PASabreFan

That's exactly how you evaluate players. You care about evaluating individual players bc the NHL left Buffalo in 2012. Again, how sad.

This would require everyone in this thread to independently study hundreds of prospects. It ain't happening. Any ranking of prospects here is fundamentally dishonest.

Exactly. You haven't drafted better until you're... better. The bar is set deliberately low by the franchise and those vested in "being right" about young players.

You nailed it. That approach must be left behind. It didn't work. But let's continue to endorse an approach that not only didn't work, it continues not to work (fingers crossed for fall 2022) and is unlikely to ever work. But, YAY!, KA and TG for two decades! You have to use all of your tools when constructing a team. Spending a little future capital to try and put this team into the playoffs would be capital well spent. It's a signal to the kids. If it works they grow leaps and bounds (except Casey, some recent draftee and a first rounder). How long until these kids lose their love of the game in a hopeless place where only the future is worshipped? See also: goaltending STILL not addressed.

IMMSMC we did love draft day 2015. It's one of the best days we've had.

This is where our dinghies diverged. Your definition of success seemed to be your EXPECTATION that the Sabres would be in the hunt until the end of the regular season. The franchise, after some signs of progress, is already successful. Then you brought up the Cup. It was a Jim Mora moment for me. To boil it down I'd make a future sacrificing move in a heartbeat to increase the chances of making the playoffs this year. You wouldn't.

If you keep going to the same pizza place and keep getting the same undercooked tasteless slice but enjoy talking to the owner about the 16 year old in the back who is going to be great at this when he's out of college, yes, you are gullible.

So even bad hockey?

First one I looked up... NYR had 79 points three years ago. Did they execute a masterful seven year plan to reach the conference final, and lead the conference final, 3-1? The Sabres' plan is, true to the mantra, economic. It's also gutless and relies on gullible fans.

You keep moving the shell.

It's professional sports, not curing cancer. It happens all the time.

That's sad.

The definition of matter matters. (Bill Clinton) Matter re team success? No. Define success.

Semantics maybe, but I parsed LGR's comment to mean that the prospects have already mattered.

True. But they haven't mattered yet. Unless your bar is pretty low.

That's not what I googled. But all of these lists are derivative of a herd mentality. So I have no concern about outlier top rankings. I've given pre Eichel, Eichel draft and 2018. I read above Sabres were #1 in a reputable ranking last year. I don't know what more you have to see. If there's a franchise whose prospects have been more highly regarded the last 10 years I'd like to see it. You can throw in the G&G draft of 2012. I saw a piece where Grigs was #2 and Girgs was #15.

2014 #1 A++ https://lastwordonsports.com/2014/09/07/tsp-2014-nhl-organizational-prospect-rankings-top-10/

There's no official ranking of course. 2015 #2 (Bleacher Report) https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2505679-re-ranking-every-teams-prospect-pool-after-2015-nhl-draft 2018 #1 The Sporting News https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nhl/news/nhl-top-prospects-best-worst-farm-system-draft-history-sabres-flyers-canucks-penguins/tn8fb6mqnial16bxvtds5dacu No cherry picking needed. These landed in my lap with one simple Google search. There are many more spanning many years. If you're not skeptical about prospect pipelines given what they've amounted to in Buffalo, well, God love ya.

The two president roles are very different. It's apples and oranges.

I could prove it. When you're a farm team with no interest in winning, it's not hard. Not much competition.

Where they've been for years according to the dweebs. Top of the heap!

He was fired up on the bench after Malcolm Subban's anthems (the performance was easily in the top 5 Sabres moments of the past 10 years). Joie de Sabre.

Of course it's reasonable to infer such a thing. It's also reasonable to infer that Drury's eventual comments about New Yawk meant he had no intention of staying. And for me the arrival of this book tips the scales more in the direction of Tom's version of events. He has the BN story stuck in his craw 15 years later. What does that suggest? He's mad they got the story right? Now I want a meatball sub for lunch.

Your beef is with Merriam and Webster. You clearly wanted to paint Tom as a greedy guy who just wanted to make a buck. Your hand got caught in the cookie jar, top shelf.