Jeff Skinner rumors, trade and buyout speculation swirling

[Thorny]

28 minutes ago, Taro T said:

It should be about making the playoffs.  And, expect that in large part it IS about making the playoffs.

But personally don't expect that Pegula would fire Adams if they get to 98 points and it isn't good enough to get into the dance.

He should.

Probably shouldn’t have left yourself in a spot where one tough playoff cut off line means 5 straight years missing the playoffs 

AND the cutoff this year was low? 

zero sympathy. 5 years.

Edited June 23 by Thorny

[Broken Ankles]

1 hour ago, Thorny said:

He should.

Probably shouldn’t have left yourself in a spot where one tough playoff cut off line means 5 straight years missing the playoffs 

AND the cutoff this year was low? 

zero sympathy. 5 years.

Lately you be

 

Always better for the reader when there is passion on both sides. Enjoying this thread.  
 

*the Gene Wilder bio on Netflix was entertaining.  

[Weave]

9 hours ago, Thorny said:

He should.

Probably shouldn’t have left yourself in a spot where one tough playoff cut off line means 5 straight years missing the playoffs 

AND the cutoff this year was low? 

zero sympathy. 5 years.

Yeah this is where I am at.  We’ve been on 1 failed fast track, 1 failed slow roll, and we are on yr 5 of another slow roll.  When does this slow roll be deemed to have failed?

 

Its not so much as I am out of optimism (was I ever optimistic? LOL), as much as it is I am done with pissing away seasons under the banner of “soon”.  
 

Preaching to the Thorny choir here but, no rebuild needs to take 5 years. 5 yrs should be a rebuild plus sufficient evaluation time to determine if the GMs vision is a successful path. The “patience” of this organization is beyond absurd.

[Archie Lee]

13 hours ago, Thorny said:

lol the consensus in the hockey world would be that the sabres are eternally bad not that things are headed in the right direction. 

Aside from unserious prospect outlets who aren’t in the business of doing anything but selling their bottom line, literally no one takes the narrative we are “up and coming” but Sabres fans and media. It’s a significantly greater divide than you realize. The rest of the league lives in the real world where success is measured by results not future watch headlines 

Saying a guy who may go 5 straight years without making the playoffs “isn’t close” to being on the hot seat is an exceptionally sad state of affairs 

We currently have one player on our roster over the age of 30 and indications are he will be gone in the next week.  We are going to be one of the youngest teams in the NHL again next year.  If the Sabres have a 90+ point season and miss by a point or two, it will mean that multiple young players have had really good seasons. There is no question that if they come that close and many of their young players have strong years, that the Sabres will still be viewed as a team on the rise.  I'm not offering a "hot take" here. Your well-earned cynicism aside, really young teams that come really close are viewed positively. 

Nobody, or almost nobody, is saying it would be wrong to fire Adams if they miss. All some of us are saying is that there is pretty clearly a scenario where the Sabres miss again and Adams isn't fired and where him and Ruff together will get the two years on their contracts. 

 

[Flashsabre]

I think Adams knows this is it for him. I am very interested to see how the offseason unfolds. I think Ruff will have a major say in who they go after.

I believe when he says all options are on the table because it is playoffs or bust this season. The fanbase has had enough. 

[Jorcus]

Given Adams I only want players that want to be here speeches, does anyone think it is Skinner that wants out more than management wants him to go? There is an assumption that Ruff does not want him but maybe it's Skinner that does not want to deal with Ruff. If that's the case hopefully Skinner's agent can find a deal that gets him out without the Sabres going the full buy out route. I keep thinking about the last Toronto home game when a TO fan threw  a Skinner jersey on the ice mocking the Sabres. Who did that affect the most Skinner or the management. Maybe it was both.   

[Taro T]

3 hours ago, Weave said:

Yeah this is where I am at.  We’ve been on 1 failed fast track, 1 failed slow roll, and we are on yr 5 of another slow roll.  When does this slow roll be deemed to have failed?

 

Its not so much as I am out of optimism (was I ever optimistic? LOL), as much as it is I am done with pissing away seasons under the banner of “soon”.  
 

