Do you trust Jarmo to help continue the Sabres success?

[Mr. MVP]

To me, Jarmo took over a team assembled by someone else, did nothing much to make it his own, and the few moves he did make were busts (except Carrick when he first got here).  
I know he looks and stands real tough, but he’s done really nothing for this team yet.  If you look back at his moves in Columbus, most of them were not very good and the team was getting worse with him as GM.  He gave up a lot of future to win now and the wins just didn’t come for him. 
 

So, do you trust Jarmo?  

[TageMVP]

Not yet 

I think he majorly dropped the ball not acquiring Robert Thomas. And the consolation prizes sucked 

I give him credit for trying and understanding the Sabres weren't completely ready yet. But next time, a trade like that HAS to be completed 

Jarmos a gambler which I like. Better than waiting around too long. (Adams) 

Hes gotta make a splash this offseason. Sabres really really could have used a splash trade to counter Montreal 

[Big Guava]

He surrounded himself with very good and well respected front office people, so I guess the book is out.

People usually learn from past experience if they want to grow, so I guess we will see how focused he is on that.

[Taro T]

15 minutes ago, Mr. MVP said:

To me, Jarmo took over a team assembled by someone else, did nothing much to make it his own, and the few moves he did make were busts (except Carrick when he first got here).  
I know he looks and stands real tough, but he’s done really nothing for this team yet.  If you look back at his moves in Columbus, most of them were not very good and the team was getting worse with him as GM.  He gave up a lot of future to win now and the wins just didn’t come for him. 
 

So, do you trust Jarmo?  

He made 3 NHL level moves.  One of which was strictly for depth.

The Carrick trade looks like it should be a home run.  Stanley was good in the RS and helped take minutes off the top 4 and was good against the B's.  He was not good against the Habs.  Having the luxury of letting Ruff not play Metsa 6-8 minutes/night in the RS down the stretch and against a big physical Bruin team was a good thing.

Schenn was strictly depth and veteran presence as was Pearson.

He didn't overpay for Thomas nor Parayko.  He hired experience into the GMs office and he let Karmanos leave.  He signed Doan to an extension that looks very team friendly.

He also didn't make moves simply to make moves with a team that ended up getting 109 points.  He told the team that everyone would be held accountable and he seemed to walk that talk.  (Hard to say for sure; things were going very well when he was in position to make moves.)  He saw something that was working and pretty much stayed out of its way.

Disagree that he didn't make good moves in C-bus.  He was the GM while the team saw its only glimses of success.  They swept a record setting Bolts team in the 1st round.  That in and of itself is impressive even though the magic wore off the next round.  He also had an AGM by the last name of Zito working for him when those successes were occurring.  How much of it was the AGM and how much was the GM?  He also convinced Gaudreau to sign in C-Bus; a BIG get that pretty much nobody saw coming.  Everyone thought he'd land in Filly.

Don't know if he's the right person for the job.  But don't see him as being the wrong person either.  And expect he has and he will tell his bosses what he sees as the right path forward.  And more importantly, expect that if he believes his bosses want him to do something that's really dumb and counterproductive; he'll tell his bosses that they've got a really bad idea.  His previous 2 predecessors did not give that impression (though we'll never know exactly what goes on behind closed doors).

Am hopeful that Jarmo CAN be the right guy for this job.  He has a lot more on his plate than the typical GM of the team with the league's 4th best record might have on his plate.  The team is close to the cap; one of the leaders on the team and one of the very few players that WANTED to be in Buffalo during the drought wants an overly high contract; he has several young players that are eligible for bridges but giving them might blow up in his face; he has a stable full of middling-good goalies but none that have shown to be very good - exceptional except for very brief glimpses; he has a coach and coaching staff that are only under contract for 1-1/2 more months; and he has some overachieving 4th liners and 6/7 D-men that are soon to be UFAs who might be able to price themselves out of this market given the cap constraints.

This 1st year (and really the off-season) will set the stage for whether this team stays a true contender or if they slink off like the Jets did a few years back.

Really hoping he gets it right.  This was a fun last 5 months.

[HumanSlinky39]

I can't say right now. His track record in Columbus was mixed. Made some bold moves that improved their team when they needed it. Also saddled them with several bad contracts that they're still digging out of. Wish he would/could have done more at the deadline, but Parayko wasn't his fault, and the price I read for Thomas was pretty steep. Wasn't Helenius supposedly part of the package? If so, I'm glad we didn't bend there. Also, this team was playing the best hockey in the entire sport at the time. Big roster shakeups risk messing that up. Maybe Thomas gets revisited this summer with some package involving Norris.

Edited May 19 by HumanSlinky39

[SabreFinn]

I think he did the right thing at the trade deadline, the team got deeper and a bit tougher. The Doan extension was good. He got himself good people to the front office. He told the team what he expect from now on, they answered the call and he has then stayed out of the way. All that is good, really good. The test will be this offseason, this is his season. And I am still not convinced he is a good GM, he has to prove otherwise first. 

[Weave]

I started to type out, there isn’t nearly enough data to judge, but I stopped because his Columbus record is out there.

