Sabres fire sale about to begin?

[Samifan]

Apparently the entire team my be available.

 

 

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

Well, the Sabres DO have lots of expiring contracts and with little cap space at the moment and sitting with the algae at the bottom of the pond, I'd say they best try to maximize whatever they can get assets for.

Some players, of course, may be worth retaining and/or tendering for next year, but many can just see their way out.

Taylor Hall, if someone is crazy enough to take on his remaining 8M hit for a playoff run, would be a prime candidate to be traded.
Sabres tried to incorporate him into Buffalo..I can admire that...but it just didn't work, and shows no signs that it will work.

Buffalo should cut their losses with him, trade him for whatever they can, recoup cap space and use the money to better the team elsewhere.
Eric Staal is another vet who didn't quite turn out what Buffalo thought. 3.25M, not bad, but again, could be used elsewhere.
Ristolainen, if some teams are still high on him, could probably be dealt and a nice haul gotten.
Buffalo may want to keep him, but for what he likely will want to get extended (UFA after next season), it may not be worth it.
As a trade chip with a year left on his contract, he could net Buffalo some good players and/or picks.

Dahlin, Reinhart, Jokiharju, and McCabe could all use new contracts....they may be worth keeping around for next year.
Montour, depending on what he wants (3.85M currently), may or may not be worth retaining.

Ullmark (currently 2.6M) could be retained if he doesn't want the moon. Also, not sure how close this Luukkonen prospect is.

[yave1964]

sad really because their fans are rabid and  the owner is willing to spend. apparently the players didn't get the memo.

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

32 minutes ago, yave1964 said:

sad really because their fans are rabid and  the owner is willing to spend. apparently the players didn't get the memo.

 

All really admirable....but I am not so sure management or the front office knows what the RIGHT mixture is.
They certainly have talent on the team.
But it is talent that just doesn't 'gel' for whatever reason.

To be honest, I STILL don't know what Buffalo's identity is.
Do they?
Because if they do, then they go out and spend that good money for those good fans on a team that will be GOOD on the ice.... not just slap together a gallery of talented players.

[Math]

5 minutes ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

To be honest, I STILL don't know what Buffalo's identity is.

 

The Jags' one.

[lynxrattle]

I'd keep Eichel to have something for the fans to follow and sell everything else for picks. They are just not getting anywhere. Change of GM needed too. The new GM needs to realise he's there to take control of the situation by ruthlessly taking out all the rot.

[Samifan]

23 minutes ago, lynxrattle said:

I'd keep Eichel to have something for the fans to follow and sell everything else for picks. They are just not getting anywhere. Change of GM needed too. The new GM needs to realise he's there to take control of the situation by ruthlessly taking out all the rot.

if it’s me and I can find a team/GM that is willing to meet my demands, Eichel is the first person I move because he’s the one that will net the biggest return for them.

 

Living in WNY and being forced to hear Sabres news everyday, I can tell you a lot of people have soured on him because he seems to have quit on the team. Can’t say that I’d blame him after years of them sucking but in my personal opinion, he’s a coach killer and me first kinda player.

Edited March 7, 2021 by Samifan

[lynxrattle]

1 hour ago, Samifan said:

if it’s me and I can find a team/GM that is willing to meet my demands, Eichel is the first person I move because he’s the one that will net the biggest return for them.

 

Living in WNY and being forced to hear Sabres news everyday, I can tell you a lot of people have soured on him because he seems to have quit on the team. Can’t say that I’d blame him after years of them sucking but in my personal opinion, he’s a coach killer and me first kinda player.

I see. Then it's just as you would do in my opinion as well. His only role in a team like this is to sell jerseys and bring people to the rink once Covid is over. If that is not happening, he's not worth to have for the Sabres. Trading him should bring quite a haul to the Sabres.

[pilldoc]

This is a VERY BAD Sabres team ....

 

Let this sink in ...the past 13 games they have scored exactly 17 goals.  Shut Out 3 times and have scored more than 2 goals a game only once vs. the lowly Devils.

 

You simply do NOT win games when you don't score ......Their 2 leading scores are Reinhart with 9 and Olofsson with 7.  Eichel (who is pissing me off in NAHANA) has 2 goals.  TWO FREAKIN GOALS!

 

Out of 26 players who have laced up the skates only 5 players have a (+/-) of 0 or greater.

 

The Sabres are paying Hall 8 million for this line ---- 2 G, 11 A (-13).

Better yet is Okposo who is stealing them blind with 6 million x3 more years for this 0G/1A/(-1)

The best of all is this beauty by Skinner, 9 million x6 more years for a 0G/1A/(-5)

 

And Sabre fans want to know why their team sucks this  year .......

 

EDIT:  Skinner FINALLY scores his 1st goal of the vs the Isles earlier today ....

Edited March 7, 2021 by pilldoc

[lynxrattle]

It's a shame. To think that the Sabres had pioneers like Alex Mogilny back in the day and had all kinds of success. Now they are so bad they should play in the AHL, not the NHL.

[Samifan]

Chia-pet Shocked after the Sabres 7th loss in a row and their soccer coach is still employed 

 

 

 

 

[Buffalo Rick]

First order of business, other than getting a coach, is getting rid of Hutton. His days in the NHL are finished.  AHL if he wants to play. Goalie is still the biggest issue here. Ullmark has to be close I would think? But him and Eichel likely want no part of playing out this mess.

