SabresVet

2 goals in 5 periods and an OT. Even Coach Norman Dale from Hoosiers would tell these guys to shoot more.

Usually teams are forced to move young productive players up for a contract extension when they are already A) Playoff-bound and B) spending near the cap. Buffalo is neither and won't be any time soon.

The centers this team has shipped out the past 6 years. O'Reilly, Reinhart, Eichel, and Mittelstadt. Sabres have a tendency to ship players to Cup Winners/contenders. LOL.

The low level of trust in the GM is coming out full bore in this thread. And it's all completely reasonable. Might be a good move in the long run...but being a seller at the deadline essentially with an asset he had no real intention of keeping will be suspect until it's not. And it comes 3+ seasons into a rebuild. As @That Aud Smell noted, this was kind of set when TT and Cozens got extended.

Yeah, Detroit's spending isn't that much in front of Buffalo's these last 3 seasons. Spotrac had Buffalo minus 18M total over the last 3 seasons. Comes down to being efficient with cap dollars and making strategic decisions with players. I think Adams got nervous with young talent seeing Reinhart leave without a long-term plan in plate. And he wanted to send a message to keep home-grown guys here. Good initiative, not as good judgment on those Cozens/Samuelsson long-term deals. GM's have to fail forward and, in the NFL with non-guaranteed contracts that's easier to do. Agree on all points...and when a NHL GM makes a mistake, they own it for the life of that contract.

There's different ways to rebuild a team, but doing so on the cheap is exceptionally hard. And that's what I think Adams had to contend with where Yzerman really didn't. Looking at Detroit's spending, they haven't been much beneath 70M as a low point since 2020-21. Adams was apparently only allowed to remain around the floor those first couple seasons. Not surprising he went with the youth movement for that reason. And then, some bad decisions hurt their ability to improve, as you note, by prioritizing guys like EJ who, yeah, are leader veteran types for that locker room, but can't play the hockey they need. Adams was overcompensating for the youth in that room with late-stage veterans because he had such a vacuum in leadership. Bad decisions beget bad decisions.

The time these guys are on ice indicates Granato knows they're under some pressure to win now, albeit 50+ games into the season. If they'd have played better in November and December they wouldn't be running Dahlin out there 28+ minutes per or playing a now-dependable UPL on back to back nights. This also hits at something I've had an issue with Adams about how he's rebuilt this roster. They lack depth and 1 injury hurts them more than it should. Sure, Samuelsson is out, but it hurts more because recent signings like Clifton and E. Johnson (prior to his injury/sitting) weren't as reliable. The guys who perform, like in job environments, get more work. Same goes for the goaltending. Not entirely bad to have a guy (UPL) separate from the group, but the position has a lack of depth if they can't play the backup more. Not a long-term solution and points to them still needing better depth.

The HC sounds like a therapist with 20+ patients he's working with. That's my take on the interview. When I listen to DG, his leadership comes off as weak. A yeller and screamer isn't required, but the word salad drives me nuts. I'd like a HC who is succinct, terse at times, and doesn't have to think for 5 seconds about how to avoid hurting someone's feelings. And that last part doesn't mean ripping a player in public. Maybe DG spent too much time around Krueger and has picked up on that persona. Or, it's that he's been here too long (5 seasons now) and by default acquiesces to the players out of familiarity. All the more reason to make a change.

I am still amazed that the fan reaction calling for DG's firing did not motivate them to play harder for their coach. If I recall, this happened during the brutal loss to CBJ on 12/20...and they're 11-10-1 since then. Instead they chose to focus their ire onto fans evidently. Simply amazing that professional athletes think results shouldn't really matter to fans.

I looked at league standings after the Anaheim game and out of the bottom 16 teams about 2/3rds of the way through the season: -5 have fired either their HC (STL, NYI, MIN, OTT) or GM (CBJ) this season -4 fired their HC after last season and have a 1st year guy (NSH, CGY, WAS, ANA) -3 have a HC in their 2nd full season (SJ, CHI) (MON) or one hired at the end of 2021-22 -1 is an expansion franchise (SEA) whose HC won a playoff series and is in his 3rd season -1 is a long-time HC (PIT) with a track record of success -2 have a HC in their 3rd season without a playoff appearance and likely will not make it this season (AZ, BUF) Stellar company there with the Coyotes and the turmoil surrounding that franchise. Throw in that LA fired their HC despite being in the race for a playoff spot. And, that Detroit is now middle-tier in the standings after being bottom-quartile last year.

Making the playoffs would have/should have been a part of the development of these younger players. Even if only to go up against a 1 or 2 seed in the first round and exit after a 5 or 6 game series. Agree completely that they're hiding behind the "Development" narrative. It's so ambiguous enough to say because you can't quantify "Development" progress and the only real way is where they are in the standings. A 78-point pace season is not development after a 91 point campaign the previous year...particularly when (as someone upthread noted) that Peterka and UPL are the only ones who've taken a step forward this year. And Quinn probably would have minus the injuries. It ain't development when just about all the other players have taken a step back.

