Sabres beat writer absolutely shreds the team

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Do you see them trading Sam Reinhart? The Flames wouldn't be a landing spot but there are a lot of teams that would no doubt be interested.

[neo45]

They deserve it for their shameless tanking. The worst example of trying to lose in NHL history

[VANFLAMESFAN]

Not to be a stickler, but just for some context, Bucky Gleason isn't a beat reporter like thread title says. He's a columnist. Not sure how often he's at the rink or in the rooms.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by neo45

They deserve it for their shameless tanking. The worst example of trying to lose in NHL history

See....I dont know that I can agree with you 100% here.

You do have to acknowledge that they do, indeed, genuinely suck.

You dont have to look past Edmonton to realize that genuinely sucking is sometimes hard to see.

The Oilers were pegged to be a Stanley Cup favourite. Not only are they not that, they're not even going to make the playoffs and will once again likely be drafting in the top 10.

They are the proof that 'Tanking' is not a strategy, its the last bastion of the incompetent.

"We're not losing on purpose, but theres no point in winning..."

And while that may be true, its also not going to solve any of their problems.

[Enoch Root]

With respect to the excuse about being unlucky on when to tank, I think most people would agree, even in hindsight, that the top 3 names out of the draft in the last few years are: McDavid, Matthews and Eichel.

And without the benefit of hindsight, they were : McDavid, Eichel, Matthews

So it's not like they totally missed out. Reinhart was a bad pick in a very weak draft, but that is part of the drafting process.

I agree with he assessment that it is about a lack of leadership, and a willingness to accept losing. Edmonton, Buffalo and Arizona have allowed that to be the case. And before them, the Islanders.

Calgary, Toronto, Boston and Tampa are all examples of teams that continued to focus on winning and improving, even while rebuilding.

Oh and, as devo22 reminded us, this is a fan-base that booed their team for winning a game. So as far as I am concerned, they deserve what they have created.

Edmonton East is an apt moniker.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by Samonadreau

The Oilers of the East.

That used to be Florida's title. Thank god we're out of that phase. Now the Panthers are probably just the Jets of the East (this season not withstanding). You know, seemingly forever building, drafting high, never seeming to get anywhere significant. Having the odd season where they are good.

Back to the Sabres, I'm astounded at how bad their blue line and goaltending is. However, if you look at the Flames from a few years ago when we also had a pretty thin blue line with poor goaltending, it's really amazing how quickly you can progress if you make a few shrewd moves to fill those positions. Heck, even going into this year, the Flames didn't have any sure answers in net. All of a sudden Smith has a resurgent year, and Rittich looks like a more than capable NHL backup.

I guess what I'm saying is that the Sabres need their GM to start making some moves to address the areas of deficiency. Moving guys like ROR, Kane, Reinhart, etc. to get some legitimate young defensemen would be the first step. Finding a goalie might even take more precedence, but I suppose they're hoping that Lehner figures it out. I have my doubts about this capabilities as a starting goaltender, so first job would be replacing him.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Here are the defensemen they've shipped out since 2011:

Chris Butler (haha, joke's on us for that one)
Steve Montador (RIP)
Jordan Leopold (near the end of his career)
Robyn Regehr (went on to win a cup in L.A.)
Andrej Sekera (Solid 2nd pairing defenseman)
Brayden McNabb (solid 2nd/3rd pairing defenseman)
Tyler Myers (now a part of the core in Winnipeg)
Nikita Zadorov (up and down since joining Colorado, but looks like he's finally settling in)
Mark Pysyk (a quality 2nd pairing defenseman for Florida)


Here are the defensemen they've ACQUIRED since 2011:

Robyn Regehr
Christian Ehrhoff (On his last legs in the NHL)
Adam Pardy (17 games and then signed in Winnipeg)
Jamie McBain (Career AHLer since the trade)
Henrik Tallinder (played 1 season and then went to Europe)
Rostislav Klesla (never played a game for the organization)
Josh Gorges (abysmal during his time in Buffalo...traded for a 2nd round pick!)
Zach Bogosian (overrated player who has regressed since joining the Sabres)
Dmitry Kulikov (had a horrible season in Buffalo and left as a free agent, but is regaining his form in Winnipeg)
Nathan Beaulieu (decent, but not as good as his time in Montreal...similar to Gorges)
Marco Scandella (a 2nd or 3rd pairing defenseman forced to play top pairing minutes because of poor depth)
Zach Redmond (career 'tweener)


Here's the blue line they currently have:

Ristolainen-Scandella
McCabe-Falk
Gorges-Nelson

Here's what they would likely have if injuries were not an issue:

Ristolainen-Bogosian
Beaulieu-Scandella
Gorges-McCabe

So let's look at the blue line they could have if they didn't make a bunch of bad trades:

Ristolainen-Myers
Sekera-Pysyk
McNabb-Zadorov

That instantly looks so much better.