I don’t have the interest or energy to deep dive into his C-Bus moves and the context around them.

Yeah, I know. Lazy answer. Fight me.

[OverPowerYou]

I blame this loss on Kevyn Adams. 

[Skibum]

He seems like a very competent and motivated GM, and he has a pretty good (and young) roster as it is. I'm sure he'll be fine. 

[Second Line Center]

Who from Adam’s inner circle and scouts are still here in the organization?
 

Who would have been the key people in his ear saying “Benson, Östlund, Helenius, Mrtka.”

[mjd1001]

Not yet.

Offseason will give me a lot better feeling though.

What I want him to do? Get Benson done.  MAYBE find a way to get better goaltending (not sure you can do this easily though).  Wouldn't mind Krebs and/or Malenstyn back. DO NOT trade Helenius or Östlund.   DO NOT give Tuch a big dollar/long term deal.

I still am leaning on letting Tuch walk. Not because I think he is bad, him leaving will likely hurt the team short term. But I want to see other guys get those minutes. I think Benson will deserve more minutes. Helenius and Östlund I want to see play more.  Kulich should be coming back. Those minutes have to come from somewhere.  How about not overpaying a winger who is (or shortly will be) declining because he is over 30?  

Yeah, I get it, Tuch IS still good. But I'd honestly rather see more minutes given to those younger guys.

Lets see if those are his priorities, or there is something else out there.

[xzy89c1]

16 hours ago, Weave said:

I started to type out, there isn’t nearly enough data to judge, but I stopped because his Columbus record is out there.

I don’t have the interest or energy to deep dive into his C-Bus moves and the context around them.

Yeah, I know. Lazy answer. Fight me.

drop your gloves!!

 

Tuch looked very slow against Montreal. We do not want a 34-year-old Tuch making 10 million with slower foot speed. 

We need a top line person on our team. Preferably a center, Tage is not a center. He just is not. 

We have Timmins for another year and he is perfect in his role of PK and third pairing. 

If Stanley leaves, and it is fine if he does, we need either a tough fourth liner or 6th dman. 

We are a fairly soft team and adding a forward for middle six with more toughness would be ideal.

 

[Carmel Corn]

Not sure what thread my next comment belongs, so here it is.  I wish this team would consider making Josh Doan the CAPTAIN of this team.  When I listen to his presser today, nobody came close to speaking with such clarity, maturity and purpose IMHO.  No veteran including Tage, Muel and certainly not Dahlin can articulate their views in such a clear and composed manner.  Tuch won’t be back and none of our other leaders can talk like Doan.  I know it will never happen, but he’s the one who should have the C and give Benny an A in the future as well.  Yes, I realize we did not hear from Dallin, Tuch, Muel and Tage today…but I think I will still feel the same way after tomorrow.

Edited May 19 by Carmel Corn

[zow2]

2 hours ago, Mr. MVP said:

To me, Jarmo took over a team assembled by someone else, did nothing much to make it his own, and the few moves he did make were busts (except Carrick when he first got here).  
I know he looks and stands real tough, but he’s done really nothing for this team yet.  If you look back at his moves in Columbus, most of them were not very good and the team was getting worse with him as GM.  He gave up a lot of future to win now and the wins just didn’t come for him. 
 

So, do you trust Jarmo?  

 

No, I don't trust him at all... other than to give away talent from the pipeline for aged Vets that don't get us over the top.   I don't know how he drafts either.  Clearly Adams hit a few home runs with some draft picks 

[shrader]

This Thomas thing is overplayed a bit.  Other teams were in play there too.  Earlier this week a Minnesota reporter was on XM and said that they had an offer in of Wallstedt and one other name that escapes me right now.  If St. Louis had wanted to move him, they would have.  Instead, they're going to get a ton of calls this offseason and they're going to make quite the return.

[CTJoe]

not yet - his 4 deadline acquisitions were all healthy (Carrick maybe a ?) and sitting in the press box in game 7

13 minutes ago, Carmel Corn said:

Not sure what thread my next comment belongs, so here it is.  I wish this team would consider making Josh Doan the CAPTAIN of this team.  When I listen to his presser today, nobody came close to speaking with such clarity, maturity and purpose IMHO.  No veteran including Tage, Muel and certainly not Dahlin can articulate their views in such a clear and composed manner.  Tuch won’t be back and none of our other leaders can talk like Doan.  I know it will never happen, but he’s the one who should have the C and give Benny an A in the future as well.  Yes, I realize we did not hear from Dallin, Tuch, Muel and Tage today…but I think I will still feel the same way after tomorrow.

Dahlin is the clear C, but I like Benson and Doan as Future A's

[Flashsabre]

1 minute ago, shrader said:

This Thomas thing is overplayed a bit.  Other teams were in play there too.  Earlier this week a Minnesota reporter was on XM and said that they had an offer in of Wallstedt and one other name that escapes me right now.  If St. Louis had wanted to move him, they would have.  Instead, they're going to get a ton of calls this offseason and they're going to make quite the return.

Wallstedt and Yurov.

