They would have made the playoffs. Murray would not have been fired if they made the playoffs this year.
- Matthews_Auston

maybe, still a pretty bad D-core but yea keeps his job.

They would have made the playoffs. Murray would not have been fired if they made the playoffs this year.
- Matthews_Auston

Nah. We would still be 10+ points away.

A great player accounts for about 6-8 points in the standings on average. The difference between Mcd and Eichel is less than that

They would have made the playoffs. Murray would not have been fired if they made the playoffs this year.
- Matthews_Auston

Maybe, maybe not. Thats a pretty big assumption and if there was a defined list of problems for the sabres this season, having eichel instead of mcdavid would not be on it.

In other words, it's not the problem.

think jeff o'neill said on overdrive that TM was spotted smoking and yelling after the lottery loss. Im sure pegula was thrilled with that
- Sabresfan-365

I did the same thing

They would have made the playoffs. Murray would not have been fired if they made the playoffs this year.
- Matthews_Auston

Agree with that but saying so assumes he had an ultimatum from Pegula.

If that was the case it was not realistic 2 years after tanking.

Sports
Blackhawks fire assistant coach Mike Kitchen
- SABRES 89

What about John Bathroom?

If Jumbo Joe doesn't sign in SJ I hope he goes somewhere to win a Cup. The guy deserves one.
- Matthews_Auston

Agreed

Nah. We would still be 10+ points away.

A great player accounts for about 6-8 points in the standings on average. The difference between Mcd and Eichel is less than that
- sbroads24

No way .............. as much as I really like Jack ....... they are miles apart.

Agreed
- chilliard77

He's retiring in San Jose. No way he goes anywhere else.

Whatever ............ NHL prospects and draft picks are currency in this league and many of them NEVER pan out at all.

The other point you and others miss entirely is what sort of pressure was Pegula putting on TM to get this ship turned around ASAP ? How do you or anyone else know that Murray's approach wasn't being directed by an owner who had lost his patience ?
- fastek

In my opinion you HAVE to hit on your 1st and second round picks. They are not to be taken for granted. Its what separates good scouting from the bad. The 2014 draft in particular had plenty of NHL talent in the 2nd round that Murray missed on.

No way .............. as much as I really like Jack ....... they are miles apart.
- fastek

Agreed

Brutal

20%.

If his entire game plan was based on a 20% chance, then there's a red flag right there.

I personally think his game plan was simple. Trade for a bunch of players he liked when he was scouting or watched when he was in Ottawa, draft Jack or McD, and let it fly.
- sbroads24

This. I don't think getting McD would have stopped any of the acquisitions that happened afterwards and 2 of the biggest trades people gripe about (Kane and the DLo/McNabb swap) were already done by the time that draft happened. So yeah, we'd probably have close to the same roster, outside of Jack vs McD, regardless of how the ping pong balls fell.

Brutal
- jochfr

No it's not.