Now What?

[inkman]

3 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

That's an awful idea for a team that's gonna draft top 5. 

Unless the return is a top 10 player in the league, yeah I don’t know why you’d move the pick. 

[Pimlach]

7 minutes ago, Flashsabre said:

It wasn’t about yesterday in particular. Just years of incompetence piling up. His biggest point is the lack of compete top to bottom and they did nothing yesterday to address it as a team.

Yes, he is probably near my age.  The lack of compete bothers me too, and the inconsistency is troubling.  

They have a 5-3 lead late in the second period and give up two goals inside the final 2:17.    That cannot happen, but yet it happens a lot to this team.  

Ray Ferraro called them out and questioned what kind of closeness this team has.  Cozens watched Dahlin take on 3 guys.  That was the second time they let their captain down in that game.   

The Sabres are hard to like.  There are 3 guys I would not trade, the rest are nothing to me.  

Adam’s and Ruff will be back and I see nothing changing. 

[Sidc3000]

[mjd1001]

Now, play out the rest of the season and see how Norris fits in.  Its no secret that once he gets a few games under his belt (in about a week or so), this trade will make the current team better.

For the offseason:

-Decide what you are doing with Bryam and how he fits in.  If he is moved, an good Right shot, veteran D-man who is good enough to play in the top 4 would be great to trade for or sign (overplay if you must).  Whether you keep or move Byram, it would be nice to get ONE good veteran D-man in here anyway.

-Get some toughness.  I don't like fighting in hockey anymore, but get somoeone who can legit do it. And I don't mean someone who can be put into the lineup for a game and is willing to go but will get pounded to the ice. Someone who can play AND do the job.

-Goaltending.  This is tough.  I think UPL can have a bounce back year, and I think Levi isn't better than UPL yet. But next year, one way or the other, you need better play from your goaltending. I have no idea what to do but figure it out.

I'm good with the above.  If there are no major injuries and the above is completed, I think this is a playoff team next year.

[Big Guava]

I don't care until next season starts. That's the next time they have any shot at a playoff berth 

[jahnyc]

Our trading Cozens encapsulates everything that frustrates me about our GM.  From the pre-trading deadline rumors and chatter, it is pretty clear that the Sabres have (and had) a number of desirable assets (Tuch, Byram, Peterka and Cozens, among others).  What also is clear is that our GM took this opportunity to trade one of our assets for another disappointing player that is less physical with a concerning injury history (shoulder).  

This team needs a more physical overall presence, both with our forwards and even more so with our defense.  The current pieces don't fit together into a cohesive team for the current style of play in the NHL (and the playoffs, if we ever make the playoffs again).  If we are going to trade our players, is it too much too ask that we try to fix our obvious deficiencies (the same ones that we have had for years)?  I am tired of watching our players get the worst of every physical encounter with the opposing team.  It is deflating for fans, and it must be even more deflating for the players.

Edited yesterday at 06:00 PM by jahnyc

[Weave]

19 minutes ago, jahnyc said:

Our trading Cozens encapsulates everything that frustrates me about our GM.  From the pre-trading deadline rumors and chatter, it is pretty clear that the Sabres have (and had) a number of desirable assets (Tuch, Byram, Peterka and Cozens, among others).  What also is clear is that our GM took this opportunity to trade one of our assets for another disappointing player that is less physical with a concerning injury history (shoulder).  

This team needs a more physical overall presence, both with our forwards and even more so with our defense.  The current pieces don't fit together into a cohesive team for the current style of play in the NHL (and the playoffs, if we ever make the playoffs again).  If we are going to trade our players, is it too much too ask that we try to fix our obvious deficiencies (the same ones that we have had for years)?  I am tired of watching our players get the worst of every physical encounter with the opposing team.  It is deflating for fans, and it must be even more deflating for the players.

I don’t need our 1C or 2C to be that physical guy.  I think it is better suited that the physical play comes from the wing and D.  In that regard, getting smaller and less physical in order to upgrade scoring from venter doesn’t bother me at all.

Having said that, grit needs to be on the menu this offseason.

[DarthEbriate]

1 hour ago, mjd1001 said:

Now, play out the rest of the season and see how Norris fits in.  Its no secret that once he gets a few games under his belt (in about a week or so), this trade will make the current team better.

One thing is to see if Norris ever plays with Quinn, and if they do, are they pretty much an automatic goal against. Can Norris bring out the best in Quinn and turn him back into a top-6 projected RW?

[SabreFinn]

3 hours ago, DarthEbriate said:

One thing is to see if Norris ever plays with Quinn, and if they do, are they pretty much an automatic goal against. Can Norris bring out the best in Quinn and turn him back into a top-6 projected RW?

