Eichel and Ristolainen frustrated

[JR Ewing]

Jack Eichel let 'er rip, and I can't blame him:

 

 

 

And while we're at it, Ristolainen spoke up as well:

 

 

"Buffalo has a bright future, but we've been saying the bright future for 7 years now when I've been here, and I'm not sure when it is."

 

[JR Ewing]

Random thought on this...

 

-If there's one thing I've seen a lot of in my time as an Oilers fan, it's bad management. With respect to hockey ops, it would seem that if brains were lard, Sabres management couldn't grease a pan, so...

-I can't blame Jack Eichel for his frustration here, because he sees that, too. They make strange decisions: paid a premium price to keep Jeff Skinner and then didn't even bother to keep playing him with Eichel.

-Jack Eichel trade speculation will likely run rampant now, but the Sabres should do everything they can to keep him. Risto? The Sabres have incorrectly labelled him as a player-type that he isn't, and will ride him to losing seasons until they figure out playing a defenseman who can't defend for 25 minutes a night isn't such a hot idea.

[Buffalo Rick]

17 minutes ago, JR Ewing said:

Random thought on this...

 

-If there's one thing I've seen a lot of in my time as an Oilers fan, it's bad management. With respect to hockey ops, it would seem that if brains were lard, Sabres management couldn't grease a pan, so...

-I can't blame Jack Eichel for his frustration here, because he sees that, too. They make strange decisions: paid a premium price to keep Jeff Skinner and then didn't even bother to keep playing him with Eichel.

-Jack Eichel trade speculation will likely run rampant now, but the Sabres should do everything they can to keep him. Risto? The Sabres have incorrectly labelled him as a player-type that he isn't, and will ride him to losing seasons until they figure out playing a defenseman who can't defend for 25 minutes a night isn't such a hot idea.

Risto is NOT THE PROBLEM.  How are you JR?  Nice to see you.  Nobody is more pissed than me.  Buffalo Rick in circles around here. The Goalie is the biggest problem.   Throughout their history, the Sabres have had very good goaltending, .  They have had luck with getting good guys in the net.  Lets go way back to Donnie Edwards, Bob Sauve and then of course Hasek and Miller. Remember when Savue shut out Montreal back to back in a 3 out of 5 series?  Sent them packing. Donnie Edwards was a guy I wish we had right now.  We must get rid of Hutton.  I have blown up Botterill's Twitter account with goalie tweets,. No doubt he is sick of me and has me on block.  Ill have his damn job if he does not fix this now.  Ill knock Kim Pegula's door down

[OccamsRazor]

43 minutes ago, Hockey Junkie said:

Risto is NOT THE PROBLEM.  How are you JR?  Nice to see you.  Nobody is more pissed than me.  Buffalo Rick in circles around here. The Goalie is the biggest problem.   Throughout their history, the Sabres have had very good goaltending, .  They have had luck with getting good guys in the net.  Lets go way back to Donnie Edwards, Bob Sauve and then of course Hasek and Miller. Remember when Savue shut out Montreal back to back in a 3 out of 5 series?  Sent them packing. Donnie Edwards was a guy I wish we had right now.  We must get rid of Hutton.  I have blown up Botterill's Twitter account with goalie tweets,. No doubt he is sick of me and has me on block.  Ill have his damn job if he does not fix this now.  Ill knock Kim Pegula's door down

 

Hey bud.

 

Glad to see you back, you had many of us worried here about you.

 

Glad to see you safe and posting hope all is well with you and your love ones.

 

 

Edited May 29, 2020 by OccamsRazor
Stupid phone

[JR Ewing]

1 hour ago, Hockey Junkie said:

Risto is NOT THE PROBLEM.

 

No, I don't think he is either. I also don't think that a PP-specialist who needs to be sheltered is anything approaching the solution.

 

1 hour ago, Hockey Junkie said:

 How are you JR?  Nice to see you.

 

I'm doing well, thank you. When you weren't around for some time, I (like all around here) was worried. I hope all has been well.

