JohnC

The shame of this losing interlude is that UPL's goaltending has been superb. It has been wasted.

It's the standard up and down hockey cycle of up that this decrepit organization can't be part of because of its own perpetual incompetency.

That inability to make the course adjustment is because he didn't have the wherewithal to do the job to begin with. Every GM who takes over a franchise in any pro sport has a plan to move forward. But that doesn't mean you have to be stuck to your preconceived notions when the terrain inevitably changes. Dealing with constant change is part of job. This GM was in over his head when he took the job and has been in over his head while he has had the job. Terry doesn't talk. He says nothing.

I brought this up before so I apologize for the repetition. Over the last couple to few years, Washington has reshaped its roster to the point where they are a now a serious team again. None of the players added such as Strome, Eller, Luc Dubois, Mangiopane, Logan Thomas etc. were considered top tier players. Dubois and to a lesser extent Strome were considered underachievers. Chyyrun was somewhat of a risk acquisition because he was entering his free agent year. My point is that the roster has steadily been reshaped to the point where they are now highly competitive. My big fear is that the contamination of constant losing will infect young players such as Quinn, JJP, Cozens, Power and even Benson where a change of scenery will be needed for them to revive their game. It's a corrosive environment for young players. What happens when Byram gets tired of this losing atmosphere and elects to become a UFA in order to get out of this stifling place he currently plays at? What will we then have to show for the Mitts trade if that scenario comes to pass? One of the biggest attributes a GM must have is the ability to assess his roster in a cold-blooded and analytical fashion. Our ill-equipped GM is in over his head. What makes this situation so exasperating is that even in this losing spiral period, the difference between winning and losing has been miniscule. I blame the clueless owner for the unqualified GM selection and this needless situation. It didn't need to play out this way.

No organization or front office in any pro sport makes personnel decisions where they all work out. That would be an impossible standard to judge by. That's not how you judge an operation. It's the overall body of work that includes plusses and minuses. When all is said and done the bottom line comes down to not assessing any one transaction but rather the team's record over an extended period of time i.e. multiple seasons. The owner can operate his multiple sport businesses any way he wants. If he wants to interfere or not, it is his prerogative. Let's not forget that it was the owner who chose KA to run the hockey franchise after Botterill was fired. It's not unfair to say that there wouldn't have been one franchise in the NHL that would have considered this inexperienced person, let allow to interview, for the most important job for a franchise. In reality, we don't know how much the owner interferes or not. He can do whatever he wants. What I'm focusing on is the team's record. It's freaking dismal. And to make it even more revealing is that this franchise has struggled since Pegula took over, nearly a generation ago. That is a ludicrous absurdity! Again, I don't need to microscopically analyze the inner workings of this franchise. The doors are closed to us. So we can't fully appreciate what's going on in the room. It doesn't matter. Just check the record.

There is not one sober or non-brain-dead GM in the league who would trade Power for Risto.

Compare the Washington Capitals with the Sabres? Last year, we were talent-wise basically comparable teams. And I would say that most hockey people judged that the Sabres had more upside young players on their roster. Over the past few years, Washington made a number of small transactions to better balance out their roster. They phased out the right players and correspondingly phased in the right players. Last year, the Capitals squeaked into the last spot in the playoffs. Their record this year is 20-6-2. There were no bonanza deals that were eye-popping that dramatically changed the roster. It was a series of smart moves over the past few seasons that allowed this franchise to get back into the serious playoff fray. Compare that to how the Sabres' organization has been run over the past five years or so? I strenuously disagree that a highly qualified new GM needs a lot of time to evaluate everything here. Experienced GMs know the league and players on all the teams very well. And they also know the hockey staff for most teams If you have listened to the many critiques of the Sabres from outsiders, it comes down to the same criticism of roster construction and other organizational issues. Over this recent hideous losing streak, almost all the games have been lost by one goal. The takeaway is that the difference between success and failure is miniscule. I wholeheartedly believe that with the right person at the helm, this sinking ship can get back to the surface and float again. This situation is inexcusable!

Yes, I'm serious. Byram is an offensive defenseman. That's who he is. He's not a stay at home positional player, and never will be. If you want that type of defenseman, then pursue that type of player. You can throw out whatever analytics you want and be enamored by them. I'm not as impressed or as influenced by the numbers as you are because they more often than not don't reflect the actual performance of the individual player. It's not unusual that the less than impressive analytics for a particular player are influenced by the other players on the ice. It's my belief (opinion) that the ineffective GM made the judgment that Cozens was a 2C. And if that were true, it would have made the departure of Mitts less impactful with the added benefit of adding a first or second pairing defenseman. Not surprising, the out of his depth GM miscalculated. The moral of the story: going backwards is not going forward.

Ruff then basically benched him in that period. After that public spanking Power played well. That's good coaching.

I was queasy about the Mitts trade for Byram for a variety of reasons. As you point out, the more one sees of Byram, the more impressed one gets. So, let's review this from KA's GM perspective. I have a versatile player who wants to be here but will trade him for an emerging offensive defenseman whose contract situation gives him the option to leave in the near future. Byram's mind-set is or will be after being subjected to a stream of demoralizing losses is: If I play well in Buffalo (a shiithole franchise) I can showcase my talents to all the teams in the league. What the befuddled GM has done is create leverage for this player to either leave for a bigger contract bid up by the market, or at worst, force this farcical organization to keep him in the fold for a higher market price. I don't know how this Byram scenario will eventually play out. I hope we can keep him. But from an overview perspective, the GM placed himself in a vulnerable position (less leverage) with this deal. There is nothing unusual about taking calculated risks for an attractive player. But when you preside over a systemically dysfunctional franchise you are in a weak position to begin with. Playing checkers doesn't mean that you can succeed in chess.

