I am beyond sick of the “they got a good draft pick by losing”

I realize short circuiting the rebuild by the previous GM got them to the point they are and there are no shortcuts but they need to start developing players and have a couple guys step up.

Right now, everyone on the Amerks only look like role players at the NHL level.
- gcomella34

Good post. Olofsson is the only one with top 6 potential. Asplund should be a bottom 6 role player. CJ Smith won’t be much of anything. We’ll see with Nylander.

We essentially traded ROR for a top 10 selection. Odds are if we kept ROR this year we would be picking most likely in the same range the Blues would be picking. So the question is, are we better long term with Thompson and the top 10 pick. Or with ROR and the pick the Blues player turns out to be ? I pick the former. With ROR we aren’t picking top 10, probbaly arent a playoff team either.
- Pegullaville

That may be how it all worked out,
but it definitely wasn’t the plan

Pretty much all of us thought the Sabres would at least be a borderline playoff team this year
And it’s pretty clear Botts was gunning for the playoffs
But it hasn’t worked out

His plan for THIS season was an utter failure
I don’t think anyone can realistically argue that

Is it better that we are picking 5-7 instead of 15-17?
Sure
But there’s absolutely no way that was on Botts’ mind when he dealt ROR

Here’s the crazy thing. That was the 2017-18 Sabres too
- sbroads24

Like i said
We may have replaced the scoring we lost with ROR & Kane...
but we didn’t IMPROVE on it with the additions we made

Good post. Olofsson is the only one with top 6 potential. Asplund should be a bottom 6 role player. CJ Smith won’t be much of anything. We’ll see with Nylander.
- Pegullaville

If we don’t sign Skinner,
we’re gonna be in a pretty tough spot for next year

Do we go out & overpay a few second tier guys (Dzingel, Hayes, etc) to have a competitive team?

That could MAYBE get us to the playoffs
But most likely a 1st round whooping by Tampa or the Caps/Pens

Can’t believe I’m saying this...
but the best play could be to tank for Lefreniere
He’s that good that he’d instantly be our 2nd best scoring forward behind Jack

It would really suck to have to waste another year of Eichel...
but if we lose Skinner,
we’re in a no-win situation

Hopefully we can get this Skinner thing done though
It’s better to overpay for top scoring talent like Skinner, than it would be to overpay mid-tier UFAs
No more Moulsons & Okposos please
Definitely no more Berglunds or Sobatkas either

- homiedclown

If it’s a sign and trade I’m all for it

- homiedclown

Taylor Hall would be quite the get.

Taylor Hall would be quite the get.
- Pegullaville

Skinner situation all over again

And even if we can re-sign Hall...
do we really wanna give a 29year old a huge $$$ deal for 8 years?
Bc that’s what it would take

If we don’t sign Skinner,
we’re gonna be in a pretty tough spot for next year

Do we go out & overpay a few second tier guys (Dzingel, Hayes, etc) to have a competitive team?

That could MAYBE get us to the playoffs
But most likely a 1st round whooping by Tampa or the Caps/Pens

Can’t believe I’m saying this...
but the best play could be to tank for Lefreniere
He’s that good that he’d instantly be our 2nd best scoring forward behind Jack

It would really suck to have to waste another year of Eichel...
but if we lose Skinner,
we’re in a no-win situation

Hopefully we can get this Skinner thing done though
It’s better to overpay for top scoring talent like Skinner, than it would be to overpay mid-tier UFAs
No more Moulsons & Okposos please
Definitely no more Berglunds or Sobatkas either
- jdfitz77

I agree with all of the above. I want Skinner to remain I just have a feeling I’m going to cringe when I see the AAV and term.

Skinner situation all over again

And even if we can re-sign Hall...
do we really wanna give a 29year old a huge $$$ deal for 8 years?
Bc that’s what it would take
- jdfitz77

Hall is a top 5 LW in the game though. He had 90 points last year when the next closest guy had like 50. I’d think Hall would be the exception but I guess it’s up to interpretation.

Hall is a top 5 LW in the game though. He had 90 points last year when the next closest guy had like 50. I’d think Hall would be the exception but I guess it’s up to interpretation.
- Pegullaville

I'd say Hall is top 2

That may be how it all worked out,
but it definitely wasn’t the plan

Pretty much all of us thought the Sabres would at least be a borderline playoff team this year
And it’s pretty clear Botts was gunning for the playoffs
But it hasn’t worked out

His plan for THIS season was an utter failure
I don’t think anyone can realistically argue that

Is it better that we are picking 5-7 instead of 15-17?
Sure
But there’s absolutely no way that was on Botts’ mind when he dealt ROR
- jdfitz77

No definitely not. I’m sure Botts thought Berglund could at least be a buffer for Mittelstadt to develop properly and was hoping we’d at least compete for a playoff spot. Looked good for about 50 games. I bet he knew he wasn’t going to make any additions to the roster though apart from long term players (Montour) though and fully knew the way we were trending the wheels would fall off the bus.

I'd say Hall is top 2
- homiedclown

I've got him at 4, Ovechkin, Gaudreau, Panarin, Hall.

