The Good, Bad, and the Ugly of this off-season so far

[GASabresIUFAN]

Everyone knows my distain for what KA has done this summer.  The goaltending fiasco leading to Tank 2.0 (or 3.0 depending on one's point of view) has been a huge problem for me and others and is the wrong direction for the team IMHO.  However even in that there are some positives in the moves so far.

The Good -

1) Committing to the youth movement.  This is something I wanted last season when he had better support for them, but I'm happy we are finally there.

2) Hiring of DG - With positive #1 we need a teacher as the coach and I think DG is that man. 

3) Trade of Ristolainen - I think KA got max value here. I also like Hagg and think he could thrive here with a very defined defensive role.

4) Signings of Joki and Mitts - While the $ for Jokiharju were more then I expected, getting both key guys locked up for the next 3 years was a good decision

The Neutral - 

1) Depth signings - Hinostroza, Pysyk, and MacInnis - I think all players have more to give then the contract $ spent.  I know MacInnis is likely ticketed for Rochester, but he is a guy who could surprise under DG. Even if they don't rebound, they aren't a burden $ wise and are here only on 1 year deals.

2) Not giving up assets to retain Borgen during expansion.  It would have been nice to keep him, but Pysyk is a more then adequate replacement.

3) Hiring of a good analytics guy.  Proven hire, but will they listen to him.  If they do, this is a good move.  If they don't, then it's a waste.

4) The draft - I liked the overall talent KA found in the draft, but even here there was some inexplicable decisions.  1) No centers when we have none in the pipeline 2) all the Russians - lots of talent but remaining questions about when and if they'll come over. 3) The reaches in the 3rd round.  Talented guys but no reason to draft them that early with no Jr track records from last season to go on for them.  That said, it looks like solid value on the picks after the 3rd.  With Top overall pick Power going back to college and no ETA for Rosen's coming over to the NA, I like the draft, but still a neutral (really an incomplete) until we see how all these kids do and get a better handle on when they may become Sabres.

The Bad -  Where to begin

1) Acquisition of Butcher.  Could be neutral if he plays well and we get a decent pic for him at the deadline.  Solid offensive player but a problem in the D zone.  Basically a LHD version of Colin Miller.  Wasn't a necessary player for this roster with Dahlin, Miller and Bryson already here with a similar skill set.  Currently our second highest paid D at 2.8 mill for next season. Yes we got a 5th for him. Yes he is only on a one year deal and his cap hit would have helped us with the cap floor had Jack been traded.  Yes, we may get another pick for him at the deadline; maybe.  Still he is taking money that should have been allocated to goaltending and IMHO is blocking Bryson from assuming his place on the roster, which is something KA said he wouldn't do.

2) Hayden - Still cant figure out why he is here.  Why add a guy who wasn't even good enough to play every night in Arizona, who doesn't score, can't pass, can't win a draw, doesn't skate well and doesn't kill penalties.  At best he is our 14th best forward and 10th best winger.  Will move to neutral if and when he gets waived and sent to Rochester on his 2 way deal.  

3) Reinhart trade - Simply put we didn't get enough for a top line player and former 2nd overall pick. I also don't like that he was traded in the division.  Signing him for one year would have allowed Mitts and Cozens to continue to be eased into bigger roles and I think we could have received as much for him at the trade deadline.  I do like Devon Levi and have zero problem with adding more quality goaltending depth to the organization.  

4) Eakin and Caggiula - why are they still here?  Eakin is a shell of a former decent player who was a disaster last year under both coaches.  Caggiula who was acquired on waivers last season (and re-signed this off-season) add virtually nothing after being claimed.  KA could have done more with their roster spots. 

The Ugly - 

1) Goaltending - Failing to sign Ullmark followed by "pivoting" to the signings of the retiring Anderson and the incompetent Dell and then telling us he is Ok with our goaltending.

2) Being a cap floor team - Pretty sorry state of affairs for this one proud organization, which under The Pegula's ownership and KA's deft hand has become a laughingstock.

3) The Jack Eichel trade and surgery mess.  A symptom of Ugly #2.

Obviously, once he deployed the Tank 2.0 off-season strategy, he lost me and his grade was going to be an F for his work this off-season.  However it would not be fair or accurate to say everything he did was bad or ugly when it wasn't.  I also hope KA send UPL down to be the starter in Rochester and someone bails KA out by waiving a competent goalie at the end of camp.

 

 

Edited September 20, 2021 by GASabresIUFAN

[Buffalonill]

I'm waiting for them to trade for a vet center or sign one for the first line .

