BillsFan4

I just realized that it was 5 years ago today that Darcy Regier was fired. Crazy that’s its been 5 years already. I remember him announcing a “5 year plan” that would include “some suffering” (I don’t think anyone knew just how much...). It does leave me slightly curious as to where we’d be right now had Darcy been able to complete that 5 year plan. He was stockpiling a s*** ton of draft picks and looking back now, those 2015 and 2016 draft look pretty damn good through the top 3 rounds (where buffalo had a ton of picks). Especially 2015. That draft was just loaded. I do give Darcy credit for deciding to tank just in time for a couple drafts with very elite talent at the top. Who knows how many picks he’d have hit on though. Buffalo’s scouting was pretty hit or miss under him (though maybe it eventually improves if he was given time with more scouting resources at his disposal). It’s not worth putting much thought into, though. Darcy would have never made it 5 more years anyway. The fans wanted his head. No way Pegula would ride that out (unless there was some amazing drafts and significant improvement overall that turn the fans opinions). They were chanting “fire Darcy” at every game and starting online petitions for his removal. I’m sure a billboard campaign would have been next...lol. I wish Pegula would have at least hired a GM to replace Darcy that wanted to continue the slow rebuild through the draft. That was the plan that I was 100% sold on. We've changed visions 3 times since this rebuild started. We went from a slow 5 year rebuild to a guy that tried to get it done in a year & 1/2, back to a GM that wants to build slowly through the draft. I sure hope Botterill and Krueger end up being the right combo to get this turned around.

Pretty cool video.

I actually think it helps up risto’s trade value. I can’t really speak to the fancy stats. I haven’t looked at them (and I don’t put a ton of weight of fancy stats anyway, especially risto’s). But from having watched both players many times, Barrie is a small offensive defenseman that is pretty terrible in his own end. He’s highly skilled offensively, but doesn’t add a whole lot defensively. Plus, he’s a UFA in 1 season and already making (slightly) more than Ristolainen. And he’s also 3 years older than Ristolainen. He’s going to be experience to keep in a year’s time and may price himself right out of Toronto. Risto puts up a similar amount of points from the blue line, can run a PP like Barrie and also adds some physicality and an ability to match up 1 on 1 against the other team’s best player (especially when they are more physical matchups, like against Ovechkin for ex.) that Barrie does not have. Ristolainen is built for the playoffs (IMO). Barrie has never been asked to shoulder the burden Ristolainen has, either. Erik Johnson has always been used as the Av’s #1 defenseman. Personally, all things considered, I think Ristolainen is the better, more valuable defenseman. I think Kadri was a huge get for Barrie. Kerfoot is a nice throw in for Toronto, but I see him as a 3C. Kadri is easily a very good #2C, or even a #1B type of center who is also on a sweetheart deal ($4.5M aav) with term left. That’s an absolute steal for a 30 goal scoring top 6 center. If Barrie walks in a year, this trade won’t look as great for Toronto (unless they win it all this year or something). Kadri + a 3rd for Kerfoot and 1 year of Barrie isn’t very good asset management by Toronto (if that’s what happens). If buffalo could land a pice like Kadri for Ristolainen, I would be pretty damn happy.

I don’t think a 5 year term is really anything all that new. It’s bucking a recent trend, maybe. Crosby, Malkin, Toews, Kane, Tavares, Stamkos all signed 5 year deals coming off their ELC (except Tavares, he signed for 6yrs). Dylan Larkin signed a 6yr deal coming off his ELC (though he’s not rally a star). Kucherov signed a 3 year bridge deal. Seguin signed a 6yr deal after his ELC. I’d have to look into it a bit more, but I think it might actually be a newer trend to give out these max term (8yr) deals to guys coming off their ELC. Florida did it with Ekblad. Edmonton with McDavid and Draisaitl. Us with Eichel. I actually feel kind of lucky that Eichel only wanted a max term contract here. He wanted to commit to buffalo as long as he could. He could have easily went after a 5-6 year deal like many star players before him. Hopefully his deal will look like a bargain before too much longer. It was never going to in the beginning, but it sure has a chance to in the next few years (depending on what happens in the market and how much Eichel continues to grow).

http://www.nfl.com/network/schedule Tonight at 6pm.

I was talking about his workout/training regime (risto’s offseason workout regime is legendary) and his conditioning level, as well as always working hard when he is on the ice. He does not take shifts off, ever. And he’s always staying late in the gym to train. He has has to be one of the best conditioned players in the NHL in order to handle the minutes he plays (he’s been top 5 in minutes in the entire nhl on a few occasions). He makes dumb mental mistakes and tries to overcompensate for crappy d partners at times, but that has nothing to do with his effort level. I have never once questioned Ristolainen’s effort level on or off the ice. I don’t know if all of his mental errors is something that can be fixed at this point or not (he is entering year 7), but I’d like to see if it can. I feel that we finally have a coach who’s proven he can install a very good defensive structure and we finally have some other defenseman that can help ease Risto’s burden. Maybe if he’s not trying to carry the entire entire load on D himself, and not so mentally exhausted from playing 25+ minutes a night, it will help him cut down on the mental errors. We’ve seen him (on more than one occasion now) start out the year on fire and then fall off as the year wears on and he gets worn out (from the over-usage). We also saw what other defenseman looked like when forced into Ristolainen's role (and for just a short time, too. Not all season long like a Risto) when he was out injured at the end of the season. Like Montour for example, he was making a lot of the same mistakes Risto does and looked even worse in that role than Risto does. But Ristolainen has to buy-in to the system and coaching, too. That has reportedly been an issue in years past. Paul Hamilton (grain of salt...) loves to say that Risto is one of the most un-coachable Sabres.

