4merper4mer Posted March 12, 2020 Posted March 12, 2020 4 hours ago, JohnC said: In the past season or so our GM has added Joki, Skinner, Miller, Kahun and Johansson without giving up much. He understandably gets a lot of criticism from the frustrated fan base. I'm one of the few people here not singing from that discordant chorus. It takes time. Deeming Kahun as some sort of revelation when he has five games in is a joke. I agree however that we didn't give up much. Miller and Johansson are meh.
Hardhatharry Posted March 12, 2020 Posted March 12, 2020 56 minutes ago, BillsFan4 said: Hopefully it won’t come to this. Edit - Well it would stop the Sabres from losing more games lol 2 1
K-9 Posted March 12, 2020 Posted March 12, 2020 4 hours ago, JohnC said: I have a respectful disagreement on your assessment of the current GM. Where I agree with you is that the Pegulas made some big hiring mistakes when they bought the team. And they made some big mistakes in their approach to quickly turning things around by throwing a lot of stupid money for ineffective players. In my opinion Botts had to deal with some of the mistakes of the past that set this franchise back. I'm well aware that my opinion is a minority opinion. I respect your opinion John and God knows I’m familiar with it after the total collapse last season when you and I were routinely at loggerheads when it came to the team, especially Housley. While JBotts inherited problems, he also created a few. I am suspect of his ability to acquire talent, especially at the forward positions. I give him full marks for Joki, but none for Miller, who is a marginal 3rd pair D man at best. I’d like to say Skinner is a good grade, but I can’t after the season he’s put together. I’m honestly at the point where I don’t care if he stays or goes. Yes. Apathy has set in. And that’s the worst thing for a fan to be, imo. That entire organization probably knows that as well.
4merper4mer Posted March 12, 2020 Posted March 12, 2020 7 hours ago, K-9 said: I respect your opinion John and God knows I’m familiar with it after the total collapse last season when you and I were routinely at loggerheads when it came to the team, especially Housley. While JBotts inherited problems, he also created a few. I am suspect of his ability to acquire talent, especially at the forward positions. I give him full marks for Joki, but none for Miller, who is a marginal 3rd pair D man at best. I’d like to say Skinner is a good grade, but I can’t after the season he’s put together. I’m honestly at the point where I don’t care if he stays or goes. Yes. Apathy has set in. And that’s the worst thing for a fan to be, imo. That entire organization probably knows that as well. Botts started out in a hole that was dug by TM for sure. It is also true that other teams, at that time and since, were in deep holes but have managed to fly past the Sabres easily. The Red Wings and Seattle are next. The Sabres are in a tough spot because any new GM will have only Botts magical salary cap money but far more holes to fill than available players. They need an architect but a good one will see the disarray created by the two GMs. There is no easy fix for even the best of GMs. The Sabres seem poised to break the NHL record playoff drought. A new GM probably won't matter for that because there would be only two seasons to climb from under Botts rubble and find 5 forwards and a goalie. The danger is keeping Botts and watching him dig deeper by adding more horrible forwards than he already has. He has been here three years and has a bad coaching hire, a good coaching hire and a lot of treading water with the roster. Apathy is a natural reaction. 1
May Day 10 Posted March 12, 2020 Posted March 12, 2020 Botterill started with all his picks, Kane, OReilly, Eichel, Reinhart, Ristolainen, and really only 2 bad contracts (and other teams always seem to be able to get out from bad contracts). Also fell into Rasmus Dahlin There were some organizational depth issues, but they have not been addressed the way this GM has wasted picks on nothing and upcoming UFA. Im not going to cry for Botterill's 'situation'. A competent NHL GM would have a whole lot more to hang his hat on now, going into his 4th (wow!) offseason than "Kahun". 1
JohnC Posted March 12, 2020 Posted March 12, 2020 9 hours ago, K-9 said: I respect your opinion John and God knows I’m familiar with it after the total collapse last season when you and I were routinely at loggerheads when it came to the team, especially Housley. While JBotts inherited problems, he also created a few. I am suspect of his ability to acquire talent, especially at the forward positions. I give him full marks for Joki, but none for Miller, who is a marginal 3rd pair D man at best. I’d like to say Skinner is a good grade, but I can’t after the season he’s put together. I’m honestly at the point where I don’t care if he stays or goes. Yes. Apathy has set in. And that’s the worst thing for a fan to be, imo. That entire organization probably knows that as well. You exasperatedly asked me last year when will the Sabres be a competitive team ? Last year I said they were two to three years away from that point. I still stand by that prediction. Botts is entering into the last year of his four year contract. I want to see him finish his contract with no extension offered until the season is concluded. If he doesn't smartly utilize his cap space this offseason to augment the improvement of the younger players I will not only join the lynching mob but I will provide the rope and scaffolding. After what has happened with the cancellation of the NBA season (temporary or maybe not for this season) odds are soon there will probably be a similar stoppage with the NHL. For some local hockey fans it might be a relief.
