JohnC

If the Sabres would have kept ROR with his large contract that included a number of future years then it certainly would have had ramifications not in acquiring Skinner but in signing him to a long term contract. Any team that acquired him knew that he was on an expiring contract. Not being encumbered with the ROR contract will certainly help the Sabres to retain him. You also have to remember that Reinhart wasn't signed and that his next contract was going to be bigger. Botterill as the GM is not thinking on a year to year basis. He's looking ahead to having the flexibility to keep the young talented players when their contracts come up, like Reinhart who was signed on a bridge deal. The GM did an end of the year assessment of his roster. ROR in his exiting interview indicated that he preferred to be dealt. So the GM made the decision to trade him for the best deal he could get. The point here is that dealing the player wasn't just about his contract, which was a factor. It was about dealing with the issue of a player who didn't want to be here. I want to make it clear that I'm not making the claim that he was a negative influence because I don't believe that he was. But if he wasn't committed to this team then for both sides it was best to move him. The Sabres last year were the worst team in hockey. So a roster shakeup was inevitable. Moving a player on an expensive contract who wasn't enamored to be here should not be a surprise. .

When you hire Mike Leach you have to give him time de-construct and then reconstruct the program. He takes second tier programs and not only wins but makes his program a little bit different and a lot more interesting.

I understand exactly what you are saying. I simply have a different take or another way of addressing this issue is point of emphasis. In my estimation it is the infusion of talent that has resulted in a change of culture. Success breeds success and winning more breeds a more positive attitude than regularly losing that is dispiriting. Is there a better mix in the room now than it was last year? The mix is better mostly because there is much more talent in the room. There is no doubt that constant losing results in tension and conflicts within the room. When players are interviewed after a loss at the end of the season as they were in the beginning of the season what is there differently to say to the media interviewer? You don't think that isn't an added source of stress? You don't think that finger pointing becomes an inevitable result from constant losing? I'm not saying you are wrong with your focus. But for me the most important difference between last year and this year is that there is more talent on the roster underpinned by consistent good goaltending.

Good post but I won't respond to every point. The biggest difference this year from last year is the caliber of goaltending. That is the underpinning of our success this year and the failure of the prior years. Allowing bad goals is spirit crushing. And constantly doing it when you have a roster that finds it challenging to score certainly can have a depressing affect. If you go back at look at our ten game winning streak most of them were close games. The difference between being 5-5 and 10-0 was the exceptional goaltending of our two tenders. Let's look at the back line. We were one of the worst units in the league. We had a coach in Housley who espoused a system where the backers move up with the forwards. They were incapable of implementing that system. It wasn't that the backers were insubordinate so much as they lacked the talent to do what the coach wanted them to do. What happened on the back line this year? It added talent in the incandescent Dahlin, healthy Bogo, the impressive Pilut to the mix with Risto and McCabe. You now have a solid unit. If you look at their traits of being fast, good skating and passing ability you now have accumulated players who can play the system that the coach wants to install. There is no doubt that Mittelstadt and Tage are struggling. But that shouldn't be a surprise. My feeling is that it would be better to allow them to play and hopefully their development will be accelerated in the NHL rather than in the AHL. That's part of Botterill's plan. The long term development of the young players at the expense of their short term struggles.

I disagree. To make ROR the primary reason for this team's prior struggles and now emergence is an over-simplification. The trade-off worked out for us and to an extent it was addition by subtraction. But adding Dahlin, Skinner, Sheary, Mittelstadt.Tage, a healthy Bogo and Hutton are the main reasons this is a better team. I agree that this is a better mix without the former center. This team is also significantly faster and quicker than it was with ROR. What Botterill has done exceptionally well compared to the blustering former GM is that he had a roster building plan that was coherent and had a rational to it. Murray focused on o collecting talent while Botterill more intelligently tried to fit talent together.

I'm not discounting the importance of culture when trying to change the environment in the room to transform a losing and underachieving team to a winning team. But the biggest change for the Sabres from last year to this year is the infusion of talent. If you look at our roster nearly a third of the roster has been turned over in one year. Also, in my estimationg having consistent goaltending is one of the main reasons why this team has improved so much from last year.

Sorry for your loss.

