Missing out on [fill in the blank] set the franchise back [fill in the blank] years

[SabresSharks]

Phil was bad. That doesn't mean Babcock would have worked miracles.

Roster is much more important than coach. Our roster is/was crap. (Next year it will be much improved.)

 

[1point21Gigawatts]

We don't know that for sure. I am guessing our record would be marginally better, but a coach isn't an automatic fix and i hope we all keep this in mind with the next guy. Large chunks of our roster have been and still are a hot mess.

What has set our franchise back more than anything is the fact that the Pegula's didn't immediately hire a respected hockey guy to be our president of hockey ops.

 

[OkimLom]

At this point, I don't care what happened in the past, only thing that matters right now is what they do in the present to set us up to succeed in the future.

 

[SabresFanNorthPortFL]

Not hiring a good strong management team coming into the Eichel draft has been the issue.

Looking back, we should of fired Murray immediately when he dissed Eichel in his statements (dreaming of) McDavid.

 

[1point21Gigawatts]

At this point, I don't care what happened in the past, only thing that matters right now is what they do in the present to set us up to succeed in the future.

Agreed. A lot of fans (and i am guilty of this too) seem to dwell in the past and fantasize about rewriting sabres history. We really need look forward...

 

[OkimLom]

Just look at the the constant O'Reilly talk. Btw, how long does that thread stay on here anyway?

We're going on year 2 without him. Let's worry about the future!

Still on here because we still have a 1st round pick, to add to the discussion, not to mention the changing value of Tage Thompson as a prospect/player and what that means as a whole on Botts overall resume of moves if/when we fire him.

 

[1point21Gigawatts]

Just look at the the constant O'Reilly talk. Btw, how long does that thread stay on here anyway?

We're going on year 2 without him. Let's worry about the future!

There are still relevant points to be discussed. It's a shame that sometimes discussion devolves into a battle of "i am right and your wrong," but that's what keeps things interesting around here.

I am done thinking about babcock. let's just wait and see what other names pop up during Bott's search and pray that Carlyle isn't one of them

 

[SabresSharks]

The woulda, coulda, shoulda talk will disappear only when the team starts to win consistently.

 

[jd1970]

McDavid

 

[SabresSharks]

McDavid

He's probably quite upset he's been missing the playoffs in Edmonton instead of Buffalo.

 

[Endless Ike]

Missing out on real ownership and not a penny-pinching Golisano set us back a decade.

 

[GellMann]

Phil was bad. That doesn't mean Babcock would have worked miracles.

Roster is much more important than coach. Our roster is/was crap. (Next year it will be much improved.)

 

[Buffaloed]

File this under things the NHL doesn't want you to know.
The sum of all the years for each setback is 77. We are watching the 1942 Buffalo Sabres. That makes them an Original 6 7 team!

 

[Sabre the Win]

Poor drafting from 2007 to 2012 set us back 10 years.

Recently, a few bad trades set us back further.

Drafting and development

 

[SundherDome]

Crosby lottery ... About 6-7 years.

 

[tsujimoto74]

Phil was bad. That doesn't mean Babcock would have worked miracles.

Roster is much more important than coach. Our roster is/was crap. (Next year it will be much improved.)

Coaching matters a whole lot more than that. The Isles got worse on paper this year but vastly improved on the ice. Last year's Vegas team looked like junk on paper but made a deep playoff run. Your roster doesn't need to be amazing, r even particularly good, to make the playoffs if you've got a guy behind the bench who knows how to get the most out of what he's got to work with.

 

[Deleted member 27798]

Missing out on hiring a VP of Hockey Operations set the franchise back the entire Pegula era. This person would have had final say on GM & HC hirings.


Instead we have owners who treat this franchise like it is a hobby....that they aren't very good at.

 

[SabresSharks]

Coaching matters a whole lot more than that. The Isles got worse on paper this year but vastly improved on the ice. Last year's Vegas team looked like junk on paper but made a deep playoff run. Your roster doesn't need to be amazing, r even particularly good, to make the playoffs if you've got a guy behind the bench who knows how to get the most out of what he's got to work with.

Plenty of coaches deemed marginal win Cups, a recent Sabres reject among them.

The Isles certainly support your point, but Mitch Korn turning 2 journeyman goalies into gems might be the biggest coaching factor in their success.

Junk? VGK was thought to be a playoff bubble team as I recall, with people howling they had been gifted a competitive roster out of the gate.

We could have certainly done better without Housley's bewildering lineup and player utilization decisions, but I don't think any coach alive could have gotten this year's Sabres roster into the playoffs.

 

[dma0034]

Past? Not signing Peca. Not signing Briere and Drury before their last years. Matching the Vanek offer sheet

I really do believe that the Sabres are where they are now because of Murray and Botts. I think Murray sold the farm to get talent like Kane and ROR but Botts traded for too little to undo those trades. Berglund, Sobotka, Thompson and a 1st? Thanks St. Louis

 

[Chainshot]

Missing out on Jiri Dudachek set the franchise back to the Bronze Age.

 

[DolanPlsGoSabres]

Drafting Artem Kryukov and missing out on Brooks Orpik!

 

[threeVo]

It was definitely the 2005 lottery where we had tied for the best odds and ended up picking 13th.

Crosby here for the last 13 years is franchise altering.

2nd is hiring Tim Murray

 

[La Cosa Nostra]

It was definitely the 2005 lottery where we had tied for the best odds and ended up picking 13th.

Crosby here for the last 13 years is franchise altering.

2nd is hiring Tim Murray

Imagine even Kopitar here. Instead we got Marek f***ing Zagrapan and his 0 games.

 

[Taro Tsujimoto]

Drafting Torell Troup instead of Gronk.

 

[JLewyB]

Poor drafting from 2007 to 2012 set us back 10 years.

Recently, a few bad trades set us back further.

2013 was a good draft if we hadn’t traded away or lost all but Risto. We only have one player or less from each draft since 2013 who played the majority of the season for the Sabres last year.

The team has been so bad during that stretch that those players are leaders in the worst +/- if their respective draft classes.

Risto, Reinhart, Eichel and Dahlin(not fair him but still) are the worst for their drafts. Middlestadt is second. Nylander hasn’t played enough but the worst player for that class is....Tage stupid ass motha f***in Thompson.

I guess what I’m saying is that we can include up to the 2015 drafts as fails. Oloffson and Borgen might lessen the sting from those drafts but still considering what Those classes were suppose to be for us. It’s bad.

Edit. I just checked. Risto has the worst +/- for any player drafted in the 2000s and only Kovalchuk is close. -143 vs -142.