jad1

Right now, this season would be Skinner's 3rd best season, so it's not a career year. He's in the neighborhood of a 25+ goal and 50+ point average per year player. Stafford scored 20+ goals 4 times in his 15 year career. So, no real comparison in the risk of signing these two players. Let Skinner walk, but Botterill better have a replacement in mind to play on Eichel's wing. The best way to blow $10 million a year is to put Sheary and Thompson on Jack's line.

I would argue that it cost them this season. A 55 point player would look pretty good on the 2nd line, behind Eichel, Skinner, and Reinhart. Buffalo has 3 top six forwards right now. 2 if Skinner walks. That means next season, Botterill has to add three or four 55-point players to the roster. It's an almost impossible task to add that number of 55-point players to a roster in one off season. So, barring a miracle from Botterill in the trade and FA market this off season, next season could make it two lost seasons.

You can see what Murray was trying to do to quickly rebuild the team. He drafted Eichel and Reinhart, traded for O'Reilly and Kane, and signed Okposo and Moulson as free agents. In a couple of short years he tried to build the top six fowards. It didn't work out, mainly due to Okposo and Moulson. The Sabres need a GM better than Murray, but as a fan I appreciate Murray's urgency with his plan.

Yeah, I think the point is that it's extremely difficult to acquire legitimate top 6 fowards in the NHL. You can't be cavalier with these guys, because they're difficult to replace (case in point, losing Drury and Briere for nothing basically destroyed the Sabres franchise). When Botterill realized that he wasn't going to be able to trade Kane for a top six foward, he should have tried to work a deal with Kane to keep him long term. Despite Kane's shortcomings, not replacing his contributions on the ice has set the franchise back years.

Nolan might have them play with more grit, but the team would definitely play with more structure in the defensive zone under Ruff.

It further emphasizes how bad the O'Reilly and Kane trades were. Not getting NHL-ready prospects in return for top 6 fowards adds years to a rebuild that Botterill himself sabatoged. The Sabres do not have a potential 2C for next season currently in their pipeline. Botterill traded a first rounder he acquired in his doomed trades for Montour. Montour is a good player, but he hasn't helped the overall team defense, and he doesn't fill the top 6 forwards gap. There's no urgency in Botterill's plan, and it's going to cost him.

There are 17 other players I'd blame on this team for getting the coach fired before Eichel (and one head coach).

They play poorly in their own zone, lacking fundamentals and positioning. The goaltending is average to poor. The top forward line could only carry the team so far. The team could have used an infusion of talent mid-season, but received none. Bad coaching, over-matched players, and a GM who decided to sacrifice a playoff run for a Calder Cup run.

They had 3 first round draft picks in the draft. They got Skinner for less than that. Teams have traded for top six fowards for late first rounders and mid-level prospects (see O'Reilly and Kane). Botterill could have made a deal if he wanted to. Unless you believe Mittelstadt will vastly improve next season, Botterill is going to have to look outside the organization to build a legit 2nd line. Unless he overpays in FA, he's going to have to finally make a deal in the off season.

That and the constant fundamental mistakes the team makes in its own zone has to be extremely frustrating.

Skinner has the 1000 yard stare. Not a good sign.

I don't know, give guys like Nylander or Olofsson a shot earlier in the season? Give Smith or O'Regan or Smith a shot? Make a blockbuster trade for a guy like Duchene and have Pegula open up the wallet to sign him long term? Trade for an older vet like Eric Staal who could improve the 2C position and mentor the young guys on the team?

This team broke right around Xmas. The top line couldn't carry the weight, and the GM refused to bring in secondary scoring, and the coach couldn't figure out how to get more out of the roster. If the Sabres had a 2nd scoring line that could take pressure off the first, and a defense that could give the forwards confidence to take chances in the offensive zone, Skinner, Eichel and Reinhart probably would have had a stronger finish. It's an example of what happens when a team tries to get through an entire season with 4 good players and a high school coach, and a clueless GM.

And Sabres finished with 62 points last season under Housley, 16 fewer than they finished with under Bylsma the season before. The Sabres results under Housley are catastrophically bad.

That's a good sign.

This team has been chasing the puck in the defensive zone for the last 7 or 8 years. They need a coach who can teach defensive positional responsibility. The Islanders found a coach who is able to do that, the Sabres need an old-school guy, for at least a couple of season to drill fundamentals into the young guys.

It's part of the narrative. It's context for whatever happens next.

Seattle is lobbying to have their franchise-first home game against the Sabres.

If the Sabres were a college football team, the other teams would be lining up to schedule them for their homecoming week.

This isn't the NFL. NHL teams are lucky when their 1st rounders hit, much less their 2nd and 3rd rounders. You can plan your rebuild based upon projecting the growth of undeveloped 17 and 18 year olds. Nailing the 1st round picks and trading assets for more developed players is the way most teams build. Peca, Hasek, LaFontaine, Drury, Briere, Dumont were all acquired by trade. Skinner was a good move. O'Reilly and Kane were good moves. Botterill is not going to draft himself out of this mess. How long does he have left if the team continues to play this way? One year? Rochester currently has no Botterill-drafted players on its roster. If Botterill wants to keep his job, he's going to have to acquire players outside the organization this off season.

Yeah, he's a poor GM that way.

He could have kept O'Reilly around another season and kept Mitts in Rochester.

He's not a Selke candidate, but he's not a terrible back checker, either. The defense has way more problems than their top scorer not playing like a defensive foward in their own zone. Can't make a case for Housley, or for Botterill. I'm a fan of the revolving door when it comes to coaches and GMs. You can kick them to the curb as often as needed, as long as you don't shred the roster.

It's not Eichel's fault that the Sabres defense continually gets caved in it's own zone. It's not Eichel's fault that the Sabres goaltenders have been prone to giving up soft goals. It's not Eichels fault that the bottom nine fowards can't hit the broad side of a barn. It's not Eichel's fault that the Sabres top defensemen in terms of ice time is a -46. It's not Eichel's fault that the system the coach has installed doesn't match the skill set of the roster. It's not Eichel's fault that players who need more development time in Rochester spent the season in the NHL. A captain of a hockey team can motivate good players to play great. What he can't do is make fundamentally bad players good Hockey teams need more than 4 or 5 great players on the roster to be a good team. Eichel hasn't made a single trade, drafted a single player, or signed a free agent since he's been here. Want to be a perpetual bad team, keep trading your top players. Eichel is not the problem with this team, just as O'Reilly and Kane weren't the problem least season. The problem is with the 15 other players on the roster who are stealing money every game.

The answer is to NOT hire a GM who is stupid enough to trade top 6 forwards for nothing,