dudacek

I did this exercise a few weeks back, but look at the number of players who were flat out excellent in their projected roster spot: Dahlin, Thompson, McLeod, probably Tuch, Krebs if you considered him the 13th forward? Then you look at the outright failures: Power, Samuelsson, Jokiharju, Clifton, UPL, Quinn, Cozens, Greenway (health), Lafferty, Aube-Kubel it's easy to see why they're a 77-point team.

I suspect there is nothing the Sabres could do in the off-season that could get me excited about next season and I know I will be watching next year regardless. I will once again try to enjoy each win this group of Tyrod Taylors may have in store in the faint hope they eventually lead me to an Andy Dalton moment.

What reasons have we been given to believe otherwise?

I was just meaning that he flat out confirmed that Ruff was coming back and pretty much said the same about UPL. Said each would reflect on what went wrong and come back better. He believes in them.

Not sure how many heard the Adams radio hit on WGR today, but he did not sound like a man who expected to be fired this weekend. And if he’s here, then so are Ruff and UPL.

Yep, although that seems to be something the Sabres hold in high value in all positions. The thing I hear Lindy harp on most of all is puck management. I expect that — more than physicality, or handedness or defensive aptitude — to be the theme of the players they add and subtract this summer. Norris for Cozens is the obvious example, but the Bernard-Docker for Jokiharju flip is dramatic in that area. Clifton, Quinn and Samuelsson probably the next three on the list in terms of coughing it up? I mean Thompson, Dahlin and Power do it as well, but for those three, the number of positive passes far outweighs the negative.

I always take it as laughing AT me. Unless i was trying to funny. Then it means I am ***** hilarious.

I think another thing being lost is that it's not really about where Norris ranks on the depth chart. It's about whether or not he can help this team more than Dylan Cozens did. i don't think people talk enough about the hockey rationale behind this trade. I think @Thorner tapped into something interesting here that no one has really followed up on: the Sabres seem focused on centres who are positionally sound, manage the puck, and can finish, as opposed to the more stereotypical puck carrier/puck distributor; A lot of that could be due to the unusual amount of emphasis they've placed on defencemen who can move and distribute, but who also need to be covered. Dylan Cozens was killing the Sabres with transition turnovers and defensive reads that just couldn't be absorbed in the Sabres high-risk blueline-led system. But he theoretically added some ES offence, some edge and some puck-carrying ability to the middle of an Ottawa forward corps that needed it. Josh Norris, meanwhile, theoretically added some ES defence, some puck management predictability, and some special teams ability to the middle of a Buffalo forward corps that needed it. His addition fits with the way they've molded Kulich, the move to replace Mittelstadt with McLeod and the decision to slide Thompson to the wing where he has more freedom to freelance and make mistakes.

Interesting we're seeing a visible manifestation at the ticket window of what anecdotally I'm hearing from so many friends and neighbours. Over here in BC, southbound border crossings were down 25% from what is typical this time of year. As long this post remains up I can't leave it unchallenged. That $200B is as much a welfare cheque as the money you give to your grocery store. It is money Americans were freely choosing to spend on Canadian goods and services because they thought that's where they were getting the best bang for their buck. It's about as far away from welfare as one can get. If you want to spend that money on more expensive American goods and services, I can respect that choice. But don't justify it with lies.

While Power misses what should be a hard summer of strengthening and conditioning and preparing himself to take a step next year.

The Power thing has been underrated around here. A long-term injury and rehab would rob the Sabres of one of their best levers for improvement heading into next season.

I have no idea what Marner values most or why, but where he wants to live has to be some kind of factor. Access to friends and family certainly weighs into such decisions, not just for the player, but also his spouse. Personally, I think for most athletes the underrated motivational factor is ego: Does this team make me feel important and wanted?” Does this team give me an opportunity to be the best version of the player I think I am? If it’s not that, money might be paramount to some, lifestyle to others, security to still others. Some want an opportunity to grow their brand, others want a chance to hide. All these factors and more coalesce into as many different packages as there are players. There is no one size fits all.

Clearly better and on a contending team? Kucherov, Rantanen, Nylander/Marner… that’s 3 contending teams with clearly better right wingers than Tuch. Pastrnak is better, but he’s not on a contending team… Reinhart, even though Sabrespace told me he wasn’t a first liner on a contending team. Maybe Vegas, but Stones pretty old and beat up and smaller and slower…the stats are pretty much the same… Help me out here, who am I missing?

It’s not an easy fix, and it’s a harder sell than some other options. But I’m a little sick of Adams leaning into the idea that “nobody” wants to come here. Jason Zucker and Jordan Greenway just signed as UFAs who could have easily moved on to greener pastures. Dahlin, Thompson, Cozens, Samuelsson, Power, Luukkonen have all recently made long-term commitments. Reinhart and Mittelstadt both indicated they were interested in doing the same but the team didn’t share the interest. Going a little further back Skinner, Eichel, Okposo and O’Reilly did the same during the drought. None of these guys had to sign. It was well-reported just two summers ago that the Sabres were coming off no-trade lists and getting more attention from agents, and it wasn’t because of palm trees, it was because at the time they were starting to look like a team on the upswing. Adams can sell easy travel, a chance to play with Dahlin, a chance to play with Power, a chance to play with Thompson, a nice place to raise a family, cheap housing, easy access to southern Ontario, the appeal of being in a hockey city without the pressures of a Canadian market. He’s got money to spend and futures to leverage. And there’s also that little thing about the 400-odd players who don’t have any way of vetoing a trade to Buffalo. His barriers aren’t unique and they certainly aren’t any higher than those facing the 1st-place Winnipeg Jets. Stop making excuses and do your ***** job.

