Around the NHL: 2024-2025 Season

[PerreaultForever]

1 hour ago, JohnC said:

Assuming Norris is healthy, how good is he? Is he a legitimate 2C with some individual scoring potential. 

"assuming Norris is healthy". Well that's just it isn't it? He's never played a full season. If he did, he's potentially a 50-60 pt. player I'd guess but the odds of him playing a full season seems small to me. I'm pretty sure Ottawa moved on from him for that very reason. 

[JohnC]

51 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

"assuming Norris is healthy". Well that's just it isn't it? He's never played a full season. If he did, he's potentially a 50-60 pt. player I'd guess but the odds of him playing a full season seems small to me. I'm pretty sure Ottawa moved on from him for that very reason. 

We’ll just have to wait and see. I’m not making any predictions because I simply don’t know. KA has assembled a roster loaded with a lot of “what ifs” and “maybes”. That’s a bad way to do business.

[Thorny]

On 5/14/2025 at 3:45 PM, JohnC said:

We’ll just have to wait and see. I’m not making any predictions because I simply don’t know. KA has assembled a roster loaded with a lot of “what ifs” and “maybes”. That’s a bad way to do business.

Obsessed with potential ceiling 

[JohnC]

1 hour ago, Thorny said:

Obsessed with potential ceiling 

If there was a greater obsession with winning rather than the “big picture plan” this franchise would be relevant. Casually walking in a race puts you back in the pack, again and again.

Edited May 16 by JohnC

[PerreaultForever]

Brad Shaw is indeed not returning to the Flyers after being passed over for head coach. Sabres should snap him up and offer him whatever to work with our D. Unless they bring in McKee as another option. Either could be an associate coach who could take over from Ruff if he fails again or wants out or even gets elevated out. But the D is the priority.

Sabres of course will do neither and the heir will be Appert and I will just hate this team more. 

[\GoBillsInDallas/]

On 5/14/2025 at 2:41 PM, PerreaultForever said:

Looks like Tocchet is in fact going to Philly as well. Obvious fit there and kind of expected. Right man at the right time. He will look like a softy compared to Torts so it could work well. 

Ouch:

https://www.news-gazette.com/marcus-hayes-chronically-nepotistic-flyers-hire-rick-tocchet-to-join-alumni-danny-bri-re-and/article_a49137dd-77dd-5091-b5c1-e1747cd5e3ea.html

 

[bob_sauve28]

2 hours ago, \GoBillsInDallas/ said:

Ouch:

https://www.news-gazette.com/marcus-hayes-chronically-nepotistic-flyers-hire-rick-tocchet-to-join-alumni-danny-bri-re-and/article_a49137dd-77dd-5091-b5c1-e1747cd5e3ea.html

 

Very interesting article! 

I just finished reading an article about the Caps season and how they surprised so many people--themselves included--by doing so well. The Caps did it with a coach who was not an inside guy at all, Spencer Carbury. He seems like a great coach and he sure got great results. Tocchet is one of the Orange Boys for sure. Reminds me of the Sabres going with Ruff, in a way. 

What the article above takes umbrage with is the timeline on winning. Brier and Jones want to win now but the author thinks the Flyers are years away from competing seriously. The Flyers, like many teams, don't have a good goalie. The Caps found two good goalies somehow so maybe they Flyers do also, but I agree with the writer that Tochett is probably the wrong way to go. Brier went with someone he knows. 

I like our Sabres situation more than the Flyers situation. If this is Ruff's last season I sure hope we reach out to a Carbury type rather than a Tochett type of coach. But, Brindamour is an inside guy, and has his team playing super great. 

[Archie Lee]

1 hour ago, bob_sauve28 said:

Very interesting article! 

I just finished reading an article about the Caps season and how they surprised so many people--themselves included--by doing so well. The Caps did it with a coach who was not an inside guy at all, Spencer Carbury. He seems like a great coach and he sure got great results. Tocchet is one of the Orange Boys for sure. Reminds me of the Sabres going with Ruff, in a way. 

What the article above takes umbrage with is the timeline on winning. Brier and Jones want to win now but the author thinks the Flyers are years away from competing seriously. The Flyers, like many teams, don't have a good goalie. The Caps found two good goalies somehow so maybe they Flyers do also, but I agree with the writer that Tochett is probably the wrong way to go. Brier went with someone he knows. 

I like our Sabres situation more than the Flyers situation. If this is Ruff's last season I sure hope we reach out to a Carbury type rather than a Tochett type of coach. But, Brindamour is an inside guy, and has his team playing super great. 

