Is this Lindy’s team now?

[SHAAAUGHT!!!]

Lindy seems excited about this year, the players he has, and the shape they came to camp in.  

[Weave]

1 minute ago, SHAAAUGHT!!! said:

Lindy seems excited about this year, the players he has, and the shape they came to camp in.  

He also seemed like he needed a nap.

 

Thats an unfair cheapshot.  But snark is all I have left to give.

[bob_sauve28]

15 minutes ago, Weave said:

He also seemed like he needed a nap.

 

Thats an unfair cheapshot.  But snark is all I have left to give.

He said he was up at 5 am ready to go yesterday, so maybe he deserves a nap 

[LGR4GM]

I don't understand the OP question. Geertsen seem to be the player Lindy brought in. Danforth was Kekalainen. Norris might have been a Lindy target. Lyon, was available so there's that. 

Kesselring and Doan is harder to pinpoint but seems like a joint decision. I get the impression that at some point there was some conversation with Dahlin on Peterka and his freelancing. I have no proof though. 

I'm sure Lindy talked about traits he wants but I think they all did. 

[SHAAAUGHT!!!]

20 minutes ago, Weave said:

He also seemed like he needed a nap.

 

Thats an unfair cheapshot.  But snark is all I have left to give.

We all need a nap sometimes 😄

Unless you live above your favorite bar and have a dedicated stool in front of a magic touch machine…and a bunch of meth 

[SHAAAUGHT!!!]

Just now, LGR4GM said:

I don't understand the OP question. Geertsen seem to be the player Lindy brought in. Danforth was Kekalainen. Norris might have been a Lindy target. Lyon, was available so there's that. 

Kesselring and Doan is harder to pinpoint but seems like a joint decision. I get the impression that at some point there was some conversation with Dahlin on Peterka and his freelancing. I have no proof though. 

I'm sure Lindy talked about traits he wants but I think they all did. 

I don’t think a lot of these guys you mentioned are players KA would typically have signed.  I also don’t think KA would have traded away Cozens or JJ either.  I think he would have thrown a bunch of money at JJ and begged him to stay.

But I’m curious what everyone else thinks.

[LGR4GM]

15 minutes ago, SHAAAUGHT!!! said:

I don’t think a lot of these guys you mentioned are players KA would typically have signed.  I also don’t think KA would have traded away Cozens or JJ either.  I think he would have thrown a bunch of money at JJ and begged him to stay.

But I’m curious what everyone else thinks.

I think it took Ruff with Adams talking to Pegula, to get Cozens off the team. I certainly think Ruff has influence on Terry, that much seems obvious. 

[dudacek]

46 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

I get the impression that at some point there was some conversation with Dahlin on Peterka and his freelancing. I have no proof though. 

Tage didn’t throw JJ under the bus at all, but it was pretty clear he thinks Doan and Kesselring are better teammates.

I think Lindy definitely influenced the changes. 

That’s different than orchestrated them.

[French Collection]

Just now, dudacek said:

Tage didn’t throw JJ under the bus at all, but it was pretty clear he thinks Doan and Kesselring are better teammates.

I think Lindy definitely influenced the changes. 

That’s different than orchestrated them.

TNT may have been a sounding board because of his knowledge of Kesselring and Doan.

[French Collection]

No core pieces have been added so this is still KA’s dream of draft and develop guys who want to be in Buffalo. He has run back the same group with some changes around the edges. One more year of experience will get it done this time, in his opinion.

[LGR4GM]

13 minutes ago, French Collection said:

No core pieces have been added so this is still KA’s dream of draft and develop guys who want to be in Buffalo. He has run back the same group with some changes around the edges. One more year of experience will get it done this time, in his opinion.

That's not true. Norris is a top 6 forward. Kesselring is a top 4 defender. He added 2 core pieces. 

[Carmel Corn]

13 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

That's not true. Norris is a top 6 forward. Kesselring is a top 4 defender. He added 2 core pieces. 

Agree…..and in my wildest dreams I also hope Doan can eventually become the “Foligno” of the Dale McCourt trade.  I would love to see him become a top 6 player who can add some intensity and a physical presence that could help the top 6.  Maybe too much wishful thinking on my part though.

[French Collection]

Just now, LGR4GM said:

That's not true. Norris is a top 6 forward. Kesselring is a top 4 defender. He added 2 core pieces. 

They can be core pieces, I guess. Norris is paid like one, his durability will determine his worth. Kesselring is their 4th best Dman so that is on the edge of “core”. I think he will elevate Power’s progress so there is that.

If Norris plays 65+ games, that will be better than 82 Cozens games. He was brought in to be a part of the core. Kesselring is a hope to become a part of the core.

Winning teams have a core of stars that they roll out (Bobrovsky, Barkov, Reinhart) ( Vasilevskiy, Hedman, Kucherov, Point) but they also have some “core” role players.

Edited September 19 by French Collection

[dudacek]

18 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

That's not true. Norris is a top 6 forward. Kesselring is a top 4 defender. He added 2 core pieces. 

Agreed.

Also, in the past 18 months, how many teams have flipped 3 higher-roster players than Peterka Cozens and Mittelstadt?

[msw2112]

While it's not about palm trees and taxes, it's about wins and losses, I do agree that Adams and the Sabres are fairly limited in the moves they can make.  A team in their current state has a hard time attracting free agents and overcoming no-trade clauses.  Given those limitations, Adams has made some fairly significant moves.  As stated above, Peterka, Cozens, and Mittelstadt were all top-40 draft picks who played major roles on the roster.  Trading Savoie, a top-10 draft pick, for McLeod is not an insignificant move.  The Eichel and Reinhart moves were huge trades - although if the team had been better managed, they could have been avoided.

