Player Discussion Sabres Acquire Foward Taylor Leier

[truthbluth]

The main board thread is precariously close to a second page. If it gets to 3, I’ll probably need to re-evaluate how much time I spend here.

 

[Woodhouse]

Coming back early on the tail of this news.

My question is why? Bailey wasn't a world beater, and was basically on his last rope, but Leier looks like just another AHL body that's older, and not more productive.

Can anyone explain the logic?

I wonder if it was flipping a RW for a LW?
Is Nyalnder being called up after the AS break? Taylor taking his LW spot.

@Mitts888 has the right idea. IMO it's because Leier can fill in at AHL LW1-3 for any of Nylander, Olofsson, and Smith. Bailey's typically been an AHL bottom-six RW this season, so that's part of it, plus they're both change of scenery AHL expiring RFA's that probably weren't in either club's future anymore. Botts/Sexton have gotten rid of the old regime's Fasching, Karabacek (terminated), Martin (loaned and expiring), Baptiste, Fedun, Bailey; and Cornel (expiring) is probably also bound to be in that group.

 

[DolanPlsGoSabres]

The main board thread is precariously close to a second page. If it gets to 3, I’ll probably need to re-evaluate how much time I spend here.

The Philly board's on like page 4!

 

[Club]

I actually am a big Leier fan, and like this move.

 

[Buffaloed]

Coming to an arena near you soon:
Robert Brendan Guhle performing Camelot with King Leier and Lord Tennyson

 

[Dreakon13]

Dang. I know chances were pretty slim at this point, but I was always internally rooting for Bailey as the one to make it out of BBF. Local kid, Sabres fan growing up, talented, always seemed to find a way to elevate his game at every level. Just couldn't find that next gear for the NHL. Hopefully a fresh start does the trick.

 

[JThorne]

Coming back early on the tail of this news.

My question is why? Bailey wasn't a world beater, and was basically on his last rope, but Leier looks like just another AHL body that's older, and not more productive.

Can anyone explain the logic?

Why not? Seriously. These are 18th forwards for the big club at best. Rochester is doing fine with Bailey being a passenger.

 

[GKJ]

The Philly board's on like page 4!

We have non-sequitur fairly often on generally unimportant events.

I'm not going to say that Leier is some unearthed gem, but he should've had more chances than he got under Hakstol if he ever willing to do what he was hired to do and develop younger players. I don't know that he's an NHL player, but I don't know that he's not.

 

[Washed Up 29YearOld]

Leier has slightly better numbers in the AHL with 19 in 34, (.55) whereas Bailey is 20 in 37. (.54 PPG) but the margin is so slim and the teams are so different that it hardly means anything. Bailey had 8 NHL points in 52 games (.15 PPG) [on very bad teams] and Leier has 7 points in 55 games (.12 PPG). Leier is also a year older. On paper I don't like the trade. Bailey was big at 6'4 and fast. I know nothing about Leier but he's only 5'11. I really hope he has speed, Bailey was able to create with his skating. (although it often lead to nothing). I'm assuming that it's just an AHL trade, which I don't think does anything considering they're statistically such similar players. One of those trades that I just assume Botterill knows what he's doing and he knows more than me. No idea what to think of it but my initial reaction was that I didn't like it, unless Bailey requested a trade.

 

[Sabresfansince1980]

@Sabretooth mentioned in another thread that Botterill might trade for AHL players instead of picks in order to backfill call-ups like Nylander, etc. A decent idea depending on the value, but I think this is the cheaper version of that idea - swapping out AHL guys to make a call-up less painful for Rochester.

I wait with baited breath to see exactly who is coming up from Rochester to save the playoffs for the Sabres... Seriously though, I hope whoever gets called plays well and shows some real promise, regardless of any playoff impact.

 

[TheMistyStranger]

Coming to an arena near you soon:
Robert Brandon Guhle performing Camelot with King Leier and Lord Tennyson

Commentary like this is why I stay on these boards.

 

[keithLGA]

Here's my thoughts and 9 of the 10 goals that Leier has scored this season with the Phantoms...

 

[dasaybz]

Leier has slightly better numbers in the AHL with 19 in 34, (.55) whereas Bailey is 20 in 37. (.54 PPG) but the margin is so slim and the teams are so different that it hardly means anything. Bailey had 8 NHL points in 52 games (.15 PPG) [on very bad teams] and Leier has 7 points in 55 games (.12 PPG). Leier is also a year older. On paper I don't like the trade. Bailey was big at 6'4 and fast. I know nothing about Leier but he's only 5'11. I really hope he has speed, Bailey was able to create with his skating. (although it often lead to nothing). I'm assuming that it's just an AHL trade, which I don't think does anything considering they're statistically such similar players. One of those trades that I just assume Botterill knows what he's doing and he knows more than me. No idea what to think of it but my initial reaction was that I didn't like it, unless Bailey requested a trade.

You don't like the trade because Bailey is taller and you don't know anything about Leier?

 

[truthbluth]

Leier's possession stats from an extended callup last year look interesting. He was used a lot on the PK, but his 5v5 Rel CF and Fenwick look pretty good without any kind of sheltered deployment. He had an impossibly low 94 PDO, which suggest that his very bad counting stats are at least partially attributable to bad luck.

 

[Zip15]

And so ends the great debate of Fasching vs Bailey vs Baptiste. It was fun.

On an unrelated note, aside from RyJo and Seth Jones, it's astounding how many of those Portland Winterhawks from the early part of this decade either didn't meet the hype surrounding them or didn't amount to a hill of beans: Derrick Pouliot, Petan, De Leo, Leipsic, and Leier, to name a few. You could probably argue Nino hasn't met expectations given draft position. Those were some really good teams for several years, and they didn't churn out a ton of good NHL players.

