Biggest Sabres blunders since 2013

[LabattBlue]

That entire list is disgusting except for the Dahlin pick(he was far and away the unanimous choice for 1 OA), and the Quinn pick(going to have to give it a few years, but hoping we didn't repeat history of taking the solid 2 way player, Seiling, over the gifted offensive player, Bossy).

 

I just can't believe the blunders.  You really need to do a 10 year look back and include the purchase of the team by the Pegulas.  It started there, and every time you think they have hit rock bottom, up pops another gem(hiring the head of the hockey academy to be your GM because you are familiar with him).

 

Don't forget the dismal hirings of Rolston & Housley...

 

...and terrible results in Rochester

 

...and the hideous selection of goal song.

Edited February 4, 2021 by LabattBlue

[Ruff Around The Edges]

19 minutes ago, #freejame said:

My biggest issue with the tank was we should have just bombed the lockout season and immediately starting building back up following that. There was no reason to throw two seasons when there was a perfectly good half season that we were a bubble team on a downward trend. The lottery rules were much more favorable and Jones, MacKinnon, and Barkov were all known qualities. 

I do understand and also I think we had our GM's reversed timeline wise:

JBot with the way he wanted to rebuild the team would have been better to have as the GM the year before we drafted Eichel, because we would not have made deals for guys like Kane, OReilly etc, tanked AGAIN in Eichel's rookie year and maybe the Sabres land Laine or even Matthews (instead of Nylander who was a waste) the year after the Eichel tank. THEN after JBot built the roster through the draft, THEN bring in a guy like Tim Murray to be more aggressive to help the team for the now.

Edited February 4, 2021 by Ruff Around The Edges

[nfreeman]

 

2 hours ago, SwampD said:

There’s only one answer, and it ain’t on that list.

This, this, a thousand times this!

 

1 hour ago, Eleven said:

If one considers the tank as a single decision, then yeah, that's the winner by a mile.

I'm not sure I do.  I'm not sure I don't, either.

I think it was a single decision.

[inkman]

I hadn’t realized the tenuous nature of the collective fanbase until I made this thread.  I only made it because SweetLou had the ridiculous notion that drafting Sam over Leon was the biggest blunder by the Sabres in the last seven years.  Turns out he was wrong but I’m not sure The result is uh...healthy.  

[Sabre fan]

Skinner is a goal scorer, and nothing more. To expect more is just poor coaching. Anyways the OReilly trade is obviously the worse by miles and the tank season would have made everyone look like geniuses if the NHL had just once let us win a stupid lottery and we got McDavid. I am really tired of Jack's temper tantrums when things don;t go his way. He seems to want out of here now and I can only say good riddance.  Even at their worse, the team still has passion and heart when Lindy/Darcy were here and I think letting them go was mistake number one.   

    Mistake #2 was hiring JBotto...3 hiring Ralph. The list goes on and on...

[SwampD]

I got flamed pretty hard for saying at the time that firing GMTM and HCDB set the rebuild back two years.

I guess it was right to be flamed, we're at four years and counting.

[IKnowPhysics]

7 minutes ago, inkman said:

 I’m not sure The result is uh...healthy.  

Definitely isn't.  We all lived through these events and we're living with the result day-to-day and year-to-year.  Why make a pissing contest about what was truly more awful?

Sabres fandom is defined by our dimly lit candle of hope and threads like this are a stiff breeze.

[dudacek]

12 minutes ago, Sabre fan said:

Skinner is a goal scorer, and nothing more. To expect more is just poor coaching. Anyways the OReilly trade is obviously the worse by miles

Who would you rather have? Jeff Skinner at $9 million a season for eight years, or Thompson, Miller and Ryan Johnson?

Not even close, IMO.

[DarthEbriate]

Isn't it nice that there are so many blunders to chose from? I quote the final words of Lt. Telsij, "There's too many of them!"

[Norcal]

Shoulda just been patient and listened to Darcy when he said there would be suffering. He was a proven team builder and here a long time but he produced consistent playoff teams.

The team hasn't sniffed contention since.

[freester]

22 minutes ago, SwampD said:

I got flamed pretty hard for saying at the time that firing GMTM and HCDB set the rebuild back two years.

I guess it was right to be flamed, we're at four years and counting.

