JohnC

I did answer your question. You didn't pay attention to what was actually said. You and some others are too stuck are your false narrative that the GM is not willing to pursue a variety of avenues to improve the team. That's not the case. There is no doubt that the GM's central rebuilding strategy revolves around the "standard" draft and develop approach. That part of the rebuild has been a success, at least it is to me. You don't think that the return on our old core was respectable? The young goalie we got in the Reinhart trade is going to be our present and future #1 goalie. Are you going to complain about that? Are you going to complain about the Eichel return that resulted in getting Tuch, Krebs and a #1 pick? Are you going to complain about getting a #1 pick for Risto? Our GM could be charged with felonious theft in that deal. Those were trade deals. Clifton and Johnson were offseason free agent pickups. Are you going to complain about that? There have also been smaller deals. So the notion that the GM is not actively trying to upgrade the roster is not factual. Yet you and others continue with this falsehood. It's simply not true. Your question over "what if" the GM doesn't make the playoffs is an absurd question. If Dahlin, Tage, Power and anyone else get season ending injuries should the GM be blamed for that? Of course not. You want a guarantee---you are not going to get a guarantee. That's sports and life! I challenge you to compare the roster that the GM inherited a few years ago and compare it to what it is now. It's certainly not a complete roster but it is an immensely better than what he inherited. Rebuilding a roster is an on-going process. It is continuing and will continue. There are too many people who expect a "blockbuster deal" that will magically turn this team into a cup winner. It doesn't work that way. The process is working. Stay the course.

You and others act as if the GM has been afraid to act outside of drafting and developing players. That's not the case. He traded his old core and got back a reasonable return. He has made small deals such as signing Stillman and Greenway and acquired Jost. This offseason, he added Clifton and Johnson from the free agency market. The Sabres improved by 16 points from the previous season. The GM took over a ramshackle and irrelevant team and organization and in a short period of time put it on a pathway to success. Yes, I strongly agree with the approach that the GM is taking. Again, stay the course.

Stay the course. That's the plan and it is successfully being executed. Why stray from the course that is working?

Replaceable players don't get paid much. At best, he was going to be a fourth pairing player for us. Players in that echelon don't garner high-cost contracts.

Lyubushkin will not garner a fat contract even if he plays well for whichever team he is on. He can be a solid lower pairing player. That is the echelon of player he is and that is the echelon of middling contract that he will garner. I'm not a Boosh basher. By all accounts he is a good team guy. However, he's a veteran play who has demonstrated the caliber of player he is.

Every player has a different approach to the game so it is difficult to generalize. But I would think that most players would rather get a lot of playing time and a higher role on a non-contending team than be a marginal player with limited ice-time on a contending team. Pro athletes are competitive and want to play rather than sit on the bench. At the end of last season Boosh got little playing time. I'm sure he wasn't happy about that. Anaheim is simply a better situation for him and an inconsequential (replaceable) loss.

I don't see him as a 50 goal scorer. He's too much of a two-way player to let the defensive side of the game slide to focus on offense. (There's no question that Tage was more concerned with the offense than his defensive responsibilities.) Dylan is a player whose value goes beyond his stats. He's a heart and soul grit player whose play more than his verbiage speaks for itself.

There are players who need to be pushed to maximize their talents. He's not one of them. He's self-motivated and driven to be the best he can be. He made a noticeable leap forward last year. There is little doubt that he is going to get better. And there is little doubt that he is a leader who leads by example.

I've said it in my original posts on this topic that I would have preferred keeping Lyubush. But that didn't happen. With the addition of Johnson and Clifton it became clear that the Russian was dropped to the fourth pairing. Is Boosh much better than Clague? Maybe so, but not significantly so. The one attribute that Byson and Stillman have is that they are faster and better skaters. They are more suitable to skate the puck out of their zone. The obvious weakness is that in their zone they don't offer much muscle to move players out. That's the tradeoff, speed over muscle. It seems that it is a system preference that our HC prefers. With respect to the possibility that the movement of the Russian is a precursor to another addition on the blue line---my guess is no. If another player is needed to filI in, I would think that it would be Ryan Johnson. It is well known that KA's first inclination is to work from within the system. If another low pairing player is needed due to injury/injuries there are plenty of bottom pairing players who can be had for a low price, as was demonstrated by the return on Lyubuskkin.

From the likeable Russian's standpoint, being dealt to Anaheim is a better situation for him. I don't know what the timeline is but the two prospects you mentioned will eventually bypass the other marginal defenders. I wouldn't be surprised if Ryan Johnson becomes the first defensive callup. It wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility that he makes the Sabre roster when camp breaks up.

It doesn't matter whether it is Bush, Clague, Bryson or Stillman. On this team they are at best fourth pairing or utility players. Whether you deduct A or B or C or D, why get so exercised over the departure? Bush moving to Anaheim is a better situation for him. You should be happy for him. I wish him well.

