Jason Botterill Discussion 3

[Rasmus CacOlainen]

What worried me in the presser yesterday is that it sounds like he’s not planning on any changes to the defense. Basically said Borgen and others will fill in for Pilut and Bogo until they’re back. That’s a little scary.

Montour, Risto and Borgen should be alright on the right. Left side of Dahlin, Pilut and McCabe is fine as well IMO. Scandella can be injury replacement #7. What exactly are you worried about? This is competent defence corp in my books if the coach is not a conplete Baffoon like Housley and goaltending is at league-average level. Our issue is scoring much more so than this set of defencemen, especially if Skinner is gone. Botts is not a magician, he cant create quality players out of thin air.

 

[Fjordy]

Bryson has to break into the NHL like Girard and Butcher did.

 

[Jame]

Montour, Risto and Borgen should be alright on the right. Left side of Dahlin, Pilut and McCabe is fine as well IMO. Scandella can be injury replacement #7. What exactly are you worried about? This is competent defence corp in my books if the coach is not a conplete Baffoon like Housley and goaltending is at league-average level. Our issue is scoring much more so than this set of defencemen, especially if Skinner is gone. Botts is not a magician, he cant create quality players out of thin air.

Isn't that what your post attempted to do?

 

[SundherDome]

What worried me in the presser yesterday is that it sounds like he’s not planning on any changes to the defense. Basically said Borgen and others will fill in for Pilut and Bogo until they’re back. That’s a little scary.

I am hoping it is posturing. I would imagine GM's are aware that we lost potentially three dmen this spring and trying to take advantage.

 

[Buffaloed]

It's terrifying... it means a 3rd year of Scandella-Risto playing big minutes that sink winning.

Terrifying is being told that you have a brain invading tapeworm. This is merely disturbing.

 

[joshjull]

What worried me in the presser yesterday is that it sounds like he’s not planning on any changes to the defense. Basically said Borgen and others will fill in for Pilut and Bogo until they’re back. That’s a little scary.

The vibe I got out of his comments was the opposite.

I took his comments to mean he was looking to improve the team and wasn't going to let those injuries derail those plans. That any short term issues from trades and injuries could be dealt with internally.

 

[sabremike]

Terrifying is being told that you have a brain invading tapeworm. This is merely disturbing.

Honestly if I had to choose between the two I'd take the tapeworm every time.

 

[GellMann]

The vibe I got out of his comments was the opposite.

I took his comments to mean he was looking to improve the team and wasn't going to let those injuries derail those plans. That any short term issues from trades and injuries could be dealt with internally.

Yeah, it literally sounded like he was saying "no, pilut's 4 week absence won't stop me from trading Risto if I want to trade Risto"

 

[Man of Principles]

He's worse than most realize, especially those who think a lot depends on a single signing.

Everything matters, obviously. And when you put it that way it makes me sound like a simpleton. I'm just saying, having gotten a good scoring forward who can skate that well for that little price tag and being able to lock him down wouldn't be a bad thing for the organization/Botterill. I won't be the only one upset if that doesn't happen. I don't consider a lot of his moves to be fair value for Buffalo.

 

[26CornerBlitz]

From the just completed WGR interview with Howard and Jeremy:

#Sabres general manager Jason Botterill joins Howard and Jeremy next on the @WestHerr hotline on WGR! Tune in:

Botterill - There's been some feedback from our players on Ralph Krueger's hire, and it's been all positive. These guys will realize the passion, the energy and the commitment from Krueger from Day 1. #Sabres

Botterill - We were on a rollercoaster throughout last season, we need to have more consistency in our game. We might have gotten caught up in the excitement of the 10-game win streak and did not catch some of the holes in our game. (1/2) #Sabres

Botterill - Winning in the second half in the NHL is a change. Other teams started to go after our younger guys and it taught us a bit of a lesson. Now it'simportant that we don;t make the same mistakes next year. (2/2) #Sabres

Botterill - We relied on Jeff, Jack and Sam way too much this season. We have to continue to develop our own talent. We also have to protect the front of the net in our own zone, as well as getting to the front of the net in the offensive zone. #Sabres