Their firing wasn’t the problem. The problem was hiring an utter and complete incompetent in Botteril. He will go down as one of the worst GMs in NHL history. How Seattle hired him is shocking. 

[DarthEbriate]

I think it boils down to vision. The decision was made to tank. Fine. Tank-vision on the McDavid timeline. All well and good. But since that decision, we’ve had DR-vision and Sabres University-vision, then PLF/Nolan-vision, then PLF/GMTM vision which quickly became just GMTM-vision. Now, the tank is over and it’s time for rebuild vision. So we have GMTM/Byslma-vision, JBott/Housley-, JBott/RaKru-, and now Kheevyn/RaKru-vision. And each of these combinations takes the team in a slightly different tack. Is it win now, or just compete hard, is it overpay washed out players or just ice an AHL roster, is it build the center-spine or build an attacking d-corps, is it play heavy or play small and fast? Our feeble skills are no match for the power of the hockey stability. We have paid the price for our lack of vision. And all this points to the ownership changing the slate every 2 years.

[Sabre fan]

I always kinda thought the best trade ever was getting OReilly and the worse trade ever was trading him. Of course I liked getting Kane too which I guess everybody else hated that trade.

[Drag0nDan]

3 hours ago, Ruff Around The Edges said:

To me the choice is easy.

The crazy part the O'Reilly trade is a distant 2nd but that does not mean that trade wasn't a disaster on its own.

You trade for Skinner, that trade in itself was excellent. You pair him with Eichel. Skinner scores 48, THEN you pay him as if he is Patrick Kane. THEN you move him OFF the Eichel line and move in Olofsson and the you have to pay Olofsson more as well.

Skinner as a 9M dollar cap hit for 7 more seasons playing as a 4th liner with currently 1 point to me qualifies as easily the worst contract in the NHL currently, and might go down as the all time worst when its all said and done.

The level of fail with this is breathtaking.

Botterill... the gift that keeps on giving... 

[Drag0nDan]

9 minutes ago, DarthEbriate said:

I think it boils down to vision. The decision was made to tank. Fine. Tank-vision on the McDavid timeline. All well and good. But since that decision, we’ve had DR-vision and Sabres University-vision, then PLF/Nolan-vision, then PLF/GMTM vision which quickly became just GMTM-vision. Now, the tank is over and it’s time for rebuild vision. So we have GMTM/Byslma-vision, JBott/Housley-, JBott/RaKru-, and now Kheevyn/RaKru-vision. And each of these combinations takes the team in a slightly different tack. Is it win now, or just compete hard, is it overpay washed out players or just ice an AHL roster, is it build the center-spine or build an attacking d-corps, is it play heavy or play small and fast? Our feeble skills are no match for the power of the hockey stability. We have paid the price for our lack of vision. And all this points to the ownership changing the slate every 2 years.

The constant use of the 1st round draft pick to fill the current hole always bothers me.  The guy probably won't play for a year, and he probably won't be a valuable contributor for 2.  So just try and get - good hockey players. 

Also - goaltending, we're just consistently poor here.  

[HOFWingman17]

3 hours ago, Brawndo said:

Trying to accelerate the rebuild of the team by trading prospects and multiple draft picks. 
 

A First, Armia, Myers and Leumieux for Kane and Bogo. 
 

A First for Lehner. 
 

Two Seconds and Brayden McNabb for Hudson Fasching. 

A Second for Josh Gorges 

Having to add JT Compher to ROR Deal because they didn’t have a First to close the deal. 
 

Passing on the 3rd Leading Scorer in the WHL, behind Draistal and Reinhart Five Times , because someone in your scouting department felt His Combine Results translated to him not being an NHL Player 

I don't drink, but I might start after reading this. For me, and this may be an underrated opinion, but bringing in Pat Lafontaine to run the hockey department ranks right up there. That is where the dominos started to fall. Chaos and GMTM came soon after.

[inkman]

34 minutes ago, Drag0nDan said:

The constant use of the 1st round draft pick to fill the current hole always bothers me.  The guy probably won't play for a year, and he probably won't be a valuable contributor for 2.  So just try and get - good hockey players. 

Also - goaltending, we're just consistently poor here.  

Not disagreeing but who have they drafted for need?

[GASabresIUFAN]

Hiring Pat LaFontaine to be team President.

