JJFIVEOH

It was actually to clear space for Dadonov. Who was arguably one of the best free agent signings of last year. Dadonov and Barkov combined for 55 goals and 143 points. It had nothing to do with Bjugstad. Potential.................... I've heard that term a lot over the last 10-15 years. I won't deny he's not trying. He's just not very good at getting it done. No person in their right mind hires a rookie GM and head coach at the same time. This team is a train wreck.

Sorry, I was talking about Dale Tallon. I forgot to add the link. https://twitter.com/FlaPanthers/status/1013578230576525312

Some of us are sick of waiting. Building a playoff team shouldn't take close to a decade. Pegula is a fool for hiring two rookies to lead this team. For a guy with deep pockets and no care in how much he spends, his teams aren't doing a damn thing.

Here is a real GM. Botterill could learn a lot from him. He's got his entire core signed through at least 2021, and at a good rate. He hired a player's coach and not a teacher. He had the best record in the NHL after the All-Star game when the team got used to Boogie's coaching style. Buffalo fans are strong and supportive, but some can only wait so long. I've waited long enough. I lived in SoFL since the Panther's inauguration. Now my closest team is either the Hurricanes or the Preds. I'll watch Sabres games, but it might be time to move on and follow somebody else. This is tiresome.

I knew we'd eventually agree on something. :flirt:

I'm with you too. After all these years of incompetence, I have no hope left. And it appears to be 3-4 more years of incompetence. While some GM's can turn around and make a team successful in a year or two, this team will be riding a decade long string of failure. Just not into waiting it out any longer. This is one of the worst trades in the history of the team.

Sign me up. I never liked Housley as coach either.

It's Buffalo. Real winners want out before they turn into losers. In 3 years, Eichel's contract will seem like a bargain and he'll want out too.

Just curious, how many here have officially given up on this team, and how many die-hards are still waiting around for that small glimmer of hope?

And just last year we kept reading about how O'Reilly was a perfect teammate, great work ethic, always stayed after practice to improve his game and kept the young guys there as well to help them improve their game.................... I agree with you, I hope he was like you mentioned because it might make me feel better. But, I get the feeling he's not that way.

This team has way too many average players on the roster. I'm all for the team concept and not putting too much emphasis on a couple of superstars........... but this is a ridiculous trade. It's very tough to come across a great 2 way center, and at the price, O'Reilly should have been an 'untouchable'. There is no good coming out of this. Just when I thought the Sabres might be turning the corner.

you Botterill, I'm so done with this team.

Let's hope GA is right ( and a couple others) that Hutton is a late bloomer like Tim Thomas. He's 32 years old and had one really good year. I'm sure if we all look back, we could find a large handful of goaltenders who had one good year. Botterill still needs to pick up a 3rd stringer. In this day and age, you can't get by with two goaltenders.

My opinion, people can choose what and what not to read. Having a specific thread for politics only makes it more obvious what you're getting to if you want to get involved. Even though I took several months off from this group because I had enough of the childish remarks, it had nothing to do with having a political thread. I entered those threads knowing I may not read what I wanted to hear, and I treated it that way because we all have differing opinions. What turned me off mostly was the fact that the group was controlled from the top in what we were allowed to say. And you might find some correlation between the traffic on this board and the lack of success of the team, but this place took a significant hit once the political thread was closed. Like I said, just my opinion. ????

Duclair is on his 3rd team and he's not even 23 years old yet. He hasn't done squat since his rookie year. There is a reason why teams don't want him. Stay away from him. His career is circling the drain.

Caps did not qualify Smith-Pelly. I'd take him in a heartbeat. Solid energy player, enforcer, I heard he's a great locker room guy. The Sabres are soft, they need a little bit of grit.

How can there be a generational player every year. Doesn't that defy the definition of generational?

Sorry, didn't mean to sound defensive, that wasn't my intention. If he can pick up a quality starter, then I'll be fine with this decision. I just think it's risky to dump Lehner before he's made a deal for a quality starter. We'll see.

Perhaps, but he's certainly a hell of a lot closer than anything else they have,

I'm sorry you don't approve of my viewpoint. But after seeing what the Panthers and Penguins went through, I'm leery about not having at least two proven, qualified goaltenders on the roster. Right now, the entire core of Sabres goaltenders have less than 30 games played. The Golden Knights don't get where they were without Subban. The Caps don't get where they were without Grubauer. And they had proven starters in front of them! The Sabres don't even have that. I never claimed Lehner was the answer. But, unless you have something better lined up, you don't go leaving a spot wide open with nothing to replace it. The Sabres neutered Lehner this year, he is a Hextall type player and he wasn't allowed to be himself............. which is when he excelled. Regardless of what GM's think of him, he put up much better numbers than any other goaltender for the Sabres in years. Enroth might come close, and he was good in the shootouts. (He holds the NHL record for most consecutive stops). So now we're down to an unproven and............................. well, that's it. Chad hasn't re-signed and I hope he doesn't. By ESPN standards, he was 2nd worst in the entire league last year in save percentage. If Botterill has another plan in mind to bring in a proven #1 starter, then I'll support the decision to dump Lehner. But, in the meantime, you don't let your starter walk until you've figured out a better plan. And right now it appears they have none.

Anderson would be a good goaltender for Buffalo. I recall reading a stat that he has the highest win percentage in NHL history when facing 40+ shots.

Good point. If I remember correctly, it's been a few years, his issues were back around 2012-2014.

I wouldn't mind either. But hasn't he had concussion issues?

Mitch Korn

Let it go.