Botterill on Mittelstadt - We have high expectations for Casey, and he has high expectations for himself. What I liked about him is compete and how he didn't shy away from battles. However, he did show signs of wearing down as the season went on. (1/2) #Sabres

Botterill - The offensive creativity that he can bring will bring him to that next level as a second line center. (2/2) #Sabres

Botterill - A contract is never done until you get it signed. Our talks with Jeff Skinner have been very positive. We'll continue our contract talks now that the coach is hired. Hopefully we'll find a way to get this done. #Sabres

Botterill on Johan Larsson - There's nothing to the reports of him leaving for Sweden. #Sabres

Botterill on Rasmus Ristolainen - We need top-four guys that can handle several different things on the blue line. He certainly has his faults, but we like what he does with his matchups. It's our job to surround him with enough talent and skill to help him be better. #Sabres

Botterill - I think players continually develop. At the age he's at, there's still plenty of development going on with Ristolainen. #Sabres

Botterill on video replay - You need to get it right. We need to find a way to get calls right. However, if you have all these delays, you're going to slow down the pace of the game. That's one of the best qualities of the game of hockey. #Sabres

 

[Fjordy]

Maybe Risto did not quit or Botterill just disingenuous.

 

[Zip15]

"Teams going after our younger players..."

"Have to protect the front of our net..."

"Have to get to the front of the net..."

Get ready for a focus on toughness this offseason. Wouldn't be surprised if we added one or more of McQuaid, Girardi, Polak, or Engelland (prob won't leave Vegas). I've always thought they're going to go hard after Lee or Ferland, as well, but guys like Vanek, Chiasson and Maroon are netfront scorers, as well.

 

[Chainshot]

"Teams going after our younger players..."

"Have to protect the front of our net..."

"Have to get to the front of the net..."

Get ready for a focus on toughness this offseason. Wouldn't be surprised if we added one or more of McQuaid, Girardi, Polak, or Engelland (prob won't leave Vegas). I've always thought they're going to go hard after Lee or Ferland, as well, but guys like Vanek, Chiasson and Maroon are netfront scorers, as well.

Could be the 2009 draft all over again as well.

 

[sabremike]

Could be the 2009 draft all over again as well.

 

[Jame]

"Teams going after our younger players..."

"Have to protect the front of our net..."

"Have to get to the front of the net..."

Get ready for a focus on toughness this offseason. Wouldn't be surprised if we added one or more of McQuaid, Girardi, Polak, or Engelland (prob won't leave Vegas). I've always thought they're going to go hard after Lee or Ferland, as well, but guys like Vanek, Chiasson and Maroon are netfront scorers, as well.

Sheary for Gudas

 

[Chainshot]

Sheary for Gudas

Wardrobe!



That would be useful for a pair of skates. If only.

 

[Fjordy]

Sheary for Gudas

LOL, I already today saw that deal on Capfriendly

 

[flashsabre]

Sheary for Gudas

Do Philly need scoring wingers? That would be a nice add to let Borgen marinate another year.

 

[Jame]

Do Philly need scoring wingers? That would be a nice add to let Borgen marinate another year.

I figure Gudas doesn't fit AV system, and sure Philly could use a speedy pretend goal scorer... an AV type of waterbug player...

I love the idea of one year of Dahlin-Gudas

 

[sabremike]

It's mindblowing that he may go down in history with Ed Johnson as GM's who made historically bad trades that ended up with the team he made them with winning the cup. The only way he would truly equal the Vince Russo of hockey in Hartford after that is if we ended up moving to Georgia 5 years from now.

 

[26CornerBlitz]

 

[Archie Lee]

I like Botterill. I think that outside of a couple of moves, hiring Housley and trading O'Reilly, his overall work has been fine and that we are moving in the right direction.

(I realize I just opened the door for an "...other than that, how was your trip to Dallas Mrs. Kennedy?" joke.)