 

1 hour ago, Hockey Junkie said:

 Nobody is more pissed than me.  Buffalo Rick in circles around here. The Goalie is the biggest problem.   Throughout their history, the Sabres have had very good goaltending, .  They have had luck with getting good guys in the net.  Lets go way back to Donnie Edwards, Bob Sauve and then of course Hasek and Miller. Remember when Savue shut out Montreal back to back in a 3 out of 5 series?  Sent them packing. Donnie Edwards was a guy I wish we had right now.  We must get rid of Hutton.  I have blown up Botterill's Twitter account with goalie tweets,. No doubt he is sick of me and has me on block.  Ill have his damn job if he does not fix this now.  Ill knock Kim Pegula's door down

 

Well, you're quite right that strong goaltending is the tide that can raise all ships. A prime-aged Dominik Hasek would suddenly make the Sabres a lot more dangerous.

 

[radoran]

26 minutes ago, JR Ewing said:

No, I don't think he is either. I also don't think that a PP-specialist who needs to be sheltered is anything approaching the solution.

 

The Other Rasmus can (and will and was) start to take the load off Ristolainen and let them use him in the role he is best suited.

 

I disagree he needs to be "sheltered" - as Rick notes it would be great if the goaltending could make a stop once in a while. Lehner was swiss cheese behind anything BUT a hardcore defense-first system that sheltered him on the Island. Hutton was a cheap gamble that had so-so rewards.

 

That said, I just really don't think Eichel is a $10M player... And paying top dollar for Skinner to score goals on his wing and then inexpicably not playing Skinner on Eichel's wing certainly didn't help.

 

And for a team that has "expectations" they have all of nine guys signed for next season (with 7 arb-eligible RFAs). This is a big offseason for them. Yes, "again."

 

AND ANOTHER THING - get an actual NHL coach for the team - look what Vigneault's hiring did for the Flyers.

[ruxpin]

1 hour ago, Hockey Junkie said:

Risto is NOT THE PROBLEM.  How are you JR?  Nice to see you.  Nobody is more pissed than me.  Buffalo Rick in circles around here. The Goalie is the biggest problem.   Throughout their history, the Sabres have had very good goaltending, .  They have had luck with getting good guys in the net.  Lets go way back to Donnie Edwards, Bob Sauve and then of course Hasek and Miller. Remember when Savue shut out Montreal back to back in a 3 out of 5 series?  Sent them packing. Donnie Edwards was a guy I wish we had right now.  We must get rid of Hutton.  I have blown up Botterill's Twitter account with goalie tweets,. No doubt he is sick of me and has me on block.  Ill have his damn job if he does not fix this now.  Ill knock Kim Pegula's door down

 

 

Hey bud.  Same as everyone else, it's good to see you back.

 

Risto is not the problem.  I agree.

But Risto is emblematic of the one of the problems with Buffalo.   The problem is that they're using him in a way that exposes his weakness rather than just shows and takes advantage of his strengths.   He struggles on defense -- and I wholeheartedly agree that some of this is made much worse by the goalie situation.  But given that he does struggle on defense, they really should adjust his time and situation so that they can take advantage of this PP strength and offensive zone strength and reduce his exposure in other situations.   It ultimately could even help his defensive ability in the long run.

 

But the goaltending really does need to be addressed.  Hopefully the kid helps.   I think strong goaltending alone goes a long way to getting them back toward the WC slots.   

 

Skinner is weird.   On the one hand I agree with JR.  In fact, I mostly agree with JR.  But I get trying to separate to two lines.   Some of the problem, I think, is that so far Mittlestadt (sp?) hasn't been what they hoped.  He may have come up too soon.  He's still way young so he'll come around.  But it hasn't helped.   But Skinner's history in Carolina tells me that he was paid first line money but probably realistically isn't.   Based more on Carolina but seemingly being proved in Buffalo, the guy seems to have a motivation problem.   He was clearly motivated with a contract negotiation coming.  Otherwise, he's hot and frigid.

 

I've been positive on the idea of an upswing there.   But management has to know the clock is ticking.

[ruxpin]

3 minutes ago, radoran said:

get an actual NHL coach for the team - look what Vigneault's hiring did for the Flyers

 

The problem is that the Flyers hired ALL of them.

 

I wonder what Lavvy would do there.  Short-term, I think he'd get them competitive--provided they figure out goal.

[JR Ewing]

45 minutes ago, radoran said:

 

The Other Rasmus can (and will and was) start to take the load off Ristolainen and let them use him in the role he is best suited.

 

Absolutely

 

45 minutes ago, radoran said:

I disagree he needs to be "sheltered" - as Rick notes it would be great if the goaltending could make a stop once in a while. Lehner was swiss cheese behind anything BUT a hardcore defense-first system that sheltered him on the Island. Hutton was a cheap gamble that had so-so rewards.

