mjd1001

I usually come to the defense of Tage, and I'm doing so here. He has pretty much been on a pace for 40-45 goals all year. He is a scorer, he is streaky so he has periods where he disappears from the scoresheet, and in those times its easy to criticize him. But I also think of the centers on this team, he is NOT the worst defensively either. To me Tage is doing what he needs to do, certainly for a guy taking up $7 of cap space. Its the other 3 that are the bigger issue, especailly the 'other' $7m guy.

When you go to a game and actually watch him, you see just how many more mistakes Cozens makes that you don't see on TV/on camera.

You are probably correct, it may be well under 5% and he Friedman isn' predecting trades, he is just passing along that discussions occured I guess. The issue is, fans, message boards like this, tend to take rumors and run with them. WE may be the ones that take a statement like 'converstations were had' and we turn that into 'a trade is imminent'. Anyway, I just want something to be done. For along time I was in the camp of wait. Let the young guys develop. Give it another year. Be patient. BUT at this point, its obvious to me that changes need to be made. This season, the low point for me was not the 13 game losing streak itself. It was not the loss to Colorado. The single worst moment of the season for me was hearing Pegula showed up in Montreal and basically said "no changes".

I agree with this. Friedman does tend to break a lot of news and has some connections, but often times the 'rumors' he throws out there, stuff that isn't imminent....is often wrong. I mean he gets stuff correct, but my impression is if you go through is 32 thoughts over the last few years...his 'long term' projections on trades are probably well under 10%.

Masterful job? When did I say masterful job? not even close. And whether he is qualified for the overall job has little to do with how well he is at trading. The Bryam for Mitts trade isn't any better or worse whether he deserved the job in the first place. I said some good, some bad. But hey, if you think exagerating my claim makes your post a little better, go for it I guess.

Injuries are part of the game. Most losing teams will tell you they aren't an excuse. I get that. But maybe that is the reason the #1 seed is so important. I don't think its disputed by many that Bendford is the Bills best defensive back and maybe a top 10 CB in the league. Taylor Rapp is certainly better than his backup. The Chiefs came into this game 100% healthy if I'm not mistaken. The Bills, well, played without those 2. If Both Benford and Rapp played that entire game, isn't it possible, maybe even LIKELY the Bills are in the Superbowl? The buy and #1 seed aren't everything, but I think for the Bills (vs the Chiefs), it has become underrated. The regular season doesn't really matter next year, very few in this community will celebrate the Bills making the playoffs and/or winning the division next year. At this point that doesn't matter. The ONLY thing that matters between now and next January is if they can get the #1 seed and the bye week.

I'd be willing to do a bit more: -Bryam, what is he going to cost to sign him? Honeslty, I would hope they could put some prospects or another peice and keep Bryam, but I'm not sure if he was ever meant to be a 100% permanent piece on this team. -Cozens. I say this with 100% honesty, no hyperbole. This team is better in the long term when Cozens isn't on it, especially if you can get a "more complete" player to replace him (even if that player has less raw talent). Cozens to me has little value and is more of a 'throw in' than a big part of any trade. If they have to throw in something else to make it work, so be it. This team needs a change and needs a player like Pettersson. I have no idea where the idea that he is a perimeter floater comes from. If you watch him play, that isn't his game.

I'm not sure why. He has made some bad trades, made some good ones. His issue is the lack of movement/signing/bringing in vets that has doomed this roster. His last big trade, Mitts for Bryam, I don't think you would call that a fleecing. Other than not liking Adams and saying that to take a shot at him, I'm not sure what in recent history shows he would get fleeced on a big trade like this.

I know most people say the Bandits don't count as much (not a major national sport) but if you had the chance to be IN the arena when they won one, its pretty good. You may not go home and see it leading sportscenter, but the atmosphere inside the arena is really great..so I'd call that a 'taste'.

I would love Kulich to be a 3rd line center now. If you had Tage being healthy (which it seems he can never be anymore) as the 1c, 2c being a veteran, and 3c being Kulich. He can get almost as many minutes as the first 2 lines...but you can pick and choose when or when not to use him in pressure situations.

Not with Cozens at center. Cozens only spot where he would be a positive in any way is on wing, and at this point probably 3rd line minutes.

