Do the overrated Sabres make the playoffs next year?

[TageMVP]

Must explain why or you're fired 

[Pimlach]

I think they will have another good year.   Make playoffs but could come up short again.  

Vegas aside, it usually takes years of playoff hardening to win the cup.  Ask Carolina as they knock on the door again. 

[Wyldnwoody44]

I think we lose to Florida in the 2nd round this year. 

[pastajoe]

Every team except perhaps Boston will be better, making it more difficult to secure a playoff berth.

[transient]

6 hours ago, TageMVP said:

Must explain why or you're fired 

Didn't vote... didn't read

[Cranky old man]

My expectation is the Sabres will win two series at least. It’s difficult to extrapolate this Cinderella year into 2026-27. What will the team look like this fall? Are they Tuchless? New goalie; same goalies? You sure gave us some wacky choices. Will Pimlach arm wrestle Promo the Robot? Will Weave act as referee? I just don’t know. Anything. 

[TageMVP]

1 hour ago, transient said:

Didn't vote... didn't read

You're fired 

[OverPowerYou]

Somehow, I knew who created this post without even seeing the name

[PerreaultForever]

Fire me, cause I gotta wait until I see what Jarmo does before deciding.

[TageMVP]

45 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

Fire me, cause I gotta wait until I see what Jarmo does before deciding.

You're fired and will be considered for employment again when and if Jaromir Kekalainen does something 

Wait

Are you, in any way implying, that there is a scenario, that the Sabres do not make the playoffs based on Jarmo Jagrs lack of action? 

[PerreaultForever]

50 minutes ago, TageMVP said:

You're fired and will be considered for employment again when and if Jaromir Kekalainen does something 

Wait

Are you, in any way implying, that there is a scenario, that the Sabres do not make the playoffs based on Jarmo Jagrs lack of action? 

Yes, absolutely. It only takes a few major injuries to turn a season. Look at Florida. Now next year they will be back, and looking at Barkov's performance in the Worlds he clearly was ready to be back but they shelved him to ensure the dead season and the retention of their draft pick. So if they are back in full and Montreal and Tampa stay roughly the same, even if Boston falls apart there's only one spot. Ottawa could press for it. Maybe a cross over team. It's all very close and a small losing streak by anybody (injury caused or other reason) could make them drop out or just miss. Right now we are roughly even with a bunch of teams.

In order to dominate the division and become top tier like Carolina is, Jarmo will have to make some good deals and decisions. The margins are slim and the windows can slam shut quickly. 

[mjd1001]

They miss the playoffs (espeically if they just 'roll back' most of what they had/did last season)

They got in this year based on overrated play up front and stellar goaltending (From the Dec winning streak on they had the BEST save percentage in the league)

They aren't good enough up front, and if I had to bet I'd say the goaltending (with the current guys) regresses. Even if they 'regress' to 10th best in the league, that might not be enough.

What changes my opinion that they miss the playoffs?

-The goaltending does NOT regress. Somehow they get top 3 in the league goaltending.

-The young guys (Helenius, Power, Östlund, Doan, Benson) continue to improve AND they get more minutes.

-You do not sign Tuch to anything over $8m per year. Take those resources and lock up the young, improving guys AND use any money left for flexibility to make other moves (again, the forward group last season was NOT good enough, even with Tuch and Thompson leading it)

-Even with all the above, you have to stay somewhat injury free to your key guys.

[JohnC]

3 hours ago, mjd1001 said:

They miss the playoffs (espeically if they just 'roll back' most of what they had/did last season)

They got in this year based on overrated play up front and stellar goaltending (From the Dec winning streak on they had the BEST save percentage in the league)

They aren't good enough up front, and if I had to bet I'd say the goaltending (with the current guys) regresses. Even if they 'regress' to 10th best in the league, that might not be enough.

What changes my opinion that they miss the playoffs?

-The goaltending does NOT regress. Somehow they get top 3 in the league goaltending.

-The young guys (Helenius, Power, Östlund, Doan, Benson) continue to improve AND they get more minutes.

