thewookie1

We wouldn't for any number of reasons; Mitts would randomly revert to his younger self and like Utah, Marino and whomever else we got would get hurt long term leaving us with issues on the back end. 95% of players who come here get worse and over 75% get better after leaving and its been that way since 2010 more or less. It even predates ownership in that regard. How can we have some of the most respected analytics guys yet rarely do we get any boost in play. And if Adams is ignoring them then I doubt they'd still be here because I highly doubt they are getting absurd salaries to get ignored. I have zero idea how you fix this team. Players won't come here without massive overpayment and 3/4th of our moved implode no matter how highly or lowly the move is seen. With how our luck is, McDavid would of had a career ending collarbone injury his rookie year. You trade Cozens.... he'll take off like he has in international tournaments and no matter who we get in return they'll either play like garbage or play well and get hurt before death spiraling to sucking. That's effectively how it is. I have never cared that we traded Mitts away because I never had much emotion tied to the player but its gotten very old how anyone we trade away gets better and/or stabilizes at the high level we dealt them at. Bo Byram has a ton of skill and potential as well as a Cup ring however he's been mediocre at best most nights yet I also just know that if we were to trade him he'd suddenly play like he did his 1st couple years just because. Hell I never even wanted the guy and turned down countless Mitts/Cozens trades for him from Colorado on CapFriendly because he wasn't the type of Dman we needed but apparently he was the only one feasible to acquire for unknown reasons. I'm just tired at this point. I have to keep positive for sanities sake as I cannot help but keep up with this team as it has been with me since I was about 3. I just don't deep down know how we'll ever escape this state. A new owner would more than likely want to move the team for money reasons because its not as if our sales are exactly superb after 13 years of ineptitude. It's not as if we have multiple Buffalo based billionaires just laying in the weeds. Any new GM is either going to be another 1st timer in order to not challenge the owner or even if we got an experienced GM they'd likely be a dinosaur wanting to trade for Reaves and Matt Martin while trading Power for truculence and more physical BS. Then bury us with some 8 year 7mil contract for Tuch and sign some random 34 year old Dman who once played for him in his previous job.

Zucker had just moved to cover for Muel and isn't going to catch Horvat on a great day even lol. Not entirely sure what happened with Clifton.

The odds of that, that's awesome

3rd goalies will always be bargain bin guys. There are few, if any, vet goalies who were going to be willing to compete for a back up role with Levi. Levi did well enough last year to be given the opportunity to take the backup role. You sign a "higher end" backup and you effectively tell Levi that we don't care that you've worked hard and did well; you are trapped in Rochester. Not to mention if Levi wins the job even in that situation you either have to willingly downgrade or create serious strife with a vet goalie.

I think you’re trying to co-op the fact Quinn having a bad start to the season to validate your opinion on his play the past 2 seasons and frankly I think you’re mostly incorrect. The problem I see with Quinn this year isn’t that he’s getting bullied or is Olofsson 2.0 but rather the fact he seems to have completely lost most of what made him such a great player last year. His passing is inaccurate and dangerous, he’s not shooting from prime locations, his defensive positioning (which was pretty solid with defensively suspect teams) has suddenly vacated the premises and most noticeably his speed seems to be locked behind a lead door. He’s utterly perplexing in a way that leaves me feeling confused. Cozens you can very easily spot specific issues which seemed to come forth, in mass, after his concussion and broken jaw last year in combination with the puck luck of a black cat walking under a ladder while mirrors fall around it. The guy quite literally had a perfect 1 timer go off the shaft of a stick against Florida as well crossbar shot against Detroit. Quinn, unlike Cozens, whom does occasionally show some flashes of the Cozens we loved seems like he’s an entirely different player altogether.

Would it be wrong for me to suggest him getting a new concussion and hoping his persona flips back to his pre-Hathaway self? Could our 4th line go and track Hathaway down and beat him senseless in a back alley until he gives back Dylan's soul?

