Fair enough:

drafting and missing on players is the reason we can't stay competitive.

Guhle, mitts and ullmark look like good picks.

The Bruins always draft well. They look set for the future.

Looks like the bills have the right guys in place , hope the sabres do as well.
- Boss34

I respect your opinion because you have more skin in the game as a season ticket holder, but the lottery odds being what they are, I'd rather see the Sabres show some improvement and have 15, 23, 90, 21 and 55 close out the year on a high note. Even if the Sabres finish last, they're likely to pick 3rd or 4th. If they finish 4th worst and pick 5th or 6th instead, that's fine by me

im not a football guy. With it being the worst sport in the history of sports...including professional jarts.
But I do remember when the Balckhawks were so bad, they would have 5000-7000 people in their seats on a weekday night. And I also remember the time between Lemiux/Jagr and Crosby/Malkin when the Pens were not only a guaranteed win, but a good "punching bag" win in the NHL.
Both those teams tanked. But they didn't call it tanking back then. They just called it "being bad."
I actually remember reading an article where "experts" were speculating that Chicago might move because they were so bad. Nobody remembers that after multiple cups.
- seedy

Crosby is a bad example for tanking because there was no NHL season to tank in going into his draft. I think you're otherwise right, though.

Crosby is a bad example for tanking because there was no NHL season to tank in going into his draft. I think you're otherwise right, though.
- JetpackJesus

they sucked before him though....and the rules were different for rankings in the draft at the time. i don't remember what they were. But it was either easier to get 1st overall or just a slam dunk if you finished last in the league. I don't quite remember how it worked back then, but the NHL was changing the rules AS the sabres were tanking, so it definitely used to be different.

they sucked before him though....and the rules were different for rankings in the draft at the time. i don't remember what they were. But it was either easier to get 1st overall or just a slam dunk if you finished last in the league. I don't quite remember how it worked back then, but the NHL was changing the rules AS the sabres were tanking, so it definitely used to be different.
- seedy

Again, I think you're right. I was just pointing out that for Crosby's draft every team in the NHL had an equal shot at getting #1 overall, so how poorly a team did the year before the lockout was irrelevant.

*EDIT: Someone will probably respond about how that draft lottery was rigged. I'm not going there.

He thinks you have to suck year after year to be good, or get good players. Drafted 89th...

Sam Reinhart drafted 2nd.

Drops mic....


I’ll take more wins anyday of the week. Sorry not sorry.
- gordong

We win 2 more games in 2015 we have Dylan Strome instead of Eichel..... Drops mic

Im still shook by how bad the oilers are. Chiarelli (frank)ed them proper.
- Sabresfan-365

Who is/was worse...

Chiarelli or Milbury?

But Wade Redden was essential.
- Wetbandit1

Yeah...
that was a big whoops on their part

But weren’t they able to trade Redden to NyR?
So at least they got out of his deal

Again, I think you're right. I was just pointing out that for Crosby's draft every team in the NHL had an equal shot at getting #1 overall, so how poorly a team did the year before the lockout was irrelevant.

*EDIT: Someone will probably respond about how that draft lottery was rigged. I'm not going there.
- JetpackJesus

I’m pretty sure odds were based off how the teams did before the lockout. Not every team had same odds

Who is/was worse...

Chiarelli or Milbury?
- jdfitz77

Its probably still milbury but closer than you'd expect. Have to account for the era too.

guys the sabres whooped edmonton so bad their newspaper writers are starting to realize giving away their good players was bad

Fitz , some people do not want to hear it. They are sick of losing and shortsighted.

The draft is not an exact science, but picking early is a great benefit.

The reinhart pick and nylander pick were both bad picks. That's on gmtm: not where the sabres picked in the draft.

Given the opportunity gmtm would have picked matthews or laine.
The sabres would have a better future with either if them over nylander
- Boss34

To be fair...
there’s been other obvious high picks besides Sam that haven’t worked out

The other Sam for example
Just read an article earlier about the Yotes getting screws in ‘15 bc Dylan Strome hasn’t amounted to anything yet

It’s just that there’s less of those example the better off u pick

I still cheer for us to win while the game is on
But when it’s over...
if we lose...
i just shrug my shoulders bc i feel pretty confident that a top3 pick this year is gonna be a “core” player that helps us a lot going forward


And i still haven’t given up on Sam or Nylander yet...
still trying to be positive about their development

Chara, UFA. You're right.

