Murray completes the Impossible

[Savitar]

Murray came here in a precarious situation but has done just a spectacular job with this team. He has rebuild us from the ground up and has put this organization in the best position it's been in for the first time ever. Murray knew this would be a difficult year. Last year he was left with the task to rebuild a Brocken franchise, trade veterans for picks which he did And he maximized players returns for the players he got. Miller-Ott trade was amazing. Moulson trade was solid to Minny than resigned him, acquiring the leadership group he did made perfect sense, Moulson, Gorges etc

He developed a no nonsense approach and promised that players who didn't want to be here would be traded or bought out and he has successfully done that. He has a long term vision, High IQ, great with the media, personality, acumen and follows the proper fundamentals.

This year he really came through big time when we needed some incentive to get excited about and McEichel was the key to end our suffering. When we started winning he did what he had too. Embrace the tank and not compromise future years so what does he do he traded Myers and Stafford along with Lemieux, Armia and a 1st for Bogosian and Evander Kane. While I was upset we traded a 1st in this years draft. We needed a legit too 6 forward to play with McEichel who can score 40-50 goals a season. Kane can do that! He's still only 23! While getting another top 4 defenseman in Bogo who will do a great job replacing Myers and has an extra year in his contract. Even better was the fact Kane would not play a game this year so that would help with the tank. Two 3rds for Enroth and Neuvirth. It took until 2 mins before the deadline to trade Chris Stewart and kept his price the same as a 2nd Round Pick and he showed why he's a master negotiator! Check! And embraced the status of this team and completed the ultimate task. Mcdavid or Eichel! Generational Talent icing on the cake while already having Reinhart here next year too and with Zadorov, Ristolanin, Grigensoms as a great core with a great supporting cast of Ennis, Moulson, Gionta, Larsson, Grigorenko. On defense we have Bogo, Gorges, With Jake McCabe and Mark Pysyk coming!

Future is bright Sabres fans! Very bright! Let the gory day's end and the glory days begin! In Tim Murray we Trust

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[VaporTrail]

I'm really excited to see what his next moves will be....Will he be trading players and picks ? Will he go after free agents ? How fast can he make us a contender ? Can he get us to the playoffs next year ?

 

[CatsforReinhart]

I just want to win one stanley cup in my lifetime. Until then the word complete is a bit premature.

 

[Heraldic]

I was told that Murray f***ed this up by bringing in vets like Gionta.

 

[jBuds]

I really have a hard time proclaiming Murray has fixed a Brockin' franchise at such an early stage.

So far, so good, don't get me wrong. But if you don't think that THE MOST IMPORTANT THREE YEARS of the GM's term in our case are starting right now.

What does he do with the jewels? Can he mine a successful practice?

Good so far:

- McEichel

- Reinhart

- the aforementioned two becoming our two franchise players a la Pittsburgh's route to the cup. And before you rip the Pittsburgh comparison because of where they are right now, I ask you: would you not take a Cup and perennial playoff trips? And are Crosby and Malkin truly the problem? Or do they just miss niskanen and orpik?

- acquisition of Kane

- Bogo for Myers looks good so far for me. Bogo fits. And thrives here.

- Risto

- acquisition of Fasching

- his performances with the media and always being fairly blunt

- the understanding of the concept of using these assets to acquire roster players


We have yet to see how he SUPPLEMENTS the talent with vets and role players. How does he know who to bring in and when, and does he do well with it? How does he know who to keep of the current guys in terms of part of the future?

--- Deslauriers played his way into a fourth line role, hasn't he?
--- what do you do with a guy like Foligno?
--- what do we do about goaltending?
--- how "long term" are guys like moulson gio gorges going to be?

We shall see.

In the meantime, this McEichel thing is pretty ****ing cool.

 

[Reddawg]

I was told that Murray f***ed this up by bringing in vets like Gionta.

I won't lie, when my phone lit up that Gionta had scored to tie it up last night that was my EXACT thought.

 

[DazedandConfused]

I won't lie, when my phone lit up that Gionta had scored to tie it up last night that was my EXACT thought.

It's still night bruh! Aint no party like a last place party.

 

[RoofIt5hole]

I really have a hard time proclaiming Murray has fixed a Brockin' franchise at such an early stage.

So far, so good, don't get me wrong. But if you don't think that THE MOST IMPORTANT THREE YEARS of the GM's term in our case are starting right now.

What does he do with the jewels? Can he mine a successful practice?

Good so far:

- McEichel

- Reinhart

- the aforementioned two becoming our two franchise players a la Pittsburgh's route to the cup. And before you rip the Pittsburgh comparison because of where they are right now, I ask you: would you not take a Cup and perennial playoff trips? And are Crosby and Malkin truly the problem? Or do they just miss niskanen and orpik?

