Buffalo Sabres & NHL 2020-2021

[BillsFan4]

5 hours ago, 4merper4mer said:

Whoa.  Somebody's not a fan of Greeley.

Yeah I was a bit surprised to see him tweet that. 

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

6 hours ago, BillsFan4 said:

Yeah I was a bit surprised to see him tweet that. 

Hradek went to Pace University, where he was captain of the club hockey team.  Greeley went to Boston University, where he was on the intercollegiate ice hockey team.  'Little guy with a pencil' complex?  ?

[JohnC]

13 hours ago, Dr. Who said:

I agree, but for a soft team, I'd hate to lose some of the little grit we have. Wonder how Montour compares to Risto in terms of trade value league wide. Folks on another board are keen to trade Samson. I think that would be a mistake. We need to add to the top six, not subtract.

There is no question that Risto has more trade value than Montour. Montour is a solid player who can skate and shoot on a team that has additional similar type of players on the backend. But clearly he lacks the physicality that Risto possesses. One attribute that this team lacks is physicality. If Risto is dealt then it would lack it even more. But that is not to say that the Sabres couldn't bring in another rugged defenseman on a cheaper contract and who although not as good as Risto will help  to fill that physical void.  

 

I'm not suggesting that it is a necessity to trade Risto. If you can't get an equal value in return then he should be kept. The problem with the O'Reilly trade is not that he was dealt because there were extending circumstances to that situation. The damaging flaw in that deal was the lack of value in the return. If the former GM couldn't get more back then he should have kept ROR and told him to suck it up.

 

As many have stated this roster needs to be rebalanced/restructured. The forward lines beyond the Jack line need to be upgraded. If you want something of value you have to give up something of value that another team wants. 

 

 

 

 

[BillsFan4]

 

 

Full interview is worth listening to. He thinks pro sports are going to be a lot different for (at least) the next 18 months. He says there’s no way the players get their normal salaries next season. 

 

Buffalo stuff starts at about 14 minutes.

Edited June 18, 2020 by BillsFan4

[BillsFan4]

https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/comes-next-buffalo-sabres-major-course-change/

 

[njbuff]

The Pegula's should really get out of the hockey business and just be the owners of the Bills.

 

It seems like they just use the Sabres as a tax right off or something.

[JohnC]

1 hour ago, BillsFan4 said:

 

 

Full interview is worth listening to. He thinks pro sports are going to be a lot different for (at least) the next 18 months. He says there’s no way the players get their normal salaries next season. 

 

Buffalo stuff starts at about 14 minutes.

As with a lot of corporations and business sectors the owners are faced with a very challenging fiscal environment driven by the pandemic epidemic. As Brian Burke pointed out there will be other teams who will be tightening their budgets and shedding staff in order to respond to the business climate. Buffalo has received a lot of criticism because this scaling down of the organization was done so publicly and crudely. Botterill wasn't receptive to the new business model so he was let go just after the announcement that he would be retained. I'm convinced that if he would have gone along to the plan he would have retained his job. 

 

It's going to be a very long time before the next season begins. So there is time to stabilize after enduring this tumult. Regardless what the negative optics are or the financial stress that the organization is subjected to what really matters are the hockey decisions this newly reconstituted front office/including the HC make this offseason. 

 

Will this roster be upgraded enough when the next season begins with empty stadiums? Will there be enough smart deals to address are well noted deficiencies? That's what I will be watching for. 

[BillsFan4]

 

^ What he (Ken campbell) said.

Edited June 19, 2020 by BillsFan4

[BillsFan4]

 

From 2015:

 

https://www.thescore.com/nhl/news/743992

 

Quote

The Toronto Maple Leafs have fired general manager Dave Nonis and interim head coach Peter Horachek, along with many members of the team's coaching and scouting staff in a sweeping restructuring of the organization.

Assistant coaches Steve Spott, Chris Dennis and Rick St. Croix were also relieved of their duties. Plus chief pro scout Steve Kasper, director of player development Jim Hughes.

 Plus 18 scouts:

 

 

 

So it’s not unprecedented.

 

I just wish wish I felt like this Sabres purge was part of a thorough review of the entire organization and the plan was to replace them with better hires, like the “Shana-plan” in Toronto.

 

The Sabres purge feels like it’s all about saving money, not getting better.

[May Day 10]

oh.  More embarrassment and proof how inept everything is.  

 

 

Maybe they wouldnt be hurting for money if they werent constantly lighting their house on fire

Edited June 19, 2020 by May Day 10

[BillsFan4]

https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/31-thoughts-breaking-major-nhl-awards-races/

 

Quote

One bit of good news: Buffalo’s head of hockey department IT, Kyle Kiebzak, was re-hired after initially being fired. His termination apparently was a mistake.

 

Cant make this **** up! ? ?‍♂️

 

Edit, more:

 

Quote

Botterill, for example, is not crazy about term. Even before he took over there, he’d indicated that he thought term was more dangerous than salary. He wasn’t crazy about the Jack Eichel extension (which will turn out fine) or the Jeff Skinner one, but was overruled by ownership. In fact, I’ve heard from several sources that he pursued other free-agent forwards, offering high annual salaries but shorter terms. He lost those races, but felt they wouldn’t regret onerous ends to those contracts.

 

Skinner deal looks bad right now, but wow, thank heavens he was overruled on the Eichel contract! A long term deal would be way more expensive now after the season he just had + the deals that have been signed since his, like Matthews/Marner deals. 