If they plan on playing cozens or casey on the first line they will once again destroy the prospects 

[GASabresIUFAN]

49 minutes ago, Buffalonill said:

I'm waiting for them to trade for a vet center or sign one for the first line .

If they plan on playing cozens or casey on the first line they will once again destroy the prospects 

It's a concern, but with last change at home, DG can get the matchups he wants and should be able to deploy a checking line against the top centers in those games.

That said, I think Cozens and Mitts have a better chance then many people think of standing up to good competition.  Dylan has that work ethic and Casey has developed that work ethic since being sent down.  Both played tough minutes at times under DG last year and held up pretty well.  I'm actually not all that worried about those two. Their wingers are another matter.

[steveoath]

The good - some promising youngsters from the last couple of drafts

The bad - goaltending

The ugly - the jack eichel thread

[Pimlach]

The good - Granato is a good choice given another rebuild and commitment to youth.  We got good value for Risto.  We added a few more pieces to the  front office  

The bad - losing Reinhart, losing McCabe, losing Ullmark, the worst team in the league got worse

The Ugly - Eichel injury and trade situation, the veteran goaltending, the roster for 21-22, our reputation around the NHL 

Edited September 21, 2021 by Pimlach

[Buffalonill]

10 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

The good - Granato is a good choice given another rebuild and commitment to youth.  We got good value for Risto.  We added a few more pieces to the  front office  

The bad - losing Reinhart, losing McCabe, losing Uhlmark, the worst team in the league got worse

The Ugly - Eichel injury and trade situation, the veteran goaltending, the roster for 21-22, our reputation around the NHL 

And yet some fans think we will   magically be better somehow when we added nothing for help 

[Pimlach]

12 minutes ago, Buffalonill said:

And yet some fans think we will   magically be better somehow when we added nothing for help 

I know.  Take away Eichel, Reinhart, McCabe, Risto, and Ullmark.  Then look at the adds.   Then factor in improvement for Mitts, Cozens, Dahlin, etc.   It’s still looks like bottom 3 to me, even with Granato getting solid play from everybody most of the time.  

[apuszczalowski]

They are just now committing to the 'Youth Movement'?

When was the last team that didn't have veteran players on the roster and it was all youth?

[Andrew Amerk]

10 hours ago, Buffalonill said:

And yet some fans think we will   magically be better somehow when we added nothing for help 

We?

Are you on the team?

Edited September 22, 2021 by Andrew Amerk

[PerreaultForever]

Good............ummm.........idk. Drafting Power. I'm still firmly convinced he will be a dominant allstar D man. 

Bad........pretty much everything but regarding the youth movement, I'm not against it, but it's too much. You can't throw all the babies into the deep end without having some people around to bring them along the right way. There's no balance and no leadership. I mean they say they'll take the C from Jack so who gets it? Cozens? Already? I just see this youth movement learning to lose and getting used to it just like the last youth movement,  I mean come on. Mitts vs. Bergeron, does anybody think that'll go well????

Ugly......no freaking solid goaltending. If they plan on accelerating UPL as I think they will this will all go very very badly. 

It's not going to be good. 

[GASabresIUFAN]

11 hours ago, apuszczalowski said:

They are just now committing to the 'Youth Movement'?

When was the last team that didn't have veteran players on the roster and it was all youth?

I believe this team will have more Sabres  developed prospects then any team during the rebuild.

There are vets here.  Anderson, KO, Skinner, Eakin, Miller even Girgensons, but most of the key roles will be kids.  There are no Kanes, RORs and Bogosians in key roles.

 

[PerreaultForever]

4 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

There are vets here.  Anderson, KO, Skinner, Eakin, Miller even Girgensons, but most of the key roles will be kids.  There are no Kanes, RORs and Bogosians in key roles.

Ya, but there's nobody there that is deeply connected to the team or is a real leader. KO maybe, and Girgs has been here for a long time but kind of by default. Miller will want out, Eakin's a has been, Anerson's an old nobody wants who should have retired but wants more pay cheques. Unless he has plans to become a goaltending coach and will relish a mentoring role I see zero use for him. There's no leadership in that list worth anything. 

[GASabresIUFAN]

KO is real leader.  I liked that DG said the Skinner’s personality is coming out more.  Maybe this is a hint that Skinner is ready to assert himself more as a leader.

Do we need to add the removal of the C from Jack to the bad or ugly?

[Buffalonill]

On 9/21/2021 at 9:01 PM, Andrew Amerk said:

We?

Are you on the team?

