mjd1001

I'm not saying Granato should get a free pass, nor am I saying he doesn't make game-day mistakes but who is out there that you will bring in who is going to be a lot better considering: -Your best forward and top scorer (Thompson) is hurt -arguably your 2nd best forward (Tuch) seems to be playing less than 100%, missing time both in preseason and the regular season -Cozens, your 4th best scorer last year, is playing hurt and not impacting games much. -You #3 D-man (Samuelsson), and arguably the best guy in your own zone, is made of glass and seems to miss almost as much time as he plays -Jack Quinn, your best rookie from last year, has been out all year -Other than the game the other day, almost every time Okposo steps on the ice he is dragging things down, late to backcheck, his forechecking is a shell of what it was...and that is more of a GM mistake resigning him, not a much a coaching mistake. So I do not think Granato is doing a great job, but I'm not sure there is anyone out there who is going to do much better at the current time, if there is let me know. And I realize I'm different than many on this board, but they are playing poorly and I'm not someone who just says "lets make a change and see what happens, it can't be worse"

Interesting ice time on the Defense Dahlin with 26+ minutes, Samuelsson with just over 20 Power still at 17+, but down from some games earlier. Everyone else in the 12-14m range. I expected Jokiharju to have a bit more.

I grew up with the blue and gold watching as a kid (I'm in my late 40's) and I so much prefer the red and black.

I don't have a huge problem with Bryson as a 3rd pair guy or the 7th guy sitting out on occasion. I'd like them to 'resolve' the 3 goaltender situation by sending Levi down. Not as a punishment but I want to see him get more action and UPL/Comrie have played not great, but "good enough" to see them split the job up here for a month or two. Pick 12 guys up front and go with them. You resolve a bit of the roster situation and go with a balanced lineup. Have Bryson sit some games, and on occasion (back to back, 3 games in 4 nights, or injury) put him in there on the 3rd pair. Hes still likely to get 40, 50, or more games that way if you handle the lineup in that manner.

Dahlin isn't having a great year (but he has been playing better that last 2 weeks). He currently isn't in the discussion for the Norris. He isn't leading the team, carrying it on his back to wins game after game. He isn't dropping the gloves. But yet, he seems to be more 'likeable' to me as I watch him play. Not likeable as in "he is our superstar so we have to like him" but more as in "I like his play even when he is having a bad game and just is someone I am glad is on this team/in the city of Buffalo" kinda way.

I wasn't happy with the Okposo re-singing, but I was "OK" with it. However, it seems like it is hurting the team a little bit. He is "OK" on the 2nd Penalty killing unit. Other than that, hes not effective and sometimes a problem. PP2 for the past few years he was pretty good, but he hasn't produced much at all in his limited time. Even strength he is the weak link on that 4th line, just being a tad bit slower to make his forecheck (which he used to be good at) not as good, and he is usually a half step late backchecking where he wasn't in the past.

I'd like to see him or Roch for a little while. UPL and Comrie have played 'good enough' (not great, but good enough) to have them rotate the job up here (with a bit more to UPL) while Levi gets more starts in Roch like you said to refine his game, positioning, etc. I'm not exactly sure how it works, but with the big club, every practices now is focused on winning with player development not as much of a priority. I would assume in Roch (with a slightly lighter schedule) not only can he play games, but you can have coaching work with him more between games. I'm not talking about a year long demotion for bad play. Just let him go down for a few weeks, maybe a month (or two) and see how he does there and how Comrie and UPL do up in Buffalo...and re-evaluate as needed.

The goaltending to me has been "OK", but I wouldn't say 'very good'. I do agree with you that the problem this year is not goaltending, nor the play of the defensemen. It is that their scoring is down quite a bit. I would LIKE the Defensemen to be better (I didn't have high expectations for a big jump from Power like others, but he seems to have regressed) and I think the goaltending is decent to good, but not great...but I can live with both. It is the offense that needs to pick things up.

I'm halfway in between viewpoints on Cozens. Last year I though the was given more credit than his play deserved. Yes he put in a 30 goal season and thats great, but I thought he was awful at defensive plays and positioning. This year it is the opposite. He IS not playing as well as last year, but some of the comments on this board have him as being borderline useless. Not there either. He wasn't as good as many thought last year, hes not as bad as many think this year. Still want to see him 'find his game' and be better this year.

I do not see the problem with Girgs. Hes not carrying this team to victory, but he doesn't make a ton of mistakes and gives you want you want in a 4th liner. Decent penalty Killer. Hard forechecker (might be the best on the team next to Tuch). Scores an occasional goal. Fast enough skater that he isn't late getting back on plays. Okposo I was with many with thinking I'd rather not resign him, but I have no problem with Girgs.

