How would you retool this team this summer?

[Drag0nDan]

48 minutes ago, dudacek said:

I have no idea what Marner values most or why, but where he wants to live has to be some kind of factor.

Access to friends and family certainly weighs into such decisions, not just for the player, but also his spouse.

Personally, I think for most athletes the underrated motivational factor is ego:

Does this team make me feel important and wanted?”

Does this team give me an opportunity to be the best version of the player I think I am?

If it’s not that, money might be paramount to some, lifestyle to others, security to still others. Some want an opportunity to grow their brand, others want a chance to hide.

All these factors and more coalesce into as many different packages as there are players.

There is no one size fits all.

I don't disagree - i just think the "how would you retool the team?" answer shouldn't start with signing marner as though its just that easy.  

[DarthEbriate]

One side note before I forget it: we're going to hear all summer about assistant coaches (until they just bring back the entire band anyway). And Peca might be available because the Rangers could go for a radical shakeup.

The defending President's Cup winning Rangers missed the playoffs. Mostly that's on Shesterkin being a pumpkin this year instead of a top-3 goalie in the league, but as we know well, forwards impact the defense significantly, too.

All I'm saying is... don't hire Peca just because he's a beloved ex-Sabre without interviewing other assistants. Assemble a good, proven coaching staff.

[Drag0nDan]

18 minutes ago, DarthEbriate said:

One side note before I forget it: we're going to hear all summer about assistant coaches (until they just bring back the entire band anyway). And Peca might be available because the Rangers could go for a radical shakeup.

The defending President's Cup winning Rangers missed the playoffs. Mostly that's on Shesterkin being a pumpkin this year instead of a top-3 goalie in the league, but as we know well, forwards impact the defense significantly, too.

All I'm saying is... don't hire Peca just because he's a beloved ex-Sabre without interviewing other assistants. Assemble a good, proven coaching staff.

Eh they also have the 27th ranked PP.  Zibanejad is having a terrible year, same with Lafreniere, same with Kreider.  Tons of cap space tied up in 5 forwards who are all 31+ and have some level of trade protection.  I'd probably change coaches first since the roster construction is limited in what you can do.  

[LGR4GM]

9 minutes ago, Drag0nDan said:

Eh they also have the 27th ranked PP.  Zibanejad is having a terrible year, same with Lafreniere, same with Kreider.  Tons of cap space tied up in 5 forwards who are all 31+ and have some level of trade protection.  I'd probably change coaches first since the roster construction is limited in what you can do.  

Drury isn't a good GM. 

[DarthEbriate]

9 minutes ago, Drag0nDan said:

Eh they also have the 27th ranked PP.  Zibanejad is having a terrible year, same with Lafreniere, same with Kreider.  Tons of cap space tied up in 5 forwards who are all 31+ and have some level of trade protection.  I'd probably change coaches first since the roster construction is limited in what you can do.  

Even with a bad power play, the glaring number for NYR this season is the defense

2021-22 | 110 pts |  GF 16th   GA 2nd
2022-23| 107 pts|  GF 12th    GA 4th
2023-24| 114 pts |  GF 7th     GA 7th
2024-25|  83 pts |  GF 12th   GA 21st

[Drag0nDan]

Just now, DarthEbriate said:

Even with a bad power play, the glaring number for NYR this season is the defense

2021-22 | 110 pts |  GF 16th   GA 2nd
2022-23| 107 pts|  GF 12th    GA 4th
2023-24| 114 pts |  GF 7th     GA 7th
2024-25|  83 pts |  GF 12th   GA 21st

but... but... borgen! 🙂

[DarthEbriate]

6 minutes ago, Drag0nDan said:

but... but... borgen! 🙂

I think they're probably happy with him. He's starting 65% d-zone faceoffs and has managed to be a +7 +/- for them and isn't much of a point producer. He's doing his job. But yeah, Zibanejad is a mess this year, and Fox has gone from consistent top-10 Norris votes to...  not this year.

[SabreFinn]

2 hours ago, DarthEbriate said:

Even with a bad power play, the glaring number for NYR this season is the defense

2021-22 | 110 pts |  GF 16th   GA 2nd
2022-23| 107 pts|  GF 12th    GA 4th
2023-24| 114 pts |  GF 7th     GA 7th
2024-25|  83 pts |  GF 12th   GA 21st

Strange... with Panarins great twoway efforts.

The eye test say that their third pair with Schneider and Vaakanainen is their best. 

[Drag0nDan]

17 minutes ago, SabreFinn said:

Strange... with Panarins great twoway efforts.

The eye test say that their third pair with Schneider and Vaakanainen is their best. 

Someone mentioned it earlier but shesterkin has not been as sharp.  12 goals in 3 starts against buffalo (pulled twice) is pretty bad - sub .800% and 6.46 GAA.  

[Flashsabre]

Brad May did an interview on Nick Kypreos show and said that the Sabres have gotten away from their identity. No toughness and fight.

Interesting thing he said was that he heard the Sabres might be raising tickets by 16% for next season. Said if that is true then it is an embarrassment with the product they put on the ice.

[HumanSlinky39]

If it doesn't start with firing Adams into the outer space, I don't give a *****.

[Archie Lee]

6 minutes ago, HumanSlinky39 said:

If it doesn't start with firing Adams into the outer space, I don't give a *****.

There needs to be the sort of culture change that only occurs with a change at the top. Adams has not made the playoffs in 5 seasons. Ruff has made the playoffs, as a HC, 3 times in 9 seasons since he left Buffalo and never twice in a row; he’s the oldest coach in the league. No other team would hire either man for their current roles. Even if they were to somehow ice a team that grabs a wildcard spot next season, these two men are not the future. Failing to fire them on Friday morning is just to delay the inevitable. 

