DarthEbriate

Fire the GM. Hire a new GM with a new "theme" for the team "skill in top 6, tough bottom 6", "mobile, engaged defense" "speedy and wants to be here" that will require a new approach to drafting/acquisition, with the condition that they keep the existing head coach. Then, when that season isn't a stunning success, let the GM fire the head coach and announce that the second season will be a "learning" season while the new head coach implements their system. When that second season isn't a stunning success, fire the new GM and assure the new new GM that they have a 3-year tryout period and it's OK to call it a rebuild and reset to Year 0. I think I'm fit to be an NHL owner.

Good. Gooooood.

Perhaps. But I'd rather have him being a team leader in a playoff push (ROC has slipped from 2nd to 4th since his callup) and expecting to win while working on his game, rather than getting used to losing while working on his game. The sliding of his contract is the cherry on top. Hopefully, he'll get tons of money someday, and I want that timeframe to be aligned with when the Sabres are good and getting even better. As @LGR4GM notes, that 24-25 offseason is already an RFA doozy. And we might add 1 or 2 of our college goalies to that offseason as well. Slide the Quinn!

Sweet. Don't rush him back. Get him a handful of games... ...And then slide that contract for meaningful action next season.

I'd add Asplund to the worse row. Olofsson got hurt and they both fell off the map this season. I just can't give Mitts any reading just yet. He's worse, but he's also played 1 period, then was hurt, and is now trying to get back into gear with a rookie and a broken VO.

Montreal has won 5 in a row and Buffalo has lost 6 in a row. And MTL is still 7 points back. Ahhh... but there are 28 games left to play. There's time.

This team really needs its full-grown, experienced hockey players back. Girgs, Hino, Miller. That allows some kids to go back to the AHL and not get pushed around night-in and night-out... as well as to sit Bjork. Possibly even rest VO, or get him surgery or whatever, because he's JAG when he can't shoot the puck. That was a takeaway... Eakin did well in the dot and they looked at least a bit dangerous with the empty net.

The Ginger Ninja? Really?

Stop freakin', call Eakin! Also -- good job raising that trade value.

Lots of ways to answer that: Yes! If they're traded. Yes! In a few years a few of these players could be top-6 on a really good Sabres team. Yes! If the goaltender is HOF-caliber.

All too easy.

On a good team, yes, a 3W with PP1 potential. But right now, I'm more concerned that he simply doesn't have any mustard or accuracy on his cannon. And he hasn't taken a slap shot that I've seen since before the injury. I want him healthy because of who saw at the beginning of the season -- this team needs that player added to Tuch and Okposo down the right side.

He's either gotten over the initial buzz or he's got something a bit nagging. He hasn't engaged in much contact along the boards.

They get the puck to the net... and the puck stays there and the Stars stay on their feet and get multiple chances to bury it. Sigh.

Olofsson's shot that was returning is gone again.

Winning some foot races this period at least. Let's go get a power play tally.

Good PK, crap period.

Sabres get one shot in front before being cleared/tied up. The Stars D does well at that. The Sabres not so much.

Perhaps not imploding, but they're 9-11-4 in 2022, when once they were firmly in 2nd place and being one of the few teams to give Utica a good game. But Malone is hurt. Then, Buffalo took Jankowski, the top D-pairing, as well as Krebs and an injured Quinn. The Amerks could use some love beyond UPL and Dell.

Lock S(abre)-foils in attack position! Give another strong effort like in STL and see where the chips fall. Oettinger has been playing great for them lately.

