New GM Watch

[MattPie]

https://www.fanragsports.com/news/friedman-thinks-sabres-gm-job-botterills-lose/

 

Interesting about the President thing; I'm sure there are a couple people that wouldn't stand for that. Fenton is apparently abrasive, I would bet he'd say no.

[pi2000]

https://www.fanragsports.com/news/friedman-thinks-sabres-gm-job-botterills-lose/

 

Good, they need a president.

[Sabres Fan in NS]

Well?

 

:unsure:

[PromoTheRobot]

I can't have a reasonable discussion with anyone who thinks this.

It's curious how people hate Doug Whaley for the bad trades he made and ignore his good moves. GMTM is just the opposite. If you keep a ledger Murray made more bad moves than good.

Edited May 5, 2017 by PromoTheRobot

[inkman]

It's curious how people hate Doug Whaley for the bad trades he made and ignore his good moves. GMTM is just the opposite. If you keep a ledger Murray made more bad moves than good.

I don't think he made any bad trades :ph34r:

[Eleven]

It's curious how people hate Doug Whaley for the bad trades he made and ignore his good moves. GMTM is just the opposite. If you keep a ledger Murray made more bad moves than good.

 

Show your work.

[pi2000]

Murray was never given a chance to fix the blueline.   There was such a lack of skill on the forward ranks when he took over that he needed to use all available assets to fix what was one of the historically worst offenses the league has ever seen.     He succeeded at fixing the offense IMO (Reinhart, Eichel, Kane, O'Reilly, Okposo, Nylander, Fasching), top PP unit in the league, etc...

 

His goal this offseason was to fix the defense... but he wasn't given that chance.   If given the chance I believe he would've succeeded, but for whatever reason Pegula didn't think he was the right guy, so be it.

 

So to opine about how he failed to fix all the team's problems in 3 years is foolish IMO, because he simply wasn't given enough time to do so.

[nfreeman]

It's curious how people hate Doug Whaley for the bad trades he made and ignore his good moves. GMTM is just the opposite. If you keep a ledger Murray made more bad moves than good.

 

The trades were the tip of the iceberg.

 

People "hate" DW -- or, more accurately, think he was a lousy GM and deserved to get canned -- because during his tenure as AGM and then GM, the team was terrible-to-mediocre every single GD year and became an NFL laughingstock.

 

Tell me:  do you think DW should've been retained?  If so, why?

 

 

Show your work.

 

You don't prefer bald, unsupported statements that fly in the fact of both facts and logic?

[WildCard]

@Matt_Bove

.@DarrenDreger tells @WGR550 that something might be clogging up GM search because interview process to his understanding is done #Sabres

[sabills]

I think we're starting to forget how bad this team was when he took over. Take a look at this thing:

72 Luke Adam

88 Cory Conacher

27 Matt D'Agostini

44 Nicolas Deslauriers

10 Christian Ehrhoff

37 Matt Ellis

63 Tyler Ennis

P 1 Jhonas Enroth

65 Brian Flynn

82 Marcus Foligno

28 Zemgus Girgensons

25 Mikhail Grigorenko

31 Matt Hackett

19 Cody Hodgson

36 Patrick Kaleta

49 Connor Knapp  

24 Zenon Konopka

22 Johan Larsson

23 Ville Leino

50 Nathan Lieuwen  

4 Jamie McBain

29 Jake McCabe

8 Cody McCormick

44 Brayden McNabb

30 Ryan Miller

17 Torrey Mitchell

26 Matt Moulson

57 Tyler Myers

34 Michal Neuvirth

17 Linus Omark

9 Steve Ott ©

12 Kevin Porter

3 Mark Pysyk

55 Rasmus Ristolainen

5 Chad Ruhwedel

32 John Scott

21 Drew Stafford

80 Chris Stewart

52 Alexander Sulzer

20 Henrik Tallinder

78 Corey Tropp

26 Thomas Vanek ©

84 Phil Varone

6 Mike Weber

61 Nikita Zadorov ru D 18 6-5 230 L/- R April 15, 1995 1 G, 0 A, 1 P

 

 

Several of those players were gone already, including Vanek. I mean, jesus, there is almost nothing there.

 

EDIT: Oh god, that looked so much better when I pasted it, give me a minute to edit it into something readable.

 

EDIT#2: Fixed. Also, I counted, there are 6 players on that team that still play for them now. 6. Out of 46. Thats an 87% overhaul of the roster, and thats not including the fact that at least one of those players Murray brought in.

Edited May 5, 2017 by sabills

[Derrico]

 

@Matt_Bove

.@DarrenDreger tells @WGR550 that something might be clogging up GM search because interview process to his understanding is done #Sabres

???

[Brawndo]

I think Harrington is right, they are waiting for the Pens-Caps Series to finish

[darksabre]

Maybe the Pens are trying to get compensation? 

[Sabre fan]

Maybe the Pens are trying to get compensation? 

Did I not read or hear somewhere that the league did away with teams having toi give like a 3rd round pick or whatever

[TrueBlueGED]

I think Harrington is right, they are waiting for the Pens-Caps Series to finish

Probably. And that just pisses me off if it's true. Hey NHL, nobody is watching your stupid playoffs anyway, and those who are won't be distracted by the Buffalo freaking Sabres hiring a GM. Meanwhile, there is actual work our new GM has to get to in short order.