 

And if he had signed a bridge deal, can you imagine having to try and convince Eichel to sign long term in buffalo this offseason or next? ? Or if botterill had went with a 4-5 year term, he’d have walked Eichel right to UFA. 

 

 

Quote

The other thing that happened in Buffalo was the Pegulas did a top-to-bottom review of their organization. It was, from what I understand, very in-depth. They went over everyone’s schedule. How many games did you see? Where did you go? There is word they considered some of those schedules “light.” 

 

When the Pegulas/Adams talk about “efficiency,” this is one of the things they thought could be done a lot better. During their budget meetings, department heads were told to prepare multiple scenarios with different bottom lines. Botterill knew he was going to be asked to make painful decisions, and fought them.

 Interesting.

Edited June 19, 2020 by BillsFan4

[GG]

You mean they're taking a corporate approach to running a corporation?

[JohnC]

23 minutes ago, BillsFan4 said:

https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/31-thoughts-breaking-major-nhl-awards-races/

 

 

Cant make this **** up! ? ?‍♂️

 

Edit, more:

 

 

Skinner deal looks bad right now, but wow, thank heavens he was overruled on the Eichel contract! A long term deal would be way more expensive now after the season he just had + the deals that have been signed since his, like Matthews/Marner deals. 

 

And if he had signed a bridge deal, can you imagine having to try and convince Eichel to sign long term in buffalo this offseason or next? ? Or if botterill had went with a 4-5 year term, he’d have walked Eichel right to UFA. 

 

 

 Interesting.

The Skinner deal isn't necessarily a bad long term. As far as the term it was within or not that far off the time frame of a 30 plus free agent goal scorer on the market. One can argue that the economics of the league have dramatically changed with the pandemic era but when Skinner was traded for a fourth round pick and then signed it made sense at the time, and in my opinion even now. If the Sabres have a dearth of scorers with Skinner on the roster then the Sabres would be an even more barren goal scoring team without him. 

[JohnC]

This link is a SportsNet link written by the staff. Whether one is talking about the resumption of play in the NHL, NBA or NFL playing in a pandemic environment is a  complicated situation to deal with. There are so many unknowns with no easy solutions. 

 

https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/lightning-temporarily-shut-facilities-due-positive-covid-19-tests/

[BillsFan4]

12 minutes ago, JohnC said:

The Skinner deal isn't necessarily a bad long term. As far as the term it was within or not that far off the time frame of a 30 plus free agent goal scorer on the market. One can argue that the economics of the league have dramatically changed with the pandemic era but when Skinner was traded for a fourth round pick and then signed it made sense at the time, and in my opinion even now. If the Sabres have a dearth of scorers with Skinner on the roster then the Sabres would be an even more barren goal scoring team without him. 

I just meant that it looks bad after the season he just had. If he gets back to his normal point production it won’t look as bad.

 

But even at the time it was signed it looked like an overpayment. I totally get the reasons why they did it. As you said they were desperate for goal scorers, especially at even strength. Plus it sent a better message to Eichel & the team not to let him walk.

 

I didn’t want them to go over $8 x 8 though, even if that meant letting him at least hit the tampering window of free agency. I didn’t think he would get more than $8M on the open market and other teams could only offer 7 years (I thought he’d get something in the $7+M range, but who knows). Plus with him reportedly wanting to play close to his family, I felt we did have some leverage there. 

 

Im still glad they didn’t let him walk.

[JohnC]

1 minute ago, BillsFan4 said:

I just meant that it looks bad after the season he just had. If he gets back to his normal point production it won’t look as bad.

 

But even at the time it was signed it looked like an overpayment. I totally get the reasons why they did it. As you said they were desperate for goal scorers, especially at even strength. Plus it sent a better message to Eichel & the team not to let him walk.

 

I didn’t want them to go over $8 x 8 though, even if that meant letting him at least hit the tampering window of free agency. I didn’t think he would get more than $8M on the open market and other teams could only offer 7 years (I thought he’d get something in the $7+M range, but who knows). Plus with him reportedly wanting to play close to his family, I felt we did have some leverage there. 

 

Im still glad they didn’t let him walk.

In general our views come close to coinciding. 

 

Skinner is a talented goal scorer who was on the market. Did they pay a premium to sign him? Probably so. But when your nondescript franchise has been struggling for nearly a decade it's not surprising that you have to pay extra to not only secure his services but also do what is necessary to jolt the organization and fanbase and make the team more competitive and appealing to other players who will be sought in the future. 

 

 

[Jauronimo]

On 6/17/2020 at 2:51 PM, Ridgewaycynic2013 said:

A few members of TBD used to stake out FlightAware, to see where the Pegula jet was off to scout or sign players.  Now we won't know if the Pegula Stearman is going scouting, or taking a crop dusting gig.  ?

I just assumed they were heavily scouting prospects in Nebraska.  It all makes sense now.

[eball]

Seriously, how much difference would just having a GOOD goaltender mean to this team, as it currently exists?

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

3 minutes ago, Jauronimo said:

I just assumed they were heavily scouting prospects in Nebraska.  It all makes sense now.

To paraphrase Geddy Lee, "ten bucks is ten bucks..."

*
I wonder if we'll see Terry taking a shift or two pulling draught beers at '716'?  ?

Edited June 19, 2020 by Ridgewaycynic2013

[Jauronimo]

3 minutes ago, eball said:

Seriously, how much difference would just having a GOOD goaltender mean to this team, as it currently exists?

Quite a bit.  Having a productive Skinner would have made a huge difference.  Hopefully Cozens is ready to play some minutes whenever we have a season.  Okposo is a good guy but we need that contract off the books ASAP.