Broken Ankles

100%! They regressed from 16th overall last year and added an incredible weapon in Olafsson. The second from worst PK is reason enough to change. Unacceptable decision Not making some change.

Shouldn’t this say, “Since The Pegula’s took over”? I mean Kim deserves some share in the unacceptable performance of this franchise.

I'm probably dumb for challenging you on this, but I disagree with a few of these notions. First of all is the idea of a R/R (Montour and Joki) on your second pair. The NHL has slowly migrated away from L/L and R/R pairings over the last 10 years. A L/R pairing was less than 50% of the time in 2008, and now it's greater than 75%. I trust what other GM's and Coaches are trending towards, not our own. Couple this trend with the fact the L/R is proven to have higher Corsi and Fenwick numbers over R/R, LL, and the Sabres like to move the puck from low to high and the point shots at a higher than average rate, I need to have a L/R combo at all times. Using this logic as a presupposition, I need to decide between Joki or Montour on the second pair. I supposed we could push Montour up to the first but I'm not in favor of that. Similarly I don't like pushing Joki to the third. So I pass on Montour's RFA contract and use him as trade capital this fall. Sticking with Joki as my 2RD for now. Knowing that RD are slightly more valued, (2019-20 stats suggest that 59% of the top 250 D-men by average TOI are Left handed, and that more than half of the teams in the NHL deployed Left handed players more than 59% of games played) I think Risto and Montour hold more trade value than some think. (Insert JB joke about knowing the inherent value of a scarce resource). I use them to obtain 2C. My other rationale for dispensing both is we need young Rasmus to have a true complimentary pair. Stay at home, eats minutes, and can play all special teams. This will be expensive so I need to remove two medium priced D to make up for the huge cap hit in Dahlin's new partner. Lastly, while I'm not adverse to seeing Risto's minutes reduced even more so, and playing a true 2RD position, I've already reconciled why Joki needs 2 pairing minutes, and again do not want R/R pairings. So for a multitude of reasons (Cap space, positional play, reduced PP role, PK was ineffective and could be upgraded with true RD) I'm ready to move on from Risto. And maybe there is a LD veteran that can play 3rd line minutes for minimum salary. Lets use Nathan 'Ball-yu' as minimum lever replacement player for say $1.25M. For me, I think Pilut has way more upside than a JAG like Nate. For about the same price. Maybe we move on from Pilut in 2022, but for the next two years, I prefer Lawrence. Especially if paired with Miller or Bogan (whom I have slotted as a starter in 2021). We agree on Borgan as #7 for certain in the fall/winter of this year. My pairings on the left, yours on the right.

I don’t think he is worthy of a top 4 either, but I also don’t think McCabe is that much better. If Pilut leaves, we go from having a surplus on D to an extremely weak left side. An the UFA market for LD is not strong this year. Perhaps Buffalo could use cap space to extricate a Defenseman by trade and push Jake to the third pairing, but I’d much rather take my chances with those two at a reasonable AAV as 4/6. Just not a fan of having two right handed D. If this is not a ploy and he’s unhappy, how do see 1-6 on D next season?

The phase II concept behind this is completely bogus. It just confirms the NHL bias for teams like Chicago, NYR, and Montreal. Where they get a chance to play and a chance to get a top three draft pick. Unacceptable. Weak ownership by Buffalo et al to approve the NHLs proposal to end their season and not get a single quid pro quo. Basically the same odds as if Covid and the pause never happened. The only silver lining is the previous proposal where only #1 was available is off the table. Could change the boards tone and narrative in July/August when we do finish in the top 3.

Kahun. Possibly Pekar. Your on his bandwagon no? And don’t forget the increasing possibility of Lafreniere.

She has! After the unforeseen death of Terry, and Kim’s unusually fast courtship and marriage to Timothee Chalamet shocked “One Buffalo” fans. Things seemed darkest after the TMZ exposé “Kougar Kim” revealed the predatory nature of the the recently widowed Billionairess. Fortunately the Former Tennis Pro showed her moxy by firing Jason Botterill (long over due) in 2029 as her first order of business. The Sabres and their NHL roster record 17 top 10 picks went on to win the Stanley Cup the first year with Jessie at the helm of the organization.

Agree that Cozens makes the team, and that gets more than 9 minutes a night. Mitts averaged 12.5 minutes and he was on the true 4th line. I don’t see a return of the GLO 3rd line, so he absolutely has a chance to play 13+ a night with a combination of Kahun, Tage, or MoJo. Where Lazar will fall back to heavy PK and reduced 4th line even strength minutes. I also see it more probable than not that Mitts is the odd man out between him, Tage and Cozens.

Georges, McBain and Colaiacovo probably didn’t help much either.

Dis poll?

Actually 7th. Luc Longly had more MPG and PPG than Kerr for those Championship teams. Weren’t they all passengers to some extent? Isn’t that the point of the documentary? They assembled complimentary players to play with MJ. The production and editing on this project is quite impressive. Never a fan of those Bulls teams but always respected them. Great job of weaving interviews from 97 and today.

