4merper4mer Posted February 16, 2020 Posted February 16, 2020 9 hours ago, JohnC said: Trading Nylander for Joki. Trading for Montour for a reasonable price. Getting Miller at a reasonable price. Bringing on Krueger after Housley underperformed as a coach. Having nearly half of his roster on expiring contracts so in the next offseason he has more flexibility and be in an advantageous position to make deals. When he couldn't get a deal for Risto because the return wasn't good enough for him he kept him, and he ended up playing well. When Mittelstadt demonstrated that he wasn't ready after giving him the opportunity to play he sent him to Rochester. Hopefully, in the long run it will be the right move for the player and the team. He handled Olofsson smartly by keeping him in Rochester until the end of the season last year. And now he is a prolific goal scorer on the first line. Not every move worked out. But that is inevitable for all GMs when making personnel decisions. The ROR trade has proven to be damaging. But there is a backstory regarding his publicly expressed disgruntlement and upcoming bonus payments that drove the deal. Overall, I believe he has done a good job. You do realize that the first "positive" you listed wrt our GM about a forward was that he took multiple years to realize that a guy who couldn't do a pull-up wasn't strong enough to play center in the NHL right? This is the guy you trust to fill 5+ necessary forward spots because he has a few salary cap bucks?
JohnC Posted February 16, 2020 Posted February 16, 2020 (edited) 8 hours ago, shrader said: I’ll be curious to see if Nylander heads back to Europe this summer. He hasn’t been able to escape from mediocrity this year. It might be time to go thrive over there for a few years before giving it another shot in the nhl. Most scouts would agree that he has the requisite skill level to be a NHL player. What is also evident after a number of years of playing is that he doesn't have the consistent intensity level that is required in this highly competitive league. The issue as I see it relates to his internal drive. It's simply not there in a sport that is very much an effort sport. There comes a point where you have to just trust your eyes. In my estimation he belongs in Europe with the bigger ice surfaces where a player can float and be reasonably successful. That approach to the game doesn't work in the more intense and combative NHL league. The Blackhawks were seduced by his skill level while Botterill realized that his skill level would never overcome his languid makeup. There certainly are moves that Botterill can be criticized for. This isn't one of them. Edited February 16, 2020 by JohnC
BillsFan4 Posted February 17, 2020 Author Posted February 17, 2020 (edited) Wow. It seems like a sellers market at the moment. Dude is 28 and has a career high of 22 goals and 36 points. He’s on pace to break that this year (21g, 31pts), but still, that seems like quite a steep price for Coleman. They're getting Vancouver’s 1st round pick + Nolan Foote, Who Tampa Bay just drafted in the 1st round this past draft (2019). Im guessing Coleman being signed to a bargain deal that runs the next season played a part here. Tampa has some cap issues this summer. I mean, tey basically got as much for Blake freaking Coleman (with 1 year left on his deal) as Botterill got for ROR (with 5yrs left on his deal). I think i’d actually prefer Vancouver’s 1st and Nolan Foote... ??♂️ A 2nd + a pretty good prospect for a 37yr old defenseman... Tom Fitzgerald is making some nice trades as NJ interim GM. Edited February 17, 2020 by BillsFan4
4merper4mer Posted February 17, 2020 Posted February 17, 2020 17 minutes ago, BillsFan4 said: 5-2 Buffalo!! 3 goals in 1:31! They're playing well. 1
Helpmenow Posted February 17, 2020 Posted February 17, 2020 Holy cow, sent them over the border. Hate the leafs
JohnC Posted February 17, 2020 Posted February 17, 2020 (edited) Some observations about this game: I thought Hutton played exceptionally well and deserved the first star. This was one of the best collective defensive games that the Sabres have played all season. The forwards were swarming the Leafs and helping support the defensemen all game long. For the most part the Sabres were adept at getting the puck out of their defensive zones. However, because the Leafs are so offensively talented when we weren't always able to cleanly get the puck out of the zone Hutton would bail us out. One play that stuck out for me not involving Hutton was Risto's nifty pass close in to the goalie to Vesey for the tap in. From a defensive standpoint Risto is our anchor defenseman. I used to be receptive to him being trading Risto but now I am less so. He's our workhorse defenseman. I like how Miller has been playing recently. He was a good pickup by the GM. Vesey is starting to play well especially around the net. When the Sabres get secondary scoring they are a demonstrably better team. What makes me angry is now that the team has finished its long homestead with a flourish it wasted a golden opportunity when it allowed some games against lesser opponents to get away in the beginning of the homestand. This link is Krueger's post game comments on WGR after the game. There are additional player responses on this WGR page. https://wgr550.radio.com/media/audio-channel/2-16-ralph-krueger-post-game Edited February 17, 2020 by JohnC
\GoBillsInDallas/ Posted February 17, 2020 Posted February 17, 2020 10 hours ago, BillsFan4 said: 5-2 Buffalo!! 3 goals in 1:31! 10 hours ago, 4merper4mer said: They're playing well. In a nutshell, this is the problem with this team over the past 10 years. They have the talent to play like this every night, but they do not play like this this every night. Whether it is the coaching, or the lack of internal drive by the players, or a combination of these I don't know.
