nfreeman

So...if the season is over, the Sabres will have put up 68 pts in 69 games, which projects to 80.8 pts over 82 games. That's an improvement of either 2 or 3 pts over GMTM's final season. Not good enough IMHO to bring back JB, but I wouldn't be stunned if TP decides to keep him on.

Mine too. And that was a great article by Tim Graham.

And here we have 2 regrettable themes that continue to manifest in this context: - "I know I'm right about XYZ political issue and so I'm just going to say what I think, regardless of whether this is the right time or place." - "Everything is politics so I get to push my political agenda in every conversation about every topic." Both of these themes are just self-absorbed BS.

Please cease and desist with this BS, which, as both of you are well aware, is highly likely to drag this thread off the rails. People are trying to have a conversation here. If you need to make these unfunny, unclever observations, please keep them in the politics club.

I agree and would also say that his hands are better than Jochen's. Hecht didn't have the ability to score the SO goal that Kahun scored the other night.

Ullmark is ranked: - 19th in SV% - 29th in wins - 23rd in GAA - 27th in total saves IMHO, that is nowhere near good enough to be comfortable with him as the starter next year. They need a no-BS top-10 #1 goalie, or we're going to be sitting here again next year wondering WTF happened to the once-proud Sabres franchise.

I can see him improving, but right now I'd say he's a legit lower-middle-class NHL starter -- i.e. better than Marty (who wasn't really an NHL starter) but not as good as what the Sabres really need, which is a top-10 NHL starter.

No. The board was PO'd at JB over xmas, and now is officially ready to dump him, because most of the forwards he's brought in are Frolik types -- overpaid, ineffective mediocrities. He needs to be right on these moves, and he's accountable for the results on the ice and in the standings. That's his job. Anyone here could've spent to the cap, gotten a bunch of moves wrong and not improved the team in 3 years relative to his predecessor, which is looking like the outcome of JB's tenure.

Absolutely. I was merely refuting the claim that all of the bad cap moves are gone after this season. Moreover, even if the assertion about a clean cap after this season had been true -- so what? No good FA is coming to a poopshow like the Sabres this summer, and free agency is not the place where teams are built. Not to mention the fact that no one can possibly have any confidence in JB's ability to identify and close the deal with good FAs.

No. Frolik was a bad move for an unproductive mediocrity with a big cap hit who has not, despite your claims to the contrary, improved the PK and that has resulted in loss of cap space next season.

From Chad at DBTB today: https://www.diebytheblade.com/2020/3/10/21172017/mailbag-part-1-buffalo-sabres-management-jason-botterill-ralph-krueger-kim-pegula

It just seems like they have entered their death spiral, that they will almost certainly win 6 or fewer of their remaining 14 games, which means they will finish with 78 pts or less, and that JB and RK are both going to get canned. IMHO, canning them will be the right decision (although I suppose I wouldn't mind if the new GM wants to keep RK). I think they'll be able to attract a good new GM. The nucleus is good as the OP notes and I don't think TP can be faulted for making a change given the results delivered by JB. And TP's money spends as well as anyone else's, and there is plenty of it. I don't agree that Ullmark is good enough. I think whoever is the GM needs to make finding a #1 goalie a high priority.

I find it encouraging for both PSE franchises that the Bills can get a FA like Norman, who is certainly on the downside but is still a big name in the NFL. Once the Sabres get the right GM and coach in place, and the team ceases to be a train wreck, it too will be able to get good FAs to come. There will still be quite a few who aren't interested, but plenty of them will be. It won't happen unless and until they look like a solid franchise with stability at the top and that will be in the playoffs every year. If they can get there, though, they don't need to be and won't be permanently viewed as NHL Siberia.

Soooo....we’re witnessing the fall of Saigon, right? Everyone’s getting fired?

Wow -- yes. Nicely done!

Ski weekend with wife, one of my best friends and his wife! Sabres angle: spent part of the day skiing with my friend’s friend, who is from Goteborg, Sweden, and was a Frolunda season-ticket-holder for 20 years. When I told him I was from Buffalo we immediately got into a good conversation on Dahlin and Olofsson.

So you think if a fan attends a hockey game and boos, he should be ejected?

Hextall was GM for 4 seasons in Philly, during which they made the playoffs twice and got bounced in the 1st round both times. Ferguson was GM for 4 seasons in Toronto, during which they made the playoffs once and won one round. No thank you.

This isn't really a clear answer to my question. Just to be clear: if someone offered, say, the 23rd pick in the 1st round this year plus a 3rd-rounder for Reino, would you say yes?

Works for me.

Immediate removal from where? The message board? The arena? Again: are you saying that if someone posts "Hutton sucks" or "Reinhart sucks" on this message board, they should be banned from the board? Banned from the arena? Other?

I don't think anyone minds you making your case about Reino in this thread, or updating it as further facts emerge. But it's kinda annoying to saturate other threads with it. On the topic at hand: while I think Reino is a good player and want to keep him, I too have been concerned about overpaying Reino because their highly-paid core is going to include Eichel, Dahlin and Skinner as locks, and there is room only for 1 or 2 more big contracts. If Reino gets one of those slots, there may not be room to bring in another highly-paid guy that could contribute more than Reino. However, I think dumping Reino for picks and prospects because we don't want to pay him, say, $7MM per year x 7 years is likely to make the team worse, not better. I'll also note that even @LGR4GM and other Reino supporters (like me) are fine with trading Reino in a package for a no-BS really good 2C or similar difference-maker. That's the easy case. The hard question is the picks/prospects dump. So, I'll ask you and the other "trade Reino" advocates: what is the LEAST you would be willing to trade Reino for?

I think the stat @Claude Balls posted is telling, although not really because of trade deadline-related issues. IMHO, it's telling because it shows that, in each year that JB has been here, the Sabres have been out of it by the trade deadline and have run for the bus thereafter. The results speak for themselves.

RK is accountable for this mission-critical failure. I'm starting to think that both he and JB are going to get canned, and that it will be justified if it happens.

#1 and #2 are between the players and the NHL/AHL. I don't think anyone here would mind if the players tried to negotiated better rights on those items. Regarding #3 -- what kind of repercussions do you have in mind? If I post on a message board that Hutton sucks and the Sabres need a better goalie, what should happen to me? Who should be in charge of deciding my punishment?