shrader Posted March 12, 2020 Posted March 12, 2020 16 hours ago, JohnC said: I agree with you that Johansson is more suited to be a winger than a center. Krueger did point out that Kahun has played the center position and has the right makeup (instincts) to play the position. However, he explained that he didn't want to overload him with that responsibility right away. It wouldn't be surprising that if that line is kept in tact that sometime this season or most likely next season Kahun will get an opportunity to demonstrate whether he can handle that pivot responsibility. It seems like a natural spot where they split the center duty a bit over what's left of the season. It doesn't need to be 50/50, but test out Kahun for a small portion of that time. If they do in fact have chemistry, that chemistry will be there regardless of who is at center. 2
May Day 10 Posted March 12, 2020 Posted March 12, 2020 I wonder what happens with the salary cap if the NHL needs to cancel? Thats a lot of revenue for a gate-driven league. Especially if the playoffs cannot be played
May Day 10 Posted March 12, 2020 Posted March 12, 2020 morning skates have been cancelled. I was supposed to go to tomorrow's game. Looking like that will not happen.
K-9 Posted March 12, 2020 Posted March 12, 2020 3 hours ago, 4merper4mer said: Botts started out in a hole that was dug by TM for sure. It is also true that other teams, at that time and since, were in deep holes but have managed to fly past the Sabres easily. The Red Wings and Seattle are next. The Sabres are in a tough spot because any new GM will have only Botts magical salary cap money but far more holes to fill than available players. They need an architect but a good one will see the disarray created by the two GMs. There is no easy fix for even the best of GMs. The Sabres seem poised to break the NHL record playoff drought. A new GM probably won't matter for that because there would be only two seasons to climb from under Botts rubble and find 5 forwards and a goalie. The danger is keeping Botts and watching him dig deeper by adding more horrible forwards than he already has. He has been here three years and has a bad coaching hire, a good coaching hire and a lot of treading water with the roster. Apathy is a natural reaction. I wish I could disagree with any of that, but I can’t when I look at where we are, what’s in the pipeline, and the sheer amount of time it’s gonna continue to take to turn it around.
K-9 Posted March 12, 2020 Posted March 12, 2020 1 hour ago, JohnC said: You exasperatedly asked me last year when will the Sabres be a competitive team ? Last year I said they were two to three years away from that point. I still stand by that prediction. Botts is entering into the last year of his four year contract. I want to see him finish his contract with no extension offered until the season is concluded. If he doesn't smartly utilize his cap space this offseason to augment the improvement of the younger players I will not only join the lynching mob but I will provide the rope and scaffolding. After what has happened with the cancellation of the NBA season (temporary or maybe not for this season) odds are soon there will probably be a similar stoppage with the NHL. For some local hockey fans it might be a relief. This bold section made me laugh. When JohnC himself lays down that kind of ultimatum it’s getting serious! I agree with your assessment that the NHL will soon follow the NBA’s lead in suspending the season. It’s the responsible thing to do. Same goes for all leagues in sports around the world. Large gatherings need to be avoided until we get ahead of this thing. The reality is that simple. 1
Simon Posted March 12, 2020 Posted March 12, 2020 3 hours ago, 4merper4mer said: and find 5 forwards and a goalie That's not really fair. I think they could be competitive by finding 3 more forwards.... 1
ChevyVanMiller Posted March 12, 2020 Posted March 12, 2020 Sabres coming home from Montreal early. Looks like NHL following suit with NBA. https://www.wgrz.com/article/sports/nhl/sabres/ap-sabres-making-plans-to-return-to-buffalo-early/71-a1e84714-351b-4e6e-b1fc-1792de4279d7?fbclid=IwAR3-un3Ez0mDC_KIJAx7cRbWozHenERA_HG1cozJOOCawxfBo2gdinajG1M
ChevyVanMiller Posted March 12, 2020 Posted March 12, 2020 The Sabres are expecting the season to be suspended, according to a source. Awaiting official word from the NHL, but they are preparing to return to Buffalo this afternoon.
Pine Barrens Mafia Posted March 12, 2020 Posted March 12, 2020 7 minutes ago, ChevyVanMiller said: The Sabres are expecting the season to be suspended, according to a source. Awaiting official word from the NHL, but they are preparing to return to Buffalo this afternoon. Thank God. Was getting painful to watch. 1
bbb Posted March 12, 2020 Posted March 12, 2020 10 minutes ago, ChevyVanMiller said: The Sabres are expecting the season to be suspended, according to a source. Awaiting official word from the NHL, but they are preparing to return to Buffalo this afternoon. Finally, something good has come out of the Coronavirus! 1
PromoTheRobot Posted March 12, 2020 Posted March 12, 2020 33 minutes ago, Joe in Winslow said: Thank God. Was getting painful to watch. There's always a silver lining. 1
Pine Barrens Mafia Posted March 12, 2020 Posted March 12, 2020 6 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said: There's always a silver lining. I do my best in life to find silver linings. It's just a better way to live 1
PromoTheRobot Posted March 12, 2020 Posted March 12, 2020 Maybe they can the rest of the season and playoffs on EA NHL 2020?
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