 

The goalies aren't good, but Ristolainen surrenders the blueline far too easily: he's AHL-calibre at allowing zone entries, but he's playing top pairing minutes. To me, guys like that, but who can put up some points on the power-play are my definition of guys you want to shelter. Others may have a different way of making that definition.

[yave1964]

@HockeyJunkie

 

Good to see you back.

 

  spending all that money on the very one dimensional Skinner will set your boys back for literally years. The team could have filled three gaping holes every year for the next eight years with that money. Awful signing, i said it then, i will say it five years from now when you are still paying him.

 

  The drop off in talent from the top to the bottom is one of the highest and most steepest in the game. True superstars at the top, very little in the middle, lots of lower tier players, too many of them. They may need to move Risto out for a top six center to give Eichel some relief.

[Tired by the blade]

I can't blame them for the frustration, especially jack.. I'm pretty sure every sabre fan feels the same way! It's getting old.. over and over, OLD. Five years rebuilding ???? Are you serious? It's like we have a losing culture with no end in site. Sure, keep botterill, keep the coaching staff.. we wouldn't want to disrupt our playoff drought or anything. As for jack, I would not blame the guy if he ended up wanting to leave.. and I would completely understand! He's wasting his career here unfortunately. We might as well enter another "rebuild"

[JR Ewing]

1 hour ago, ruxpin said:

But Risto is emblematic of the one of the problems with Buffalo.   The problem is that they're using him in a way that exposes his weakness rather than just shows and takes advantage of his strengths.   He struggles on defense -- and I wholeheartedly agree that some of this is made much worse by the goalie situation.  But given that he does struggle on defense, they really should adjust his time and situation so that they can take advantage of this PP strength and offensive zone strength and reduce his exposure in other situations.   It ultimately could even help his defensive ability in the long run.

 

Look at how much better Justin Schultz has looked in Pittsburgh, being used in a way which plays to his strengths, than he was in Edmonton, where he was asked to be Ray Bourque. He has skill, but he's simply not a minute-muncher, and deploying him like that was a huge mistake.

 

Quote

Skinner is weird.   On the one hand I agree with JR.  In fact, I mostly agree with JR.  But I get trying to separate to two lines.   Some of the problem, I think, is that so far Mittlestadt (sp?) hasn't been what they hoped.  He may have come up too soon.  He's still way young so he'll come around.  But it hasn't helped.   But Skinner's history in Carolina tells me that he was paid first line money but probably realistically isn't.   Based more on Carolina but seemingly being proved in Buffalo, the guy seems to have a motivation problem.   He was clearly motivated with a contract negotiation coming.  Otherwise, he's hot and frigid.

 

 

I think you're probably right about Middlestadt and how it changes the daily lineup decisions for the coaching staff. I love balance. In a perfect world, the Sabres could even out the batting order, but they were just too good together to split up. When they're on the ice together, the Sabres are getting 56% of the goals scored. Away from each other? 45%

 

Since Skinner scores a lot more with Eichel than without, I don't know what choice you're left with but pair them. Jeff Skinner can score goals, but has also never cared that there were two nets on the ice. If he's not scoring goals for you, he's hurting you.

 

Edited May 29, 2020 by JR Ewing

[ruxpin]

2 hours ago, JR Ewing said:

Since Skinner scores a lot more with Eichel than without, I don't know what choice you're left with but pair them. Jeff Skinner can score goals, but has also never cared that there were two nets on the ice. If he's not scoring goals for you, he's hurting you.

 

Yep.  Completely agree with this.    

[pilldoc]

 

1 hour ago, ruxpin said:

4 hours ago, JR Ewing said:

Since Skinner scores a lot more with Eichel than without, I don't know what choice you're left with but pair them. Jeff Skinner can score goals, but has also never cared that there were two nets on the ice. If he's not scoring goals for you, he's hurting you.

 

Yep.  Completely agree with this. 

 

He was hardly ever on the same line with Eichel this year hence the reason I avoided him like the plague during FHL.  (14, 9 = 23 in 59 games = no thank you)

 

At $9 million/yr for 7 more years the Sabres will be paying dearly for that contract ........  talk about unmovable ...wow ..... and it has a NMC to boot! - no one will touch that monstrosity .....

