What the f*** are the playoffs?

Sincerely,

We are in 30th place. It's 2017
- sbroads24

Playoffs and winning in the playoffs are 2 different things

EXACTLY, the question that needs to be asked, why have we been so bad drafting and developing players? Name one player that was drafted by us,signed by us, that you say I want him on our team. We drafted a slow,weak player in sam reinhart,instead of leon Draisatl. Over the years Detroit was always picking near to last and they always drafted better then us.we have had incompetent people in charge from almost the beginning. It is no coincidence that the only place scotty Bowman never won is Buffalo. We are cursed
- Buffalo39

Risto
Mccabe
Eichel
E rod
Middlestat

I see your point though. Looking back the best pick that fits your profile is mogilny.
5th rounder? 76 goals. That's why we were good

i don't know what the argument here is but doesn't it say a lot that we've built half way and the results are the same as if we hadn't built at all?
- Sabresfan-365

No - hockey is a team sport, and requires performance from the entire team, led by a complete core. Having half a core does not mean there will be results. In fact, the half core will generally be overwhelmed by the Seths, and Jordans, and Chads, and Crisco's and Matts, and all the other nondescript wagons that are not pulling. 4 or 5 pulling 11 or 12 - with only 3 to 5 carrying their own weight, will not ever go fast enough to win the race.

But when you have a full core in the reins, and competent NHLers filling out the team, suddenly you have 8 or 10 pulling, and the other guys are carrying their own weight. That's when you get a winner.

And it is absolutely unreasonable to believe that the 8 or 10 can come together in a short period of time by just drafting all of them at once, or trading for them all at once. Murray taught us the second part of that equation.

But the argument will then shift to what can you get for those players.

At the end of the day, it doesn't matter. We are still in 30th place.
- thatsapickle

Exactly.

We resign Kane, the conversation shifts. If not. It's god damn brutal.

Kane as a rental isnt bringing back good NHL players. What contending NHL team would do that?

He would bring back picks/prospects, which will in turn take a few years to pan out.

All the while the picks/prospects we moved, have been developing, and ready to make NHL teams right now.

serious question

does this team look any different at all with ristolainen out?

i say not really. powerplay looks a little worse thats about it to me.

Risto
Mccabe
Eichel
E rod
Middlestat

I see your point though. Looking back the best pick that fits your profile is mogilny.
5th rounder? 76 goals. That's why we were good
- Boss34

Mccabe isnt that good. Rodriguez is a 4th liner on a good team,if he makes that type of team. Eichel, stevie wonder could of drafted him,after you lost mcdavid. Middlestat is way to young, we said the same thing about grigorenko,zadorov,myers and armia blah blah.....risto just because he logs alot of minutes,doesnt make him good. His stats shows he isnt good

serious question

does this team look any different at all with ristolainen out?

i say not really. powerplay looks a little worse thats about it to me.
- robz228

A little bit, but not in any groundbreaking fashion

serious question

does this team look any different at all with ristolainen out?

i say not really. powerplay looks a little worse thats about it to me.
- robz228

I think it has to do with Falk really stepping his game up. But you can't expect him to do that forever.

No - hockey is a team sport, and requires performance from the entire team, led by a complete core. Having half a core does not mean there will be results. In fact, the half core will generally be overwhelmed by the Seths, and Jordans, and Chads, and Crisco's and Matts, and all the other nondescript wagons that are not pulling. 4 or 5 pulling 11 or 12 - with only 3 to 5 carrying their own weight, will not ever go fast enough to win the race.

But when you have a full core in the reins, and competent NHLers filling out the team, suddenly you have 8 or 10 pulling, and the other guys are carrying their own weight. That's when you get a winner.

And it is absolutely unreasonable to believe that the 8 or 10 can come together in a short period of time by just drafting all of them at once, or trading for them all at once. Murray taught us the second part of that equation.
- Der Kaiser

Agreed, but now what? Kind of feels like either way fans have to be patient till new management can round out the core and fill the rest with competent players.

We are in 30th place. It's 2017

Risto has a mean streak in him that i think has some value but other than that, maybe its time to listen to his haters a little bit

We are right now.

We are in 30th place.
- sbroads24

Not even close. I remember the games 3 years ago and as bad as we are playing, we aren't as bad as we were. Not by a mile.

Agreed, but now what? Kind of feels like either way fans have to be patient till new management can round out the core and fill the rest with competent players.
- Sabresfan-365

The problem is niether is taking care of.