This is a generational issue and what worked 20-50 years ago with Gen X and Boomer generation athletes doesn't now. It's why other pro leagues have been hiring managers and head coaches who are younger...to connect with these young guys. Seems like the NBA, MLB and even the NFL now are plucking guys pretty soon after they retire from a pro career or after only a couple jobs for that top job. I still think Granato has done all he can and it's time to exit stage left. They need someone up to the task of the NHL and all it's complexity.

This is all well and nice, but why do pro athletes need to be motivated, especially some who've been rewarded with long-term extensions? Yelling and screaming does nothing for a guy who's got guaranteed money coming for 4 or more seasons. GM has really tied the hands of a future HC, if they did dump Granato with 2 year left on his deal.

He's bottom quality in the first...or the second. Down 1-0 or 2-0 and I can hear it now: "We got 'em right where we want 'em!"

I'm guessing most people in this thread are Gen X or...those of you shall we say are "more experienced in life." Cool. For me, growing up in the 80s and 90s I saw guys born in the 50s, 60s, 70s playing NHL hockey including many from Europe. Compare that with Millennial and Zoomer athletes today where feelings and not offending people are important but results in a bad culture are less so. And even if this story is true, they were upset the fans demanded a HC be fired? Used to happen all the time a generation ago and players handled it much differently

Amazing that since tearing it down to start 2021-22 (or year 3 of his rebuild) Adams is a seller at the deadline still. A trade does nothing for this season anyway. Hard to see how it does for next year with the way Adams has constructed this roster of finesse types who aren't going to sneak up on opponents anymore.

I don't think people realize how much corporate debt is out there and at non-fixed interest rates. My company out-sourced a lot of IT overseas and let's just say those contractors are not high quality.

The GM chose birthday boy Kylan Dozens over Mittelstadt when the former signed his deal. Something's gotta give eventually with this team stagnant now beyond the half-way point of the season.

I cut my Fubo a couple weeks ago and have no regerts, er regrets. Knowing this team, they'll realize last night was bad, and up the effort tonight but still lose. I'm thinking it'll be a 4-3 loss.

Pegula got burned when he relied on the NHL to provide him recommended GM candidates to interview because he's never done the work to establish relationships with executives. So, he hires JBot off the list, and then gives him resources only to see it all fail which traumatized him into only hiring someone he trusted. Someone who had zero personnel experience besides playing in the NHL. Man, this reminds me of the last near-decade of the Ralph owned Bills. But this is where we are 3 years into this current rebuild: An owner who doesn't know anyone 12 years into owning the team who hires GM's who didn't grow up in personnel who hire coaches not NHL caliber. At this point, either Adams isn't allowed to fire the HC or he's unwilling because he believes his plan needs more time. I believe 5 HC's have been fired this season alone not counting CBJ and crickets in Buffalo.

How did the schedule work out that they'd play the 2 worst teams in the league back to back? From the Western Conference no less?

Adams should be a seller at the deadline with how his roster has performed mid-way through this season. If he makes a minor move or two to pick up picks/depth it's an indication he thinks the roster is fine to prove what he's said on GR is how he believes. If they make a bold move to acquire a player, then OK. Then it's on them to go push for the playoffs and shows he believes they needed a spark. And if they sit tight on all players, pending UFAs and all prospects, it's because he's under no pressure to win. That may be the most tell-tale sign ownership is apathetic. Keeping Granato around just affirms that. I'm not calling for anything short-sighted, but it's apparent a malaise has settled over this franchise (apologies to Jimmy Carter) and those in charge have chosen to do as little as possible.

And it only took losing to the Kraken at home to do it. Now, if they lose to Ottawa tonight does Cale Klague get moved for future considerations?

Leadership and self-motivation are two entirely different things. A guy with the "C" or "A" can play hard every night, get after guys who aren't, and take tough questions for why they lost after the game without other players buying in. It's up to management to remove or temporarily sit those who don't play hard. It's why Adams' insistence that he wanted players who wanted to be here seems absurd now. The guys he locked up want to be here...but some aren't getting it done. Players typically want to be here when the team is winning...and this one isn't. There are guys who just drift around who are still on the ice and no one in management seems to care. Nor is trading them a realistic solution because many of them are signed long-term with high cap figures. And mid-season, deals are harder to make with more teams up against the cap. It becomes a buyers market and the seller's pay a steep premium. Other people have asked an important question as this season devolves: maybe they didn't need to lock up some guys until they'd done a little more in their careers to justify big money. But that can happen when a GM is focused on culture and no one holds players accountable.

Dahlin does not need, nor should be expected to do anything more than play hard as an example to other players. And even then with the lack of effort around him, I wouldn't be surprised if he asks what the heck it's all for. In any workplace for that matter, if it takes fellow employees to motivate underachieving ones, that's a problem with management, not those other employees. Don Granato and his minor league assistants have the responsibility to motivate whether players are on league minimum or long-term guaranteed contracts. Bigger issue is, why is Adams evaluating players positively who then turn around and display less than expected effort? Is that an individual player issue, the coach(es), the GM's bad evals or a combination?