They played well against a superior team; the wheels fell off a bit after Dahlin's momentum smacked Lundell in the mouth. Verhegahe is a bloody bastard for blatantly boarding Krebs and then turtling by refusing to stand up; Cozens gave him some light cross checks but he can't exactly do much without being suspended for full on crosschecking a player sitting on the ice. UPL was solid but his typical issue popped up again with goals 4&5 which I can't blame on the defense really; they were well positioned and either the goalie needs to have it or the shot was just perfect. Florida plays dirty and we didn't shy away from it which is a step forward. All the hand wringing over Power is getting ridiculous; players make mistakes, live with it. He also had some really nice shifts and solid tie up in the 1st to prevent a goal. The best way to view him is akin to a potentially better version of Tyler Myers. Big bodied but will rarely use it aggressively and getting hung up on it is just a waste of air. Dahlin was truly a mixed bag all game, made a couple boneheaded defensive plays (not trusting his partner is an old habit that will die hard) but also creating offense with both his angles and passes. Unlike Cozens who seems snake-bit and over analyzing everything; WTF happened to Quinn. He went from an analytical 2-way star in the making to looking like "hockey hard, me sad" Between his baffling passes and positioning I don't see the player we literally just saw last year and I have no clue as to why.

I guess we should expect BS in favor of Florida after that goal in the Isles game where Tkachuk literally stole the goalie’s stick then dug into him to score

Weak call, first 10 min there were playoff rules. Now BS is illegal

Aside the SHG they played very well situational hockey start to finish. Thompson said Dahlin deked him out on the SHG. 100% he needs to shoot that but I still understand he wanted to help Thompson get the hat trick and feed the hot hand versus his freezing cold hand. He also played the 2-1 very well and UPL would want that one back. Just a failure in general but they bounced back and fought hard. Kane has a magnet in his stick; I don’t have the foggiest idea how that puck reached him in the last minute. I give Peterka credit though for doing everything physically possible to prevent Kane from his usual theatrics.

The new scoreboard is scary big

I’d give every team an emergency 1F, 1D, and 1G that can’t have a cap hit over 1.25mil and but can play in the AHL. They’d be cap free players only allowed to activated in specific situations and could ply in the AHL or merely skate with the team. Players on ELCs are not allowed, bonuses that can rise above the 1.25 mil are not allowed, the contract cannot be retained under the 1.25mil to qualify and the old player would have to pass through waivers if the team decides to change their emergency player to someone new. The NHL protects itself from unforeseen situations while throwing the NHLPA a bone with 96 roster spots. It would allow teams to carry a vet player with them without it being a liability. For instance this year the Sabres could have kept Reimer safe, signed Giordano and some older forward with playoff experience.

Hate it, will only further commercialize everything like jersey sponsors

Zucker’s been solid with assisting the two of them, He has 4/5 assists now

Injuries, pain specifically," can," make you agitated and have a far shorter wick for anger. Frustration + continuous pain can easily trigger a player to act more jumpy with issues that wouldn't usually trigger them.

Cozens made the play to help get the ENG, baby steps. He's so in his own head at this point its formed a black hole. They generally played well; Dahlin looked good, not Dahlin level good but very competent and shown his mean streak a bit. Top Line looked great from start to finish, all three actually made some good backchecking plays with Peterka's being the highlight. Benson had his usual game, doesn't put up points but is a bee in the bonnet of every opposing player on the forecheck.

It's very strange how 5v5 they are rather effective, the top line has been cooking with Peterka's return but yet the PP looks completely discombobulated most of the time.

We really are cursed aren't we?

The thing is we would t get a new team; the NHL isn’t going to bring a team back to Buffalo if the Sabres were to leave. They’d either go to Hamilton or Toronto 2 or not at all. None of which are sufficient

Thompson can't be an effective winger due to his size; he needs a playmaking winger and he'll be a solid 1C

Then it’s not even worth them ever doing well again

Nothing we can do would of worked anyway, we may as well just give up

I just don’t think we will ever be good again…… I don’t care who we bring in, they will always fall off

Feels like the Sabres are perpetually trying to plug a dam with fingers but never have enough. Fix offense and the D and goalies implode, goalies look good and we can’t score

I trust he can be a highly effective player with the right teaching and training; I have zero interest in dumping Cozens so he can explode elsewhere and win a Cup