This is an excellent point. 

[HumanSlinky39]

8 hours ago, Pimlach said:

Tell Dad that Norris for Cozens is a pretty fair trade.  The rest is immaterial.  They kept Greenway and Zucker so hopefully they are more of a vet team next season.   Off season trades and signings are more impactful.  

As for the plan moving forward, that’s up to Terry, Adams and Lindy.  No one else knows what their plan is, they probably don’t have one.  
 

 

 

Adams having a plan scares me more than not having one.

[North Buffalo]

So rooting for Nashville Blackhawks go to OT tonight.

[GoPuckYourself]

I want to say we're close but it doesn't look like it. 

* A top 6 forward (A top C if Norris/Kulich isn't the answer) is a must. 

* we need at least 2 legit defensive RHD and a 3rd reserve (like a Bryson but good)

* A starting goalie

* Upgrades over Krebs, Quinn and Lafferty

* We need to rid ourselves of Matias Samuelsson, Jacob Bryson

* Use Byram or Power in a trade for a top 6 forward

* Will Levi be up for the task next season if we upgrade our defense?

 

[oddoublee]

50 minutes ago, GoPuckYourself said:

I want to say we're close but it doesn't look like it. 

* A top 6 forward (A top C if Norris/Kulich isn't the answer) is a must. 

* we need at least 2 legit defensive RHD and a 3rd reserve (like a Bryson but good)

* A starting goalie

* Upgrades over Krebs, Quinn and Lafferty

* We need to rid ourselves of Matias Samuelsson, Jacob Bryson

* Use Byram or Power in a trade for a top 6 forward

* Will Levi be up for the task next season if we upgrade our defense?

 

That's a lot of things. My God this team is poorly contracted and lacking talent.

[Sabres Fan in NS]

More Bosnian coffee ..

[Demoted]

The team needs to secure they will have the longest playoff drought in American Sports history. It's the only thing that matters now.

[GASabresIUFAN]

On 3/7/2025 at 8:46 PM, Flashsabre said:

What is the plan here moving forward after today?

No idea and Adams doesn’t either.  

Any legit plan would begin by firing Adams and his merry band of failures including all the coaches.  They have driven the franchise into the ground, mutilated the development of most of the young players.  Enough!

If we had a real GM the plan would start with fixing the defense.

To turn this ship around we need to move on from one of Power or Byram.  Neither can play defense at all and we don’t need two $8 mill D men who only play 50% of their position.  That money would be better spent on two top 4 defensive D who can play with Dahlin and the either Power or Byram.  They’d cover up the young D mistakes while allowing them some extra freedom to be offensive D.   

You re-sign JJP, Byram (if kept), and McLeod to bridge deals (3-4 years) as they all have issues in their games that need to develop.  McLeod probably gets replaced my Helenius in a few years.  

Quinn gets a 1-2 year prove it deal or traded to add the necessary D.  I’d also buyout Samuelsson to help finance the new defenseman. 

The next question is what to do with the goaltending?  My answer for now is one more year of UPL and Levi as the backup with a new coach and a better D group.  We don’t need superstar goaltending to reach the playoffs. We need average goaltending to go with our good offense.  

I think one of the issues for UPL is he thinks he has to stand on his head each night to keep the team in the game and he’s sadly correct.  I think a better defense will bring out the better UPL.  We know he has better play in him.  

While this plan uses with what’s here, the question  is identifying and acquiring the right 2 defensemen to make this plan work.  Given our 14 years at the bottom, our terrible management (which is likely to return), high taxes and lack of palm trees, getting FAs for those roles will be close to impossible.  Sadly I also don’t trust Adams to find the right players or make the right trades even if he could identify the right players. 

Edited 3 hours ago by GASabresIUFAN

[Flashsabre]

Imagine being the GM of a team that hasn’t made the playoffs in 14 straight years. You have been at the helm for the past 5 years. You were hired from running the arena at the hotel next door with no prior NHL front office e experience. You have fumbled the past 4 years. This year you are bound to make a difference. You bring in your coach without doing a search. You stand in front of the media and proclaim, “No more excuses! This season it is playoffs or bust. I have built a team that will make the playoffs!”  Fast forward to March and you are dead last in the conference, your team has more holes than a strainer, there is no compete or hope, the media is tearing the franchise apart on tv and all you have mustered is an angry tirade about palm trees.  You will be picking at the top of the draft again. And yet you are probably not worried about job security because you have the stupidest owner who has ever walked God’s green Earth overseeing the franchise.

This is an absolutely embarrassing, pathetic situation that Pegula has put this franchise in. These is no hope as long as this absolute clown continues to own this team