- acquisition of Kane

- Bogo for Myers looks good so far for me. Bogo fits. And thrives here.

- Risto

- acquisition of Fasching

- his performances with the media and always being fairly blunt

- the understanding of the concept of using these assets to acquire roster players


We have yet to see how he SUPPLEMENTS the talent with vets and role players. How does he know who to bring in and when, and does he do well with it? How does he know who to keep of the current guys in terms of part of the future?

--- Deslauriers played his way into a fourth line role, hasn't he?
--- what do you do with a guy like Foligno?
--- what do we do about goaltending?
--- how "long term" are guys like moulson gio gorges going to be?

We shall see.

In the meantime, this McEichel thing is pretty ****ing cool.

I completely agree it's too soon to proclaim it a success, however for the first time in a long time there us real reason for optimism. I have loved every move he's made thus far.

In the Pitt situation, no it's not Crosby or Malkin but management & coaching. Apparently right now there is a real power struggle going on between Mario & Rutherford...

 

[jBuds]

I completely agree it's too soon to proclaim it a success, however for the first time in a long time there us real reason for optimism. I have loved every move he's made thus far.

In the Pitt situation, no it's not Crosby or Malkin but management & coaching. Apparently right now there is a real power struggle going on between Mario & Rutherford...

As mr defenseman, I do love the scenarios we've seen in places like Washington and LI. Orpik and Niskanen, Boych and Leddy get to new destinations and fortunes change for the better. Hmmmm

Ristolainen Bogo Zadorov... Good start. Half there. Pysyk? McCabe? Roo Adams? d-Perss? We have potentch

 

[omglolnub]

I do wonder where we'll be this time next year. I think we'll probably wind up in the 6th to 10th draft slot, maybe we can win one of the 3 lotteries and make a mockery of the new draft system after being the reason why they changed it from the one they're replacing

 

[CatsforReinhart]

I do wonder where we'll be this time next year. I think we'll probably wind up in the 6th to 10th draft slot, maybe we can win one of the 3 lotteries and make a mockery of the new draft system after being the reason why they changed it from the one they're replacing

I think this is something that might change drastically from now until July 1st.

 

[krt88]

I really do not understand the impossible. Did he lead us to that elusive Stanley Cup championship? I don't think finishing last two years in a row was impossible. Heck with this teams "talent" and it's inability to consistently score it seemed likely. Certainly the team is playing decent hockey right now. It is better than last years team dispute the fact that TM gutted the goaltending. However, the goal was to finish last even if he can never admit it.

Moving forward, there are plenty of key pieces which could become centerpieces of a championship team. Nevertheless, much work must still be done. Our core of young and talented centermen must now learn how to be productive in the NHL and develop consistency. Showing flashes here and there is likely next season and fans need to taper their expectations. Hopefully our vets will help bring the best out of Reinhart and Eickel (80%). Kane, Ennis, Moulson and company need to score because chances should increase. The new coach has to put in place a system which cuts down of opponents puck possession and decreases scoring opportunities allowed. If all of that happens expectation will rise rapidly!

Keep building and go Sabres! The future is exciting and very bright!

 

[Clock]

jBuds said it. I think the accelerated rebuild has gone swimmingly, but Regier had already initiated prior to Murray and finishing a teardown is going to be easier than building. Let's see what happens with the coaching situation and what he does with the myriad amounts of picks and prospects we have.

 

[TehDoak]

Finishing last is alot easier than winning a cup.

All we had to do is roll our boulder down the mountain faster than some other guys.

Now we need to climb back up that mountain over 29 other teams.

 

[Jacob582]

Murray hasn't proved much yet. Let's see if he can get at least one of the three teams in the playoffs next year.

 

[haseoke39]

I won't sign off on Murray's work overall, but he managed the tank perfectly. Right amount of talent, right kind of veterans, right kind of culture. Bravo on going after the first order problem and doing it right.

The rest of it: well, let's see.

 

[Sabre Dance]

Murray just finished what Darcy started. Now it's up to Murray to do what Darcy couldn't, win the cup.

 

[EichHart]

Murray came here in a precarious situation but has done just a spectacular job with this team. He has rebuild us from the ground up and has put this organization in the best position it's been in for the first time ever. Murray knew this would be a difficult year. Last year he was left with the task to rebuild a Brocken franchise, trade veterans for picks which he did And he maximized players returns for the players he got. Miller-Ott trade was amazing. Moulson trade was solid to Minny than resigned him, acquiring the leadership group he did made perfect sense, Moulson, Gorges etc

He developed a no nonsense approach and promised that players who didn't want to be here would be traded or bought out and he has successfully done that. He has a long term vision, High IQ, great with the media, personality, acumen and follows the proper fundamentals.