An Okposo Deep Dive: Okposo hasn't lived up to $6M/year, but he was going to get good money as the top UFA RW. He's been more than serviceable and his contract hasn't limited the team. In fact, this year and next, they really need him to make as much as he's making until they start signing some of the kids' second deals. I'd love him on a veteran 3rd/4th-line comparable deal to wind up his career. Really make him into the next core's Grier like @woods-racer says. 2016-2017: 65gp 19-26-45, -7, 18:58 HC DDB Primary line: Reinhart-ROR-Okposo Okposo's line is the best line while Eichel learns to be a 2C. Okposo misses most of March, returns for 2 games and then has the ICU scare. Otherwise, he'd be a 20-30-50 guy. Not good enough for 1RW, but it's an offensively challenged squad with no scoring depth. Ennis suffers a 2nd consecutive injury-riddled and unproductive season that removes a key scorer from the lineup. The result: GMTM/HC DDB fired! although not necessarily from on-ice performance. 2017-2018: 76gp 15-29-44 -34 17:02 HC Housley Primary line: Not really. Housley cycles Pominville, Reino, and Okposo with every center on the roster: Eichel, ROR, ERod, Larry, even Mitts Okposo looks a bit off/slower from the injury/ICU. Pommer's arrival and hot start moves Okposo down the lineup, Reinhart goes to top-6 RW instead of moving to C. This is maybe for the best because Eichel is still only a 2C and is a defensive liability...nothing surprising or alarming about that as Eichel is still a kid with top 1C potential. Defensive injuries abound and the goaltending craters the season (team sv% of .896). 2018-2019: 78gp 14-15-29 -9 13:47 HC Housley Primary lines: Sheary-Mitts-Okposo; Girgs-Larsson-Okposo At season's start, Okposo is veteran presence for Mitts (who should be in AHL). In reality, this should be Reinhart-Okposo (or ROR-Okposo). Eichel is now a 1C and has Skinner, but the team has no 2C because ROR. It doesn't work. Goaltending and now 2C are a mess. Housley fired. Krueger hired. 2019-20: 52gp 9-10-19 -3 12:51 HC Krueger Primary line: Girgs-Larsson-Okposo Krueger goes all-in on the GLO line as a checking line. They are great together, but they play limited minutes. Okposo should be in the top 6 instead of... SOBOTKA! Right wingers who average more ice-time than Okposo: Sobotka! Sheary (also skated LW)! Frolik! Okposo misses 17 games with injuries. Eichel is fantastic and is a full 1C with some MVP chatter, but Skinner is shuffled endlessly until he disappears. Hutton sucks and Ullmark gets hurt. COVID ends the season. Breaking this season in two parts: 2020-21: 23gp 0-4-4 -6 13:04 HC Krueger Primary line: Rieder-Eakin-Okposo Girgs is hurt in preseason and Okposo misses the start of the season. Larry is angry in Arizona. HC Krueger creates a checking line with Eakin and Rieder and Okposo. Okposo lifts the other two up but Rieder isn't much more than a PKer and Eakin is where offense goes to sleep. It's garbage. Injuries and COVID crush the team. Krueger fired! 2020-21: 12gp 2-7-9 +5 15:27 HC Granato Primary line: None, really. Granato is experimenting. Ruotsalainen, Sheahen, Cozens, some Eakin. VO moves to RW for Skinner-Reinhart-Olofsson and the Asplund-Mitts-Thompson is formed. Okposo is fantastic and regains his offense with more balanced minutes. Unfortunately, injury (Irwin shoots a dump-in into Okposo's head) ends his season at 35 out of 56 games played. 2021-22 so far: 33gp 13-17-30 -10 16:47 HC Granato Primary line: Mostly LW-Cozens-Okposo. Some Krebs. Started the season as Girgs-Eakin-Okposo Still way-below-average goaltending, constant injuries/COVID, and no 1C. Okposo looks great in bursts and looks steady on most nights. Solid on PP2.

Okposo and his contract aren't the problem. He was the top UFA RW in 2016 and was paid accordingly. He did look slower after the ICU scare (occurred at end of 1st season), but he came back and was still consistent. His issue overall has been his usage and the constant shuffling of coaches. And Coach Krueger. What Krueger did to this team was criminal. If you were playing the Sabres in a game-sim, Okposo would be a skilled player with a low Injury rating. He'd never leave your top 6 in the years he's been here. You wouldn't have traded ROR. If you acquired Pommer, then you would have moved Reino to center (or just kept Foligno at LW and Reinhart at RW). But Okposo is a lock on RW (probably with ROR) that entire time.

It's not just the actual experience. That invasion in 1968 is a flashpoint and part of the national identity of then-Czechoslovakia. That informs his entire childhood and adolescence. Jagr wasn't even born yet but he wears 68. The Czech Republic gold medal in Nagano (over Russia) has a very special meaning to that nation and its people.

Hasek is angry and rightfully so. His earliest childhood memories would have been of the USSR invasion of Czechoslovakia to reassert control after they'd started instituting liberal/Western reforms. He's seeing history repeat itself and in a much grander/vicious scale this time around. However, you don't suspend/ban individuals based on their place of birth (or their religion, political views, sexual orientation, etc.) because none of those should impact their play or camaraderie with their teammates or opponents. You would suspend them as individuals if their words/actions caused conduct detrimental to their team or league. So --- as a hypothetical example, if a Russian player were to make a throat-slashing gesture toward a Ukrainian player --- absolutely, tear up the contract and give him a multiyear ban from the NHL. And yes, Russia should be banned from all global competitions for multiple years. No more changing of names, outright bans for several cycles of Olympics, World Cups, etc. There's a reason Putin waited until after the Olympics to start the invasion.

My overconfidence is my weakness. But if you think this roster becomes playoff-worthy next season without a Hasek-level goalie (.930%+), you'll be disappointed. Next season ('22-'23) is a step in the right direction. '23-'24 is when this team begins to be competitive on a night-in, night-out basis and starts to begin thinking that playoffs are an outcome.