The point I'm making is that Adams is not simply sitting on his hands.  That doesn't make him a good GM or say that every move he's made was a good one.  But it does refute the point that he sits on his hands and does nothing.  I think his handling of the coaching situation (and I have been a Lindy Ruff fan for years) was poor.  Even if Lindy was the right guy for the job, where was the "extensive search" that was promised?  And why do they continue with the failing assistant coaches?  I realize it was a money thing, and the team not wanting to pay guys not to coach, but a strong GM would have convinced the owner that changes were needed, extra cost be damned.  Eventually, if the team doesn't turn it around, Adams will be gone.

[GASabresIUFAN]

This is Pegula’s team and Adam’s team.   

There has never been any rhyme or reason for their roster construction other than Adams following Terry’s marching orders.

Terry said try to placate Eichel and therefore we got Hall and ultimately lost Ullmark 

Terry said tear it down after the Hall-Eichel failure and so Adams tore it down and dumped Stanley Cup championship players Eichel, Reinhart, Montour and others in the process.  

Terry created an internal salary cap and we haven’t spent to the cap in years and not surprisingly we aren’t competitive.  

Adams still hasn’t adequately replaced Ullmark (understatement) and has fielded the worst defense in the league for years.  The Sabres have fielded the youngest and least experienced team in the league since the Eichel tear down.  

Lindy isn’t responsible for this mess.  He hasn’t made it better, but I’m not sure there is any coach who could succeed with the rosters created by Pegula and Adams.

Edited September 22 by GASabresIUFAN

[PerreaultForever]

I see nothing different. He was excited at the beginning of the last camp too. 

[msw2112]

I think the Sabres, like the Bills, are a collaborative environment.  I believe that the roster is created by a coordinated effort among Adams, Ruff, and now Jarmo.  Other individuals on the coaching and hockey-side management staffs also have input.  I don't believe that Adams is a puppet for Ruff, but they certainly communicate and work together to assemble the roster.  Given his level of experience, Ruff may have more input/influence than Granato did.  In any case, I don't believe that Adams (and his staff) and Ruff (and his staff) are operating in a vacuum.

Borrowing a concept from an old Bill Parcells (NFL coach) quote, Adams is doing the grocery shopping to purchase the ingredients and Ruff is cooking the meals, but Ruff works closely with Adams to determine what goes on the shopping list.  I suspect that Ruff has a lot more influence on personnel than Adams does on practice and game management.  In my opinion, that's how a professional sports team should operate, but it doesn't mean that Adams is good at shopping or that Ruff is good at making the meals.

Edited September 19 by msw2112

[French Collection]

2 hours ago, msw2112 said:

I think the Sabres, like the Bills, are a collaborative environment.  I believe that the roster is created by a coordinated effort among Adams, Ruff, and now Jarmo.  Other individuals on the coaching and hockey-side management staffs also have input.  I don't believe that Adams is a puppet for Ruff, but they certainly communicate and work together to assemble the roster.  Given his level of experience, Ruff may have more input/influence than Granato did.  In any case, I don't believe that Adams (and his staff) and Ruff (and his staff) are operating in a vacuum.

Borrowing a concept from an old Bill Parcells (NFL coach) quote, Adams is doing the grocery shopping to purchase the ingredients and Ruff is cooking the meals, but Ruff works closely with Adams to determine what goes on the shopping list.  I suspect that Ruff has a lot more influence on personnel than Adams does on practice and game management.  In my opinion, that's how a professional sports team should operate, but it doesn't mean that Adams is good at shopping or that Ruff is good at making the meals.

Throw in TP cutting costs by getting nearly expired food, produce that is not ripe and skipping a few spices.

[Brawndo]

On 9/19/2025 at 9:54 AM, LGR4GM said:

Norris might have been a Lindy target. 

Seth Appert 

[Taro T]

19 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

Seth Appert 

Interesting.

[Demoted]

This is definitely Lindy in the driver seat and KA is along for the ride.

[gilbert11]

On 9/19/2025 at 10:56 AM, GASabresIUFAN said:

This is Pegula’s team and Adam’s team.   

There has never been any rhyme or reason for their roster construction other than Adams following Terry’s marching orders.

Terry said try to placate Eichel and therefore we got Hall and ultimately lost Ullmark 

Terry said tear it down after the Hall-Eichel failure and so Adams tore it down and dumped Stanley Cup championship players Eichel, Reinhart, Montour and others in the process.  

Terry created an internal salary cap and we haven’t spent to the cap in years and not surprisingly we aren’t competitive.  

Adams still hasn’t adequately replaced Ullmark (understatement) and has fielded the worst defense in the league for years.  The Sabres have fielded the youngest and least experienced team in the league since the Eichel tear down.  

Lindy isn’t reasonable for this mess.  He hasn’t made it better, but I’m not sure there is any coach who could succeed with the rosters created by Pegula and Adams.

Yep, IIRC none of the assistant coaches were brought in by Ruff.   He had to take what was already there.

[LGR4GM]

8 hours ago, gilbert11 said:

Yep, IIRC none of the assistant coaches were brought in by Ruff.   He had to take what was already there.

No he didn't. He decided to take and keep them. Lindy Ruff and Kevyn Adams are both on record as saying Ruff can change out his assistants. I think the only one Ruff is stuck with is Appert.

[gilbert11]

10 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

No he didn't. He decided to take and keep them. Lindy Ruff and Kevyn Adams are both on record as saying Ruff can change out his assistants. I think the only one Ruff is stuck with is Appert.

Well, whoever is in charge of the power play needs to do a lot better.