What are the 2023/24 Sabres' internal expectations

[LGR4GM]

 

There it is, the expectation is not playoffs, it is the Stanley Cup. 

[matter2003]

15 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

 

There it is, the expectation is not playoffs, it is the Stanley Cup. 

 

If you shoot for the stars and miss, you'll usually still end up on the moon...

[Stoner]

He has to manage like it then.

[dudacek]

20 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

He has to manage like it then.

Maybe he has been.

[bob_sauve28]

Win the cup!! 

 

So I suspect we will be active at trade deadline 

[Pimlach]

7 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Maybe he has been.

We will see.  He shows a lot of faith in his players so let’s see if they come through.  

[Stoner]

12 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Maybe he has been.

If he thought they were contenders last year, he didn't manage like it. See the trade deadline.

[...]

Brian Duff said this on Tuesday; that the internal expectation for this season is to make it to the playoffs and compete for the Cup.

Edited September 21, 2023 by ...

[...]

22 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Maybe he has been.

Not according to about half the pundits I read and listen to.

The complaint is that he hasn't been managing the Sabres' roster well enough to assure making the playoffs this coming season.

I think this is valid and I think the complaint that the Sabres have been perpetually building toward the future is valid.

I think the "goal" of this season should be to for the Sabres to lay down their hand and prove something.

Edited September 21, 2023 by ...

[dudacek]

2 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

If he thought they were contenders last year, he didn't manage like it. See the trade deadline.

When he added a big middle-six winger and a physical depth defenceman to address the most obvious holes in his lineup?

Or do you mean he didn’t do something smart, like trading a 1st-rounder for Patrick Kane?

How exactly did McCrimmon and Zito “manage like a contender” at the trade deadline on their way to the finals?

[dudacek]

11 minutes ago, ... said:

Not according to about half the pundits I read and listen to.

The complaint is that he hasn't been managing the Sabres' roster well enough to assure making the playoffs this coming season.

I think this is valid and I think the complaint that the Sabres have been perpetually building toward the future is valid.

I think the "goal" of this season should be to for the Sabres to lay down their hand and prove something.

And he thinks he has built a roster that can do more than that.

Guess we'll see who's right.

[LGR4GM]

15 minutes ago, dudacek said:

When he added a big middle-six winger and a physical depth defenceman to address the most obvious holes in his lineup?

Or do you mean he didn’t do something smart, like trading a 1st-rounder for Patrick Kane?

How exactly did McCrimmon and Zito “manage like a contender” at the trade deadline on their way to the finals?

The same pundits went into last year and again this year with the line that Detroit is so much better simply because they did stuff. 

[Taro T]

1 hour ago, LGR4GM said:

 

There it is, the expectation is not playoffs, it is the Stanley Cup. 

And that should be the goal.  Interesting that he actually said that, because he's said often the goal (publicly) is to be competitive for the Stanley Cup (because there are too many variables that come down to luck (injuries, hot goalie, cold goalie, a couple of bounces in OT, etc)).

And that goal (to be legitimately competitive for the SC) this season and moving forward IS the typically stated goal.

[dudacek]

11 minutes ago, Taro T said:

And that should be the goal.  Interesting that he actually said that, because he's said often the goal (publicly) is to be competitive for the Stanley Cup (because there are too many variables that come down to luck (injuries, hot goalie, cold goalie, a couple of bounces in OT, etc)).

And that goal (to be legitimately competitive for the SC) this season and moving forward IS the typically stated goal.

I thought it's been pretty apparent this is what they've been building towards organizationally despite others reading otherwise.

With the growth of the past 2 years, plus the fact this is year 3 of the plan, it makes sense to start talking like this publicly.

But I'm still glad to hear it said out loud.

[Taro T]

4 minutes ago, dudacek said:

I thought it's been pretty apparent this is what they've been building towards organizationally despite others reading otherwise.

With the growth of the past 2 years, plus the fact this is year 3 of the plan, it makes sense to start talking like this publicly.

But I'm still glad to hear it said out loud.

Agree with the bolded, but also agree that has been a fairly contrarian take even though the statements and actions from One Seymour H. Knox III Plaza have been in line with the bolded.

[Weave]

18 minutes ago, dudacek said:

 

But I'm still glad to hear it said out loud.

It needed to be said out loud.  No more dancing around expectations.

We’ll see what happens when pucks are dropping.  Hopefully we won’t need to see this but, the proof will be in whether there is a reasonably quick plan B set in motion when a goalie or D man doesn’t live up to the expectations.

[LGR4GM]

 

[Pimlach]

I think we will see if his trade deadline moves bear fruit very soon.  Greenway should be healthy and ready to contribute, Stillman may yet be a solid 6/7 defender.  They still could be very good moves.  

Clearly, Adams does not like to rent players and he believes in building from within.   That is ok right now.  

We have had some recent threads on how Adams will handle all the prospects in the near future.  It is reasonable to think that some of them will be good NHL players, some will be moved and will be good somewhere else, and some will not be good NHL players.  He seems unwilling at this time to make that determination, which is fine for me because they are all very young and the team is improving.   Many of the core players have not even reached their peak yet.  

I will evaluate his results, not his style points. This is a pivotal year for him as a GM.  Playoffs and competing to win every night is the expectation. 

[bob_sauve28]

If they actually win it this year that would be weird. So then we just have to keep winning or we get all pissy and spoiled? 

 

 

[pi2000]

3 hours ago, bob_sauve28 said:

If they actually win it this year that would be weird. So then we just have to keep winning or we get all pissy and spoiled? 

 

 

Yes

I mean, it's every teams goal to win the Cup every year, is it not?   

What do you expect KA to say to the media?  

Internally, realistically their goal is just to make the playoffs.   

Once they get there, the goal obviously changes.

[dudacek]

21 minutes ago, pi2000 said:

Yes

I mean, it's every teams goal to win the Cup every year, is it not?   

What do you expect KA to say to the media?  

Internally, realistically their goal is just to make the playoffs.   

Once they get there, the goal obviously changes.

I disagree. I’m drinking the Kool aid.

I think their goal was to create a culture and accumulate a talent base that puts them in a position to win the cup every year for an extended period of time.

Rightly or wrongly, they think they’ve done that.

Edited September 21, 2023 by dudacek

[Taro T]

2 hours ago, pi2000 said:

Yes

I mean, it's every teams goal to win the Cup every year, is it not?   

What do you expect KA to say to the media?  

Internally, realistically their goal is just to make the playoffs.   

Once they get there, the goal obviously changes.

Considering he's done everything possible to downplay even getting to the playoffs as the goal in the past 2 seasons, this is a fairly major shift.  And, it's a shift he made towards the end of last season regarding THIS season.

 

[RochesterExpat]

9 hours ago, matter2003 said:

 

If you shoot for the stars and miss, you'll usually still end up on the moon...

Statistically speaking, accidentally hitting the moon while shooting in any direction upward is astronomically low.

[FrenchConnection44]

I like the mentality. They know they need to pick it up and mature. All those young guys will be a year older and there are young guys pushing for roster spots. Gotta compete and be tough mentally. 

[PTS]

I think the internal expectation is to be top 5 in conference based on the belief that they will still score goals and that with Levi in net and guys like CC and EJ on the blueline, the goals against will drop. Playoffs are a must this year but I think they would be disappointed even if they just barely got it. I expect this season to have 05-06 vibes.