Taro T

A few items Adams said that caught this kid's attention. Mentioned they need to find a partner for Power. Also mentioned the shake up of the D was to see if Samuelsson could regain his 'top 4 level of play' or something to that effect. He projects the roster will be close to the cap next year 1 way or another. Adams was very noncommittal as to whether Byram would be back. Personally expect this is because if Samuelsson can be effective as Dahlin's partner over the final 20 or so games (or however long they keep the experiment going before giving up on it once again) then Byram is going to get traded this off-season either for a piece to improve the top 6F's and a package will go out for that guy to play with Owen or he'll be directly traded for that partner for Power. If Samuelsson CAN'T get back to what he was about 3 years ago, expecting they do re-sign Byram to give Dahlin a partner he's comfortable with and they either try again in FA to find that 4D or they get one in a package. Wouldn't be at all surprised to see Peterka part of that package trying to fix the D (too much smoke yesterday to believe there weren't some embers there). And am not expecting much of any other moves in the off-season as raises to guys coming off ELCs and bridges up the overall spend. Would really like to see at least 1 more good vet F come in, but haven't looked at how the rest is going to have them situated against the cap. (And with that said, likely will see people again sometime in April.)

There is ONE item that is earning Ruff a pass on this debacle of a season. The team almost always scores the 1st goal. They're ready to play. That wasn't the case the previous few years. The HC sets the tone. The assistants install the X's and O's. This team hasn't been able to figure out who is the X and who is the O in their own end since at least Krueger's tenure (and THAT team had no idea how to play beyond its own blue line). Every single AC (w/ the possible exception of Bales but would lean towards canning him too) should be gone. If Adams could get Gallant to take over as HC, then sure, can Lindy too. The fact this team is so young falls on Adams. The fact this team still doesn't execute effective systems is on the coaching staff. Again, the HC (or somebody, am expecting it's the HC, maybe it's somebody else) typically motivates them well enough to get out to a lead. And then the other team settles in and the wheels fall off. And being too young with no clue how to adjust within game explain away a large portion of that. Add a veteran partner for Power (will have something to say about that in the Adams presser thread) and add another Zucker ideally or at least another Greenway and fix the mf coaching staff and then let's see what they can do. Those changes might be enough to get them to a point they don't need to roll box cars 10 times in a row to make the dance.

The issue with trading for futures at this point is 2 fold: 1. The kids need to learn how to be pros at this level and there are precious few guys that have been around / have been a part of a winner at this level that sending the few they have out the door quite possibly lengthens that learning curve even more - so is the SLIGHTLY better player they end up with or slightly better fit to where the holes on this roster exist worth the increase in the learning curve on how to be a pro at this level? And 2. Does anybody fully expect that Adams will be able to work a 2 moving part trade to the Sabres net advantage at this point in time? Both of those make a trade for futures at this moment "no bueno" IMHO.

Sadly, that does seem to be SOP at 1 Seymour Knox III Plaza.

Which is so maddeningly frustrating. He let the Bills players earn about $12MM worth of bonuses in the last RS game of the year. And he sat on Skinner's $6MM the entire year. Were he to have been willing to weaponize some of the crazy amounts of cap space he's thrown away every year of the Adams era the Sabres could be sitting on easily the deepest prospect / pick pool and they'd be in a spot to make about 4 McLeod for a reasonably highly rated prospect deals which would improve the current team (read next year's club, this season is done) and they'd still have a deep prospect pool. It's beyond time to give the team more than a lottery ticket's chance of coming through into the playoffs and relevancy. The Bills are a team NFL players want to be a part of; the Bandits are a team NLLers want to play for; the Sabres are the J-E-S-T jest Jest JEST of the NHL.

Presuming your question is Sabres specific. With the possible exceptions of Jokiharju, Greenway, &/or Zucker could see the Sabres go the entire deadline with no moves other than something that might bolster Ra-cha-cha's chance of winning the Calder. Would figure Jokiharju going out the door at ~50%, Greenway ~15%, and Zucker ~8%. Making a true NHL hockey trade ~5% (with Cozens making up 80% of that and Samuelsson the bulk of the rest of it). Doing anything else <1%.

To a degree. Still expect that having a true top 4 veteran D-man who is preferrably stay at home or at minimum a solid 2 way guy to play with Power would do wonders for the unit overall. Getting 1 more Zucker preferrably or even another Greenway for the top 6 would be 2nd on this kid's list. Why are ANY of the coaches not named Ruff (and possibly Bales) still employed. What have ANY of them done to improve the output of this (or any other recent) Sabres roster?

80's. Pretty sure PART of the issue is with revenue sharing, both the owners and especially the players have a significant incentive to want to increase immediate revenues at the expense of using the broadcast availabilty to not just increase revenues today but to build a loyal future customer base that will lead to increased revenues in the future as well. Players careers are short and roughly every extra $1,400 in league revenues is an extra $ in every player's pocket.

