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Who is replacing Botterill? No, really ...


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9 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

Mike Gillis, has experience as a GM in building teams to satisfy those who do not want another rookie GM

He also has attended multiple hockey analytics conferences including the one in Rochester for those looking for someone who should bring in a larger analytics department.

I would be very interested in Gillis and Hextall.

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21 hours ago, Sabre fan said:

Kinda interesting that ex GMTM was brought in to actually lose and tank and get what was suppose to me McDavid. With our dreaded curse, we of course lost the 1st pick and as a consolation prize got Jack. Jack, truth be known, is no McDavid (but very good). After failing to get McDavid GMTM made one of the biggest steals in recent NHL history getting ROR for not much of anything. He also got EK (a premier power forward) and lehner for goal and to be honest I really thought that this team was heading in the right direction. I still think we'd be better off if we stayed put and still had that team.

Anyways, ex GMTM gets the boot and in comes JBotto who's  mandate is to rebuild and win. Well his rebuild has been anything but stellar and we are not winning much more then we were. So the question becomes why some are so quick to give JBotto a pass for yet another year (year 4) when ex GMTM only got 3 years and he was ordered or rold to throw away at least one or two of those years by upper management.  

Either way, I miss LINDY... (and Darcy for that matter). remember when this team had passion and heart ???? That left when Lindy got run out of town.

This team had zero passion and heart long before Ruff was fired. Though the team back in those days is very similar to the team now.  Lots of changes in between but things have more or less remained the same.

I have zero desire to return Lindy, Darcy, or GMTM.  Evander Kane sucks.  Let's not romanticize here and reinvent history. 

6 hours ago, Radar said:

Exactly. Fans keep clamoring for new and up and coming. Repeat of what we've had seems to me. I want experience.

You may not be able to attract "experience" to Buffalo, NY these days.   

Bottom 5 destination in the league generally speaking, possibly worst run franchise for the last decade now, history and track record of churning front office/coaching staff, very little in the farm system to suggest things will get better soon.

What high quality, experienced GM with options is going to choose Buffalo?

I guess Pegula could just offer stupid money, like $20 million per, or something like that.....

 

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27 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

Mike Gillis, has experience as a GM in building teams to satisfy those who do not want another rookie GM

He also has attended multiple hockey analytics conferences including the one in Rochester for those looking for someone who should bring in a larger analytics department.

Not a fan.

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50 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

Mike Gillis, has experience as a GM in building teams to satisfy those who do not want another rookie GM

He also has attended multiple hockey analytics conferences including the one in Rochester for those looking for someone who should bring in a larger analytics department.

Devils are already interviewing him

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1 hour ago, Brawndo said:

Mike Gillis, has experience as a GM in building teams to satisfy those who do not want another rookie GM

He also has attended multiple hockey analytics conferences including the one in Rochester for those looking for someone who should bring in a larger analytics department.

Mike Gillis was thoroughly hated by the time he was ousted in Vancouver. Five years later people reconsidered as it started to dawn on them that he oversaw the best team that city ever had.

Mike seems prickly and arrogant and extremely intelligent. An experienced GM but far from the old boy’s network, he will do things his way and that won’t necessarily be conventional way. You’d definitely see him exploring and implementing new ways of doing things.

He can hold his own in the corporate venue through sheer competence, but you won’t get the cliches that seem to be Jason’s calling card.

If he’s learned some humility and relationship skills, he would be a very intriguing hire.

Edited by dudacek
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Mike Gillis was GM in Vancouver for 6 seasons.  After missing the playoffs the season before hiring him, they made the playoffs in his 1st 5 seasons, including winning the first round in his 1st 2 seasons, winning the President's Trophy and making the SCF in his 3rd season, and then getting bounced in the 1st round in his 4th and 5th seasons.  He got canned after missing the playoffs in his 6th season.

Holy mackerel does that sound like a massive improvement for the Sabres. 

Yes please.

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26 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Mike Gillis was thoroughly hated by the time he was ousted in Vancouver. Five years later people reconsidered as it started to dawn on them that he oversaw the best team that city ever had.

Mike seems prickly and arrogant and extremely intelligent. An experienced GM but far from the old boy’s network, he will do things his way and that won’t necessarily be conventional way. You’d definitely see him exploring and implementing new ways of doing things.

He can hold his own in the corporate venue through sheer competence, but you won’t get the cliches that seem to be Jason’s calling card.

If he’s learned some humility and relationship skills, he would be a very intriguing hire.

I am usually amazed at how often these go together. 

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22 hours ago, Sabre fan said:

Kinda interesting that ex GMTM was brought in to actually lose and tank and get what was suppose to me McDavid. With our dreaded curse, we of course lost the 1st pick and as a consolation prize got Jack. Jack, truth be known, is no McDavid (but very good). After failing to get McDavid GMTM made one of the biggest steals in recent NHL history getting ROR for not much of anything. He also got EK (a premier power forward) and lehner for goal and to be honest I really thought that this team was heading in the right direction. I still think we'd be better off if we stayed put and still had that team.

Anyways, ex GMTM gets the boot and in comes JBotto who's  mandate is to rebuild and win. Well his rebuild has been anything but stellar and we are not winning much more then we were. So the question becomes why some are so quick to give JBotto a pass for yet another year (year 4) when ex GMTM only got 3 years and he was ordered or rold to throw away at least one or two of those years by upper management.  

Either way, I miss LINDY... (and Darcy for that matter). remember when this team had passion and heart ???? That left when Lindy got run out of town.