And, of course, picking higher "should" mean better talent...

Boston, Anaheim, Detroit, Los Angeles all won Cups without a #1 pick (waits for someone to look that up, because, well, that's what this site has become, the "prove you wrong" site). What has Ovechkin done besides score goals?

Whether or not I'm perfect with that last statement, my point is you can't win without great talent, no, but great talent is found everywhere. And heart counts for something, too.

Getting hung up on a top 3 pick is a loser's mentality, and that's what fans of this team have become: fixated on losing.

And I'm not trying to offend anyone.

It was fun watching them run all over the Oilers last night. I went to bed happy.

Trust the GM, trust his scouts. That's all we can do. Wishing them to lose and then watching people line up at the nearest bridge if we end up picking out of the top 3 is part of what has crept into the psyches of our very own players, a loser's mentality. I'm sick of it. F u c king learn to win, and start to like that feeling. That's what needs to start happening around this organization.

I hope they go on a 20 game tear. I'm getting fed up with living by the draft.
- Powerslave

But the reason i want a top3 pick is bc i KNOW that guy is gonna be a big piece in helping us WIN

It’s not like i was booing last night when we whipped the Oilers... it was great

But if we lose to Vancouver tomorrow...
well, i just gets us closer to a potentially better draft pick which could/should help us get to where we want to be

Winning the 5/6 extra games it’ll take to get us to 6th worse instead of 2nd worst isn’t gonna change any of that mentality you’re talking about
Gonna take more that that imo

To do that,
i think we need better players
Hence,
I want a top3 pick

To be fair...
there’s been other obvious high picks besides Sam that haven’t worked out

The other Sam for example
Just read an article earlier about the Yotes getting screws in ‘15 bc Dylan Strome hasn’t amounted to anything yet

It’s just that there’s less of those example the better off u pick

I still cheer for us to win while the game is on
But when it’s over...
if we lose...
i just shrug my shoulders bc i feel pretty confident that a top3 pick this year is gonna be a “core” player that helps us a lot going forward


And i still haven’t given up on Sam or Nylander yet...
still trying to be positive about their development
- jdfitz77

Sam has proven he can pretty much be a 50pt guy at least. He does have a gift for being in front of the net. But, if he can continue to improve like he's played the past few games, there's still home in him yet. If the price is right, I don't mind Same being a 3rd line power play guy going forward.

KHL forward Leaders ...


KHL
# PLAYER ............GP G A TP
1. Ilya Kovalchuk (F)
..........................53 31 32 63
2. Nikita Gusev (F) 53 22 40 62
3. Nigel Dawes (F) 44 34 19 53
4. Linden Vey (F) 50 17 35 52
5. Linus Omark (F) 53 15 36 51


- cabin

I think Max Afinogenov is having a pretty good season
Last i checked,
he was ahead of Nichuskin in pts

PS.
I’d offer Dallas a 4th for him
Bring him over, stick him on Jack’s wing & see what happens
If it doesn’t work,
he can go back to the KHL
And all we lost was a pick that has less than 10% chance to be an impact player for us

Again, I think you're right. I was just pointing out that for Crosby's draft every team in the NHL had an equal shot at getting #1 overall, so how poorly a team did the year before the lockout was irrelevant.

*EDIT: Someone will probably respond about how that draft lottery was rigged. I'm not going there.
- JetpackJesus

I get it. We're on the same page.
Lets get everybody to tell us how wrong we are.
As is the way this site rolls.

But the reason i want a top3 pick is bc i KNOW that guy is gonna be a big piece in helping us WIN

It’s not like i was booing last night when we whipped the Oilers... it was great

But if we lose to Vancouver tomorrow...
well, i just gets us closer to a potentially better draft pick which could/should help us get to where we want to be

Winning the 5/6 extra games it’ll take to get us to 6th worse instead of 2nd worst isn’t gonna change any of that mentality you’re talking about
Gonna take more that that imo

To do that,
i think we need better players
Hence,
I want a top3 pick
- jdfitz77

But a top 3 pick doesn't guarantee you THAT player. How's Sam working out for everybody?

