Sabres Trade Kyle Okposo to Florida for Defenseman Calle Sjalin and a Conditional 7th Round Pick

[Believer]

41 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

Well Brandon Montour said the same thing about Adams putting Him into a favorable situation. 

That’s three players who praised Adams for trading them to good situations, so there is evidence to back up Harrington’s Tweet

Ok… Adams is a nice guy… with a soft heart for his players… We get it, Harrington. Think we all can agree on that…

They don’t seem to reciprocate the love with their play every game… only with their gratitude after they are gone?…

Really?… Why is that?

Why after three years… now going on four years?

Adams press conference was the consequence of another disappointing season, or so he explained. Nice guy that he is.

And we know what they say about nice guys... Yeah… That cliche.

So, next year. For sure.

Personally, I am so over the Adams is a nice guy narrative. Harrington should be, too. Time for Adams to deliver a playoff team.

Period.

[PerreaultForever]

1 hour ago, Brawndo said:

Well Brandon Montour said the same thing about Adams putting Him into a favorable situation. 

That’s three players who praised Adams for trading them to good situations, so there is evidence to back up Harrington’s Tweet

Ya but they ALL say that. I watched several reaction clips from various players on various teams and every single one of them said nice things about the GM who traded them. It's all BS. 

[thewookie1]

5 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

Ya but they ALL say that. I watched several reaction clips from various players on various teams and every single one of them said nice things about the GM who traded them. It's all BS. 

I think when Reinhart, Montour and Okposo have said it its legitimate thankfulness. Its when players want to call it a business when you know they aren't exactly happy.

[tom webster]

On 3/9/2024 at 1:19 AM, Pimlach said:

Come on man.  The historical level of losing should be proof enough.  Look at the experience and quality of the leaders he selects to run the team.   Do you know how this franchise is viewed across the league? 
 

Maybe he hasn’t abandoned them, but he hasn't done anything to make this team better in any way.  Almost every decision he makes is worse than his prior decisions.  By far the worst owner that the Sabres ever had, and his record is the worst of any NHL owner ever. 

While you can’t argue that TPEGS decisions haven’t worked, Kevyn Adams was the only hiring that was out of the blue with no recommendation from the league.

[Pimlach]

5 hours ago, tom webster said:

While you can’t argue that TPEGS decisions haven’t worked, Kevyn Adams was the only hiring that was out of the blue with no recommendation from the league.

When did the NHL start making recommendations?   Never heard of this.
 

What recommendation did Murray get?  LaFontaine picked him  

Boterill was from another Pittsburgh connection.  
 

The Adam’s hiring  was the only the person Terry actually knew before he was hired as GM.  

[tom webster]

21 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

When did the NHL start making recommendations?   Never heard of this.
 

What recommendation did Murray get?  LaFontaine picked him  

Boterill was from another Pittsburgh connection.  
 

The Adam’s hiring  was the only the person Terry actually knew before he was hired as GM.  

A) The NHL, like all leagues provide suggestions on hiring and it’s a public knowledge that TPEGS consulted with them prior to both Housley and JBOT hirings

B) Murray was a rising star given a lot if credit for his work with Anaheim and obviously had a lot of league ties because of family.

C) Krueger was extremely well thought of throughout the league. The Canadian press especially applauded the move as most thought he got shafted in Edmonton.

D) Lafontaine was extremely respected throughout the league until it became clear he didn’t have temperament for the job.

 

Its all in black and white if you want to spend the time going through old newspaper clippings.

[Pimlach]

3 hours ago, tom webster said:

A) The NHL, like all leagues provide suggestions on hiring and it’s a public knowledge that TPEGS consulted with them prior to both Housley and JBOT hirings

B) Murray was a rising star given a lot if credit for his work with Anaheim and obviously had a lot of league ties because of family.

C) Krueger was extremely well thought of throughout the league. The Canadian press especially applauded the move as most thought he got shafted in Edmonton.

D) Lafontaine was extremely respected throughout the league until it became clear he didn’t have temperament for the job.

 

Its all in black and white if you want to spend the time going through old newspaper clippings.

