Granato should be on the hot seat

[PunchImlach is Alive]

If Granato can't get them competitively to the at least the wildcard race this year, he should probably be in the hot seat next year. Like others have pointed out, Buffalo is still missing some parts. The depth at D is not going to cut it and there is no one reliable enough in goal. I can accept it being another year of growth for all the prospects and Granato can only play the cards he's dealt. I'm willing to be a little more patient because Granato actually iterates on his coaching and adapts which, after years of horrible coaching, I'll be thankful that Buffalo even has that.

I think I'm keeping a closer eye on what Adams is doing. Buffalo has a good amount of trade currency to shake things up a bit but if they can't get their defense sorted out by the deadline, I'll probably start getting a little concerned. Outside of Dahlin and Power (who is 20 years old), Buffalo's defense options and pipeline are very messy and paper thin.

 

[BHD]

He's like Quinn with the Rangers. He's the guy behind the bench until the team is ready to compete. As others have said, though, the roster isn't good enough.

 

[Mrfenn92]

Terry pegula

 

[Dulind]

GMKA needs to make some roster changes.... VO for sure, and maybe pull the plug on the Krebs experiment and shake things up a bit. There's room for improvement that can be done with a few changes.

 

[Sabre the Win]

Soon to be 13 years of missed playoffs.

 

[Frolov 6'3]

Love it.

Nothing against the Sabres but HF thought a dynasty was being build here.

A few great players and contracts does not make it a great team.

 

[sr edler]

I love his Chicago accent and how he says "harrrd"

Sabres roster isn't good. Their defense outside of the two big names sucks ass. The offensive depth is non-existent.

This isn't even true. Power's been very suspect defensively at times, whereas Erik Johnson's been excellent on the PK, and Samuelsson is way better than Power defensively but just can't seem to stay consistently healthy.

Perhaps when you think of defence that sucks ass, you're thinking about your own favourite team, the Pittsburgh "Everyone on this team is 38 years old" Penguins?

 

[hamzarocks]

Granato has overperformed as HC with terrible rosters. This years team have the same holes yet again.

It's sad that Adams inability might cost Granato his job in the end. It's hard to coach and develop players on a losing team.

Shopping list is still goaltenders, top 4 defenseman, 3C, 2 top 9 wingers.

Why aren't Rosen, Kulich, Savoie, Ostlund being used to address those top 9 winger spots at least?

By next year all 4 should be top 9 wingers at min along with Quinn coming back for the sabres

Might be 1 more year of pain for the sabres. Fire Adams, new gm comes in and makes a big move or two (drury/briere type) and they become a good young playofg team.

 

[HaNotsri]

Why aren't Rosen, Kulich, Savoie, Ostlund being used to address those top 9 winger spots at least?

By next year all 4 should be top 9 wingers at min along with Quinn coming back for the sabres

Might be 1 more year of pain for the sabres. Fire Adams, new gm comes in and makes a big move or two (drury/briere type) and they become a good young playofg team.

Yeah but we suffered needlessly both last season and this year. We lost our best two way winger and Adams does nothing to get a replacement.

We've had goaltending problems since GM Tim Murray, with Ullmark we had playoff pace 19/20 but our other guy Hutton had serious eye problems and lost every game from december onward. Result? Sign Taylor Hall and keep the semi-blind goalie Hutton...

At this point we'll start taking cap casualties before making the playoffs.

Right now we are making things too hard for Granato, losing is not healthy and falling behind early in an 82 game season us a coach killer. I feel so bad for the guy.

You'll get to see our captain Okposo next game and then you'll understand the PAIN that is the 23/24 Buffalo Sabres.

 

[sr edler]

When I listen to Granato and Adams talk they just sound so nice all the time. They almost sound like their team is a group of summer camp attendees. Can these guys really deliver some necessary tough love to their group, if they have to?

Another thing is their captain is incredibly slow out there and is taking dumb penalties. Can they really bench him if he falls off a cliff later in the season?

 

[BuffaloGooner]

Why aren't Rosen, Kulich, Savoie, Ostlund being used to address those top 9 winger spots at least?

By next year all 4 should be top 9 wingers at min along with Quinn coming back for the sabres

Might be 1 more year of pain for the sabres. Fire Adams, new gm comes in and makes a big move or two (drury/briere type) and they become a good young playofg team.

I am not sure what more Kulich has to do to get a look.

Instead they call up Brandon Biro (admittedly deserved) and Lukas Rousek. Why they played both over Tyson Jost is beyond me.

 

[Chainshot]

I felt a path forward was evaluating and improving his assistants last spring. It wasn't done, instead returning all of his Chill bros and Matt Ellis. It's not good enough.

 

[Deep Blue Metallic]

Who gets the blame?

A GM who hasn't filled fairly obvious holes in the roster, despite having numerous prospects and draft picks, and a ton of cap space to utilize.

A coach whose team has rarely looked ready to play this season, can't seem to make in-game adjustments, and can't implement an effective defensive zone system with much the same roster that finished 1 point out of the playoffs.