I thought Pilut played really well in this game. I don't see him going back down. The shot/pass to Larsson was terrific. Dahlin had the one mishap play when the puck was in the air and the opposition made a better play on it to get a goal but as each game passes by he seems to gain more confidence and control the flow of the game with his passing and skating. I thought both goaltenders played well. Jack is not only our best player but our leader. He played hard in this game. A win is a win. Except for the very elite teams this league is the epitome of parity. No team can assume that they will win by cruising. They will have to earn it with effort. The standings: https://www.nhl.com/standings/2018/wildcard

Khalil Mack joined the Bears in his fifth year. He is arguably the best defensive player in the game. If Julio was signed by the Bills this offseason he would be entering his ninth season. I'm not interested in giving up a first round pick and more for a player at that late stage in his career. He's not a quick fix. A quicker and better fix for improving the team is instead of using that money you want allocated to him use it for two new starting offensive linemen. You can argue this issue to you are exhausted. But the reality is that the McDermott and Beane duo are unlikely to make an expensive Julio deal. It's not in their more cautious makeup. On this type of deal I agree with their approach.

Julio will be in his ninth year next year. I'm not afraid of adding a good player as much as losing a first round pick and giving up the ability to sign a younger player who will be contributing for a longer period of time. Let's stop with the delusion that with only an addition of a top tier player such as Julio the Bills will be a SB contending team. It's a far fetched stretch that after another offseason this team is going to be in the running for the SB. I expect Josh Allen to improve next year. He is still at least a few years away from being the caliber of qb that could lead.a team to the biggest trophy in the NFL. As I said before the Bills have a full complement of draft picks and a sizable amount of cap space. The smart way to utilize those assets is to spread it around and address the many needs on this team, especially focusing on the offense. For that $17 M a year you could use that money to bring in two starting offensive linemen. That would be a wiser use of that money. In addition, you would have to give up high draft assets to make a deal for him which means you would forgo the opportunity to bring in a high quality player who would also be cheaper and play longer, In this case being impulsive is not being smart.

No I would not trade a first round pick this year and a third round pick next year for Julio. That would be foolish. Jones would be going into his 9th yr next year. In addition, he would be a high cost player who is on the downside. If the Bills were a fuller team and competing for a championship with a developed qb it might make sense. But for us in our current rebuilding situation it would make little sense. The Bills have a full complement of draft picks and a large cap space to work with. Now is the time to fill the multiple holes on the roster, with the priority being the OL. Julio would eat too much of the cap and for a team in our situation high picks should be prized and used, not sold off for declining marquee players.

British humor escapes me. Maybe because I am witless?

It was a wound so deep that it penetrated my irredeemable dark soul.

In McDermott's two drafts he is undoubtedly the best value pick.

Usually, rebuilding teams are not going to have good records. That's inherent in the rebuild. My complaint with your analysis is that it doesn't account for the circumstances. McDermott without question made a decision to do a major rebuild when he was hired. So for me the issue isn't so much the early accumulated record as it is how the rebuild is progressing. As it stands I'm satisfied with what is going on in Buffalo and not so sure about what is going on in Oakland with the TV personality coach.

Why do you say that McKenzie's 12-4 season was a fluke year? What you are essentially saying is that when you have a bad season you own it and when you have good season you can't claim it as a success. The difference between the Raiders' situation and our situation is that they have an experienced qb and we are playing a rookie qb. It seems that both Gruden and McDermott have made a decision to rebuild. In my opinion we are more advanced in the process. I would definitely prefer our situation to their situation.

There is a good reason why our coach is relatively conservative on offense: He doesn't have enough talent on offense to execute a more aggressive game plan. Our OL is one of the worst in the league. Our running game outside of the qb is poor. Our backs are clearly on the downside of their careers. Our receiving unit is less than second-rate. And our young qb is very raw. At this early stage in his career he is not very adept at making reads and going through progressions. Because of the lackluster talent on offense Daboll has had to resort to a number of gimmick plays in order to keep the defense off-balance. The issue isn't what you want to do as it is what are you capable of doing. The truth is our offense can't do much. When you have a glaring deficit of talent on offense you do whatever you have to do to get by. The conservative approach may be unsatisfying to the fans but under our restricted circumstances the conservative approach is the right approach to take.

You lie! You go into battle with me all the time. You not only claim that I am unarmed but also un-legged when it comes to possessing wits.

