erickompositör72

I did see some of the "progress" JBott was alluding to in this game. Unfortunately, no one seems to care about any progress on the power play. Maybe they're so focused on coaching other elements of the game that they don't care about the power play now, either? Isn't there some assistant coach we can bring in to fix it? We will not compete for anything if this is what our power play looks like, and we have some talented players on it.

where's Josefson?

we're due for a lucky bounce

Don't understand how any fan could have watched so far (even prior to Dahlin just now) and said "I don't wanna watch anymore"

Remember, firing Wowie would actually be a huge risk for JBotts. If he does fire him, and the rest of the season continues the current trend, guess who's head rolls next? Even if Housley is a (or the) problem, JBott better be pretty damn sure that someone else can right the ship before letting Phil go. Is Jason feeling lucky?

Plus, those $'s go a lot further in Buffalo than they do in Toronto! He can have a bigger house.

You're really going to put the quality of our 17-18 roster (or lack thereof) squarely on JBott? I feel like you make some very astute, well-articulated points, and then you go off the deep-end.

To be fair, they are(/were) actual roster players, as opposed to money out the window.

Is it bad if I want a certain player on our own team to get injured? just a jest- please don't bite me for negative thoughts, karma...

Who knows? Maybe Pegula decided to draw the line with the Sabres being a money-pit. 6million (or whatever it was) is really a lot of money, and Pegula has thrown away so much already. People with a lot of money have money because they care about money. This is all pure speculation... and maybe, to endear himself to the owner, JBott said "hey, I can make this work without throwing millions out the door" Obviously, this is a dynamic we'll never be privy to, unless JBott is unceremoniously fired and gets twitter.

Yeah, the trick is combining all of these metrics together into one formula, which is not always easy. Like reconciling quantum theory and classical physics...

goaltenders who make the big saves at the right moment. Not just as defined by SV% or GAA; A goaltender can allow 4 goals, but if the team is up 5-4 and is bombarded in the 3rd and doesn't crack, the team has gotten "clutch goaltending"

Here's a variable I'm curious about- how much can metrics account for clutch goaltending? We definitely had it during the streak. How would the metrics for the Hasek teams have looked? More circumstantial stuff: the dealing of ROR at the time he was dealt furthers my suspicion that there was also pressure to deal him from ownership. Wouldn't dealing him before a bonus was paid be more of an ownership decision than a management decision? (i.e., a manager with a blank check from ownership would probably paid the bonus and then deal, right?)

I actually made a mistake about the details of the 3-way deal. COL did end up getting more than we got for ROR. I hereby withdraw this as an exhibit illustrating your negative bias, but I do not cede that you are without such bias!

2019 third round pick, forward prospect Shane Bowers (drafted 28th overall, currently playing at BU), AHL goaltender Andrew Hammond Nothing to really hang their hat on, at this point. This shines a light on jame's negative bias, no?

As long as your acknowledging that. Further, we really don't know what was on the table for any of the deals, nor how far any GM he dealt with could have been pushed, even with the best negotiator. JBott's record with trades strikes me as pretty balanced, which leads me to believe he has a vision he's building, rather than trying to "win" every trade (that's near impossible to do). Re:the bolded- not sure who you're referring to, or how luck would be involved...?

I say go for it. How many chances do you get to see a kid with this much potential grow and develop? I think we'll know what we've got during/after this season. If he's a bust, you can check back out when the writing's on the wall.

Can you articulate a little more clearly how this played into dealing ROR? JBotts has spent quite a bit of time in successful NHL front offices, so I don't think experience would be at issue. Like I said, there is no way to prove or disprove that dealing ROR was not the best thing for the leadership dynamic in the locker room. Are there any other clues from the ROR deal that you can point to that would lead you to believe he is incompetent or inexperienced? Or is it just purely your hunch? (which of course, you're entitled to, but you can't state it as fact) If this is a key pillar to your criticism of JBott, I would say you're building your stance on something that cannot be known.

If I remember correctly, some analysts were even pointing to Lehner as a trade target for certain teams needing goaltending (they probably attributed Lehner's weak play to the team in front of him). While I don't think any scout with goaltending sensibilities would have endorsed such a trade, the risk factor is far less when making a waiver claim vs trading assets.

It's a Jack specialty. As I see it, though, Mitts and Dahlin may have those in them, once they get used to the NHL. I think both of them have the creativity, vision, and skills. Many of their passes (more Mitts than Dahlin) don't connect because they're not used to NHL players, who are able to intercept them much better than where they played before.

Where does Gandalf fit into all of this?

I voted no, and at that point, 68% said no. I think that's a good representation- I'd put our chances at making them around 32% Meaning, I will be far less surprised if we make the playoffs than I was when we landed the #1 draft pick.

I've posted this before, but the person I know on the inside (not affiliated with Sabres) told me that every front office knows that "O'Reilly's life off-the-ice is a mess, but on the ice, he brings in every night" In a veteran locker room, there are people that can keep a character like that in check. On a young, impressionable team, like ours, it can be detrimental, especially when grooming a young leader (Eichel). Especially when the aforementioned "flawed character" individual fancies himself a leader on the team. I'm sure JBott knew it was going to sting, short-term, to lose ROR. But he's not obsessed with short-term. As plenty have stated, the team is in-step with where we were hoping they'd be at this point, so we are actually not suffering as much as some make it out to be without him. It was a calculated move, and it took balls to make it, and it highlights mgmt's philosophy on building a team (vis a vis talent, as well as "character") The only other counter-argument to the above is "JBotts is dumb for making the move," which, IMO, lacks some nuance. Or, to be fair, if the above is all accurate, you can absolutely believe that JBott's reasoning is flawed, but you simply cannot prove it.

Maybe not necessarily "ill-will," but probably not any "home-town-discount"

That's might point, though. I wish Reinhart was kicking himself!