What's worse than being laughed at is being ignored. Buffalo has become the hockey world's invisible franchise because no one cares about it. A generation of losing will do that to you. The biggest problem isn't outsiders laughing at this clownish franchise. It's that most of its local market is apathetic to this lame franchise. Freaking pathetic!

The NMC is certainly real as it applies to Buffalo. That's not debatable. The clueless owner allowed his franchise to descend into irrelevancy due to its systemic dysfunction. Players at the NHL level are intensely competitive people. They want a realistic chance to win. A generation of futility is an astounding ignominious accomplishment. It's gotten so bad that it's as much of a challenge to retain your best players as it is to seek outside talent. The franchise's skunk stench of the Pegula stewardship has so permeated this franchise that few players want to be tainted. And I don't blame them. Mitts was traded for Byram. What happens if Byram decides that he doesn't want to sign a contract here, preferring to ride out his contract to his UFA year. That would mean that we hit the trifecta of shedding Eichel, Reinhart and Mitts for pennies on the dollar. The pursuit of stupidity in the pursuit of losing. Freaking pathetic!

Terry is the owner. He's going to do whatever he wants to do. That's the reality that no one other than he, himself, can change. The starting point is to get someone more qualified sitting in the GM's chair.

I'm not overly concerned where KA is going to be moved to if a change is made at the GM position. The critical issue is getting someone in the position who is better equipped to do the job.

Why do you think that Karmanos would decline the position? It would be a terrific opportunity for him. This team is not bereft of talent. A few wise tweaks that would better balance out the roster is attainable by someone who knows what they are doing. The margin between success and failure is not that great. It can be achieved by someone who is better equipped to handle the duties of the GM than the current GM.

You want to add a declining player whose production is significantly down and take on his additional four-year contract. That is stupendously foolish. We had a 2C player in Mitts. And he was traded for Byram. I like Byram a lot. From a talent standpoint both trading partners got comparable talent back in the deal. (My opinion.) What happens if Byram next year decides not to sign a contract next year because he doesn't want to be stuck in this putrid situation? It will be a reprise of the Reinhart situation. Going back to the Mitts/Byram trade, I believe from a roster building standpoint Mitts had more value and greater versatility. This organization had Eichel, Reinhart and Mitts in the fold. That's a terrific center spine. They all been dispatched for a less than equal value return. An accumulation of bad decisions that has kept this pathetic franchise stuck at the comedy store. It's evident that you and I are riding different horses and going in the opposite direction with respect to the Kadri trade proposal. That's okay. You may be desperate to shake things up but I'm not willing to do it based on emotion rather reasonable calculation. Again, a hard no to your Kadri proposal.

What did the fight that he instigated accomplish? He got his arse whipped and his play dropped for a period of time. Instead of instigating an idiotic fight that jeopardizes your health (risk broken hand or concussion), I have a better suggestion: Hit the freaking net more often when you shoot!

If you believe that I'm arguing for the status quo, then you haven't been reading my posts correctly. Specifically related to a Kadri deal, I firmly say no. It makes no sense for the reasons that you have already stated. I'm open to any reasonable deal. That is not to say that out of desperation I'm willing to make a damaging deal. This organization has been steeped in too many crippling deals that have repeatedly set this franchise back. I'm not subscribing to a Kadri like deal that doesn't help us. Again, absolutely not to your proposal.

Since the current owner took over, the Sabres were not a normally run franchise. They became a boring comedy act.

He was not a real GM before being hired, while he was the GM and after his ignominious stint is over with. He's an earnest good guy who was ill-equipped guy for the challenging job that he took on. To put it kindly, he never should have been hired for that role. This boondoggle is on the befuddled owner.

You pointed out that Kadri is having a Zucker like year. And you also pointed out that he had 4 years left on his contract. You may not be aware of it but those are persuasive arguments not to pursue this fading player. Even if Calgary took back much of his salary, the four years remaining on his contract makes this deal very unappealing. There is nothing wrong spit balling for solutions. But in this case, you are spitting in a gale force wind pushing against your face. I recommend that you get your hankey ready because it will need to be wiped dry.

When he was involved in the business side of the hockey operation (that involved managing the youth hockey business) he had no involvement with the NHL franchise operation.

Ruff is not the problem. Adams should be reassigned back to the business side of the franchise. Changing KA's assignment would not be a punitive act; it would be a merciful act.

Hard no for me. How is acquiring a 34 yr old who has 4 years left on his contract for $7 M per year a good idea? His trade value in a few years means he will be even less productive with a high-cost per annum still remaining. The bigger concern is not what will you get back but who would want to trade for him at that point. You would be stuck with him and his onerous contract/value wise. Your logic in your post is illogical. On the one hand you say he is having an overpriced Zucker season and then say we should seek another overpriced veteran like him whose production is poor. If you made the same contradictory argument in the courtroom the judge and jury would look at you in askance. Being desperate and exasperated doesn't mean that you have to be foolish and self-destructive. Please stop with the nonsense.

I predict that the Sabres will win tonight. Desperation will be a factor. A few words of caution: I have been wrong six consecutive times. Caveat emptor.