Quote:
Originally Posted by dissentowner
How do you know that is the right answer? How has the worked out for the Sabres? How many years have they missed the playoffs now?;
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12 years, but I disagree here. If anything, this shows that a team should stay the course instead of attempting to hurry a rebuild.
- Buffalo started their rebuild in 2011-12.
- They got a bunch of picks for players in between 2011-2014:
- Gustard(1st)
- Sekera(2nd)
- Pominville(1st + 2nd)
- Regehr(2x2nds)
- Leopold(2nd+ 5th)
- Vanek(1st +2nd)
- Miller(1st + 3rd)
- ...
- They didn't draft in the top 5 in the first 2 years.
- They drafted: Grigorenko(12), Girgensons(14), Ristolainen(8), Zadorov(16)
- They also managed to get guys like JT Compher, L. Ullmark, C. Petersen, but whiffed on the majority of their later picks
- In 2014, 15 they bottomed out: They got S. Reinhart(2), and Eichel(2)! Those are 2 great adds.
- In 2015 they pivoted, Rebuild is over: They traded the equivalent of 4 x 1sts, and 3 x 2nds
- They got McGinn + ROR for Grigorenko(1st 2013), Zadorov(1st 2013), Compher(2nd 2013), and a 2nd(2015)
- They got Legwand + Lehner for a 1st(2015)
- They got E. Kane + Z. Bogosian for a 1st(2015), Lemieux(2nd 2014), T. Myers, J. Armia(1st 2011), and D. Stafford.
- Unfortunately for them they still sucked despite those moves
- 2016-2017: they mostly made lateral trades in an attempt to change the mix
- They drafted A. Nylander(8), and Mittelstadt(8), IMO the Sabers mostly had terrible drafts in both 2016, and 2017.
- 2018 restarted rebuild by trading E.Kane and ROR.
- 2018 Bottomed out - drafted another stud in Dahlin(1)
- 2019-2020 picked Cozens(7), Quinn(8)
- 2021 New direction - traded both Eichel and Reinhart for good players/picks, but essentially ending their 1st rebuild in failure.
I think that if Buffalo had better drafting, and didn't hurry the rebuild in 2015, they would be in a much better spot. The Sabers hit home runs on all their top 5 picks IMO. It's the latter 1st and 2nd round picks that they whiffed on.