jad1

The Eichel-Skinner-Reinhart is not only the best line the Sabres can ice, it has the potential to be a top five line in the NHL. This line and strong goaltending drove a badly-coached and talent-poor team to a 10 game winning streak last season. Eichel's playmaking optimizes Skinner's scoring. Reinhart's play-making optimizes Eichel's scoring. Reinhart ensures that the team gets value from their two highest-paid players. If the GM builds a reliable, NHL-quality 2nd line to support these guys, they could lead the team to the playoffs. As a first line, they are that good.

Well then the thought a second line of Vesey-Sobotka-Sheary must make you want to commit hari-kari. And you give that defensive lineup to a guy like Trotz or in-his-prime Ruff, and you would get a much differnet and better result. And whatever you think about draft position, the fact remains that Eichel, Dahlin, Reinhart, Skinner, Mittelstadt, Ristolainen, and Bogosian were top ten picks. That's one third of the lineup who are top 10 picks with Cozens on deck. If that lineup doesn't produce more that 85 points, what do you do? Trade them for career third pairing guys and third liners? Or do you bring in a front office who can manage and optimize that talent.

I'm saying that the issue with the defense last season had more to do with coaching than the talent. I'm saying a decent coach, like Lindy Ruff in his prime, would have built a good defense with Bogo, Risto, and Dahlin (all top 10 picks). I'm saying a good coach would have gotten more out of McCabe and Scandella. I'm saying that with better coaching on the back end, the GM could use more resources to fix the issues he caused on the front end. And, sorry, we all should give a fxxx where someone is drafted. The whole god-dxxxed reason the Sabres are in the current hole is because they willfully positioned themselves to draft players at certain positions in the draft. This current team is built on the premise of high-draft picks. The GM's entire m.o. is building the pipeline, which emphasizes where guys are picked in the draft. This comes at a cost and if the front office can't find success with those highly drafted players, you find a front office who can.

Defensive rebuild, meh. This is the only team whose defense has three first rounders (all taken in the top 10) and three second rounders on the roster, but they need a rebuild. The team defense actually got worse after they added Montour, a good player who actually played well after the trade. How many more slick, puck-moving defensemen does Botterill need if they all lose their minds when the opponent has the puck behind their own net? I often wonder if Ristolainen would have all his issues with d-zone exits if he played under Ruff after the lockout. Botterill is spending resources to fix a problem that should be addressed by coaching. Hopefully Krueger has learned how to coach team defensive zone structure in the EPL. Meanwhile the team is left trying to figure out if Sobotka or Mittelstadt will be the 2C, and moving career 3rd liners up to the 1st line.

30 games or so in Rochester would help him.

Is a #2 center worth firing your GM who was foolish with his best players in favor of hiring a GM who is not? That's a more realistic question for a thought experiment.

Why would we have to trade our best prospects for a #2 center when the Stanley Cup champions traded a couple of Salary dumps, their 3rd best prospect and a lottery-protected 1st round pick for their #1 center?

Yeah, culture without talent doesn't work. It was easier for Drury to build culture with a coach like Ruff and a player like Vanek on the third line, than it is for Eichel with Housely and Sobotka. The Bills were bickering not because of Devlin or Smerlas, but because Kelly was feuding with Thomas and Smith. Even the coaching staff was dysfunctional. The team was good, but needed focus, and that came when they installed the no-huddle offense. Talent improves a team and culture hones it. Botterill seems to be skipping the talent step, which explains his record.

Eichel could probably carry these career third-liners, playing on their off-wing to 20 goals. He can probably get Skinner 30-35 goals. But he'll only score 25 himself. Reinhart is the probably the only winger on the team who can drive Eichel to 40+ goals. Skinnner - Eichel - Reinhart is the only playoff caliber line the Sabres have. You would think that Botterill with all the cap space he had at the beginning of the off season would have built a legitimate 2nd line. Instead he's amassed 3rd line left wingers. Seriously, did anyone believe at the end of last season that Jimmy Vesey was the answer to any of the Sabres problems? Anyway, Botterill might still add top six talent, but time is now short and the cap is tight. At this point, expect a bunch of guys to be thrown on Eichel's wing. Hopefully one can make the jump to the top line, despote playing on their off wing.

