MDFan

At this point, the Pegulas should sublease the Sabres to a real hockey organization.

I was almost sucked in to ordering the NHL streaming package today, something I swore off after the past few years. Thankfully, I resisted. It’s all I can do to follow this team based on box scores and game write ups. It would be unbearable to be subjected to actually watching the mediocrity the Sabre’s have become.

He is being paid $8 M per year to score goals. Nothing else matters. If he is not put in position to do that, the asset is wasted. He has never been and will never be a defensive minded player. Deal with that fact, if you are a real coach.

Nice analysis. Thank you. Their moves here (sign Lazar and Eakin, dump Larry) certainly rely heavily on Lazar continuing to show like he did last year and Eakin rebounding, but what they were doing was not working, and Larry is what he is at this point. No upside there and no reason not to try a different approach.

No doubt Alex will have an excuse ready. Glad to be rid of the drama.

Nylander's talent is immaterial at this point. There is little question that this is a guy who routinely failed to apply himself and, on his way out, chose to blame his issues on the team rather than his own immaturity and arrogance. Good riddance. He will never amount to anything.

Taking Skinner offJack’s wing should not be a consideration. They make each other better - any idiot can see that. (Except Housely apparently). Your point on Mittlestad is right on. He needed another year to bake. I hope they do not make the same mistake with Cozens.

Game 20? Bogo will not even be healthy enough to play by game 20. He will likely be good for 20 to 30 games after that.

This is unsurprising. The NHL is a joke. It's position as an afterthought in major sports is well earned.

I did not see anything reminicint of Lucic/Miller on that particular play. Yes, this team is too soft and easy to push around at times, but on that play, despite Nelson standing like a statue next to Zadorov, Scandella came right over and grabbed him around the head and pulled him to the ice. Reinhardt charged right over and dove into the pile and started punching Zadorov. Eichel and Skinner were also there and engaged. This was a far cry from the reaction to the Miller mugging which was pathetically non-existent and embarrassing. All that said, your general point is well taken.

Thanks for the clarification. The big issue for the Sabes is obviously salary cap, not the cash. Again, I hope he is alright, but at this point he should seriously consider retiring.

I certainly do not wish anything bad on the man, but the best possible outcome from the Sabres standpoint would be if Okposo retired and the Sabres reached an injury settlement with him. Probably the best thing for Okposo considering his concussion history as well.

That segment was actually hilarious.

If they had any trade value they would already be gone. Other team's scouts are not blind. Girgenson's and Larsson are waiver candidates at some point this season, and another injury plagued year from Bogo means buyout city for him.

I would think Guhle is a strong prospect for cracking the lineup out of camp, but certainly by mid year if not. I would hate to see Hunwick in the lineup at the expense of Guhle, but they may feel they need the experience. I think BooLoo is as good as gone. I would love to see someone from Rochester step up to push Girgensons and Larrson out, but I am not sure we will see that right out of the gate.

I am not disputing your analysis of Berglund and Sobotka, but I think it is highly unlikely they were integral to this deal for JBOT. Rather, it seems clear they were pieces he had to take to make the money come out right for St. Louis. It quite possible, even likely in my opinion, that these two guys will perform better than the bottom feeders they have been putting out there the last couple of years in any case. This was not about saving money, or even about an immediate replacement for O'Reilly, but about shaking up a moribund core that has not worked. There is certainly room for disagreement as to whether O'Reilly was part of the problem and I guess we will see, but that is the only way to see this trade in my view.

I wish I could find reason to take issue with anything you said, but sadly, I cannot. Great post, even if you did burst my hopelessly hoping bubble of early season Sabres fan optimism. (Not that the team hasn't done their best to poke holes in my fantasies already) Sigh.

Got it. I did use the double m. My bad. Still kind of funny though.

Love this trade. When Eichel talked about players talking like they want to win but not putting in the efforts to do so, Ennis is the first player I think of. Ennis for Pomminstein, even with the age difference, was a trade I would have made all day long. The Sabres are much better with that exchange. I like Foligno and I think he has really come along over the past two years, but we needed defense, we got it. Again, good exchange. I am hoping Fascing can develop into that role. Edit: interesting that the site auto corrected to Pommenstein.

I would bet it was a short conversation.

The Sabres unfortunately are heavy in LW with not much on the right. Unless they can flip Kane for a competent right winger, they are going to have to make do. It does not change that the Sabres are waisting time by continuing to jam O'Reilley and Reinhardt into the wrong positions.

Agree with this. Sam needs to be a center, and O'reilley at wing. This is the best configuration for the long term and there is no evidence to suggest it is not the correct one. It has been the stubbornness of Bylsma that has prevented this playing out. The time to make this move is now. Eichel with O' Reilly on his wing would be a dymamic combination. Sam with Okposo would be also a potentially great alignment. Beyond that, I would hope that some combination of Bailey, Baptiste, or Fasching can step up to one or two of the left wing roles. I like Kane with Larson and Foligno on a third line. Ennis is the piece that does not fit right now and I have no confidence that he can be effective in the top six.

I am not sure that I understand how Pegula is "meddling" with the Sabres. He hired TM and gave him free rein to build the team and coaching staff as he saw fit. Three years into it, is anyone really satisfied with the results? I liked TM's style and personality, and agreed with much of what he did, but there have been some critical errors that have resulted in the Sabres still muddling along. Anyone could see Bylsma was not right for this job after two years. Multiple player issues as well. If Murray stuck with Bylsma in his meeting with Pegula, good for him in pulling the plug. We are not starting over in the rebuild but a fresh direction is required.

Now that I say that, they finally put him on a line with real NHL players and he scores. Great shot.

I don't blame him if he is. Look who he is playing with.