All the other bad decisions stem from here.  He hired TM, who wasted the Tank's assets and drafted poorly, who gave way to Jbot who traded away ROR, the best of TM's decisions, but didn't replace him, who gives way to the inexperience KA and the team is still stuck in second gear.

After the 2 tank years, our record has been basically flat for the last 6 years with .99 pts/gp followed by .95, then .75 (Jbot's mini tank), .92, .99 and now 1.0.  If this was a heart beat, we'd be flat lined.  Rinse, wash, repeat.  

To be a playoff team we need to earn 1.16 pts per game.  

Worst single move was trading McNabb and 2 2nds for basically nothing, but this didn't devastate the franchise.   The Bogo/Kane trade also sucked and was more injurious to the franchise because we lost significant long-term depth in Lemieux, Armia and the 1st (Roslovic).  The ROR deal was terrible especially as Jbot never adequately replaced him.  Add them all together and you have a franchise treading water. Ultimately the first domino was hiring the inexperienced President to hire the new GM and then the dominos fall from there.  Maybe things would be different if Patty had hired an experienced GM to lead us through the initial rebuild properly.

Why isn't the hiring of TM on the master list?

Edited February 4, 2021 by GASabresIUFAN

[#freejame]

Did we ever find out what happened with Craig Patrick?

[irregularly irregular]

I'm sorry my friends, I had to stop reading the replies after the first dozen or less. So depressing and mind boggling at the same time. 

I will add this. They are my Sabres, they always will be as long as they are located in Buffalo and I will cheer for them until my death. 

Now let's back on with this crappy season!

[Mustache of God]

I've been holding out hope that Tage Thompson would start to show ANYTHING on the ice and that he'd be able to salvage an iota of value from the ROR trade.

Maybe Ryan Johnson becomes the best defensemen ever and makes up for it?

You can add "never adding a 2nd center after trading away ROR" as another blunder. 

[Carmel Corn]

I've been a Sabres fan since the late 70's and my top 3 blunders all fell under JBOT's watch:  ROR trade #1 for sure, but I have a hard time deciding between #2 and #3.  The Montour trade was one of them and the Skinner contract the other.  All 3 moves collectively hurt us badly (and will continue to) while other teams that were once below the Sabres have or will leapfrog us.

[Andrew Amerk]

The Skinner problem is the overall usage since he has been here - not the contract. 
 

1. You bring him in, knowing he’s a goal scorer. You decide to use him with your top center. Surprise, surprise, he nets 40 goals. 
 

2. The next season, knowing he’s a goal scorer, you move him away from your top center. You actually put him on a line with no real center. Surprise, surprise, he struggles. 
 

3. Year 3, you bring in a capable veteran center. Okay, great - since you don’t plan on pairing him with your top center ever again, now at least he has a real C to skate with. Oh...wait...let’s NOT do that. Let’s stick him on the 4th line and see what happens. Surprise, surprise, he stinks - still knowing he’s a goal scorer, and having the gift of hindsight to KNOW he needs someone halfway talented at C to get him the puck. 

[GASabresIUFAN]

7 minutes ago, Andrew Amerk said:

The Skinner problem is the overall usage since he has been here - not the contract. 
 

1. You bring him in, knowing he’s a goal scorer. You decide to use him with your top center. Surprise, surprise, he nets 40 goals. 
 

2. The next season, knowing he’s a goal scorer, you move him away from your top center. You actually put him on a line with no real center. Surprise, surprise, he struggles. 
 

3. Year 3, you bring in a capable veteran center. Okay, great - since you don’t plan on pairing him with your top center ever again, now at least he has a real C to skate with. Oh...wait...let’s NOT do that. Let’s stick him on the 4th line and see what happens. Surprise, surprise, he stinks - still knowing he’s a goal scorer, and having the gift of hindsight to KNOW he needs someone halfway talented at C to get him the puck. 

If the team fails and RK gets fired, his use of Skinner will be his legacy and the thing most pointed to that lead to his failure and removal.

[Andrew Amerk]

3 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

If the team fails and RK gets fired, his use of Skinner will be his legacy and the thing most pointed to that lead to his failure and removal.

It’s near lunacy. I get the whole “gotta earn your spot” concept/rhetoric, but that gets completely tossed out of the window when a dozen players that didn’t earn their spot to play with Eichel have been placed on his wing instead of Skinner.