Hey adams this is on you.

[Night Train]

1 hour ago, LGR4GM said:

You owe 100 bucks to the charity of my choice. 

Anyone have suggestions in Buffalo?

Buffalo Constipation Center

[Cascade Youth]

2 minutes ago, Night Train said:

Buffalo Constipation Center

I just called but couldn’t get through.

[Weave]

57 minutes ago, steveoath said:

We're all  upset, angry etc. But lets not pretend that a significant number of Ssers were predicting playoffs.

 

That is why I called it opportunity lost. This team was so much better than expected.  Why not capitalize on that?  The future is never guaranteed.

[thewookie1]

Just now, Weave said:

That is why I called it opportunity lost. This team was so much better than expected.  Why not capitalize on that?  The future is never guaranteed.

Really the issue with this line of thinking comes down to the sheer improbability of advancing out of the 1st round. There was no singular or 2/3 players we could of conceivably brought in to beat Boston in Round 1. As such, using Top prospects and picks wouldn't make much sense. Trading Savoie or Kulich to get a rental in order to have the "honor" of getting our faces caved in by the Bruins is terrible asset management.

You steal from the future to get a chance to win the Cup; not in order to merely make the playoffs.

[Buffalonill]

31 minutes ago, Weave said:

That is why I called it opportunity lost. This team was so much better than expected.  Why not capitalize on that?  The future is never guaranteed.

I still dont understand why Adams didn't just go all in ..

Do we really need more prospects? And see them 3-4 years 

Edited April 12, 2023 by Buffalonill

[Buffalonill]

25 minutes ago, thewookie1 said:

Really the issue with this line of thinking comes down to the sheer improbability of advancing out of the 1st round. There was no singular or 2/3 players we could of conceivably brought in to beat Boston in Round 1. As such, using Top prospects and picks wouldn't make much sense. Trading Savoie or Kulich to get a rental in order to have the "honor" of getting our faces caved in by the Bruins is terrible asset management.

You steal from the future to get a chance to win the Cup; not in order to merely make the playoffs.

The point of making the playoffs is to give the young team the experience of the playoffs a taste so they know what to expect.

That to me is worth giving a away a first rounder 3-4 years away 

 

[ddaryl]

I'm perfectly OK with the direction the team is heading and can see improvement. 

 

Looking forward to next season and more improvement, more growth, more excitement

 

To those desperately wanting to trade assets, over pay for FA's on the downside, making bold moves to win it all now at the cost of a stable future..... pffffffffttttt!

[thewookie1]

12 minutes ago, Buffalonill said:

The point of making the playoffs is to give the young team the experience of the playoffs a taste so they know what to expect.

That to me is worth giving a away a first rounder 3-4 years away 

 

Savoie and Kulich are not 3/4 years away

[LGR4GM]

38 minutes ago, Weave said:

That is why I called it opportunity lost. This team was so much better than expected.  Why not capitalize on that?  The future is never guaranteed.

No they weren't. They were almost exactly what everyone expected on this forum and I am fairly certain in the front office. The only ppl who thought we would be significantly worse were the national media who also thought "waste money on bad ufa's" Detroit would be a playoff team. 

14 minutes ago, Buffalonill said:

The point of making the playoffs is to give the young team the experience of the playoffs a taste so they know what to expect.

That to me is worth giving a away a first rounder 3-4 years away 

 

This team just played single elimination playoff hockey for the last two weeks. 

33 minutes ago, thewookie1 said:

Really the issue with this line of thinking comes down to the sheer improbability of advancing out of the 1st round. There was no singular or 2/3 players we could of conceivably brought in to beat Boston in Round 1. As such, using Top prospects and picks wouldn't make much sense. Trading Savoie or Kulich to get a rental in order to have the "honor" of getting our faces caved in by the Bruins is terrible asset management.

You steal from the future to get a chance to win the Cup; not in order to merely make the playoffs.

[LGR4GM]

18 minutes ago, Buffalonill said:

I still dont understand why Adams didn't just go all in ..

Do we really need more prospects? And see them 3-4 years 

You are a paradox wrapped in an enigma wrapped in shadows inside of Schrödinger's cat. 

You thought the team would finish bottom 4. When they didn't you wanted Adams to "go all in" in order to what? 

[Randall Flagg]

1 hour ago, steveoath said:

We're all  upset, angry etc. But lets not pretend that a significant number of Ssers were predicting playoffs.

 

It is possible to feel that the season is a success relative to what you hoped for in October, and also feel dismayed that it wasn't treated like a "make the playoffs NOW" season when it became apparent that the team was capable of making it

[Xzy89c]

We need in no order of importance:

a number 4 dman. Joker is not that. showed it all year. Top three is as good as anyone. Will prob need to trade forward assets for this as this is rarely a guy you can sign.