Preaching to the Thorny choir here but, no rebuild needs to take 5 years. 5 yrs should be a rebuild plus sufficient evaluation time to determine if the GMs vision is a successful path. The “patience” of this organization is beyond absurd.

Am on the same page as you guys.  Agree that Adams SHOULD be gone if they miss the playoffs.  But don't expect that he absolutely will be gone if they miss again.  The owner seems to really like him and he's let him make moves that all seem geared to being a true contender in '27.  Should they end up in the realm where they have more points than anybody else that ever missed the playoff, personally expect Adams gets yet another kick at the can.  Should they miss with 91, do expect he'll be gone.

Personally believe that if they make the playoffs with say 93 points but then get ousted in 4 or 5 that he should be gone in that case too.  Because 93 SHOULD NOT be good enough in an era when there are so many loser points available.  But, also expect in that scenario that he doesn't get punted there either because they will have actually made the playoffs.

And, expect this discussion will end up being moot, because there's a good chance they get to 98+ and that they make the playoffs.  Dumping Comrie and bringing in a coach that has a plan for what to do in his own end and how to run a PP should be enough on their own to get them to 98 PROVIDED the GT doesn't do a Comrie imitation and they don't have catastrophic injuries (both of which are possible, so this team needs additional moves to give it some wiggle room should either come to pass).

Edited June 23 by Taro T

[Pimlach]

2 hours ago, Jorcus said:

Given Adams I only want players that want to be here speeches, does anyone think it is Skinner that wants out more than management wants him to go? There is an assumption that Ruff does not want him but maybe it's Skinner that does not want to deal with Ruff. If that's the case hopefully Skinner's agent can find a deal that gets him out without the Sabres going the full buy out route. I keep thinking about the last Toronto home game when a TO fan threw  a Skinner jersey on the ice mocking the Sabres. Who did that affect the most Skinner or the management. Maybe it was both.   

This is a nice alternate view and I hope you are correct.  I would love it if Skinner has "lost his love for the Sabres" and is asking for a trade, but that is probably just wishful thinking.   

[tom webster]

For what its worth I have heard a few people mention that Washington and Buffalo have had some serious talks which brings up the same names as in past, Dylan Strome, Nic Dowd and Tom Wilson whom I had heard talk about last year but that was before the contract extention.

[dudacek]

Never been a fan of Strome and see Wilson as a depreciating asset.

They would make the team better next year.

[Pimlach]

3 hours ago, Weave said:

Yeah this is where I am at.  We’ve been on 1 failed fast track, 1 failed slow roll, and we are on yr 5 of another slow roll.  When does this slow roll be deemed to have failed?

Its not so much as I am out of optimism (was I ever optimistic? LOL), as much as it is I am done with pissing away seasons under the banner of “soon”.  

Preaching to the Thorny choir here but, no rebuild needs to take 5 years. 5 yrs should be a rebuild plus sufficient evaluation time to determine if the GMs vision is a successful path. The “patience” of this organization is beyond absurd.

I am not optimist about Adams anymore.   I like Lindy but Adams extensive coaching search left me shaking my head.  He only had serious talks with Lindy, his neighbor in Clarence, and a guy that hired him many years ago.    I really am looking forward to seeing what Adams does in the off season, this should be his make it or break it off season.   Can he bring in enough good NHL players?  Lindy clearly understands their needs.  His talk about getting players for certain roles, like tools, was spot on.   Can Lindy's presence help Adams?  Everything hinges on it.  

 

19 minutes ago, Taro T said:

Am on the same page as you guys.  Agree that Adams SHOULD be gone if they miss the playoffs.  But don't expect that he absolutely will be gone if they miss again.  The owner seems to really like him and he's let him make moves that all seem geared to being a true contender in '27.  Should they end up in the realm where they have more points than anybody else that ever missed the playoff, personally expect Adams gets yet another kick at the can.  Should they miss with 91, do expect he'll be gone.

