News Article: Adam Gretz (NBC Sports) - Sabres' Rebuild Is Still Going Nowhere

[kirby11]

I remember hearing a stat at the time, that no team that was 1st overall in the league standings after American Thanksgiving had ever gone on to miss the playoffs. (and in fact, just being IN a playoff positing at Thanksgiving gives you something like a 75% chance of making the playoffs).

Anyone else hear that stat? Will the Sabres be the first in league history to earn this distinction?

Just one year after making history as the first NHL team to finish a season in 31st place.

But we're sometimes in games heading into the 3rd period! That's progress!

The lack of standards from ownership down this season is ****ing disgusting. I'm getting more and more willing to bet it's going to cause Skinner to walk, so Botts will immediately overpay whoever this year's Ville Leino is.

 

[sabremike]

 

[La Cosa Nostra]

I'm looking at the heavily praised Rochester squad and I certainly see a whole bunch of Murray's guys there. Almost like it was Regier who ****ed up the pipeline.

Yes Kabaracek, Cornel are tearing it up. Murray has done nothing for the Sabres.Botts gets 35-40 point guys for 4ths. Murray signs us Josefsons and Pooliots.

 

[Chainshot]

View attachment 199193

Is that the Guderian signal?

 

[Chainshot]

Yes Kabaracek, Cornel are tearing it up. Murray has done nothing for the Sabres.Botts gets 35-40 point guys for 4ths. Murray signs us Josefsons and Pooliots.

You do know that Botterill signed Josefson and Pouliot right?

 

[Aladyyn]

Yes Kabaracek, Cornel are tearing it up. Murray has done nothing for the Sabres.Botts gets 35-40 point guys for 4ths. Murray signs us Josefsons and Pooliots.

Josefson and Pouliot were both Botterill acquisitions lmfao

 

[sabrebuild]

You do know that Botterill signed Josefson and Pouliot right?

It wouldn’t matter.

 

[debaser66]

I'm thinking about the saying "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth..." It means:

• don’t be ungrateful when you receive a gift
• do not be critical of a gift you receive
• do not refuse something good that is offered
• do not be unappreciative of or question a gift you have received.

(Source: theidioms.com)

Buffalo received a gift when Pegula bought both the Sabres and Bills. It was a good gift to get a renewal on our beloved teams. But it was also a bad gift because the Pegulas have undoubtedly shown that they cannot maintain, run or grow the teams. The bad gift keeps on giving when the dull-minded owners insist on actively running the teams for life.

So the Sabres and Bills were good gifts but with big strings attached. I get the feeling that we're going to have bad management for life because of the rotten teeth at the top.

I like the term gift for Buffalo when actually a billionare bought a gift for himself to do with it as he pleases

 

[debaser66]

I remember hearing a stat at the time, that no team that was 1st overall in the league standings after American Thanksgiving had ever gone on to miss the playoffs. (and in fact, just being IN a playoff positing at Thanksgiving gives you something like a 75% chance of making the playoffs).

Anyone else hear that stat? Will the Sabres be the first in league history to earn this distinction?

Just one year after making history as the first NHL team to finish a season in 31st place.

The Flyers are the only other team in history to miss the postseason after being 1st in the league in November

 

[OkimLom]

Yes Kabaracek, Cornel are tearing it up. Murray has done nothing for the Sabres.Botts gets 35-40 point guys for 4ths. Murray signs us Josefsons and Pooliots.

Who are the 35-40 point guys for a 4th? Because there aren't any guys on the team that Botts brought in from trade for a 4th round pick that have produced 35-40 points on the team.

 

[SnuggaRUDE]

Who are the 35-40 point guys for a 4th? Because there aren't any guys on the team that Botts brought in from trade for a 4th round pick that have produced 35-40 points on the team.

I suspect he's referring to Sheary.

 

[sabrebuild]

So we are calibrating our opinions of Murray based on what Botterill has done? Can't they both be bad GMs? I didn't realized we were supposed to pick sides.

Perhaps you didn’t read the thread properly, but I pretty clearly indicated I’m not defending Murray as a gm.

Hiring Bylsma with his history, and obvious flaws, was an absurd move for anyone who professionally watches and evaluates hockey.

