nfreeman

I’ve heard that too, but I haven’t heard anyone’s plan as to what happens if Belmont Park doesn’t happen.

I can see why you interpreted my post that way, but my meaning was not to blame Lehner for the loss. It was simply to point out that a good goalie does not continually let in softies in the 3rd and OT, which Lehner undeniably does.

OK. If you don't agree with the 'key saves at key times" view, or the likelihood that his teammates know that he's going to give up a softy late in the game, and that that knowledge negatively affects their play, I don't know what else to say. You are certainly welcome to your opinions. I just disagree with them. Similarly, I just disagree with this. These players aren't robots. Most of what drives success or failure is what is between the ears IMHO. They play with more confidence -- and thus better -- when they know they have a good goalie behind them.

A team this young and shaky needs rock-solid goaltending — including in the 3rd and OT. 30th in SV%? Give me a freaking break. I don’t want to hear that he kept them in the game. He’s a well-below-average NHL starter. It is obvious to me, to many others here and, I’ll wager, to the team that Lehner is not mentally tough and is going to let them down in crunch time. The SO record alone should make that clear to everyone. Yes the team as a whole has stunk but IMHO they would play better in front of a better goalie — as Dom’s string-and-rubber-bands teams did for him relative to his backups. And when Miller’s teams were fragile little children he was still far superior to what we’re seeing from Lehner.

I am highly skeptical that the Islanders will get a new arena in Belmont Park, or anywhere else in the NYC region. None of the media coverage that I’ve seen of the Belmont Park proposal has provided any details as to the financing for the arena. I continue to believe that there will be no public money for an Islanders arena, and I don’t see the Islanders’ owners ponying up $750 million or so. I think the Islanders are going to be at the Barclays Center for the foreseeable future.

There's also a reason Lindy (and many other NHL coaches) talks about "key saves at key times." Serious question: do you think Lehner will be a good NHL starter somewhere next year?

I'm a bit hazy on the deets, but wasn't Bromley Crozier's backup? (Maybe he took over from Crozier for some period in the early 1970s before giving way to Desjardins.)

How many softies from the blue line in the 3rd period (or OT) does Lehner have to give up before people stop apologizing for him? When the Sabres have a lead in the 3rd period, we all know he's going to let one in. He doesn't have what is needed upstairs to close out games. I guaran-damn-tee that he's not their goalie next year.

I seriously think Lehner is the worst starting goalie the Sabres have ever had.

Plantar effing fascitis.

There have been plenty of low points in the history of Buffalo sports mismanagement. That was the all-time worst IMHO.

KO has 1 goal in his last 12 games. For a scoring winger that is highly corpse-like. He's not going anywhere, but it's because no one is going to take that contract -- not because of his NMC. Why would he not want to move to a better team? As for your 3 options for a larger deal, I agree that Kane and Reino are possibilities, but I would also include ROR, Risto and McCabe, and I would exclude Lehner, because while I agree that he could easily be traded, I don't think anyone would give them anything substantial for him -- maybe a 2nd-tier defenseman prospect as someone suggested upthread, or perhaps a 3rd- or 4th-round pick. I think Pittsburgh is a good guess for the reasons you mentioned.

This is fair and reasonably possible assuming he hasn't fallen off the Moulson cliff. My point was more that no one is going to take him this season or next summer.

I don't think Pommer will produce much, and I don't think anyone would take him in trade.

Don't eff around with individual stocks. Put it in an S&P 500 index fund until you get close to needing it (e.g. if you are buying a house), then start moving it into cash as you approach D-day.

For the record, those are not bikinis in the OP. My prediction about Zemgus being the next to get shipped out is looking good.

I think JBott wants to keep a presumably unhappy Moulson far away from the Sabres' prospects. From Moulson's perspective, he gets to winter in Southern California and presumably make his wife happy. Pretty good arrangement all around.

