JohnC

Just because there weren't fans to meet Jack at the hotel that doesn't mean that the people in the area, and even tourists, aren't authentic hockey fans. Did the fans even know when and where he was coming into town? Vegas has been selling out since its inception. That's to their credit. There is no need to denigrate their fanbase especially when our local fanbase is understandably dormant.

You make a good point that one of the more prominent attributes that best describes KA is that he is a collaborator. He has assembled a quality staff and listens to their input. He is very deliberate in getting as much input as possible and then for the most part makes a consensus decision. Some executives are ego driven and want their staffs to follow their direction. That's not how he operates. He seems to be the type of person who is as much receptive to the input of the lower level staff as he is to the higher level staff. Without a doubt he is not a high profile top-down executive as he is a person who creates an environment where there is a team effort in working toward a decision. His management style is very modern and far from being old school.

If Jack was healthy he would be playing in front of a capacity crowd in Vegas. If Jack was healthy and still with Buffalo he would be playing in front of a less than half full arena. My point is that there are plenty of hockey fans in Vegas. Make no mistake about what I am saying here. I have no criticism for the fans in the local area losing faith in the organization and demonstrating it by their refusal at this time to buy tickets to the games. Even the GM has acknowledged the organization has to earn back the fans' support.

No doubt the timeframe for judging Adams is too short to come to a conclusive assessment on his body of work. But in that short stint he has hired a coach, handled a draft, assembled a staff and acquired assets for players that needed to be moved. Even at this very early stage of his tenure on those tasks I would say that he has done a good job. The current GM is candid that he is rebuilding this roster. And that is what he should be judged on. There are some very good prospects in Rochester and in the college ranks who should add an infusion of talent to this roster in the not too distant future. In addition, he has a large number of draft assets that should restock the system. I'm not going to get carried away and deem him a success. That still has to be determined. He has a good rebuilding plan and is executing it. As you have often said everything is predicated on the level of talent on the roster. It is going to take time and patience to having that level of talent to be a serious team. The issue then becomes will the owners give him the time to accomplish it? I hope so.

One of the major problems that has plagued this organization is the constantly churning of staff. That needs to stop! So far I like what KA has done with respect to assembling a front office and coaching staff. As I stated before I thought his draft was sound and that his return for the players that he dealt was solid. What I'm certainly not going to do is prematurely declare this GM a success. And what I am not going to do is advocate for a change in the front office so early in the GM's tenure. That would only continue the organization's recent history of turning over the staff. What this organization desperately needs is stability. You do that by giving the staff in place the time required to implement their rebuilding plan. And then you make a judgment about it.

There already is a management team in place. Is it capable? It appears that KA has systematically put together a good staff. Time will tell. I thought that our last draft was very good. And for the most part the return for the departing players was solid, especially for Risto and Jack. If eventually Levi becomes a franchise goalie then the Reinhart return will look a lot better. Again, only time will tell.

The Sabres certainly have draft assets. The issue is will they smartly utilize them? I hope so.

The bigger problem is not players wanting to come to Buffalo as it is players in Buffalo who get tired of the losing want to go elsewhere. That is exemplified by Eichel, Reinhart and Risto who were determined to get out of town.

Krebs/Cozens/Mitt/Tage/Arttu. No question that these players are not fully developed but that's not a bad starting point to work with for the next couple of years. In the next draft the Sabres will have three first round picks. It wouldn't be surprising that at least one top-tier center prospect will be added to the system.

The only free agents the Sabres will be interested in the next few years or longer are middle and lower tier free agents. It's not a secret how KA is going about rebuilding this limited roster. He has repeatedly stated the strategy he is going to take. As evidenced by the Jack trade and other deals this offseason it will by developing the young players and draft picks accumulated in the purge of players. The critical issue for the battered fan base is what is the timeframe to become a competitive team? In my opinion it is going to take at least another couple of years. That's where we are at.

I agree with you that Granato was taking on a big challenge when he pursued the job and accepted it. However, Granato knew exactly what he was getting into. He was aware in advance that Jack and other primary players were going to be traded. And he was well aware that he was taking over a rebuilding team. What makes the coaching task even more challenging is that when you take over a thin roster there is little margin to absorb setbacks. In a long and grinding season you will face injuries depleting your roster when you have little reinforcement behind you. You already can see the toll it is taking with the loss of Mitts, Joki and to a lesser extent Samuelsson. His challenge is to keep the players' spirits up and playing hard regardless of the situation. Granato excels as much in understanding the psychology of the players than he does the strategy of the game. He is going to have to maintain some degree of survivability until the upcoming batch of prospect players are ready to move up the ranks. As you pointed out that is going to be a major challenge. It is going to take time to turn that corner.

