Sabres have elected arbitration with Byram

[Taro T]

2 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

You keep changing the topic. First it was "he's not addressing goaltending now." Now it's "he didn't the past 5 years" which is also not true.

He did commit to UPL but he also traded for Devon Levi. He's drafted goalies every year. (Leinonen, Ratzlaff, Leenders, Meloche, Prokhorov) So to say Adams is doing nothing is demonstrably false. You may not like it or agree with what he's doing but that's a different argument.

And this year in particular, the Sabres are beefing up their defense which should help the goaltending out considerably. 

Over and over people talk about addressing goaltending in the abstract. Gotta get that magical guy who'll be awesome! Who that is is rarely identified or is a player who's team would never trade away. (Even an offer they can't refuse, which no one ever articulates what that is.)

 

No, do not address goaltending in the abstract.  Address goaltending in the NOW.  And btw, by not addressing it once in 5 years, he STILL isn't addressing it NOW.  The set of years that covers the last 5 also includes now.

He has not done addressed goaltending in the now one single solitary time.  Not with anything more than a HOPE that it MIGHT work.  Well, he brought it Comrie - a career backup.  Well, he brought in Anderson - a 40 year old.  Well, he brought in Reimer - at this point, a career backup.  Well, he brought in Lyon - a career backup who's high point is a platooned starter.  Notice a trend here, perhaps?  He literally brought the guy that played way above his typical level and kept the Sabres out of the playoffs in '23 to keep them out of the playoffs again in '26.

He has set the Sabres to have a strong possibility of having good goaltending somewhere 3-5 years from now.  IF he's really lucky, they'll have good goaltending next season.  But if they miss the playoffs again this year and next waiting for that 3 year down the road goaltending savior to show up; guess what, they lose Dahlin and Tuch and Thompson.  They'd be in a better spot than they were in '15 or in '18, or in '21 when they retooled as they've got a legit farm club this time and those players would likely bring something back in return; but you're looking at a playoffless drought at that time that ends up dwarfing the Bills playoffless drought.

Would love to see Levi dominate this year.  Having watched him some down the stretch, am not expecting that yet.  So, realistically, we're looking at UPL and Lyon as the tandem.  That looks like a top 24 pairing.  Yes, they could catch lightning in a bottle and be a top 12 tandem; and then the Sabres have a shot at the playoffs.  But for crying out loud, how about JUST ONE ####ING TIME in FIVE ####ing YEARS start the year with a tandem that is EXPECTED to be TOP 12.  JUST ONE ####ING TIME.

At some point, don't you get tired of them being below average for almost an entire decade and a half?

Like Morissey asked:

 

 

[LGR4GM]

26 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

You keep changing the topic. First it was "he's not addressing goaltending now." Now it's "he didn't the past 5 years" which is also not true.

He did commit to UPL but he also traded for Devon Levi. He's drafted goalies every year. (Leinonen, Ratzlaff, Leenders, Meloche, Prokhorov) So to say Adams is doing nothing is demonstrably false. You may not like it or agree with what he's doing but that's a different argument.

And this year in particular, the Sabres are beefing up their defense which should help the goaltending out considerably. 

Over and over people talk about addressing goaltending in the abstract. Gotta get that magical guy who'll be awesome! Who that is is rarely identified or is a player who's team would never trade away. (Even an offer they can't refuse, which no one ever articulates what that is.)

 

He literally didn't draft a goalie every year, I just covered that. 

[Scottysabres]

I think Bo is going to Edmonton. Just a hunch.

[PromoTheRobot]

12 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

He literally didn't draft a goalie every year, I just covered that. 

You're right. 2020 and 2021, no goalies. But one in '22, one in '23, one in '24 and two in '25.

[sabresouth]

4 hours ago, inkman said:

Eh it all depends on goaltending.  If they get some quality play, they will get a sniff of the playoffs. 

Which is sad at this point. ka has had YEARS to fix the most glaring problem. 

[LGR4GM]

3 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

He has, just not professionally. The Sabres went from basically never draft goaltenders (2020 and 2021) to taking 5 goalies in the next 4 drafts including using a 2nd round pick on one. Of course... that won't matter for another 3-5 years so your point stands. I just wanted to mention all the goalies we drafted. 

 

12 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

You're right. 2020 and 2021, no goalies. But one in '22, one in '23, one in '24 and two in '25.

Yup. And only 1 with a valuable pick. 

[sabresouth]

1 hour ago, PromoTheRobot said:

You named one goalie who didn't leave Vancouver. What exactly is an offer the Canucks can't refuse? 