[flyercanuck]

On 3/7/2021 at 3:14 AM, Samifan said:

if it’s me and I can find a team/GM that is willing to meet my demands, Eichel is the first person I move because he’s the one that will net the biggest return for them.

 

Living in WNY and being forced to hear Sabres news everyday, I can tell you a lot of people have soured on him because he seems to have quit on the team. Can’t say that I’d blame him after years of them sucking but in my personal opinion, he’s a coach killer and me first kinda player.

 

I gotta admit, $5 million per goal is a pretty nice way to make a living. Especially for someone who told the owner what coach or gm to fire.

[WordsOfWisdom]

Leafs fans are like: 

 

[J0e Th0rnton]

On 3/20/2021 at 11:43 AM, WordsOfWisdom said:

Leafs fans are like: 

 

Leaf fans? I am pretty sure everyone is watching this in amusement.

This reminds me of Boston right as they were about to trade Jumbo joe. Except that was a blindside out of nowhere. This one you can see coming a mile away

Edited March 22, 2021 by J0e Th0rnton

[J0e Th0rnton]

On 3/7/2021 at 2:32 PM, pilldoc said:

This is a VERY BAD Sabres team ....

 

Let this sink in ...the past 13 games they have scored exactly 17 goals.  Shut Out 3 times and have scored more than 2 goals a game only once vs. the lowly Devils.

 

You simply do NOT win games when you don't score ......Their 2 leading scores are Reinhart with 9 and Olofsson with 7.  Eichel (who is pissing me off in NAHANA) has 2 goals.  TWO FREAKIN GOALS!

 

Out of 26 players who have laced up the skates only 5 players have a (+/-) of 0 or greater.

 

The Sabres are paying Hall 8 million for this line ---- 2 G, 11 A (-13).

Better yet is Okposo who is stealing them blind with 6 million x3 more years for this 0G/1A/(-1)

The best of all is this beauty by Skinner, 9 million x6 more years for a 0G/1A/(-5)

 

And Sabre fans want to know why their team sucks this  year .......

 

EDIT:  Skinner FINALLY scores his 1st goal of the vs the Isles earlier today ....

The honest truth is, they should hire a VETERAN COACH. Like Boudreau, or Gallant. Skinner didn't go from 40 goal scorer to nothing all by himself. Krueger's strategies and terribad coaching most certainly played a part.

 

They need a vet coach to see if this mess is at all salvageable.

 

Conor McDavid has more points than the entire Sabres team has goals as a team. that's like a record. Even in the darkest days of the golden seals, Bobby Orr didn't outscore an entire team.

Edited March 22, 2021 by J0e Th0rnton

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

1 minute ago, J0e Th0rnton said:

The honest truth is, they should hire a VETERAN COACH. Like Boudreau, or Gallant. Skinner didn't go from 40 goal scorer to nothing all by himself. Krueger's strategies and terribad coaching most certainly played a part.

 

They need a vet coach to see if this mess is at all salvageable.

 

Sounds like a job for Todd McClellan.... 

[J0e Th0rnton]

1 minute ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

 

Sounds like a job for Todd McClellan.... 

Hes currently the kings head coach lol

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

Just now, J0e Th0rnton said:

Hes currently the kings head coach lol

 

Pffft.....details, details...  

[FD19372]

8 minutes ago, J0e Th0rnton said:

The honest truth is, they should hire a VETERAN COACH. Like Boudreau, or Gallant. Skinner didn't go from 40 goal scorer to nothing all by himself. Krueger's strategies and terribad coaching most certainly played a part.

 

They need a vet coach to see if this mess is at all salvageable.

Why not Gerard Gallant? I know things didn't end well in Vegas, but he took a team with castoffs and pieces here and there that were good, and coached them into one REALLY good ...cough....expansion hockey team.

[J0e Th0rnton]

4 minutes ago, FD19372 said:

Why not Gerard Gallant? I know things didn't end well in Vegas, but he took a team with castoffs and pieces here and there that were good, and coached them into one REALLY good ...cough....expansion hockey team.

Things don't end well anywhere he coaches for some reason. He wins regularly and is loved by players but gets fired. 

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

Would it surprise anyone if the Sabres decided to bring in John Tortorella in the off season?
Torts is on his last year with the Jackets and seems to have reached his shelf life over there.

Tortorella, of course, now has an established reputation and track record of whipping sorry arsed franchises back into competitive shape, even if his act will eventually wear thin with the players.
And if any organization (and its players) need a good arse kicking in the right direction at the moment, its the Buffalo Sabres.
 

[Samifan]

I don’t think the Pegulas want a coach with a personality. Pegulas ran Rex Ryan out of Buffalo after they grew tired of his side show and went back to generic cookie cutter template for the Bills. While it would be fun to see him bench Eichel,  I think Fonzie would be out of consideration. 

[lynxrattle]

I think half the team would be hiding in the woods if Torts was the coach. He would need to play the same line over and over again. It would 5 against 4 time every time he benched someone.

[JR Ewing]

12 hours ago, J0e Th0rnton said:

The honest truth is, they should hire a VETERAN COACH. Like Boudreau, or Gallant. Skinner didn't go from 40 goal scorer to nothing all by himself. Krueger's strategies and terribad coaching most certainly played a part.

 

They need a vet coach to see if this mess is at all salvageable.

 

This has been the strange way the Sabres have been dealing with this for a while now, and I don't understand: it's been rookie coaches and rookie GMs for years through the rebuild.