How would you retool this team this summer?

[Flashsabre]

32 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

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

To be clear I’m 120% for sh@t canning Adams immediately. I just have no faith that someone better will be brought in to fill the position 

[Archie Lee]

7 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.

I would not take big issue with the Sabres trading or moving on from UPL. But, in the big picture, how is he catching shrapnel here?  😀

[Archie Lee]

For those who think Pegula is cheap, keeping Adams and Ruff in lame-duck roles for the final year of their contracts will only cement the opinion.

Not to mention that it also could negatively impact the prospects for upgrading assistants. The coaching profession being as transient as it is, there will be no shortage of candidates if they do make a change in assistants. But the Sabres won’t be the first choice for the best candidates to begin with. Add in that Adams and Ruff will be lame-ducks, and the Sabres won’t have elite assistants knocking on their door.

Of course, maybe Adams and Ruff have earned extensions.  

[JohnC]

17 minutes ago, Archie Lee said:

For those who think Pegula is cheap, keeping Adams and Ruff in lame-duck roles for the final year of their contracts will only cement the opinion.

Not to mention that it also could negatively impact the prospects for upgrading assistants. The coaching profession being as transient as it is, there will be no shortage of candidates if they do make a change in assistants. But the Sabres won’t be the first choice for the best candidates to begin with. Add in that Adams and Ruff will be lame-ducks, and the Sabres won’t have elite assistants knocking on their door.

Of course, maybe Adams and Ruff have earned extensions.  

Any assistant in the elite category (your words) is not coming here. Buffalo is an acknowledged dysfunctional organization owned by a well-known incompetent owner who likes to meddle. Why would anyone who had options go to a team where you know the situation is unstable? The same distaste for this putrid franchise is possessed by players who have NTCs and for players who are on the open market. 

Buffalo is a ridiculed and mocked franchise. If KA was sent packing by the silent owner, who would be interested in the GM position with an owner hovering over the operation? I can tell you for sure that anyone who is a credible candidate wouldn't even bother to apply for the job because they already know what the conditions are.

It's up to the owner to alter his behavior and give this suffocating franchise a chance to breathe. So far, he hasn't given any sign that he is willing to get serious because he prefers playing with his toy.  So the futility continues. It's a sad situation. 

[Drag0nDan]

37 minutes ago, Archie Lee said:

For those who think Pegula is cheap, keeping Adams and Ruff in lame-duck roles for the final year of their contracts will only cement the opinion.

Not to mention that it also could negatively impact the prospects for upgrading assistants. The coaching profession being as transient as it is, there will be no shortage of candidates if they do make a change in assistants. But the Sabres won’t be the first choice for the best candidates to begin with. Add in that Adams and Ruff will be lame-ducks, and the Sabres won’t have elite assistants knocking on their door.

Of course, maybe Adams and Ruff have earned extensions.  

I wonder if he had an inkling of this stadium decision and has made moves to save some cash 

[FrenchConnection44]

Once again, the late season run was fools gold. And all it did was to likely take them out of getting a top 4 player who might have helped them next year. How ridiculous. 🤦‍♂️ 

Adams is so bad but he’s not likely to go anywhere. 🤦‍♂️ 

And a player we needed to package in a trade, Power, is injured and likely to rehab all offseason.  🤦‍♂️ 

Of course, we did keep Bryson in the fold  I will never understand that move. I doubt he’d be on an NHL roster if it weren’t for Adams’ genius. 

Fairburn: 
“Bryson signed a one-year extension March 20. Since then, he has played five games and been scratched 10 times. The Sabres are 0-5 when he plays and have been outscored 7-0 when he’s on the ice at five-on-five. His on-ice goals-against average during that stretch is 6.42, according to Natural Stat Trick. That contract is a head-scratcher when roster spots will be at a premium this summer and the defense is in need of a clear upgrade.”

 

 

 

[MISabresFan]

Wouldn't change a thing.  Puck didn't bounce the Sabre's way.  Hey, new coaching staff, needed a year to get their feet wet.  

Next year will be better, you will see.  