Others have said some of this but here goes: -12 forwards. Roll 4 lines. Fill in/call up who you need to in order to make that work. -As far as play this year, UPL has been generally the best, Comrie very close 2nd. I'd get Levi a stint in Roch and go UPL/Comrie 60/40 percent from now on and the immediate future. -IF Cozens is hurt in a way it is impacting his game, sit him for a few games. He's making mistakes to hurt you AND not producing as much as last year. Get him right. -Dahlin is starting to play better after an up-and-down start, but can we not put him out there for close to 28 minutes in a game? -This team is better off right now if Okposo and Krebs miss some games.

The only issue I have with the above in a big way is Krebs, if he doesn't turn things around and improve. Still not impressed with Greenway, but Krebs is the only big issue. As others have said, a lot of things can change from what we are seeing now until then.

Krebs numbers through this part of his career are close to Mitts and Thompson. As others have said, Mitts and Thompson seemed loss through their first couple of seasons. I was one of the few on here that wanted to stick with Mitts and Thompson until you could not anymore..until every last person in the organization was convinced they were a bust. I always say keep a guy a little too long versus not enough. All that said, something about Krebs when I watched him from the moment he got here just didn't add up to a big time NHL guy (or even a good one). He loses a lot of loose puck battles. Despite his pre-draft scouting reports saying he 'skates well" or is "shifty" or "has NHL speed", I don't see that for sure. He is late getting back to back-check more than anyone on this team than probably Okposo at this point. Give up on him? No, I'd want to give him at least 1 more season, but right now I am down on him more than I have been on Thompson or Mitts even at their lowest points.

I'm OK with him staying or going. He has shown signs of playing well, but not well enough that the fate of this team making the playoff likely rests with whether he is here or not.

Whether due to injury or any other reason, a large part of the Oilers poor start has to do with getting less production from McDavid himself so far. Draisitil is on pace for 100+ points, Kane is on pace for close to 40 goals and close to 80 points, Hyman is very close to his pace for last year. It is Nugent Hopkins and McDavid that are producing at a much lower rate this year than last year. Is he the problem? No, but 2023-24 McDavid is getting paid and is viewed as the best play in the league so he can carry the team beyond its problems. So far most of the 'supporting' cast is doing close to what they are expecting to. McDavid has the biggest drop in production (so far)

I understand where you are coming from but recent history shows (2015 and beyond) that if a guy is not a superstar in waiting drafted (top pick or two), it is very rare for a guy to play in the minors and come up and have an immediate, game changing impact. It just rarely happens. Often times the young, high draft pick guy who is tearing up the AHL will not be that much better than the vet journeyman you currently have. Now, eventually they likely will be, and at some point you have to bring them up and let them get that NHL time to become better players, but I just don't think bringing up the young guns from Rochester makes this team that much (if any) better 'right now.' Guys drafted 5th through 15th overall in the last 8 years who, as a forward, have had even a minor impact on their teams: -Marco Rossi spent a good part of 2 seasons in the AHL, scoring 34 goals there. In the NHL, no goals in his first 21 games. -Jack Quinn had 26 goals in 45 games in roch (almost a 50 goal pace) and then in a full season in Buffalo, 14 goals. Good for a young guy, but not a game changer impact. -Alexander Holts had over 30 goals in just over 60 games in the NHL. Upon his first NHL games, 3 goals and 6 points in his first 28 NHL games (certainly not an immediate impact). -Zegras might be the best example, but he was 'almost NHL ready), playing only 17 games in the AHL, but having more than a point a game. In the NHL, he debuted with 23 goals his first season. -Boldy also did well his first season in the NHL. But overall, when you look at guys taken in the middle of the 1st round, many, many more go to the minors, do well in the minors, but they just don't make an impact in the NHL right away. The often do eventually, but it just rarely 'fixes' problems the big club has. The biggest issue may be that even the guys how do well in terms of production, they are often bad defensively. They are often deep in the negative of plus-minus...and get better over time. But again, their overall game is not something that will turn your team around.

A pretty big game as far as keeping interest in the team (for now) for some of us... When we get to a holiday week there are days where I can be really busy or other days I have a lot of free time, sometimes both in the same week. A Sabres win and I look at the standings, hope for that 2nd win to start a streak and all is (somewhat) well. A loss today though...will be the 4th in a row, for a team with a major injury, the 5th in 6 games, and I'll probably start to tune-out from this team for a little bit. It will get me to the point that if I don't watch a game, fine, tell me the score the next morning. I'll wait for them to start winning (however long that may be) before I decide to make it a point to sit down and watch again. Its a bit early in the Season for me to get to this point, but I'm on the verge of being there with another loss.

