Seravalli: Real hard to picture JJ Peterka in a Sabres uniform this fall

[GASabresIUFAN]

Click bait.

[PromoTheRobot]

8 hours ago, klos1963 said:

Pegula needs to sell it. That would be the best PR for the team with potential free agent signings. 

I hear Atlanta is looking for a team.

10 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Click bait.

Didn't Severelli report JJ would be gone at the deadline?

[LGR4GM]

19 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

I hear Atlanta is looking for a team.

Didn't Severelli report JJ would be gone at the deadline?

Lol, I love it when ppl fear monger. The NHL isn't interested in relocating, they want expansion fees. 

[JohnC]

9 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

I hear Atlanta is looking for a team.

 

https://www.espn.com/nhl/news/story?id=6087856

When Golosano sold the team to Pegula there was a clause that stated that if the new owner wanted to later sell the franchise, he couldn't sell it to anyone who would move the franchise. Is that clause enforceable or can it be worked around? I'm not sure. But even if he wanted to sell the franchise to someone who wanted to move it, it would from a PR stance be awkward for him because he's invested locally in the community with the Bills and Bandits. 

The best thing that TP could do for this franchise and fanbase is to sell the team and walk away with a tidy profit. Since he bought the team, a generation ago, he has manifestly proven that he is inept and incapable of learning from his mistakes. I'm tired of his foolishness in the hockey business. He may be exceptionally talented in the oil and gas business but in the hockey business he's proven to be an incurable failure. I'm tired of his foolishness. 

 

[LGR4GM]

It's kinda amazing that Adams, with literally nothing to show for his tenure, is being retained after his team got worse. The fact Peterka wants out is like a cherry on top to go with "we're bringing back all the coaches" Sunday. 

[JohnC]

2 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

It's kinda amazing that Adams, with literally nothing to show for his tenure, is being retained after his team got worse. The fact Peterka wants out is like a cherry on top to go with "we're bringing back all the coaches" Sunday. 

The quality of ownership varies in the NHL. However, I can't think of one owner, individual or corporate ownership, that would have retained KA after half a decade of wretched performance. Terry Pegula is in a class of his own. It's embarrassing.  

[GASabresIUFAN]

55 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

I hear Atlanta is looking for a team.

Didn't Severelli report JJ would be gone at the deadline?

Yep

[JustOneParade]

Let me see if I have this right. FA's have no interest in the Sabres (unless they're grossly overpaid or have no better options). Any player with A NMC/NTC has the Sabres on their list. And now rumblings about players that are on the roster might want out in any way possible. This roster is going to be upgraded how, exactly?

NHL players and agents know exactly what's going on in this organization ... quite likely more so than we do. What an absolute mess.

[WhenWillItEnd66]

No way we are giving up JJ. Give up a 30 goal scorer under contract. If he was miserable and still put up almost 30, imagine if this team does the right thing and gets the pieces we need to make the playoffs!! 

[LGR4GM]

9 minutes ago, JustOneParade said:

Let me see if I have this right. FA's have no interest in the Sabres (unless they're grossly overpaid or have no better options). Any player with A NMC/NTC has the Sabres on their list. And now rumblings about players that are on the roster might want out in any way possible. This roster is going to be upgraded how, exactly?

NHL players and agents know exactly what's going on in this organization ... quite likely more so than we do. What an absolute mess.

You believe that every nmc has Buffalo and every nhl player hates it here. That's some great work by Adams convincing ppl he's bad because of others. Zucker literally talked about how Buffalo doesn't have as negative of a connotation as fans think. 

Further only like 1/3 of players have nmc so there's options. Or did Byram, Norris, Zucker, Greenway, all just have their car break down so they had to stay. 

4 minutes ago, WhenWillItEnd66 said:

No way we are giving up JJ. Give up a 30 goal scorer under contract. If he was miserable and still put up almost 30, imagine if this team does the right thing and gets the pieces we need to make the playoffs!! 

He's not under contract. 

[shrader]

19 hours ago, mjd1001 said:

On one hand, this guy is almost a 30 goal scorer already, a couple years in a row.

On the other hand, if there is significant interest, trade him and work a deal, or wait, for equal value back.

I personally thought (and mentioned on here several times over the season) that his overall game slipped. He was apparent as one of the guys who was a liability in the back to zones (next to Quinn and Cozens, I thought the worst offender of this.)  Is a bad 2-way player, or was his head and heart not into it? Not sure.  

But, if you get offered a great deal, take it. If he is given an offer sheet, take the compensation (if its a high offer sheet) or match it and then trade him for the best offer.  Either way, the team has options here.

