The Optimism Thread: No, no, really... pick something to be optimistic about the Sabres

[Chainshot]

Somewhere between "the season is 1/4th over" and "hey, I could spend my time on a graduate project" or "Matt Moulson only has one more year on his deal" ... what is something you are optimistic about for the team going forward?


I'll start:












































Well shit.

Click to read more...

 

[Chainshot]

Seriously for a moment, Casey Mittelstadt as a prospect is both exciting and energetic, a real treat to watch. He has a ways to go to mature and develop his game, but down the road, he looks like he'll be a fun player to watch.

 

[Yatzhee]

Definitely excited about the next 2 years of forward prospects entering the Rochester/Buffalo pipeline.

 

[Dreakon13]

While I haven't seen much reason to have faith in the players or Housley so far this season... Botts hasn't completely let me down yet. 31 out of 31 GM's would've signed Jack to that contract, and his offseason moves were largely low-risk and necessary (getting fresh blood on the backend and signing all of them to 1-2 year deals) even if it isn't paying off. Injuries are a part of that too I suppose.

I still have some faith in Botts to get better players on this team and in the pipeline. It'll take time though.

 

[Rasmus CacOlainen]

Botts is our only hope. But his drafting has been sketchy IMO this year (Davidsson, Laaksonen...)/ However, I can't think of anything else so I'd have to go with him.

 

[haseoke39]

Buffalo fans are patient. They'll see this team through the next retool.

There's individual talents here that really don't belong all together on a last place team. They're less than the sum of their parts right now, which gives me hope for how they can be packaged and moved.

Their GM made a good couple first moves. Did nothing to inspire fear. Seems well equipped. Just concerning that he said they were happy with their defense. Hopefully this wakes him up.

 

[cybresabre]

We have a great logo!

 

[Doug Prishpreed]

I’m very optimistic. The team might not make the playoffs, but they found a great, experienced coach, and a great GM. A lot of younger players are surpassing expectations, with vets providing excellent mentorship. Yes, the future sure is looking bright.

Oh wait, I just noticed this was a thread about the Sabres and not the Bills. In that case, no comment.

 

[Chainshot]

We have a great logo!

And they should skater those legos around the opposing dressing room floor before every game. Everyone knows how much legos hurt. Oh. Wait.

Nevermind.

 

[Zip15]

Nylander isn't dead, as I was beginning to suspect.

 

[JThorne]

We don't have a cheap ass owner?

 

[dugman]

“Optimism” is too strong a word for this, but I’ll grasp at a few straws...
Though they aren’t enormous game-changers, many of the injured players are an upgrade from the ones who are currently in the lineup. Josefson was looking like a productive bottom 6 guy, I’m interested in what Rodrigues is capable of (who knows? Maybe he’ll get a shift with Eichel some day), Bailey has moments of looking like he belongs in the NHL... on defense, Bogosian and Ristolainen are better than (pick anyone other than Scandella and insert name here). Of course, this assumes the injured guys ever come back.
The other positive is that there are people playing prominent roles in Rochester (CJ Smith, Guhle, Ullmark, Fasching) who aren’t being rushed up to be the savior in Buffalo, which will hopefully be beneficial long-term.

 

[HaNotsri]

Botts seem to be good GM.
We’ll get another top 10 pick this year.

 

[Snippit]

The play of Justin Falk

 

[tsujimoto74]

- I'm very excited about Mittelstadt. I think he'll be the "2" to the 1-2 punch we need along with Eichel.

- This draft is deep in quality defensemen, and we're on track to have a high pick. Dahlin would be a pipe dream, but hopefully we can pull someone out who can help finally fix our problems on the blue line.

So...there's still some hope for the future?

 

[Aladyyn]

Peter Chiarelli is not running this team.

 

[pigpen65]

There were people wanting to give Reinhart a long term deal for 6mil plus per year. After this year the Sabres should be able to sign him for about 1mil per year. That's a pretty big savings, so that's good.

 

[truthbluth]

Basically the entire scouting staff was let go after the draft. Many of these guys have been around since the last scouting purge in 2002-2004. I'm seeing this as optimistic since Marcus Foligno is arguably the best 3rd round or later player the Sabres have drafted since they drafted Brian Campbell, Ales Kotalik, Ryan Miller and Paul Gaustad in consecutive drafts (2000).

When you try to figure a reason why the Sabres have only made the playoffs 4 times in that same 17 year time frame, the draft is a good candidate. A new scouting staff and a GM who is saying all the right things seems like a reason to be hopeful. They can't be worse, after all.

And while I don't think I have four more years of the team sucking shit on a regular basis in me, I checked out on the Bills the day they hired Rex, and the McDermott hire brought me back, and it has been just as good as if I'd been tuned in the last 2 years. I may just need a hockey break for the first time in my adult life.

 

[Rasmus CacOlainen]

There were people wanting to give Reinhart a long term deal for 6mil plus per year. After this year the Sabres should be able to sign him for about 1mil per year. That's a pretty big savings, so that's good.

I was laughed at only 4 weeks ago when I stated that we are in no way giving him more than 5mil per.

 

[joshjull]

The Amerks play to date with a depleted roster due to call ups and injuries. If we can get healthy enough as an organization to send some reinforcements back down. That could be a nice positive for this season

 

[SabresFan26]

We have Jack Eichel

We have Botterill whom has great experience before coming here and I'm optimistic he will turn this around.

Mittelstadt seems like a solid selection so far.

Kane is playing well and upping his value

 

[Havok89]

Nylander isn't dead, as I was beginning to suspect.

Bogosian may be though

 

[Moskau]

Botts is our only hope. But his drafting has been sketchy IMO this year (Davidsson, Laaksonen...)/ However, I can't think of anything else so I'd have to go with him.

He had about zero to do with any of the draft picks we made. He's not a scouting GM. GMs in Hockey get way too much credit or blame for their teams draft picks.

 

[Mr Orangeshirt]

The "pit stains" are gone from the unis.

 

[Der Jaeger]

Botts is our only hope. But his drafting has been sketchy IMO this year (Davidsson, Laaksonen...)/ However, I can't think of anything else so I'd have to go with him.

How exactly is Davidsson sketchy?

- I'm very excited about Mittelstadt. I think he'll be the "2" to the 1-2 punch we need along with Eichel.

- This draft is deep in quality defensemen, and we're on track to have a high pick. Dahlin would be a pipe dream, but hopefully we can pull someone out who can help finally fix our problems on the blue line.

So...there's still some hope for the future?

Agreed.

I think there's a ton of hope for the future.

The underpinning of an owner supportive of the team without goals which aren't team related (saving money, etc) is a huge start.

The organization embraced analytics. It is also now embracing possession hockey. They are committed to the success of the AHL team.

The team is very good and deep at center as an organization. That's an absolute requirement to be a perennial contender.

GMBOT is now working on the defense. That's the team weakness now that Bylsma's system is gone.

There's still dead weight on the roster that'll be gone in 2-3 seasons.

There are a ton of high level prospects in the system. More are on the way with the 2018 first and what comes from the Kane trade. And the draft is deep with defenseman.

It's not the gloom and doom suggested.