jad1

Can they revoke Hall's MVP award?

Taylor Hall fire sale tomorrow. Take the best offer by 4pm.

The Bills have a good GM and coach, the Sabres don't. The reason for that most likely comes down to luck, but that's it.

That's a move that makes sense! (Baby steps)

My guess is that he got input from Adams about his take on the efficiency of Botterill's organization and Adams suggested the changes to the scouting staff. Terry then decided to go with Adams' approach over Botterill's.

The NHL will help Terry if he asks for it, like they reportedly did with Murray and Botterill (that worked!), but there is no way in hell the league is going to mess with the Pegula's ownership. Why so few scouts? Well because the scouting staff they had under Botterill did jack s###. They had a GM who didn't organize or utilize his scouting staff in a way that moved the organization foward. And I want experienced managers brought into the organization, and believe that's the best way to improve, but experienced GMs and coaches fail all the time in the NHL. Creating synergy between the GM and coach is crucial, regardless of what their experience level is. Getting over the hurdle of hiring the right people is huge for the Pegulas, but once they get it right, by luck or skill, they'll be considered to be among the better owners in the league. It happened with the Bills, it will happen with the Sabres.

Sure. Do that again. 😎

Well hope then that he hires the right coach this time. Hiring the right GM and coach for the Bills turned them from a dumpster fire into one of the best franchises in the league.

If this were true, the NHL would be pressuring half of the owners in the league to sell. Pegula is worth $5.4 billion. He's not going anywhere.

Fix the defensive zone coverage. Fix the transition game. Create lineups that make sense. Define roles and expectations for each player. Inject energy into practices and the locker room.

Yep, generally speaking, the entire league sucks at hiring 'good' coaches.

The same role they played when they hired McDermott (whatever that was). 🤔

Dear Terry, Hire a good GM. Hire a good coach. Maybe consider guys with a little experience. That is all.

Hey man, we like hockey. I don't know what the hell this is, but we like hockey. 🙄

Adams held a big press conference and told everyone that this is "unacceptable." That was the plan.

If you can't figure out how to build a team around players like Eichel and Reinhart, you shouldn't have a management position in the NHL.

It would win Rob Blake the Executive of the Year award, hands down. Meanwhile, Ralph would stick Turcotte and Byfield on the taxi squad for the rest of the year.

Finally! Everything is coming up Sabres!

And that's why it's a massive risk. A GM willing to trade Eichel has to be prepared to lose the trade. And that's a difficult thing for this organization because it doesn't have the roster, coaching, prospects, or culture to support losing a trade like that. Think of the setback that the O'Reilly caused the organization. This would be much, much worse. Any GM who makes this trade has to be certain that Eichel, a guy who posted 78 points in 68 games last season, is part of the problem and not part of the solution.

So if the worst team in the league wins the lottery, is that considered a 'win'? If that's the case, the Sabres are probably screwed. 🤔

Actually, the odds are pretty good. The turnover rate each season for NHL coaches is insane. Typically it's between 20 and 25%. When a team hires a coach, the odds are higher that the coach is going to fail than succeed. And while hiring a good coach is a difficult task, the Pegulas have worsen the odds by choosing painfully inexperienced coaches on multiple occasions. So, yeah, SabreSpace is probably on-point calling out these coaches.

There's a lot of discussion about trading Eichel to the Kings for their young talent. Checking in with that young talent: Byfield, Turcotte, Bjornfot, and Byfield are all assigned to the Kings AHL squad, the Ontario Reign. The Ontario Reign's record currently is 1-10-2. Byfield has played in all 13 games, has 1 goal, 7pts, and is a -15. Turcotte has played 7 games, has 1 assist and is a -3. Kaliyev has played 13 games has 1 goal, 6 pts, and is a -2. Bjornfot has played 1 game, no points, but is a -2. Vilardi has been on the Kings roster, and he scores a goal every 3 games or so, so he has the potential to for 25 goals and maybe 60 points, which isn't too bad. So what happens if the Sabres trade for a combo of these young players? They wait. None of the young players are ready yet. None of them are driving their team forward yet. They all look to need another couple of seasons in the AHL. And if Vilardi is included in the trade? Well he replaces Eichel as the #1 center this year. So trading with the Kings brings the Sabres a #1 center with a lower ceiling than Eichel, and prospects that might improve the team in 2 or 3 years. In other words, the Sabres lose the trade. And they would brutally lose it if the young players don't develop as planned, which is a real possibility.

Krueger's era ends with an empty netter? Seems appropriate.

Well that was fun while it lasted.

Mittelstadt needs to stay in the lineup.