-You do not sign Tuch to anything over $8m per year. Take those resources and lock up the young, improving guys AND use any money left for flexibility to make other moves (again, the forward group last season was NOT good enough, even with Tuch and Thompson leading it)

-Even with all the above, you have to stay somewhat injury free to your key guys.

The Sabres from a record standpoint were one of the top teams in the league after the first quarter of the season. They earned 109 pts, a 30 point improvement from the previous year. They ended up losing in a 7th game in the second round playoff series. Add to the fact that a large part of the team was made up with young players such as Benson, Doan, Quinn, Power, Kulich, Östlund and Helenius who should be better due to more experience and physical maturity. (Maybe UPL should be added to the group due to the nature of his position?)

In addition, I don't think it is unreasonable to rate our top two defensive pairs as one of the best two pairs in the league. 

I don't know if the Tuch saga is going to end up with him on the roster next year. But as you noted, if he can't be signed his contract space can be used for another good player. But putting that big aside for now, from an overall standpoint, this team is in a good roster situation entering next season. It's probably a minority view, but there is a greater argument to be made to stay the course and keep this roster intact as much as possible. 

[PASabreFan]

22 minutes ago, JohnC said:

The Sabres from a record standpoint were one of the top teams in the league after the first quarter of the season. They earned 109 pts, a 30 point improvement from the previous year. They ended up losing in a 7th game in the second round playoff series. Add to the fact that a large part of the team was made up with young players such as Benson, Doan, Quinn, Power, Kulich, Östlund and Helenius who should be better due to more experience and physical maturity. (Maybe UPL should be added to the group due to the nature of his position?)

In addition, I don't think it is unreasonable to rate our top two defensive pairs as one of the best two pairs in the league. 

I don't know if the Tuch saga is going to end up with him on the roster next year. But as you noted, if he can't be signed his contract space can be used for another good player. But putting that big aside for now, from an overall standpoint, this team is in a good roster situation entering next season. It's probably a minority view, but there is a greater argument to be made to stay the course and keep this roster intact as much as possible. 

Jarmo didn't want to stay the course.

[JohnC]

Just now, PASabreFan said:

Jarmo didn't want to stay the course.

I agree with you that Jarmo is more of an activist than passive GM. On the other hand, he was smart enough not to significantly tamper with the roster he inherited, especially after the Paryako deal fell through. We shall see. 

[Weave]

1 minute ago, JohnC said:

I agree with you that Jarmo is more of an activist than passive GM. On the other hand, he was smart enough not to significantly tamper with the roster he inherited, especially after the Paryako deal fell through. We shall see. 

He couldn’t tamper much after the Paryako deal gell through.  He was out of time, not out of want.

[JohnC]

4 minutes ago, Weave said:

He couldn’t tamper much after the Paryako deal gell through.  He was out of time, not out of want.

I agree with you that it's very likely true that he couldn't do what he wanted to do because of time restraints. But it seems to me that because of his lack of inaction, this team took off and was one of the best teams in the league for 3/4s of the season. In my view, not taking action was the best course to take. The results seem to indicate that. It's going to be an interesting offseason. 

[Demoted]

They should have zero problem and excuses as to making the playoffs. TBH if they are a wildcard team next year they are probably better off since they suck so bad at home.

Edited May 31 by Demoted

[mjd1001]

46 minutes ago, JohnC said:

The Sabres from a record standpoint were one of the top teams in the league after the first quarter of the season. They earned 109 pts, a 30 point improvement from the previous year. They ended up losing in a 7th game in the second round playoff series. 

The whole reason I think they're likely to take a major step back if nothing is changed is because of the goaltending. 

Yes, they were one of the top teams, the second half of the season if not the top team, but they did it with the very best goaltending in the league. Top save percentage in a league, and third best high danger save percentage. 

I simply don't think that repeats. I would like it to, but if this goaltending were to go back to League average.. They allow another 30 to 40 goals and likely miss the playoffs

If someone tells me they're going to have the best, or at least the top five goaltending in the league again this year.. then I'd say roll everything back. I don't think that's going to happen.

