I understand what you're saying, but I dont agree with Botterill's asymmetrical, BPA roster building that oversupplies some positions and leaves others lacking.

Although if it works, I reserve the right to change my mind and I will not admit I'm wrong
- jcragcrumple

this is as hockeybuzz staple

What if you have 6?
- jcragcrumple

We don't. We have 4. Possibly 5 (Better served as the 7th D anyway)

We don't. We have 4. Possibly 5 (Better served as the 7th D anyway)
- SDSabre

By November when bogo gets back, it'll be 6

Risto
Miller
Montour
Jokiharju- good enough for HOF coach Q
Nelson
Bogo - IR for a bit, potentially

I think montour is a 2nd pair guy, so is Miller and so is Risto. Joker is the only one with top pair potential imo. He makes at least 1 of those guys, and possibly 2 redundant. I dont think there was enough foresight on these trades. In retrospect, a 1st and Guhle for a RW would have been the correct play imo
- jcragcrumple

would of

I think montour is a 2nd pair guy, so is Miller and so is Risto. Joker is the only one with top pair potential imo. He makes at least 1 of those guys, and possibly 2 redundant. I dont think there was enough foresight on these trades. In retrospect, a 1st and Guhle for a RW would have been the correct play imo
- jcragcrumple

Who could’ve fit that trade/who would you have liked to see

Dear Pachla,

Another swell write up, I agree Montour starts on the first pairing with the hopes that Joker takes it by Christmas. One can only dream of a competent pairing to moving the needle North-South...until next time.


-WU20


P.S. Fall titties bring out the creative side....

Who could’ve fit that trade/who would you have liked to see
- washedup20

Anyone I say will be picked apart and called unreasonable for a variety of reasons. I also dont know what names were available, because before the Montour trade, I doubt anyone would have thought he was available until it happened.

That said, how about Mark Stone and then we trade Bogo or Risto and sheary to make room. I know, everyone will say he never would have re-signed here.

HE was not a successful HEAD coach in Buffalo. He was was a proven successful assistant coach with the ability to run a D driven system with skilled players and a cohesive team and a solid culture established.
We did not have any of the above. Did Housley fail because he is a terrible coach or is Buffalo toxic? Will Krueger fall prey to the same? Hard to say. I believe the true test will be 2020-21 once we have freed ourselves of all or most of our GMTM players, Eichel has a solid year under his belt to mature
- lulags

More than anything else, isn't the head coach responsible for setting the tone of the franchise? Isn't the tactical decisionmaking, skill development, and physical conditioning typically delegated to others, and the HEAD coach is the one who makes sure everybody has a job, everybody is doing their job, and everybody understands the way the team is going to operate as a collective?

I would love to hear directly from Botts on the thinking behind loading up on 2nd and 3rd pairing RhDs,
and
What is currently holding up trade of one of the RhD; is it more the:
-value of the asset(s) coming back is subpar
-unsigned RFA pool is holding things up due to uncertainty of Cap Space.

I would have to believe that at this point, the GM's have a solid idea of the Cap hit for their unsigned players ... At least enough of an idea that they could move forward if motivated to do so.

HE was not a successful HEAD coach in Buffalo. He was was a proven successful assistant coach with the ability to run a D driven system with skilled players and a cohesive team and a solid culture established.
We did not have any of the above. Did Housley fail because he is a terrible coach or is Buffalo toxic? Will Krueger fall prey to the same? Hard to say. I believe the true test will be 2020-21 once we have freed ourselves of all or most of our GMTM players, Eichel has a solid year under his belt to mature
- lulags

Before housley was hired, there was a thought that Nashville's defense was a product of his coaching.

He left Nashville and they were just as good, if not better.
That eliminated "housley is a good coach " theory

Then he had 2 of the worst seasons in history. Our defense looked terrible.

Now you want to hire him as a defensive coach?
Because eichel naturally grew as a player?

I disagree

Eichel could have had more points without lousley

I understand what you're saying, but I dont agree with Botterill's asymmetrical, BPA roster building that oversupplies some positions and leaves others lacking.

Although if it works, I reserve the right to change my mind and I will not admit I'm wrong
- jcragcrumple

Feels like he's focused on next season and willing to mis-fit a few guys to get where he wants to go, if a deal doesn't fall into place. I'm fine with it, but I think he would take back a few decent trades, if he knew what he could pull off later.

Dear Pachla,

Another swell write up, I agree Montour starts on the first pairing with the hopes that Joker takes it by Christmas. One can only dream of a competent pairing to moving the needle North-South...until next time.


-WU20


P.S. Fall titties bring out the creative side....
- washedup20

I would love to hear directly from Botts on the thinking behind loading up on 2nd and 3rd pairing RhDs,
and
What is currently holding up trade of one of the RhD; is it more the:
-value of the asset(s) coming back is subpar
-unsigned RFA pool is holding things up due to uncertainty of Cap Space.

I would have to believe that at this point, the GM's have a solid idea of the Cap hit for their unsigned players ... At least enough of an idea that they could move forward if motivated to do so.
- IonSabres

as long as your 3rd LD is Scandella

expect one of the RD to play LD

Feels like he's focused on next season and willing to mis-fit a few guys to get where he wants to go, if a deal doesn't fall into place. I'm fine with it, but I think he would take back a few decent trades, if he knew what he could pull off later.
- Lunaion

risto to 2RW

Anyone I say will be picked apart and called unreasonable for a variety of reasons. I also dont know what names were available, because before the Montour trade, I doubt anyone would have thought he was available until it happened.