Thanks.  I’ve have also seen comments in black and white  to suggest the opposite on these guys as well.  Murray was a curious move and has never had an NHL job since. Krueger was a huge gamble and his selection turned heads because of it.  These are poor examples if help  

JBot, who you didn’t mention, is still well thought of and is one of 3 AGMs on the Kracken.   
 

I do not believe that the help he gets from the NHL is anything close to what you get from the  NFL. 
 

Edited March 10 by Pimlach

[DarthEbriate]

16 hours ago, Brawndo said:

Well Brandon Montour said the same thing about Adams putting Him into a favorable situation. 

That’s three players who praised Adams for trading them to good situations, so there is evidence to back up Harrington’s Tweet

Gotta go research what Asplund and Lyubushkin had to say about him after their trades. 

[Porous Five Hole]

A nice read on the trade from KO’s perspective 

https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/39753864/nhl-kyle-okposo-trade-panthers-sabres-stanley-cup-playoffs

[tom webster]

On 3/10/2024 at 4:01 PM, DarthEbriate said:

Gotta go research what Asplund and Lyubushkin had to say about him after their trades. 

Asplund was grateful to be given opportunity. Lyubushkin I don’t know.

[...]

17 minutes ago, Porous Five Hole said:

A nice read on the trade from KO’s perspective 

https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/39753864/nhl-kyle-okposo-trade-panthers-sabres-stanley-cup-playoffs

More shots at Meatballs' coaching?

"We wanted to get him in some games, get him a little bit comfortable. I think we practice a little differently here. There's just a lot of new for him here. So [we've been] discussing some of the new, some quickness that can come back into his game, some physicality that could come back into his game."

[LGR4GM]

6 minutes ago, ... said:

More shots at Meatballs' coaching?

"We wanted to get him in some games, get him a little bit comfortable. I think we practice a little differently here. There's just a lot of new for him here. So [we've been] discussing some of the new, some quickness that can come back into his game, some physicality that could come back into his game."

They need to fire granato, ellis, and whatever the defensive coach is. If they don't it is another indictment on Terry Pegula and his complete failure as an NHL owner. In fact he is the worst owner in the NHL. 13 years, no playoffs, all of them under Pegula. I hope he sells the team. 

[mjd1001]

49 minutes ago, ... said:

More shots at Meatballs' coaching?

"We wanted to get him in some games, get him a little bit comfortable. I think we practice a little differently here. There's just a lot of new for him here. So [we've been] discussing some of the new, some quickness that can come back into his game, some physicality that could come back into his game."

I know people just want to take shots at Granato if that is their/your agenda...but reading that article, can someone point out to me the part of it where he takes shots at Granto's coaching as opposed to just general comments that the team didn't make the playoffs in his tenure here? I don't see it.

[MattPie]

2 minutes ago, mjd1001 said:

I know people just want to take shots at Granato if that is their/your agenda...but reading that article, can someone point out to me the part of it where he takes shots at Granto's coaching as opposed to just general comments that the team didn't make the playoffs in his tenure here? I don't see it.

It's this sentence. Not hard to read that as negative to Buffalo.

Quote

I think we practice a little differently here.

 

[Doohicksie]

12 minutes ago, MattPie said:

It's this sentence. Not hard to read that as negative to Buffalo.

Quote

I think we practice a little differently here.

Funny thing:  After Krueger left and Donny took over, the players talked about how much more active Granato's practices were.

[Weave]

23 minutes ago, MattPie said:

It's this sentence. Not hard to read that as negative to Buffalo.

 

I didn’t take that as necessarily a negative.  Different organizations have different methods of getting to the same place.

Granted, I don’t see a downside to adopting the methods of an organization that went to the finals the previous season.

[mjd1001]

27 minutes ago, MattPie said:

It's this sentence. Not hard to read that as negative to Buffalo.

 

Yeah, I really don't see that as negative. Different is different.  Could be longer practices, could be different structure. different times. Different drills.  When you were part of any coaching staff's practice for a few years, or any organization for as long as he is....I dont' know. I think the people reading that deeply into that line WANT to view it as negative to Granato.

[MattPie]

1 minute ago, mjd1001 said:

Yeah, I really don't see that as negative. Different is different.  Could be longer practices, could be different structure. different times. Different drills.  When you were part of any coaching staff's practice for a few years, or any organization for as long as he is....I dont' know. I think the people reading that deeply into that line WANT to view it as negative to Granato.