Edited May 31 by mjd1001

[North Buffalo]

16-0 just to irk Tage...  Taro v PA why bother two old guys would be more interested in watching paint dry.

[Weave]

11 minutes ago, JohnC said:

it seems to me that because of his lack of inaction, this team took off and was one of the best teams in the league for 3/4s of the season.

You are attributing their success to something that you have no supporting information to make your case.  You didn’t want change.  They had a good season.  So you believe that not making changes is the reason their season went so well.  It’s a logical mismatch.  And we’ll never know if their finish could have been even better if they were able to snag Paryako, Thomas, or both.  Or some other higher end player.

Whatever.  They had a great regular season.  Good on everyone involved.  Now lets make the improvements to get them another step closer…

[JohnC]

8 minutes ago, mjd1001 said:

The whole reason I think they're likely to take a major step back if nothing is changed is because of the goaltending. 

Yes, they were one of the top teams, the second half of the season if not the top team, but they did it with the very best goaltending in the league. Top save percentage in a league, and third best high danger save percentage. 

I simply don't think that repeats. I would like it to, but if this goaltending were to go back to League average.. They allow another 30 to 40 goals and likely miss the playoffs

If someone tells me they're going to have the best, or at least the top five goaltending in the league again this year.. then I'd say roll everything back. I don't think that's going to happen.

I'm aware that our goaltenders are far from being elite. But the real source of our impressive goaltending stats is due to team defense that also includes the responsible play of our forwards. Collectively, the team seemed to adhere to what Ruff was espousing since he got behind the bench. Add to that is the high-end play of our top two pairings. In my view, Samuelsson's play was at such a level that I would rank him in the upper tier in this league. 

There are only a few elite goaltenders in this league. Our netminders are certainly not in that category. But I do believe that within in the goalie rankings we have a solid group. I would not have much interest in dispatching a lot of our young talent to get a Hellybuck caliber goalie. And that's what it would take. Stay the course!  

[JohnC]

1 minute ago, Weave said:

You are attributing their success to something that you have no supporting information to make your case.  You didn’t want change.  They had a good season.  So you believe that not making changes is the reason their season went so well.  It’s a logical mismatch.  And we’ll never know if their finish could have been even better if they were able to snag Paryako, Thomas, or both.  Or some other higher end player.

Whatever.  They had a great regular season.  Good on everyone involved.  Now lets make the improvements to get them another step closer…

I do have supporting evidence. It's their record with the roster Jarmo inherited. 

The Sabres didn't have a good season----they had a tremendous season. For 3/4s of the season they had the top one two records. They improved 30 points from the previous season. And they lost the seventh game in the second round. I'm not complaining about this young roster that without question that has a lot of young players to get even better. 

[PASabreFan]

30 minutes ago, JohnC said:

I do have supporting evidence. It's their record with the roster Jarmo inherited. 

The Sabres didn't have a good season----they had a tremendous season. For 3/4s of the season they had the top one two records. They improved 30 points from the previous season. And they lost the seventh game in the second round. I'm not complaining about this young roster that without question that has a lot of young players to get even better. 

Young players don't always get better. "Continuous improvement" was a lie Darcy told the fans. Lindy knows this. He is not about to hand the Kulichs, Östlunds and Heleñiuses roster spots. He recently said young players get jobs when they earn 'em or grab 'em or whatever way Lindy put it.

Anywho, the Sabres didn't take off after the deadline because Jarmo stayed the course. You could easily argue the Sabres tailed off at the end of the regular season and were generally trash in the postseason relative to the way they played for those 40-some games BECAUSE Jarmo couldn't get it done.

[Nacho Libre]

A team taking a step back after taking their big step forward is actually quite common. Nothing guaranteed, but I suspect we may be an anomaly on that front, fittingly so after being an anomaly in terms of finally making it. With Jarmo here from the start, I really don’t see the players willing to let their playoff positioning slip away