I'm chillin dude
They just massively screwed up

I don't really care
But what's the point of posting here if I'm not gonna share my opinion

U really don't think Vegas could've done better?
- jdfitz77

They would have drafted a mediocre team that would have missed the playoffs and , unless the won the lotto, got a medium pick in the 1st round.

They need to suck to getbthe high end talent...meanwhile their young D has 5 years to mature.

No way they would make the playoffs picking BPAs....who would their top pair D be? No 1 center? They would have a deep team of capable players but zero in the way of game breakers.
- Larsson_fan

Their top3 centers could've been Staal, Shipachyov, Nelson
That's pretty good dude

On defense:
J.Johnson-Manson
Methot-Dumba
Schmidt-Dillon

That's better than half the defenses in the league

And they still could've had a bunch of guys to trade
C.Miller, van riemsdyk, McNabb, Emelin, Merrill, Sbisa & Enstrom
That's a bunch of 2nds & 3rds there
Or they could insert some of them into their lineup & trade guys I listed in their possible top6

They would have drafted a mediocre team that would have missed the playoffs and , unless the won the lotto, got a medium pick in the 1st round.

They need to suck to getbthe high end talent...meanwhile their young D has 5 years to mature.
- Larsson_fan

The problem with this type of strategy is you're not even guaranteed to get a top 3 pick in the draft anymore with how the lottery works. You could finish last 4 years in a row and not get a sniff of a real game changer. Just another thing the league botched IMO.

They would have drafted a mediocre team that would have missed the playoffs and , unless the won the lotto, got a medium pick in the 1st round.

They need to suck to getbthe high end talent...meanwhile their young D has 5 years to mature.
- Larsson_fan

Even if they still wanted to go tank mode,
they could've picked the best players & auctioned them off

Many of the deals they made were bad
Could've done way better imo

Their top3 centers could've been Staal, Shipachyov, Nelson
That's pretty good dude

On defense:
J.Johnson-Manson
Methot-Dumba
Schmidt-Dillon

That's better than half the defenses in the league

And they still could've had a bunch of guys to trade
C.Miller, van riemsdyk, McNabb, Emelin, Merrill, Sbisa & Enstrom
That's a bunch of 2nds & 3rds there
Or they could insert some of them into their lineup & trade guys I listed in their possible top6
- jdfitz77

No. Eric Stall is not a top 30 center and Johnson Manson is not a top pair of a playoff team.yes, they have depth, but any and all playoff teams have far superior talent in the sexy ,high impact positions.

Unless I missed it, Sota didn't give up anything to keep Vegas from taking Mehthew Dumba? Also, in the NHL 18 trailer looked like it was YEEEEEEEEichel that scored the last goal in the All Star uni. It takes high level fandom to spot that.

Even if they still wanted to go tank mode,
they could've picked the best players & auctioned them off

Many of the deals they made were bad
Could've done way better imo
- jdfitz77

This I agree with more....they could have donr better....but no way could they draft a playoff team.

No. Eric Stall is not a top 30 center and Johnson Manson is not a top pair of a playoff team.yes, they have depth, but any and all playoff teams have far superior talent in the sexy ,high impact positions.
- Larsson_fan

Eric Staal scored almost 30g last year
He's now Crosby obviously...
But the combo of Staal, Shipachyov & Nelson is formidable

And Manson is Lindholm's partner on Anaheim, so.....

Unless I missed it, Sota didn't give up anything to keep Vegas from taking Mehthew Dumba? Also, in the NHL 18 trailer looked like it was YEEEEEEEEichel that scored the last goal in the All Star uni. It takes high level fandom to spot that.
- Hatboro_Swords

I guess Sabres fans need something to celebrate. An All -Star game goal in a video game is....something?

Eric Staal scored almost 30g last year
He's now Crosby obviously...
But the combo of Staal, Shipachyov & Nelson is formidable

And Manson is Lindholm's partner on Anaheim, so.....
- jdfitz77

Johnson isnt Lindholm....and do they play more than Fowler? ( I actually dont know)

Johnson isnt Lindholm....and do they play more than Fowler? ( I actually dont know)
- Larsson_fan

Fowler gets PP time which puts him over Manson,
But they have 2 top pairs

And JJ played on the top pair in Cbus with Jones,
Did he not?

Anyways...
you're thinking of it wrong...

No, that defense isn't better than Nashville's
So they might not WIN in the playoffs
But it's good enough to win a bunch of regular season games

Johnson isnt Lindholm....and do they play more than Fowler? ( I actually dont know)
- Larsson_fan

The defense I posted is better than 4/8 western conference playoff teams from last year
Chicago, San Jose, Edmonton, Calgary

And rivals Minny & StL, if not better

Only Anaheim & Nashville would still have a better defense

I guess Sabres fans need something to celebrate. An All -Star game goal in a video game is....something?
- Larsson_fan

Funny you choose to celebrate McDavid's night in a Sabres thread debating how good or bad Vegas's draft was. La who zuh her! Was Larsson protected? He sucks.

