On being invited to visit Pakistan by the prime minister, Mr. Trump said that he would love to come to a fantastic country, fantastic place of fantastic people. Please convey to the Pakistani people that they are amazing and all Pakistanis I have known are exceptional people, said Mr. Donald Trump.
- Der Kaiser

This has to do with my tree story how ?

So we're back to being doomed?

drop a tree on her head
- cabin

We are doing pine trees next, I hope she comes back through.

WITH A PLAN TO DRAFT REINHART AND EICHEL OR MCDAVID, with cap space and draft picks.

Oh my god, are you kidding me?
- sbroads24

You are so freaking clueless. Go back to your fancy stats because without them you would be totally lost.

Reinhart and Eichel or McDavid and the rest of the roster was a complete joke.

Just because you think draft picks and prospect are gold doesn't mean NHL GM's that want to win do. You make it seem like this was a dream job. It was not. In fact it took a long time to even find someone to interview for the GM job, mid season or not that is a huge issue.

They were, or they currently are? Because that's 2 separate things.
- sbroads24

Are. The prospects we had that we thought were looking great ARE currently looking bleak overall.

He shipped out a lot, but I don't see any of that contributing currently.

I'm not here defending what TM did, I'm just saying it wasn't as rosie as we thought it was, that's all.

You are so freaking clueless. Go back to your fancy stats because without them you would be totally lost.

Reinhart and Eichel or McDavid and the rest of the roster was a complete joke.

Just because you think draft picks and prospect are gold doesn't mean NHL GM's that want to win do. You make it seem like this was a dream job. It was not. In fact it took a long time to even find someone to interview for the GM job, mid season or not that is a huge issue.
- Stripes77

Yea, this is how it went, no one was interested. Now I remember

1 impact player




1
- homiedclown

And this actually helps strengthen my argument that the prospect pool was weak and Murray didn't walk into what we think he did.

He shipped out a TON of stuff and right now, the only thing contributing to any team is Ryan O'Reilly. And considering our biggest complaint is that we are doomed RIGHT now, what these prospects COULD do in the future is irrelevant to the current argument.

jack's back...the sabres won...scored five goals...Girgensons only played 7:32...

what's everybody up in arms about?
- Michael Pachla

And no Gerbe for 2 weeks.

And no Gerbe for 2 weeks.
- adambuffalo

He was spotted in a old blog

Are. The prospects we had that we thought were looking great ARE currently looking bleak overall.

He shipped out a lot, but I don't see any of that contributing currently.

I'm not here defending what TM did, I'm just saying it wasn't as rosie as we thought it was, that's all.
- gcomella34

And this doesn't matter one bit. He turned value into his version of value.

If you trade a 2nd round pick for a player, you are trading perceived value for a player that you want.

Nikita Zadorov might not be great now, but when we traded him, he was ranked as a top prospect around the NHL

Yea, this is how it went, no one was interested. Now I remember
- sbroads24

It took 2 months to hire a GM...

And this actually helps strengthen my argument that the prospect pool was weak and Murray didn't walk into what we think he did.

He shipped out a TON of stuff and right now, the only thing contributing to any team is Ryan O'Reilly. And considering our biggest complaint is that we are doomed RIGHT now, what these prospects COULD do in the future is irrelevant to the current argument.
- gcomella34

http://www.nhltradetracke...list_by_GM/Tim_Murray/274

he lost a lot of trades IMO

and in time he may very well lose the ror trade, when you add jeremy roy to the mix

And this doesn't matter one bit. He turned value into his version of value.

If you trade a 2nd round pick for a player, you are trading perceived value for a player that you want.

Nikita Zadorov might not be great now, but when we traded him, he was ranked as a top prospect around the NHL
- sbroads24

Ranked .. How is Dylan Strome doing ? Wasn't he picked 3rd ?

Ranking isn't 100%

It took 2 months to hire a GM...
- Stripes77

And? They had a list of four finalists. All were AGM's from what I remember.

Benning, Murray, Botteril and another that I can't remember.

Lafontaine was hired to do the search.

I don't remember us complaining that no one wanted the job

This has to do with my tree story how ?
- SABRES 89

Your trees will have hope on January 20

Your trees will have hope on January 20
- Der Kaiser

Sap too

And this doesn't matter one bit. He turned value into his version of value.

If you trade a 2nd round pick for a player, you are trading perceived value for a player that you want.

Nikita Zadorov might not be great now, but when we traded him, he was ranked as a top prospect around the NHL
- sbroads24

Jack Roslovic is putting up decent numbers as a 19 year old in the ahl

to throw another log on the myers/kane trade fire

And? They had a list of four finalists. All were AGM's from what I remember.

Benning, Murray, Botteril and another that I can't remember.

Lafontaine was hired to do the search.