I was happy the boys played decently and pulled out the win against the Blues last night. Unfortunate they gave away 1 point though, was hoping they could play a small part in keeping the Blues draft pick at 20 or higher.

At this point, hoping for high draft picks once again is a focal point of another lost season...it sucks and is getting way too old. I'd like to say that T&KPegs need to give JBotts an ultimatum for playoffs next season, but honestly I think there are so many issues to be resolved it will take longer to PROPERLY fix that I wouldn't want to unintentionally motivate Botts to pull a Murray-esque shortcut to save his job.

I agree with all of the above. I want Skinner to remain I just have a feeling I’m going to cringe when I see the AAV and term.
- Pegullaville

I like the update from Homie, specifically that Botts is trying to keep term to 4 or 5...perfect!
If, like he stated that Botts is expected to cave...hope it ends like 6 x $8.5 max.
I would be in....and would be in at 5 x $9 too.

No definitely not. I’m sure Botts thought Berglund could at least be a buffer for Mittelstadt to develop properly and was hoping we’d at least compete for a playoff spot. Looked good for about 50 games. I bet he knew he wasn’t going to make any additions to the roster though apart from long term players (Montour) though and fully knew the way we were trending the wheels would fall off the bus.
- Pegullaville

Do u mean mid-season?
Bc I’m sure Botts didn’t see us trending this way when he traded ROR and then made the Sheary & Skinner additions
He did those thinking we’d compete for the playoffs
I’m pretty sure of that

Hall is a top 5 LW in the game though. He had 90 points last year when the next closest guy had like 50. I’d think Hall would be the exception but I guess it’s up to interpretation.
- Pegullaville

Hall is awesome
But do we want to sign him to a deal till he’s 37?
That’s a lot of years on the wrong side of 30

I think that’s pretty risky considering what his Cap hit would be
Probably 10mil+ I’d guess

And we’d have to give up a ton just to get him

Do u mean mid-season?
Bc I’m sure Botts didn’t see us trending this way when he traded ROR and then made the Sheary & Skinner additions
He did those thinking we’d compete for the playoffs
I’m pretty sure of that
- jdfitz77

I think his intent was to compete, push for the playoffs. However mid season I think he purposely didn’t make any adds that would take away from us sinking to the bottom 10. Montour was a perfect add for long term without taking away from losing short term.

People can talk about O’Reilly all they want but the fact of the matter is the Sabres have gotten the leagues worst goaltending since we were in 1st and the streak ended in November.

We’d be in the playoffs or playoff race with good goaltending

I agree with all of the above. I want Skinner to remain I just have a feeling I’m going to cringe when I see the AAV and term.
- Pegullaville

I’d be pretty surprised if it was anything less than 8 x 8
in years, or amount

Hopefully I’m all worried over nothing though, and we get him locked up

Hall is awesome
But do we want to sign him to a deal till he’s 37?
That’s a lot of years on the wrong side of 30

I think that’s pretty risky considering what his Cap hit would be
Probably 10mil+ I’d guess

And we’d have to give up a ton just to get him
- jdfitz77

Yea that’s a good point. Hall is a speed demon and I think at the very least he can play at a high level till 34-35. That gives us a 6 year cup window. I’d rather pay Hall 10M AAV long term then Skinner $9M long term.

People can talk about O’Reilly all they want but the fact of the matter is the Sabres have gotten the leagues worst goaltending since we were in 1st and the streak ended in November.

We’d be in the playoffs or playoff race with good goaltending
- sbroads24

Also a good point. Do we come back with a Hutton/Ullmark tandem again next year ?

I think his intent was to compete, push for the playoffs. However mid season I think he purposely didn’t make any adds that would take away from us sinking to the bottom 10. Montour was a perfect add for long term without taking away from losing short term.
- Pegullaville

Sure
Wouldn’t have made sense to go after rentals
And traded like Montour are hard to do in season
Idk that he didn’t strengthen us on purpose though?
I just think the Montour trade wasn’t available in December or January
If it (or any other trade like it) was available earlier,
i think he’d still have pulled the trigger

People can talk about O’Reilly all they want but the fact of the matter is the Sabres have gotten the leagues worst goaltending since we were in 1st and the streak ended in November.

We’d be in the playoffs or playoff race with good goaltending
- sbroads24

Our secondary scoring has been terrible all year

With more scoring,
be it from ROR or whoever,
we wouldn’t need as good goaltending to win

Safe to say that both have been issues though

Yea that’s a good point. Hall is a speed demon and I think at the very least he can play at a high level till 34-35. That gives us a 6 year cup window. I’d rather pay Hall 10M AAV long term then Skinner $9M long term.
- Pegullaville

Hall might cost even more than that though
And you also have to factor in what we’d give up to get Hall
It would be a lot

Skinner we got on the cheap and it doesn’t look like we’ll miss any of those assets

Also...
Skinner on an 8year deal would end when he’s 35
Those extra 2 years are a big deal imo

Hall is obviously better,
but it’s not really as simple as paying for Hall or Skinner