Umm, violation of the Logan Act. Not saying they should be prosecuted for it, but that is what legitimate charge would/could be brought.

Yes, there were claims that Housley was a D coaching genius, but it NEVER made any sense. That D that Nashville had was absolutely stacked and they were great before Housley ever showed up. He didn't make them any better than they'd already been. He also had nothing to do with Rinne and Saros being absolute studs. Claiming he was a genius was akin to saying Adam Gase was one because Peyton Manning liked him and played well when he was his OC. Sure, people said it, but they were oh so very wrong.

Depends on whether you do the early bird renewal every year or not. If you do, it's ballpark a 5% increase (just like every other year) taking out the fact that they're selling 44 games (41 RS, 3 exhibitions w/ barely 50% NHLers playing) vs 43 (40/3) last year. Don't know if it'll be worth renewing but they were better this season about promoting the perks of being a STHer. Expecting that'll be the case again next year. Again, not sure that'd be enough to flip the switch from no to yes for anyone else.

Would be very surprised if the Sabres make more than just a small move along the fringes of the roster. They have more prospects than they know what to do with and absolutely don't need to get any younger so it isn't likely they'll be sellers. They'd need to win about 20 of their last 25 games to have any shot at the playoffs and that ain't happening so they aren't going to be buying a rental. Really don't see Adams going anywhere this offseason so don't see him being in desperation mode, again leaning towards them not buying a rental. Maybe there's a real hockey trade to be made like the Byram for Mittelstadt deal last year a smidge before the deadline, but can't see a team looking to trade a 1 for 1 guy that is on the same timeline as what we'd be sending out and can't see a point to getting the younger guy AGAIN so don't see that happening either. Used to be one of the funnest days of the year. Not even sure will even be spot checking in for updates on what happened that day. We really are in purgatory, aren't we?

Htf do the cockroaches always survive? Like that Ruff has them ready to play from the get go almost always. Hate that the same schmucks that couldn't teach X's and O's the past 2 years (once by choice and once by ummm not choice) were brought back this past season. Would really like to see some serious up & comers brought onto the staff and absolutely hate the idea of Appert being the heir apparent. Back to the thread. Expecting very minimal changes in the roster before October. If Levi has to clear waivers, Reimer is definitely gone. Could see Jokiharju leaving as they try to find a true vet with either stay at home or 2 way pedigree to take the 4th D role. Not expecting any changes at F providing Zucker and Greenway are willing to come back. Would really like to see at least one more Zucker/Greenway brought in to help teach the youth how adults play hockey in the best league in the world. Wouldn't be surprised if we don't even get that. 100% expect Adams and Ruff both back.

How ####ing hard is it to go with the obvious: the Utah Fighting Mormons (Mormen?). Either that or play off the Jazz with the Utah Punk Rock. They could use that same logo that was proposed for the Hockey Club. 😉

Pretty sure we're reacting to the expectation that the guy assembling the roster may be considering him a 1C; as he currently is this team's 1C.

And he could excel in that role and prove Adams right "all along" in having that be the move. But it's far more likely that he ends up a 45 point player (or less) in his sophomore season in the NHL rather than a 60+ point player. Have him pencilled in as the 2C or 3C (or a 2W or 3W) and if he flat out shows that he NEEDS to be the 1C, well you now have a player that WAS pencilled in at the 1C that can now be deployed either as a W on that 1st line or the 2C or even a 2W and likely you have 2 lines teams have to prepare for to try to take away and that's significantly harder than simply taking away a single line. And Adams does seem to believe that these kids are close to taking off. But close is a really relative term. And those of us that pay to watch the team rather than get paid to play a role in shaping it seem to have significantly different interpretations of the term "close."

The Cardinal to which the Stanford Cardinal refers is the color cardinal red, not the bird by the same name. The way this kid has heard the story of how that became their mascot is that Elway's dad was the football coach at the time they decided to stop calling themselves the Stanford Indians and he came up with the idea because they were "the Harvard of the West." It's a takeoff of the Harvard Crimson. As told by a Stanford graduate.

Look, if Kulich at 21 is pencilled into the 1C role, the margin for error has become precipitously thin. And they are getting into the territory where they need to stay healthy and not have any one else in a key role not meet expectations. Should've said "that would meet A criterion" not "that would meet THE criterion." But are you seriously going to argue that pencilling Kulich into the 1C ISN'T a risky move? As to the D, I have been advocating for a LONG time for an in his prime / late prime stay at home (preferred) or 2 way legit top 4 D-man. Would also like to see Wolford punted into the sun. Both of which would improve the D significantly. Am not anticipating either to occur prior to the kickoff of the '25-'26 season. Which again, leaves the margin for error precipitously thin. The problem continues to be that as long as Adams continues his "this team will be built through the draft" with no regard to how experienced/mature the team is relative to the rest of the league, there will be razor thin margins for error. Keeping the same coaching staff that wouldn't teach defensively responsible hockey under Granato and apparently also can't teach defensively responsible hockey further erodes the margin for error. The only true difference from last year to this year is the team IS ready to play from the get go. They've had the 1st goal of the game ~40 times now and have had multigoal leads in many of their games. But the youth, inexperience, and lack of instilling in these guys how to play in their own end and how to defend a lead has meant that oftentimes has come to naught. So, it would seem that Ruff HAS made a difference. Am still hoping he can convince those he reports to to let him make significant changes to his staff. The could help widen that margin for error which every team needs to have because they all hit rough patches.

