JohnC

Old school @Pimlach has become a new aged coddler. What in the world is going on!!!🫣

You make a keen observation that JJP wasn't singled out for criticism of one's play. Coaches critiques players and hold them accountable in a variety of ways. There is nothing abnormal about that. What's surprising to me is that the Sabres are rightly criticized for soft and irresponsible play. So when that issue is emphasized and there is an attempt to hold people accountable, there is a response by some that old-school coaching was not appropriate for this particular young player. That doesn't resonate with me. You are right that JJP had options that the other contractually bound players didn't have. So he exercised his prerogative; and so did the organization. The GM traded a discontented player for players that hopefully will help strengthen in other areas. That's the sports marketplace in practice.

You are astute and perspicacious. Some people get invested in their own narrative. The longer they promote their own narrative the more unwilling they are to see a different course. So when the Sabres go in a different direction (maybe temporarily?) due to a lot of variables that can't control, this pumped up crowd becomes deflated when the outcomes deviated from their road map. There are plenty of reasons to be critical of this flailing franchise. But in this particular case the GM acted reasonably well with the situation on hand. The moral of the story: It's easy to get angry when you work at it.

I would say yes. If the GM couldn't get a fair-value return for him in a trade, then it made sense for the player and the franchise to stay here. With him, our blue line unit is more than solid, it can be quite good. Of course, there is an assumption that Power will advance as a player and that Samuelsson stabilizes his game. What this short-term deal is give the franchise more time to seek better options if they arise. There are a lot of things to criticize our GM for, but not for how he handled the Byram situation.

Why did the coach ride JJP? It surely wasn’t because he was responding to what the coach/es were telling him. So an old school coach coached like an old school coach. Big freaking deal! The player couldn’t handle it. I’m not suggesting that JJP is a bad fellow. What’s obvious is that he wasn’t as receptive to coaching and as resilient as he needed to be. In the end, the player made it clear that he wanted out, and got out. He was traded for players that filled other needs. What this backwater franchise doesn’t need is lingering dissatisfaction in a room already filled with a lot of existing frustrations.

Terry P is not out of touch. The organization and staffing is structured the way he wants it to be. If he wanted things to be done differently—-it would be done differently. KA is the GM he selected and has retained after more than 5 years of a flawed and failed rebuild. No other owner would have considered KA to be their GM or would have retained their GM with such a paltry record. He’s the owner and is doing what he wants to do, not what others want him to do. Incompetence paired with stubbornness is difficult to overcome.

What are you talking about? My comments directly related to the discussion. How he played certainly was a critical issue. And that he didn't want to stay here (apparently so) made the situation untenable especially considering his contract status. If a player, especially a young player, is not responding to coaching, then what do you want the coaches to do? Recoil, and not address the issue? In the end, the player got what he wanted, and the Sabres got a fair value return. (My opinion.) This is a case where a good young player was being coached up. He wasn't responding to it very well. So he was traded. You may want to put this issue in cosmic theoretical terms but I'm not. This was an individual case of relationships among the player/coaches/organization. He didn't want to fit in, so he was dealt. On this issue we see things very differently. That's okay.

Criticizing the owner, GM and coaching staff are warranted. No one is going to argue otherwise. But that doesn't make it invalid to be critical of a young player who is being "coached up" because there are inadequacies to how he plays. He's an offensive-minded player while being deficient on the other half of his game. What are the coaches supposed to do when his lax defensive play hurts the team? Be worried about his delicate psyche when pointing out for the umpteenth time that he needs to be more aware of the player he is supposed to cover? The Sabres are a recognized flawed franchise headed by an oddly aloof owner who is clueless. We are all aware of that inescapable handicap. But that doesn't mean that every player can play the way he wants to without respect to how it affects the team. In general, the Sabres have been categorized as a soft team. So the staff is trying to bring more discipline within the group and by adding to the group. It appears that JJP was not responding well to the message that the coaches were trying to convey. As evidenced by how he played, he tuned them out. So for me it comes down to that they dealt a player who didn't want to be here for players who wanted to be here. I have offered plenty of criticisms for the GM and organization. But for me, this is a case where the GM and organization handled this situation reasonably well.

If the owner would have swapped Jarmo into the GM job and made KA the POHO, I would have been ecstatic. With that organizational reshuffling I would have considered this offseason a resounding success. KA's has done a respectable job this offseason with the JJP trade and the acquisition of Lyons. And a Byram trade is looming, or maybe not. Either way it can still work out well. It's just that this stagnant franchise needs a major change in the hockey operation, and moving Jarmo to the GM position would have made sense.

I understand why you feel like you do when smugness is exhibited by outsiders. However, what's more upsetting is not the smugness directed toward this puny franchise as to why it happens. It's embarrassing that when Toronto plays Buffalo in our home arena that there are more Toronto fans. They literally have taken over the building so much so that if you were watching the game and didn't know where it was played you would assume that it was in Toronto. Our franchise has been degraded. And it was done by its own regime.