4merper4mer Posted February 17, 2020 Posted February 17, 2020 5 minutes ago, \GoBillsInDallas/ said: In a nutshell, this is the problem with this team over the past 10 years. They have the talent to play like this every night, but they do not play like this this every night. Whether it is the coaching, or the lack of internal drive by the players, or a combination of these I don't know. They aren't talented enough to play like this every game. Guys like Sheary' Vesey, and Okposo contributed well to tonight's win. Okposo had talent to contribute on a regular basis but that is gone. Sheary and Vesey, although viewed as part of a solution by the clueless GM, simply are not viable players for a winning NHL team. The treadmill will continue until Bots is bye bye. We can't rely on the draft lottery every year. Eichel will be 90 years old. It was a fun game to watch last night and some lesser players upped their game a bit. The truth is though, that the roster of forwards needs to be drastically revamped by someone who knows what he is doing. 1
US Egg Posted February 17, 2020 Posted February 17, 2020 (edited) I get 10 games a year and am allowed to pick pretty much whatever games I want. I tend to pick pre '70's teams. Canadiens usually are there in good numbers, making the atmosphere much better imo. Lots of season ticket holders sell these games so there's many vocal fans for the opposing team around me. I sit 1st row, end of face off circle where the Sabres shoot twice. I went last night. Those 3 goals sucked the energy out of them. That was a fun game to say the least. Edited February 17, 2020 by I am the egg man 2
JohnC Posted February 17, 2020 Posted February 17, 2020 45 minutes ago, \GoBillsInDallas/ said: In a nutshell, this is the problem with this team over the past 10 years. They have the talent to play like this every night, but they do not play like this this every night. Whether it is the coaching, or the lack of internal drive by the players, or a combination of these I don't know. When evaluating this team don't include them in a 10 year evaluation. Two years ago when another rebuild started this team earned 62 points. Last year, this team earned 76 points. This year this team should earn around 88 points. So despite the unceasing lamentations of despair by the complaining chorus the trajectory is upward for this team. If you watch this team on a regular basis it is obvious that this is not a complete team. But that doesn't mean that it isn't moving in the right direction. This next offseason the team has a lot of cap room and should be in a position to add more pieces and become a better team. Dallas is a genuine Cup contender; the Sabres are not. But if this organization is wise enough to stay the course this team will be a serious team in the not too distant future. 1
BillsFan4 Posted February 17, 2020 Author Posted February 17, 2020 On 2/15/2020 at 9:37 PM, BillsFan4 said: Haven't had a chance to listen yet but I bet it will be a pretty good interview. eichel interview starts just past 56 mins in. Ok, finally just finished listening to this interview. The Eichel interview starts about 56-57 minutes in and runs for at least 45 minutes. Right around the 1 hour mark he talks about how amazing Ralph Krueger has been for this team (and himself). He LOVES Krueger. Basically says (implies) that coaching this season is night and day from previous seasons. It is is well worth listening to. The entire interview is great.
Cripple Creek Posted February 17, 2020 Posted February 17, 2020 On 2/16/2020 at 2:50 AM, K-9 said: Actually, that’s two good trades then. Joker for Nylander has been a steal so far. Although Joker still has a ways to go before I can say he’s arrived. Yup, those 2 in 3 years of futility. 1
May Day 10 Posted February 17, 2020 Posted February 17, 2020 This team is the same as last year, but with Eichel on a 50-100 pace and the Skinner production transposed to Olafsson. That is the improvement. Let's see them play inspiring hockey the last 23 games here and I will listen to the reasons why we should be excited moving forward with Botterill steering the ship.
JohnC Posted February 17, 2020 Posted February 17, 2020 (edited) Attached is a NHL.com recap of the Toronto game. It is a five minute clip. https://www.nhl.com/gamecenter/tor-vs-buf/2020/02/16/2019020913#game=2019020913,game_state=final Edited February 17, 2020 by JohnC
BillsFan4 Posted February 17, 2020 Author Posted February 17, 2020 24 minutes ago, bbb said: I heard he didn’t report to Rochester. Figured this was coming. I believe now he doesn’t get paid until he reports. 1
Spun Posted February 17, 2020 Posted February 17, 2020 Did anybody actually go to the Leafs game? I am curious how the Leaf fans reacted. No beer cans on the ice? I watched the Canadian feed without sound. I was in a “tavern”. They showed the run to the exits. Nice! Nice team effort by the Sabres! Bonjour / Bye... Gordie...
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