Retrospectively Did The Sabers Give Up Too Early On Guys Or Were They Never Gonna Get it Done in Buffalo?

dirtydanglez

Registered User
Oct 30, 2022
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I've never cared for the Buffalo/Ottawa comparison.
The main problem with Ottawa has been extremely cheap ownership who wouldn't give management the necessary resources to succeed, fostered a hostile relationship with players, and didn't hold incompetent coaches/front office people accountable for amateur hour stunts.
The main problem with Buffalo has been poor player evaluation. For the past decade, they've built their Top 6 and Top 4 based on draft position--not readiness or actual ability. And they always dish out premature contracts that screw the cap table.
arent the pegulas known for being cheap? i thought buffalo did heavy video scouting just because they didn't want to pay for the extras with in person scouting.
 

Mattilaus

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Sep 12, 2014
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Beyond the Wall
arent the pegulas known for being cheap? i thought buffalo did heavy video scouting just because they didn't want to pay for the extras with in person scouting.
Yes.

If you want proof just look at the last two years where we were supposedly trying to make the playoffs. We are 28th in spending this year. Last year we were 29th with over 10m in cap space unused. If the owner wasn't cheap you'd think we'd like.....use the cap space in a year where we are supposed to be going for it.
 

tucker3434

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Apr 7, 2007
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It doesn’t matter until the team turns the corner. None of those guys individually would have done it. Until that point, the team is less than the sum of its parts. After, more. But they haven’t had that transcendent talent to drag them to the next step.
 

VaporTrail

Registered User
Mar 2, 2011
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It didn't matter when they got rid of them...they would not have enough been successful with the guys they let go....There's a losing culture in Buffalo that had to be changed first.
 

Dubi Doo

Registered User
Aug 27, 2008
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They were on far, far worse teams with terrible GMs.

Buffalo fans knew any chance of building a contender went out the window when Botts traded O'Reilly. Eichel then got pissy because...why wouldn't he? He was on trash teams that were poorly coached for his entire career. Reinhart they screwed the pooch on by not locking him up long-term. They were good players surrounded by bad mentors, mediocre teammates, and, worst of all, they had GMs who were ass at their jobs. Pegula also appears (or appeared) to be too involved.

That's what it takes to have the longest playoff drought in the league, so no, the Sabres are (and were) always going to be bad- to-average until they find good management.
 
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SeanMoneyHands

Registered User
Apr 18, 2019
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The owner doesn't want to spend money on free agent signings. And they've been rebuilding since the 80's. Probably the worst ran franchise in the league.
 

Soundwave

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Mar 1, 2007
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The owner doesn't want to spend money on free agent signings. And they've been rebuilding since the 80's. Probably the worst ran franchise in the league.

Eh that's a bit of a stretch. They were in a Cup Final in 1999 and in a Conference Finals in 2006 and 2007. They've been rebuilding like since like 2012 not the 1980s, that's a bit ridiculous. Are you gonna argue the Flames for example have done a lot more than the Sabres in that same time span in the last 30 years?
 

Dread Clawz

LAWSonic Boom
Nov 25, 2006
28,082
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Pennsylvania
Buffalo is the youngest team with the least experienced roster in the league.

It's rather trope-ish to say that, but they needed veterans to help them learn how to win in the league. The Jagr trade was one of the most important trades in Panthers' history. They were a loser franchise, with a losing mentality where veterans only went to coast. Jagr changed Barkov and Ekblad.

Huby too, who was traded for Tkachuk.
 

Steddy33

Registered User
Jan 7, 2012
1,833
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You could write a best seller about the Pegula ownership's failings. Clueless fan owners meddling in a team and blaming everyone else but themselves. There's problems at every level of the organization but it starts at the top. It always starts at the top
 

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