GDT: Buffalo Sabres @ Washington Capitals 12/14/24 --MSG, WGR--7 PM Puck Drop

[JohnC]

11 hours ago, Pimlach said:

Good (but late) evening Teammates.  I took the wife out and missed the game.  

Just read the GDT.   We were in it for awhile.   They continue to pass up shots and/or miss the net.  Specials team was the difference.  Benson and UPL played good.  Cozens fought, sounds like he didn’t fair well again.  

Leaves tomorrow on a B2B. They will drop 10 in a row for sure. 
 

NO WAY will that game interfere with me watching the Bills game tomorrow.  I’m ignoring the Sabres for two games in a row!!!  

 

The shame of this losing interlude is that UPL's goaltending has been superb. It has been wasted. 

[Jorcus]

2 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Picking first?  Hope not.  

Trading your pick depends on who is there to draft and what else we can get with the pick.  There will be a few big wingers that can score goals, but I’m not a draftnik and don’t know enough about the top prospects - kind of sad to be talking about this on December 15.  

If they want to win now (this year) then they have to improve the center spline. We don’t need more center prospects, we need better NHL players at center, some veteran help at top 6 wing, and defensive defenseman to mate with the “puck movers”. 

I worry about another rebuild.  I don’t think Adams is the right guy.  He did a few good things, but the reality for all to see is the performance on the ice is declining for two straight seasons.  

 

The trouble is there are no proven number 2 centers you can trade for that are much if any better than Cozens is even in his current extended funk. There are about 8 that are a clear up grade at the position but you are not getting them or they are too old to get. The old guys are Matt Duchene 33, Brock Nelson 33, Evgeni Malkin, 38, John Tavares, 34,. The younger guys who you are not going to pry away are Jack Hughes 23, Logan Cooley 20 and Tim Stutzle 22. The middle age guys Sam Bennett 28, Anthony Cirelli 25 just are not going anywhere. Other than going after Pius Suter (pending UFA) or Pierre Luc Dubois (8.5M) long term. What are you going to do. Everyone says get somebody but I have not seen a realistic idea than makes sense.   

[JohnC]

3 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Sure.  As I pointed out to you, Washington has a POHO that was their Cup winning GM, and he has been there for over 10 years. 

He just brought in a bevy of NHL players to improve the roster.  I’ll bet none of those guys have cap killing contracts either.   He didn’t worry about blocking prospects. When your prospects earn the job they get the job.   It will be interesting to see how long this team stays at a high level.  

He also chose to keep Ovechkin, Wilson, and Carlson from the Cup winning team to help maintain a winning standard.  The opposite of tanking.  

Some fans here talked about the Bruins, Lighting, and Caps falling below us.  It’s not happening though.  

Some GMs are better than others. There are mediocre GMs and top tier GMs. That's not the issue for the Sabres. The owner bestowed the critical GM position on someone who was manifestly unqualified to begin with. You look at the numerous transactions that the Caps GM has made. Many of them have worked and some have not. You have to have an ability to adjust to the ever-changing circumstances. Our novice GM simply doesn't have that essential ability to make those required adjustments. My problem with the owner isn't that he hired this novice when Botterill refused to fire the staff. If he would have hired him as a temporary GM (place holder), that would have been understandable. But he is going on five years in that critical position. That's an incomprehensible absurdity!  

[Pimlach]

8 minutes ago, Jorcus said:

 

The trouble is there are no proven number 2 centers you can trade for that are much if any better than Cozens is even in his current extended funk. There are about 8 that are a clear up grade at the position but you are not getting them or they are too old to get. The old guys are Matt Duchene 33, Brock Nelson 33, Evgeni Malkin, 38, John Tavares, 34,. The younger guys who you are not going to pry away are Jack Hughes 23, Logan Cooley 20 and Tim Stutzle 22. The middle age guys Sam Bennett 28, Anthony Cirelli 25 just are not going anywhere. Other than going after Pius Suter (pending UFA) or Pierre Luc Dubois (8.5M) long term. What are you going to do. Everyone says get somebody but I have not seen a realistic idea than makes sense.   

The good old “it’s impossible” excuse .  Which is not true.   

 

[HILLsabre]

15 hours ago, Huckleberry said:

Ah really not need this kind off comments, we had some sour grapes on this board before.   But some of you really take it to new level.

Sorry Huckleberry, didn't mean to discourage you. I guess it's time for me to take a break and focus on what's important and what I'm thankful for during this Christmas season. Merry Christmas guys.

[Huckleberry]

3 hours ago, HILLsabre said:

Sorry Huckleberry, didn't mean to discourage you. I guess it's time for me to take a break and focus on what's important and what I'm thankful for during this Christmas season. Merry Christmas guys.

Nah its all good, I should not have reacted like that, had few beers too.   16 years of futility with this team gets to us all.

I haven't watched much games myself this year for a reason.