Basically, the GMs have been terrible and regularly make trades that downgrade the roster. Not a recipe for success.

[oldschoolcalgary]

To me, this speaks volumes:

The Sabres' winger, who will be an unrestricted free agent on July 1, knows the call is inevitably coming. He's going to be traded by the club even though he's the team's second-leading goal scorer and, at age 26, is in the prime of his career.

He's in the final year of a six-year, $31.25 million contract he signed with the Winnipeg Jets in 2012 and confirmed to The Buffalo News this week what has been widely assumed: The Sabres have never negotiated with him on a new deal.

I mean the fact that Buffalo never even tried to extend him says a lot imo... not like the Sabres are bursting with talent.

http://buffalonews.com/2018/01/18/wi...ts-trade-call/

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

If I were Kane, I'd frankly sign a short term deal (even a one year deal) at a discount, and prove to the club he signs with that his ways have changed. It's the best way to salvage what could still be quite a profitable career for him, but he probably needs to sacrifice quite a bit in the short term in order to get himself into a position to make maximum return.

[TheIronMaiden]

Cali's post speaks volumes about practising patience with young defencemen. I am a firm believer that winning teams are built through drafts and not trades. Looking at that list is good evidence of that ideology.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by Cali Panthers Fan

That used to be Florida's title. Thank god we're out of that phase. Now the Panthers are probably just the Jets of the East (this season not withstanding). You know, seemingly forever building, drafting high, never seeming to get anywhere significant. Having the odd season where they are good.

I view the Panthers as the Avs as the east. Lots of high end picks and some real skilled pieces in place, but some of the young players have been very up and down, and there have been weird front office stuff (true of both the Avs and Panther organizations).

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Wild GM

I view the Panthers as the Avs as the east. Lots of high end picks and some real skilled pieces in place, but some of the young players have been very up and down, and there have been weird front office stuff (true of both the Avs and Panther organizations).

And they go from 'Good' to 'Complete Garbage' to 'Okay' to 'Complete Garbage' again.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by Locke

And they go from 'Good' to 'Complete Garbage' to 'Okay' to 'Complete Garbage' again.

Exactly. And one can never understand why.
The Jets have been on a more linear path, getting better as they've drafted high, graduated prospects and have seen improvements from their young players.
It all makes sense
Very little about the Panthers or Avs over the last few years makes sense.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by Cali Panthers Fan

So let's look at the blue line they could have if they didn't make a bunch of bad trades:

Ristolainen-Myers
Sekera-Pysyk
McNabb-Zadorov

That instantly looks so much better.

Basically, the GMs have been terrible and regularly make trades that downgrade the roster. Not a recipe for success.

You can scratch Zadorov from that list, because the Sabres won that trade. O'Reilly was easily the best player in the deal, and he's the best all-around player on the Sabres. And if they still have Myers, they don't have their top goal-scorer in Kane. O'Reilly + Kane >> Zadorov + Myers.

So it's not as though the Sabres have made terrible trades. They have made some bad signings (Okoposo at $6 mil per for the next 5 seasons is terribad), got unlucky with their high picks (I was never personally sold on Reinhart - that whole family is butter-soft), and haven't been able to develop or trade for a decent goalie. And it's looking like Housely is out of his depth - which just shows that bringing back popular former players is almost always a dumb move.

[jlh2640]

Hopefully they give away Kane for nothing then lol

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Yoho

I wish this came out three days later.

Originally Posted by Locke

Ditto. Now they're going to be all riled up right as they play Calgary. Great. Thanks.

Aaaand....that was predictable.

At least we got a point?

[nemanja2306]

And we lost to these guys... lol

[burn_baby_burn]

Typical Flames. Opponent comes to town that can’t fight its way out of a wet paper bag, or on some kind of epic or historic losing streak. And the Flames seem to lose every time. Doesn’t matter who the opponent is or who happens to be coaching the Flames. What is it with this hockey club not being able to put away terrible teams?

[madmike]

The Flames seem to play up or down to their competition every single game. Doesn't matter who it is - it's almost always bound to be a close, one-goal game.

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by madmike

The Flames seem to play up or down to their competition every single game. Doesn't matter who it is - it's almost always bound to be a close, one-goal game.

That is the vast majority of the NHL most of the time, less a couple elite teams, and the handful of poor teams.

Parity at work.