It might be a leap. Normally, if someone said to me, "well, we do things a little differently here" I would assume they think their way is superior.

[thewookie1]

1 hour ago, ... said:

More shots at Meatballs' coaching?

"We wanted to get him in some games, get him a little bit comfortable. I think we practice a little differently here. There's just a lot of new for him here. So [we've been] discussing some of the new, some quickness that can come back into his game, some physicality that could come back into his game."

I honestly don't see it. How i see it is Okposo saying they practice a bit different and that in Florida they want him to tap into some different skillsets than he did in Buffalo. Florida plays more physical than us so that would be an obvious difference in tactics. My only worry is he'll get another head injury in Florida because our staff would of very likely, if not at least unconsciously, looked to protect him from another head injury via tell him to less physical.

[Getpucksdeep]

3 minutes ago, thewookie1 said:

I honestly don't see it. How i see it is Okposo saying they practice a bit different and that in Florida they want him to tap into some different skillsets than he did in Buffalo. Florida plays more physical than us so that would be an obvious difference in tactics. My only worry is he'll get another head injury in Florida because our staff would of very likely, if not at least unconsciously, looked to protect him from another head injury via tell him to less physical.

The quote is from Paul Maurice not KO, fwiw.  

Nothing to see here in my opinion.  Boo Panthers. And boo to his bff Reinhart.  Hoping they are a first round exit. If the state of FL gets another cup before anyone in Canada or traditional hockey towns, bleh.

[...]

1 hour ago, Doohickie said:

Funny thing:  After Krueger left and Donny took over, the players talked about how much more active Granato's practices were.

That's because Krueger had them sitting around on mats meditating on being the puck.

Edited March 18 by ...
be the puck Rasmus

[...]

37 minutes ago, thewookie1 said:

I honestly don't see it. How i see it is Okposo saying they practice a bit different and that in Florida they want him to tap into some different skillsets than he did in Buffalo. Florida plays more physical than us so that would be an obvious difference in tactics. My only worry is he'll get another head injury in Florida because our staff would of very likely, if not at least unconsciously, looked to protect him from another head injury via tell him to less physical.

The mention of how practices are done, how KO could get some quickness and physicality back, all point at whomever the prior coach was saying "they weren't getting the most out of Kyle Okposo". The stinger is calling that "new". I'd say all of that combines into a critique of the coaches in Buffalo.

Edited March 18 by ...
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[Weave]

9 minutes ago, ... said:

The mention of how practices are done, how KO could get some quickness and physicality back, all point at whomever the prior coach was saying "they weren't getting the most out of Kyle Okposo". The stinger is calling that "new". I'd say all of that combines into a critique of the coaches in Buffalo.

The getting some quickness and physicality back statement rose an eyebrow here.

[Archie Lee]

38 minutes ago, ... said:

The mention of how practices are done, how KO could get some quickness and physicality back, all point at whomever the prior coach was saying "they weren't getting the most out of Kyle Okposo". The stinger is calling that "new". I'd say all of that combines into a critique of the coaches in Buffalo.

I don’t know. When a player finds himself with a  new coach, it’s pretty common that the new coach tries to find a way to squeeze more out of said player. Isn’t this what Granato did with Dahlin, Skinner, Thompson, Mitts?  Okposo himself saw his production increase under Granato. Now, maybe the message isn’t getting through anymore. Maurice left the Jets as he thought he did all he could do with that group. 

[Mango]

6 minutes ago, Archie Lee said:

I don’t know. When a player finds himself with a  new coach, it’s pretty common that the new coach tries to find a way to squeeze more out of said player. Isn’t this what Granato did with Dahlin, Skinner, Thompson, Mitts?  Okposo himself saw his production increase under Granato. Now, maybe the message isn’t getting through anymore. Maurice left the Jets as he thought he did all he could do with that group. 

Yes and no. 

I think you hear "we like this part of his game, but we need a bit more that part". It seems as though we have heard two different situations mention physicality, training, and/or hard work. You almost never hear a HC or player publicly say "We work harder here then they did over there".