Isn't the Sacramento stadium a temporary situation until the Vegas stadium is built? When you get to the point where you are comparing your owner with the worst owner in sports (as you describe it), then you are at a bad point. The sad, if not ironic, thing about the Sabres and its financial situation is that if the owner had a serious team, the cash/flow and revenue return would put him in a healthier financial position. Penny wise and dollar foolish. Buffalo and the surrounding area are a terrific hockey market. The owner squashed it by how he has mangled this franchise.

There are no secrets about this franchise, owner and how business is done. When one has better options it’s not a surprise that an alternative pathway is preferred by players and potential staff. No one likes living in the ghetto when one can instead live in an upscale suburb.

Make it 8 more wins to be in a genuine race. I’m not so concerned about scoring goals as I’m about the goaltending.

Did the owner order KA to hire an experienced hockey person to help him? And was Jarmo the GM's personal selection?

That's the reality for the upcoming season. There are a lot of "ifs" that are needed to fall in place for this team to have a respectable season. Will they? Maybe or maybe not? Anyone who says for sure that they are confident that the upcoming season will be a surprising success is selling flimsy hope to you. I believe that for this team to be a fringe playoff team it needs to have consistent good goaltending. Will they get it? I don't know??? This is the team that KA constructed; a team full of "maybes". When you are entering the fifth or sixth year of a rebuild by the same GM and that's where you are at, then as a GM, you have failed. Someone tell that to the silent owner who has retained him! Sometimes patience is a virtue and most often too much patience is just stupid.

Are you giving up on Power already? Just because he doesn't play the rugged style of game that you prefer doesn't mean that he won't be a very good defenseman. In fact, as others have point out that his defensive numbers are solid and not as dire as you portray. I'm confident that if he were dangled in a trade that half the teams in the league would attempt to acquire him. Power is a good example where a player gets diminished when he has the misfortune to be stuck in a lackluster franchise. One should be happy that he isn't one of the players (so far) who is screaming (like Jack, Reinhart, ROR, Ullmark, JJP etc.) to get out of this cesspool situation.

Considering her health status I just don't see that.

It's not a surprise that the hockey decisions are made by the GM. As you note, that's a standard NHL setup. What's different about this situation is the selection of KA to be the GM with the paltry credentials and experience to do such a challenging job. Sometimes a surprising and out of the box pick for a key job turns out to be a home run that surprises the conventional thinkers in the business. But in this case, after a five-year run, his personal selection to head his hockey operation has a record that is not very distinguished. So the owner made an unexpected selection that didn't work out, it happens. The bigger mistake is in his retention after a five-year middling stint. And that's on the owner. Closing the door on Shanny doesn't bother me at all. The owner has the ability to talk to a lot of people in the business from analysts, people formerly associated with other teams, media people etc. It can be done on an informal basis or more formal basis. How many people tuned into the NHL do you think would tell the owner that his current GM is doing a stellar job? I doubt any would. Even I, with a rudimentary knowledge of the sport, recognizes someone who is inadequate to manage a hockey operation. I blame the owner for this longstanding stagnant franchise.

KA may not be hesitant with his thoughts but he certainly is frozen when he tries to act. It shouldn't be a surprise that when the top of the organizational chart reeks with mediocrity, the results are less than mediocre. A vicious circle that the owner is willing to endure.

You are working too hard to be pessimistic. You are assuming the negative when the goalie issue is still an open issue. I, like you, have my doubts about UPL. Were there better alternatives in the market? Not sure about that. My hope is that the team's better defensive play contributes to the better play in net, whoever is there. Hang in there, you are working too hard to be dour. 🙂

That should have been a priority when he was first drafted. It would have helped in his development, and it would have made the team better by solidifying the second pairing that gets a lot of playing time. And other related issues are who is going to be paired with Dahlin and if Byram is traded how will the pairings shake out?

Much of the team's success or not is predicated on better defensive player by the blue liners and lines. Will the goaltending beupgraded? If the other units play better, it will. I'm not assuming that there will be a dramatic defensive upgrade but expect better play on that end this season. Will it make much of a difference from a record standpoint? I think so. There's no reason not to believe that individually and collectively that Quinn, Benson and Power will not be better. The biggest issue for me will be how UPL plays. If he surprises us in a positive way, then this team should be at least respectable. In general, you seem to lean toward the negative while I grudgingly lean toward just maybe this team is on a more positive route. And another open issue is how will the Byram saga play out? I don't know.

I thought the Hockey Guy gave a fair assessment of the roster. He made the same point that is often made that improvement is dependent on young players such as Kulich, Benson and Power to take a noticeable step up. As is often stated in this forum, success is predicated on a lot of "ifs" falling into the yes column. It seemed to me that he appears to be confident that a Byram deal will be made this offseason. And as I believe/hope that he believes that Samuelsson is salvageable and can be a contributing defender probably starting off as a third pairing player and working to regain his confidence. TBD. I thought his comment about how negatively players outside the organization view the Sabres makes it difficult to attract players. The only way to change that is to win and become a more respectable franchise. Just my reading into his comments, maybe overinterpreting???, it seems that he doesn't have much regard for KA.

Most people would agree with you that KA did well with the McCleod trade. There always will be dissenters but the general view is that it was a good deal for this team. The hope is that he can make some more immediate help deals.

Would you have preferred that Mitts wasn’t traded for Byram and then have McCleod and Mitts vying with one another for the 2 and 3C spots?