Confirmed with Link: Lindy Ruff named Head Coach, Press Conference at 1:00 PM EDT

[Dubi Doo]

Adams wants to dismiss it, but consistently having one of the youngest and least experienced rosters in the league makes it tough on the coaching staff to get them to play consistently enough over an 82 game season to be a playoff team.

The best teams have a solid veteran core to mentor the minority of young players that come onto the roster. It is not something that the coaches alone can do.

And we have seen throughout the drought that they have consistently relied too much on young players.

The top-4 has to be the youngest in the league. A sneaky good addition would be adding a veteran top-4 guy. After Adams latest quotes regarding the defense, I fear he's looking at Byram as the missing piece in the top-4; another young D man still learning on the fly. He also sounds keen on keeping Joki around. If that's the case, expect a D core of Sammy, Clifton, Joki, Byram, Power, and Dahlin. Seems like that would lead to the problem you addressed in your post.

I would not be pleased. It would reinforce my opinion that Adams struggles with identifying immediate moves needed to improve the team, and that's a concerning thought given this is a young team trying to take the next step.

 

[jc17]

It's not an excuse. It is the reality of the situation.

To think that the Sabres can do something that other teams cannot is some kind of arrogance.

And doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is the definition of insanity.

One or two vets and the youngest roster in the league hasn't worked for the past 4 seasons. I doubt it will work again if they are bottom 5 in youth and NHL games played experience to start the season yet again.

1) I wouldn't read too much into his comments about youth not being an excuse. That's a mentality shift for the players, given what they routinely heard last year. Even if its part of the reality, it functions on a spectrum. Being too young can be a reason for underperformance, but that message can lead to complacency from younger athletes. So if that's Adams' public message, I'm fine with it.

2) Adding one or two vets hasn't worked partially because they haven't been good. Again, EJ brought up that average age, but he was part of the problem. I want vet leadership too but not going to get caught up on arbitrary metrics like average age. We are losing EJ, KO, VO, Comrie, maybe girgs and robinson. The average age could very well go down, with the addition of quality players in their late 20s/ early 30s. Chasing a higher average age will probably make us a worse hockey team. Would adding a some washed up players for the sake of "experience and leadership" not be doing the same thing again and expecting different results?

 

[sabremike]

1) I wouldn't read too much into his comments about youth not being an excuse. That's a mentality shift for the players, given what they routinely heard last year. Even if its part of the reality, it functions on a spectrum. Being too young can be a reason for underperformance, but that message can lead to complacency from younger athletes. So if that's Adams' public message, I'm fine with it.

2) Adding one or two vets hasn't worked partially because they haven't been good. Again, EJ brought up that average age, but he was part of the problem. I want vet leadership too but not going to get caught up on arbitrary metrics like average age. We are losing EJ, KO, VO, Comrie, maybe girgs and robinson. The average age could very well go down, with the addition of quality players in their late 20s/ early 30s. Chasing a higher average age will probably make us a worse hockey team. Would adding a some washed up players for the sake of "experience and leadership" not be doing the same thing again and expecting different results?

It's really as simple as no veteran player with a NMC or any other options as a UFA wants to come here. There is absolutely nothing appealing about coming here as we are the single least respected organization in the entire sport with a toxic reputation among players. The only way KA ends up getting a useful veteran is if he pulls the hockey equivalent of an RA Dickey type rabbit out of his hat. Also want to note the dark humor of people simultaneously wanting some vets while wanting to run 2 of the few vets on the roster (Skinner and Girgs) out of town so they can be replaced by prospects.

 

[joshjull]

It's not an excuse. It is the reality of the situation.

To think that the Sabres can do something that other teams cannot is some kind of arrogance.

And doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is the definition of insanity.

One or two vets and the youngest roster in the league hasn't worked for the past 4 seasons. I doubt it will work again if they are bottom 5 in youth and NHL games played experience to start the season yet again.

I mostly agree with your sentiment about youth. But what are you referring to in regards to the comment …. “hasn’t worked for the past 4 years” ?

This front office’s team building has been going on for 3 years and only 1 had the playoffs as a target. The first two were development.