My fear is that during this rebuilding process the players get beaten down not only because of the mounting losses but also because too often they are being dominated. After being in such a losing and battering environment for an extended period of time it has to have a depressing affect on you. It certainly got to Jack, Risto and Reinhart. My hope is that this poisonous spillage doesn't contaminate players such as Dahlin, Tage, Mitts etc. Don't think that the players playing in front of visiting venues with near capacity attendance compared to the home games where attendance is embarrassingly low doesn't have a negative effect on the players. I simply don't see the home team attendance being very robust for some time. Granato has a major challenge on his hands in keeping this team's spirits high enough to compete. It's a long and grinding season. I hope that he can maintain the players' confidence up while they go through this challenging period.

They will be playing in front of an empty building. That is so sad.

Why would you want to trade Olofosson for a second round pick when he is demonstrating that he is capable of being a second line player who can score on a team that lacks scorers? He's been a pleasant surprise that has come up from your own system. He's a player that you should be happy to have and not eager to dispatch.

What's Krebs upside? Is he a second-line player? Assuming that Tuch gets fully healthy, and with the probable elevations of Peterka, Quinn, Power, Samuelsson next season or sooner, on top of the Krebs addition you can see this roster fairly quickly being remade. It's still going to take time for this turned over roster to mature but the near future looks promising.

What is unusual about an agent attempting to control the narrative on behalf of his client? That's part of his job. And regarding the issue that people don't have an understanding of the medical issue associated with either surgery why is that surprising? Just look at the Covid vaccination issue and the ignorance that many people display over that issue. The Twitter world is a world of hyperbolic bullshiilit. It is having absolutely no influence between the parties involved. Don't allow yourself to be distracted by the loud inconsequential sideshows.

Who gives a dam what is said on Twitter! The twitter world is comprised mostly of stupid noise. As far as the ADR surgery it is well known what the Sabres' stance is and what Jack's surgery stance is. There is nothing secret about that. And there is no secret that some teams are willing to consider ADR surgery for Jack if they acquire him. I simply disagree with you that the rumors circulating over this trade issue is portraying either side in a particular bad or positive light. Because of the injury and surgery factor for this high profile player it is a complicated issue that will take more time than the standard trade scenario takes.

On what basis are you concluding that the scoops favor Jack? Most of the scoops include packages of players and assets that a Jack deal would garner for the Sabres. I don't see how the rumors circulating help or hinder Jack or even help or hinder the Sabres. It's simply the swirling rumor mill that is part of the sports landscape.

I agree with @tom websterthat the NMC is an insignificant factor in the trading of Jack. The player wants out of this organization as badly as the organization wants him out. His mind-set is that staying with the Sabres is not an acceptable option. His hope is that he is traded before the NMC kicks in because he desperately wants out sooner rather than later so that he can get his preferred surgery and get back on the ice. As it stands there is one option that Jack is not going to consider. And that is staying anchored to the team that he is currently contractually obligated to. He is not going to say no to any other location that will get him out of here.

It's not too difficult to understand Pegula's general reluctance to not be willing to retain salary on a traded player. But in this particular Jack case (if it is really a factor?) he has to show some flexibility. The reason is that this is a unique situation where the player being dealt has a questionable health status, both short term and even potentially long term. The team taking him on is taking a risk for a player who still has to undergo a surgery on his neck. It's understood that the Sabres are in a rebuilding mode. Adding maybe two pieces from a Jack trade would certainly help to accelerate the rebuild. And it should be noted that the Sabres are around the cap floor. So if the holdup in a deal is due to the owner being unwilling to retain any salary then that would be very disappointing, and in my view self-defeating.

If there is a positive takeaway from this game it is the quality of goalie play. I can't think of one game in which I can say our goalies underperformed. Considering what most of us expected (including me) that is a pleasant surprise.

Who is saying otherwise? This isn't a revelation that you are making. It is stating the obvious for a rebuilding team.

There is no question that this team lacks talent. That's understood by people who are realistic. But in this game the more rugged and stronger team dominated the play around our net. And make no mistake about it physical statistics of a roster don't necessarily indicate how physically a team plays. In this game the stronger team controlled the play around our net. And as the game wore on it became more evident.

Excellent observation. Once LA starting working their offense down low instead of from the perimeter they controlled the play. They created congestion our net and it was difficult for the Sabres too move them. The stronger team prevailed.

You can also add in Ryan Johnson to the mix of prospects who are looking to make the big club in the near future. The below link was from the Buffalo News and written by Lance Lysowski. https://buffalonews.com/sports/sabres/tapping-into-offensive-talent-may-have-sabres-prospect-ryan-johnson-on-cusp-of-pro-career/article_a2a06b4c-123c-11ec-be65-5f1b5018e74c.html