Toughness in bottom 6. We are a soft team. Guys running Dahlin cannot be tolerated. Okposo and Girgenson need to be replaced with some sandpaper players who are quicker and other teams will respect and play physical.  KA knows that and was reason for Greeway and Stillman trades. More work to do there. Good news is those players are usually available.

Goalie is something we go with what we have. Previous poster showed what happened to goalies we did not pick up this year. Would not have helped us. If we get a better number 4d and add the toughness/speed to bottom 6 our goalies might get better on their own.

 

[Weave]

1 hour ago, thewookie1 said:

Really the issue with this line of thinking comes down to the sheer improbability of advancing out of the 1st round. There was no singular or 2/3 players we could of conceivably brought in to beat Boston in Round 1. As such, using Top prospects and picks wouldn't make much sense. Trading Savoie or Kulich to get a rental in order to have the "honor" of getting our faces caved in by the Bruins is terrible asset management.

You steal from the future to get a chance to win the Cup; not in order to merely make the playoffs.

Really the issue with this line of thinking is that if you wait until you can beat whoever the 1 seed is, you are continually waiting another season.

Even a 4 game sweep is a valuable learning experience for this team.  Learning playoff hockey at 22 makes them so much more prepared to advance at 23.  And 24.

In regards to moving top picks and prospects, we have a huge supply of both.  We also had very valuable cap space to weaponize.  Next season we are going to be hard pressed to find room for two rookies AND fill holes in the type of player we currently lack (holes we could have solidly identified in a playoff series by the way).  The season after that is probably more of the same.  We are literally splitting at the seams with solid prospects.  Certainly some combination of prospect, pick, cap space was usable to get gains now without sacrificing our ability to be successful 3 seasons down the road.

 

53 minutes ago, ddaryl said:

To those desperately wanting to trade assets, over pay for FA's on the downside, making bold moves to win it all now at the cost of a stable future..... pffffffffttttt!

Noone said over pay.  Noone wants to do it at the expense of the future.

Why is nuance so difficult?

[Weave]

30 minutes ago, Randall Flagg said:

It is possible to feel that the season is a success relative to what you hoped for in October, and also feel dismayed that it wasn't treated like a "make the playoffs NOW" season when it became apparent that the team was capable of making it

I don’t understand why this concept is difficult to grasp.

[LGR4GM]

8 minutes ago, Weave said:

Really the issue with this line of thinking is that if you wait until you can beat whoever the 1 seed is, you are continually waiting another season.

Even a 4 game sweep is a valuable learning experience for this team.  Learning playoff hockey at 22 makes them so much more prepared to advance at 23.  And 24.

In regards to moving top picks and prospects, we have a huge supply of both.  We also had very valuable cap space to weaponize.  Next season we are going to be hard pressed to find room for two rookies AND fill holes in the type of player we currently lack (holes we could have solidly identified in a playoff series by the way).  The season after that is probably more of the same.  We are literally splitting at the seams with solid prospects.  Certainly some combination of prospect, pick, cap space was usable to get gains now without sacrificing our ability to be successful 3 seasons down the road.

 

Noone said over pay.  Noone wants to do it at the expense of the future.

Why is nuance so difficult?

Unless you are the one seed. And no, I don't think your reasoning here adds up. It is having even a reasonable chance of winning a playoff round and with the injuries this team is playing under, the fatigue of going 100% for months on end (Granato talked about how the good teams conserve energy in Oct, Nov, Dec.), and the mental fatigue of finally realizing what you can do, this team wasn't going anywhere else. Boston is a juggernaut, we can accept that and still wish to have played them while also not wanting to sacrifice stuff in season to get that chance. As you say, nuance. 

[MISabresFan]

Adams did a good job.  Didn't sell the farm for one or two players.  Remained patient and followed his plan.  Look at Bill's cap issues.  Hand-cuffed with a stud receiver and QB but nothing else.  I believe the Sabres are in a better place than the Bills moving into next season.  Improve the D with the right player, add the young guns in the AHL-CHL or whatever, get the four goalies playing time, and the playoffs are here.

[GoPuckYourself]

2 hours ago, Sidc3000 said:

I’m sure that will be the same excuse next year since they still don’t know how to play defense 

We have a goalie, we were top half of the league in goals. There is a lot to like here, I agree we need to get better defensively. We’ll see how they handle it in the off-season, I’m expecting heavy defensive forwards/defensemen.

[mjd1001]

1 hour ago, Weave said:

 

 

Noone said over pay.  Noone wants to do it at the expense of the future.

Why is nuance so difficult?