 

 

[GASabresIUFAN]

What late season run? They have lost 4 straight.  

[dudacek]

1 hour ago, Archie Lee said:

I would not take big issue with the Sabres trading or moving on from UPL. But, in the big picture, how is he catching shrapnel here?  😀

I was just meaning that he flat out confirmed that Ruff was coming back and pretty much said the same about UPL.

Said each would reflect on what went wrong and come back better. He believes in them.

Edited April 16 by dudacek

[Archie Lee]

1 minute ago, dudacek said:

I was just meaning that he flat out confirmed that Ruff was coming back pretty much said the same about UPL.

Said each would reflect on what went wrong and come back better. He believes in them.

Yeah.  Seeing Adams, Ruff, and UPL, in the same sentence when it came to coming back next year just took me back to being a kid and watching Sesame Street: one of these things does not belong.  I get it though.

 

[DarthEbriate]

8 hours ago, FrenchConnection44 said:

Of course, we did keep Bryson in the fold  I will never understand that move. I doubt he’d be on an NHL roster if it weren’t for Adams’ genius. 

It doesn't make any sense. Even if you waive him on 10/1 and he gets his higher salary while playing in Rochester, fine. But then you offer him $850k on July 1st as a quick win and everyone nods "yup, tweener, pencil him in for Rochester unless another team has a whole bunch of injuries in camp and claims him".

Now, watch Adams bring back Dennis Gilbert to be the muscle on the blue line again at... 2x$1.5M or something.

Edited April 16 by DarthEbriate

[PerreaultForever]

We have started from scratch several times. For me, when you start a rebuild you get yourself (any way you can) 3 cornerstone pieces. A star forward, a stud D man, and a really solid goalie. When you have those 3 pieces you build a balanced roster around them made up of speed, skill and toughness. Veterans and youth all in balance. (we currently lack the goalie)

It's not a complicated formula but it is the only formula that works. We are always missing a piece or two and we seem incapable of building that balanced roster. The main reason for that imo is Pegula. I have heard it said by many hockey people that you can't have a successful organization if everyone is always in agreement. You need dissenting voices and outside ideas. That conflict and argument leads to better decisions and more objective assessments and thus success. With TPegs in the room all the time everybody is a yes man and they just don't get it. They live in a false reality of their own creation and as such, it will never succeed until Pegula gets out of the room.

[Thorny]

14 hours 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.😂

I legitimately can’t. We’ve averaged 78 points for 5 years 

13 hours ago, Archie Lee said:

For those who think Pegula is cheap, keeping Adams and Ruff in lame-duck roles for the final year of their contracts will only cement the opinion.

Not to mention that it also could negatively impact the prospects for upgrading assistants. The coaching profession being as transient as it is, there will be no shortage of candidates if they do make a change in assistants. But the Sabres won’t be the first choice for the best candidates to begin with. Add in that Adams and Ruff will be lame-ducks, and the Sabres won’t have elite assistants knocking on their door.

Of course, maybe Adams and Ruff have earned extensions.  

Making the playoffs isn’t even hard. Adams could get lucky next year, and boom lifetime contract 

[Thorny]

11 hours ago, Archie Lee said:

Yeah.  Seeing Adams, Ruff, and UPL, in the same sentence when it came to coming back next year just took me back to being a kid and watching Sesame Street: one of these things does not belong.  I get it though.

 

At the very least one 

[TRIP65]

On 4/8/2025 at 7:36 PM, Carmel Corn said:

4 key moves needed:

1. Fire GMKA

2. Trade for a legit 1C/2C (in addition to Norris).  Tage, Kulich are not true centers IMHO.  Trade picks, Quinn, prospects, etc. to get it done

3. Trade for a legit RHD who can play top 4 minutes.  Trade Byrum if that is what it takes

4. Trade/Sign a better goalie....trade UPL if that is what it takes

BTW - absolutely none of this will actually happen.