Personally believe that if they make the playoffs with say 93 points but then get ousted in 4 or 5 that he should be gone in that case too.  Because 93 SHOULD NOT be good enough in an era when there are so many loser points available.  But, also expect in that scenario that he doesn't get punted there either because they will have actually made the playoffs.

And, expect this discussion will end up being moot, because there's a good chance they get to 98+ and that they make the playoffs.  Dumping Comrie and bringing in a coach that has a plan for what to do in his own end and how to run a PP should be enough on their own to get them to 98 PROVIDED the GT doesn't do a Comrie imitation and they don't have catastrophic injuries (both of which are possible, so this team needs additional moves to give it some wiggle room should either come to pass).

Pegula really likes and trusts Adams.  

I think that if the Sabres are competitive and challenge for a wildcard birth right to the end, then Adams will be safe whether they make it of not.   Pegula will probably be happy with another close miss and a still very young roster, that is just how he is.   Ruff will then get his year 2.   Ruff's year 2 will determine if Adams stays.  

I wish I was more positive about this team.  What teams are falling in the Eastern Conference?  Washington and Pittsburgh come to mind but they could retool and rebuild faster than the pace Adams has displayed thus far.  The Isles and Lightning?  Detroit and Philly past us last year.  Are we really any better than NJ once they get a goalie?   

We need 5 or 6 new players that are NHL players and the right players.  In addition we need the Core to be better, players like Thompson and Cozens must rebound and get back to the their game from the year prior to last.   We also need a repeat of the UPL we saw in the second half of the season.  

The center spline is Thompson, Cozens, Krebs, Jost/Girgensons.   Yuck! 

[tom webster]

16 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Never been a fan of Strome and see Wilson as a depreciating asset.

They would make the team better next year.

That would be my assessment as well. Strome is weird in that he has put up numbers but I’m not sure he brings anything else if that makes any sense.

[Flashsabre]

9 minutes ago, tom webster said:

That would be my assessment as well. Strome is weird in that he has put up numbers but I’m not sure he brings anything else if that makes any sense.

No that is a good assessment. Strome will put up points at the end of the year but he doesn’t do any of the little things that help you win games. Much like the guy they want to buy out.

Edited June 23 by Flashsabre

[Buffalonill]

Of course buffalo will trade for tom Wilson when he's declining they love trading for players that hit the wall 

[PerreaultForever]

5 hours ago, Jorcus said:

Given Adams I only want players that want to be here speeches, does anyone think it is Skinner that wants out more than management wants him to go? There is an assumption that Ruff does not want him but maybe it's Skinner that does not want to deal with Ruff. If that's the case hopefully Skinner's agent can find a deal that gets him out without the Sabres going the full buy out route. I keep thinking about the last Toronto home game when a TO fan threw  a Skinner jersey on the ice mocking the Sabres. Who did that affect the most Skinner or the management. Maybe it was both.   

Nope. Not in the slightest. If he did, that would mean he cares about winning and I just don't think he does. He'd waive his no move clause. He'd sweat after games. You know what I mean? Just don't see it. I see him as a guy who is fine to sit on the bench as long as you pay him. Would he love a buy out so he can then leave? Sure. Best of both worlds. Good for him. But also good for the team. 

[Thorny]

6 hours ago, Archie Lee said:

We currently have one player on our roster over the age of 30 and indications are he will be gone in the next week.  We are going to be one of the youngest teams in the NHL again next year.  If the Sabres have a 90+ point season and miss by a point or two, it will mean that multiple young players have had really good seasons. There is no question that if they come that close and many of their young players have strong years, that the Sabres will still be viewed as a team on the rise.  I'm not offering a "hot take" here. Your well-earned cynicism aside, really young teams that come really close are viewed positively. 

Nobody, or almost nobody, is saying it would be wrong to fire Adams if they miss. All some of us are saying is that there is pretty clearly a scenario where the Sabres miss again and Adams isn't fired and where him and Ruff together will get the two years on their contracts. 

 

Absurd take imo

It’s not cynicism in this case, not close. It’s merely an objective reading of the actual results.