Maybe its an injury thing, or position? Because I agree. Kubel hasn't been great and he has been in and out of the lineup. Neither Lafferty or him are putting up any kind of numbers, but I thought Aubel-Kubel was the better player between the 2 of them.

I personally don't agree with the "If they are going to make a move I don't want Adams making it". I get some people want Adams gone, but to me, his issues is not the moves he has made have all been awful, its that there haven't been enough. There should have been more guys brought it. More signings. More trades. The ones he has made...first...were they all him? How much input from the rest of the hockey dept was there? how much input from the owner was there? We don't know that, but when I look at the moves, Some good, some bad, some TBD, some maybe on the bad sign of things but the conditions dictated it. Overall, I can't say his moves are awful. Again the problem is there aren't enough of them, and this moment, as each day goes by and nothing is done, that is more of a mark against him. But if a move is out there, I don't have a problem with him pulling the trigger on it. Again to repeat myself, when he does pull the trigger, he's not a bad shooter, its just he hardly ever pulls that trigger is the problem.

September? I'd say January. The Bills are entering Maple Leafs territory....doesn't matter what happens in the regular season. They could barely squeek in as the wildcard, or they can go 16-1 and have home field. None of that is going to matter until they get by the Chiefs (and for that matter the Benglas and Burrows if they make it in) in the playoffs. For many people, nothing matters for the next 12 months.

Tuch is someone that is a little puzzling to me. His first year and a half with the Sabres, he had 10 PP goals and 28 assists. Since then (almost the same number of games), he has 2 PP goals an 15 assists. A dramatic drop-off in production, much more than the PP overall. He has about 25% less PP ice time over the more recent time period...but all stats being even that should equate to a drop of 2 goals (to 8), not a drop of 8 goals (to 2). And when you watch him, he doesn't look awful out there, but he for sure isn't as noticable as he once was. He is almost as effective 5 on 5, he looks pretty good on the PK, but for some reason he went from an above average PP guy to looking out of place on it. So again, the entire PP is worse the last 2 years compared to the 2 years before, but to me Tuch just looks so much more out of place than he did in the past.

Maybe the Sacramento Kings for most of the last 20 years? Although as bad as they have been, they haven't really squandered that many first or 2nd overall picks.

They have been broken since Thanksgiving. On the even of he last game before Thanksgiving I think they were in a playoff spot. 11-9-1. Over .500. Positive goal differential. Playoff spot. Won 3 in a row and 4 out of 5 coming off of a western road trip. Things were really looking up around here. Since then 7-17-4 (basically 7-21). A 52 point pace. I'm trying to think back, did something happen right at the start of that losing streak that broke this team....as Thorner said...even taking out the streak they haven't been good. It just seems like such an inflection point to be random.

I do think he can be acceptable at wing. Take him off the PP and PK, give him 2nd or 3rd line wing minutes, make sure you put him with a Center who is good at carrying the puck into the zone. By doing all those things, you don't put Cozens in any situation he's not good at. You aren't going to get a player this is worth $7m per year, but you might get a winger who scores, on average 20-25 goals and doesn't hurt you away from the puck as much as he does at Center. You are getting a $5m player, but paying for a $7m one...but at least he won't be hurting you. There is someone in this organization that will not allow that move to happen. Someone here wants him at Center, on PP and PK, and on the ice at the end of games. Is it every coach he's ever had? Is it Adams? Is it Pegula? I don't know. All I am convince of now is that the move to wing and off the PP is not happening in this organization. The best thing for him, and the Sabres, is to move him and let him have that opportunity someplace else.

The Sabres need physicality, but they also need an all around center who can log top minutes, can score as well as set up guys, makes his linemates better and is pretty darn good defensively. Oh yeah, he's not a bruiser but he does have a touch of physicality to him. I know it was only one game, but against the leafs on HNIC earlier in January, he skated hard, he didn't shy away from checks, and he even tried to block a couple shots. He makes this team better. If he isn't physical enough, I wouldn't blame that on him, that is a different roster piece that needs to be added.