It's easy to come to with hypotheticals. It's another to make them happen. If you didn't like Gibson, then Adams got the next best free agent goalie available. In other words, he addressed the need. You may not like it, but he addressed it. 

This isn't ka's first season to try and land a goalie. He has had YEARS to fix this. ka is a clown show.

[LTS]

54 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

You keep changing the topic. First it was "he's not addressing goaltending now." Now it's "he didn't the past 5 years" which is also not true.

He did commit to UPL but he also traded for Devon Levi. He's drafted goalies every year. (Leinonen, Ratzlaff, Leenders, Meloche, Prokhorov) So to say Adams is doing nothing is demonstrably false. You may not like it or agree with what he's doing but that's a different argument.

And this year in particular, the Sabres are beefing up their defense which should help the goaltending out considerably. 

Over and over people talk about addressing goaltending in the abstract. Gotta get that magical guy who'll be awesome! Who that is is rarely identified or is a player who's team would never trade away. (Even an offer they can't refuse, which no one ever articulates what that is.)

 

The assumptive is that Adams is not doing anything of substance.  He's doing "something" it's just completely ineffective at solving the problem.

 

[sabresouth]

4 minutes ago, LTS said:

The assumptive is that Adams is not doing anything of substance.  He's doing "something" it's just completely ineffective at solving the problem.

 

ka just aims way to low

[PromoTheRobot]

11 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

 

Yup. And only 1 with a valuable pick. 

Leinonen with a 2nd. But with goalies it's so hit or miss, a 5 or a 6 has as much of a chance.

[JohnC]

9 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Leinonen with a 2nd. But with goalies it's so hit or miss, a 5 or a 6 has as much of a chance.

We had Ullmark on our team and fumbled it away. Although Jack isn't a goalie, we had him and for a variety of reasons fumbled again. We had Reinhart in the system and the ability to extend him and didn't. He subsequently said I'm out of here. I'm aware that the focus is on the goalie position but the circumscribing problem is organizational ineptitude. There's a recognition from even within the system (exhibited by players who want to get out and do get out) that this franchise does not handle its basic business in a competent way. The accumulation of its own missteps has plagued this troubled franchise. 

Ask yourself, would this franchise be in a better place with Ullmark caliber of goaltending? When you kneecap yourself you will end up limping your way through a race. What makes this situation so ridiculous is that it has been going on for so long. 

[LGR4GM]

29 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Leinonen with a 2nd. But with goalies it's so hit or miss, a 5 or a 6 has as much of a chance.

Yea... could have had Cossa but nope... Rosen. 

[PerreaultForever]

5 hours ago, inkman said:

Eh it all depends on goaltending.  If they get some quality play, they will get a sniff of the playoffs. 

I do not believe that is true. Too many teams around them got better and they just shuffled out a little offense for a little defense and switched fringe goalies. 

Consider for example that Detroit traded for Gibson because Lyons wasn't getting it done and now we think signing him is going to get us in the playoffs? Stop dreaming. 

4 hours ago, JohnC said:

As @inkman states, if the Sabres get consistent solid goaltending the team will be in the mix as a fringe playoff team. Pegula’s motto is strive for mediocrity. He has embraced the loser’s ethos of the less you expect—-the less you will be disappointed. 

As I said, Detroit ditched Lyons and now we think he will get us in the playoffs? Seriously?

[JohnC]

1 minute ago, PerreaultForever said:

I do not believe that is true. Too many teams around them got better and they just shuffled out a little offense for a little defense and switched fringe goalies. 

Consider for example that Detroit traded for Gibson because Lyons wasn't getting it done and now we think signing him is going to get us in the playoffs? Stop dreaming. 

As I said, Detroit ditched Lyons and now we think he will get us in the playoffs? Seriously?

Stop distorting what has been said. I'm certainly not make a declaration that our current goalie staffing is adequate or not. I don't know. That's the unknown. What I and others have said is if we get consistent goaltending we should be in a position to compete for a lower playoff spot. If you disagree, that's fine. 

[Taro T]

9 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

I do not believe that is true. Too many teams around them got better and they just shuffled out a little offense for a little defense and switched fringe goalies. 

Consider for example that Detroit traded for Gibson because Lyons wasn't getting it done and now we think signing him is going to get us in the playoffs? Stop dreaming. 

As I said, Detroit ditched Lyons and now we think he will get us in the playoffs? Seriously?

But, it worked for the Swamp Cats.  Having Alex as the backup HAS to be a plan.

