Recalled/Assigned: 2-14-20 - Pilut sent down

[Bendium]

I don't know what you all expect. People act like he is a top 4 dman and the hockey world (especially the Sabres) doesn't know it. He's not. He can play a good 5 v 5 skating game being in good position, handling the rush, making good passes ouut of the zone. He is never going to be good on the PK and will never stand up to playoff level or heavy styles of hockey. He will be a solid 3rd pairing role player type LD for the Sabres starting as soon as they trade away an excess defender. Until then, what is the point of having him play 3rd line minutes and sit every other game. We are not making the playoffs, so your potential trade candidates better be playing. Dahlin, Joker, McCabe, Montour, Risto, Miller are your top six and should all be playing every night. It is better to have Pilut getting top minutes helping out the Amerks than riding pine in a losing environment with the big club. Sending him down is the right move.

 

[CrazyPsycho]

It is better to have Pilut getting top minutes helping out the Amerks

Hes god damn 24 years old

 

[Bendium]

Hes god damn 24 years old

Hes god damn 24 years old

And? He is the only one of them besides Dahlin and Joker that can go to the AHL without going thru waivers. Would you prefer they sent Dahlin or Joker? You have limited space on the NHL roster and Bogo is eating up one of the bench spots on defense. Seriously.....what is your point?

 

[BuffaloGooner]

Honestly if they’re mailing in the season then let him go play 24 minutes a night + a playoff run. Whatever.

 

[Dubi Doo]

And? He is the only one of them besides Dahlin and Joker that can go to the AHL without going thru waivers. Would you prefer they sent Dahlin or Joker? You have limited space on the NHL roster and Bogo is eating up one of the bench spots on defense. Seriously.....what is your point?

Send Bogo to Rochester. Miller as the 7the. Easy fix.

 

[Aladyyn]

I don't know what you all expect. People act like he is a top 4 dman and the hockey world (especially the Sabres) doesn't know it. He's not. He can play a good 5 v 5 skating game being in good position, handling the rush, making good passes ouut of the zone. He is never going to be good on the PK and will never stand up to playoff level or heavy styles of hockey. He will be a solid 3rd pairing role player type LD for the Sabres starting as soon as they trade away an excess defender. Until then, what is the point of having him play 3rd line minutes and sit every other game. We are not making the playoffs, so your potential trade candidates better be playing. Dahlin, Joker, McCabe, Montour, Risto, Miller are your top six and should all be playing every night. It is better to have Pilut getting top minutes helping out the Amerks than riding pine in a losing environment with the big club. Sending him down is the right move.

Pilut > McCabe

 

[Beerz]

Botterills #1 priority is a Calder Cup so nobody should be surprised.

 

[CrazyPsycho]

And? He is the only one of them besides Dahlin and Joker that can go to the AHL without going thru waivers. Would you prefer they sent Dahlin or Joker? You have limited space on the NHL roster and Bogo is eating up one of the bench spots on defense. Seriously.....what is your point?

You answered your own question

 

[Bendium]

You answered your own question

Your correct, and the answer was to send Pilut back to Rochester.

 

[Bendium]

Pilut > McCabe

Better in some ways and worse in others. Swapping them out does nothing to budge the needle either way and makes little to no difference in win total. You can't send McCabe down and if you want to trade him you need to play him. This also favors sending Pilut down.

 

[CrazyPsycho]

Your correct, and the answer was to send Pilut back to Rochester.

Pilut doesnt fit what Ralph is trying to do anyway

 

[Aladyyn]

Better in some ways and worse in others. Swapping them out does nothing to budge the needle either way and makes little to no difference in win total. You can't send McCabe down and if you want to trade him you need to play him. This also favors sending Pilut down.

Yes, the GM and coach are terrible, I know. This is just a product of that.

 

[toomuchsauce]

why are they like this

 

[Jame]

Pilut doesnt fit what Ralph is trying to do anyway

Explain

 

[Dubi Doo]

Better in some ways and worse in others. Swapping them out does nothing to budge the needle either way and makes little to no difference in win total. You can't send McCabe down and if you want to trade him you need to play him. This also favors sending Pilut down.

You can send down Bogo, my man. You're overlooking that fact. Bogosian is terrible, and we're jammed at RD.