Edited May 30, 2020 by pilldoc

[Buffalo Rick]

5 hours ago, OccamsRazor said:

 

Hey bud.

 

Glad to see you back, you had many of us worried here about you.

 

Glad to see you safe and posting hope all is well with you and your love ones.

 

 

Thanks OR.  Good to see you too

[Buffalo Rick]

3 hours ago, radoran said:

 

The Other Rasmus can (and will and was) start to take the load off Ristolainen and let them use him in the role he is best suited.

 

I disagree he needs to be "sheltered" - as Rick notes it would be great if the goaltending could make a stop once in a while. Lehner was swiss cheese behind anything BUT a hardcore defense-first system that sheltered him on the Island. Hutton was a cheap gamble that had so-so rewards.

 

That said, I just really don't think Eichel is a $10M player... And paying top dollar for Skinner to score goals on his wing and then inexpicably not playing Skinner on Eichel's wing certainly didn't help.

 

And for a team that has "expectations" they have all of nine guys signed for next season (with 7 arb-eligible RFAs). This is a big offseason for them. Yes, "again."

 

AND ANOTHER THING - get an actual NHL coach for the team - look what Vigneault's hiring did for the Flyers.

Botterill is on the clock with Freddie Kruegger for sure.  I did not like this move one bit. I gaurantee that Svoboda is a goner.  He had to be a healthy scratch the last 20 games or so?  I am on the opposite side of you.  I say Eichel is worth every penny and Dahlin IS NOT.  

[radoran]

49 minutes ago, Hockey Junkie said:

 I say Eichel is worth every penny and Dahlin IS NOT.  

 

Dahlin is worth every penny of $924,000.

 

Eichel has yet to prove #### for $10M.

[flyercanuck]

11 hours ago, Tired by the blade said:

I can't blame them for the frustration, especially jack.. I'm pretty sure every sabre fan feels the same way! It's getting old.. over and over, OLD. Five years rebuilding ???? Are you serious? It's like we have a losing culture with no end in site. Sure, keep botterill, keep the coaching staff.. we wouldn't want to disrupt our playoff drought or anything. As for jack, I would not blame the guy if he ended up wanting to leave.. and I would completely understand! He's wasting his career here unfortunately. We might as well enter another "rebuild"

 

  Five? More like a decade. Almost. 

 

 They haven't made the playoffs since they last played the Flyers that's going on a decade ago. They've had 11- 1st round picks and 12-2nds in the last 8 years. Including a 1st overall for a franchise Dman and 2-2nd overalls, one for a franchise centre. There's something wrong with a billionaire owner who can't build something off that other than a perennial lottery team. He can blame management all he wants..HE hired them.

 

 

[Buffalo Rick]

11 hours ago, radoran said:

 

Dahlin is worth every penny of $924,000.

 

Eichel has yet to prove #### for $10M.

No NO No.  Eichel has been a great player and Dahlin has been bad

[Buffalo Rick]

17 hours ago, flyercanuck said:

 

  Five? More like a decade. Almost. 

 

 They haven't made the playoffs since they last played the Flyers that's going on a decade ago. They've had 11- 1st round picks and 12-2nds in the last 8 years. Including a 1st overall for a franchise Dman and 2-2nd overalls, one for a franchise centre. There's something wrong with a billionaire owner who can't build something off that other than a perennial lottery team. He can blame management all he wants..HE hired them.

 

 

9 years. 

[JR Ewing]

 

[Podein25]

50 minutes ago, JR Ewing said:

 

 

#harsh

[Buffalo Rick]

I am very happy that Risto is being kept by the new GM.  So far I like the guy.  And his 2nd order of business, as he listed about 5 things that ar priority, is finding the starting goalie.  That tells me he knows and and agrees with me that Hutton is finished.  Keeping Ristolainen is a big deal to me.  I am all in on that one

[yave1964]

nowhere is the chasm between the top tier and the lower teir wider than it is in buffalo. Half a dozen true NHLers with a true superstar at the top and a whole bunch of AHLers and KHL players disguised as NHL players and up against the cap to boot. Wasting prime years for Eichel for no reason.

[WordsOfWisdom]

On 6/19/2020 at 12:22 PM, JR Ewing said:

 

 

 

He's got a long ways to go before he approaches the wasted talent level of some of these guys: