GASabresIUFAN

Watching the Granato interview. How much fun is he having coaching the team?

And sound positionally. I lived watching him help out in front of our net.

When have Casey or Cozens been overmatched in recent weeks? I’ll be honest and say the 2C is solved. It’s either Cozens, Mitts or Reinhart. We could do worse. I know I’m on the minority, but I really don’t see the need to change much in our forward group for next season other then replacing Eakin with a good player. We have some really good lines and pairings right now. I like the Mitts line as is. I like R2 with Cozens. I also like the new effort from Olofsson, Skinner and Reinhart.

How about that physical pairing of Risto and Samuelsson.

Good team. Bad teams don’t beat playoff bound Pitt 4-2 when Pitt is desperate for points snd we have our 3rd string goalie in net.

@LGR4GM Mitts’ line is better then Cozens’ right now. Mitts is also better right now. That doesn't mean that Cozens won’t be eventually be better, but clearly Granato believes he is better and is playing that way. The results also confirm it. That said what a great goal by R2 and Cozens to start the game.

I’m enjoying watching Samuelsson level everyone.

It’s funny you say that but we will be at 50% turnover in the forward group when the off-season gets here. Hall, Staal, and Lazar are already gone. Sheahan and Rieder are likely not returning. Move or lose one more player, like KO to retirement, and 50% of your starting 12 is gone. Instead we gave the team over to the kids and R2, Mitts, Cozens, Asplund and now Bjork. They have changed the dynamic of the offense giving us 3 lines of real scoring talent for the first time since 2007. Admittedly they are far from perfect, but you see the growth each game. Why replace them with more outside help that has consistently failed us and created our two albatross contracts? IMHO rebuilds work best when the are centered around home grown players. This is the first time in a decade we have enough good internal players to build around. Why not give them a shot. My guess is Jack will love playing with these guys

That is correct. Olofsson has speed and a great shot. He is a monster on the PP and mostly invisible any where else.

Weisbach also has a legit shot

Forwards under contract - 10 players (37.319 million) Eichel 10 mill Skinner 9 mil Okposo 6 mill Olofsson 3.05 Eakin 2.25 Girgensons 2.2 Bjork 1.6 Thompson 1.4 Routsalainen .925 Cozens .894 RFAs: Reinhart, Asplund, and Mittelstadt UFAs: Caggiula, Rieder and Sheahan Like the D, KA doesn't have to do much if he wants to go with status quo. All he has to do is re-sign the 3 RFAs and he has 13 forwards for next season. The kids (Asplund, Mitts, Thompson, Cozens, Bjork and Routsalainen are giving him many good reasons to keep their lines together for next season. If the kids continue to perform, then this scenario becomes even more likely. If I'm honest, this is the path I want KA to follow this off-season with this group. I feel the team has turned the corner and I want to see how the kids progress. I'm done with the signings or acquisitions of guys like KO, Skinner, Staal and Hall. It just hasn't worked. I know Mitts and Cozens aren't yet proven or finished products, but their growth this season has been immense once we canned Rasputin. This creates forward lines on paper of Skinner/Olofsson Eichel Reinhart Asplund Mitts Thompson R2 Cozens Bjork Girgensons Eakin KO So if KA agrees, where can we make subtle changes to improve the team. 1st step, trade Victor Olofsson. With Skinner's contract (and I'm assuming Asplund or Bjork aren't lost to Seattle) and the kids line performing, it makes me wonder if VO might be the odd man out. I can see KA trading VO to Seattle to insure they don't draft Asplund or Borgen, and also get something else in return. Maybe Sea has access to a back up goalie we'd want. What else might we do? Upgrade Eakin or Girgensons? Eakin has only one year left on his deal. He seems like a candidate for demotion to the AHL. Carry a 14th forward: Could management re-sign one or two of Rieder, Sheahan or Caggiula? Not enough change for you? I you think about it, we have already flipped 50% of this group from the start of the year. Gone are Lazar, Hall, Staal, and likely Rieder and Sheahan. If VO is traded, that's 50% turnover in the starting forward group from this season.

Why? Because 2017 has already yielded 2 NHL players with 3 more tracking toward the NHL?

I agree, but it's hard to walk away from another $8 in salary plus bonuses for the next two seasons.

Jbot made a lot of mistake, but his drafts were pretty solid. .... and now back on topic. Lets assume a worse case scenario for the start of this off-season 1. McCabe walks 2. We lose Borgen to expansion This leaves us with Bryson, Joki, Dahlin, Risto and Miller. IMHO that puts us in the market for 2 defensive D. One partner for Risto and one depth player upgrade over Irwin. For depth, I wonder about Luke Schenn. Honestly replacements for McCabe look pretty thin in the UFA market. I wouldn't mind trying to get Pelech (RFA) from the NYI. Maybe giant Oleksiak if Dallas doesn't re-sign him?

