How would you retool this team this summer?

[dudacek]

8 minutes ago, Porous Five Hole said:

Zooker saying the quiet part out loud. 

So good.

Is it “hope” to wonder if this means he signed because Adams convinced him that he’s not going to run it back?

[inkman]

12 minutes ago, dudacek said:

So good.

Is it “hope” to wonder if this means he signed because Adams convinced him that he’s not going to run it back?

From Sabres lore, Chris Drury basically told Darcy that Miro Satan has to go, and voila… the Sabres became good.  
 

Maybe that already happened (not sure who would have went to Kevyn) with Cozens.  

[DarthEbriate]

1 hour ago, LGR4GM said:

Who is trading a top line center though? 

Vancouver might, but he's got a broken knee, hasn't looked dynamic in two seasons, and comes with a $11.5M pricetag for many seasons and a NMC kicking in. He's got even more warning signs than Norris, because he's pricier and he stays in the lineup so you can't just stash him on LTIR and bolster your lineup in other ways.

[JustOutsideChicago]

43 minutes ago, Porous Five Hole said:

Zooker saying the quiet part out loud. 

How long until that’s on a tshirt?

[French Collection]

1 hour ago, Porous Five Hole said:

Zooker saying the quiet part out loud. 

This is sad but hope is all I have as a fan.

TP and KA do not value my opinion and it holds no weight anywhere, anyway. My spending on the team is minuscule and I am too far away to buy tickets more than once or twice a year. I am also not a presence in social media to make a dent.

[Weave]

Zucker’s comment is an excellent piece of evidence that the “don’t block the kids” strategy was doomed to failure.  For most of the last 14 seasons this team was woefully short of players like Zucker.  It still is, really.

[DarthEbriate]

59 minutes ago, inkman said:

From Sabres lore, Chris Drury basically told Darcy that Miro Satan has to go, and voila… the Sabres became good.  
 

Maybe that already happened (not sure who would have went to Kevyn) with Cozens.  

Voila is a bit of an exaggeration. There was an entire lockout season in between wherein Miller became a goalie, Roy and Afinogenov became NHL-caliber, Vanek arrived and had a full season of AHL dominance, and Gaustad grew up. Tallinder went to Elitserien for a season and came back a top-pairing guy. They moved out aging players in Curtis Brown, Satan, and Zhitnik, and retirees (James Patrick). Additions included in-their-prime Grier and Lydman.

That was a lockout-aided rebuild on the fly. Satan is a part of it, yes; but make no mistake the biggest fix is Miller/Biron vs. Biron/Noronen. Miller gave Ruff his second run (way too brief because of limited budget).

What did Ruff learn from this? If Levi is Miller, everything's rosy!

[Porous Five Hole]

1 hour ago, JustOutsideChicago said:

How long until that’s on a tshirt?

Where’s the banner guy hahaha

[CallawaySabres]

2 hours ago, Porous Five Hole said:

Zooker saying the quiet part out loud. 

End of the season stretch?? Didn't lose like 4 out of their last 5? My God, the standards of this crap organization are even lower than I would have ever guessed.

[Carmel Corn]

2 hours ago, Porous Five Hole said:

Zooker saying the quiet part out loud. 

Well, Zuck may have just PO'd Terry and GM Howdy Doody with this quote.  Maybe our thin-skinned owner and his favorite GM son will now trade Jason this offseason....since he dared to say something that doesn't match the company line (even though it is the absolute truth).

[mjd1001]

43 minutes ago, Carmel Corn said:

Well, Zuck may have just PO'd Terry and GM Howdy Doody with this quote.  Maybe our thin-skinned owner and his favorite GM son will now trade Jason this offseason....since he dared to say something that doesn't match the company line (even though it is the absolute truth).

I'm not sure why that would get Pegula or Adams upset?

[Thorny]

1 hour ago, CallawaySabres said:

End of the season stretch?? Didn't lose like 4 out of their last 5? My God, the standards of this crap organization are even lower than I would have ever guessed.

That one quote from Zucker is probably enough to gas the fanbase through another offseason 

50 minutes ago, Carmel Corn said:

Well, Zuck may have just PO'd Terry and GM Howdy Doody with this quote.  Maybe our thin-skinned owner and his favorite GM son will now trade Jason this offseason....since he dared to say something that doesn't match the company line (even though it is the absolute truth).

Good cop bad cop 

don’t f*cking fall for it 

[JohnC]

4 minutes ago, Thorner said:

That one quote from Zucker is probably enough to gas the fanbase through another offseason 

Good cop bad cop 

don’t f*cking fall for it 

The fan base is not falling for any "happy talk" about the team's future prospects from this hollow organization. The Sabres ranked fourth lowest in attendance with an average of 15,585 sold tickets per game. However, you can deduct two-three thousand fans who don't attend per game. The dismal reality has existed for a generation. So the true storyline is well known by fans and the hockey world. It is etched in stone and can't be erased. 

[Thorny]

4 minutes ago, JohnC said:

The fan base is not falling for any "happy talk" about the team's future prospects from this hollow organization. The Sabres ranked fourth lowest in attendance with an average of 15,585 sold tickets per game. However, you can deduct two-three thousand fans who don't attend per game. The dismal reality has existed for a generation. So the true storyline is well known by fans and the hockey world. It is etched in stone and can't be erased. 