There is no core, there is no good supporting cast

There is no good goaltending.

There is nothing besides Eichel, Kane (for this year), ROR, and Risto. And I would barely call ROR and Risto core players on championship teams

serious question

does this team look any different at all with ristolainen out?

i say not really. powerplay looks a little worse thats about it to me.
- robz228

4-7-2 with

1-4-2 without


Their expected goals for #'s are way down without him in the lineup. They miss him offensively but that's not really saying much

Mccabe isnt that good. Rodriguez is a 4th liner on a good team,if he makes that type of team. Eichel, stevie wonder could of drafted him,after you lost mcdavid. Middlestat is way to young, we said the same thing about grigorenko,zadorov,myers and armia blah blah.....risto just because he logs alot of minutes,doesnt make him good. His stats shows he isnt good
- Buffalo39

Mogilny?

Not even close. I remember the games 3 years ago and as bad as we are playing, we aren't as bad as we were. Not by a mile.
- RhinoFan

In 2014-15, we had a -113 goal differential

Through the first quarter this year, we are at -26. On pace for -104

Not even close. I remember the games 3 years ago and as bad as we are playing, we aren't as bad as we were. Not by a mile.
- RhinoFan

We are bad. We have a lot of zenon konopkas on this team also. We have very little talent. We are paying big money to some train wrecks.
Gorges
Bogosian
Moulson
Oreilly is not a 7.5 million dollar player.
Risto not a 5.4 million dollar player
Lehner he should be a 1.5 million dollar goalie just like johnson and we gave up a first
Okposo this will haunt us , he is certifiable

Add in talk,griffith,nolan,josefson,larsson,crisuolo,fedun,Tennyson
Wow that is awful

The problem is niether is taking care of.

There is no core, there is no good supporting cast

There is no good goaltending.

There is nothing besides Eichel, Kane (for this year), ROR, and Risto. And I would barely call ROR and Risto core players on championship teams
- sbroads24

Sounds about right. I dont want them to actively tank but if it's naturally going there, it can help you add another core player or two. Then you can go find value in FA and make savvy trades to round out the roster.

Mogilny?
- Boss34

Alex was great,we took a flyer on him. A calculated risk to get him out of russia,those are the decisions that make teams great

In 2014-15, we had a -113 goal differential

Through the first quarter this year, we are at -26. On pace for -104
- sbroads24

It's worse this year because you weren't trying to lose this time.

It's worse this year because you weren't trying to lose this time.
- BINGO!

BINGO

4-7-2 with

1-4-2 without


Their expected goals for #'s are way down without him in the lineup. They miss him offensively but that's not really saying much
- Sabresfan-365

The whole winning and losing argument is a great point. Way more important than Corsi ect.

Risto is a good 2 , maybe 3 on a powerful team
41 and 45 points the last few years are great numbers, especially considering his d pairing rotated between bad players and not good players. He's also been on a bad team.

We miss his 15 goals over the past 2 years.
ZERO goals from defense this year

We are bad. We have a lot of zenon konopkas on this team also. We have very little talent. We are paying big money to some train wrecks.
Gorges
Bogosian
Moulson
Oreilly is not a 7.5 million dollar player.
Risto not a 5.4 million dollar player
Lehner he should be a 1.5 million dollar goalie just like johnson and we gave up a first
Okposo this will haunt us , he is certifiable

Add in talk,griffith,nolan,josefson,larsson,crisuolo,fedun,Tennyson
Wow that is awful
- Buffalo39

These moves as well as keeping any potential nhl talent in the ahl spells TANK.
You really think jbotts thinks we're going to win with Nolan , Griffen and tennyson?

These moves as well as keeping any potential nhl talent in the ahl spells TANK.
You really think jbotts thinks we're going to win with Nolan , Griffen and tennyson?
- Boss34

well considering he brought all of those players in, maybe

These moves as well as keeping any potential nhl talent in the ahl spells TANK.
You really think jbotts thinks we're going to win with Nolan , Griffen and tennyson?
- Boss34

In my opinion, the only people who can answer this , is management. If you believe kane has changed and wont be a problem, you resign him. He is everything you need to win in the playoffs. If you do that, i trade ryan oreilly in a heartbeat. Kane is alot closer to 7.5 mill a year then oreilly. When they are playing there best, it isnt close,kane all day. Then you free up cap and get assets. You will have middelstat ,nylander coming up and yes, we are rebuilding. There is no quick fix