[PASabreFan]

I can't have a reasonable discussion with anyone who thinks this.

Sign of the times.

[Eleven]

Murray was never given a chance to fix the blueline.   There was such a lack of skill on the forward ranks when he took over that he needed to use all available assets to fix what was one of the historically worst offenses the league has ever seen.     He succeeded at fixing the offense IMO (Reinhart, Eichel, Kane, O'Reilly, Okposo, Nylander, Fasching), top PP unit in the league, etc...

 

His goal this offseason was to fix the defense... but he wasn't given that chance.   If given the chance I believe he would've succeeded, but for whatever reason Pegula didn't think he was the right guy, so be it.

 

So to opine about how he failed to fix all the team's problems in 3 years is foolish IMO, because he simply wasn't given enough time to do so.

 

I think this has some merit to it.

[nucci]

Probably. And that just pisses me off if it's true. Hey NHL, nobody is watching your stupid playoffs anyway, and those who are won't be distracted by the Buffalo freaking Sabres hiring a GM. Meanwhile, there is actual work our new GM has to get to in short order.

I am...it's some really great hockey. Fun to see what real teams play like

Edited May 5, 2017 by nucci

[Swedesessed]

I think this has some merit to it.

 

 

Not sure if my memory is accurate, Didn't Murray say something about Forwards First, Defense 2nd and Goalies last for building a franchise?

[shrader]

Murray was never given a chance to fix the blueline.   There was such a lack of skill on the forward ranks when he took over that he needed to use all available assets to fix what was one of the historically worst offenses the league has ever seen.     He succeeded at fixing the offense IMO (Reinhart, Eichel, Kane, O'Reilly, Okposo, Nylander, Fasching), top PP unit in the league, etc...

 

His goal this offseason was to fix the defense... but he wasn't given that chance.   If given the chance I believe he would've succeeded, but for whatever reason Pegula didn't think he was the right guy, so be it.

 

So to opine about how he failed to fix all the team's problems in 3 years is foolish IMO, because he simply wasn't given enough time to do so.

 

 

I think this has some merit to it.

 

I wouldn't go that far.  He had the chance to work on the defense but he instead focused more on the offense.  Whether or not that's worthy of a firing is another story all together.  To say that if given the chance, he would have succeeded is a bit of a stretch.  I think it's perfectly reasonable to question his evaluation of the position given that the guys he has actually added to the position haven't worked out so well.  He may have been able to fix it, but personally I'm doubtful on that.  But at this point, we'll never know.

[North Buffalo]

I wouldn't go that far. He had the chance to work on the defense but he instead focused more on the offense. Whether or not that's worthy of a firing is another story all together. To say that if given the chance, he would have succeeded is a bit of a stretch. I think it's perfectly reasonable to question his evaluation of the position given that the guys he has actually added to the position haven't worked out so well. He may have been able to fix it, but personally I'm doubtful on that. But at this point, we'll never know.

I dont agree that he wasnt given a chance, he tried with Bogo and Kulikov and failed and over paid for Lehner. Johnson and Nillson could have been serviceable and the picks could have been used for D... I think he aimed high and was hoping Bogo and Kulikov solved the D issue. He swung for the fences but this was critical strikout at a bad time... At least he gave it go. Kulikov's injury really hurt.

Edited May 5, 2017 by North Buffalo

[WildCard]

One could argue death is preferable to this search dragging on much longer. This place desperately needs something new to talk about.

Yeah I'm beginning to hate this thread. At this point the monkeys are out of the barrel, just give us which one to start with so we can start stringing them together.

[Eleven]

Yeah I'm beginning to hate this thread. At this point the monkeys are out of the barrel, just give us which one to start with so we can start stringing them together.

 

And so PA can construct the conspiracy behind his hiring.  I'm looking forward to that!

[TrueBlueGED]

I am...it's some really great hockey. Fun to see what real teams play like

I'm pretty sure you knew how I meant this ;)

[pi2000]

I dont agree that he wasnt given a chance, he tried with Bogo and Kulikov and failed and over paid for Lehner. Johnson and Nillson could have been serviceable and the picks could have been used for D... I think he aimed high and was hoping Bogo and Kulikov solved the D issue. He swung for the fences but this was critical strikout at a bad time... At least he gave it go. Kulikov's injury really hurt.

 

I somewhat agree with this... but he didn't have infinite assets to fix the defense the same way he did the forwards.    He spent most of those assets on offense and goaltending.. and they were largely successful transactions IMO. 

 

The Kulikov injury really set them back... and who knows if Murray would still  have a job if Eichel and Kulikov stayed healthy. 

 

I think years down the road when we look back at Murray's tenure we'll come to appreciate the aggressive moves he made and realize he was the right GM for that period in Sabre history.

I think Harrington is right, they are waiting for the Pens-Caps Series to finish

 

..but if (when) the Pens win, they're still in the playoffs, so nothing really changes anyway.  

 

Unless they just don't want it to be a distraction at the tail end of this series... but still, it's an assitant that's getting a new job, not the actual GM.