What Now?

[GASabresIUFAN]

The waiting for Levi plan isn’t working.

The forwards are lost and injuries continue to hamper the group.

The PP is a mess.  

This team is teetering on oblivion after just 16 games.

The Bruins proved tonight that the distance between the 2 teams is the Grand Canyon.

What now? Fire coaches? Bring up Rosen and Kulich? Trade for forward help?  Hope Quinn returns early somehow! 

[...]

We're already talking about this.

 

[John Tucker]

I am all for getting rid of Granato.  I honestly don't think he knows what he got himself into.  Unfortunately, if you get rid of DG, you kinda have to blow up the roster because for the most part, they have his demeanor.  And the big problem is, too many of the assets in the pipeline are basically the same player with a different name on the back.  Size doesn't matter with this group.  They all play on the outside and don't have the intestinal fortitude to get to the dirty areas consistently.  Something has to give because this team is in jeopardy of implosion after 16 games.  Can't wait til the trade deadline.  We may see a spark here and there, but this team is definitely not built for the grind (hence the injuries).  

Edited November 15, 2023 by John Tucker

[Flashsabre]

If you fire Granato you are getting Appert as coach.

[LabattBlue]

KA put all his eggs in the Levi basket.  Well…now fix it.  He has cap space, prospects and draft picks.  Time to stop with the bargain basement moves and put on his big boy pants. 
 

[Mr. Allen]

Just now, Flashsabre said:

If you fire Granato you are getting Appert as coach.

Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

[Brawndo]

37 minutes ago, Flashsabre said:

If you fire Granato you are getting Appert as coach.

Matt Ellis would be the most likely candidate 

[GoPuckYourself]

This is entirely on Kevyn Adams to fix right now not wait until the deadline.

 

I'd send Levi down to the AHL, trade for a veteran goalie, trade for a defensive forward with grit and gets into the dirty areas and a true defensive defensmen who hits everythign that moves plus a faceoff guy. like we should have done in the offseason.

[Porous Five Hole]

37 minutes ago, Mr. Allen said:

Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

He is a junior Granato with less experience. A college and national development team head coach. He’s well liked, but not ready to run an NHL bench. 

[Porous Five Hole]

I don’t have the answer to the OP’s question, but the next ten days will tell us everything we need to know about the projected course for the rest of the season.  
 

If the only move KA makes is to recall Kulich in place of Tage’s roster spot, I will be very disappointed.  

[Zamboni]

Why ask this question after this game? Why not the game prior? Or why not the game after?

Let’s ask this same question after the next win, and again after the next loss. 

[Porous Five Hole]

Just now, Zamboni said:

Why ask this question after this game? Why not the game prior? Or why not the game after?

Let’s ask this same question after the next win, and again after the next loss. 

Yea I feel you. The OP didn’t mention the Tage injury, but the first question I asked myself once I heard was, “what now?”

I don’t think it’s unfair to ask out loud.  

[Warriorspikes51]

The Flames and Oilers should be 2 teams open to trading good players

[Gatorman0519]

Time for trades and get this team a bit older. Levi should be in Rochester and do not bring those kids up here. I’d hand Gallant the keys. Enough is enough. 

[thewookie1]

Curl into a ball and cry at this point.

[GASabresIUFAN]

Sadly I don’t think there is much KA can do at this point to save the season.  

So what can he do now?
1.  Send Levi down.  KA needs to take the pressure off the kid and allow him to figure it out. Might as well give Cooley the backup role for now.

2.  Call up Kulich and Rosen.  What could it hurt? We are down to 5 productive forwards - Mitts, Cozens, Skinner, JJP and Greenway.  Hard to make 3 capable lines out of 5 forwards.  

3. Hit the phones. Find out who is available and at what cost.  

4. Re-think the PP.  With TnT out, we have a unique opportunity to try a whole new approach to the PP. Lets try running in through Mitts in the middle.  Lets use Greenway to set up screens.  
 

[PerreaultForever]

Sabres are caught in a Mobius loop. No matter which direction they take, they end up in the same place. 

There is only one constant through all of this and you know who he frakkin' well is. 

[GASabresIUFAN]

17 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

Sabres are caught in a Mobius loop. No matter which direction they take, they end up in the same place. 

There is only one constant through all of this and you know who he frakkin' well is. 

TP?

[PerreaultForever]

1 hour ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

TP?

Yes, I thought using the words "frakkin' and well" spelled that out with a little dark humorous word play but yes, TP. 

