mjd1001

If Anaheim manages to finish below the Sabres in the standing, they DESERVE the best odds in the draft lottery.

Don't hear much talk about Ellis and Girardi. Do they WANT to be assistants next year, or did they just agree to do it for a couple months because they were needed. If Granato is back as coach, does he want them with him? Very curious about those things...

I'm thinking a '4th' line of Okposo, Girgensons, and Cozens isn't a bad place to start (bottom up of course) Your 3 other centers (with no trades) are Eichel, Mitts, and Sam. So from there you need 4 wingers: Olofsson and Thompson would be 2 of them. Skinner you are stuck with as the 3rd. The other guy? That is the one big move I'd make...I want a guy with both speed and a physical edge (The Evander Kane version the Sabres traded for a few years ago would do wonders for this team now) That is assuming everyone is re-signed and no trades. Will that forward lineup win you the Cup? Probably not. but if Eichel returns to form and Sam plays Center like he is now...and you get a small step-up from the young guys it might/should get you in the playoffs.

Right now I'm in favor of Granato. The other names out there...Gallant, Boudreau.....they just don't excite me all that much. Does Granato 'excite' me? Not really, but it has been fun seeing someone actually make an improvement in not only the team compared to the previous coach, but the performance of some individual players.

I didn't add things up, but I looked at your page and over the last few years, he has scored more in the 2nd half of the year (at least his best months are in the 2nd half)...seeming to score more when the Sabres have been eliminated or are very close to it...rather than in the beginning of the season.

It might be time to trade him, and let's put aside the important conversation about whether or not he wants to be here. This is a salary cap league. Any team even close to contention is going to be near the cap limit, within a couple percentage points. So how do you be a good team? You have to be getting value for what you're spending. The question is this... If Sam is looking for 8 million per year for example, are you going to get $8 million per year production out of him? That's really the key. At some point you have to have a handful of your top 10 players who are outperforming their contracts. It's not weather or not Sam is a good player, but with what you're paying Eichel, and Skinner, and Okposo... You're going to have to make hard decisions going forward... Harder than they should be because of those contracts... That any big contracts you give out you have to be getting great value for.

I agree with some of what you said. For the first time in a while, I think the deficiency on this team is on wing. You want to have some wingers with blazing speed to drive the play into the opponents zone, and you also want some to play a very physical game on the boards. This team doesn't have much of either. Your center can 'float' or doesn't have to play with much speed if you have the wingers to do it. I mentioned this in one of the Risto threads, but I really think you want your physical players on the wing, not on your D-unit. I want my defensemen to be good at understanding where the puck is going to go, getting to it before the other team does, and then getting it out of my zone. They can be physical when needed, but I don't want them running opposing players to make a hit if that means they will take out that other player AND themself...and then have a loose puck in your own zone. D-men PRIMARY job is to get the puck and move it out of the zone quickly. Now my wingers, when in the opponents zone THOSE are the guys I want throwing checks on the opposing team. A guy like who Marcus Foligno was for the Sabres...then need someone like that (hopefully a bit better), and to be honest with you, this current team really REALLY could use Zemgus back next year....at Center or even on the wing.

The thing with Dahlin is...he doesn't have to be great in his own end without the puck...just decent...and that makes him a very good D-man. As you said, don't make huge mistakes....and then his strength should be getting to the puck in the D-zone, and being very good once he gets possession of getting out of of the zone. A great Defensive D-man doesn't have to be a big hitter who clears out the front of the net and is always in good position. There are a lot of loose pucks in this game, if he can just use his speed/quickness/skating to get to those loose pucks a half second better than anyone else, that makes him good on the back end.

The problem is, getting equal value back for him means getting not much....many of us feel that way. Again, he has the pure 'talent' of a very good hockey player (skating, hitting, shooting) but when it comes to how he plays the game...his positioning, his decision making....many of us think he is a bad hockey player...and a major reason (not the only one but a big one) as to why this team has been bad for a while.