1. YES YES YES  and another YES!

 

2. Tage is no longer a Center with Ruff, he can't play defense.  Kulich is a Center but should be Center 2 or 3.  Norris is your #1 Center and has the Tools. Luckily if hurt we have a Ton of Young Centers to try out for the Amerks and McLeod can fill in #1 to not disrupt #1 line

 

3. YES YES YES

 

4. Trade UPL. Sign a Veteran Goalie 2 years to backup Levi your #1 Goalie. UPL for the"Sabres" will never be a winner. Don't know why but isn't it obvious we won't get a full year of Good Goaltending from him. The only time Levi was inserted long enough as a Goaie was 2.5 years ago and he went 5-2, 1 pt from getting us into the Playoffs. His Pedigree is there. Awards are there. We will see if he wins a Calder but by all rights is doing well for the Amerks.

Be foolish not to try but better have a good NHL backup Goalie just in case!

 

5.    Top Line      New Two Way Forward     Norris    Tage

        Start year   Tuch     McLeod     Peterka (unless traded)

                            Greenway    Kulich     Zucker

                            Malenstyn    Kosak    New TOUGH Guy

                            Extra:  Benson (F) Quinn (C)

 

                            Dahlin    New RH D

                            Power (Johnson if hurt)   Benard-Docker

                            Samuelsson   Clifton   

                            Extra:   Bryson (or whoever)

 

                             Levi     Reimer (or someone else)

 

6. Trade        UPL, Byram, Krebs

 

******Get a New Personnel Only GM and name Ruff President of the Sabres Organization to hire his Coaching replacement when he is done.

Edited April 17 by TRIP65

[TRIP65]

14 hours ago, Archie Lee said:

I would not take big issue with the Sabres trading or moving on from UPL. But, in the big picture, how is he catching shrapnel here?  😀

UPL tends to only play half a year well

[HILLsabre]

If it's Adams as GM.... Heck, he's brought in enough "tools"!!!!!!😉

[MISabresFan]

I would hire Bill Parcells as a consultant to Terry.  Let Bill restructure.  Give this team some credibility.

[GASabresIUFAN]

On 4/16/2025 at 10:50 PM, TRIP65 said:

C)

 

                            Dahlin    New RH D

                            Power (Johnson if hurt)   Benard-Docker

                            Samuelsson   Clifton   

                            Extra:   Bryson (or whoever)

Why are you bringing back the entire terrible defense except Byram?  The Sabres allowed 289 goals this season.  The 4th most in the NHL.  Moving Byram for a RHD partner for Dahlin isn’t enough to solve that problem.  By the way Dahlin likes to play the right side.  

Clifton, Samuelsson, and Bryson also need to go.  

Edited April 18 by GASabresIUFAN

[LGR4GM]

1 hour ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Why are you bringing back the entire terrible defense except Byram?  The Sabres allowed 289 goals this season.  The 4th most in the NHL.  Moving Byram for a RHD partner for Dahlin isn’t enough to solve that problem.  By the way Dahlin likes to play the right side.  

Clifton, Samuelsson, and Bryson also need to go.  

I agree

new LHD - Dahlin

Power - new RHD

new LHD - Docker

Clifton

[LGR4GM]

You might be able to roll Novikov or Johnson into that 3 LHD spot, which is not unreasonable but only if you get veterans for 1 LHD and 2 RHD

new LHD - Dahlin

Power - new RHD

Johnson/Novikov - Docker

Clifton

Before anyone loses it on me. Novikov has 2 KHL seasons, and 2 AHL seasons under his belt and will be 22. Johnson has 2 full pro seasons split between Buffalo and Rochester so we either need to see if this will work or move on. You could also put Metsa in the NHL and see what he can do after his 2 AHL seasons. I am suggesting this because I think it is reasonable to believe a GM can add a UFA lhd and trade for another defender in an offseason. Getting 3 starts to get a little precarious. Here, I would sign that 1 LHD (Gavrikov or similar) and then trade for the RHD or vice versa (Ekblad is available but idk if he wants to leave Florida). I would trade Byram for that RHD as I think he has value and we need to change up the way our defense plays. Bryson, I would waive. Clifton, I'd like to move away from but I doubt we can. Also fire Marty Wilford.