Because we don't have a functional running game and he still is in the infantile stage as far as reading defenses and managing the pocket (although getting better at it) he has become our offense. As you pointed out it is not good for him from a health standpoint and also from a developmental standpoint. I agree with you that I would rather see him make the throw than take off and get a good gain. On the plus side he is moving the chains, and on the minus side he is increasing the odds for him to get hurt. Barkley showed in the first game against the Jets how to run an offense and the benefit in the passing game of making the right reads. Josh Allen still is in the rudimentary stage at learning how to play the position. From what I am observing it seems that Allen is making incremental progress and is coming along. The obvious worry is that because he is so much relying on his legs that he is developing bad habits in bailing out to run and even more worrisome is placing himself in jeopardy by running. side note: Whether the gimmick pass to Allen worked or not I also didn't like the call. Why expose him to such a risk? If he catches the ball he is fair game to receive a punishing hit.

Although Tage Thompson hasn't been the center of our discussions here I like him a lot. Young and tall and lanky players who have skill usually take more time than shorter players because they are less physically developed than the shorter players. An example of this later development trait is Zdeno Chara. (I'm not comparing this HOF player to Tage but using him as an example of late blooming.) Tage can skate and shoot. He is also earnest in trying to play responsibly with his checking. In my humble opinion in a year or two he is going to be really good player for us. The trade of Ryan O'Reilly is going to tilt in our favor as time goes by and Tage matures as a player.

This offseason needs to be mostly dedicated to the offense. The line needs upgrades and so does the receiving unit. But another major area of focus is to make it a priority to get a tough running inside the tackles type back. A young version of the now fading Ivory who is now a weathered and battered player. McCoy doesn't fit our running game which accentuates quick hitting inside running. His dancing around style of play simply isn't a match for our needs. I want him to go to a team where his fading talents can still be utilized. Another item on my wish list is a good receiving TE that can also enhance our receiving unit. As many others have stated this season isn't about W/Ls. It's about Josh Allen's development. He still has to work on his touch. His pass to Zay was on the money but it was a laser throw that decreased the chances of it being caught. It still was a Zay drop (who I thought had a poor game) but the young qb still has to work on his touch. Overall, I see Josh getting incrementally better each game. I'm more than pleased with his progress. And it is obvious that he still has so much more to give.

You pose a challenging question. My feeling is if Pilut is going to be given serious minutes with one of the defensive pairings then I would keep him up. I like Nelson as a third pairing at best and more of a utility player but would be willing to risk him being claimed. On the other hand if Pilut is not going to be given substantial minutes when the other defensemen return to action then I would prefer that he went back down and get an abundance of playing time in the AHL. Even if he is sent down because of the high incidence of injuries it's probable that he will be again recalled sometime this season. The signing of Pilut by Botterill was a remarkable move. We got a young player who is more ready to play than your typical draftee. And he is playing a position of great need. With the addition of Dahlin and Pilot and the return of Bogo our back line has gone through a major upgrade without having to give up any assets. Botterill is a terrific GM!

Pilut was brought up from Rochester and based on what I have seen I doubt that he will be sent back down. He has really been impressive. Guhle and Nylander should be ready to make the jump either sometime this season or next season. That's a lot of young players marinating in the system and also playing with the big club. If you include Mittelstadt and also Tage Thompson in this mix then that is a large group of young players either playing now or near ready to make the jump up to the big club. Because there are so many young players it shouldn't be surprising that the level of play is going to be inconsistent. It's shouldn't be surprising that this team can sometimes frustrate you because of one's elevated expectations. But if you stand back and consider where we were last year and where we are currently at then one's view should be very optimistic. The Toronto game was a measuring stick game. We played a terrific game under a very difficult situation related to the brutal schedule. We are far from being an elite team but we do have the wherewithal to compete with the best. Stay the course!

I'm not sure if you are being sarcastic or expressing your opinion. But if this season ended now in a short-circuited season Housley would be under serious consideration for coach of the year. Botterilll has done a tremendous job in upgrading the roster from last year. The team has gone from being the worst in the NHL to being the biggest surprise story in the league. Yet, the reality is that this roster still needs requires patience for its young players to mature and develop. And it has to be acknowledged that this is still not a complete roster. As it currently stands there is not enough secondary scorers outside of the first line. (That's obvious.) That puts a lot of pressure on that primary line. Will the GM go outside for scoring help or will he be patient and hope that internal growth from this roster and its Rochester farm club be enough to sustain the team for now? My sense is that for the most part Botterill is going to rely on his in-house assets within the organization rather than deal off assets to get different assets to balance out the roster. Sometimes when the team is undergoing some struggles under the fog of the immediate situation we lose sight of the optimistic picture of the big picture. Let's stay the course.