Chara had only 4 years with the Islanders when they traded him, and only 2 of those full seasons. He was traded much earlier in his career development. When traded he was viewed as a pretty valuable part...bring back Yashin to the Islanders (at the time that was thought of to be a good move for the Isles). Risto now has 8 Seasons with the Sabres, the comparison to Chara really isn't too valid. Personally, I don't know much about NHL systems, positioning, and all that stuff. But what I do see with my own eyes is this....TOO many times when the opposition scores against the Sabres he is on the ice and not looking at the puck/shooter even when it seems like he is in the direct area. By that I mean the puck is going to the eventual scorer or heading for the goal, he he is looking at a player skating away from the net, chasing someone into the corner that he wants to hit (for whatever reason even if it isn't involved in the play), or just doing SOMETHING other than stopping the goal from happening when he had the chance. It seemed to be happening less in the first half of the year, but for the 3-4 years before that, and since he came back from Covid, he is back to the same habbits. I know he can skate and hit and shoot the puck really well, but having that pure talent doesn't make up for the fact he is a bad hockey player. The way you score goals is by controlling the puck and getting it out of your zone. I don't care how talented he is, in addition to seeming being totally out of position when goals are scored against the Sabres, he also causes the puck to be in their zone instead of moving it out. Too many times instead of battling for a puck on the wall and trying to take it away from an opponent, he simply goes in the corner like a bull to make a hit.....taking both the opposing player and himself out of the play. You want to do that in the neutral zone or better yet the offensive zone then fine. But when you do that in your OWN zone, you cause a loose puck that has a 50% chance of being picked up by an opponent less than 50 feet from your own net. He has learned the individual skills to play hockey, but he hasn't leaned to play the complete GAME of hockey. As the NHL game keeps evolving, I want my FORWARDS to be throwing hits against the other team. My D-men? I don't want them to get out of position, EVER. The only time they should be throwing a hit is if they read the play and there is very little positional downside to doing it. It is the Forwards where the Sabres need more hitters on the forecheck. The D-men have to focus more on the puck. Risto is bad at that.

Not sure about shots, but the numbers in other areas look like this. RK: 28.6 percent of points won (standings), 2.14 goals scored per game. DG: 35.4 percent of points won, 2.75 goals scored per game. I hope my numbers are correct, they MIGHT be off by a percentage point or two..... Results under both are pretty bad. RK had to deal with the covid outbreak on the team....DG with a team that didn't have Eichel at all (and for the most part no Ulmark.)

There were some people who were opposed to it when they saw the details. Personally I was lukewarm on it..but I do remember others on here who were dead-set against it...mostly because I remember at least a handful of people saying 1 year at 40 goals out of a 9 year career (at the time) does not make for a perennial 40 goal scorer.

To me it would be worth it. Right now at this moment he is probably the most overpaid player in the league, he is taking up over 10% of your entire cap, and you have this for 6, SIX more years. You give up a pretty good asset (not Eichel or Dahlin, but maybe a 'good' nhl player) with nothing in return just to get rid of that awful, awful contract.

I'm still having a hard time with NFTs and understanding why most people want them. At a high level, a VERY high level, I can understand they would be a collectible. If Bobby Orr's famous diving goal (the picture) happened today and that was an NFT, as a sports fan owning it might have some value. However, as more and more of them are issued, the value for them shouldn't be much (in the past few weeks, NFTs have already plunged in value). I think there is more to it that I don't know of....but I can see the value in collecting physical sports cards, I can see SOME value in Bitcoin (there is a limit to the supply)....but with a potentially infinite supply of different NFT's, Right now I think this is more something that people are TRYING to make valuable more than something that is naturally valuable to a large group of people.

For me its not about the best chance of drafting #1 overall...but rather making sure that in the 'worst case scenario" they are still in the top 5. Then again, with this years draft, there isn't much of a difference in talent you are likely to be getting between the first overall pick and 6 or 7.