[CTJoe]

32 minutes ago, xzy89c1 said:

Tuch looked very slow against Montreal. We do not want a 34-year-old Tuch making 10 million with slower foot speed. 

We need a top line person on our team. Preferably a center, Tage is not a center. He just is not. 

We have Timmins for another year and he is perfect in his role of PK and third pairing. 

If Stanley leaves, and it is fine if he does, we need either a tough fourth liner or 6th dman. 

We are a fairly soft team and adding a forward for middle six with more toughness would be ideal.

 

Schenn would be a fine 6/7 tough D and cheap

1 hour ago, SabreFinn said:

I think he did the right thing at the trade deadline, the team got deeper and a bit tougher. The Doan extension was good. He got himself good people to the front office. He told the team what he expect from now on, they answered the call and he has then stayed out of the way. All that is good, really good. The test will be this offseason, this is his season. And I am still not convinced he is a good GM, he has to prove otherwise first. 

Yep - all 4 players helped in game 7.  I think they were serving beers to the media

[quill]

Absolutely I trust him to do that, based alone on what he did when he was GM in Columbus when under his tenure changed them from being a crappy team into a very competitive one. Plus, in the very short time he's had here in Buffalo, he changed the face of our team immediately by adding the toughness we desperately needed at the time. That, and in his interviews he gives the impression that he is a no nonsense GM, and that any previous country club atmosphere in Sabresland will no longer be tolerated. I don't think there could be a better choice than him to take this team to the highest level.

Is there any reason not to trust him at such an early juncture in his tenure? 

[BullBuchanan]

I sure don't. He brought in 4 players, and all of them were scratched. If the reports about Norris being the hangup on a Thomas deal are true, that's a fireable offense. He was saved from himself in the whole Parayko fiasco.

He had a chance to give this team a meaningful shot at a run int he perfect year to do it, and he failed. Pegula loves this kind of GM. It's exactly what Beane did at the deadline and it cost the Bills too.

[SabreFinn]

5 hours ago, CTJoe said:

Schenn would be a fine 6/7 tough D and cheap

Yep - all 4 players helped in game 7.  I think they were serving beers to the media

They didn't have to, we had the right pieces ourselves and they were healthy enough to play. We were still not deep enough to go far in playoffs, we needed addition and we got it. Second round game seven is a good first time playoff performance and everyone’s part of that even if they didn't played play in the last game.

[GASabresIUFAN]

Who knows and we don't really have a choice.  That said, I trust him more than I ever trust TM, KA and JB (and I liked JB).

The thing I trust the most is that he will try to make things better.

Also Carrick and Stanley were good moves, just bottom of the roster moves.  Dumping Rosen was moving on from Joel Armia 2.0 and someone that would never make this team long-term.  Bryson wasn't half the player Metsa is.  The best we gave up was a 2nd rd pick that has about a 30% chance of playing 100 games in the NHL in 3-5 years.  We'll likely get some of the draft picks back this off-season when we trade Kesselring and Levi.  Don't forget Carrick has one more year at 1 mill and is a great faceoff guy and PKer.  

Jarmo will be judged by his ability to upgrade the roster without destroying the prospect pool or Helenius, Östlund and Mrtka (and possibly Kulich).  The player in this group most expendable is Mrtka because the depth in our prospect pool beyond the top 4 listed above is on defense.

[pi2000]

[Demoted]

He was trying to get a great player that would have helped. The problem is that player had a NTC and he didn't want to come to Buffalo. I think Jarmo is going to try to do that again and hopefully by now the players will wave the NTC.

Edited May 20 by Demoted

[Pimlach]

19 hours ago, TageMVP said:

Not yet 

I think he majorly dropped the ball not acquiring Robert Thomas. And the consolation prizes sucked 

I give him credit for trying and understanding the Sabres weren't completely ready yet. But next time, a trade like that HAS to be completed 

Jarmos a gambler which I like. Better than waiting around too long. (Adams) 

Hes gotta make a splash this offseason. Sabres really really could have used a splash trade to counter Montreal 

Sometimes the best move is no move.  The advertised Thomas trade was a major overpay.  You got to see Helenius in the playoffs, I have no desire to trade him and neither did Jarmo.  He was not sending him, Power, and Norris for Thomas.  That is a bad trade if the media rumor was correct.   

The Parayko trade was not going to move the needle much.  I would rather keep Power and/or Mrtka.  

There were no consolation prizes.  He added depth and the cost very little.  

Make a splash?  How about this for a job jar    

1.  Figure out Ruff and Coaching staff moving forward  (Prioity high, difficulty medium) 

2.  Find a goalie  (Priority high, difficulty high)

3.  Lock up Benson  (Priority high, difficulty low)

4.  Resolve Tuch contract  - sign or replace him in some manner  (Priority high, difficulty high)

5.  Re-Evaluate the top 6 and middle 6  (given the incoming talent of Östlund and Helenius the priority is medium, difficulty medium) 

6.  Add more muscle to 4th line - get a low cost 4th liner that can actually play and also be a willing policeman.   (Priority low, difficulty medium)