Something else to consider.... Remember the Colorado game where they collapsed? The first one? If I remember correctly, Ruff called a time out when things were starting to unravel, I could swear the camera was on the sabres bench and you could see Ruff telling the team to "Calm down". I think if you could read his lips he said something like "Calm down" or something very similar. When things started to unravel, the players played differently. They made bad decisions that they didn't earlier in the game. Its almost as if something got in their head and their hearts started beating faster and they got nervous on the ice. The only thing a coach can do there is call time out, try to calm them down, tell them to focus on what they were taught/coached/know how to play hockey. At that moment in time, if things keep going bad, thats on the players, not on Ruff or Appert. A few shifts by lines full of guys like Zucker (or some other 28-32 year old 2nd line vets) may have helped. Guys who have beein in that situation before, guys that know their role on the team and are good enough to play hockey, but are not going to try to do 'too much' other than the fundamentals. If anything, I don't put that on the coach...I put that on roster constructoin for not having enough guys like that the coaches can put out there. Adams, couldn't you find anyone like that to put on this roster? Terry, wouldn't you allow Adams to spend $5+ million dollars to bring in guys like that? Is it both of you?

Yep, agree. This franchise does not need more draft picks or prospects, they NEED players. But what is Cozens value? We think he was possibly on the way to Detroit (strong rumor) but Detroit is the one that nixed that (Strong rumor). Also, several of the 'insiders' on 590 out of Toronto have been asked over the season about the Maple Leafs need for a 2nd or 3rd line center and when Cozens is brought up, those 'insiders' I have heard all say Toronto has no interest in Cozens at all. When you listen to the hockey show every day, once in a while you will hear Toronto really REALLY wants a middle-6 center but Cozens no where near something they want. I personally have only heard rumors of 2 teams considering Cozens in a deal this year. In both of those cases, the other teams said "we changed our mind, no way" or just "no way". Maybe the rest of the league is seeing what many of us see. Maybe the scouting guys or analytics guys around the league see that he is a net negative player...that the slight extra offense he brings over a journyman/veteran center is more than negated by his defensive mistakes and how his linemates get worse when he is out there? Mabye the would rather have that 'journeyman' guy than Cozens, and that isn't even taking into consideration his contract. At this point, he might have virtually zero value on the open market to most teams, especially considering what kind of hockey player you are getting and then figuring those teams need to fit in $7m per year for many more years...and most teams around the league are at or near the cap already.

Now you are just trying to get me going....

I don't go with the coaching issue. I have heard 'coaching' issue on both sides of things. I think its a bit more on players that just don't handle pressure situations well. Not quite enough vets on the roster who have been through things. A team does great at the beginning of games but not at the end....its a 'coaching' issue as the coaching staff cannot adjust to game conditions. A team does poorly at the beginning but better at the end....its a 'coaching' issue as the coaching staff doesn't have the team ready. That point has been argued on both sides, depending on how someone wants to crticize the coaching.

A few game winning goals in the next month can change the numbers drastically...that is for sure. He's 2nd in total ice time for any forward this year behind Tuch.....and over his career with the Sabres he's 2nd in ice time only behind Thompson. He's also not logging huge minutes with the Sabres up by 5 or down by 5. So I would surmise....when game winning goals are scored (tie games)....His ice time mirrors his overall ice time....again, 2nd most among any forward for his entire career with this franchise. He's had as many chances for GWG as anyone other than Thompson. But, Cozens, for the last 2.5 years now, has pretty much been on the '2nd' line, and he gets almost every offensive opportunity as the first line (minuse about 1-1.5 minutes per game). He is almost always out there in close games (up one, down one) and tie games at the end of the games. Pluse he is a fixture on the PP....If not the first unit....he is on the 2nd unit, but he is out there on every single powerplay. I'd say he gets 95% of the 'opportunities' that Tage and Tuch did....and in close games/tie games actually had more ice time than VO. So again, sometimes the numbers can be a bit out of wach due to sampel size, but his numbers are SO out there that there has to be something to it.

No, hes that bad. The only explanation I can come up with is....he's Adams 'favorite' or Pegula's 'boy'....or someone just refuses to admit the contract is a mistake so there are orders to keep playing him. Being stubborn at the highest levels of this franchise.