I get the feeling Peterka wants to be a in big city/big market (just a feeling).  I could imagine quite the buzz in Chicago if they offer sheet or trade for Peterka AND sign Marner.

 

Chicago is a bottom 3 team in the league and next year's draft has a mega-prospect in McKenna.  The blackhawks are not risking that high percentage lottery ticket for JJ Peterka.

[CallawaySabres]

It's going to be hard to imagine this team worse than this past year, but they most certainly will be without Peterka and Byrum. It will never end with this circus. If there was a guarantee that the worst record would get the #1 pick, I would say blow it up again, but you know they will drop to #4 in the order.

We just have to hope the Bills finally do it this year to serve as a distraction to this mess...

[Believer]

19 hours ago, Mustache of God said:

How many Peyton Krebs can we turn 1 JJ Peterka into?

At least Krebs gives an honest effort every shift.

[dudacek]

i understand the knee-jerk reaction of "we can't trade more good players away," I just don't agree.

Look, I don't dislike JJ; I think he's a talented kid and may have another gear. I don't want to trade him, but I do want to get better.

And I think he's almost an avatar for the roster as a whole right now: highly-skilled, but too young, too offence-first, and not willing enough to consistently pay the price.

Byram's kinda the same.

I think @inkman is on the right track here: this should be viewed as opportunity to change the identity of the team, switch out some of what the Sabres have too much of and replace it with elements they are lacking.

You're not going to fix the team by moves on the margins: you have to give to get.

Peterka can net a real hockey player. Byram can net a real hockey player. Pick number 9 could do the same.

It's too bad we've lost all faith in management's ability to identify those players and acquire them.

 

Edited Wednesday at 03:13 PM by dudacek

[Gatorman0519]

10 hours ago, klos1963 said:

Pegula needs to sell it. That would be the best PR for the team with potential free agent signings. 

Absolutely. It’s a dead franchise. A permanent 80-85 point team for the foreseeable future. First we became a no go for free agents. Now we are hemorrhaging our developed draft picks. Saddest thing I’ve ever seen in sports. What an unprecedented demise of a once beloved franchise. 

[WhenWillItEnd66]

1 hour ago, LGR4GM said:

He's not under contract. 

But we control his rights for the next couple of years. He is not a UFA

[Mango]

3 hours ago, Archie Lee said:

The Sabres can win without Peterka. To state the obvious, there are 16 teams in the playoffs who did not have Peterka in their line-up. I actually could easily see the Sabres being a better team this year if they replaced Peterka and Byram with a couple of lesser talented veterans, like Bryan Rust and Cody Ceci (along with a couple of other changes, like slight upgrades on Lafferty, Clifton, Bryson, and Reimer). I think we would also need to upgrade at Head Coach to someone who truly does bring structure and accountability and does more than talk the big talk, but that’s another topic. 

The real story here though, assuming it’s true (and maybe it isn’t), is that Peterka wants out. The entire plot of the Adams GM tenure, starting with the Krueger firing, was a rebuild of talent and culture around those who want to be here. And 4 years later, with nothing to show for it, we saw video of first Adams decrying how unfair it is to expect any success given all that is stacked up against him, and then video a few months later of Ruff lamenting the bad culture. And now a young star wants out BEFORE his 2nd contract. Why is Adams still the GM?

The scare is that this is the first domino to fall. We can convince ourselves/write off the idea that Byram wants out is also the Sabres not keeping him so it is mutual. But Peterka was supposed to be a long time Sabre. Part of the solution. And it turned out that he was a pretty good forward. 

So if Peterka asks to leave at the end of his contract, who else? Tuch?  Thompson? Dahlin? 

It could get really messy. 

[JP51]

1 hour ago, WhenWillItEnd66 said:

No way we are giving up JJ. Give up a 30 goal scorer under contract. If he was miserable and still put up almost 30, imagine if this team does the right thing and gets the pieces we need to make the playoffs!! 

Kinda like a relationship break up...  I am breaking up with you! ... No you arent... uhm yes I am... well I am not allowing it you are still my girlfriend... you cant leave... reallly.... watch me... 

[WhenWillItEnd66]

2 minutes ago, Mango said:

The scare is that this is the first domino to fall. We can convince ourselves/write off the idea that Byram wants out is also the Sabres not keeping him so it is mutual. But Peterka was supposed to be a long time Sabre. Part of the solution. And it turned out that he was a pretty good forward. 

So if Peterka asks to leave at the end of his contract, who else? Tuch?  Thompson? Dahlin? 

It could get really messy. 