For one, I don't have an Archer avatar, so I'm less biased towards a stat based on Danger Zones than some other might be.

For two (and the real reason), I don't know a lot about the stat, but from what I gather, danger is determined based on where the shot was taken from on the ice.

I think there are far too many variables in hockey to equate shots based on the area of the ice from which it came. I think we all agree that not all shots taken from the same area on the ice are created equal.

In short, I question how well we can quantify the quality of a shot. Now, I don't think the stat has no value at all, I just question whether it should be used to make the type of generalizations that get brought up in here sometimes.

For three, I haven't seen HDSV% stats for the 2016-17 season anywhere. I tried Googling, but nothing came up. So I also don't know how Lehner did in this stat in his first healthy season as a Sabre.
- JetpackJesus

post of the year, i concede to you


i agree its just a basic overview, one based on location not quality as you mentioned. What stood out for me is how low he ranked among starters. again its not showing the full picture but being ranked that low among starters is a red flag.

But what gets me the most is that people assume as the defence gets better he will too. The D core getting better isnt necessarily going to be us getting better defensively.

So far the moves have been adding two offensive puck movers. so the d-core as a whole will score more but in order to do so they'll be taking more risks and by extension giving up more chances, particularly more odd man rushes. This part is me using the eye test but he wasnt very good at these either the times he saw it this year.

Im all for bringing him back next year. But thats all id commit to until i saw a larger sample size of how he performs when Ristolainen isn't playing 2nd goalie in the high slot.

I kinda liked the Knights jerseys until I saw them on players. Now not as much

Should get interesting tomorrow.

Should get interesting tomorrow.
- SABRES 89

Got any intel to pass along?

post of the year, i concede to you


i agree its just a basic overview, one based on location not quality as you mentioned. What stood out for me is how low he ranked among starters. again its not showing the full picture but being ranked that low among starters is a red flag.

But what gets me the most is that people assume as the defence gets better he will too. The D core getting better isnt necessarily going to be us getting better defensively.

So far the moves have been adding two offensive puck movers. so the d-core as a whole will score more but in order to do so they'll be taking more risks and by extension giving up more chances, particularly more odd man rushes. This part is me using the eye test but he wasnt very good at these either the times he saw it this year.

Im all for bringing him back next year. But thats all id commit to until i saw a larger sample size of how he performs when Ristolainen isn't playing 2nd goalie in the high slot.
- Sabresfan-365

This is a simple way of looking at it saying when the Sabres D improves and becomes more mobile they will give up more odd man rushes. They should be playing more as a 5 man unit with the forwards being more stellar on both ends of the rink as well. Also. if D are better skaters they can theoretically get back into the D zone quicker. I think we should just wait and let it play out instead of burn Lehner at the stake because he was traded for a...ghast 21st overall pick now going on three years ago.

Got any intel to pass along?
- chilliard77

They will make a deal if they can but I'm guessing he waits until July 1st. Bogo, Moulson and Gorges are keeping us from moving forward. One thing about Botterill, he keeps info close to the hip and he's in no hurry, but they are looking.

I don't think Vegas took advantage of the D and goalies they could have selected


in the end, I don't think they got enough impact draft picks


watch them shut out the sabres in the next 8 months

They will make a deal if they can but I'm guessing he waits until July 1st. Bogo, Moulson and Gorges are keeping us from moving forward. One thing about Botterill, he keeps info close to the hip and he's in no hurry, but they are looking.
- SABRES 89

very quiet


aside from meeting with kane and the lehner thing leaking

Should get interesting tomorrow.
- SABRES 89

I think this whole thing has fallen far short of the hype. But maybe the hype was the point all along, to keep everyone pressing "refresh". Whether anything ended up happening was secondary.

They will make a deal if they can but I'm guessing he waits until July 1st. Bogo, Moulson and Gorges are keeping us from moving forward. One thing about Botterill, he keeps info close to the hip and he's in no hurry, but they are looking.
- SABRES 89

Appreciate the info.

I think we should buy out Gorges, it's time for him to go. All I can hope for is that there's a shot Bogo might be decent in a different role, or that Moulson can keep putting in the rebounds on the powerplay lol

Appreciate the info.

I think we should buy out Gorges, it's time for him to go. All I can hope for is that there's a shot Bogo might be decent in a different role, or that Moulson can keep putting in the rebounds on the powerplay lol
- chilliard77

They like a couple D men but where and who would play ? gotta move Bogo and Gorges or at least Gorges but that's easier said then done.

They like a couple D men but where and who would play ? gotta move Bogo and Gorges or at least Gorges but that's easier said then done.
- SABRES 89

I think Guhle could see some time in the minors

McCabe Risto
New guy Antipin
Beaulieu Bogo

Some combo like that