I look at the coaches in the last two games and wonder how much more a hardass disciplinarian like Torts could achieve with this underperforming roster.

Granato has a bit of runway still, but if the team continues to flounder it's time for some tough love.

 

[tsujimoto74]

If Granato can't get them competitively to the at least the wildcard race this year, he should probably be in the hot seat next year. Like others have pointed out, Buffalo is still missing some parts. The depth at D is not going to cut it and there is no one reliable enough in goal. I can accept it being another year of growth for all the prospects and Granato can only play the cards he's dealt. I'm willing to be a little more patient because Granato actually iterates on his coaching and adapts which, after years of horrible coaching, I'll be thankful that Buffalo even has that.

I think I'm keeping a closer eye on what Adams is doing. Buffalo has a good amount of trade currency to shake things up a bit but if they can't get their defense sorted out by the deadline, I'll probably start getting a little concerned. Outside of Dahlin and Power (who is 20 years old), Buffalo's defense options and pipeline are very messy and paper thin.

We missed the playoffs by 1 point last season. Being in the race again and missing would mean we’re stagnating under him, and if that’s the case, he obviously isn’t the guy and should be in the hot seat now.

 

[Mattilaus]

I felt a path forward was evaluating and improving his assistants last spring. It wasn't done, instead returning all of his Chill bros and Matt Ellis. It's not good enough.

Except for whoever handles the PK, they all need to go. PK coach can stay.

 

[bleedgreen]

I think it’s as simple as last year their skill level surprised people, and this year it’s not. The same chemistry isn’t enough to beat teams that are now expecting them.

I think they now have to work a lot harder to get the points, when last year it was fun. I don’t know that it’s coaching, I’m sure he’s telling them what they’re supposed to hear at this point. It’s on the players to outwork opponents instead of just using skill.

 

[Gregor Samsa]

Unless Buffalo is way out of it at the deadline they should be looking to trade a couple prospects and picks to get them over the hump. As another poster said, there is a risk of cap casualties because of the abundance of good young players and promising prospects. Can’t have spots for them all. This is the time for the Sabres to shift into the next gear

 

[HaNotsri]

We missed the playoffs by 1 point last season. Being in the race again and missing would mean we’re stagnating under him, and if that’s the case, he obviously isn’t the guy and should be in the hot seat now.

We overperformed greatly last season, it's reasonable that we regress a bit this year since we lost Anderson, Okposo got older and our top players are unlikely to repeat last years performance.
Looking at our roster I have a hard time seeing us end up better than 6th or 7th in the division.

 

[tsujimoto74]

We overperformed greatly last season, it's reasonable that we regress a bit this year since we lost Anderson, Okposo got older and our top players are unlikely to repeat last years performance.
Looking at our roster I have a hard time seeing us end up better than 6th or 7th in the division.

You expect a team with young players at every important position to randomly get worse because…? Aside from coaching, there’s no reason that should happen.

 

[HaNotsri]

You expect a team with young players at every important position to randomly get worse because…? Aside from coaching, there’s no reason that should happen.

Development isn't linear and Dahlin, Skinner, Tuch, Thompson have all spent plenty of time in the league. No reason to expect improvement from them. We likely saw som career best performances last season.

 

[tsujimoto74]

Development isn't linear and Dahlin, Skinner, Tuch, Thompson have all spent plenty of time in the league. No reason to expect improvement from them. We likely saw som career best performances last season.

Dahlin was 22 the entirety of last season. If this isn’t trolling, it’s a hilariously bad take.

 

[HaNotsri]

Dahlin was 22 the entirety of last season. If this isn’t trolling, it’s a hilariously bad take.

Or maybe your own take is pretty naive? No need to be impolite. I just don't expect players to imorove on their personal best every year.

 

[tsujimoto74]

Or maybe your own take is pretty naive? No need to be impolite. I just don't expect players to imorove on their personal best every year.

Feel free to tell me about all the defensemen that peaked at 22. I’m sure it will be a long, long list.

 

[HaNotsri]

Feel free to tell me about all the defensemen that peaked at 22. I’m sure it will be a long, long list.

I'm quoting myself here, typo included: "We likely saw som career best performances last season."
But yeah, me not expecting year to year improvement from all players and all our players doing better than last season again is the same as stating that Dahlin peaked at 22. Or maybe not?
Your reading comprehension is certainly below average or maybe you have had one too many drinks. You obviously can't keep a civil tone.

 

[Dirty Dog]

I'm quoting myself here, typo included: "We likely saw som career best performances last season."
But yeah, me not expecting year to year improvement from all players and all our players doing better than last season again is the same as stating that Dahlin peaked at 22. Or maybe not?
Your reading comprehension is certainly below average or maybe you have had one too many drinks. You obviously can't keep a civil tone.

It’s inherent in your posts. If you think a season is someone’s career best, that’s by definition their peak.

Really shouldn’t tell people their reading comprehension is poor when they are spot on. If you don’t like how yours posts are read, use your words better