[dudacek]

1 hour ago, PerreaultForever said:

I do not believe that is true. Too many teams around them got better and they just shuffled out a little offense for a little defense and switched fringe goalies. 

Consider for example that Detroit traded for Gibson because Lyons wasn't getting it done and now we think signing him is going to get us in the playoffs? Stop dreaming. 

As I said, Detroit ditched Lyons and now we think he will get us in the playoffs? Seriously?

Not seeing that myself, other than Montreal.

Other than that, this was the summer of shuffling deck chairs.

[LGR4GM]

1 hour ago, PerreaultForever said:

I do not believe that is true. Too many teams around them got better and they just shuffled out a little offense for a little defense and switched fringe goalies. 

Consider for example that Detroit traded for Gibson because Lyons wasn't getting it done and now we think signing him is going to get us in the playoffs? Stop dreaming. 

As I said, Detroit ditched Lyons and now we think he will get us in the playoffs? Seriously?

Yzerman isn't exactly doing great in Detroit so...

But no, I don't think Lyon alone gets us to the playoffs. Upl will start too many games. 

[PromoTheRobot]

2 hours ago, JohnC said:

We had Ullmark on our team and fumbled it away. Although Jack isn't a goalie, we had him and for a variety of reasons fumbled again. We had Reinhart in the system and the ability to extend him and didn't. He subsequently said I'm out of here. I'm aware that the focus is on the goalie position but the circumscribing problem is organizational ineptitude. There's a recognition from even within the system (exhibited by players who want to get out and do get out) that this franchise does not handle its basic business in a competent way. The accumulation of its own missteps has plagued this troubled franchise. 

Ask yourself, would this franchise be in a better place with Ullmark caliber of goaltending? When you kneecap yourself you will end up limping your way through a race. What makes this situation so ridiculous is that it has been going on for so long. 

Funny, I clearly recall folks right here saying Ullmark wasn't good enough as a Sabre. Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

[PerreaultForever]

2 hours ago, JohnC said:

Stop distorting what has been said. I'm certainly not make a declaration that our current goalie staffing is adequate or not. I don't know. That's the unknown. What I and others have said is if we get consistent goaltending we should be in a position to compete for a lower playoff spot. If you disagree, that's fine. 

That's delusional though. There's nothing to indicate goaltending will be better and the team isn't better and yet teams around it are better. It's just that simple. KA is the worst GM in the league. 

1 hour ago, Taro T said:

But, it worked for the Swamp Cats.  Having Alex as the backup HAS to be a plan.

I think I could play goal for the swamp cats the way they play D. 

[PerreaultForever]

20 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Not seeing that myself, other than Montreal.

Other than that, this was the summer of shuffling deck chairs.

Montreal definitely better. Columbus is better. Detroit slightly better and Boston and Philly and NYR better. Do not think Boston or Detroit or Philly did enough to get in but those will be harder opponents. Who is dropping out to get Sabres in??? 

[PerreaultForever]

14 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Funny, I clearly recall folks right here saying Ullmark wasn't good enough as a Sabre. Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

I remember there was a game against Dallas and we won 1-0 with Ullmark and it was all Ullmark and at that moment I thought damn, Ullmark might actually be really good. And then we let him walk. 

[Dr. Who]

43 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Not seeing that myself, other than Montreal.

Other than that, this was the summer of shuffling deck chairs.

Yep, but ours are on the Titanic.

[gilbert11]

On 7/6/2025 at 3:03 PM, dudacek said:

This gives the Sabres assurance they will have Byram under contract by mid-August, protects them from an offer sheet, and still means they can trade him if they wish.

It also means they aren’t close to a contract or a trade, and probably arenkt expecting Byram to sign with them for term.

I’d rather trade Power and his contract and keep Byram.

[LGR4GM]

@PerreaultForever you think Yzerman is going great in Detroit?

[JohnC]

8 hours ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Funny, I clearly recall folks right here saying Ullmark wasn't good enough as a Sabre. Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

The standard argument you make about “some people said” is weak and does’t come close to reflecting what really happened. There is never unanimity on any one player or issue. The prevailing view was that he was a credible (not elite) #1 goalie. What’s so demoralizing is that he started in our system, developed in our system only to mishandle his contract negotiations resulting in his departure with no compensation.. This was another self-inflicted setback a la  the Reinhardt contract scenario. 
 

It’s apparent to most that this backwater franchise is not very adept at handling basic hockey business. If you don’t believe me  just check it’s record over the past generation. Freaking stupid!