Do you have an athletic subscription? If so, it’s all laid out here - https://theathletic.com/1051402/2019/06/28/phil-kessel-and-the-penguins-a-breakup-held-hostage/ to quickly sum it up, it was an untenable situation. He was combative with coaches and getting into arguments, etc. Either Kessel had to go or Mike Sullivan had to go. But they also felt Kessel was dragging Malkin down and they were worried about his influence on some of the younger players. Also, I guess Kessel also only wanted to play with Malkin but Malkin didn’t want to play with Kessel anymore. And Kessel also asked for a trade multiple times last season and again this offseason. It sounds like there was a lot going on. Just a whole bunch of little things. There is a lot more detailed info in the article. Here’s another article on it - https://theathletic.com/1054507/2019/06/29/a-look-at-how-and-why-phil-kessel-was-traded-to-arizona/ He was also almost traded once already this offseason but vetoed the trade (to minnesota).

well, so much for that... I have a feeling it may be a disappointing open to free agency on Monday.

Wow. Pretty impressive return for the penguins considering they had no leverage in the deal. Everyone knew they were dying to dump Kessel. Plus, Kessel could only be traded to 8 teams (and the rumor is Arizona was really the only realistic team on the list). He already vetoed at least 1 trade. I hope Botterill is taking notes. Impressive job by a veteran GM getting value back in a trade he had no choice but to make.

Adds to competition at camp. Maybe a 4th liner for us. Most likely ends up on waivers and in Rochester. At least he should be pretty hungry (after not getting qualified). I expect he will compete his ass off.

https://player.fm/series/hockey-central-at-noon/june-28-season-finale Nick Kypreos saying that it sounds like Mats Zuccarello to Buffalo. I would be pretty happy if we can land Zuccarello. He is one of the most loved and respected veterans in the NHL and he can still score. I was hoping the Krueger/Zuccarello connection would help... and maybe it will! i expect that buffalo will likely have to give an extra year of term (guessing 5 years), knowing that the last year could start to get ugly. But that’s what they have to do if they want to land him. Gotta offer something over other teams. Good teams always figure out a way way to get rid of a bad contract if they really need to. Look at all the cap strapped teams this offseason. I mean, look at Tampa. They’re capped out with a big time RFA to sign and they’re still going big fish hunting (Karlsson, Pavelski is rumored to favor Tampa). Buffalo needs better players and has cap space. Get it done Botts! Heres the exact quote -

I got the same exact impression. I’ve felt that he would be happy with a trade ever since locker clean out day. He just sounded like a guy who was mentally exhausted by the past 6 years in Buffalo and needed a change of scenery. id still much rather see him stay. I know he has another level. We’ve seen how dominant he can be. With a better tram around him and not so much constant losing, I think you’d see that player a lot more often. He is one of the hardest working players in the entire NHL. I really don’t want to see him leave and blossom with another team. I hope they give it 1 more year with Ristolainen. See what Krueger can do. Its Botterill’s job to do what is best for the Buffalo Sabres. If teams are not offering a proper return for a Risto, then Botterill needs to keep him. But If they can pry a player like Cirelli out of Tampa, I can live with him being traded. Zero interest in draft picks being one of the main assets, though. I want the main value coming from the player(s) coming our way in the trade. Screw taking a lesser asset for a 1st or 2nd. Give me the better player, keep the pick.

Listening to Krueger inspires confidence that he truly has a plan and knows what he’s doing. He doesn’t seem at all overwhelmed by the task at hand (we’ll see how long that lasts...lol). He actually seems to revel 8n the challenge. He just seems like a guy that will command respect in the locker room and someone the player will want to follow. It’s a lot easier to follow someone during the hard times when you have confidence that they know what they’re doing. From that Colon Miller conference call, talking about Las Vegas - I really do believe in the power of 100% player buy-in. Just look at the Islanders last season, or the Capitals the season before (when they won the Cup), and the Knights who went to the Finals in their inaugural year. Krueger is all about getting 100% buy-in. That’s been a notoriously hard task in Buffalo, so we will see how good Krueger really is... lol.