Adams f***ed up 1x thinking he could squeeze a playoff appearance out of this young group without adding vet help (not 4x). He paid for it with the season we just had. It sounds like he learned his lesson. But I’ll wait to see the offseason results before I fully believe that.

 

[Jim Bob]

I mostly agree with your sentiment about youth. But what are you referring to in regards to the comment …. “hasn’t worked for the past 4 years” ?

This front office’s team building has been going on for 3 years and only 1 had the playoffs as a target. The first two were development.

Adams f***ed up 1x thinking he could squeeze a playoff appearance out of this young group without adding vet help (not 4x). He paid for it with the season we just had. It sounds like he learned his lesson. But I’ll wait to see the offseason results before I fully believe that.

I would argue that part of the issues last season were a result of the previous three seasons where they did not insulate the kids with enough of the right veterans to show them the way.

Just like what happened with the Eichel/Reinhart wave of kids in the drought years.

In 2005-06, the top 5 forwards in scoring were 25, 29, 26, 27, and 24. The top 3 D in scoring were 26, 37, and 26.

In 2020-21, the top 5 forwards in scoring were 24, 25, 21, 28, and 23. The top 3 D in scoring were 20, 25, and 26.

In 2023-24, the top 5 forwards in scoring were 27, 25, 21, 22, and 24. The top 3 D in scoring were 23, 20, and 24.

This year, the Panthers top 5 forwards in scoring were 27, 25, 27, 28, and 27. Their top 3 D in scoring were 27, 29, and 32.

This year, the Oilers top 5 forwards in scoring were 26, 27, 31, 30, and 32. Their top 3 D in scoring were 23, 33, and 28.

The problem becomes that the drought does not allow for the patience to let these young cores get to the 25-28yo age/experience level that they really need to be at to be solid vets that know what to do. And they have never really been able to surround the kids with the solid vets like the Co-Caps and Teppo that the 2005-06 team had.

This squad has Tuch who fits that mold and then you have Skinner that everyone is wondering about...

 

[joshjull]

I would argue that part of the issues last season were a result of the previous three seasons where they did not insulate the kids with enough of the right veterans to show them the way.

I would say thats a terrible argument. Seems like you’re getting into some revisionist history to dump on the wildly successful development years.

We all knew those development year rosters had holes/flaws that needed to be addressed before playoffs was a realistic expectation. But they weren’t an issue for the focus of those seasons. The entire point was to have spots and playing time open for the youngsters and/or less experienced players. Are we going to pretend there wasn’t a sizeable amount of players who grew enormously as players because this? They form the backbone of the core and overall group at the moment.

The problem last season was Adams didn’t fundamentally shift his team building approach like he’s doing this off season (or at least is talking about doing). He didn’t address the flaws/holes in the roster and that was going to be a probelm with the shift in focus to making a playoff push.

Adams needed to take the next step roster building-wise and fill in around the group they had developed. Instead he had entirely too much faith in that group to take another step.

Just like what happened with the Eichel/Reinhart wave of kids in the drought years.

Adams approach is not at all like what happened then. Murray felt he had already built a playoff capable roster with his aggressive moves and coaching hire. He expected them to hit the ground running when Jack/Sam showed up. Adams gave this group 2 years of development with no playoff pressure. It wasn’t until year 3 he felt playoffs should be an expectation. Unfortunately he forgot to do his part to make it happen. Ironically the Jack/Sam era teams probably could have used some of that development approach.

 

[Jim Bob]

I would say thats a terrible argument. Seems like you’re getting into some revisionist history to dump on the wildly successful development years.

We all knew those development year rosters had holes/flaws that needed to be addressed before playoffs was a realistic expectation. But they weren’t an issue for the focus of those seasons. The entire point was to have spots and playing time open for the youngsters and/or less experienced players. Are we going to pretend there wasn’t a sizeable amount of players who grew enormously as players because this? They form the backbone of the core and overall group at the moment.

The problem last season was Adams didn’t fundamentally shift his team building approach like he’s doing this off season (or at least is talking about doing). He didn’t address the flaws/holes in the roster and that was going to be a probelm with the shift in focus to making a playoff push.

Adams needed to take the next step roster building-wise and fill in around the group they had developed. Instead he had entirely too much faith in that group to take another step.

Adams approach is not at all like what happened then. Murray felt he had already built a playoff capable roster with his aggressive moves and coaching hire. He expected them to hit the ground running when Jack/Sam showed up. Adams gave this group 2 years of development with no playoff pressure. It wasn’t until year 3 he felt playoffs should be an expectation. Unfortunately he forgot to do his part to make it happen. Ironically the Jack/Sam era teams probably could have used some of that development approach.

I have a hard time calling them wildly successful development years if we see the roster develop into a team that still doesn't know how to play consistent enough hockey to make the playoffs.

 

[joshjull]

In 2005-06, the top 5 forwards in scoring were 25, 29, 26, 27, and 24. The top 3 D in scoring were 26, 37, and 26.

In 2020-21, the top 5 forwards in scoring were 24, 25, 21, 28, and 23. The top 3 D in scoring were 20, 25, and 26.

In 2023-24, the top 5 forwards in scoring were 27, 25, 21, 22, and 24. The top 3 D in scoring were 23, 20, and 24.

This year, the Panthers top 5 forwards in scoring were 27, 25, 27, 28, and 27. Their top 3 D in scoring were 27, 29, and 32.

This year, the Oilers top 5 forwards in scoring were 26, 27, 31, 30, and 32. Their top 3 D in scoring were 23, 33, and 28.

The problem becomes that the drought does not allow for the patience to let these young cores get to the 25-28yo age/experience level that they really need to be at to be solid vets that know what to do. And they have never really been able to surround the kids with the solid vets like the Co-Caps and Teppo that the 2005-06 team had.

This squad has Tuch who fits that mold and then you have Skinner that everyone is wondering about...

I wanted to address this separately.


I’m not 100% sure what you’re getting at here. But it seems like you’re implying we need older top players. Is that what you mean by “solid vets”?

Specific to older top players or even key role players. Age doesn’t matter if they are effective in their roles. The Pens first Cup win Crosby (21), Malkin (22), Staal (19), Letang (21), MAF (23), Talbot (24). The Hawks were even younger at forward the next year as a Cup winners. Many top players and key depth guys on Cup teams have been under 25 years old.

Your team needs to be well constructed. It needs to have enough variety of skill sets to give the coach the tools he needs to implement his system and adapt as needed throughout season/playoffs.

You bring up Briere/Drury. Why that worked was the combination of their skill sets. It wasn’t about their ages. If Drury was another offensive center it would be a very different mix of skills and wouldn’t work nearly as well. Even though they were both good leaders as individuals.

Our main problem last season was a poorly contructed roster. Succinctly, there wasn’t enough defensive acumen or physicality.

 

[Jim Bob]

I wanted to address this separately.


I’m not 100% sure what you’re getting at here. But it seems like you’re implying we need older top players. Is that what you mean by “solid vets”?

Specific to older top players or even key role players. Age doesn’t matter if they are effective in their roles. The Pens first Cup win Crosby (21), Malkin (22), Staal (19), Letang (21), MAF (23), Talbot (24). The Hawks were even younger at forward the next year as a Cup winners. Many top players and key depth guys on Cup teams have been under 25 years old.

Your team needs to be well constructed. It needs to have enough variety of skill sets to give the coach the tools he needs to implement his system and adapt as needed throughout season/playoffs.

You bring up Briere/Drury. Why that worked was the combination of their skill sets. It wasn’t about their ages. If Drury was another offensive center it would be a very different mix of skills and wouldn’t work nearly as well. Even though they were both good leaders as individuals.

Our main problem last season was a poorly contructed roster. Succinctly, there wasn’t enough defensive acumen or physicality.

I think it is a yes/and as opposed to an either/or.

You need to have the right blend of youth and experience and the variety of skillsets.

They have not had either of the mixes right for a decade-plus at this point. And that is a roster construction issue that they continue not to get right over multiple GM tenures.

And I shudder to think what happens if Adams can't get the mix right this offseason...

 

[joshjull]

I have a hard time calling them wildly successful development years if we see the roster develop into a team that still doesn't know how to play consistent enough hockey to make the playoffs.

Come on. This is just lazy.

The two development years were wildly successful in their goal. Which was drafting, developing and growing the talent within the organization. A big part of that was developing a lot of young and/or inexperienced players at the NHL level. The goal was to grow them individually as well as fill out spots on your core/overall roster going forward. It was certainly not a team building approach designed for making the playoffs. Nor would it be capable of filling all roles. I think we all knew that. It also didn’t matter for the purposes of those seasons. But it was always going to leave holes to be filled externally before we could take the next step.

The mistake that was made was Adams changing the focus to making playoffs and not changing his team building approach. We paid for it with the season we just had had.

But for some reason you want it to be more than that. So you try to blame ever single season Adams was GM for their struggles last season. Which is bizarre to me for a few reasons.

1) After those two seasons played out, the holes we needed to fill were;
-Defensive 4C who was a faceoff/PK specialist
-At least 1, preferably 2, two way middle 6 wingers. Preferably with some size/physicality.
-top 4 defensive dman.

I don’t think many would disagree that these were needs. Not getting them has nothing to do with the previous two seasons of development. It’s entirely due to the GM’s inaction last offseason.

2) Why go back 4 years and lump in the Krueger year? Where the offseason roster construction focus was making the playoffs and Krueger had a big hand in it. It led to a vet heavy roster with a coach who hardly played youngsters. It has almost nothing to do with what came after beyond kick starting it.

 

[SnuggaRUDE]

They haven't won a single game since he was named coach. Just another signed of failed ownership.

 

[joshjull]

I think it is a yes/and as opposed to an either/or.

You need to have the right blend of youth and experience and the variety of skillsets.

They have not had either of the mixes right for a decade-plus at this point. And that is a roster construction issue that they continue not to get right over multiple GM tenures.

They certainly need the right mix.

But the rest is complaining to complain. The last decade plus? Why do you keep trying to make this bigger than it needs to be?

And I shudder to think what happens if Adams can't get the mix right this offseason...

I agree with you here. I’m scared and excited about this offseason. I’m just glad he has Lindy as part of his circle of advisors on the moves.

 

[Ehran]

I agree with you here. I’m just glad he has Lindy as part of his circle of advisors on the moves.

Absolutely agree with this statement. Having Ruff's voice in GMKA's ear instead of Granato's is a huge upgrade. Ruff understands what is needed to win in this league.

 

[Fjordy]

I'm sure Adams will listen to Ruff and do everything he says, because Lindy is his last chance. And considering that he acquired some players personally for Granato, then for Ruff he simply has to do it.

 

[SnuggaRUDE]

I'm sure Adams will listen to Ruff and do everything he says, because Lindy is his last chance. And considering that he acquired some players personally for Granato, then for Ruff he simply has to do it.

When they said they were going to find Matt Ellis a new role in the organization this isn't what I'd envisioned.

 

[HogtownSabresfan]

I'm sure Adams will listen to Ruff and do everything he says, because Lindy is his last chance. And considering that he acquired some players personally for Granato, then for Ruff he simply has to do it.

You think Adams is the problem. It is Pegula.

 

[HogtownSabresfan]

Absolutely agree with this statement. Having Ruff's voice in GMKA's ear instead of Granato's is a huge upgrade. Ruff understands what is needed to win in this league.

Adams is like the guy opening the door at Walmart. Pegula is the store manager. Can Ruff impact Pegula and getting him to stop playing GM?

 

[Ehran]

Adams is like the guy opening the door at Walmart. Pegula is the store manager. Can Ruff impact Pegula and getting him to stop playing GM?

Didn't say that Ruff can perform miracles.

 

[HogtownSabresfan]

Didn't say that Ruff can perform miracles.

I agree. I love Lindy and he can likely make some significant improvements to the team here and there but Pegula is a major issue. Everyone knows it. You want the smoking gun, you probably will never get it. But inch by inch he is ruining the franchise. #hockeyhell

 

[Fjordy]

You think Adams is the problem. It is Pegula.

What's the problem with Pegula now, he doesn't give money for trades?

 

[HogtownSabresfan]

What's the problem with Pegula now, he doesn't give money for trades?

Keep enjoying hockey heaven and the parade of coaches and GMs and players under maybe the biggest loser in NHL ownership history. I have respect for Lindy and maybe he can overcome it all. GMKA is doing his best but he has been caught making way too many BS statements lately. He is a Pegula fart catcher.

 

[Fjordy]

Keep enjoying hockey heaven and the parade of coaches and GMs and players under maybe the biggest loser in NHL ownership history. I have respect for Lindy and maybe he can overcome it all. GMKA is doing his best but he has been caught making way too many BS statements lately. He is a Pegula fart catcher.

No, I know Pegula was terrible as an owner and made a lot of mistakes, but I'm talking about now. I think Adams has carte blanche to improve the roster.

 

[HogtownSabresfan]

No, I know Pegula was terrible as an owner and made a lot of mistakes, but I'm talking about now. I think Adams has carte blanche to improve the roster.

I don't buy that. Unless you mean he will this year. He certainly did not on the payroll previously. The last two years ( I will give him a pass on first two years) he has been well below the cap. I am supposed to believe an NHL GM was willingly $22 M below the cap with a team missing D and ultimately one point out of playoffs in 2022-23. We never retain salary in any deals to boost value. These idiots showed GMKA absolutely giddy because he was able to dump Okposo with no retention. So Adams had no interest in using his cap space to get more picks at the deadline for two straight years? is he trying to sabotage himself? Doubt it. He is working within the parameters set up, and he has done relatively well given that.

 

[Fjordy]

I don't buy that. Unless you mean he will this year. He certainly did not on the payroll previously. The last two years ( I will give him a pass on first two years) he has been well below the cap. I am supposed to believe an NHL GM was willingly $22 M below the cap with a team missing D and ultimately one point out of playoffs in 2022-23. We never retain salary in any deals to boost value. These idiots showed GMKA absolutely giddy because he was able to dump Okposo with no retention. So Adams had no interest in using his cap space to get more picks at the deadline for two straight years? is he trying to sabotage himself? Doubt it. He is working within the parameters set up, and he has done relatively well given that.

At the same time, they paid Dahlin, Thompson, Power, Cozens. I'm not sure that Pegula doesn't give him money. He himself said that he had a plan for slow and gradual development. Last season he wanted to get to the playoffs, it didn't work out. Now I think he wants even more, an authoritative and experienced coach has come. I think they will spend. Let's see.

 

[HogtownSabresfan]

At the same time, they paid Dahlin, Thompson, Power, Cozens. I'm not sure that Pegula doesn't give him money. He himself said that he had a plan for slow and gradual development. Last season he wanted to get to the playoffs, it didn't work out. Now I think he wants even more, an authoritative and experienced coach has come. I think they will spend. Let's see.

The structure of those deals also included limited bonuses which would lower the actual cap it. I'm not going to criticize Pegula for not matching Toronto's salary structures which are pretty costly and a major strain on cash flow. But looks at Auston Matthews last deal. Just insane. Dude gets $16.7 M in first year. Even better, $15.9 M is paid on July 1.

Beyond being buyout proof, these July 1 payments make the contracts worth a few hundred thousand dollars more because of the time value of money where you can invest money at 5% in guaranteed income certificates.

Ultimately, they cost the franchise more but they manipulate the cap and create an advantage where you are effectively paying someone more.

Dahlin's contract is slightly frontloaded at $13 M this year but he has one signing bonus of $5 M on July 1 in 2024-25 and then nothing.

Cozens and Thompson also do not have heavily front-loaded contracts or bonuses.

Have I said before, I won't criticize Pegula on this stuff because they are major costs for a team in a smaller market than a place like Toronto.

But it is an absolute falsehood to say Sabres are using every advantage under the cap. They are not. It isn't huge, but every inch matters and the reality is a team like Toronto can get maybe a 5% advantage under the cap.

Even if it is not Pegula, I don't think any owner in a smaller market will do stuff like Leafs.

And to be clear. Not just the Leafs. Rangers did a similar thing with the Panarin contract. I do think Toronto is a leader in contracts like this.