That said, how about Mark Stone and then we trade Bogo or Risto and sheary to make room. I know, everyone will say he never would have re-signed here.
- jcragcrumple

Guhle and both 1st’s might’ve done it

Guhle and both 1st’s might’ve done it
- washedup20

I love Montour but I would have given my left arm for stone. Of course you can't make that trade without knowing if he would stay.

risto to 2RW
- SabresFaninIndiana

Sh!t. Why not?

Feels like he's focused on next season and willing to mis-fit a few guys to get where he wants to go, if a deal doesn't fall into place. I'm fine with it, but I think he would take back a few decent trades, if he knew what he could pull off later.
- Lunaion

I don't subscribe to the theory that the master plan was always to be good next year, not this year. If that ends up being the case, it's simply because he made the wrong moves or not enough moves for this year

if that were the case, why trade for sheary, why trade for vesey, why sign johansson, why fire the coach?

Before housley was hired, there was a thought that Nashville's defense was a product of his coaching.

He left Nashville and they were just as good, if not better.
That eliminated "housley is a good coach " theory

Then he had 2 of the worst seasons in history. Our defense looked terrible.

Now you want to hire him as a defensive coach?
Because eichel naturally grew as a player?

I disagree

Eichel could have had more points without lousley
- Boss34

I'm not so sure of all of this.

Housley needs to shoulder the bulk of the blame for the defensive lapses.

That said, a couple of other thoughts to ponder
- Smith was the Defensive Coach last season and now continues under Krueger, who is not a X&O HC. So, it looks like the system design and implementation will be on Smith. I guess we shall see if it was the system or the players who have failed now in 2 systems over last 4 years. This assumes That Smith will change the Dsystem.
-Maybe Nashville had backfilled Housley with another competent DCoach...thus no dropoff. So it points to the quality of the replacement versus the likelihood Housley and his successor have/had nothing to do with their D success in Nashville.
-to what degree does the Defensive play of the Forwards impact the overall effectiveness of D system. Does/did Nashville as a team committ themselves to a successful Dsystem. Has Buffalo's players committed as significantly in the past...more importantly, will they in the future? After all, the players have collectively failed miserably under 2 staffs with different systems.

In any event, will be interesting to see the impact of Krueger on this roster.

-

Sh!t. Why not?
- seedy

In this day and age, nothing surprises me

Hell Shatner just found out he had to clean his CPAP machine

Sh!t. Why not?
- seedy

He is NOT one that creates offense. I tend to like my second line players to be good with the puck.

I'm not so sure of all of this.

Housley needs to shoulder the bulk of the blame for the defensive lapses.

That said, a couple of other thoughts to ponder
- Smith was the Defensive Coach last season and now continues under Krueger, who is not a X&O HC. So, it looks like the system design and implementation will be on Smith. I guess we shall see if it was the system or the players who have failed now in 2 systems over last 4 years. This assumes That Smith will change the Dsystem.
-Maybe Nashville had backfilled Housley with another competent DCoach...thus no dropoff. So it points to the quality of the replacement versus the likelihood Housley and his successor have/had nothing to do with their D success in Nashville.
-to what degree does the Defensive play of the Forwards impact the overall effectiveness of D system. Does/did Nashville as a team committ themselves to a successful Dsystem. Has Buffalo's players committed as significantly in the past...more importantly, will they in the future? After all, the players have collectively failed miserably under 2 staffs with different systems.

In any event, will be interesting to see the impact of Krueger on this roster.

-
- IonSabres

So housleys replacement was back filled and better than housley?

Although housley was the head coach, Steve Smith the defensive coach ( for just 1 of the 2 years housley was here) is to blame?

Now krueger is gonna let him run the systems with no input, because hes not an x/o"s coach

Housley shouldn't be blamed for not coaching or implementing a system where forwards help on d?



This is on phail, you'll see. He was terrible.

So you want them to rehire him to run the d too?

I don't subscribe to the theory that the master plan was always to be good next year, not this year. If that ends up being the case, it's simply because he made the wrong moves or not enough moves for this year

if that were the case, why trade for sheary, why trade for vesey, why sign johansson, why fire the coach?
- jcragcrumple

Not sure what you're pointing out here. This isn't a throw away season. Housley had to go. Johansson is an upgrade and will be here next year, but it forces someone out of position this year. Same with Miller.

I would love to hear directly from Botts on the thinking behind loading up on 2nd and 3rd pairing RhDs,
and
What is currently holding up trade of one of the RhD; is it more the:
-value of the asset(s) coming back is subpar
-unsigned RFA pool is holding things up due to uncertainty of Cap Space.

I would have to believe that at this point, the GM's have a solid idea of the Cap hit for their unsigned players ... At least enough of an idea that they could move forward if motivated to do so.
- IonSabres

There was a report out of Finland last week saying that Rasmus Ristolainen inferred that he doesn’t want to be in Buffalo any more. Botterill said, “As I told you in June, my conversations with Risto I’m going to keep private, but we’re continuing to interact with Risto and we’re trying to set this team up where we’re putting Risto in positions to have success, yet he wants to win, but we’ve tried to add to our group to ease the responsibility of some players.”

He is NOT one that creates offense. I tend to like my second line players to be good with the puck.
- Slump Buster

https://youtu.be/v8CpsNDn2s8

I think he has the ability to create offense.
And he'd be no different then the other "power" forwards that aren't wizards with the puck but still pot 20/25. I've been beating the play Risto at forward for a while now. What's the worst that happens? His stock can't fall anymore.