What you are doing - sometimes people need to have a black light taken to this bs- is spin. It’s intelligent spin, but my gosh is it ever spin. Your argument doesn’t make sense because by the logic of the argument you could wilfully ice the youngest team in the league every year, by choice, and never have any expectations. Dunno about you but by and large I don’t think people are dim enough to fall for it, nor would the perception of the team be positive 

*Being a young team isn’t an excuse*. Going into year 4 and 5 of a rebuild with the youngest team in hockey is a tactical error. You don’t get to cut off your nose to spite your face and claim “patience!”

The line is the line *regardless of strategy*. Young team, old team, combination of both, big, small, fast, slow: the history books are filled with centuries of data illustrating that no plan needs to take close to this long.

I don’t think you understand the key point: being up and coming team after 5 years of “building” isn’t good. That’s an extremely, extremely poor league relative outcome and demonstrates inarguably poor aptitude: the exact opposite of the management team you’d want running the show even if we did eventually get in the playoffs in year 9

I apologize for the bare language but your argument is very bogus. This is primarily because it fails by the principles of its own detail: it doesn’t haven an internal logical consistency. How could you possibly claim a 90 point finish is proof of being up and coming when it would *literally* have us in the exact same spot as 2 years ago? We’ll have gone nowhere in those 2 years, proving that 90 with a young team isn’t proof of anything at all.  Hockey watchers can see and understand this. Your point IS a hot take because it’s wrong - the perception of the sabres won’t be positive. This is the tact the rest of the non-prospect washed hockey world take, “oh really? Wake me up when you are in the playoffs.” No one cares about a team missing 5 straight years being framed as “up and coming”. They’ve all heard it before. 

WE need to wake up, put our big boy pants on, and measure results the way the rest of the league does

Edited June 23 by Thorny

[Doohickie]

On 6/21/2024 at 5:43 PM, ... said:

he better get 9 points in 11 games playing on the second line.

As opposed to Drouin and Parise?

Lehkonen (11) - Mackinnon (14) - Drouin (3)
Parise (3) - Mittelstadt (9) - Rantanen (14)

Dude, just stop doubling down.  You got nothin', really.

[...]

1 minute ago, Doohickie said:

As opposed to Drouin and Parise?

Lehkonen (11) - Mackinnon (14) - Drouin (3)
Parise (3) - Mittelstadt (9) - Rantanen (14)

Dude, just stop doubling down.  You got nothin', really.

WTF is with you people and the "stop doubling down" command. You and Thorny can shove that one way high up your arse. My viewpoint on Mitts is what it is and it's not changing because some avatars on a message board don't like it.

[Thorny]

4 minutes ago, ... said:

WTF is with you people and the "stop doubling down" command. You and Thorny can shove that one way high up your arse. My viewpoint on Mitts is what it is and it's not changing because some avatars on a message board don't like it.

I never said stop doubling down, did I? I just pointed out that you took a super high degree of difficulty argument by taking the position Mitts had done “jack squat” 

If you take the L there and shift to “didn’t do enough”, you’d have a better fighting chance

ill tko your argument rather that leave it staring at the ceiling 

Being unable to shift your stance is message board poison 

[Brawndo]

3 hours ago, tom webster said:

For what its worth I have heard a few people mention that Washington and Buffalo have had some serious talks which brings up the same names as in past, Dylan Strome, Nic Dowd and Tom Wilson whom I had heard talk about last year but that was before the contract extention.

 

3 hours ago, dudacek said:

Never been a fan of Strome and see Wilson as a depreciating asset.

They would make the team better next year.

 

2 hours ago, tom webster said:

That would be my assessment as well. Strome is weird in that he has put up numbers but I’m not sure he brings anything else if that makes any sense.

Strome would be an outstanding addition to the Sabres Center Corps and would be a cost controlled 2/3C for four years at 5 million AAV
His metrics are better than Cozens and would give Lindy flexibility. 


I think the actual trade will be for Nic Dowd, who has been used primarily as a 3C over the past few years. 