Right, I mis-phrased that. Was Willander the guy they had targeted as someone they were looking closely at at 13 prior to Benson dropping? I got a vibe that year they were high on him.

I have no issues with the concept of Norris as a 2C upgrade to Cozens next season. And agree completely with the above. Adams might lack the capacity to upgrade the top 6, but the Sabres don't.

Any idea if, as I suspect, Willander was actually the guy the Sabres were targeting in 2023?

Wasn't talking experience, was talking proven production in an upper roster role. The 35-goal season, obviously, but also 91 goals and 158 points compared to 51 and 125 for McLeod and 29 and 93 for Krebs with fewer games played. if you want to throw Lafferty into that equation, he's 40 and 90.

So no chance in hell.

I wouldn't think twice about including Norris in any deal but that also applies to any player not named Tage or Rasmus. I don't put much stock in the team's performance in his absence. As long as Tage remains on the wing he sits on top of our depth chart and there is very little proven behind him.

Adams track record has been to get his Euro guys here, so you're probably right. But we have seen them sign guys and leave them there as recently as Östlund.

Fingers crossed you're wrong, specifically about Rochester. I think I'd be finding a Div. 1 team in Europe for Leinonen to reinforce his game, while Ratzlaff finds his way in Rochester or Jacksonville, supporting a more veteran goalie (Levi or another). Going into next year with Leinonen and Ratzlaff as your 3/4 would be derelict, even by Adams' standards.

The best prospects of the Adams era have been Power, Quinn, Levi and Peterka, probably in that order. Power's post-draft year, Quinn and Peterka' rookie AHL seasons and Levi's body of work at Northeastern were exceptional, even for prospects. That they have yet to continue that trajectory is a big reason why Adams' plan has failed. The Rosen, Östlund, Kulich, Helenius group is step below those guys: good showings for prospects, but nothing that indicates stardom yet for any of them. There's also a deep enough group of B prospects that I would be surprised if a few don't turn into NHLers. Benson is my choice, but also the hardest to read: the list of draft picks who went directly to the NHL and put up 30-points as an 18-year-old is small and populated mostly by stars; his offence so far hasn't tracked, but the underlying stuff and the eye test certainly do.

Previous day. It was not a draft floor trade. They made it before any players were taken. They made it seem like they were pretty confident they were going to get the guy (or one of the guys) they wanted regardless. Which I always thought was odd because the Luchenko pick was off the board. Also wondered if part of the motivation was that they weren't going to be taking Parekh or an LD due to need?

There's this narrative around Adams that he's done fine with the kids, but sucked in terms of pro personnel. I don't know that the facts bear that out at all, at least at this exact point in time. Adams has certainly been guilty of not acquiring enough veteran talent, but he's done OK with the acquisitions he has made, at least the bigger ones: Signing Zucker was a good move. Cost nothing but salary cap space and he's easily lived up to his contract. Trading Savoie for McLeod is looking to be a very good move. Not only has McLeod performed very well and filled a huge hole in the roster, but he's still young enough to remain a good fit long term Byram has performed well and is simply a better player than Mittelstadt. If I could add a Greenway clone for the 59th pick in this year's draft, I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Locking up Tage to that deal was a very smart move It's unlikely he could have done better than Tuch on that contract in terms of a real NHL player, given the Eichel circumstances They were not nearly enough, and the moves around the edges have been entirely inconsequential, but taken individually, these values have been fine. Now let's look at the kids: Jack Quinn has thus far been a disappointment at #8. Rossi, Perfetti, Lundell, Jarvis and Holloway went with 5 of the next 6 picks and have all outperformed Jack this season. Trading up for Peterka in the 2nd might be the 2nd best move in Adams' tenure. He's 5th in goals and 6th in points from his draft year. Owen Power regressed this season. He hasn't fallen out of the conversation of "best player in the draft" but he has not developed to the extent you'd have hoped a 1st overall pick would have either. 15 players from the 2021 draft have hit the 100 game mark. 19 have put up 30 or more points. Isak Rosen isn't a bust yet, but it's certainly looking like there were better options at 13. The Sabres had 2 second-rounders that year. Kisakov is a bust. Poltapov is intriguing but remains a question. There certainly were better choices (Stankoven, Knies) available. Krebs hasn't measured up to the hopes placed on him in the Eichel trade. Same with Levi in the Reinhart trade, at least not yet. Signing Cozens to a 7-year $50M deal looks like a mistake. Signing Samuelsson to a 7-year $30M deal looks like a mistake. Too early to tell on the rest, and there is still plenty of time to change the narrative, but so far, so not-good.