mjd1001

I agree with blowing it up. Dahlin I can have patience with. Look at guys like Victor Hedman, Charra, even Erik Karlsson. It took them years before they got to be elite. I remember the first few years of Hedmans career, people were saying stuff like "well, I guess he's not going to be great, but maybe he can still be good?" Karlsson didn't really blow up offensively until his 5th season. His first 3 years he put up Dahlin type Offensive numbers while being a train wreck in his own zone. Charra? His game on both end of the ice was a train wreck until his 5th or 6th season. He got better in the D-zone in maybe year 3...but it took 5 or 6 years for his whole game to come around. When you look at most (not all, but MOST) elite prospects on the back end, it is normal, and expected, for it to take a few years at least for them to develop. Hughes and Makar are the outliers, not the rule.

I would like to think that the long term plan was KA to be GM, Krueger eventually to have a president/VP type of job with the team, and an appropriate head coach would be found to take over from Krueger.

I think the team is not as talented as most fans think it is. I think fans in general think Eichel is better than he is. He can be a star, but not generational at all. I think Skinner is a below average NHL player. I think Halls best days are far behind him (his only 30 goal season of his career was 3 seasons and 1 knee surgery ago). I think Dahlin might be very good but he isn't yet, beyond him the current D-core is well below average top to bottom. You have an average to slightly above average goalie (who is hurt now) and a bad back up goalie. Olofsson is 1 dimensional, Reinhart can be good but not great. Overall, I just think this team has below average talent up front...below average talent on the D-core, and the same in goal. To me, talent up front is when you can see a few 30+ goal seasons potentially from some of your forwards, at least rely on 25 goal season from a few of them. Who has 30 goal talent up front (and I don't mean ONE time in their career, but something you can get a couple times in the next 5 years?) Eichel? Maybe, MAYBE VO or Reinhart? thats not good enough. You hire the best coach in the league (tell me who is available that they can get), and even then, with the teams current talent you are maybe competitive for that last playoff spot..but this this 'core' of players, you aren't going to be better than that. I'm not saying that the coach may not be a problem..or that there aren't better ones out there. What I am saying is the talent on this team right now isn't good enough with anyone coaching for this to be a top tier team anytime in the near future.

The point still is the same. Bylsma DID have experience and started with the current core (among some other good young players no longer with the team). Housley did have experience on the Nashville staff, not as head coach.....the point is...you have had a variety of different coaches..different ages, different backgrounds, different styles..and some with playoff success...and none have worked with this team. What kind of coach do Sam and Jack want? They had one that is a nice guy (Krueger). A former star player (Housley), a guy who won a cup with star players on his team (Bylsma). Nothing has worked with them..and just who are you going to get out there that will take this team and coach it into a cup contender?

Well, you have had a coach with experience (Bylsma), who had a few years experience, won a cup, and had experience dealing with star players. That still didn't work out. You had Housley who was a former star player that was an assistant on a staff of a very good team. That didn't work. You now have Krueger who has 'some' NHL head coaching experience but has a lot experience in other positions around the NHL and other sports. And Krueger and Housley weren't exactly 'young'. My point is you have had 3 head coaches with this current core (Eichel and company), with 3 different styles...with NHL experience and playoff/cup experience...and the results are the same. Talent of the 'core players' has to be considered as a big part of the issue.

I haven't been to a Bills game in a while...but are there things they do running the Bills that are....subpar...that has been glossed over the last couple years because the team is better? Seriously asking. It almost seems like when they bought the Sabres they were new to owning a professional sports team....but by the time they should have 'figured it out', they kinda lost interest a bit in the Sabres and 716 and Harbor Center because by that time they had their shiny new (and much more expensive) toy in the Bills to play with.

Knowing what you are doing....I think that is it. I don't know what happened behind the scenes of course, but that is the impression I get. We visited 716 twice...one time about a month after it opened, and then about a year and a half later and weren't impressed. The impression I got was....they hired people to run the restaurant who kinda knew what they were doing....but they chose to NOT go out and get someone great who knows how to open a place that was expected to be as busy as it was. To me the food wasn't the problem..it was getting there at opening time on a Saturday morning and having the employees not ready to open....seeing dust on the handrails and chairs only a month after it opened. Having our table handed off between 3 different servers in the hour we were there...stuff like that.