Ralph Krueger development cap interview- (great listen) https://www.nhl.com/sabres/video/ralph-krueger-62919/t-277437090/c-68596103 Botterill interview - https://www.nhl.com/sabres/video/jason-botterill-62919/t-277437090/c-68596203 not sure what to make of that Risto answer around 3:20(ish) Colin Miller conference call - https://sabresmedia.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/6.29-miller.mp3 highlights from the French connection tournament - https://www.nhl.com/sabres/video/2019-french-connection-tournament/t-277437090/c-68599003 Olofsson looked like a man among boys. Sounds like he’s ok - https://www.nhl.com/sabres/video/dylan-cozens-62919/t-277437090/c-68597303

nice! i like this trade a lot, as long as it doesn’t lead to a bad Ristolainen trade... lol. We will actually have a respectable top 6 on the right and left side. But I am quite nervous that Risto is going to be traded now. I can live with that as long as the return is proper. With the prices defenseman have been going for this offseason, it makes me nervous. But guys like Trouba and Subban had extenuating circumstances (trouba on,y willing to sign in NY and Subban with a $9M cap hit). I didn’t initially associate Miller with the ROR trade. Good call pointing that out. Now we can actually start to graze the return buffalo got. It’ll still be years before we know for sure. But now we know all of the exact players we got in return. If Thompson develops into a good top 6 F and Johnson into a good top 4 D, this trade could look alright for us in a few years. Miller is already a pretty good top 4 RHD.

Vellucci says he’s leaving for a great opportunity for his career (I think money is the more likely reason. Rumor has it that Dundon asked the coaches (and possibly some front office members) to take pay cuts). I would LOVE for buffalo to hire this guy in some capacity. I thought he might be a guy that Krueger looked to add to his coaching staff, but I don’t think he’s adding anyone else. He would have fit that “tactician” role very well. Ill be interested to see where he lands. Hopefully not Toronto...

This is pretty damn cool - gives you a much better idea of what players actually make. For example, on Eichel’s $10M per year deal, when all is said and done he takes home $5,216,534. That’s less than I expected.

We aren’t going to attract any big name free agents with where were at. Buffalo was never a free agent destination, but that’s even more true right now. I think the best best we can hope for are the second tier guys like Zuccarello (hopefully the Krueger connection helps!), Donskoi, Boyle, Dzingel, Stralman, etc., and even most of those guys are probably a long shot without offering more term/money than other teams. We can offer a bigger role to someone like Donskoi, maybe that’s attractive to him? The more more I see this offseason playing out, the more I think that Botterill may not do anything too drastic. I am sure he will at the very least add some depth players. But He may want to see how some of these players look under Ralph Krueger before doing anything drastic, and he may be partially banking on Krueger (and the growth of our young players) making Buffalo a more attractive player destination once he’s given a season to get things on the right track. That could also apply to our own players that may be getting sick of the constant losing and want out, like Risto. Botts may also want to leave room for a couple of the young players (like Olofsson, Tage, Nylander if he’s still here, Smith, etc) to make the team. I’m just speculating. It’s way too early to start judging Botterill’s offseason plan, anyway. As Krueger mentioned, free agency hasn’t even officially started yet. There’s still plenty of time for moves to be made.

He mentions possibly adding some free agents (but didn’t say who)

I think he’s (most likely) a future NHL head coach and I could see him being a successful one. Glad Buffalo didn’t rush him. He’s doing a great job in Rochester (and running these camps).

The last 31 thoughts column of the 2018-19 season - https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/31-thoughts-short-term-deals-break-rfa-stalemates/ Not much about the Sabres, except this - It was reported recently that the Sabres would try and meet with Pavelski. He’s 36 though. I fully understand why he wouldn’t want to come here right now.

This is the 2nd separate report now that the hurricanes only offered Aho $6Mx8yrs. I really wish buffalo had their own 3rd round pick in 2020. Aho would be a prime candidate for an offer sheet.

I have no idea. Knowing Risto, I would bet he could care less about a new coach or any of that stuff. I think he’s probably at the point where talk is cheap to him. He just wants the results. Every new coach comes in and says “we are going to ease the burden on risto” and every time it ends the same (so far, anyway). I agree though. He’s under contract for 3 more years. He may want to be traded, but that doesn’t mean botterill Needs to trade him. Taking the best offer they they can get seems like a recipe to get screwed. Wait for the RIGHT offer. Evander Kane wanted out of Winnipeg for 3+ years before he was finally traded. He said he straight up asked for a trade every year. Chevy held firm until he found the right deal. Botterill can not repeat the ROR mistake no matter what Ristolainen wants. BTW, it didn’t sound like he demanded a trade. More along the lines of he would be more than ok with moving on. Here is the link - https://wgr550.radio.com/media/audio-channel/06-25-renaud-lavoie-tva-sports-howard-and-jeremy its pretty much right at the start of the interview.

Anyone hear Renault Lavoie on WGR550 today? He sure made it sound like the reason Buffalo is shopping Ristolainen is because he asked them to. He was careful not to say Risto requested a trade. But it sure sounds like moving Ristolainen is player driven. It would make sense. I thought he sounded ready to be traded at his press conference on locker clean out day, and seeing ROR leave + win every award probably hardened Risto in that stance. I csnt blame the guy if he wanted to leave. Just like ROR, Risto is thrown to the wolves (given some of the toughest minutes in the entire NHL), but it’s been going on even longer with Risto.