[Thorny]

19 minutes ago, Thorny said:

I never said stop doubling down, did I? I just pointed out that you took a super high degree of difficulty argument by taking the position Mitts had done “jack squat” 

If you take the L there and shift to “didn’t do enough”, you’d have a better fighting chance

ill tko your argument rather that leave it staring at the ceiling 

Being unable to shift your stance is message board poison 

Also, I make an effort to be a person online, be honest, not hide behind a faceless avatar, so I take your point on stuff like that. Here’s my Twitter account

 

13 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

 

 

Strome would be an outstanding addition to the Sabres Center Corps and would be a cost controlled 2/3C for four years at 5 million AAV
His metrics are better than Cozens and would give Lindy flexibility. 


I think the actual trade will be for Nic Dowd, who has been used primarily as a 3C over the past few years. 

What do you think about Dowd

Edited June 23 by Thorny
Please support my Donnie Darko tweet

[French Collection]

23 minutes ago, Thorny said:

Also, I make an effort to be a person online, be honest, not hide behind a faceless avatar, so I take your point on stuff like that. Here’s my Twitter account

 

What do you think about Dowd

34 years old. His numbers are borderline 4th line. I don’t recall anything special about him. 6’1” 193.

I know people hate +/- but he was -2 on a Caps team that gave up way more goals than they scored. Career 51.8% on faceoffs.

Definitely not worth any large trade piece in my opinion. Don’t look my way for fancy stats.

[LGR4GM]

52 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

I think the actual trade will be for Nic Dowd, who has been used primarily as a 3C over the past few years. 

21 minutes ago, French Collection said:

34 years old. His numbers are borderline 4th line. I don’t recall anything special about him. 6’1” 193.

I know people hate +/- but he was -2 on a Caps team that gave up way more goals than they scored. Career 51.8% on faceoffs.

Definitely not worth any large trade piece in my opinion. Don’t look my way for fancy stats.

Dowd is the perfect excuse to run Krebs at 3c. 

Edited June 23 by LGR4GM

[Thorny]

16 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Dowd is the perfect excuse to run Krebs at 3c. 

“We like the versatility of our centre core.” Adams said.

”We believe in Peyton and what he brings to the table. To the room, the community. He epitomizes the work ethic of what it means to be a Buffalo Sabre.”

Adams went on to say he sees even bigger things in Krebs’ future. “We didn't want to stifle his opportunity to develop into a 200 foot centre for our hockey club. We feel the addition of Nic (Dowd, acquired last week from the Capitals for a 2nd round draft pick, and a 5th in 2026) to our centre unit allows flexibility up and down the lineup. We are comfortable relying on both Peyton and Nic to help contribute offensively while also doing the little things right in the defensive end. We’re excited to get to work in training camp.”

”Any time you can add a player, really, a human being with the versatility of Nic Dowd, particularly without having to sacrifice any of your future, your prospect pipeline, you have to feel good about it.”

Adams added that he spoke with teams about deals that included some of his more valued prospects, and was comfortable moving on from one or more to facilitate a trade, but in the end felt it was unnecessary because Dowd represented the best fit available.

[Dr. Who]

2 minutes ago, Thorny said:

“We like the versatility of our centre core.” Adams said.

”We believe in Peyton and what he brings to the table. To the room, the community. He epitomizes the work ethic of what it means to be a Buffalo Sabre.”

Adams went on to say he sees even bigger things in Krebs’ future. “We didn't want to stifle his opportunity to develop into a 200 foot centre for our hockey club. We feel the addition of Nic (Dowd, acquired last week from the Capitals for a 2nd round draft pick, and a 5th in 2026) to our centre unit allows flexibility up and down the lineup. We are comfortable relying on both Peyton and Nic to help contribute offensively while also doing the little things right in the defensive end. We’re excited to get to work in training camp.”

”Any time you can add a player, really, a human being with the versatility of Nic Dowd, particularly without having to sacrifice any of your future, your prospect pipeline, you have to feel good about it.”

Adams added that he spoke with teams about deals that included some of his more valued prospects, and was comfortable moving on from one or more to facilitate a trade, but in the end felt it was unnecessary because Dowd represented the best fit available.

I see you're doubling down on your imaginary scenario.