The Sabres don't crack 80 points this year, he's gone. No NHL GM should survive three consecutive sub-80 point seasons. That said, I expect Botterill to make a couple of deals over the next month to make the Sabres more competitive this year.

If the players are there, Botterill doesn't have to be. At some point Botterill has to prove that he can construct an NHL roster. If the Sabres don't make progress this season, they should try to bring in someone who can better maximize the team's assets.

He's shown that he's willing to trade picks and prospects. He hasn't remade the roster yet. The top six fowards are still a concern, and the team still needs to show it can play team defense, but Botterill still has ample time before the season begins.

Except that doesn't account for the rumors that Botterill was shopping O'Reilly at the previous deadline, months before the infamous interview. Botterill just wanted to move O'Reilly. He did like his game enough to justify his contract. He liked the return he got from the Blues. Judging by the amount of ice time Thompson got, he obviously valued him as a prospect. He was also willing to take a couple of salary dumps to get Thompson and draft picks. The fact that Sobotka wasnt traded, replaced, or sent to Rochester, shows that Botteriil also valued his play. He wanted an additional 1st round pick to build the pipeline, and the Blues were willing to give him that. Botterill undervalued O'Reilly, over-valued Thompson, tolerated Sobotka, coveted the 1st round pick and probably never talked to Berglund. He liked this deal, and, as a kicker he saved money on O'Reilly's bonus, which appealed to his M.B.A. brain. This trade is all on Botterill.

So the plan is to move a 3rd line left winger to right wing on the 1st line? That will help Jack? If this is the plan, this team is in serious trouble this season.

Well there's the fact also that he's 27 and the team who owns his rights decide to cut ties with him. And that team is considered to be one of the better run franchises in the NHL, who probably is aware of Panarin. And there's the fact that no NHL team showed enough interest in Gusev to even offer Vegas a 7th round pick for his rights. And there's also the fact that the KHL isn't considered a major feeder to the NHL (how many top ten KHL scorers make it to the NHL), so success in that league doesn't necessarily translate to success on the NHL. Maybe a team takes a chance on Gusev and he turns out to be Panarin jr. Or, more likely, he turns out to be Gerbe jr. Can't blame the GMs who shy away from taking that risk.

What's the percentage of guys in the NHL who weigh more than 170lbs? 98%? 99%? The exception here doesn't break the rule. Maybe Vegas is making a mistake, but GMs are pretty risk-adverse and most are going to play the odds that Gusev is not the next Paranin.

He'll be fine. The Hurricanes will do one of their dopey celebrations after their first home win this season and all will be forgiven with the 125 rabid fans in attendance.

Gusev is also listed as a LW, and judging by the Sabres roster, he would fit nicely into Botterill's plan of signing every high risk/high reward left winger on the current market.

He's listed at 163lbs. He most likely doesn't have the skills to play in the NHL at that size.

I agree. I prefer the nickname 3U. They're not the best. Hammond might get a look or two during the season with big club. I think the goal is to have 3U as the starter coming out of the lockout.

UPL has six ks in his name.

I don't think he's that special. If the Sabres don't improve this season he's gone, basically because he would have butchered the NHL roster. However, I do agree with you that he will make more moves before training camp; hopefully he will be able to improve the quality of the top 6 fowards. That would turn the team's fortunes around.

Sure, he has 3 months to make a deal, and he should use as much as that time as he needs. Even with Reinhart at 2C, the team still lacks top 6 talent. Going into the season with the roster as it is would be a mistake, so while there's no immediate rush to acquire the 2nd line center man, it needs to be done before training camp.

Sure, September is good. So say that the Botterill doesn't acquire a 2C, and the Sabres finish with 75 points. That makes 3 straight seasons where the team doesn't top 80 points. How many GMs get that much leaway? His picks are in the pipeline, Botterill doesn't have to be here to see them graduate to the NHL roster. The Pegulas can keep the prospects and hire a GM who knows how to build a better NHL roster.

The roster listed above will struggle to hit 70 points this season. Botterill has till the end of August, but if he doesn't acquire a legitimate 2nd line center, this will be his last season as GM for the Sabres.