That said, I didn't like his answer to the question of what went wrong last season. Everyone who watches NHL hockey knows that the games get tougher as the season moves into the second half and then into the playoffs. There were signs that the team lacked toughness and the necessary eagerness to stand-up for a teammate well before the all-star break. Keith Yandle's extended and undefended assault on Skinner in mid-December was all the evidence needed that the team did not have the necessary mindset to play tough games in February and March, let alone April and May.

I don't mean to add fuel to any anti-Botterill narrative, but part of the GM's job I think is to identify such shortcomings before they are exposed to the entire league. He states that he thinks it "...really taught our guys a lesson that this is how you have to win and these are going to be the type of games that you're going to play in the second half." I'm going to assume for now that he also learned some things about roster construction. He hints at this in his response to the next question and I suspect we will see a tougher roster this year and a different culture due to the head coach.

 

[Rasmus CacOlainen]

Botts so far:

Coaches
Signed Housley as coach - 3/10 (was worth a gamble according to this board)
Kept Housley for 2 years - 1/10
Signed Krueger as coach - 7/10 (good communicator, leader and motivator is what we need considering the mess the locker room is)
Overall: Bad

Signings
Signed the already secured by TM Antipin and then let Housley destroy him, but no real loss as he never looked like a full time NHLer and no cap repercussions - 3/10
Signed Pouliot who was trash, but at least cheap trash - 2/10
Didn't give Lehner a long term contract and then lost him for nothing - 5/10 (since it was obvious he had no place here and he had terrible off ice problems to deal with)
Signed Nolan who was atrocious - 1/10
Signed Seth Griffith who was atrocious - 1/10
Signed Remi Elie who was atrocious - 1/10
Signed Hutton who was meh for the money he makes but still better than some of the alternatives on the market, may get better under better coach - 7/10
Signed Josefson who was atrocious - 1/10
Signed The Chad who was atrocious - 1/10
Signed Wedgewood who is still atrocious - 1/10
Signed Tennyson who was atrocious
Signed Criscuolo who is not very good - 2/10
Signed Ruotsalainen - who knows?
Overall: Atrocious


Trades
Protected Ullmark for 6th round pick - 10/10
Pommer+Scandella trade to dump Foligno and Ennis - 7/10 (even if neither Pommer or Scandella are brilliant they are better hockey players to have than Ennis and Foligno)
Bealieu bought for 3rd round pick, was very very meh, then traded him for a 6th - 2/10
Scott Wilson for a 5th - meh - 4/10
Redmond for D'Lo - 5/10 (the definition of meaningless)
Got a late 1st, O'Regan and a 4th for Kane who was never re-signing with this mess of a franchise - 6/10 (more if O'regan turns into something, but this is very very unlikely)
Fasching for Hickey - meh - 5/10
ROR trade - 3/10 (I supported the trade, but I thought Berglund could be a useful roster depth player, then he f'ed off, grade can change down the line if Tage develops into a much better player, at least we cleared some long term cap but we lost a 2C, there was also clearly some pressure, whether from jack or from Pegs for ROR to be traded)
Got Skinner for a bunch for meh but now things hinge on whether he re-signs or not, if he does this is a 10/10 - 7/10
Got Montour for Guhle and a late 1st - 8/10 (but likely too early to say)
Got Hunwick and Sheary for a 4th - they are both pretty terrible but still better than a single 4th round pick and our cap allows having them - 5/10
Daugherty for Baptiste - meh - 5/10
Fedun for a 7th - better than nothing for him - 6/10
Bailey for Leier - meh - 5/10
Overall: OK


Draft
top10 picks - Mittelstadt, Dahlin - 6/10 for now
2nd rounders - Davidsson, Samuelsson, Luukkonen - 8/10 for now
3rd rounders - Laaksonen - 9/10 for now
4th rounder - Bryson, Pekar, Cronholm - 7/10 for now
5-7 round - Kukkonen, Wessbach, Kreu - who knows
Overall: Very good

Cap situation: Good

Overall grade all considered for me: Just about OK, but a lot hinges on this offseason moves, especially Skinner situation. Seems terrible at depth acquisitions, good at drafting, OK at trades and too stubborn to admit bad decisions (Housley)

 

[Tsyolin]

So I just listened to Botts interview on Howard & Jeremy that took place on Friday, and I have to say it sounded like I was listening to a totally different person. I gotta say I don't think I've ever heard him sound so laid back and loose, almost like Brandon Beane. Cause it always felt like he was uptight and business first on previous radio appearances. I wonder if that has to do with the Krueger hire, or if it's indicative of anything in general.

 

[Dreakon13]

Botts so far:

Coaches
Signed Housley as coach - 3/10 (was worth a gamble according to this board)
Kept Housley for 2 years - 1/10
Signed Krueger as coach - 7/10 (good communicator, leader and motivator is what we need considering the mess the locker room is)
Overall: Bad

Signings
Signed the already secured by TM Antipin and then let Housley destroy him, but no real loss as he never looked like a full time NHLer and no cap repercussions - 3/10
Signed Pouliot who was trash, but at least cheap trash - 2/10
Didn't give Lehner a long term contract and then lost him for nothing - 5/10 (since it was obvious he had no place here and he had terrible off ice problems to deal with)
Signed Nolan who was atrocious - 1/10
Signed Seth Griffith who was atrocious - 1/10
Signed Remi Elie who was atrocious - 1/10
Signed Hutton who was meh for the money he makes but still better than some of the alternatives on the market, may get better under better coach - 7/10
Signed Josefson who was atrocious - 1/10
Signed The Chad who was atrocious - 1/10
Signed Wedgewood who is still atrocious - 1/10
Signed Tennyson who was atrocious
Signed Criscuolo who is not very good - 2/10
Signed Ruotsalainen - who knows?
Overall: Atrocious


Trades
Protected Ullmark for 6th round pick - 10/10
Pommer+Scandella trade to dump Foligno and Ennis - 7/10 (even if neither Pommer or Scandella are brilliant they are better hockey players to have than Ennis and Foligno)
Bealieu bought for 3rd round pick, was very very meh, then traded him for a 6th - 2/10
Scott Wilson for a 5th - meh - 4/10
Redmond for D'Lo - 5/10 (the definition of meaningless)
Got a late 1st, O'Regan and a 4th for Kane who was never re-signing with this mess of a franchise - 6/10 (more if O'regan turns into something, but this is very very unlikely)
Fasching for Hickey - meh - 5/10
ROR trade - 3/10 (I supported the trade, but I thought Berglund could be a useful roster depth player, then he f'ed off, grade can change down the line if Tage develops into a much better player, at least we cleared some long term cap but we lost a 2C, there was also clearly some pressure, whether from jack or from Pegs for ROR to be traded)
Got Skinner for a bunch for meh but now things hinge on whether he re-signs or not, if he does this is a 10/10 - 7/10
Got Montour for Guhle and a late 1st - 8/10 (but likely too early to say)
Got Hunwick and Sheary for a 4th - they are both pretty terrible but still better than a single 4th round pick and our cap allows having them - 5/10
Daugherty for Baptiste - meh - 5/10
Fedun for a 7th - better than nothing for him - 6/10
Bailey for Leier - meh - 5/10
Overall: OK


Draft
top10 picks - Mittelstadt, Dahlin - 6/10 for now
2nd rounders - Davidsson, Samuelsson, Luukkonen - 8/10 for now
3rd rounders - Laaksonen - 9/10 for now
4th rounder - Bryson, Pekar, Cronholm - 7/10 for now
5-7 round - Kukkonen, Wessbach, Kreu - who knows
Overall: Very good

Cap situation: Good

Overall grade all considered for me: Just about OK, but a lot hinges on this offseason moves, especially Skinner situation. Seems terrible at depth acquisitions, good at drafting, OK at trades and too stubborn to admit bad decisions (Housley)

Considering you arbitrarily doubled up negative points on the Housley hire, and many of his bad signings were ultimately intended for the AHL (and were very effective there sans Wedgewood) and graded poorly because everyone here hates AHL signings... I'd say Botts is probably slightly above OK.