Robviously

Well, for starters, because he's talking to reporters and the guy he's going to draft (Eichel) is right there. Also because we expect adults in a professional setting to maintain a professional demeanor. I've never felt like I needed a GM that shows emotion. I would prefer one that didn't even have emotions, honestly. Why do you need a "What if" plan for a low-probability outcome that will definitely benefit you? Why even waste your time working on one? I don't want the Bills thinking about a plan for "What if Tyrod Taylor suddenly becomes Tom Brady?" Make your plans for the worst case scenario outcomes and if things turn out better, that's gravy. Murray should have planned to get Eichel after the lottery and been ready for that. He didn't, and he wasn't. Maybe that's why he failed or, more likely, he wasn't good enough to succeed anyway. He was terrible.

This isn't "Who would you rather rebuild with - Eichel or McDavid?". This is "You have an 80% chance of Eichel and a 20% chance of McDavid" and you know that, and you just found out it's Eichel. Why would you be visibly upset to reporters at that lottery and make an ass of yourself? If his plan "relied on" getting McDavid with his 20% shot, he never should have been allowed to be an NHL GM. Betting your future on a 1 in 5 chance of success is completely stupid. Even if he *knew* from scouting that Eichel wasn't going to be nearly as good as McDavid (which completely buys into the myth that he was some amazing scout, but sure), you still need to be an adult and plan for the 80% chance that you're getting Eichel after the draft lottery takes place. So don't freak out when it doesn't happen and actually plan for the less-appealing but far more likely outcome that you're getting Eichel. This discussion is making me remember what a complete buffoon GMTM was.

He was on board with the tank and helped finish it but then was inexplicably shocked and visibly upset when we lost the 1st overall pick (which was an 80% chance). I didn't love the Kane trade when we made it, but his freak out at the draft lottery when Edmonton got the McDavid pick was the first time I was really worried we had the wrong GM. His behavior that night was completely bizarre and awful.

Let's see what he can do. It's the age of competition that most guys his age are playing against. If he'd spent the last 2 years tearing it up in the CHL, no one would have any concerns about him.

He was 11th in the league in points/game as a 20 year old last season. On a slow team with a defense that couldn't get the puck out of their own end of the ice.

I think Kris Baker had something about Smith doing so well in Rochester because he's already taking the longer road to the NHL and sees the benefit of playing a full year in the AHL to get there. He's not a guy that was ever really hyped or talked about as a future NHLer, so he's had to work extra hard and be patient the whole way through. And it's paying off. In general, it sounds like he, Ullmark, and Guhle are all relishing this season in Rochester to help be key players on a winning team. Nylander had a quote too about the team being so fun this year.

Maybe. But in the games I've watched, it's not so much that he's quick (although that's really noticeable on this team), it's also that he makes smart plays. In the game where he scored 2 goals, there was a play where he was skating with the puck at the top of the circle and suddenly realized there was enough gap to split the defense and head straight to the net -- which he did and created an opportunity. I'm so used to Sabres players just making the safe/predictable play there; it's like they're not even looking for opportunities. In general, I think he has good awareness. He's good at anticipating the play both with and without the puck. It's noticeable (to me, and so far, anyways) and I'm not sure it's something you can teach. He might end up being a pretty nice player for us.

FWIW, this board was all over the Sabres opening Day 2 of the draft by taking Barbashev. (I had no idea who he was.) This board might have done a better job drafting than the Sabres the past few years. This speaks to the randomness of the draft and the ineptitude of the Sabres more than anything, since the people here are just reading 4-sentence scouting reports for the prospects and looking at stats to form their opinions.

People! Sam Reinhart had 47 points in 79 games last year as a 21 year old. That's....actually pretty good. He sucks this year but the whole team pretty much does so far outside of Eichel and Kane. It's not over and he could still turn things around with more than half a season left. He's 22.

My only interests are Star Wars and this hockey team. :(

I kinda think he's fine for the 3rd pairing.

Good, but WTF does Rodrigues have to do to get moved up? He's one of our only guys that can skate and actually seems to be able to make heads-up plays. I wouldn't hesitate to put swap him and Girgensons. Or put him on Eichel's wing. Do we really have anything to lose if we gave him 10 games on the 1st or 2nd line? Also, happy to keep CJ Smith, Guhle, Ullmark, Nylander, etc. as far away from this mess as possible. Let these guys play and win together. It sounds like we have a good thing going in Rochester and should keep it that way - hopefully for many more years to come. Other note: Does anyone have interest in ever seeing Girgensons or Larsson play another game for us? Like, ever? I honestly can't remember the last time I was excited about either guy being on the team. I want them gone just from an entertainment standpoint; they're boring as **** to watch and definitely won't be a part of the team when we're good again (hopefully before Star Wars Episode XII is out). Hopefully both are gone at the deadline.

100% sure. I'd undo that trade just to get our 1st round pick back in a loaded 2015 draft (not hindsight, we know that draft was loaded all year long). No idea who we would've picked but there were players a lot of people on the board liked (a lot of people liked Boeser, and I definitely wouldn't mind Roslovic or Larsson in the system). Honestly, our future would look way brighter right now if we'd just kept a couple of our extra 1st and 2nd round picks in that draft. But people liked ZFG so here we are. Plus undoing that trade means you could have traded Myers and Stafford separately for other things. And no Bogo contract albatross.

This just in: Tim Murray was trash. Still holding out hope for some prospects (Asplund, Pu, Oloffson, Guhle, etc.) but the only trade I definitely wouldn't undo is ROR/McGinn.

The problem continued long after video scouting ended.

Is this the game where we finally let Jack and ERod play together?

Driving me nuts that we haven't tried ERod there for an extended stretch.

Kane can finish what Eichel starts but he's an awful passer. I'm hoping Nylander or Mittelstadt can be the guy.

Has the puck, passes it, and never gets it back. I honestly can't remember the last time I saw someone make a pass to Eichel that was actually impressive. He needs to be playing with players that actually compliment him.

Or they could just put him back with Eichel so that #15 would finally have a guy on his line that could actually pass him the puck again.

Girgensons actually did something!

She kept changing tempo. It was really odd.

Bailey is injured. CJ Smith is lighting it up down there in his first pro year and averaging more than a point per game now. He turned 23 on December 1st so it stands to reason he could have an NHL future after this season. Ullmark and Guhle are both playing great too. This year's Amerks team is really encouraging.

Rasmus Andersson would be a pretty great pick-up for us.

I'll just put this here: This team is awful. It's literally amazing how badly Tim Murray botched the rebuild. Eichel is the only player we have that's worth building around.