity. Avoid outside candidates at all costs. Mediocrity ensues.
Except this time, owners are likely there for the long haul. I'd love to see Don Granato win as much as anyone, but it's hard to trust the Pegula's or their hand-picked leaders anymore. Adams still comes off as the "we knew him" hire and it's clear owners are laser-focused on reducing costs. Much like those late Ralph years.
It's also likely they're not considering outside people because they're not interested. Meddling ownership combined with reduced staff budgets are not the scenario I would think proven GM's and HC's would seek out. Especially when the best players want out.
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58 minutes ago, Pimlach said:
Good advice from a guy working financial investments but terrible for sports.
My minimal expectation is competence. Then passion. Then competitive. Then consistent winning. Then a championship. The Sabres have not showed any semblance of step 1 competence since Drury and Briere were allowed to walk. The fan base is numb to it.
With the franchise deteriorating from the inside out and players wanting to leave, it's going to be less than stellar results first. I suspect the mantra in 2021-22 will center around how they have a great young core of talent that needs to develop. Certainly. But the team isn't better with, most likely, Eichel and Reinhart leaving.
I'm not sure that a new HC who uses his players' strengths is enough to overcome a drop in talent. The NHL is too competitive.
As to Munger's point...my expectations were that these owners would get out of the way (for the most part), hire good hockey people, and the team would succeed. 10+ years later ownership hasn't improved. Everything flows from there...which is why we're doing the very Billsy circa 2006-2010 era in-house hire dance.
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1 hour ago, Brawndo said:
They did go big game hunting and were told thanks but no thanks
32 minutes ago, Thorny said:They cut the scouting budget drastically...why not cut down on the budget re: all of these "extensive searches" they conduct, when they just end up always having the right person here aaaallllll along, anyways?
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Anyways, I like Granato as a coach for a rebuilding team with zero expectations. Seems like a genuinely good dude, too.
Social media team remains ridiculously cringe.
Owners cutting costs in the front office, the top 2 forwards on the way out, and a youth movement in process. Of course their options at HC were limited.
I had hopes they would hire someone with a NHL track record, but that would probably threaten a rookie GM and ever-insulated owners who don't see how much of a cluster they are.
Granato won't be the problem, because it goes up the ladder for that.
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1 hour ago, LGR4GM said:
The interesting thing I found with Granato was that he adjusted his team in game to issues. A good coach knows how to tweak and change things to counter other teams. That said, we definitely do not know if how we played will work in a full season.
Nothing wrong with that. At the same time, hiring Granato tells me they're going with the youth movement and that's gonna require some patience from the fans.
It's likely the roster will be younger, led by a first-time NHL HC, and all under the watchful eye of a first-time GM without any experience building a roster as an executive.
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Any decent HC interviewee was interviewing KA to see what his plan was.
DG had some results with young kids and that's nice. But teams have more film on him and results don't always carry over from one season to another.
Underwhelming hire, but not surprising.
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3 minutes ago, Sabre fan said:
That is why I think keeping DG as coach to retain stability when the team clearly enjoyed playing for him is vital. And yes hopefully KA with Karmanos can develop into a good combo. Funny thing is when the Pegulas made all these moves over the years, it was thought to be the right move at that time. I also agree with the Lather rinse repeat thing as that is what happens with all the available coaches...they get hired bringing high hopes and new enthusiasm to that team and all goes good for a few years then it goes to s**t and they get fired and the team brings in the next coach. Would bringing in a new coach now not be doing the same thing? I prefer to let DG run this ship for at least next year and see how it plays out. The players clearly like playing for him. And at least the team was entertaining and fun to watch...
If this were a real franchise, they'd have the org structure in place beginning at the top first. But they don't. It reminds me of the Islanders during the summer Tavares was moved. Lamoriello was hired, who in turn hired Trotz and NYI made a 23 point improvement the following season despite losing their best player. It takes high organizational aptitude do turn things around.
There needs to be stability above the HC level to produce a winning team and the Sabres don't have that. It doesn't help to have Adams as the GM when he's seen as the owners' pet hire who doesn't have the latitude to act as a GM should.
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Long time lurker, but here goes. The torches and pitchforks out for Jack are aiming a little low. He's not perfect, but definitely not the root cause to all the dysfunction either. Management and the people who hire them impact an organization more than your best player does. To that point...
Ownership's influence over personnel decisions on and off-ice makes it all but impossible to assemble a winning team. Imagine being a GM and you're told whom to re-sign, the terms of a contract and then watch as the scouting staff all but purged. What franchise can win with that level of meddling? And what decent hockey executive type would work under those conditions?
Getting rid of Jack seems inevitable, but it won't repair what's wrong. Nor will recycling good or better players for younger ones that have "potential." The team is where they are because ownership doesn't have a clue and remain locked in their echo chamber.
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Jack Eichel: Trade rumors and speculation
in The Aud Club
Posted
The only exception might be that they have to take on some contract unless they eat some of Jack's contract in the deal. Especially with his injury concerns.
It's going to be hard accepting he and maybe Reinhart are gone. And no doubt by now, word has traveled that Buffalo isn't a destination to win.
That likely means it's a rebuild with a few long term pieces in-place. Adams has a lot to prove that he can, with youth, put together a solid roster and do this without Eichel and Reinhart.