Your question doesn't work, because it lumps a bunch of players together in the "didn't perform" description. No one with functioning eyes would say that ROR or Lehner have been as bad as Moulson and KO. KO may be slightly less corpse-like than he was at the beginning of the season, but he has 1 goal in his last 9 games and 15 shots in his last 7 games. He's nowhere close to the player they thought they were getting. The statement that Bogo's contract -- with 2 more years at $5.1MM -- is more of an albatross than KO's -- with 5 more years at $6MM -- is insane. You are right that in retrospect the Sabres would've been better off not trading for Lehner and finding a goalie elsewhere. Not all trades work out. If Lehner had lived up to his potential (which he still might, btw, although it almost certainly won't be with the Sabres), it would've been well worth the 21st pick in the 1st round, which usually doesn't yield an impact player. Moreover, the Sabres would've been substantially better off only if they had found a much better goalie elsewhere or if the 1st-round pick had turned into a good player -- both of which are something like 20% probabilities.

Do you think Reino and Eichel look like mature, consistent, motivated leaders?

Well, if I were going to list them in order, it would be: - the tank - poor drafting - failure to bring in good leaders - mediocre goaltending - giving big contracts to underperforming vets (primarily Moulson, KO and Gorges) And as Drunkard points out, they didn't give Gorges his deal -- although they kinda did, since GMTM actively pursued Gorges pretty early on in his deal. Moulson has been an albatross pretty much since they signed him. He has another year on his deal (as you yourself posted a few minutes ago). More importantly, "paying nothing but money" for KO overlooks the key issue: your top-paid guys can't be completely ineffective. That sets a terrible tone to the team. Of the guys they traded for, none has played as poorly as Moulson and KO have (I recognize that some might disagree as to Bogo, but he was a 2ndary piece in that deal -- more of part of the price GMTM had to pay to get Kane -- and injuries aren't the same as poor play). Kane has played well, ROR has mostly played well but provided zero leadership and Lehner has been mediocre but not terrible like Moulson (every day) and KO (this year). I agree that the guys they traded for were supposed to be part of the core, and that they have failed to deliver. But that's not the same as "mortgaging the future" or "blowing up in their face." The Sabres still had a ton of picks and prospects after making the trades, and those guys -- Baptiste, Bailey, Fasching, plus Cornel, Karabacek, Hurley, Johanssen, Martin, Kea, Catenacci, Girgensons, Leduc, Sundher, MacKenzie -- who are all 2nd- or 3rd-round picks (plus Zemgus in the 1st round) since 2010 -- have done zero. IMHO, they committed suicide with the tank, shoveled dirt on the grave with poor drafting, then cemented it over by not bringing in good leadership or good goaltending. As always, YMMV.

I think some AHL time would be good for learning some humility and some appreciation for their opportunity to play in the NHL and for the need to play the game the right way in all areas. There is zero possibility of him walking away from $3MM, let alone $8MM.

Your first paragraph is classic #Hammymath. We were discussing the trades that brought in Lehner, Kane, Bogo and ROR. You omitted the salaries the Sabres parted with in bringing in those guys (in particular, Myers and Stafford, who come close to netting out Kane and Bogo). You also included a bunch of other guys in your $37.5MM, including a few whom I included in my "giving big contracts to underperforming vets" point. You make some good points in your 2nd paragraph -- but it's important to remember that those issues were the reasons those players were available to begin with. Bottom line, IMHO, is that as I said above, while you are right that those trades haven't delivered what GMTM was hoping for, none of them has really crashed and burned, and those trades are not the reason the Sabres are where they are.

Well, I agree that it would be nice to have a bunch of potentially good prospects in the system right now. I just think that those trades were and remain defensible -- even the Lehner trade, which I think has busted -- and that those trades are not where the franchise went astray. The team's problems, IMHO, stem from: - the tank - poor drafting - giving big contracts to underperforming vets (primarily Moulson, KO and Gorges) - mediocre goaltending - failure to bring in good leaders

Leaving aside where they were drafted, who among the guys GMTM gave up is a quality NHL player? It looks like Myers, who seems to have settled into a "solid 2nd pairing defenseman" role, is the only one.

It's too bad -- I think they both would benefit from some AHL time.