On principle the Lehner trade was stupid. How was it necessary or not obvious that Moulson would fall apart rapidly.

All terrible and building a case to be fired.

But my discussion was specific to the talk that Botts started in some epic hole.

He didn’t. And his team got worse. Those are simple facts. Then he got a gift from the heavens. Giving him an enviable base to grow with that literally any prospective gm would kill to have. A slightly different time frame, but basically a similar star structure as Chicago.

That’s not a terrible hole, that was self-sabotage.

 

[Icicle]

You do know that Botterill signed Josefson and Pouliot right?

Murray left the new GM with a month to look at things and with little choice other than to sign Josefson and Pouliot to 1 year deals just to fill a roster that didn't immediately promote all the rookies into the NHL with nobody pushing behind them.

 

[Jim Bob]

Murray left the new GM with a month to look at things and with little choice other than to sign Josefson and Pouliot to 1 year deals just to fill a roster that didn't immediately promote all the rookies into the NHL with nobody pushing behind them.

Murray didn't do that.

The Pegulas did.

 

[Icicle]

Murray didn't do that.

The Pegulas did.

Would Murray have been able to do last off-season any better? Who, that was available, could we have signed instead?

 

[Jim Bob]

Would Murray have been able to do last off-season any better? Who, that was available, could we have signed instead?

Who cares about Murray?

He's no longer the Sabres GM.

The question is whether Botterill is doing a good job or not.

The on-ice results are not good.

The question is whether Botterill is able to move the team forward or not.

 

[Crazy Tasty]

Murray left the new GM with a month to look at things and with little choice other than to sign Josefson and Pouliot to 1 year deals just to fill a roster that didn't immediately promote all the rookies into the NHL with nobody pushing behind them.

 

[enthusiast]

quick maths puts them on a 63 point pace since the 10-0 run lol

 

[enthusiast]

Regier/Murray/Botterill are all relevant in looking at the postmortem of the failed rebuild

That however is a distinct issue from the current makeup of the team and moves to be made to *correct* the issue

 

[Buffaloed]

Relax, these are just normal growing pains. It took 8 years to get in this position. It will only take another 8 years to get out.

 

[Dreakon13]

Regier dismantled the remaining pieces of a once-great core and accumulated picks. Missed on a bunch of crucial drafts (be it due to video scouting or budget issues or whatever).

Murray spent said picks and mortgaged depth to get rich quick... but either the big pieces he got back never gelled, he made good moves that backfired on him, or his good moves were overshadowed from the lacking depth he mortgaged. Felt the brunt of Regiers weak drafts but didn't do himself any favors by betting everything on that top 6 and Risto/Bogo/McCabe carrying the team.

Botteril sold Murray's big pieces to reacquire picks and for underwhelming depth returns that aren't panning out at the NHL level yet. He's benefitting at the AHL level from Murray's drafting and some of his own AHL level acquisitions working out, and his own drafting seems promising. Most likely banking on the AHL success trickling up to the NHL over the next year or two as the vast majority of the short term placeholders he acquired shuffle out.

--------------------------

Does that seem like a fair assessment of our GM's to this point?

I think you can chalk up a lot of the "gelling" issues to poor head coaching decisions from Murray and Botts in particular and, in some cases, poor attitudes amongst the players that may be fixable with structure and some no-nonsense type calling the shots.

 

[littletonhockeycoach]

I know everyone was done with him a long time ago but Thomas Vanek is 35 yrs old and has 17 goals this season. With a crappy team no less.

 

[slip]

I know everyone was done with him a long time ago but Thomas Vanek is 35 yrs old and has 17 goals this season. With a crappy team no less.

We got Pominville, same difference right?

 

[Sabre Dance]

I just can't keep having the same conversations. This is the Pegulas mess. They will eventually build a winner, but they are responsible for the Sabres failures.

 

[brian_griffin]

Interesting that Pominville’s stats this season and over his career aren’t much different. Yes Vanek has more goals, but when you look at their PIM differential and figure most of those were minors and teams score 20-25% on the PP, the net differential is negligible.

I know everyone was done with him a long time ago but Thomas Vanek is 35 yrs old and has 17 goals this season. With a crappy team no less.