Mitch Love, Todd Nelson, Glen Gulutzan, Marco Sturm.  This shouldn’t be complicated. There are no guarantees. We are not bringing Jim Nill and Peter DeBoer over from Dallas. When Adams and Ruff are gone (and they will be gone barring an unlikely 89 point WC2 finish that gets them multi-year extensions), the Sabres will be moving on to a new unproven GM. Every day that the Sabres don’t try to find their  Nill, Cheveldayoff, Brind’Amour, or Carbery, is just a day wasted by putting off the inevitable. Adams is not going to be the first GM in NHL history to finally figure it out after 5 seasons of missing the playoffs with one team. 

[DarthEbriate]

6 minutes ago, Archie Lee said:

Mitch Love, Todd Nelson, Glen Gulutzan, Marco Sturm.  This shouldn’t be complicated. There are no guarantees. We are not bringing Jim Nill and Peter DeBoer over from Dallas. When Adams and Ruff are gone (and they will be gone barring an unlikely 89 point WC2 finish that gets them multi-year extensions), the Sabres will be moving on to a new unproven GM. Every day that the Sabres don’t try to find their  Nill, Cheveldayoff, Brind’Amour, or Carbery, is just a day wasted by putting off the inevitable. Adams is not going to be the first GM in NHL history to finally figure it out after 5 seasons of missing the playoffs with one team. 

How about after 7 seasons?

The important thing to note is that if somehow Sheevyn returns next season as GM, then Appert is the coach. After a very thorough search and interview process.

[PerreaultForever]

9 hours ago, \GoBillsInDallas/ said:

Ouch:

https://www.news-gazette.com/marcus-hayes-chronically-nepotistic-flyers-hire-rick-tocchet-to-join-alumni-danny-bri-re-and/article_a49137dd-77dd-5091-b5c1-e1747cd5e3ea.html

 

There's a constant critique in Philly land over there being an "old boys club" and all this sort of thing. I'd suggest there is always a disagreement with fans over driving a team's culture forward and giving meaning to the crest vs. stuck in hiring their own in a nepotism sort of way. You know, Bruins give Chara a job. Neely is president. Flyers hire Jones and Briere and now Tocchet. Clarke and Holmgren are still in the structure. So is this good or bad? idk, but I do know that hiring Ruff here seemed right and maybe Sabres haven't had enough of this sort of thing and thus have little to no pride in the jersey. 

It's a forever argument I think, but in Buffalo's case I'd be happier if our senior advisor was Rick Dudley or if Pat LaFontaine was still here all along and I am sure if people like that were, this would have all gone different. 

maybe he is lying, but Briere has said he's already gotten calls from agents suggesting there are free agents interested in playing for Tocchet. Maybe that's a thing to consider to. We shall see how it goes, but I wanted Tocchet hired by the Sabres when Vancouver hired him. 

[HumanSlinky39]

7 hours ago, bob_sauve28 said:

Very interesting article! 

I just finished reading an article about the Caps season and how they surprised so many people--themselves included--by doing so well. The Caps did it with a coach who was not an inside guy at all, Spencer Carbury. He seems like a great coach and he sure got great results. Tocchet is one of the Orange Boys for sure. Reminds me of the Sabres going with Ruff, in a way. 

What the article above takes umbrage with is the timeline on winning. Brier and Jones want to win now but the author thinks the Flyers are years away from competing seriously. The Flyers, like many teams, don't have a good goalie. The Caps found two good goalies somehow so maybe they Flyers do also, but I agree with the writer that Tochett is probably the wrong way to go. Brier went with someone he knows. 

I like our Sabres situation more than the Flyers situation. If this is Ruff's last season I sure hope we reach out to a Carbury type rather than a Tochett type of coach. But, Brindamour is an inside guy, and has his team playing super great. 

The Flyers roster is BARREN aside from Michkov and Konecny. And they haven't been bad enough to draft really high, so the guys in their system are still question marks. I would take our roster over theirs up-and-down without giving it a second thought. 

Edited May 16 by HumanSlinky39

[PerreaultForever]

On 5/16/2025 at 1:27 PM, HumanSlinky39 said:

The Flyers roster is BARREN aside from Michkov and Konecny. And they haven't been bad enough to draft really high, so the guys in their system are still question marks. I would take our roster over theirs up-and-down without giving it a second thought. 

On paper yes, and they have a huge goaltending hole but the comparison still holds until one of the two make the playoffs. Completely antithetical rebuild plans. neither has worked yet. The verdict remains to be seen on which plan is best. 