He doesn't understand hockey and his vision of what this team should be and do has always been out of whack. Thus he hires inexperienced people willing to say "yes" to him. 

After all these years I still want Rick Dudley hired to slap some sense into all of them. (Yes he's old, but I bet he could still knock out half the guys on this roster and the other half would just pee themselves from his stare, and that includes coaches and management) And as long as TP is owner I know nothing like that will ever happen. 

[Night Train]

8 hours ago, John Tucker said:

I am all for getting rid of Granato.  I honestly don't think he knows what he got himself into.  Unfortunately, if you get rid of DG, you kinda have to blow up the roster because for the most part, they have his demeanor.  And the big problem is, too many of the assets in the pipeline are basically the same player with a different name on the back.  Size doesn't matter with this group.  They all play on the outside and don't have the intestinal fortitude to get to the dirty areas consistently.  Something has to give because this team is in jeopardy of implosion after 16 games.  Can't wait til the trade deadline.  We may see a spark here and there, but this team is definitely not built for the grind (hence the injuries).  

This. Too many players who avoid the physical game and won't play 200 ft.  Outright gutless many nights. 

[sabrefanday1]

 

I was truly worried that last year was "our" year" and we missed the boat. Almost evey rplayer had banner years and we came up one poitn short...if we had made the playoffs it would have relieved so much pressure that is now being felt. There is no way to expect players to have the kind of years they all had last year thus it  only makes sense that we would go down, not up in the standings.

  We also under-estimtated a bunch of teams in our conference. assuming that they would be the teams to  regress, yet hell Washington is suddenly winning every game.  With Tage out things are really looking morbid; time to let Levi go to Rochester and make a few trades as someone suggested; a goalie, a tough rugged forward and maybe even a d-man although this is not on the defense alone. This is a team thing, and maybe time will allow the team to work this out. Probalem is, by the time we "work this out" we will be again too far behind to make the playoffs yet again; and I do think missing the playoffs this year is a major fail, what with all the big contracts they threw at palyers clearly expecting better then this...

  Time for Gallant (even if it is as co-coach and keep Donnie around for whatever reason...

Edited November 15, 2023 by sabrefanday1

[Archie Lee]

We are going to find out what Granato and this group of players are made of. 
 

I realize that something that happened almost exactly 30 years ago has questionable relevance. But, the current scenario reminds me of November 1993. The Sabres were coming off of a year where they were a high-scoring and exciting team. In 92-93 they finished 2 games above .500. As exciting as that team was and as much as we fans generally adore many of the players from that era, they finished 15th out of 24 teams; they likely miss the playoffs in a modern day 32 team league and MayDay never happens. 
 

Lafontaine and Fuhr are injured early in the 93-94 season. Mogilny, also due to injury, is not quite the same as the prior year. In late November 1993, two things happen. 1.) Overnight the Sabres change their style of play to a more conservative defensive game. 2.). Hasek 

I’m near certain we don’t have a Hasek. But Granato has said for two years that defence is easier to coach than offence. Here we are. Our best offensive player is injured (maybe our two best if Tuch is also out long-term). The goalie we were relying on is maybe not quite ready.  We are headed out on the road. Time to see if we can adjust how we play and if a player or two will step up and play at an all star level. 

[Mango]

I’ve been asking this for a bit. 

Given how common trades are much more common in the NHL. How long it takes draft picks to evolve into NHL players. The sheer number of leagues to manage your own prospects in and scout for new ones?

Does managing your amateur scouting department alone make you a good GM?

Im tempted to put this one on Adams more than Meatballs

 

[Buffalonill]

10 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

The waiting for Levi plan isn’t working.

The forwards are lost and injuries continue to hamper the group.

The PP is a mess.  

This team is teetering on oblivion after just 16 games.

The Bruins proved tonight that the distance between the 2 teams is the Grand Canyon.

What now? Fire coaches? Bring up Rosen and Kulich? Trade for forward help?  Hope Quinn returns early somehow! 

Only thing you can do 

 

[Gatorman0519]

I’m not sure we grasp how insane the whole front office is when you put a young kid in the pipes right away and expect him to carry the load and get us to the playoffs. It’s sheer madness. And that’s one of many bizarre decisions. 
 

In normal organizations, he would have done at least a year in the AHL (probably two) and they would have signed a dependable vet on a 2-3 year contract. 
 

it’s madness. 

Edited November 15, 2023 by Gatorman0519