Your top 4 goal scorers last year of course were Thompson, Tuch, Skinner, and Cozens. They totaled 149 goals in 312 games. 0.478 goals per game. (392. goals per 82) This year those 4 guys have 21 goals in 62 total games played. 0.339 goals per game (27.8 goals per 82 pace) If those same 4 guys were scoring at the same pace this year as they were last year, you would have 8-9 more goals scored this year. With 8-9 more goals sprinkled throughout there games played so far, would the record be a lot more respectable? Its probably worth a couple games. They have 15 points, if they had just 2 more wins, they would be tied for 11th overall in the league. Does a coaching change get those top guys going (when Thompson gets back)? I don't think so, but maybe, Not sure. I know a big problem I see with this team is scoring, the top guys aren't producing. Bringing in a veteran, hard nosed coach who will get this team to play better Defense just doesn't sound right to me (Yet)

Bills, Sabres, and probably Blue Jays (but I don't really watch baseball anymore.) I grew up a Yankees fan. When I was a teenager I was one of those kids that got upset if I didn't have the opportunity to watch all 162 yankees games, and I probably watched 120-130 Yankee games per year (and all the playoff games start to end). I have a few ideas, but sometime after the early 2000's, not only did I 'fall out of love' with the yankees, but now I kinda very much dislike the orgainzation. But, as I mentioned above, I haven't watched a full 9 inning baseball game in years now. If I have a '2nd' team in hockey or football, it usually is a younger, up-and-comer that I like until/unless they start to get too much attention. Columbus, the Raiders, it really depends game-by-game.

Sometimes things just take time and 'click' when they 'click. Look at Anaheim this year so far: Sure, preseason doesn't matter, but it does matter to some fans (look at how we were talking about the Sabres coming out of preseason). The last 3 preseason games, the Ducks lost all 3, by a total score of 15-4. The last one a blowout loss of 7-1. So, fanbase not feeling well about the team, well the regular season is starting, prove the preseason was wrong, right? They open losing 4-1, then one win, then another loss, and another loss, and another loss. After just 5 games, they start the regular season a week and a half into it at 1w-4L. Then, they go 8-2 in their next 10, including 2 of the wins vs Boston and Vegas. Will it happen with the Sabres? Its going to be tough with the injuries....but somethings things just happen because they happen.

Interesting thing to think about. I think I COULD, but the thing that might turn me off is what would inevitably happen: When I saw the players, the coaches, etc have interviews over and over saying about how they love the new city, they are embracing the fanbase, saying how great the fans are for coming out to support them......and the marketing for the new team breaking most/all times with the "Buffalo Sabres" to build their own brand and marketing....well. that might do it for me. Its not that I don't expect that to happen, but in today's society it would likely go too overboard for my taste. At that point I would probably look around the league for a team that hasn't won in a while, but has a fun, young core and is starting to have success, with a young player or two that I really like... and start to follow them. A decade ago (or more) when the Bills were playing in Toronto I kinda went through this thought process. There was talk that maybe the Bills, if they didn't get a new stadium, would move to Toronto. I thought...I don't go to the games myself..I live in Northern Niagara county and on a clear day I can SEE the Rogers center across the lake...we'd still be able to follow them on radio and get to watch all their games, so no big deal to me. THEN, all it took is for me to hear ONE caller on 590 out of Toronto talk about this and say if the Bills moved there he would want to make sure they had NOTHING to do with "Buffalo" or the "Bills", he said he'd want them to be called Toronto of course, but pick a new team name, even change the colors. I was like...if THAT is the attitude the fans want then screw Toronto (as far as the Bills going there is concerned)

The key is, would any new potential owner keep the team in Buffalo? I haven't really liked Pegula as owners of the Bills or Sabres since he got them. But I will take his as the owner of one/both of the teams rather than him selling to someone who would entertain moving them.

Despite a growing call for it, I don't think firing the coaches fixes things. Levi needs sometime to adjust. That might be things click for him later in the year, or it means he needs some time in Rochester, I don't know. but if he IS going to adjust its going to take time. Tuch hasn't been right since camp, all season he hasn't been himself. He missed time in Camp, he missed practice time in the first couple weeks, he is missing time now. He has to have some kind of nagging injury, again, TIME will fix that, a coaching change won't. Thompson. Same thing, a slightly slow start but they he started producing, now he's dealing with injuries. A coaching Change? Not going to fix that. Cozens...a slow start, now he's playing with a shield, not sure if that impacts his game or not. As I said other posts, Dahline is playing very good. HOWEVER last year he was playing great and had stretches of Elite play. I'm not typing this saying Granato should be extended and have a guarantee of not getting fired, but firing him doesn't help Tuch or Thompson heal, it doesn't help Tuch has been playing with something all season it seems. Unless you think a coaching change will immediatly make Levi play like he has a season more experience and it will do something to make Dahline and Cozens increase their level of play...well, I just don't see how it changes things much except gives us fans something to hang our hat on for a little more hope. Its pretty apparent Tuch has been playing (or trying to) play most of they year through something. Thompson is hurt. Quinn is hurt. Samuelsson is ALWAYS getting hurt. It sucks, but most teams will have their play take a step back when they are going through that.

I might normally agree with that, and maybe you are being sarcastic....but if the team falls behind and is a .500 or worse team with them playing there regular minutes....there isn't much reason to 'save them'.

I'm not sure it solves the greater problem the team has, but sure. Let him get some work down there and hopefully get some confidence back, I'm not against it.