Well, IF Kulich is pencilled in for the #1 C role and he hits a wall/ undergoes a "sophomore slump", pretty sure that would meet the criterion to fit the "1 - 2 players not meeting expectations ... will doom next season as well." Right?

Pretty sure @Thorner was sarcastically stating what he expects Adams to believe. Sadly, can also see that being Adams expectation. And if he IS their #1 next year, they will once again be setting themselves up in a situation where they have a very small margin for error and only 1 - 2 players not meeting expectations (and with a youth filled team, how do you not have 1-2 underperform expectations as they continue to learrn to be top level pros) or 1 - 2 key injuries (and how often do teams go an entire year without a couple) will doom next season as well. REALLY hoping that isn't the off-season plan.

Is he in the traditional C model? No. But if Matthews can be a C, guess any goal scorer can. As long as he's willing to have to put in extra work in his own end, sure, why not. And wouldn't be surprised if LT he's back at W. But for now, sadly, he's about the best they've got.

Danke. From our seats in the building, can't see the owner's box as it is blocked by the Jumbo Jumbotron. As mentioned, afaik they were never shown on the Jumbotron and if TP gave a tribute to Ray, personally missed it. So, don't believe either was brought to the attention of the fans; but maybe they were very briefly. (There were a lot of tributes to him at breaks and the intermissions.)

For whatever it's worth, the guy that usually sits next to us at the games said he heard an Adams interview yesterday or the day before where he said that the Sabres will not be sellers at the deadline. Personally, am expecting he'd like to re-sign Zucker and Greenway and those are about the only 2 guys that he'd be able to sell anyhow with any reasonable return. Maybe Jokiharju goes at the deadline as personally can't see him in their LT plans. Would like to see a true hockey trade, but that's not the time those are typically done. Maybe he can make something happen in February as it seems some true hockey trades are currently happening.

IF he showed up, he wasn't on the ice for the ceremony nor was he announced to the crowd AFAIK. Shame that they held the ceremony at 6PM on a weeknight. (Yeah, Friday evening starts the weekend, but a lot of people had to go to work yesterday. Tough ask to get off work at 5, get home, meet up with people you're going to the game with and get into your seat by 6PM.) Though the building was sold out (or close to it) only about 1/2 of the seats were filled when the show began. It was a nice ceremony. Not spectacular, but nice. Doug Allen singing the anthems 1/2 an hour later got as loud a roar as Rayzor got. Though in fairness to Ray, the building was a lot fuller by then. Glad the Sabres managed to find a way to squeak out a win for Ray's sake.

To the bolded, to a certain extent, but not entirely. Yes, his play picked up after Levi spit the bit vs the BJ's. It absolutely did. (But have NOT argued it is because of it.) And, the pattern of his play picking up after there is no legit competition for him for the starter's role and taliling off when there is legit competition has shown through in 3 consecutive seasons. And this year, his play has since fallen off even without legit competition for the starter's net while Levi has been in Ra-cha-cha and a guy nobody confuses for a starter is his primary backup. As to your claim that there has been no "legitimate" competition for the starter's role, have you not seen how Levi has played when called up late in the past 2 seasons nor the drop off in UPL's performance at that same time? Have made NO claim that there is causation there. But the correlation is strong. And that correlation flies in the face of the OP's post declaring that UPL is at his best when there is competition for the starter's net. Is his play tailing when he isn't the defacto pure #1 due to causation? Don't know. It could simply be UPL gets burnt out late in the year and can't get himself into mental game shape until a couple/few weeks into the season or something else. But the correlation is there. Could go on with a lot of nuance about expectations for him, but have stated it all before several times and simply don't have the time, nor energy, nor desire to rewrite it all. (And no, have no expectation that you or anybody else would remember what one particular poster on an anonymous message board has written likely months ago. Merely stating why there is little (though some) chance that my participation in this particular line of dicussion will continue.) (Cliff notes version: he has improved significantly in several areas physically since first playing in the NHL; he's picked up on the mental side of it too but nowhere near to the same degree. Can he continue to improve those aspects as well? Yes. Will he / will he enough to be a legit starter in this league when he has a legit 1B goalie paired with him &/or when the team is playing "important" games on a consistent basis? No f'n clue, and though there is hope he does, and do expect him to improve at that further, wouldn't have a mortgage payment riding on it.)