 

[CrazyPsycho]

Explain

Low event, not necessarily Bylsma hockey but in that realm. Defenders job is to defend and thats basically it. Offensive play for our defenders is stand at the blue line and throw pucks at the net, no creativity. It seems to me that Dahlin is being sheltered from any major responsibility, so now you are sitting with McCabe and Pilut in tougher minutes and it hasn't gone well. Pilut is an offensive minded /puck moving 3rd pairing guy to me and has struggled with the defensive responsibility. His Ozone start percentage is 36 percent, whereas Dahlin is 60.

Pilut is averaging 1:32 a game shorthanded, and a whopping 3 seconds of powerplay time a game. They have resorted to putting Montour on his off hand instead of playing Pilut.

 

[Dirty Dog]

And? He is the only one of them besides Dahlin and Joker that can go to the AHL without going thru waivers. Would you prefer they sent Dahlin or Joker? You have limited space on the NHL roster and Bogo is eating up one of the bench spots on defense. Seriously.....what is your point?

a roster crunch that is crunched with trash, is not a roster crunch.

 

[Zip15]

Botterills #1 priority is a Calder Cup so nobody should be surprised.

The cynic in me certainly says he's going to bolster Rochester's roster so that he has a deep playoff run there that Terry can cling to when justifying why Botts isn't shown the door this summer. With Toronto and Syracuse not their usual quality, there's a chance it works.

 

[Kyndig]

 

[Bendium]

You can send down Bogo, my man. You're overlooking that fact. Bogosian is terrible, and we're jammed at RD.

I am fine with sending Bogo down but it still leaves Pilut as the 7th or at best rotating games off the bench. That is just not the best scenario for any of the bottom 3-4. As long as they are healthy or until someone is traded, Bogo sits the pine every game till the end of the year and the other six play. Better to have Pilut in Rochester.

 

[Bendium]

The cynic in me certainly says he's going to bolster Rochester's roster so that he has a deep playoff run there that Terry can cling to when justifying why Botts isn't shown the door this summer. With Toronto and Syracuse not their usual quality, there's a chance it works.

There is plenty of legitimate gripes about some of Botterill's decisions that you don't have to make stuff up to support your desire for him to be fired.

 

[Bendium]

a roster crunch that is crunched with trash, is not a roster crunch.

Pilut's overall game is has plenty of holes in it. No more or less than the other 3-4 bottom pairing defensemen on this roster, so you must include him in your trash crunch scenario, in which case he loses do to not needing to clear wavers.

 

[Dubi Doo]

I am fine with sending Bogo down but it still leaves Pilut as the 7th or at best rotating games off the bench. That is just not the best scenario for any of the bottom 3-4. As long as they are healthy or until someone is traded, Bogo sits the pine every game till the end of the year and the other six play. Better to have Pilut in Rochester.

You sit Miller or McCabe over Pilut.

 

[Bendium]

You sit Miller or McCabe over Pilut.

How does that help you? How does having ANY of those players sitting help you? Is Pilut so superior to Miller or McCabe that it warrants it? You all complain about Botterill's poor asset management. Sending Pilut to Rochester right now with the current players/numbers is the best choice for maintaining asset/player value. It allows the rest of the top six to get some more solid pairings and playtime so that performance can improve, which will not only help the team win, but also improve trade value if possible. I see lots of complaints, but not one legitimate reply showing how keeping Pilut in Buffalo right now brings about the most overall benefit.

 

[Chainshot]

Low event, not necessarily Bylsma hockey but in that realm. Defenders job is to defend and thats basically it. Offensive play for our defenders is stand at the blue line and throw pucks at the net, no creativity. It seems to me that Dahlin is being sheltered from any major responsibility, so now you are sitting with McCabe and Pilut in tougher minutes and it hasn't gone well. Pilut is an offensive minded /puck moving 3rd pairing guy to me and has struggled with the defensive responsibility. His Ozone start percentage is 36 percent, whereas Dahlin is 60.

Pilut is averaging 1:32 a game shorthanded, and a whopping 3 seconds of powerplay time a game. They have resorted to putting Montour on his off hand instead of playing Pilut.

And that's the crazy stuff - Pilut is a very good puck mover and that keys his defensive game (in that they aren't in their own zone due to repeated turnovers) and has shown chops as a PP point man beyond what they get out of Montour certainly and could easily slot into PP2.

So they have bad defensive defensemen in the classic sense and while desperately trying to shelter Dahlin.