Marchand, Lucic, Bergeron, all 2nd rounders.
Krejci, 3rd rounder.

One example of a team that drafts exceptionally.

Draft well beyond the first round, and don't rely on the first round, and the wins will come.

Sam has proven he can pretty much be a 50pt guy at least. He does have a gift for being in front of the net. But, if he can continue to improve like he's played the past few games, there's still home in him yet. If the price is right, I don't mind Same being a 3rd line power play guy going forward.
- sskkoo1

His first season went better than expected

2nd season was an improvement, but not as much as most would’ve liked
Still on the right trajectory though

The first half of this season was unquestionably a step back
No denying that
But he had been playing better lately

So hopefully it’s just an issue of him keeping his head on straight &
re-dedicating himself to being a good pro

If we don’t trade him...
Then i think either he or Mittelstadt should be the 3C next year
But give them some decent freaking wingers
Don’t play them with guys like Pouliot & Griffith and expect it to go well

If he keeps it up for the rest of this season, and that gets us a good young defenseman or a good prospect,
then I’d consider moving him

We win 2 more games in 2015 we have Dylan Strome instead of Eichel..... Drops mic
- Pegullaville

Or we could have won the lottery and got McDavid, and the year after that we could have won again and got Matthews .. playing what if sure is FUN.

But a top 3 pick doesn't guarantee you THAT player. How's Sam working out for everybody?

Marchand, Lucic, Bergeron, all 2nd rounders.
Krejci, 3rd rounder.

One example of a team that drafts exceptionally.

Draft well beyond the first round, and don't rely on the first round, and the wins will come.
- Powerslave

I wanted the Sabres to loose in 2015... but i’ll Never root for it again... if we win 20 more games out of the 34 this year, I’d be ecstatic.

But a top 3 pick doesn't guarantee you THAT player. How's Sam working out for everybody?

Marchand, Lucic, Bergeron, all 2nd rounders.
Krejci, 3rd rounder.

One example of a team that drafts exceptionally.

Draft well beyond the first round, and don't rely on the first round, and the wins will come.
- Powerslave

No one is saying we don’t want to draft well in the 2nd/3rd round

But u want really good players, right?

Well it’s more common to get that guy at #2 than #6

Winning the 5 extra games to get us to 6th last isn’t gonna suddenly instill a “winning mentality”
It’ll still be a disappointing season

The difference...
we will get to draft someone who LIKELY helps us NEXT year
Instead of someone who should still help, but probably not for a couple years & probably not as much

I wanted the Sabres to loose in 2015... but i’ll Never root for it again... if we win 20 more games out of the 34 this year, I’d be ecstatic.

- gordong

That’s not realistic though

Would u rather have us pick 2nd, or 6th?
Pretty easy choice for me

That said...
i was still out with friends high-fiving every goal last night
I don’t actually cheer for them to lose

first cousins. not on your list there but should be enough to keep me out of the creep zone
- Sabresfan-365

Yeah, family is fine.

My brother is in that group he wears louis vuitton and has a supreme backpack
- GERBE!!!75PTS

Alright, WTF is supreme?

A couple really great points:

Rooting for the tank is.: A Losers mentality
But there is a reward for losing . Top talent*

I'm all in on the tank, right or wrong, I'm still a huge sabres fan. I'm rooting for what I think will get us over the hump and compete for a Stanley cup. Tanker's can be fans, in my opinion smart fans.

Also: picking anywhere from 7th-15th isnt the same as picking 1-6.
If we were in 22nd place overall, great win out and have a great feeling. Build for next year. Pick 16th and take a lesser ranked guy who may pan out.

But: after a whole season of useless season tickets , (for the most part ) give me a top end player that you can't find later in the draft.

Mcdavid
Eichel
Matthews
Laine

These guys are exciting and game changers
- Boss34

FIFY

*hopefully