JohnC

Do you know what is better than more jam? It is more talent. It's the talent disparity and not the pugilistic disparity that has the Sabres at the bottom of the heap. Do you know what would have a more profound effect than adding a knuckle dragging muscle-guy to the roster? Adding a top-tier goalie!

How would a Russian hockey player be a risk to public safety by supporting his government by his words?

You express the notion that many of us have. That a few mid-level priced additions that includes an upgrade in net can have a significant positive effect while still staying within the rebuilding strategy of drafting and developing. It takes a little front office moxie and the will to get serious about turning things around. When watching the St. Louis and Colorada games you come away with the belief that margin for us to be a serious team or a mediocre team is not great. When you have an abundance of draft and cap capital it is wasteful not to judiciously use some of them to get better.

I'm aware that non-citizens on work visas don't have all the rights that citizens do. But what would be the basis for the revocation of their work visa? Expressing a thought that isn't popular? Expressing a thought that in certain respects corresponds to what the former president expressed? Just because theoretically you can do something that doesn't mean that it would be an action that our government would consider. The government of Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, North Korea would expel people for expressing what they perceive to be unpopular/unacceptable thoughts, but it is not something that we or even Canada would do.

We are in America. If a Russian player or any player in the NHL voiced support for Putin and the incursion then that is his/their right to express their thoughts. That's what distinguishes our society compared to autocratic societies where if one voices opposing opinions the person suffers for them. We have a former president and Sec. of State (Pompeo) making some inexplicable Putin supporting statements. As much as I and most others disagree with their distasteful views they are entitled to express them. I do agree with you that no Russian team should be allowed to participate in tournaments in the world or hold events in their country. It's my opinion that Russia should not have been allowed to participate in the Olympics because of the systemic cheating by the Russian Olympic Committe.

He has been the most consistent player on this team. I can't recall a game where he can be criticized for not giving effort on both ends of the ice. And that includes games where the outcome has been determined fairly early. Some of our more talented players have spells in which they have faded and simply gone through the motions. Not him. He is the most honest and honorable player on the roster. HIs value goes beyond contract numbers. I admire him so much.

Of course we have to continue filtering in young players in our system such as Quinn, JJ, UPL and maybe a surprise player such as R-2. But the big/critical question you wisely pose is whether our GM is going to use its abundance of assets of draft capital and cap space to upgrade the goalie position and bring in a couple of good players to increase the talent base on this roster. If this regime intends to simply add prospects who are ready to move up to the big club without bringing in at least three players to supplant the JAGS, then this team will continue to struggle and further erode the vanishing fan base. The Sabres could get better adhering mostly to the youth movement but that doesn't mean that this team will improve at a fast enough pace to keep up with the rest of the teams that are working industriously to get better. I strongly believe that if the GM handles this offseason right, the Sabres can make appreciable strides in upgrading the roster for next season. I rather see the front office being a little more aggressive than not when addressing this incomplete roster this offseason. It's time.

Do you know for sure that Pegula will appreciably loosen the purse strings in a year or two to make this a competitive team? I'm not saying no; but I'm also not saying yes.

It is understood that the Sabres are rebuilding. When it actually started has been a topic of discussion. To state the obvious more talent needs to be added to the roster before being considered a serious team. (That is as obvious as stating that water is wet.) I don't intend to be snarky but looking at the standings around the league how many teams can one claim that the Sabres are better than? If you look at some of the bottom teams in their respective division how many of those teams are better than the Sabres at this point? In our own division are we better than Ottawa or Montreal? I can't say that we are. Detroit is ahead of us in the standing but also in their rebuild process. Do we have more young talent than Jersey? I'm not sure. The one franchise I'm sure that we are better than is Arizona. It is a troubled franchise from a financial and ownership standpoint. Seattle is an expansion team in its first year. In the next few years will they have a faster rate of rebuilding than we will have? I challenge anyone to go through the teams in the league. At present the number of teams that we are better than are less than a fistful. That is so sad.

Just about everyone agrees that Skinner's contract is too big and too long relative to his production. I'm in that near unanimous camp. On the other hand, now that he is regaining his scoring touch on a good first line that contract, although still is a mismatch relative to his production, it is not as glaringly bad as it was with him playing under Krueger. If you also factor in where this franchise is with its low cap situation, his contract isn't much of a detriment to allowing this organization to make other moves to improve this team. My point is that although there is an imbalance it isn't as much as it was compared to when he was stuck in the abyss as a player.

I don't believe that Olofsson's value in the market would offset his value to us if he were retained on a reasonable contract i.e. around $4 M for three years. His injury clearly affected his play. He seems to now be better and is playing a more rounded game with his shooting returning to form, although the production isn't what it was prior to being hurt. Some here have speculated about dealing him for a first round pick. That is very unlikely to happen. In my mind he is the type of player who could be a good third line player and provide much needed secondary scoring.

I can't respond because I am tongue tied! 😃

I don't believe that you are in the minority by suggesting that by making a few judicious moves this team could be a pleasant surprise next year. There are good debates as to what the best options should be taken. But what shouldn't be dismissed is a more creative and aggressive pursuit to get better that still falls within the rebuild strategy. And I would also argue that by up-grading the roster in addition to moving up some prospects to the NHL roster you are putting the younger players in a position to succeed. Systemic losing is corrosive!

What you, others and I are basically saying is that the organizations has to consider all options to improve and better balance the roster. Some people consider that to be a radical notion. I'm speechless.

