jad1

After making the playoffs with that team and breaking the drought. Dropping talent like that takes a skilled front office and coaching staff. Botterill, Housely, and Krueger couldn't manage it. Remains to be seen if Adams and coach X can manage it.

The difference makers involved in that trade are closer to Cozens and Mittelstadt than Eichel in their development, which means they're two years away from being top line producers. The next two years will look the same as the last five. And after two more years of losing, the team will invent excuses to trade Dahlin and Mittelstadt for more prospects, bringing a never-ending groundhog's day of suckitude.

So the Sabres trade away roughly 170 points for basically nothing next season. Sounds like classic Sabre trades.

Well since they're looking to drop around 170 points out of the lineup by trading away Eichel, Reinhart, and Risto, why not embrace the Sabre-ness of it all? The draft is now our Stanley Cup. Some might call it a tank; the Sabres call it business as usual. 😉

The Sabres have followed the mantra that the future is three years away, every season for the last decade. The league knows that they are no longer a team that competes for the playoffs or the cup, they compete for prospects. So why wouldn't the Sabres trade away Eichel last season? They're incapable of or unwilling to build a team around him, so why wouldn't they trade him for future considerations. Successful teams stock and stack talent. How many times have we discussed how Tampa will need to shed players due to the cap, and yet they manage the contracts to keep their roster loaded. Meanwhile, the Sabres look for creative ways to justify shipping their talent out for the pick and prospect return. They did it with Kane and O'Reilly. They're doing it with Eichel and Reinhart. In a couple of seasons, they'll do it with Dahlin and Mittelstadt. That's their game now. They don't hire GMs who have experience building playoff teams. They don't hire coaches who have lead previous teams on long playoffs runs. They hire guys who have experience in developmental leagues. And the league has caught on and treats them like the triple A team they've become. So should the Sabres have traded Eichel last season? Why not, it's not like the Sabres were really challenging for the cup this season, with a first time GM, a soccer-executive coach and no scouting staff.

Yeah, no doubt. Hiring better people would save them money. It should be a motivating factor for them. They figured it out (or lucked into it) with the Bills. Haven't been able to do it with the Sabres.

The inability to hire a competent, experienced GM and coach has dragged this process out longer than it needs to be. Firing people who were bad at their jobs is not the problem.

And Adams has thrown gasoline on the fire. Maybe an experienced GM who has dealt with player issues could, I don't know, smooth things over with the team's All Star center? Or we can just let Adams double-down on his incompetence and negotiate a Botterill special (three piece deal) for Eichel.

Jack isn't the problem, Jack HAS a problem. A good GM should be able to solve the problem with dumping the guy who has the problem. It's the whole baby/bathwater situation.

Who cares if it is? I don't care about sides. The point is losing Eichel over this type of disagreement is ridiculous. The front office should be able to handle these situations in their sleep, but they keep falling down. Find a GM who is skilled and experienced in handling player issues, so the team does have to keep needlessly shedding top line talent.

Because an agreement in either direction benefits Eichel and the franchise more than the cluster***** this turned into.

Whether he needs surgery or not is irrelevant. I want a GM who can facilitate a discussion with the 24 year old and the physicians and NEGOTIATE a resolution that all parties can agree to. The problem with the Sabres the last 10 years is they have had a bunch of inexperienced GMs who couldn't manage all the BS that happens in the locker room. Adams is just the latest in a long line of the incompetent Sabre GMs who could not manage off-ice issues.

I'd fire the GM every season until they find one who can successfully manage all on and off ice activities. This organization is historically awful. They're not awful because Eichel finished 8th in MVP voting instead of 5th. They're awful because of terrible trades, FA signings, and staff management. And this season they finished dead last and drove off their best player. That's on Adams. Damn right I'd fire him. And if his replacement was as big a screw-up, I'd fire him too.

I'd fire Adams regardless. There's no reason for this to escalate like it did. The GM needs to keep his own house, and there is no evidence that Eichel is the problem child everyone is making him out to be. And there is nothing in Adams experience to suggest that he is even remotely competent enough to handle a rebuild. Finally, if I had to choose a star player who finished 8th in MVP voting last season over a nothing GM, I'd pick the player every time.

So, back to 2013 then.

Right because employing a GM who engaged in an injury dispute with his franchise player isn't toxic. Getting rid of Eichel isn't the way to clear the stench of incompetence that has covered this franchise for more than a decade.

And don't forget that they'll be managed by a guy who broke faith with his franchise player over an injury dispute. Players on the team and in the league will take notice of that. Hey, we lost Reinhart and Eichel, but at least we still got Kevyn Adams! (Who will also be gone 2 years from now). The Sabres are heading down the path of becoming a ghost franchise, like the Knicks. The team isn't moving. The owner isn't going anywhere. But the team is not competent enough to compete for anything worthwhile.

If the Jets drafted Allen, there is no way he is the same player he is today being coached by Adam Gase.

The taint is the incompetent GMs and coaches who have done nothing but make bad decisions and shed talent from the roster the last 10 years. Letting another one of these morons dump Eichel and Reinhart off the roster isn't going to fix this franchise.

This is the smart way to go. Repairing the relationship with Eichel offers the franchise the best return. But nobody every accused the Sabres of being a smart organization.

The Bills changed their entire offense for Allen, signed a bunch of free agents, and traded a 1st round pick for a star receiver. It's easy to be a leader when you have a competent front office and coaching staff that you believe in. Meanwhile Eichel has played for a bunch of clown GMs and coaches who never could build a team around him, all while becoming a top 10 center who consistently raised the game of his linemates. And now the team is f###ing around with his health. Can't imagine why he's so different from Josh Allen as a leader. 🤔

A cause of the tumult has been the inability to hire good people in management. Keeping Murray or Botterill in the name of stability doesn't fix this franchise. Letting Krueger stay on for the sake of continuity doesn't fix the team. Hiring people in management who aren't terrible at their jobs will fix the Sabres' issues. Maybe Adams and Granato are those guys.

Way to go Sam. Now stick it to Hamilton in the post game interview.

Players get used to success pretty quickly. Better roster, better coaching, Reinhart will be fine.

Ah screw all that, he was mean to a REPORTER. A REPORTER for chissakes. Trade his a** now, after all this franchise has been built on the bedrock principle of addition by subtraction. (I apologize for the sarcasm. These threads touch a nerve for those of us who remember that the Sabres traded the future Conn Smythe winner because he said that he was sick of losing in an interview with a REPORTER.)