Fixing the Sabres Long-Term - Can it be done?

[#freejame 837]

33 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

That actually isn't true.  While he didn't get impact centers which we needed to sustain the team long-term, he actually did a decent job of getting real NHL players in his last few drafts.

So, more or less, the fruits of his labor were given to GMTM. The issue is the period beforehand when he had nobody coming in to provide support. Our drafts in the early 2000s are terribly ugly. Knowing what you know now, would you have kept Darcy at the helm?

[GASabresIUFAN 2,498]

6 minutes ago, #freejame said:

So, more or less, the fruits of his labor were given to GMTM. The issue is the period beforehand when he had nobody coming in to provide support. Our drafts in the early 2000s are terribly ugly. Knowing what you know now, would you have kept Darcy at the helm?

Who traded away Compher, Lemieux,Grigorenko, Zadorov, Pysyk, Myers, Armia, and McNabb.  That’s a lot of depth to trade away.  

Hindsight is 20/20.  Keeping DR may have worked better, but I think TP needed to move on from DR and LR when the rebuild began not after it started.  He also needed to bring in experienced hockey people to guide the rebuild as if it were an expansion team. (The tank turned us into a virtual expansion team.) Instead he replaced DR with newly minted executive Pat LaFontaine who brought in first time GM TM.  Neither man had any idea on how to build a team and it showed.

[DarthEbriate 1,381]

1 hour ago, pi2000 said:

Day 3 I call Seattle and try to work a deal so they take Jeff Skinner as part of an expansion draft deal.    Everything is on the table.

This needs to be done. We need to pray that JBott is still in love with Skinner and makes it happen. But -- Skinner has to waive his No Movement clause. And... how many 1st-round picks / combination of picks are you willing to throw in for Seattle to take that contract for a past-his-prime winger who doesn't drive play or make his linemates better because he doesn't pass for 6 more years of $9M when you're trying to build a new hockey market?

[Thwomp! 118]

1 hour ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Who traded away Compher, Lemieux,Grigorenko, Zadorov, Pysyk, Myers, Armia, and McNabb.  That’s a lot of depth to trade away.  

Hindsight is 20/20.  Keeping DR may have worked better, but I think TP needed to move on from DR and LR when the rebuild began not after it started.  He also needed to bring in experienced hockey people to guide the rebuild as if it were an expansion team. (The tank turned us into a virtual expansion team.) Instead he replaced DR with newly minted executive Pat LaFontaine who brought in first time GM TM.  Neither man had any idea on how to build a team and it showed.

Still don't think you can fault LaFontaine in any of this.  He wasn't here long enough.  He still appears to be the smartest person in this whole decade plus debacle.  And counting.

[GASabresIUFAN 2,498]

Just now, Thwomp! said:

Still don't think you can fault LaFontaine in any of this.  He wasn't here long enough.  He still appears to be the smartest person in this whole decade plus debacle.  And counting.

He hired TM.  

[Carmel Corn 582]

2 minutes ago, Thwomp! said:

Still don't think you can fault LaFontaine in any of this.  He wasn't here long enough.  He still appears to be the smartest person in this whole decade plus debacle.  And counting.

As an incoming President, you hire the GM first, not the HC.  Patty did it wrong!

[Thwomp! 118]

3 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

He hired TM.  

He may have been a good check on TM's overpaying instincts.  Maybe help with drafting.

3 minutes ago, Carmel Corn said:

As an incoming President, you hire the GM first, not the HC.  Patty did it wrong!

Bylsma was a prize at the time.

[Carmel Corn 582]

50 minutes ago, Thwomp! said:

He may have been a good check on TM's overpaying instincts.  Maybe help with drafting.

Bylsma was a prize at the time.

Sorry, but no...Patty hired Ted Nolin, not Bylsma.  He then hired GMTM after hiring Nolin.  Bylsma came later after GMTM fired Nolin.  Patty had nothing to do with the hiring of Bylsma. 

[LabattBlue 660]

1 hour ago, DarthEbriate said:

This needs to be done. We need to pray that JBott is still in love with Skinner and makes it happen. But -- Skinner has to waive his No Movement clause. And... how many 1st-round picks / combination of picks are you willing to throw in for Seattle to take that contract for a past-his-prime winger who doesn't drive play or make his linemates better because he doesn't pass for 6 more years of $9M when you're trying to build a new hockey market?

...unless Botts never cared for Skinner that much, but was pushed by Madame President and Mr Dig-A-Well to get him signed no matter what the cost. 

[DarthEbriate 1,381]

22 minutes ago, LabattBlue said:

...unless Botts never cared for Skinner that much, but was pushed by Madame President and Mr Dig-A-Well to get him signed no matter what the cost. 

There is that.

It was so odd that JBott traded for Skinner and didn't immediately extend him... like, that should have been part of the trade. Or if not, then turn around and deal at the deadline at his peak (40-goal season) trade value since he wanted to be a UFA anyway. He could've pulled a Moulson and re-signed with us in the offseason... and definitely not at $9M. No one else around the league was going to give him that. But instead it was a trade and wait while Jack and Sam boosted his value, then not let him hit free agency anyway and "test the market" first.   Every GM is guaranteed to hand out a bad contract on occasion -- part of learning the job. But we've had 4 GMs in 8 years, so all of these bad contracts are still in effect.  (I even lump Regier in that as when Pegula came aboard and opened up the wallet --- Regier's never had that open wallet --- so of course he was going to mistakenly overpay someone like Leino. (Ehrhoff wasn't overpaid, his contract was just poorly designed once the new CBA kicked in.)

[WildCard 2,569]

1 hour ago, Thwomp! said:

He may have been a good check on TM's overpaying instincts.  Maybe help with drafting.

Bylsma was a prize at the time.

A ton of us wanted nothing to do with Bylsma

[Thwomp! 118]

29 minutes ago, WildCard said:

A ton of us wanted nothing to do with Bylsma

Completely agreed.  I've hated every Sabres coach since Ruff.  I was just pointing out that's why the coach was hired first in this situation.

Just now, Thwomp! said:

Completely agreed.  I've hated every Sabres coach since Ruff.  I was just pointing out that's why the coach was hired first in this situation.

Oops I'm wrong anyway.  Who cares?  I don't anymore.  Back to work.