This year he really came through big time when we needed some incentive to get excited about and McEichel was the key to end our suffering. When we started winning he did what he had too. Embrace the tank and not compromise future years so what does he do he traded Myers and Stafford along with Lemieux, Armia and a 1st for Bogosian and Evander Kane. While I was upset we traded a 1st in this years draft. We needed a legit too 6 forward to play with McEichel who can score 40-50 goals a season. Kane can do that! He's still only 23! While getting another top 4 defenseman in Bogo who will do a great job replacing Myers and has an extra year in his contract. Even better was the fact Kane would not play a game this year so that would help with the tank. Two 3rds for Enroth and Neuvirth. It took until 2 mins before the deadline to trade Chris Stewart and kept his price the same as a 2nd Round Pick and he showed why he's a master negotiator! Check! And embraced the status of this team and completed the ultimate task. Mcdavid or Eichel! Generational Talent icing on the cake while already having Reinhart here next year too and with Zadorov, Ristolanin, Grigensoms as a great core with a great supporting cast of Ennis, Moulson, Gionta, Larsson, Grigorenko. On defense we have Bogo, Gorges, With Jake McCabe and Mark Pysyk coming!

Future is bright Sabres fans! Very bright! Let the gory day's end and the glory days begin! In Tim Murray we Trust

Is there anywhere or post that had the complete roster turnaround and assets acquired since the rebuild started.

 

[30Yonge]

Drafting your franchise player is the start not the finish of a successful rebuild.
Murray has assets now he needs to continue creating his team.

 

[Faschinating]

Like others have said, his follow through of what Regier started has been great. He's achieved what the goal of this season was and has made some splashes throughout his short tenure so far.

But, it's not hard to see that tearing something down is easier than building it back up. What he's done so far is to not fail the quest for an immensely talented prospect, now it's time to be successful in building a new team and making the puzzle pieces fit.

All said, I've been thrilled with Murray so far though.

 

[SabreBlood]

Let's not forget that Regier "started" this bottoming out strictly because of his own incompetence in the first place.

Murray finished the bottoming out and has already made moves for post-tank, killing two birds with one stone. That's what's impressive. What's not impressive was Darcy Regier's GM performance for the about the last decade. That's why we're here, folks. Thank the Hockey Gods he's gone.

 

[Baccus]

Let's not forget that Regier "started" this bottoming out strictly because of his own incompetence in the first place.

Murray finished the bottoming out and has already made moves for post-tank, killing two birds with one stone. That's what's impressive. What's not impressive was Darcy Regier's GM performance for the about the last decade. That's why we're here, folks. Thank the Hockey Gods he's gone.

Regier did have his hands tied with the ownership situation, so I find it difficult to blame for lack of moves when there may not have been money/ownership support for them. Blaming him or ownership for specific things is up for debate and nobody knows what was happening behind the scenes.

I think that he did well on the start of the tear down, but his handling of having so many kids up/Rolston's coaching mess (literally the worst I've ever seen an NHL team look) was his undoing and he deserved to be fired for it. Plus there was no reason not to make Hodgson take a bridge deal.

The whole semantics with what's a tank/rebuild/teardown/build up/whatever is tedious, no team is ever done tinkering with any line-up, so the 'rebuild' is never done anyway.

 

[SabreBlood]

Regier did have his hands tied with the ownership situation, so I find it difficult to blame for lack of moves when there may not have been money/ownership support for them. Blaming him or ownership for specific things is up for debate and nobody knows what was happening behind the scenes.

I think that he did well on the start of the tear down, but his handling of having so many kids up/Rolston's coaching mess (literally the worst I've ever seen an NHL team look) was his undoing and he deserved to be fired for it. Plus there was no reason not to make Hodgson take a bridge deal.

The whole semantics with what's a tank/rebuild/teardown/build up/whatever is tedious, no team is ever done tinkering with any line-up, so the 'rebuild' is never done anyway.

Many GM's have an in-house cap. It's not an impossible situation for a quality GM to deal with.

 

[CatsforReinhart]

Many GM's have an in-house cap. It's not an impossible situation for a quality GM to deal with.

How many file for bankruptcy protection? How many small market teams with in house salary cap restrictions have won the cup? Won the presidents trophy?

This team was taking money from the NHL when Golisano was owner but in the end you are right, there are worse GMs out there.

It is too bad you want to turn this into a Regier bashing thread.

 

[Baccus]

Many GM's have an in-house cap. It's not an impossible situation for a quality GM to deal with.

Not untrue, however I would say that any team with an in-house cap of any significance is basically going to be a playoff bubble team, which is pretty much the definition of what they were after the loss of Drury & Briere, so that created something that wasn't going to get fixed until basically now.

You want to just blame Regier, that's up to you, but it's pretty rare for anything to be so clearly black and white.