I don't remember us complaining that no one wanted the job
- sbroads24

Jason Botterill was who I wanted

http://www.nhltradetracker.com/user/trade_list_by_GM/Tim_Murray/274


he won the weber trade

maybe the ror trade, gave up a lot and time will tell


the rest, he got schooled
- homiedclown

I think he also won the Miller trade (does not show on that list?), the Moulson trade (to Minnesota), Nuervirth trade (to NYI), Lenher trade is yet to be known (but could have won that, if that player at pick 21 never plays in the NHL, would you say he wont that?).

Sure he did not "win" all the others, but most are even so nothing to really worry about. The big one that he "might have" lost is the Kane / Bogo trade. It depends if he is able to get assets back from them by trading again, but that trade also ensured we got Eichel (but I guess he would have trade the UFA's in that deal somewhere else if that deal did not happen, so that is the grey area there).

I think he also won the Miller trade (does not show on that list?), the Moulson trade (to Minnesota), Nuervirth trade (to NYI), Lenher trade is yet to be known (but could have won that, if that player at pick 21 never plays in the NHL, would you say he wont that?).

Sure he did not "win" all the others, but most are even so nothing to really worry about. The big one that he "might have" lost is the Kane / Bogo trade. It depends if he is able to get assets back from them by trading again, but that trade also ensured we got Eichel (but I guess he would have trade the UFA's in that deal somewhere else if that deal did not happen, so that is the grey area there).
- Lilroot9

That's on page 2

I think he also won the Miller trade (does not show on that list?), the Moulson trade (to Minnesota), Nuervirth trade (to NYI), Lenher trade is yet to be known (but could have won that, if that player at pick 21 never plays in the NHL, would you say he wont that?).

Sure he did not "win" all the others, but most are even so nothing to really worry about. The big one that he "might have" lost is the Kane / Bogo trade. It depends if he is able to get assets back from them by trading again, but that trade also ensured we got Eichel (but I guess he would have trade the UFA's in that deal somewhere else if that deal did not happen, so that is the grey area there).
- Lilroot9

it's a lot of trades, and moving parts

right now he won the ror trade, right now
right now he won the weber for a 3rd
probably won the gorges trade


the rest, nothing special and we don't have a foundation to show other than an oft injured goalie who is being outplayed by a backup that we cringed at when we signed

it's a lot of trades, and moving parts

right now he won the ror trade, right now
right now he won the weber for a 3rd
probably won the gorges trade


the rest, nothing special and we don't have a foundation to show other than an oft injured goalie who is being outplayed by a backup that we cringed at when we signed
- homiedclown

Jesus Christ

Jesus Christ
- Der Kaiser

If Lehner starts Saturday I think the hip injury should be dropped from further arguments he will have missed less than 2 games

Jack Roslovic is putting up decent numbers as a 19 year old in the ahl

to throw another log on the myers/kane trade fire
- homiedclown

And that's another point. These assets, some of them haven't seen the NHL yet.

Murray walked into 3 first round 2015 picks, like 8 or 9 second rounders over a few years, and cap space.

How is that a "mess"? That's like having all the lumber to build a house exactly how you want it, not remodeling someone else's home

You're also bringing up a coaching search 18 months after the GM was hired and after Reinhart was drafted and Eichel was being drafted.

Again a GM's wet dream in your mind but respected hockey GM's wanted nothing to do with it unless they were looking for their first GM job...

This team was a total mess but you can't see that because you're the one that can't remember, not me.
- Stripes77

If a GM wanted or needed to win now, it wasn't the ideal scenario (about as big of an understatement as "Connor McDavid is a good hockey player", I know).

If a GM was looking or willing to take on a rebuild project, it was one of the best scenarios he could hope for. SBroads is right. If you had to build a team from the ground up, the Sabres had the most ammunition to do it. The GM was guaranteed at least the 2nd or 3rd best player to come out of the draft in a decade, which he got, a plethora of prospects and picks to work with, possibly the most cap room to work with, and an owner willing to sign off on just about any amount of cash you asked for. Plus, his first two years had zero expectations. The Sabres were a mess in the win column, but as far as assets to build a team from the ground up, they were in a better spot than anyone.

The question for any GM is: which situation did you want to get into? Obviously, the best case is to walk into a cup contender right away, but that job comes available maybe once every four of five years if that. The other options are: inherit a team stuck in the purgatory of good to very good but with no real shot at winning a championship, inherit a team that is on the downswing with very few assets to build with, or inherit a team that's already been leveled to the ground but an excess of assets to build as you see fit. The Sabres fit into that third category.

They have/had enough assets in the pipeline in that if they weren't at least a contender in a minimum of four years (next year is year four), it's simply because the assets were mismanaged. There is still time to tell, but as mentioned before, there are two trades that have been made that have made this team better so far: the O'Reilly trade, and the one where someone else inexplicably decided that adding Mike Weber for a Cup run was a good idea. I'm not sure it's enough to make this team a contender by next year.