[Andrew Amerk]

How many former Sabres are in GM, President, Head Coach, or Assistant Coach positions in the NHL?

[HumanSlinky39]

23 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

On paper yes, and they have a huge goaltending hole but the comparison still holds until one of the two make the playoffs. Completely antithetical rebuild plans. neither has worked yet. The verdict remains to be seen on which plan is best. 

Fair, but I'd say just on talent alone, the Sabres have a leg up on them. We have quite a few young guys who have been productive in the NHL, they're just not a cohesive unit. There's plenty to work with here to reshape the roster to make it fit together better. Not sure I can say that about the Flyers.

Edited Wednesday at 08:24 PM by HumanSlinky39

[PerreaultForever]

1 hour ago, HumanSlinky39 said:

Fair, but I'd say just on talent alone, the Sabres have a leg up on them. We have quite a few young guys who have been productive in the NHL, they're just not a cohesive unit. There's plenty to work with here to reshape the roster to make it fit together better. Not sure I can say that about the Flyers.

Well from a purely objective point of view this is what fascinates me about it and why I pay a little attention to them to see what happens. Ideally I think both teams need a little of what the other has/does and a mix is the way to go but we have one extreme and they have the other. So far neither has worked. I'm still interested to see if one "wins" over the other. 

[Thorny]

The sabres place in the standings was reflective of their overall roster, all 3 main positions

Reflective of the talent, I mean.

I still don’t think people are grasping the fact that final standings position is by far the greatest and most accurate commentary on the overall talent makeup of a roster, when we are talking about a free flowing end to end game where your best skater plays 25% of it, and all your players have to play both ways 

You are going more and more off track in your analysis the more you shrink the key changes variables needed, the more you hypothetically shrink down the “causes” of why we are bad to as small a territory as possible 

Edited yesterday at 12:48 AM by Thorny

[Brawndo]

Mike Peca announced as a Assistant Coach for Chicago Blackhawks 

[dudacek]

4 hours ago, Brawndo said:

Mike Peca announced as a Assistant Coach for Chicago Blackhawks 

Five weeks since the Sabres season ended.

• Rangers let Housley go April 19
• Flyers let 2 assistants go April 23
• Devils let two assistants go May 9
• Ducks dropped two assistants (including Tage's dad) May 10

Three of those teams also named new head coaches.

I'm not sure what's normal with new assistants, but if the Sabres aren't planning to bring the band back again, one would think they would have made a move by now.

Edited 4 hours ago by dudacek

[DarthEbriate]

4 hours ago, Brawndo said:

Mike Peca announced as a Assistant Coach for Chicago Blackhawks 

Where would you rather work?

New hire Jeff Blashill who is getting his 2nd HC stint after serving as an assistant with Tampa for multiple seasons. GM Davidson who blew up the last remnants of the old guard and is now in the very beginning of a rebuild around: Connor Bedard and #3 OA inbound this season.

OR

Lame duck Lindy Ruff who is (retiring? moving upstairs?) next season, with next HC Appert all but appointed already by Emperor GM-for-Life Sheevyn who is in year 5 of a 10-year rebuild around Owen Power, and established stars in Dahlin and TNT who should be demanding trades beginning next summer.

[LGR4GM]

49 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Five weeks since the Sabres season ended.

• Rangers let Housley go April 19
• Flyers let 2 assistants go April 23
• Devils let two assistants go May 9
• Ducks dropped two assistants (including Tage's dad) May 10

Three of those teams also named new head coaches.

I'm not sure what's normal with new assistants, but if the Sabres aren't planning to bring the band back again, one would thing they would have made a move by now.

The Sabres are bringing back all their coaches. 

[Weave]

34 minutes ago, DarthEbriate said:

Where would you rather work?

New hire Jeff Blashill who is getting his 2nd HC stint after serving as an assistant with Tampa for multiple seasons. GM Davidson who blew up the last remnants of the old guard and is now in the very beginning of a rebuild around: Connor Bedard and #3 OA inbound this season.

OR

Lame duck Lindy Ruff who is (retiring? moving upstairs?) next season, with next HC Appert all but appointed already by Emperor GM-for-Life Sheevyn who is in year 5 of a 10-year rebuild around Owen Power, and established stars in Dahlin and TNT who should be demanding trades beginning next summer.

Why does it have to hurt so much?

[thewookie1]

16 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

The Sabres are bringing back all their coaches. 

Certainly feels like they want to have the first unattended game in NHL history without a CoVid excuse

[Thorny]