Well, the issue is some (not all) but some, i'd say many of the assets traded at the deadlline, to beat the teams offer that got the player you might end up overpaying.  I'd say about half of the trades, I thought the 'buying' team overpayed, all things being equal (by that I mean for the buying team who is looking to make a cup run, 'overpaying' might be the right thing to do).  The Sabres giving up assets "A" and "B" for a particular player might make more sense when they are looking to make a deap cup run, but to get into the playoffs, maybe giving up "A" and "B" that are needed to make the playoffs is an overpay.  Giving up "A" and "C" might make more sense in a balanced trade for THIS team, but that would not get it done when bidding against teams that are looking to get the assets for a cup push.

I do understand that a move that could have been made might have helped this team make the playoffs, but we don't know what was avaialbe, what the asking price was, and remember you are 'bidding' against those teams who are making a cup push often times, and the players being dealt often have limited no move clauses that they would waive for a shot at the cup, not on a team just hoping to make it in.

Of course, all of this is a lot of "What ifs" on my part, but it is tought to make a judgement either way as we don't know what the offers or asking prices were.  If many of the vets traded had 'no move' or 'no trade' clauses, its likely the overall trade deadline was a little harder on the Sabres than on other teams those players would want to go to for a cup run.

[5th line wingnutt]

12 hours ago, Buffalonill said:

Im drunk !!! but pissed.

We could easily be in playoffs if you would have gotten a goalie its been two ***** years of this *****. 

Instead you put all the hopes into a kid ( whos the future) but still .

Like we always say always ***** next year 

“Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son.” – Dean Vernon Wormer.

Your goal, making the playoffs this year, was not GMKA's goal.  GMKA was very straightforward about this being a developmental year.  Could Adams have done things to ensure the playoffs this year?  Unquestionably yes, but at what cost?  Adams stayed the course.  We are now set up for at least a seven year window of contention.  We have our top two centers, our big three defensemen, and our starting goalie.  We have some promising wingers.  We have a lot of reinforcements coming.  We have the salary cap room to buy a second pairing defenseman.  Our draft capital is intact.  With even a little bit of luck we will win at least one cup with this group.

Compare the current situation to what it was when GMKA took over.

[ndirish1978]

Making the playoffs would have been nice, but Granato used this year to expose his very young team to the pressure of must-win situations and see how they responded and grew. Now we can spend money to pick up a top 4 D and a solid defensive winger instead of sacrificing young players or picks that we will need in the future. We weren't winning the cup this year anyway, our team got significantly better and we retained our important assets for the future. 

[GASabresIUFAN]

KA should have known entering this season that this team was primed to become a playoff contender.  The team blitzed through the second half last season and it was his job to build on that momentum.  This was a massive missed opportunity because all the team needed to get over the hump was help in goal and help on defense.  Considering that last year’s team finished last season 25th in GA (290), the needs were obvious.  

Instead KA signed Comrie and re-signed 41 year old Anderson to play goal and signed Lyubushkin for the defense.  Not surprisingly we are worse this year than last. With 2 games left we have allowed 295 GA and sit 28th.  

From a general sense this season was another  step forward, but had Adams been just a little more willing to invest in goaltending and defense this season could have been so much more.

[Sabres73]

11 hours ago, Wyldnwoody44 said:

Only in Buffalo is it OK to be mediocre or less. 

This season was fun, and that's part of it... Winning is a bigger part, and we didn't do it enough. 

I'd love to say next year will be better, but things don't always work that way. Injuries, regression, etc; these things occur. 

I do blame KA for the goaltending, I don't care how hard it is, good GMs somehow find a way; we had cap space and draft capital and a surplus of offensive prospects and still did very little overall except hope for organic growth. 

I've enjoyed the ride, I hope for good things next year, but if this team isn't firmly in the playoffs next year, KA may need to be looking for a new job. 

And then we'd be out assets/cap space for a goalie we no longer need now that we have Levi. KA has played this perfectly.

[SDS]

2 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

You are a paradox wrapped in an enigma wrapped in shadows inside of Schrödinger's cat. 

You thought the team would finish bottom 4. When they didn't you wanted Adams to "go all in" in order to what? 

Notice how all roads lead to him being mad. Always a moving target. Always ends in anger.

[...]

Anyone else recognize the irony in saying things like: "this team was a lot better than expected," "I didn't expect them to get as good as they are so fast," and "no one expected us to be in the race" and after that "KA should have recognized their needs and done something sooner/over the summer".

These are the threads that make me want to take a long time away from the forum and sports-fans generally. One or two keyboard GMs drive a caustic, logic-and-reason-flawed narrative that persists at least until opening night.

[Buffalonill]

2 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

You are a paradox wrapped in an enigma wrapped in shadows inside of Schrödinger's cat. 

You thought the team would finish bottom 4. When they didn't you wanted Adams to "go all in" in order to what? 

Plan's should change when the team is being successful. 

But thats just me 

People can be fine with adams not doing anything to show his team he doesn't care

But i  Guarantee there are some people on that team that are pissed off that Adams didn't