JohnC

Great work! After looking at your list one takeaway is that our prospect pool is getting deeper because our scouting is getting better. I'm aware that not all the prospects were selected during KA's stint but a lot of them were. That in itself is encouraging.

Right now Dahlin is our best blue-liner by far. What he needs more than a mentor is a better support system i.e better players around him, including the forward lines. My fear is because of this constant losing he becomes discouraged with his situation and takes the Jack route of demanding to be moved. During Rasmus's multi-year stint he has been subjected to constant losing, no playoffs and now mostly empty home arenas. That has got to be dispiriting. Playing in this covid environment is challenging in of itself for every team in all sports. In addition, I really worry about players such as Dahlin who are expected to be one of our core players. The psychology of constant losing can beat down your players. When one of those players is one of your younger and more talented players then it becomes a concern.

Because of the accumulated mistakes of the past there was no other plausible approach to rebuild this franchise for an owner who was hemorrhaging money in his hockey enterprise. I agree with you that if this franchise wasn't managed so poorly during the Jack and Reinhart tenure this mostly start from scratch reconstruction wouldn't have been necessary. However, we are where we are. If this franchise was managed wisely both Jack and Reinhart would still be the centerpieces of this team. However, no matter how much we lament over our self-managed destruction we are where we are. I agree with you that this rebuild has risks. There are no guarantees. Without a doubt success is predicated on making the right personnel decisions. What's positive is that the Rochester group that is ready to move up soon looks promising. It's not unreasonable to believe that half-dozen futures will be on the roster next year. Although I believe that a three-year timeframe is a reasonable period for this team to become a serious team that doesn't mean that next year this altered roster couldn't be a competitive and entertaining team. If UPL develops into a mainstay goalie then I will be very optimistic about our near future.

Are the Pegulas most responsible for this franchise's spiral into mediocrity since they bought the team? Most people would agree with that view. However, it seems to me that their involvement in personnel decisions has changed from involvement to disengagement. I believe that this front office is making the hockey decisions without much input from the owners. There is no doubt that the owners still have a say when money decisions are a factor. That business reality is an approach that applies to all franchises. Since KA took over as a GM he established the new course of rebuilding by dealing away the high cost prime players and replenishing the organization with cheaper players and future assets. This is a strategy that the owners would be happy with, especially since they are hemorrhaging money in their hockey business. What was the inglorious past was the inglorious past. What's happening now is that this regime (that includes the owners and hockey staff) has made a decision to rebuild a muddled franchise by giving it a direction and coherency that it lacked for a long time. For a variety of reasons (mostly, but not all financial reasons) this organization has no option other than to rebuild from within. There will be no significant outside acquisitions that will accelerate the process. Counting this year, I see this process taking three years before this team becomes a serious team.

To be succinct: He is a collaborator. That's why his putting together a quality staff is encouraging.

@dudacekis the rare exception where quantity and quality can exist together. Hockey knowledge and grace make for good reading. 🍺

Our views are very much aligned. Sometimes there is too much effort in labeling lines and players by numbers i.e. first, second and third lines. What I see happening with this roster is that it is steadily being thickened with more talent. It's not inconceivable that this team can be constructed in such a way that against good teams although our first line isn't as talented as the opponents first line (doesn't mean it can't compete with them) our secondary lines can compensate for the talent deficit on the first line. If you examine our current and near future center players they include Cozins, Tage, Mitts and Krebs. In my view none of them is a 1C. But as individual players all of them in my view border as 2C caliber players. (Mitts is still an open question for me.) And the same line of thinking applies to the wings. Is Tuch a first line wing or more of a second line wing? On a good team I would consider him a second line player. I have to credit you with making a keen observation. With respect to each of the centers in this discussion you note that each of them has a distinct style. That certainly will be a factor when assembling a line regardless whether it is considered a first, second or third line. It seems to me that KA prefers having a more well-rounded team even at the expense of giving up higher end talent such as Jack. That is what I see happening in this rebuild here.

The poster was JeffisMagic. I remember him well. He was obsessed with Mahomes before the draft and after the draft. He couldn't get over the Bills not selecting him when the Bills were in position to take him. In retrospect, he was right about Mahomes as a prospect and player. There was no topic in which he didn't bring up the Mahomes issue. He just couldn't let it go! So he as a poster was let go. The banning was more than warranted.

We are not that far apart in our views. As of right now I don't see us having a #1C on the roster or in the system. However, I do see us have having a couple of #2 caliber of centers in Cozens and Krebs (near future). Is Mitts a #2C? I'm not sure? If he is a borderline #2C then that isn't a bad spine to build around. I like Cozens a lot. He's the type of grinding player with skills that you want on your team. I just don't see him as a #1C. The more finishers we get on the wings from future players such as Quinn and JJ the better we can compensate for not having a genuine #1C at this time. I don't want to go back and argue about the past. However, this organization had a top tier #1C in Jack. It squandered a marvelous opportunity when it didn't provide enough supporting cast. We are where we are. It's time to move on from what could have been.

I have considered Krebs, JJ and Quinn and second line NHL players. Quinn may be a first line NHLer.

You may not have intended it but you got my optimistic meter rising higher with your Quinn observation. 🍺 If Olofsson can get back to his usual sniping standard it would be helpful. (I believe that he is still impaired from the injury he had. It's obvious by his reluctance to cut loose with his shot that there is still a lingering problem.)

Was he injured or was his issue related to covid?

What's Cozens's health status? Will he be ready for the next game?

It's difficult to compare players who have different styles of play. Krebs is more of a set-up center with exceptional vision while Cozens has more of a driving and grittier style of game. In my opinion both of them have the capability of being a 2C caliber of player. They are simply different players with different games.

