The Ditch part deux

The Oil is in the 2nd round.
This is very confusing for me.

 

Rask died?

 

I think TM gets a "complete" grade.
Either he didn't construct a roster that could be slotted or he bet on the wrong personnel, scouts, and coaching folks, most of whom he had a hand in hiring or retaining.

Kulikov, Vesey, O'Reilly, and some lesser trades were trades to solidify a roster that was on the upswing. Moulson, Okposo, Dan, etc. were signings/acquisitions for a team looking to win rather than looking to build. Too many moves were set up for this to have been the year this roster moves forward. Many assets were spent/blown, and there are still tremendous costs on the books.

The more I look at the body of work, the trades, hires, slotting, spending, latitude offered by ownership, timeline, etc. the worse it looks to me. On paper, this team is behind WPG and they've been a pile of suck with far more restrictions from ownership.

I'm becoming more positive about the management change in Buffalo, they could be on the precipice of long term suckage. Better to get some new bus drivers before it's too late.

What were TM's top accomplishments, things that really changed the franchise? I just don't see anything that separates him from any gm on the street given all that time, money, and resources to utilize.

From a sales perspective, I think a new face gets better headlines too, given the circumstances.

TM did a poor job imo. He had 3 1/2 years

 

tanking has its privileges.

 

https://www.hockeyfeed.com/nhl-news...f-huge-rumors-following-early-exit/?ref=David

Insane Cary Price rumors...

 

playing in Montreal must be so tough, still holding on to the notion that the Cup is the goal every year has to be a grind.
go ahead and trade Price you jabronis.

 

Kovalsuck wants in.
NJ can trade him only after signing him. I feel like a sign and trade to Vegas is in everyone's best interest.

 

TM didn't do much besides sit on his hands this year. He had a tonne of assets to work with when he started. It's obvious he was just his Uncles sidekick, and Patty got duped.

 

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/news/joe-thornton-played-playoffs-torn-acl-mcl-185752193.html

Thornton played with a torn MCL-ACL. And who said hockey players aren't tough?

 

Kovalchuk wants in again, new jersey owns his rights.

 

isn't he happy making 85 million rubles and drinking cold Vodka in Russia ?

 

Yeah, I'm not sure he's wanted.

 

I will restate that TM's best-possible grade is "incomplete". That is hardly positive and actually pretty damning given the fact that he had the 14th longest tenure for a GM in the NHL when he was let go.

I like all of TM's trades (with a possibility that the McNabb for DeLo & Fasching will depend on Hudson's development- the fact that 2 2nds went to the LAK means he must become a high achiever points to this trade = bad.)

His first trade was outstanding; no one expected the bounty for Miller & Ott that he got from St. Louis.

I think he won the WPG trade 'cause Kane is a vastly better player than the ton o' suck the Jets got.

I would not like to contemplate not having ROR on this team. He is so much more important to the Sabres than what stats can tell. (Although JT Compher is gonna make TM haters howl for the next 12-16 years - but was always the J. McGinn-for-Compher part of this trade.)

Trading a third (the one they got from ANA for McGinn) for the rights to Vesey was in hindsight either brash or stupid. Or, I'll compromise with both. But, one year ago Buffalo fans cheered his audacity.

The Sabres have a top 5 (generously) to a top 10 (more realistic) prospect pipeline. They have depth at F and are in decent (but not great) shape at G. Brendan Guhle, in hindsight, should have stayed in Buffalo rather than going back to the WHL. He would have had, no doubt, some major rookie hiccups, but he would have gotten better quicker - and he'd have made Buffalo better too.

It always comes down to D when evaluating TM, and his ineffectiveness in improving this unit can be placed on bad luck (e.g., Kulikov's injury) inactivity (no deadline deal , but in his defense, it takes two to tango and finding dance partners was a challenge) and hubris (trading away 4 and importing 2 D).

In the end, I cannot decry TM getting fired, but I believe he deserves much less blame for this disappointing seasons than DB. I also do not believe the Pegulas are impetuous enough to fire someone after one bad year. They have remained very interested, but not engrossed, in the affairs of the team. I don't think we have a good option but to have trust that they made the right decision.

Perhaps the most compelling of Bob's excellent message is to remind us that TM had 3 1/2 years. While it is possible that he may have "completed" the job this summer, he cannot have as an excuse that he wasn't given enough time.

The truth is that the Pegulas did not like how the team was run moreso than what was (or was not) being done.

After all this, it comes down to this. The Pegulas must get the next hires right. The future of the Sabres depends on it. And, they will never be able to claim that they're not meddlers after this. We'll know the answer in a year.

 

This had to be done, Eichel wanted DB out, the team lacks the speed to keep up. Okposo and ROR are big old school players but don't have the quickness to keep up with the direction the game is heading. Pegula promised JE that he'll try and build the team around him, I guess that means finding the right gm.

 

Nah, I'm not really buying this line.

First, basically every reason for DB being gone that has been attributed to Jack are the figment of the imagination of those wishing to foist a self-serving view on us. That makes them assholes. And it's self-serving because they want us to buy their story rather than deliver the truth.

The Sabres lacked team speed. But that is rapidly becoming a thing of the past. Team speed is not going to hamper Jack in the future, and it was not the rationale for the scheme DB cooked up.

TM is the one that promised Jack help. Help means a D that can carry the puck and actually set up a play. No more stretch passes as a modus operandi.

Too much is being ascribed to "Jack wants this", or "we'll coddle Jack". He is a scapegoat for those that do not prefer to think and analyze. When you're a superstar you do get treated differently. But it is very unfortunate and unwarranted that his name is bantered about as if he demanded these changes.

Both ROR and Okposa were tremendous acquisitions for this team. Both are players that every single team would/should want. The game has not passed them by, by a long shot. Bailey, Rodrigues, Nylander, and a bunch of prospects are speedsters.

This team needs a modern coaching scheme, and they still need to assert a team-identity. They need D.

Every other discussion about the Sabres is a distraction and a distortion of reality.

 

Paul Hamilton the sabres beat reporter broke a story five days ago saying that Eichel made it clear he won't sign an extension this summer if DB remains as HC. He issued the sabres an ultimatum, it's either me or him.

A star player will always win in a battle with a HC, that's just the way it goes.

 

Generally fixt to reflect fact rather than fiction.

First, Jack should be pissed. DB was a major reason why the Sabres disappointed so much this season.

Second, if Jack were not pissed we'd have a real reason to be concerned about him.

Third, the team failure had nothing to do with team speed at F (Okposa & ROR). It was the system that DB installed that seemed perfectly adept at exposing team's weaknesses on D and making it as easy as possible for opponents to exploit that weakness.

Anyone who perpetuates the lie that Jack Eichel demanded these changes is not intune with the Sabres. Or, they're someone like Hamilton who seems to be battling dementia.

 

I've been listening to Hamilton for over 10 years, I never knew him to be a lying d-bag. I, at times find him a little lazy, maybe not up to NHL standards of professionalism. I don't know why he would make up a story like this. Another thing mentioned was a supposed rift between the young guns and the older players.

 

Every player, assistant coach, head coach, trainer, gm, dancing girls (sorry for those teams without them) write a review of the past season and what was deficient in their game, the teams, the coaches and the ice girls. I wonder why Eichel's was made public.

 

Jack Eichel did not make any demands whatsoever that it was his way or the highway. That is pure fiction based on a manipulation of someone's personal interpretation of things he said.

The were formulated to create sensation. Giving credence to the report detracts us from what really went on and why.

I have been following the Sabres for... forever.