So now we have 25 games left.
Need to get 16 points to finish with 79 points.

3 games under "fake .500"

7-16-2 ????

79 points has a team picking 6-8


I'm not completely packing the season in, but.....
- Boss34

Matthew Boldy or Peyton krebs would look fantastic in our top 6

This misses the point.
Botts needed to force someone to make a trade with him.
Trades were made that is the only point that matters.
Forget that they have little that anyone wants.
People don't think there us any value now for fhe players the Sabres need to get rid of...posts if 4th or 5th rounders are questioned...but back then they wete magically worth more.

- IonSabres

Force?

Really? It's THAT easy?

So now we have 25 games left.
Need to get 16 points to finish with 79 points.

3 games under "fake .500"

7-16-2 ????

79 points has a team picking 6-8


I'm not completely packing the season in, but.....
- Boss34

Their post 10 game run has them on track to finish around 85 points.
Just enough to earn themselves the 13th pick +/-
It is the worst position for them unless they win a top 3 pick.

Force?

Really? It's THAT easy?
- Powerslave

Sarcasm.

But absolutely, according to some apparently.

Is it Leivo's 11 goals or Schmaltz's 6 goals that is making you say that?

Or is it just like every other fed up Sabres fan, that anybody is better than what we have? Which isn't really true.
- Powerslave

Well, Schmaltz’ numbers are artificially low as he has been on IR for a month, but nobody knew that would happen at the time of the trade, and at 0.67ppg he’s way ahead of many of our guys. And Leivo’s 11goals are better than 2 of the 4 RW we are icing right now.

Leivo was acquired for an AHL defender. We have those.

So *you* tell me if it isn’t really true.

Well, Schmaltz’ numbers are artificially low as he has been on IR for a month, but nobody knew that would happen at the time of the trade, and at 0.67ppg he’s way ahead of many of our guys. And Leivo’s 11goals are better than 2 of the 4 RW we are icing right now.

Leivo was acquired for an AHL defender. We have those.

So *you* tell me if it isn’t really true.
- Der Kaiser

In Leivo’s case.

Dubas purposely moved him to Vancouver as a favor to him.

There was an article I just read about it.

But I agree with the overall premise

looks even worse the next day
- homiedclown

Dumb move by him with his concussion issues...but silver lining : maybe he'll retire now.

Their post 10 game run has them on track to finish around 85 points.
Just enough to earn themselves the 13th pick +/-
It is the worst position for them unless they win a top 3 pick.
- IonSabres

Isn't 14th , 15th or 16th worse?

We need to pace ourselves with a similar record to after the 10 game win streak.

Who's expectations, yours? Or unrealistic Sabres' fans? Or are they one in the same?

This has been beaten to death.

A) you need TWO GM's to make a deal.
B) at that point in the season (December), who in the hell is trading us a good player? See A, above.
C) The Sabres are who (most of us) thought they'd be, which is a bubble team, and there's no need for a knee-jerk trade to appease some fans.

He has a lot of work to do, yes. We have 75% of a good, young core. I think we'd all agree that one line can't do it by themselves, and that the supporting cast is (mostly) atrocious. The gm isn't perfect. He's made mistakes (Mitts, Tage not starting in AHL). They all do. Only one team wins the Cup, which means 30 others have failed.
- Powerslave

Lol
By you yes it has..always need to feel right huh? Thought so
Dumbest argument ever...

I think it’s fair to criticize JB about not making a move after the streak.

Totally fair. But I also don’t think it’s as big of a deal as people are making it out to be.

There was no 1 player that would have made us a true playoff team.

We need a ton

Dumb move by him with his concussion issues...but silver lining : maybe he'll retire now.
- kritter65

Classy wishing a guy gets hurt... come on... even if your kidding

Isn't 14th , 15th or 16th worse?

We need to pace ourselves with a similar record to after the 10 game win streak.
- Boss34

Yes they are technically speaking.
But to make them point clear...
10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th
Less than
A) Making the Playoffs
B) getting a high draft pick.
Clear enough?

I think it’s fair to criticize JB about not making a move after the streak.

Totally fair. But I also don’t think it’s as big of a deal as people are making it out to be.

There was no 1 player that would have made us a true playoff team.

We need a ton
- sbroads24

The last part of the above is the overall point, and I'm sure he has understood that the entire time.

I think it’s fair to criticize JB about not making a move after the streak.

Totally fair. But I also don’t think it’s as big of a deal as people are making it out to be.

There was no 1 player that would have made us a true playoff team.