At the end of the season playoff push, Lyubush's minutes were severely curtailed. The coach lost confidence in him and his pairing partner. He was mostly stuck on the bench with the top two pairings taking over their minutes. In the offseason, the organization brought in two defenders. The writing was on the wall for this proud player. I wouldn't be surprised if he/agent went to the GM and expressed his desire to move on. And it wouldn't be surprising that an organization that stresses the importance of players wanting to be here accommodated him. However, this trade issue is examined, it is apparent that he wasn't in the team's plans, and the player recognized it. It appears that the organization did the right thing for the player and the organization.

There isn't an organization in the league that would rate Lyuboosh over Joki. I can understand why you are not attracted to Joki's style of play but there is no question that Joki is a better player. By the end of the season, Bush ended up as a fringe player for us whose minutes became very limited. There was a reason for his loss of playing time: It was his substandard play. At the end of season he was considered a liability.

https://thehockeywriters.com/cody-hodgson-promising-career-cut-short/#:~:text=Hodgson's one-year deal with,final year (in Nashville). The condition is malignant hyperthermia. It can be life threatening.

I was surprised by the Lyubush trade. But let's put things in perspective. As it stands, he would have been a fourth pairing defender. So no matter how the unit shakes out I'm not going to get perturbed by this fringe roster issue. If this departure ends up giving Ryan Johnson an opportunity to play sooner than expected, it might work out for the better. There is a side to the Lyubush transaction that if put in perspective is encouraging i.e. the roster is accumulating a quantity of talent to the point where roster spots are getting tougher to earn.

I doubt that his trade had anything to do with bringing in a goalie. This trade has me perplexed. Even if he were on the fourth pair, he not only would have upgraded the lower pairings but was good enough to move up to the third pairing when injuries hit. Ryan Johnson will probably start the season in Rochester. It won't be a surprise if sometime in the season he will be wearing a Sabre jersey.

When there was a Rick J night in his last season calling games the place was sold out. That was at a time when the building was usually noticeably less than filled. They weren't there for the game so much as they were there to show their respect and pay tribute to the man behind the mike. That display of gratitude and affection says it all.

I don't see a Pesce deal happening for Buffalo. Based on how he has operated since he took over as a GM, I don't see KA giving up assets for a one-year rental. Another factor is that he has a couple of credible prospects in the system (most notably Ryan Johnson) who are not that far away from moving up the ranks. This deal for this player is very unlikely to happen.

What's happening with this franchise isthat it is accumulating enough talent to the point where a player who has second-line ability plays on a third line. Instead of categorizing a line as #2 or #3, we actually have or in the process of having a 2A and 2B lines. The talent surplus allows for players to move up and even down the lines and still retain productivity. When Mitts was moved from the third line to the first line because of Tage's injury, that line not only didn't falter but it thrived. Needless to say, this is a good trend.

Dahlin fits the bill of a defensive star and Tage "might" fit the bill as an offensive star. Maybe not too far in the future Power might be categorized as a defensive star. There are a number of young players such as Quinn, JJP who as young players will become good players. I consider Cozens a good young player now.

I'm hoping that Krebs, JJP and Quinn (injured) were going to take a step up this season. Could you imagine how much better Krebs would be if he possessed a finishing touch? He's got the vision but right now not the shot. The players have so many young players with a lot of upside to draw from. The GMs plan was to build from within. And that's what is going on now.

I wouldn't put them in that special category if the standard is being elite within the NHL talent pool. That is not to say that they won't be good players. I like both players, and especially with Quinn you can see episodes of high-end play. Anyone who has seen Crosby, McKinnon and McDavid play can quickly recognize that they are in a category that neither Quinn nor JJP will probably ever attain. I'm still very happy that both players are on the team. Would I consider Eichel to be an elite player? Yes.

After reading some posts about which players have the potential to be stars I thought of related topic. Would you rather have a star on your roster or would it be better to have 3 upper tier players who are an echelon below the lofty star level? Another aspect to that issue is it better to have one elite line and then three solid lines or would it be better to have a good top line supported by three good lower lines. The same line of reasoning can also apply to the defensive pairings.

The costs have gone up because the costs have gone up since the blueprints of the stadium were made. Where did you come up with those spiraling costs you noted and why are you attributing them to graft, corruption and the unions? The timing of building this stadium is in the midst of dramatic increased costs in materials and labor costs. Sometimes the building environment rapidly changes for a variety of uncontrollable reasons and have absolutely nothing to do with political inclinations. All I can say is that you are not only way off the mark but you have also allowed your political leanings to distort the facts of the situation. You have been very forceful in not allowing even minor political coloring of discussions on this board. Others have noted that you have not lived up to that standard. Now I know what they are talking about. It's clear that in this case you should penalize yourself for violating the code that you have established. This is a case of full-frontal hypocrisy.

I agree with you that the extended period of mediocrity turned off a lot of players looking for another destination. I'm sure that perception has changed to a more positive view now. As you point out no one area is going to be attractive to every player. Some younger players might prefer living in the NY or LA area. The older and more family oriented players might prefer medium towns such as Buffalo, Columbus, Detroit, Carolina etc. Some players would embrace being coached by a hard-arses such as Torts. While others couldn't tolerate that type of oppressive disciplinarian. As the saying goes: Different strokes for different floks.