 

[Djp]

Botts is testing the fax machine to make sure it's ready for the BIG ONE.

It’s called emergency preparedness testing....

 

[Yatzhee]

Botterill: "hey Bails, pack your shit, your outta here".

 

[old kummelweck]

Change of scenery for both maybe? My guess is Bailey probably isn't taking this well. Very much a home town kid.

 

[dasaybz]

2013 draft holy facepalm. 2 firsts, 3 seconds, a 3rd and 3 fifths and we got only Risto on the roster.

2013	1	8	Rasmus Ristolainen	Finland	D	346	31	120	151	171
2013	1	16	Nikita Zadorov	Russia	D	222	11	37	48	243
2013	2	35	J.T. Compher	United States	C	90	16	12	28	24
2013	2	38	Connor Hurley	United States	C	0
2013	2	52	Justin Bailey	United States	RW	52	5	3	8	8
2013	3	69	Nicholas Baptiste	Canada	RW	47	7	3	10	20
2013	5	129	Calvin Petersen	United States	G	0
2013	5	130	Gustav Possler	Sweden	RW	0
2013	5	143	Anthony Florentino	United States	D	0
2013	6	159	Sean Malone	United States	C	1	0	0	0	0

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

 

[brian_griffin]

@Mitts888 has the right idea. IMO it's because Leier can fill in at AHL LW1-3 for any of Nylander, Olofsson, and Smith. Bailey's typically been an AHL bottom-six RW this season, so that's part of it, plus they're both change of scenery AHL expiring RFA's that probably weren't in either club's future anymore. Botts/Sexton have gotten rid of the old regime's Fasching, Karabacek (terminated), Martin (loaned and expiring), Baptiste, Fedun, Bailey; and Cornel (expiring) is probably also bound to be in that group.

Agree with your logic.

To the bolded, it's like a military coup d'etat where the ever-widening circles of the former regime's supporters are gradually purged - whether or not they were truly unwaveringly loyal.

As Remo said in Casino, "Why take a chance? At least that's the way I see it."

 

[Moskau]

Leier is quite a bit better defensively and a better PK option. For an Amerks team that has been terrible at holding leads for the last decade it makes some sense.

2013 draft holy facepalm. 2 firsts, 3 seconds, a 3rd and 3 fifths and we got only Risto on the roster.

It's worth repeating that Kevin Devine is terrible at evaluating talent and it blows my mind he's been able to survive 3 different regimes and still holds a prominent decision making position in this organization.

EDIT: I just noticed he's back to being an Amateur Scout which is different from what he was just a few months ago. So we have that to look forward to.

 

[brian_griffin]

2013 draft holy facepalm. 2 firsts, 3 seconds, a 3rd and 3 fifths and we got only Risto on the roster.

To be fair, two others will have reasonable NHL careers.

But don't hold your breath on the 2014 draft. Reinhart, 3 seconds, and 2 thirds and it looks like Olofsson in the 7th round might be the best shot at more than a cup of coffee in a Buffalo sweater.

 

[UnleashRasmus]

Leier has slightly better numbers in the AHL with 19 in 34, (.55) whereas Bailey is 20 in 37. (.54 PPG) but the margin is so slim and the teams are so different that it hardly means anything. Bailey had 8 NHL points in 52 games (.15 PPG) [on very bad teams] and Leier has 7 points in 55 games (.12 PPG). Leier is also a year older. On paper I don't like the trade. Bailey was big at 6'4 and fast. I know nothing about Leier but he's only 5'11. I really hope he has speed, Bailey was able to create with his skating. (although it often lead to nothing). I'm assuming that it's just an AHL trade, which I don't think does anything considering they're statistically such similar players. One of those trades that I just assume Botterill knows what he's doing and he knows more than me. No idea what to think of it but my initial reaction was that I didn't like it, unless Bailey requested a trade.

To me it just scrapes out to the fact that Botterill and Sexton in turn saw enough to judge that he needed a new lease on life in a different market. I would assume it surmises to that. Bailey for his merits is a better talent than Leier. However, there probably wasn't much of a market for a minor player like Bailey unless it was a toss in type trade.

 

[Jim Carr's Rug]

2013 draft holy facepalm. 2 firsts, 3 seconds, a 3rd and 3 fifths and we got only Risto on the roster.

2013	1	8	Rasmus Ristolainen	Finland	D	346	31	120	151	171
2013	1	16	Nikita Zadorov	Russia	D	222	11	37	48	243
2013	2	35	J.T. Compher	United States	C	90	16	12	28	24
2013	2	38	Connor Hurley	United States	C	0
2013	2	52	Justin Bailey	United States	RW	52	5	3	8	8
2013	3	69	Nicholas Baptiste	Canada	RW	47	7	3	10	20
2013	5	129	Calvin Petersen	United States	G	0
2013	5	130	Gustav Possler	Sweden	RW	0
2013	5	143	Anthony Florentino	United States	D	0
2013	6	159	Sean Malone	United States	C	1	0	0	0	0

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

I was so pumped with that draft too.
It's been a slow painful break up for me.

 

[dasaybz]

To be fair, two others will have reasonable NHL careers.

But don't hold your breath on the 2016 draft. Reinhart, 3 seconds, and 2 thirds and it looks like Olofsson in the 7th round might be the best shot at more than a cup of coffee in a Buffalo sweater.

In 2 years we had 3 first round picks and 6 second round picks and we only have Risto and Reinhart. Crazy.