We need a ton
- sbroads24

Correct.
But, is it really fair when we don't have all the facts?
Fair from a totally uninformed perspective, sure.

The last part of the above is the overall point, and I'm sure he has understood that the entire time.
- kingcong39

Agreed but he still should’ve realized the opportunity and at least tried to make a move to really try and sneak in this year.

At the very least it could’ve been a minor move and he could’ve avoided criticism

I think it’s fair to criticize JB about not making a move after the streak.

Totally fair. But I also don’t think it’s as big of a deal as people are making it out to be.

There was no 1 player that would have made us a true playoff team.

We need a ton
- sbroads24

It not that he just didn’t make a move back then, he still hasn’t made one... nor really given some of the kids in Rochester a chance...
It very clear they had no intentions of trying to make the playoffs this year...which is fine but the natives are getting tired of waiting... it’s been 8 (frank)ing years... I could care less if botts has been here 1 1/2 of them, he signed on to this mess when he accepted the job.
I blame botts a lot less than our amateur owner (s) but botts hasn’t shown me much either so far (skinner) that’s it.

Agreed but he still should’ve realized the opportunity and at least tried to make a move to really try and sneak in this year.

At the very least it could’ve been a minor move and he could’ve avoided criticism
- sbroads24

That's fair, but a large part of me likes that he didn't make a move he didn't agree with to avoid criticism.

I think it’s fair to criticize JB about not making a move after the streak.

Totally fair. But I also don’t think it’s as big of a deal as people are making it out to be.

There was no 1 player that would have made us a true playoff team.

We need a ton
- sbroads24

I think us needing a ton is the reason why gmjb needs to be patient.

This team still needs a bit of an overhaul, and those types of moves are offseason moves

Sabres Hockeybuzz, its more bipolar than a psych ward.

I think us needing a ton is the reason why gmjb needs to be patient.

This team still needs a bit of an overhaul, and those types of moves are offseason moves
- Shadman306

Sobotka, Sheary, Hunwick were always meant to be short term roster fillers. All 3 should hopefully be gone next season. Scandella, Beaulieu, Bogo are problems as well and 2/3 need to kick rocks as well. Girgensons and Larsson are interesting cases but I think we should be letting both go as well. The ghost of Moulsons cap hit will pay for Skinners raise if he’s retained and we’ll have an additional 8.6M from Pominville leaving and the cap raise. Botts will be a busy man this offseason but we do have a lot of really good pieces moving forward that I’m sure a lot of teams envy.

Sobotka, Sheary, Hunwick were always meant to be short term roster fillers. All 3 should hopefully be gone next season. Scandella, Beaulieu, Bogo are problems as well and 2/3 need to kick rocks as well. Girgensons and Larsson are interesting cases but I think we should be letting both go as well. The ghost of Moulsons cap hit will pay for Skinners raise if he’s retained and we’ll have an additional 8.6M from Pominville leaving and the cap raise. Botts will be a busy man this offseason but we do have a lot of really good pieces moving forward that I’m sure a lot of teams envy.
- Pegullaville

If it's too difficult to trade any of Sobotka, Bogo, Scandella, Sheary, or Hunwick, meaning nobody wants those players unless sweeteners are kicked in, I'd bite the bullet and just ride out next season until their cap hit is gone. Deal with the short term pain for long term gain.

I think us needing a ton is the reason why gmjb needs to be patient.

This team still needs a bit of an overhaul, and those types of moves are offseason moves
- Shadman306

I think he needs to be patient too.

However for about 15 games after the streak, one line scored.

Adding a semi-competent top 9 forward could’ve went a long way

2019/2020 Buffalo Sabres

Skinner-Eichel-_____
_____- Mitts-Reinhart
_____-_____-Thompson
Smith-Erod-Okposo

Dahlin-_____
Pilut-Risto
McCabe-_____

______

Hutton/Ullmark (both goalies to me are good backups to have but neither are long term starters)

Bogo will probably be retained so he plays on the third pair with McCabe. Rochester guys like Asplund, Olofsson will have a really good opportunity to make the roster next season. Botts has a lot of cap space to play with as well.

How much longer can the coaching staff accept Eichels lackadaisical effort, which has obiously rubbed off on Dahlin? I don’t get young, very talented players that are wildly inconsistent when it comes to effort? Coaching or nature of the players?

Yes they are technically speaking.
But to make them point clear...
10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th
Less than
A) Making the Playoffs
B) getting a high draft pick.
Clear enough?
- IonSabres

Less clear, but I understand how the draft works.

👍