From LeBrun today... On the idea of a June NHL draft, which has been a hot potato ever since it was proposed a few weeks ago. “So, it’s one of a number of things we’re working on,” said Daly. “And when I say working on, when we’re talking to the clubs we’re discussing it in more detail. We want to understand their concerns, we want to understand the pros and the cons. So there’s no rush on our end. Particularly with where we think the earliest we can play in, we have a window to fit the draft in if we wanted to go in that direction. And when we get to the end of that process, whenever that is, we’ll make a decision. But we’re not there yet. I do anticipate, obviously, at some point, whether it’s this week or next week, probably more likely next week, you’re going to have to make a decision. But nothing is imminent.” My take: The memo that the league sent to the 31 clubs on May 1 made it seem like the June draft was headed toward a done deal. But ever since last Monday’s Board of Governors call, there has been a clear slowing of momentum on it. That doesn’t mean it won’t happen, but I would certainly present that there’s been enough pushback from teams to make Daly and Bettman think about it again. It’s probably more of a toss-up now whether the draft happens in June or after the season is over in the fall. Either way, sounds like we should know sometime next week. We can only hope for the underlined.

Maybe some here think they are taking a step back but Vegas does not. The 2019 Win Total for the Bills was 6.5. This years it’s 9, on what many consider a more difficult schedule. That coupled with 4 prime time games spells respect. Vegas also has the Pats at 9 which is fascinating. Conceivably no QB to speak of, a questionable receiving group, and status quo on the line. Big losses on defensive side in Collins and van Noy. The Bills need to beat NE twice (and they should) to attain 10, and prevent Belicheat from meeting 9.

King SwampD I presume?

Can you though? Get more for Risto than Montour? Why not trade them both? I'd rather take a swing at a RD like Alex Pietrangelo as a true #1 to pair with Dahlin, as opposed to the $10M in AAV you'd spend on two #2's. Or maybe 'Buf' on a smaller & shorter agreement.

Connolly? Have you been watching MSG classics?

'Crumbs' certainly gets credit for the building around MJ, but his quote (out of context or not) is uniquely tied to a Dynasty that was elevated by the best player to ever play the game. I agree with all of the above, and throw in Tony Kukoc as a second round pick. But here is where I dissent. MJ established his dominance in year 2 (1985) but it took Jerry 6 years (7 if you include the 90/91 year) to win their first championship. Can you imagine if JB was given another 4 years to get the job done? He also has to own the collapse after Jordan left. The next two years they finished D.F.L. in the Central. Other points include his decision bring in Tim Floyd as head coach in 97, which was over-ruled by the owner himself. And lastly he once proposed to Reinsdorf trading Jordan. Bringing it back to the Sabres, I tend to agree with others that TPegs in not a great leader and weak ownership coupled with a below average GM is why we are in the state we are in. Could a President of Hockey Operations Executive help, probably. Is this the guy? Not sure. p.s. Most fascinating thing I learned about Krause from The Final Dance was his affiliation with Reinsdorf came from time spent as a Scout for the White Sox. In a day and age where most GM's have some kind of playing career in that sport, to jump from MLB to the NBA and not having played either (obviously) is incredible.

speaking of good assets, Fromms Mom Lee.

Nice prediction!!

Let's hire him immediately. After all, "Players don't win championships (alone), organizations win championships". We clearly don't need better players we need better Executives. ?

You can't be serious with this graphic right? This is a single year between 2016 and 2017? This is the SS equivalent to taking a Corsi rating for one year to prove a player is better than what his performance in points bears out. California has gained net population between 2010-2019, and was up between 2018 and 2019. Also note we have more than twice the population of NY and 4* of Illinois, so size does matter....when your comparing net loss by states. And for record, not saying that businesses are not leaving CA for TX either. I see it all too often. I'm just saying if taxes/income rates were the single most important element in population decline, the results would be more pronounced.

And they are not related? The cities with declines in population are from states like NY, OH, Il, WV, PA and MI. All have had declining manufacturing with a self reliance on local municipalities for jobs. These states rank the highest in the Nation for local jobs per capita. Lowered property taxes coupled with higher cost for services result in higher local/state taxes to pay for them. Increased poverty levels with below average services leads to Population decline. High taxes of course drives away private business from growing/staying. It’s a vicious cycle. If it’s just a tax thing why has California and Hawaii (13% and 11% respectively) not seen similar declines? I took the advice of Horace Greeley about 24 years ago and I’m much better off for it. Go West young man.

Second smallest with the best ratings In the US. https://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2019/04/29/Media/NHL-ratings.aspx

Are you a Demographer whalermike? Buffalo has lost roughly 2% of its population since the last census of 2010. Too many cities in the rust belt to name losing population. The proximity to Southern Ontario guarantees the subsistence of the organization.