Is 'competitive' hockey better than what we have now? Of course. The problem I have is...the ceiling for this team seems to be competitive hockey. What makes hockey fun, and makes being a fan fun..is when your team is competing for championships (above just competitive) and/or is a team good enough that you expect them to dominate other teams on a somewhat regular basis. I think you need more than a coaching change....you need a roster overhaul also to get to the point I am looking for. After all, how did they get into this situation to begin with? They were tires of just being a 'competitive team', and so were most fans....so that is when/why the tank began.

That is true...but maybe the market for him elsewhere wasn't that great. Statistically, NHL players 'peak' at 27 to 28 years of age...Hall is going on 30. He has only scored over 30 goals 1 time in his career, and that is 3 seasons (and 1 knee surgery) ago. He is a good player for sure, but maybe just not as good anymore as we all want to think he is.

I don't think goaltending is an issue this year. It is/has been good enough for this team to be a lot better that it is. Is Hutton good? No, but Ullmark is actually playing above average.

I wanted to touch on the point of the Arena. Would a good team that wins games get the fanbase excited if they played in the worst building in the league? Yes. But as far as the Arena goes, it really is one of the worst in the league. From 2015 to early 2019, I had the chance to visit several other arenas across the country/league....and when you do that, you see just how 'behind' of a facility in Buffalo we have compared to others around the league. Several other arenas built about the same time as Buffalo (Boston, Philly, Toronto, and others) have gone though extensive renovations and they are a lot nicer. The newer Arenas blow the Key bank center away. When it comes down to it...the KBC has crumbling concrete, old and uncomfortable seats a very generic atmosphere... I know to a 'true fan', only the team and game matter....but as a 'true fan' I can actually take in and see more of the game at home on in high def on tv. I would go to the game for the game, the atmosphere, the total experience...and in the KBC in Buffalo that is truly underwhelming as far as the building goes.

I don't really want/need them to sell the team. I think as owners they have made mistakes, bad hires, etc that led to how good the team is. All I'd want is for them to hire the right people, direct their management to not take any 'shortcuts' and get out of the way of hockey operations.

6/10? You are giving his game this year way too much credit. He has 2 goals and 14 points in 17 games. 20 players have double digit goals this year...22 have 20 points or more He's tied for 84th in the league in points...and 272nd in the league in goals. He is the Captain and leader of a team that is tied for last in the league in points, and basically out of the playoff picture 19 games into the (shortened) season. He is playing LESS than a 6/10 now. Maybe (probably?) it has to do with an injury, but whatever the reason, this year he is shell of his former self.

This team just doesn't have what it takes. Reinhart and Eichel are good/great, but Reinhart is below an 'all star' level player and Eiche is an all star but he's not a superstar/generational/carry the team into the playoffs type player. They are not bad at all, but most fans overvalue how good they are. I am ready to blow this up. Make room and build around a new 'core'. Your core going forward should include whoever steps up from the group of Dahlin, Cozens, Quinn, Bryson, Laaksonen, Routsalained, and the prospects/draft picks you can get from trading what is left of this core. Is that guaranteed to work? Nope. Will that team be better than this current team? Maybe not, but its hard to see how the results can get much worse. I just don't like watching this team. I don't get excited watching Reinhart and Hall play. For as good as Eichel is...I don't know....He's just not one of my favorite players to watch either. At his best on this team he is good, just doesn't really get me 'out of my chair' like other players around the league do.

So much winning. Its hard to believe how much winning they do.

Ok, I'm ready for the team to blow this up. That means trading anybody and pretty much anyone that you can get anything for. I know others disagree, but my thinking is this: -There are 3 things I like when watching/following the NHL: 1.) my team scoring a LOT of goals, 2.) my team with the ability to dominate 'lesser' talented teams on a regular basis, and 3.)my team winning the cup. After the tank, years and years of not making the playoffs, the realistic goal of your team should not be to hopefully MAKE the playoffs one of these years. It should be to get to the level of a top 5-6 team in the league year after year...a team that other teams circle on their schedule. I don't see this group of players really doing any of that anytime in the near future. If you make some good roster moves...and if changing the coaching staff helps can they be better? Sure. Playoff team? probably. But I honestly don't see the core of this team getting close to the things that I personally want out of the team I follow. Eichel is not nor should he be untouchable. Since he came into the league he is 24th in points. Not first, 2nd, or even 5th. Last year, his best year EVER, he was 10th in points in the league. He is super talented, he is a star, but he is not at the level of a franchise player to build your team around and carry them.