Can you cut the ***** lots people do it .. look up 

[Andrew Amerk]

6 hours ago, Buffalonill said:

Can you cut the ***** lots people do it .. look up 

@GASabresIUFAN was saying “we” as in the posting community/fandom. He wasn’t saying “we” as if he was a Sabres player or member of their staff. 

Use more common sense when posting. You’ve been labeled as a troll. If you’re not one, do better. If you are, consider going away. You’re not adding much to any discussions. 

[GASabresIUFAN]

Two recent events must be taken into account, plus I neglected to mention Asplund's contract

Good.  

1) Asplund's contract.  2 years at 825 each is a serious bargain.  He'll easily outperform that contract.  The question is how far can he take his game and will he become part of the core.

2) Dahlin's contract.  3 years @ 6 is a little short on term and more $ then I expected, although I thought we'd be in the 5.5 range.  7.2 in the final year insures at least a 7.2 qualifying offer for his RFA status.  Hard for me to believe that he won't outperform this contract.  This is his team now.  Time for him to step up and lead by example and become a Norris contender.

Ugly

3) Jack saga continues, now with a failed physical and the loss of the captaincy.  Hard to see a resolution happening any time soon.   

[PerreaultForever]

On 9/23/2021 at 10:30 AM, GASabresIUFAN said:

KO is real leader.  I liked that DG said the Skinner’s personality is coming out more.  Maybe this is a hint that Skinner is ready to assert himself more as a leader.

Sorry, but you're not successfully building a new culture by slapping a letter on an overpaid and underperforming veteran. 

[GASabresIUFAN]

12 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

Sorry, but you're not successfully building a new culture by slapping a letter on an overpaid and underperforming veteran. 

who said anything about changing the culture.  I said KO was a real leader.  KO is a hard worker and a pro's pro.  His work ethic is a great example for the young kids about how to be a pro.  

The only way to change the culture is to build a winning team.  The winning brings the positive culture not the other way around. That takes more talent then we currently have.  You don't change the culture by putting a C on someone's chest and you also don't change it by putting crap like Anderson and Dell in net and tanking the team.  However you can instill better work ethic in the team and hopefully as more talent arrives that eventually leads to winning.  

[Buffalonill]

On 9/23/2021 at 7:27 PM, Andrew Amerk said:

@GASabresIUFAN was saying “we” as in the posting community/fandom. He wasn’t saying “we” as if he was a Sabres player or member of their staff. 

Use more common sense when posting. You’ve been labeled as a troll. If you’re not one, do better. If you are, consider going away. You’re not adding much to any discussions. 

Edited September 25, 2021 by Buffalonill

[Weave]

7 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

 

The only way to change the culture is to build a winning team.  The winning brings the positive culture not the other way around.

KA seems to fundamentally disagree with your statement here.  I think Coach Clappy disagreed as well.  He reduced talent and brought the right mentality onto the team, then built the talent back up around the right mentality.  IOW, built the culture, then built the winning team.

[GASabresIUFAN]

10 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

The only way to change the culture is to build a winning team.  The winning brings the positive culture not the other way around. That takes more talent then we currently have.  You don't change the culture by putting a C on someone's chest and you also don't change it by putting crap like Anderson and Dell in net and tanking the team.  However you can instill better work ethic in the team and hopefully as more talent arrives that eventually leads to winning.  

 

3 hours ago, Weave said:

KA seems to fundamentally disagree with your statement here.  I think Coach Clappy disagreed as well.  He reduced talent and brought the right mentality onto the team, then built the talent back up around the right mentality.  IOW, built the culture, then built the winning team.

You seem to have ignored the bolded part of my post.  However, you can’t instill a winning culture if you create a roster that can’t because of poor goaltending.  In fact this delivers the opposite message.  

[Weave]

16 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

 

You seem to have ignored the bolded part of my post.  However, you can’t instill a winning culture if you create a roster that can’t because of poor goaltending.  In fact this delivers the opposite message.  

Well, I cut it out so, yes, I was not responding to that statement.  In fact, the statement I did respond to, and the statement you bolded are rather contradictory.

[GASabresIUFAN]

1 hour ago, Weave said:

Well, I cut it out so, yes, I was not responding to that statement.  In fact, the statement I did respond to, and the statement you bolded are rather contradictory.

Not at all.  Being professional and learning how to win are completely different things.  This organization needs both.  Sadly KA decided to ignore trying to win.  Instead he went for effort only

[Weave]

5 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Not at all.  Being professional and learning how to win are completely different things.  This organization needs both.  Sadly KA decided to ignore trying to win.  Instead he went for effort only

Or he prioritizd one before the other.

[PerreaultForever]

20 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

who said anything about changing the culture. 

Adams.