Edited April 18 by LGR4GM

[French Collection]

57 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Why are you bringing back the entire terrible defense except Byram?  The Sabres allowed 289 goals this season.  The 4th most in the NHL.  Moving Byram for a RHD partner for Dahlin isn’t enough to solve that problem.  By the way Dahlin likes to play the right side.  

Clifton, Samuelsson, and Bryson also need to go.  

Bad defense and sub par goaltending need to be addressed. Coaching is another issue I would tackle. 289 GA is way too much. 269 GF is third in the East so that is adequate and  PP improvements would boost that more.

I have never liked Bryson, a slightly better version of Gilbert is the skillset needed for the 7-8 Dman.

Muel looks slow, clumsy and tentative to engage for fear of breaking something.

I can tolerate Clifton as a 6-7 but moving his contract could make room for improvements.

I have always liked Byram but I am not opposed to moving him for something the Sabres need. A gritty, defensive top 4 guy, preferably right handed would help a lot.

Most goalies are inconsistent season to season so there is a chance of UPL having a better season, but I am not betting on that. The Flyers always have had goalie issues so maybe they take a chance on him. The Sabres have given him multiple opportunities and know him best, other teams might still think their coaches can take him up a notch and that could happen in the right setting.

Levi’s playoffs can be a good window into his potential when the pressure is on. I think he can be at least a backup in Buffalo, and a much cheaper one.

A UPL/Levi tandem is not the answer and a 3 headed monster is not a good option in my opinion. Get a decent veteran that Levi can learn from and challenge for ice time.

I haven’t thought out many changes in the forward ranks. McLeod has been a good addition and keeping Zucker and Greenway helps with experience. The entire team will be a year older so the youth excuse moves back a notch. I am not attached to many forwards so moving one (Quinn?) and prospects/picks for an upgrade would help.

Firing Adams and the coaching staff would be great, provided real pros are hired. I could handle Ruff moving to an advisory role.

[GoPuckYourself]

On 4/16/2025 at 10:50 PM, TRIP65 said:

1. YES YES YES  and another YES!

 

2. Tage is no longer a Center with Ruff, he can't play defense.  Kulich is a Center but should be Center 2 or 3.  Norris is your #1 Center and has the Tools. Luckily if hurt we have a Ton of Young Centers to try out for the Amerks and McLeod can fill in #1 to not disrupt #1 line

 

3. YES YES YES

 

4. Trade UPL. Sign a Veteran Goalie 2 years to backup Levi your #1 Goalie. UPL for the"Sabres" will never be a winner. Don't know why but isn't it obvious we won't get a full year of Good Goaltending from him. The only time Levi was inserted long enough as a Goaie was 2.5 years ago and he went 5-2, 1 pt from getting us into the Playoffs. His Pedigree is there. Awards are there. We will see if he wins a Calder but by all rights is doing well for the Amerks.

Be foolish not to try but better have a good NHL backup Goalie just in case!

 

5.    Top Line      New Two Way Forward     Norris    Tage

        Start year   Tuch     McLeod     Peterka (unless traded)

                            Greenway    Kulich     Zucker

                            Malenstyn    Kosak    New TOUGH Guy

                            Extra:  Benson (F) Quinn (C)

 

                            Dahlin    New RH D

                            Power (Johnson if hurt)   Benard-Docker

                            Samuelsson   Clifton   

                            Extra:   Bryson (or whoever)

 

                             Levi     Reimer (or someone else)

 

6. Trade        UPL, Byram, Krebs

 

******Get a New Personnel Only GM and name Ruff President of the Sabres Organization to hire his Coaching replacement when he is done.

Norris wasn’t even a top line center in Ottawa but he is automatically the guy here? I’d still be looking for a top line center especially with the injury history that plagues this guy imo. 

[LGR4GM]

3 minutes ago, GoPuckYourself said:

Norris wasn’t even a top line center in Ottawa but he is automatically the guy here? I’d still be looking for a top line center especially with the injury history that plagues this guy imo. 

Who is trading a top line center though? 

[Porous Five Hole]

Zooker saying the quiet part out loud.