Somehow not anti-social enough 

[Brawndo]

Expected Buffalo put out their first mock offseason

It includes trading Jack Quinn, Bo Byram and Östlund to Dallas for Jason Robertson,

Signing Gavrikov and Peribix as UFAs 

Bridge deal for JJP 2 years at 6.25 million 

McLeod 5x5 

Did not like having UPL and Levi as the GTs 

[Thorny]

Just now, Brawndo said:

Expected Buffalo put out their first mock offseason

It includes trading Jack Quinn, Bo Byram and Östlund to Dallas for Jason Robertson,

Signing Gavrikov and Peribix as UFAs 

Bridge deal for JJP 2 years at 6.25 million 

McLeod 5x5 

Did not like having UPL and Levi as the GTs 

I’m glad there are folks who sort of understand the value and importance of the big add, here 

At forward, too

the “forwards are fine” tact is missing the mark on several levels I keep reiterating 

[LGR4GM]

9 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

Expected Buffalo put out their first mock offseason

It includes trading Jack Quinn, Bo Byram and Östlund to Dallas for Jason Robertson,

Signing Gavrikov and Peribix as UFAs 

Bridge deal for JJP 2 years at 6.25 million 

McLeod 5x5 

Did not like having UPL and Levi as the GTs 

Great, do it. 

[Demoted]

2 hours ago, Carmel Corn said:

Well, Zuck may have just PO'd Terry and GM Howdy Doody with this quote.  Maybe our thin-skinned owner and his favorite GM son will now trade Jason this offseason....since he dared to say something that doesn't match the company line (even though it is the absolute truth).

Why? Every other year of "Hope" never amounted to *****. There should not be a single fan that gets fooled by the "hope" word when it comes to late season finishes by now.

Edited April 18 by Demoted

[GoPuckYourself]

10 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

Who is trading a top line center though? 

We can't be the only team to trade away top line centers.

[thewookie1]

7 hours ago, Brawndo said:

Expected Buffalo put out their first mock offseason

It includes trading Jack Quinn, Bo Byram and Östlund to Dallas for Jason Robertson,

Signing Gavrikov and Peribix as UFAs 

Bridge deal for JJP 2 years at 6.25 million 

McLeod 5x5 

Did not like having UPL and Levi as the GTs 

3 Questions:

Is Robertson worth 10 to 12mil per, after next season? 

What were his contracts for the two UFAs

Why was he dumb enough to have UPL and Levi as our goalies again when we’ve already seen that doesn’t work

[LGR4GM]

I'd trade Quinn and Byram for Dobson. Honestly, I might trade whatever it takes for Dobson. I'd then target a really tough lhd to add in to this team somewhere. 

[dudacek]

1 hour ago, LGR4GM said:

I'd trade Quinn and Byram for Dobson. Honestly, I might trade whatever it takes for Dobson. I'd then target a really tough lhd to add in to this team somewhere. 

I know he’s a RD, but how much better is Dobson than Byram?

He’s 2 years older, 3 inches taller, and about the same weight.

This season:

• Byram 38 points (35 ES),+12, 48.1% Corsi, 22.42 TOI, 50.1% OZ starts, 75 hits, 115 blocked shots
• Dobson 39 points (26 ES), -16, 52.9% Corsi, 23:16 TOI, 60.8% OZ starts, 57 hits, 127 blocked shots

Yes, Dobson had a big year the previous year, but that came the year he started with 238 games of NHL experience. Byram has played 246.

It’s not like Dobson brings an immensely different toolkit.

[LGR4GM]

1 hour ago, dudacek said:

I know he’s a RD, but how much better is Dobson than Byram?

He’s 2 years older, 3 inches taller, and about the same weight.

This season:

• Byram 38 points (35 ES),+12, 48.1% Corsi, 22.42 TOI, 50.1% OZ starts, 75 hits, 115 blocked shots
• Dobson 39 points (26 ES), -16, 52.9% Corsi, 23:16 TOI, 60.8% OZ starts, 57 hits, 127 blocked shots

Yes, Dobson had a big year the previous year, but that came the year he started with 238 games of NHL experience. Byram has played 246.

It’s not like Dobson brings an immensely different toolkit.

Dobson had 51, 49, and 70pts the last 3yrs. This is a down year on a bad team. Byram has 24, 29, and 38pts and plays on a team with far more fire power. Islanders have 2.71gpg and Buffalo had 3.23gpg. That's 222g versus 265g. 

Byrams xGf was -5.8 and has only been positive 1 year in Colorado. Dobson was a +10.2 and only has 1 negative year. 

Noah Dobson is a rhd who's been better defensively and offensively. I'd rather have that than Byram. Hence my focus on him. Also as you show, Dobson could help the pp.

Edited Sunday at 12:41 AM by LGR4GM

[LGR4GM]

Ftr, it doesn't have to be Dobson. I just think you might be able to pry him out of the islanders if Lou wants changes. 

[steveoath]

On 4/18/2025 at 5:13 PM, JustOutsideChicago said:

How long until that’s on a tshirt?

Got you covered! I put it on my store haha.

https://www.redbubble.com/i/t-shirt/Hope-is-a-sh-y-strategy-Jason-Zucker-by-steveoathGHC/170095311.WFLAH