Sorry KO. Please retire and become our development coach. I think he'll be a great HC someday if he wants to go that direction.

I wanted Matt Boldy. I hoped Jbot could work some magic and move up to get him. I like Cozens. It was a tight battle between him, Turcotte and Zegras IMO. I think by the end of their career Cozens and Zegras will turn out to be better players then Dach and Turcotte. I also liked Brink and Beecher. Didn't have any interest in Kaliyev. I agree with LG that Jbot should have taken a forward at 31 but I like Johnson and had a 1st rd grade on him. I will not be surprised when he develops into a better version of McCabe. I also really like our Picks Portillo and Rousek. I've been following them since they were drafted and think both have NHL futures, especially Portillo. I also wonder what will happen with Huglen if he can get and stay fully healthy.

You found me out.

They would be meaningful additions, but no one is trading us Tkachuk and Lindholm plus for Jack. Also your roster doesn’t make sense. We are playing right now without Jack and doing well, with basically the following roster. Why would we change it as you did above? Skinner Reinhart Olofsson Asplund Mitts Thompson R2 Cozens Bjork Girgensons Eakin KO Let’s take Tkachuk and Lindholm deal for example. Calg is going to want VO as well to balance the money. So now we have Reinhart as top center with Tkachuk and Lindholm. Is this really an upgrade over a line of Skinner Eichel and Reinhart? Maybe but maybe not and our PP leader is gone. What then happens to Skinner? Are you demoting him to the 4th line to keep the 2 kid lines intact? No deal really works unless we get a good to very good center back in the deal.

Mitts’ line is scoring at .5 pts per game per player plus since the line formed. That is second line production. Cozens line is new. 2 games so far. I like what I’ve seen and think R2 has top 6 potential as does Cozens. Not sure about Bjork but have no problem leaving them intact for the rest of the season to see what happens. As to whether Cozens’ line will eventually out shine Mitt’s group as seize the 2nd line role. That’s fine with me. That means we have 3 solid scoring lines, which is something I’ve wanted this team to try to build toward since camp.

The difference in philosophies was that Taylor knew how to coach and RK didn’t. Taylor probably spoke up and said the system sucked. RK wanted him gone because he didn’t want a competent coach as an easily available replacement. Sorry Rasputin your plan didn’t work in the end. Granato was on your staff and had RK been a good coach and administrator he probably would have listened to Granato and Taylor and we would have had a good team.

But who would be get back in trade that is a proven upgrade over all the kids I just listed? The answer is likely no one, because what we will get back are similar young players, prospects or picks. Nothing that is a sure fire upgrade. I’m not trading Eichel for any reason or any offer. I believe this team has actually turned the corner. I’m no longer interested in more prospects. I have those and those kids are proving with each passing game that they are ready to move this team forward. Why on earth would I remove the best of the lot when he finally has help?

What exactly would we get back that we actually need? Center: Cozens, Reinhart and Mitts. Quinn is also getting time at center in Rochester. R2 can also play center and we might get Berniers in the Draft. Goaltending: Assuming we re-sign Ullmark, we have two very good prospects right behind him. Defense: Dahlin, Bryson, Jokiharju, Samuelsson, Borgen, Johnson and Laaksonen are here or soon will be. Wingers: R2, VO, Thompson, Asplund and even Bjork are asserting themselves for permanent top 9 roles; plus Skinner. We also Quinn and JJP coming soon. So with this in mind, how does a trade of Eichel moves us forward when so many pieces are emerging now. Seems like a setback rather then a step forward

You think he got rid of Taylor for “good” reasons. What about Skinner?

Worst coach in Sabres history and maybe in NHL history. I’ve never seen a coach who knew so little about how to handle players, create lines or coach any semblance of offense. Is he a con-man? I wouldn’t go there. I don’t know the man, but I do feel he is a my way or the highway kind of guy who doesn’t create a culture where subordinates ideas or opinions are valued.

Terrible coach and possibly a bully. He is a terrible coach. He had no idea how to utilize his talent to their best advantage and was so stuck in his “system” that he sucked the life out of every creative player on the team. I also think there is circumstantial evidence that he is a bully. His ability to destroy the confidence of young players and the Chris Taylor firing leads me to believe that he probably bullies people who aren’t responding to his motivational tactics or who aren’t yes men. I’m so glad he is gone I can’t begin to tell you.