There is little scramble and flopping to his play. His movements are usually under control even when under duress. He's a big goalie who plays like a big goalie. During his recent stint in net he has been quite impressive. Better than I anticipated. In the Boston game he was clearly the better goalie.

Your assessments of your listed players is fair. And even if the three young players you listed play this year in the NHL they are for the most part pieces for next year. (As you stated.) I believe that those three players (Quinn, JJ and Krebs) are second-line caliber players. But it is still going to take another year or so before they play at that level of expectation. I have felt that it is going to take three years before this team becomes a serious team. I consider this the first year in this post-Jack rebuilding process. Next year there is going to be an infusion of maybe half a dozen young players. It's still going to take time for that talent to marinate. What's required is patience and fortitude to stick to the plan. There's no other way to do this. What I find encouraging is the play of UPL. If he materializes as a #1 goalie (as his recent play indicates) then I will be even more optimistic about the prospects of this team.

What you are saying makes sense. There is still much for him to work on in his game. But I'm starting to lean the opposite way. Assuming he is going to get adequate playing time he seems like a player who can learn while playing in the higher NHL league. He's got terrific vision with his ability to let the play develop before making the right pass at the right time to put his teammates in a good scoring situation. In contrast to Peterka he has a good sense of knowing how to play at the higher level. He should stay, or at least kept a little bit longer. Krebs, JJ, Quinn, Samuelsson will in the not too distant future be called up. It might be a good approach to stagger their entry. And as you point out in your post this regime has been adept in their judgments on players. So, like you, I will be receptive to however it decides to handle these youngsters.

With the exception of the OT goal I thought UPL played well. He was the better goalie in this game with less support. He was composed and didn't give up many juicy rebounds. Krebs still is in the embryonic stage as an NHL player but you can see his vision and set-up talents that will make him a good player in time. With the exception of our first d-pairing in Dahlin and Joki our defense is overmatched. I'm not worried about how many points the Sabres are going to garner this season. However, I do worry that the psychology of losing infecting our young players. If it is determined that UPL can be a #1 goalie then that is a major brick in the rebuild. It's going to take time.

I don't believe that the Sabres will make the playoffs next year. I do believe that assuming that the goalie position is solidified I do have playoff expectations for 2024.

Your assessment that the Sabrbes are at least another full season away is a fair judgment. What's apparent is that this roster is going to have close to 40-50% turnover by next season from the roster that started this season. What's encouraging is that the players who will moved up will be players who are already in the system and are ready to make the step up. That is not to say that they will be close to being finished products when moved up. There is still much development to take place. But putting things in perspective the rate of turnover and transition to a more balanced roster is faster than most of us could have expected. And if our goalie play is stabilized the process will be less painful. Put me in the guarded optimism camp.

As a Sabre fan these call ups make the team a more compelling team to follow. Getting a sooner than expected glimpse of these young prospects allows each of us to make our own judgment as to what the future prospect is for this franchise. If these players play well enough it will be an interesting argument as to whether it would be better for them to go back down when the roster players return or to keep them up based on their play. And as @K-9pointed out if R-2 shows that he can play at the NHL level it would be such a bonus for the present and near future. The pieces are in place for this team to become a competitive team. The question is how long will it take?

Good for you! I attached a link about David Kindred, a HOF sportswriter, who has covered some of the top sports stories in his illustrious career. I thought you might like it. He is also drawing a salary. He is getting paid a box of Milk Duds for every game he covers. https://www.insideedition.com/5-takeaways-on-award-winning-sports-writer-dave-kindreds-decision-to-cover-high-school-girls-65812

The irony is that the current owners are now running the franchise in a manner that those calling for new ownership would hope a new ownership group would run it. KA has put together a quality front office staff, and also a good coaching staff under Granato. Why risk having a new ownership group who might make changes in the hockey staff simply because it is his prerogative to do so? Why would anyone advocate for such a change after what this organization has already gone through? It took the Pegulas a few years to finally figure out how to put the right staff in place for the Buffalo Bills. After a number of hiring mistakes they got it right with McDermott/Beane. In my opinion I believe that the owners have finally figured it out on the hockey side of their sports empire, as they have done with the football side of the business. The best approach to take is to stay the course.

As you suggest the wise course to take when evaluating goaltenders is to be patient before coming to a conclusion. It's not an unusual occurrence that when you get to the point where you believe you are on the verge of coming to a conclusion an unexpected crash happens that upends everything. The all-star fireball that is currently in your crease can quickly turn into a flame-out. The best attitude to take is to be humble when judging the position. Everyone agrees that this is still a very incomplete team that has many needs. However, what has been demonstrated over the past half-dozen games is that when you get quality goaltending you can be competitive, even against the best teams in the league.

Of course, the owners should be criticized for the way they have run this franchise. Their record is their record. I didn't say otherwise. What I did say is that as owners who have deservedly earned the criticisms in the way in which they managed the operation and combined with the loss of millions $$$ it would be understandable why they would consider selling. (I'm not saying they are interested in selling because I don't know.) But it wouldn't be too difficult to understand why they would consider washing their hands and moving on from this public business. With respect to giving credit to Krueger for hiring Granato, he is not getting it from me. First, we don't know if he was the person who hired him. And second, as soon as Granato took over he pivoted and did the opposite of what Krueger was espousing with much better results. Based on Krueger's record he failed miserably. And with respect to the second highlighted line I didn't say things are rosy. I did say that the situation is trending in a positive direction, and that if the organization stays the course the outcome looks promising. Right now, under the Pegulas, I know the direction of this franchise. With a new owner, I don't.