Bolded #1....Murray got us Sam and "consolation prize" Jack. He also brought in "one of the biggest steals in recent NHL history" (ROR) and "a premier power forward" in EK and Lehner. With all that talent they went to the bottom of the standings. So the real question is....how could you honestly believe they were "heading in the right direction"? We'll never know if adding Dahlin and Skinner would've taken them in the right direction but odds are it would have. So, with all that talent , they couldn't win any more than we are now (by your account) after a rebuild that has been "anything but stellar" (also by your account). He also decimated our farm team and pipeline. This all leads to the 2nd bolded.....

Bolded #2....by your account Jbot has not done a good job (less than stellar), got rid of premier talent, and brought in questionable replacements. Yet we are on par with Murray's team in the standings. All while building our farm system/ pipeline and creating a workable salary cap room for this off season. So, the question could be.....why are you NOT willing to give Botts a pass for another year? If a new GM were to come in and add a 2C, a 1-2RW, and a solid backup GT for Ullmark, and it completely turns things around will you give all the credit to the new GM? I think JBot knows what he needs and has sold ownership on a long term build to set himself up for this next off season or two to acquire those pieces. So the question is....who believes he has the ability to make the right choices? If he was able to get the same amount of winning out of lesser talent then I would "hope" the answer is yes. I just also wish that whom ever the GM is, that he would have a blank canvas to start with (none of the usual ...Sabres are on my no-trade list crap) but that won't happen. I know some of his moves have been posers but I think he's set himself up nicely. If the results aren't there relatively soon then I'll be eating crow for sure.

 

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Two names:

Dean Lombardi:

Built the Sharks well in the early days in the 90's and was hired by the Kings around 2006 and helped build LA into a 2 time SC Champion.

Has a lot of experience and brings instant credibility to the organization

Kelly McCrimmon:

Assistant GM for the Vegas Golden Knights if you want someone who has had more recent success.

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6 hours ago, Doohickie said:

Time to make Him accountable.

If you believe, God created heaven and earth in 7 days.  To fix the Sabres mess, we're going to have to give him more time than that.

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8 minutes ago, Ruff Around The Edges said:

Two names:

Dean Lombardi:

Built the Sharks well in the early days in the 90's and was hired by the Kings around 2006 and helped build LA into a 2 time SC Champion.

Has a lot of experience and brings instant credibility to the organization

Kelly McCrimmon:

Assistant GM for the Vegas Golden Knights if you want someone who has had more recent success.

Lombardi is everything you say he is. He is certainly capable, but doesn’t excite me. I think it’s because it feels like his time is past.

McCrimmon was recently promoted to Vegas GM.

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3 hours ago, dudacek said:

Mike Gillis was thoroughly hated by the time he was ousted in Vancouver. Five years later people reconsidered as it started to dawn on them that he oversaw the best team that city ever had.

Mike seems prickly and arrogant and extremely intelligent. An experienced GM but far from the old boy’s network, he will do things his way and that won’t necessarily be conventional way. You’d definitely see him exploring and implementing new ways of doing things.

He can hold his own in the corporate venue through sheer competence, but you won’t get the cliches that seem to be Jason’s calling card.

If he’s learned some humility and relationship skills, he would be a very intriguing hire.

 

3 hours ago, nfreeman said:

Mike Gillis was GM in Vancouver for 6 seasons.  After missing the playoffs the season before hiring him, they made the playoffs in his 1st 5 seasons, including winning the first round in his 1st 2 seasons, winning the President's Trophy and making the SCF in his 3rd season, and then getting bounced in the 1st round in his 4th and 5th seasons.  He got canned after missing the playoffs in his 6th season.

Holy mackerel does that sound like a massive improvement for the Sabres. 

Yes please.

My memory could be off, but what did Gillis actually do? Didn't he inherit nearly everything about those teams that made them so good? Granted, he'd be inheriting pieces here that could make the situations comparable and maybe he could make similar supplementary moves. But I wouldn't exactly be doing cartwheels. 

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55 minutes ago, TrueBlueGED said:

 

My memory could be off, but what did Gillis actually do? Didn't he inherit nearly everything about those teams that made them so good? Granted, he'd be inheriting pieces here that could make the situations comparable and maybe he could make similar supplementary moves. But I wouldn't exactly be doing cartwheels. 

This is fair comment in that the Sedins and most of the rest of their core were there when he got there, and that he would be inheriting a similar situation here, but I think there’s some gaps too. His drafting record was poor and his trades generally good. He took over an 88-point team and led it to what would have been five straight 100-point seasons if not for the the lockout.

He is big on analytics, sports science and creative with the cap, all of which I would think would appeal to you. Some good stuff on that here:

https://theprovince.com/sports/hockey/nhl/qa-mike-gillis-travels-world-to-learn-what-other-sports-can-teach-hockey

 

He did a real good interview a while back on his Canucks tenure. Here’s a recap, plus the whole two-hour interview that’s worth a listen if his name ever surfaces I connection with the Sabres.

https://theathletic.com/583660/2018/10/11/the-final-word-on-mike-gillis-time-with-the-canucks/

https://www.tsn.ca/radio/vancouver-1040/gillis-on-regrets-and-achievements-with-canucks-hodgson-saga-1.1189506

Edited by dudacek
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1 hour ago, TrueBlueGED said:

 

My memory could be off, but what did Gillis actually do? Didn't he inherit nearly everything about those teams that made them so good? Granted, he'd be inheriting pieces here that could make the situations comparable and maybe he could make similar supplementary moves. But I wouldn't exactly be doing cartwheels. 

@dudacek’s response is far superior, but I’ll note that Gillis took over a team that had missed the playoffs 2 out of the prior 3 years (not just the year  before as I had posted previously) and immediately got them to the playoffs 5 years in a row.  

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