100% agree....But, one thing. Actually winning, will fix everything. Fix the problems and win. Make the playoffs not as the bottom seed and i bet the narrative changes. 

[Pimlach]

18 hours ago, Thorny said:

This needs to be posted, I’m sorry 

I think it’s fair to say the bolded happened 

You called it and so did I.   The cycle is repeating unless someone gets here and stops it.   

The GM neglected his very promising young Core of 2021 (Dahlin, Power, Thompson, Cozens, Quinn, Peterka, Muel).  This young group could not carry the team beyond 91 points without better defensive structure (includes all 5 players on the ice) and better goaltending.   A  balanced roster needs a more mature and more physical presence.  And of course legitimate NHL level coaching, which they did not get from Granato and his group.  

Unfortunately Cozens, Power, Quinn and Mule all regressed under the higher expectations that Ruff had.  Lindy's best accomplishment last year was exposing how limited the current plan is and that it needs to be changed.   Hoping that Pegula listens to Ruff, and that Ruff does not protect Adams.  

Adams is forever fumbling with the 4th line and the 5/6/7 defense while trying to insert kids like Benson (put out there in place of Quinn in top 6 at only 18 years old) and Kulich (plays center on top line after playing wing in Rochester) to fix their big holes.  These two kids did ok, but these moves (or non-moves)  reinforce that the FO is trapped into a continuous development mode of operation and cannot take the next step.  

And for some crazy reason Ownership clearly shows a tangible lack of commitment, they still do not spend to the cap, they refuse to replace  any people (i.e. coaches) that are on contract so they hang on to them no matter their performance, they are still operating under the EEE Covid standards.  Adams loses all credibility when he says otherwise but he is always there to defend the boss.  

You can be a fairly young team and have a strong regular season and make the playoffs (see Montreal, Ottawa and even Carolina) but you need good goaltending, sound defensive structure, and good coaching.  Veteran teams and certain veteran players take over in the playoffs, especially when the refs put their whistles away.  

Edited Wednesday at 06:50 PM by Pimlach

[GASabresIUFAN]

There are 4 “core” type players who should be moved this summer and JJP isn’t one of them. 

You don’t trade away your best young offensive talent.  

The players they need to move our guys who aren’t living up to their contracts or our surplus talent.  Those four guys are Power (or Byram), Samuelsson, UPL and maybe Quinn.  That’s it. The truth is the odds favor trading Byram and maybe Quinn.  

All the stories about JJP hating it here, Dahlin yelling him, JJP can’t play two way etc are all just noise and the odds JJP is getting trading are about 5% or less. Seriously who are you replacing him with if traded for D help? Quinn? Rosen? Benson? Kulich? If not them, then you’d have to bring in someone else without an NTC/NMC.  Good luck finding someone without trade protection with JJP’s production.  

Edited Wednesday at 03:52 PM by GASabresIUFAN

[Flashsabre]

Was it on this board or another that someone said JJ was Terry’s favourite player right now? I can imagine that is going over well. 
 

Kevyn: “Terry if we only had a palm tree JJ would be all in. Those trees are killing us.”

[inkman]

2 hours ago, PromoTheRobot said:

I hear Atlanta is looking for a team.

Didn't Severelli report JJ would be gone at the deadline?

Yeah now he’s sourcing himself as the origin of the rumor.  Probably.  

[Palm Trees And Taxes]

Personally, if the right GM was brought into this organization RIGHT NOW, Tage, Dahlin and probably Tuch aside, I would not be afraid to trade anyone on this roster.

We have the flexibility and pieces that a sharp GM would SALIVATE over to take this team to the next level. And any good GM that comes here knows, they can't go anywhere but up.

But Pegula has some strange fascination with Adams, so it won't get any better.

[JustOneParade]

1 hour ago, LGR4GM said:

You believe that every nmc has Buffalo and every nhl player hates it here. That's some great work by Adams convincing ppl he's bad because of others. Zucker literally talked about how Buffalo doesn't have as negative of a connotation as fans think. 

Further only like 1/3 of players have nmc so there's options. Or did Byram, Norris, Zucker, Greenway, all just have their car break down so they had to stay. 

He's not under contract. 

I believe that more than anything players want to win. It hasn't happened in the past 14 years and the near-term prospects of that changing aren't very good. So for that reason I do believe that the Sabres are, with maybe an exception or two, on all NMC/NTC's. And yes, to be clear that falls squarely on Adams' (and his boss') shoulders. No idea what Zucker said but curious if he was referring to the city, the hockey organization, or the team specifically. Will try to find it.