Them playing better for a few games didn't move the needle much for me. But they have been playing better now for a few weeks, so I'm starting to believe a bit more that they aren't truly, totally awful. Honestly, in the entire bottom half of the league (all teams not making the playoffs), they might be playing as well as anyone over the last few weeks besides Ottawa. So how good are they now beyond what their record tells us? I'd say in that 20th to 26th place in the league.

If he becomes an 'average-to-good' stay at home guy, then I'd be elated with that. But he actually has to become that, not just be someone who we slot into that role. Pair him with your 2nd best puck moving D-man on a 3-4 pairing and I'm happy.

Movie I just found on Netflix that is partially set in Buffalo... "Crimson Peak" Don't know how long its been on there. Turn of the century (1900s). Someplace between a drama and Horror. Stars Tom Hiddleston (known for Loki in the MCU) and Jessica Chastain. I'm still trying to figure out if I liked it or not, some time after watching it.

I'll agree with that. I'm in my 40's...I grew up with the Blue and Gold for years and years watching the Sabres. Yet I prefer the red and black by a lot.

If I'm looking at the chart (and the blue line in it) correctly, it shows that winning faceoffs DO matter, just not by a large margin. As others have said, faceoffs might not mean MUCH, but if you had a choice of winning them or not...you always want to take winning them. Maybe the whole point is that it isn't worth playing a player who is a worse overall player just because he is somewhat good at faceoffs compared to your other options.

It's great you don't care about a lot of those things you mentioned, but they do matter. You don't care about what he has done over his career? I guess you care more about what he did the 2-3 years BEFORE he was drafted? And Yes, we get it YOU don't want to trade him....but just because you don't want to trade him doesn't mean that not trading him is the correct decision. I stand by my post...he is very good, but just not as good as most fans think he is. Just as you can make the case he is a top 5 center, I can also make the case he is not a top 5 center for sure. You have your opinion, a lot of us have our opinions that are different than yours. I see you like to get really, really fired up when people present opinions that are different than yours though.

I take issue with you saying Eichel is twice as good as the next center on the team. Are you including Reinhart as a Center (for this discussion obviously we are). There is no doubting Eichel is a great NHL player, but the truth is he just isn't as good as we all 'hoped' he would be when drafted. He is not generational. Since has been in the NHL, he isn't in the top 20 in points, he isn't even in the top 20 in points per game (using that because of the games he has missed due to injury). Hes not even in the top 30 for goals. He should be in the prime of his career now...and all things considered, he has been very good (flashes of great), but has shown no signs of being even close to generational. And his production even in his BEST year does not even have him in the top 10 in points in the NHL. And he has had all the opportunities...he has skated on the top line...WITH players drafted highly with success in the NHL..and has gotten 1st powerplay time his whole career. Eichel is VERY good, but we as a fanbase have to get over this idea that he is generational or even a top 5 or 10 player in the NHL. When he shows flashes of that or goes on a 5-10 game streak people like to use that as 'proof' he is a top 5 or 10 player. His career results say he is good, maybe great, but not what we all want him to be.

1.) a Goalie who is at least average to slightly above average all the time, with the ability to get really hot. 2.) above average (top 10 in the league) scoring from your top 3 lines. I don't care how...if it is equally spread between the lines or all the first line...just when you total the production of the top 3 lines, it has to be above average) 3.) a dominant D-man who controls the game when on the ice who can do so with 24 minute of ice time per game.

At this point I wouldn't mind this. If you don't have either of them next year, that sure is a good player no longer with you. But for this team to be competitive/good long term, it might not be a bad decision. So many moving parts though, it would be almost silly to just make a decision and stick by it until things develop a bit more through the rest of the season or offseason (Jack's health, Jack wanting to be here or not? Sam wanting to be here, Sam wanting how much money? Middlestat continuing to develop, who plays 3rd line center minutes.....possible return in trade for Eichel or Reinhart....)

I hate the Okposo contract, I really do. If you could buy it out without a penalty I'd do so. HOWEVER, with that said, if you are going to have a cap hit no matter what, he isn't a bad player. Not worth the contract/cap hit, but he doesn't really hurt, and more often then not helps this team.