dudacek

I think you're right about the disagreement. That said I agree with you. It's not that last year doesn't count, but I don't think he fully started being a GM the way Punch was the GM, or Scotty was the GM until Krueger was fired.

One thing Adams has done significantly better than Botterill is that he has tended to invest $750,000 and no assets into one-year contracts for his JAGs like Hinostroza and Pysyk, rather than $10 million and picks into long-term deals for JAGs like Sheary and Miller. Seriously @GASabresIUFAN, how can you get upset by Butcher and ignore that?

They weren't on the NHL roster Adams inherited, which is where this conversation started. I agree Botterill did a pretty good job drafting. His track record at developing is questionable (Mitts, Tage) and his ability to acquire existing NHL talent was pitiful. So far, Adams ability acquire NHL talent has been pitiful as well.

Agree entirely with your conclusions. Think it’s ironic that keeping 3 of Botterill’s pickups (Olofsson, Asplund and Girgensons predate him) is somehow being used to defend his roster-building. 35 players played for the Sabres in Botterill’s last season. 10 of them are still with the Sabres. Joki, Tage, Casey, blind man pick Rasmus Dahlin, depth defenceman Colin Miller and Jeff Skinner and his immovable contract are the only ones Botterill brought in.

We NEEDED to go on a long-scale rebuild because Jack Eichel demanded a trade, full stop. The fact that Reinhart and Risto were the only other veterans worth much and didn’t want to return either cemented that. I gotta say that what we learned from Jack post-trade cleared away my most significant concerns about Adams.

Samuelsson is a man in a man’s league. He’s physically more ready than most of our NHL roster. Krebs plays a man’s game with a boys body. He’s going to look like Cozens did last year. Peterka is faster than most of our NHL roster and can skate through checks. He’s close, physically and mentally, but he needs more time. Quinn is the hardest to project for me, because he still has a boys body, but his hands and his mental game are so far above AHL men his physical weakness doesn’t matter much. It’s hard to say whether that will be the case in the NHL. To be clear, any of the above is good enough right now to be a Sabres regular instead of some of our JAGs. The question is are they much better?

I think what’s different between Adams this year and Murray in 2014/15 is that for Adams, the development of young players already in the organization supersedes a higher draft pick. The JAGs were hand-picked to be known “good guys” and they were sold on the idea that “come in, conduct yourself like a pro and you will get a great chance to resurrect your NHL career.” Which is a heckuva lot different than “just guys” just brought in and basically given the message “zero ##### given” about you now, or in the future, or on anything other than finishing last.

Agreed. Mostly. The caveat for me is that I don’t think Adams is operating under the stark premise of “winning doesn’t matter” right now even. His premise is more “winning now doesn’t matter as much as winning in the future.” The crux of this discussion is that there is a sliding scale to that. We are fully on the “future” end of that scale right now. But we have to be moving toward the now. For me, the “how fast” has yet to be determined. But next year, it definitely has to be closer.

Personally, I think bringing in a goalie is mandatory now. But I do recognize that Adams failure was betting on Ullmark without a backup plan, because there is no obvious fair deal solution to be found in-season. Personally, in a vaccuum, I would find a 60-point season this year to be disappointing and a failure to improve at least 10 points next year disappointing. Basically, though, I want to recognize my GM’s plan, see signs that it is progressing, and see him moving to address what isn’t working. Im not really interested in worrying about whether or not, or when, I might need to fire him until it actually starts to become clear that I might need to fire him.

You think keeping Reinhart was a possibility (this summer, not 2 years ago)? Which of these deals should/could Adams have beat in free agency? https://www.tsn.ca/nhl/nhl-free-agent-tracker-1.322102

From where I sit, Adams chose not to overpay on long-term deals or sacrifice futures for veterans who may have made the team 10 points better this year, and instead see what the existing wave of kids could do in important roles while supplementing them with cheap, short-term deals and letting the second wave of kids develop away from the NHL. Strategy-wise, what would you have done differently with this season?

Adams has done this once.

This is exactly right. This franchise is still in the phase where the efforts have been focused on areas that aren't immediately measurable in wins and losses — rebuilding the hockey department, acquiring young talent, developing the young talent we have.

Every team measures itself on a formula of (wins/expectations) x circumstances. The only variable between teams is the patience of the ownership.

They matter this year. I doubt we are defining "results" the same way.

The NHL and the NHLPA's participation in the Olympics was agreed to with the caveat either party could withdraw if they felt uncomfortable with the COVID climate. This possibility isn't new, Omicron is. https://www.vancouverislandfreedaily.com/sports/olympics-top-nhl-agenda-at-board-of-governors-meeting-in-florida/

Building a team and an organization properly takes time. Firing the builder after 80 games seems premature under any circumstances. Firing one who came in saddled with Jason Botterill’s roster and Ralph Krueger’s coaching, who was forced to gut his hockey department and trade his franchise centrepiece during a pandemic seems utterly ridiculous. Especially when his only obvious egregious mis-step so far is his handling of the Ullmark situation and replacement. Not sure if the industry opinion of the Sabres could get any worse, but that might do it.

Also signed Aaron Dell and John Hayden and traded for Malcolm Subban, Peyton Krebs and Alex Tuch, while trading away Jack Eichel since adding Will Butcher's $2.8 million. Really not seeing how Butcher's contract is tying his hands in any way, shape or form. It's pretty clear the Sabres entered the season not planning on being very good, and that they don't want to spend money to be bad. That doesn't mean they have an internal cap.

