Detroit got criticized on this board for bringing on a bunch of middle six vets with their cap space. (totally blocking thier prospects I am sure) Right now that veteran presence and play is helping carry them as the playoff intensity ramps up, while the Sabres left a ton of cap available and filled the roster with prospects barely out of puberty. To be a better team you need not only better players, but also the right mix of players. This team has skill, but no amount of patience will get them the size and grit they need.
KA and Granato have to realize that they are there now. Its time to start shaping this team into a more balanced group. Its also time to start installing a team system that includes team defense.
thr issue in Detroit is that they wanted to try and be competitive again when they didn’t finish the rebuilding process.
early on in their rebuild they had some poor drafts which is hurting thrm now.
more than half their team are going to be UFAs between summer 2023-2025.
based on buffalo roster they will have how many? Girgs, KO, the 2 they signed in the off season, Olofsson. A few of their RFAs coukd be UFAs in 2025
detroit didn’t draft high rnough to get a big piece but these signing will likely keep them in thst bubble zone where they draft 10-18 the next few years instead 3-10. Now they could see bettuzzi and larkin walk
We are very overstocked with smallish forward prospects that are unlikely to do anything about what we are missing in our middle six. Detroit recognized you need a more balanced team and went out and got what it needed. We doubled down on small ball.
They are two different philosophies, and I am not happy with ours. We are going to have to build a better middle six and at is going to take trades or UFA's to do it because the prospects coming are the wrong type. Thats just how I see it. You want to get caved even more? Be patient and add, Rosen, Savoie, and Ostlund to our middle six.
we finished strong last year and felt they turned a corner and wanted to see how this team goes.
the problrm is buffalo has a bunch of younger players still on ELCs this year who are still learning. You want to get fill in vets and block their development. No matter when players will have an adjustment period
buffalo also has to be careful of cap space.
Something I dug up while researching this morning-
The top 10 teams by points in the NHL ice a total of 7 players that are 22 or younger - Leafs ice 0, Boston 0, Devils 1, TBL 0, VGK 0, Stars 1, Jets 0, Kings 1, Hurricanes 2, Rangers 2.
The Sabres alone ice 7. (Power, Quinn, Peterka, Cozens, Samuelsson, Krebs, Dahlin).
That's a lot of growing pains that we're enduring this year.
yep…they have a young team. They would be much younger without Anderson and KO. They are learning.
Top teams have decent flows of prospects flowing into their system and don't need to have "growing pains" in the National League. Or they have GMs that evaluate NHL level skills and continually bring in players as needs arise.
I'm starting to sour on the idea of developing players at the NHL level, TBH. Or at least 1/3 of the roster at the same time. But.... to be fair this is as much of a problem caused by previous GMs as it is the current one. There hasn't been an influx of NHL level developed players coming out of Rochester in way too many years. Not sure what the answer is.
This team does need to develop its defensive game at some point, however. We're still seeing the same issues as we did last year and all this season. When does the team learn to defend? Because if we need to take another year for the team to learn to do that, it's another year outside the playoffs.
EDIT: If the answer is that the coaches say "it's okay if you make mistakes defending as long you are trying" that is fine. But there has to be some consequences for the continual mistakes and lack of effort, at some point.
top teams have even flow…not really. They trade off their high picks thrn hope something late 2nd or worse becomes nhl worthy. The top teams now all were bottom teams in the past.
this is what happens when they go through change by trading Eichel, Reinhart, and risto. Thry also drsfted high picks. You want to give them time to development.
the team will have an influx the next few years. Thsts what happens with a bunch of top 45 picks.
buffalo is likely that way come 25/26 season thry will have a young team under longer contracts
We haven't been a top team in a dozens years. You won't get there on just drafting prospects and waiting. This waiting until we get better, before making moves to get better, is exactly why we do not get better. If your going to be a good team, start acting like a good team, which also means not fast tracking prospects! Also, not being afraid to trade picks or prospects to get better.
The NHL in not a development league. It is a league for NHL players, and NHL ready prospects. The Sabres continuously bring up prospects before they are really ready because they have needs and/or hopes to fill.
I do not want to see ANY of Rosen, Kulich, Savoie, Ostlund in the NHL next year. Move on from Aspland, Olofsson, Mitts, Okposo, Bryson, etc. Trade or sign better players to fill the holes in the roster, and don't worry about blocking prospects. Worry about supporting the current NHL ready core players you have. Then when prospects get good enough to force your hand, then there are lots of ways to make a spot for them if you need them, or trade for something you do need.
Can't keep doing the same thing and patiently waiting for a different result.
go back and see what other “ top”teams did in their last 10-15 years.
I guess my counter argument is that GMs should look to insert veterans, either thru free agency or trades, to supplement rosters instead of rookies and 1st or 2nd year players.
Like I said earlier, I'm now leaning against the "develop in the NHL" model that the Sabres are employing. I honestly did support it at the beginning of the season but the players don't seem to be developing attributes (ie defensive responsibilities) that lead to winning consistently at the NHL level. We're 2/3 of the way thru the season and its the same problems.
from buffalo fre sgrnts want more money/ more term thst buffalo won’t offer to block very good prospects. I expect come 24/25 Peterka and Quinn are better than most who were available as UFAs
