dudacek

Good to see the Mule slide right in like he belongs. He showed Hagg's toughness and Pysyk's poise in the same package, which is a pretty nice combination to have. A defender who eliminates his man? It's been a long time.

Then why do you constantly want him fired over his record? Seems to me the season is unfolding pretty much like he planned: costs are controlled, the room seems OK, the kids are developing, we are still in line for a lottery pick.

Insert Jennifer Lawrence GIF here. Not sure why you continue to pursue the narrative the Adams is trying to win this year when all evidence is to the contrary.

Zero results yet from the hockey department he assembled less than a year ago? Zero results yet from the 6 1sts and 6 2nds he acquired for the 21-23 drafts? Zero results yet from his slow cook player development focus and strategy a half-season in? Zero results yet from his sign cheap pending UFAs/maximize cap space strategy prior to its first trade deadline and off-season? Zero results yet from a season that was clearly always planned to be about development? Shocking.

Neither has Tim Murray, nor Teddy Nolan. Phil Housley and Jason Botterill have shuffled back to the assistant level they came from. Dan Bylsma is an assistant in the minor leagues. Ralph Krueger is out of hockey. I’m seeing a pattern here.

Well, apparently Adams does have problem with asking too much. Or because the two previous highly-recommended hires kinda sucked and let them down, leading them to be skeptical of the NHL heirarchy? And because they had lengthy first-hand experience with Adams succeeding in every task they had previously handed him? Also, what CEO/owner doesn't want staff to do what they want? I've worked for bosses who gave me a lot of latitude in achieving their goals my way, but I've never worked for one who let me do what I want.

In Dahlin’s first year he was 4th in ice time at 21.09, 1st in points, with mostly offensive starts. In his 2nd he was 3rd in ice time with 19:18, 1st in points, with mostly offensive starts. Seems to me he was being put in positions to succeed. He was a top-20 point-getter among defencemen and his analytics were respectable. How was this asking too much of him? What would you have done differently in terms of usage and how would that have helped?

Don’t know if the Sabres ask too much of their young D, so much as the fans. IMO, Dahlin was mostly well-handled in year 1 and 2, horribly miscoached in year 3, and is properly being asked to be a #1 this year and is growing into the role. Jokiharju has similarly been slowly elevated up the roster. They want(ed?) Samuelsson to be a top pairing guy in the AHL before elevating him to the NHL. Risto, sure. Who else am I missing?

Judged against Jim Schoenfeld, sure. Judged against most NHL defencemen, I disagree. Nashville game would be my exhibit A

Here's something unexpected: Thompson, Okposo, Girgensons, Tuch, Murray, Jankowski, Hayden, Dahlin, Samuelsson, Hagg. That's more than half a lineup at 210ish or more. Quietly the Sabres have become kinda big.

Would a boatload of money and a chance to play with Dahlin or Power help?

Don't let Cale Makar fool you. Defencemen take longer. Jokiharju 22, Dahlin 21, Samuelsson 21, Johnson 20, Power 19 might evolve into an excellent corps. Talk to me in 3 years. I can't wait another 3 years. Sabres need to target a top-4 defensively strong veteran RD this off-season. One of their LDs needs to add RD to their repertoire.

Yes. The last is fair comment. Personally, I don’t find it hard to believe. What do you think Peters might be referring to?

I'm not talking about a person to run the hockey operations at all. And the Pegulas' motivation would not be to get a new person in charge. It would be about getting a cash injection to help with their ambitious capital projects. Giving some control to this new person/firm would be the price they would have to pay to get that cash. It could be an equity firm purely looking for a return on investment, or it could be a well-heeled individual wanting into the NHL circle. In either case, the investor would be looking at this as an opportunity to make money by investing in a depreciated asset with growth potential. In either case, they would want a certain level of control over business decisions in order to realize their return — what is done to sell tickets and sponsorships and jerseys, produce content and marketing campaigns, manage administration etc., in order to maximize team revenue and value. It would happen if, and only if, each side is comfortable with the amounts of control and cash being shifted.

The idea that developing players have not been rewarded with callups is ridiculous. Team started off by giving R2 a 17-game shot Then Murray got called up after 9 games in Rochester Luukkonen after 12 Krebs after 16 Fitzgerald after 22 Peterka after 25 Quinn after 20 and overcoming mono Samuelsson after 20 and overcoming COVID It hasn't taken 1/3 of a season down there before every single productive prospect has been rewarded.

Riffing off this: what do people think of the idea of a 'managing partner'? I don't mean exactly like Larry Quinn, who was essentially a team president rewarded with an ownership stake, I mean someone who brings in a real pile of new cash in exchange for some control over how the business is run? It would mostly be about business: the new guy gets the automatic return on investment that seems to come from pro sports ownership and an opportunity to run an NHL team. I could see people recognizing the Sabres as a mismanaged business, with an untapped market of alienated fans ready to relive 2006 and spend "if only...". Terry still gets final say on most major decisions and the hoped-for benefits of increased revenue streams and franchise valuation, along with the ability to fade into the background and no longer put up with the bashing he's received for running the Sabres into the ground.

Possible. But it always seemed to me like Terry spends as much of his time “managing” the Sabres as anyone on here does. You don’t do that unless you’ve got more than money invested. Maybe more like one of those posters who comes in with the answers for everything for a few months, then gets bored and disappears, off to the next distraction?

Aren’t we all? 🙄 He lists a dozen UFA defencemen who might be moved and most are better than Miller. To our benefit, Miller is cheaper than most and right-handed. I still say 3rd.

I’ve come to hold this opinion because of the way the business of the team has been managed for the past 2 years, with a clear austerity program in place, gutting of staff and little to no investment into facilities or marketing or long-term player contracts. They’ve taken the steps that a business would take when trying to make itself attractive to investors. I’m no expert on the world of high finance, but I don’t think it is at all difficult to speculate that even someone as rich as Terry could use some cash to help fund an upgrade of the arena, or the new stadium project for the Bills. Hell, I’m sure he could use some to cover the losses of the past 2 seasons, which have to be considerable. I suppose it is also possible that he has tired of the Sabres, or of the flak he has taken as owner of the Sabres, and wants to step away from being the face of ownership. Personally, I agree with you that he loves the Sabres and would be surprised if no longer wants to be owner.

Which is why it won’t be announced before a stadium deal

What pick does Savoie start to make sense for Buffalo?

Noticed his stats line has been starting to bump up.

Given how Cozens and Tuch looked vs Nashville and how VO and Tage looked early, the combos are obvious to me. For the 1st time in the Granato era we are seeing a player play himself out of favour. Olofsson was under 15 minutes last night and was dropped to PP2. His line was the 4th to see the ice in each of the past 2 games.

As if that had anything to do with Josh’s performance.

Against a top defence in frigid temperatures. I wonder how will it be remembered outside of Buffalo, and how it will affect the national image of Josh Allen.