Well, this is the 6th game since the team came back from the Covid-shutdown against a team not named the Devils. 4 goals total in those 6 games. ONE even strength goal in those 5.5 (going on 6) games.

As with many things in this world....taking one extreme point of view might be dangerous or wrong with statistics. The charts show this so it must be true! What I se with my own eyes shows this so it must be true! Not so much. The real truth is likely a blend of many things.....a little of the eye test...a little of an outside point of view....a little of advanced stats...and a little of basic stats.

there are faults in +/- for sure, but it is not totally useless in my mind. Sure, a good number of the pluses and minuses may be noise, but just as many of them (if not more) might not be. The way I look at it...it should not be used as a 'tell all' stat, but it can show you some trends...especially if you look at it in context to other things with it.

Your point is the tricky part for fans..... 1.) We can't feel confident they will get a good return...but the people making the decision of course will think they are. No one in the position to trade him is going to say "I'm really terrible at my job so any decision I make is a bad one" Fans might think that, but the people making each decision are going to think they are making a great deal. 2.) Turn the above point on its head....having a deal on the table and NOT making the deal......can't you say if you have bad decision makers....they are equally as likely to turn down a great deal for him because they are bad at their job....as they would be for not getting enough? Having a bad GM/management team could just as easily be not trading him when a good offer presents itself because they are not good enough to realize it. The way bad management can work is the teams that do not make moves when they should...teams to sit on their hands too much. As fans we often don't know about that, however, because we DO know the trades that were made and can evaluate them...but we hardly EVER know the trades that were not made so we cannot evaluate them. The Sabres might be bad because of the deals or signings they Did NOT pull the trigger on..as the ones they have. 3.) If Jack asks out....well...its likely we as fans will either NOT know that...or if we do we won't know it until well after it happens. Meaning the pivotal item in whether the Sabres need to trade him or not is something that management..and others 'in the room' will know for a time that fans will not know.

Ok, I know people don't want to hear what I am going to say as a possibility, but I'm going to throw this out there.... The Sabres aren't 'tanking' intentionally, not at all, but at the same point they aren't going all out to win. They are 'trying' to win, but there are things they could be doing but they aren't, and it is a decision by the coaching staff, GM, and ownership. By not going all out I mean....they are doing the thing with Skinner they way they are (if they were going all out, they would have him playing all the time.) Long term, Skinner is not going to be a 40 goal scorer for the rest of his contract no matter how much you play him...you are stuck with that contract likely...so force him at all costs to learn a 2-way game now....so at least he is USABLE in the 2nd half of his contract instead of being totally useless as a player who doesn't score anymore and puts no effort into any other part of his game. They might be not playing some of the young guys as much as they could...letting the 'develop' instead. They are trying to build what THEY think is a winning culture at the cost of letting players use their full ability. They are trying to force Dahlin to play a different style of game (teaching it to him) instead of letting him just be him. Why might they be doing that? They think it'll be better for the team in the long run....and with a short season...and the division they are in....they might say that no matter what they did this year the playoffs were a long shot and if they made it in...it would be hard to advance. So, despite what the fans want...this is the perfect year to take that 1 step back that allows you to take 2 steps forward in the future....ensuring another top 10 pick also. Ok, I'm not saying it is happening, I'm just thinking...it is a possibility. Ralph seems like he could be/is a long term thinker....and a brand new GM would be in the same mindset. With the success of the Bills, Pegula could be at least slightly more patient on the Sabres side of things because his attention is more on the success of the Bills.

I'm not married to either side of the topic. If Jack is hurt and when he gets over his injury, he turns back into what he was last year (or better), do whatever you can to keep him. On the other hand, if you have a legit offer for him that is really something good, I'll listen and maybe do it. I know that I'm not taking either side of things, but that is the way I see it....you 'never say never' and consider all things put in front of you. "it depends...."

So, we call all feel good about this team, see a competitive game, and a few wins if, IF, they just play the Devils every night.

Would you believe right now...there are 5 teams in the league with a lower shooting percentage than the Sabres? I would have through they would be last..or at best 2nd to last.

I'm surprised by this. To me the best indication we have of how a coach views a player is by how much ice time he rewards them with. Right now, Montour has the most average even strength ice time on the entire team, and when you include PP and PK, he is third, behind only Dahlin and Risto.