5-25-22 Playoff GDT Game 3 Laval @ Rochester - 7:05 pm AHLTV

JohnC · May 27, 2022

9 hours ago, Porous Five Hole said:

I have it on 100% reliable commentary that the day GMKA called Taylor, Chris thought the call was to game plan organizationally for next season. And GMKA told Taylor they were going in another direction. It was out of left field. Not that you need to “manage someone out in consultation with HR” like in a regular job, but the news was literally a total shock. To me, this strongly points to GMKA not going rogue to get “his guy” in the role of minor league head coach. This decision was influenced.

I don’t know if Appert is a better coach or not, but those reports you’re referencing are true.

As time goes by I have become more impressed with how KA has strategically made decisions. It's my understanding that he didn't take the GM job offered by the owner as a fully empowered GM. It was reported that Krueger had the most hockey authority after Botterill left. My sense is that KA let he situation play out knowing that on its current Krueger course it was designed to fail. Krueger was aware that Chris Taylor was not a true believer in what he was espousing. So Krueger required that Taylor be dispatched. (WGR's Paul Hamilton has reported on this scenario on more than a few occasions.) Looking back KA was smart in not using his limited amount of capital on this issue where he was in a weak position to get entangled in an internal dispute.

There were reports that during the season when the Sabres were on an unparallel descent it was the GM who went to the owners and told him that waiting to fire Krueger would further damage and set back this flailing franchise. According to the reports, the Pegulas were hesitant to fire Krueger during the season because they were tired of paying contracts for staff (such as Botts) who were no longer working for them. The GM prevailed on this issue.

The end result is that after Krueger left, the GM elevated Granato. And from that demarcation point this team has steadily moved in the right direction. After the season Granato was selected to be the permanent HC who has done an admirable job. And if you examine the Eichel trade situation you can see that by being patient KA was able to get a fair return on his injured player. In general, the overall return for the traded old core (Risto, Reinhart and Jack) was a reasonable return that has helped to reset/rebuild this roster.

When you look at these collective transactions you see a GM who doesn't act impulsively but rather acts in a calculating fashion waiting for the better opportunities. He has a vision about how to build a roster. He's strategically and patiently acting on his plan.

Taro T · May 27, 2022

11 hours ago, JohnC said:

In your opinion is Chris Taylor a better coach than Appert? There were reports that it was Krueger who was the person who forced him out of the organization because the AHL coach didn't believe that what he was espousing would work in the NHL. The Krueger tenure was such a disaster. I don't know who in the NHL would hire him even for an assistant job.

Yes.

Andrew Amerk · May 28, 2022