[Thorny]

11 minutes ago, HumanSlinky39 said:

If it doesn't start with firing Adams into the outer space, I don't give a *****.

I think they are going to realize they have to do it 

I don’t think they are smart enough to build a team properly, but i can’t see them being dumb enough to not realize someone needs to pay the price 

Sometimes the pitchforks are out for good reasons 

[HumanSlinky39]

Just now, Thorner said:

I think they are going to realize they have to do it 

I don’t think they are smart enough to build a team properly, but i can’t see them being dumb enough to not realize someone needs to pay the price 

I want to believe that, but this is not a serious hockey organization.

[Thorny]

2 minutes ago, HumanSlinky39 said:

I want to believe that, but this is not a serious hockey organization.

They have to have some sort of calculation for the conflict of interest being created 

Do i want to root for Adams to find success next year when he doesn’t deserve to be here, in the last year of his deal just in time, so he gets a lifetime contact? 

no, not particularly 

If i am anything it’s consistent (to the annoyance of others): but my line for Adams is 5 years 

they better fire him. I’m at the end of my rope  

Edited April 16 by Thorner

[HumanSlinky39]

8 minutes ago, Thorner said:

They have to have some sort of calculation for the conflict of interest being created 

Do i want to root for Adams to find success next year when he doesn’t deserve to be here, in the last year of his deal just in time, so he gets a lifetime contact? 

no, not particularly 

If i am anything it’s consistent (to the annoyance of others): but my line for Adams is 5 years 

they better fire him 

They absolutely have to. They need to totally clean house: from the GM, to the coaching staff, all of it. This team is stuck in the mud. There's been no forward momentum. They teased it in 2022/23 then fell back in 2023/24, and regressed again this year. It's literally going backwards.

Each year of poor results pushes more and more fans a way and you aren't onboarding many new ones. Ther is no buzz around this team. Attendance sucks, opposing fans fill your building when the Quebec/Ontario teams visit. Social media engagement (which is huge) is in the toilet. It's all bad. Most of us still around are the diehards from 20-30 years ago and with each failing year it gets harder to get them (the casual fan, or probably 80% of your fan base) back.

They NEED to pull the plug, but I have zero faith in the owner to do what's so obviously needed.

[Mr Peabody]

My concern / fear is the assistant coaches only taking the fall for this mess.  I could see  the message saying it’s all on the D structure and PP or we’d have been in the running. 
 

It’s past time for major changes and no excuses. 

Edited April 16 by Mr Peabody

[HumanSlinky39]

15 minutes ago, Mr Peabody said:

My concern / fear is the assistant coaches only taking the fall for this mess.  I could see  the message saying it’s all on the D structure and PP or we’d have been in the running. 
 

It’s past time for major changes and no excuses. 

Right now, it's pretty obvious there's a succession plan in place with the current FO construct. I (and a lot of others) have said Lindy is a 2 year HC as a bridge to Appert who is obviously Kevyn's boy. That would be disastrous. This organization needs an enema. A clean break from the organizational stink permeating it. That means the GM and ALL of the coaches. Why the ***** does Matty Ellis still have a job here??? They're in a very precarious position now. If they maintain the status quo, you're just kicking the can down the road yet another year and it's all but guaranteed the drought reaches 15 years. Each year you fail, you're losing more of the fanbase and giving the talent you DO have (TNT, Dahlin, Tuch...probably Benson, Peterka, Kulich, Power) a shorter runway. They cannot keep doing this.

Edited April 16 by HumanSlinky39

[Goldseatsaud]

Another season and another year older. I gave up watching them. So disheartening. Ruff was a PR move. 

[HumanSlinky39]

27 minutes ago, Goldseatsaud said:

Another season and another year older. I gave up watching them. So disheartening. Ruff was a PR move. 

With the added bonus it was easy. There were good coaches available last summer (Berube, Evason, McClellan, Keefe). There's no indication the Sabres reached out to a single one of them. They made the easy hire hoping some nostalgia from the last time the Sabres were relevant would pacify the fans. Lindy's track record since leaving Buffalo the first time was spotty at best. This GM is incompetent.

Edited April 16 by HumanSlinky39

[dudacek]

Not sure how many heard the Adams radio hit on WGR today, but he did not sound like a man who expected to be fired this weekend.

And if he’s here, then so are Ruff and UPL.

[DarthEbriate]

All the coaches are under contract for next season already, so probably the only way to retool the roster at this point is for the best players to start revolting. Tuch refuses to sign an extension; all the RFAs announce they don't want to be here, hunt for 1-year offer sheets and let it be known that if they're retained, they'll do the same thing again in 2026 until they reach UFA; and Dahlin requests a trade -- as a Sabres captain it's only right that he be moved to a contender. Then, sit out the season until he's moved, Peca-style.

[LGR4GM]

6 hours ago, dudacek said:

Not sure how many heard the Adams radio hit on WGR today, but he did not sound like a man who expected to be fired this weekend.

And if he’s here, then so are Ruff and UPL.

They think they're close. Adams has totally lost the plot and any objectivity. He's a dolt who can't see the forest through the trees. 

[Flashsabre]

The problem is if they fire Adams they have not proven on any level that they can identify a good GM to hire. Imagine someone worse than Adams taking over.😂

[LGR4GM]

16 minutes ago, Flashsabre said:

The problem is if they fire Adams they have not proven on any level that they can identify a good GM to hire. Imagine someone worse than Adams taking over.😂

Does it matter? What, are we gonna miss the playoffs for 10yrs in a row? Woopity doo