The middle ground is the same ground that ever team in the league uses to get better. Rigidity in a world of constant change is a strategy that leaves you behind in the real world. When an argument is forcibly made that doing something to work a deal to bring in a good player or two is detrimental because there is too much risk in doing so, then it is time to get out of the business where every transaction that includes drafting, trades, salary contracts, free agency signings is inherently risky. It makes no sense to me.

You are distorting by exaggerating what I am advocating for. Our top prospects such as JJ and Quinn will be on our roster next season. One of our lower first picks included with taking on salary could be parlayed into a good young player or high end prospect who could be projected to be a top two line player. Could our defenseman prospect in Johnson be included in a deal that could help this team? There are options and opportunities to be had with a little creativity and initiative. How about using a second round pick in a deal to acquire a solid goalie? Even if UPL is ready next year we could use another goalie. Repeating what I and others have stated: The Sabres have draft capital and a large cap availability to work with. Using some of the chips on hand doesn't translate into deviating from a rebuild strategy as you suggest.

No it is not! It can be complementary. There are a variety of avenues that all teams use to improve their rosters. What you are suggesting is that the Sabres should only use only one avenue (draft and develop) and foreclose other options to get better. That is akin to using one arm in a fight when your opponent is using both of his arms to kick the dumb asssss who is self-destructively limiting himself. That makes no bloody sense!

I'm not arguing for squandering our assets for a short-term gain at the expense of a more substantive longer-term upgrade. How did the Sabres acquire Jokiharju? It was done in a trade with Chicago for Nylander. That was a terrific deal for us. The point I am stressing is that with our good cap situation and with our abundance of draft picks for the next couple of years some of those assets could be used as chips to bring in a quality player or two. That additional piece or two will make a difference when added to those in our prospect pool who are ready to move up to the big club. With respect to your proposed trade for Toffoli my response is absolutely not!!!! Toffoli will be 30 yrs old and he doesn't fit in with our time scheme to get better. I'm promoting a judicious use of our assets---not a reckless use of them. Last year's team was a bad team coached by an outdated coach whose team quit on him. When you use last year's team as your baseline and talk about improvement you are not offering high praise. In general, I don't think our perspectives diverge much. Where I slightly disagree with you is that I would like to see more creativity and aggressiveness to upgrade this roster this offseason. The Sabres with their good cap situation and draft assets are in a better position to do so than most teams are in. Our positions are more about pace than differences in approach.

It doesn't matter what player or what team was involved. It was a penalty. What made the non-call it even more irritating was that the referee was in position to make the call.

I disagree with you that the rebuild started 6 months ago. It actually started more than a few years back when Botterill took over for Murray. When Botts took over he said his mission statement was to restock the system and not gratuitously throw aways assets for short term gain. If you look at the current roster the young core was mostly brought in during his tenure. In fact, if Botts would have agreed to Pegula's request of basically dissolving the scouting department, he would likely still be our GM. Don't misunderstand what I previously stated. I'm aware that KA is going full throttle rebuild since he took over. I do believe that this franchise needed to do a major re-set. My main point is that with all of our assets that include cap space and an abundance of draft picks this franchise has the wherewithal to bring in one or two good players who could accelerate the rebuild that includes the addition of some of the high-end prospects already in the system. I'm not arguing to abandon the rebuild strategy. What I'm arguing for is a demonstration of more urgency in being proactive to upgrade the talent base and hopefully stop the diminishing fan base from further fading away. When you have only 4000-6000 people attending games having a slow-walking approach to becoming more competitive doesn't seem like the smart thing to do from a competitive and business standpoint. The Sabres are clearly focusing on adding young talent. And that is exactly what they are doing. But that doesn't mean that other teams are standing pat and allowing the Sabres to pass them by. Teams at our low level and teams that are at a higher level are constantly working to upgrade their rosters. So just because our team is getting better doesn't mean that we are passing them and moving up the ranks. In my opinion in the offseason this front office has to be more creative and aggressive in bringing in talent. The pace is simply too slow for me.

Most people here recognized how good he was even on this barren talented team . And most people recognize the inexplicable blunder of not giving him a deserved extension when it should have. The Sabres are what they are because the organization unwisely did what it usually did. The accumulated weight of bad decisions had sunk this ship in deep waters. It's going to take a lot of time and hard work to patch the holes that they themselves created. It's so aggravating!

I'm a Sabre fan. I'm getting numb and fatigued watching this team. It seems that most of our discussions are on the same loop with the same criticisms. After watching the Colorada game I got a spark of hope. Then I was brought back to reality after watching the Columbus game against a team that also played a back to back. It's so sad to see games played on the road in front of a full house with a raucous crowd. That's in stark contrast to games played in a mostly empty home arena with a yawning crowd. Next year, a few more young players will be added to the roster that will continue the rebuild. That's a good thing. The organization still needs to do more to regain its credibility to the many fans that have walked away. What this owner and organization need to understand is that systemic losing is corrosive for the players and the vanishing fans. The organization has to demonstrate some urgency this offseason.

For those who follow the Amerks is Biro on track to be a NHL player? And if so how far away and what is the best line projection for him?

I would prefer VO for 3 yrs at 4 M rather than Burakovsky for 4 yrs at 6.5 to 7 M. In my mind it is a better bargain and allow more flexibility to keep our younger players when their contracts come up. I like your Olofsson/Mitts/Asplund line.

Excluding UPL and JJ, are there any other players in Rochester that you believe will eventually earn roster spots in Buffalo?