I think you and i walked this ground pretty thoroughly under Botterill. Rebuild process: Clean up the mess -> Build the foundation -> Develop the foundation -> Compete -> Tweak -> Contend When you start at the bottom like Adams did, and choose the route he has (IMO, the correct one for long-term success), you get up to 5 years to build a contender. Along the way, you have to acquire potential building blocks, develop those blocks, fill the holes in roster and keep the wins arrow generally trending up. No year is a free pass. Every year needs to be judged in the context of the plan. This year is about tearing down and pouring a new foundation. Early returns on his choices in those areas get a passing grade from me so far. Next year I expect better goaltending, the injection of a number of kids, and the continued improvement of the Blinding Light Brigade. And I expect those things to contribute to a more competitive team. I have found myself able to reset my timer to Jack's trade demand and the paths trod by the Tampas, the Blackhawks, and seemingly more recent teams like the Canes and the Panthers. I get why many can't. I'm not buying your premise that there is some internal cap the Butcher contract has us pressed up against, and that is why we don't have a goalie.

The 1st assist was a short tapper back to Malone at our blueline on a give-and-go zone exit. Malone skated it up ice and set up Mule for the one-timer. On the 2nd, he moved it back to Laaksonen at the point while under pressure on the PP. Laaksonen found Malone, who buried a backhand. The goal was a nice one-timer, especially because he has not been burying those kinds of chances. @Taro T is absolutely correct about the passes being off tonight. That's not usually a problem with him. Where I thought he shone tonight was on his puck pressure. There was one shift in particular in the 3rd where he prevented three consecutive zone exits through anticipation, good hands and will. He knows where to go and is always moving forward.

Nice goal and a nice assist - no junk points there. He’s never on the PP, yet he’s got 9 points in 11 games. He’s not this big lump some perceived him as, he can play. But it’s the other end of the ice - I swoon every time he goes into the boards with someone, the other guy gets erased and he calmly moves the puck to safety. It’s not crash-bang or flashy, but it’s…like…inevitable. He’s like the tide. I know they’re both lefties, but the thought of him and Power together in front of Levi in a few years makes me feel safer than hot chocolate in front of the fire at Gramma’s.

Give @Thorny credit for keeping us focused on what makes pro sports pro sports: ultimately, only the results matter. The goaltending situation is a serious mess that is counterproductive to the plan (well-articulated above by @Brawndo). Best of intentions or not, that falls on Adams. Will Butcher is a fail as top 5 defenceman, but I don’t understand why anyone would put much weight on that. He’s hardly the league’s worst contract, probably not it’s worst 7th defencemen (we’ve certainly had worse), and neither his presence, nor his salary is interfering with his role or anything else. He was brought in as a placeholder. And we got a pick for rolling the dice. Shrug. Robert Hagg, Mark Pysyk Drake Caggiula, Vinnie Hinostroza and Craig Anderson have been worth the investments. Maybe less so Anders Bjork and John Hayden. Definitely not Aaron Dell. None of those guys really mean much in the greater scheme of things either. Hiring Don Granato and telling him to focus on the development of his young NHLers rather than wins and losses, that was an important decision. Tage Thompson and Rasmus Asplund have taken huge steps. Dylan Cozens is growing up before our eyes. Jacob Bryson has mostly played well. Mitts and VO and Jokiharju have been hampered by injuries, but they all appear to have grown as well. I know it’s not a popular opinion here at the moment, but Rasmus Dahlin has too. Adams putting his leadership in the hands of Okposo and Girgensons was a big deal. They are doing the jersey proud with their effort and their attitudes. Okposo and Jeff Skinner are producing and contributing like I never expected to see again. The return on Risto, Sam and Jack was a big deal. It will be some time before we can judge the harvest, but the early returns on Levi and Krebs are excellent. We’re all excited to see what we get from Alex Tuch. And 6 1st rounders and 6 2nd rounders over a 3-year period has the ability to make or break the franchise over the next decade. And the transformation of the hockey department was big deal. It will determine whether the plan succeeds or fails. The early returns on prime picks like Quinn, Peterka and Power are outstanding. The early returns on later picks, and on the Amerks are intriguing. Everything above is on Adams. The results are all that matters. I am not going to confuse what we see today - on the ice, or on the farm - as the results.

Alex Nylander has 10 points in 19 games in the AHL this year. Or a negligibly better pace than when he put up 28 in 65 in the AHL as an 18-year-old. Some guys develop in curves, others in straight lines.

I never expected much in the way of improvements in the standings, not with our goaltending. I wanted to be more entertained, and I needed to see effort from the entire roster and growth from the kids. On the balance, I’ve generally got each, in fluctuating levels. The season is only 1/4 done. Lots of room for things to change.

Such a good observation. There was so much recent talk about defence that I decided to track what individual defencemen were doing with the puck in our zone. What I discovered was initially surprising, but when I considered it in the context of what played out on the ice, it wasn't surprising at all. Unlike most of the season the Sabres played it safe last night. As a result, they made life easier for the goalie and harder for the forwards. It shouldn't be surprising that a system that encourages offence yields 6-4 games and a system that encourages defence yields 2-0 games. Donnie can influence how they play and how they work, but he has no power over how talented they are.