The 2024-2025 Roster Thread

[Dirty Dog]

Nah, you'd still have a soft, low IQ defense corp. Botts literally sold off the balls off the team.

Sounds like we need to combine them all with Murray too

 

[ValJamesDuex]

Quinn for Zegras? Anaheim probably doesn't do it.

Not sure what happened to Quinn but he is a shell of himself right now.

Ostlund ? Although I doubt KA would do it.

 

[Deep Blue Metallic]

They continue to play like the youngest team in the league. Leaning on so many 24 and under guys year after year... it's the same thing over and over. The guys who understand how to play a professional game are usually in their mid-20's. Youth is being served and it's being served on a platter for the rest of the league to feast upon again.

Youngest team in the league almost always means no playoffs. But let's consider those 24 and under players in terms of NHL experience ...

Player	Age	NHL Seasons With 10+ Games	Games Played
Benson	19	2nd	90
Cozens	23	5th	305
Krebs	23	4th	239
Kulich	20	1st	17
Quinn	23	3rd	128
Byram	23	5th	189
Dahlin	24	7th	461
Power	22	3rd	188
Samuelsson	24	5th	163

Kulich obviously gets a pass. Benson is arguably the most consistent at making the sensible play, and is busting his ass every shift. He should be an example for the rest of that list, and the entire team, frankly.

Dahlin and Cozens should be considered savvy vets in terms of experience. Does their play match that experience? Nope, sorry, I want way more. Same with Power, to a lesser extent; yes, playing defense is a challenge, but please start justifying your 1OA pedigree 188 games deep.

I feel horrible for Quinn, given his struggles with injury, but he's done nothing but regress.

Sure, youngest team in the league is not a formula for success, but let's not excuse unacceptably slow progress from young players already with plenty of NHL experience under their belts.

 

[SundherDome]

Buffalo just needs to pick an identity and go with it. Right now I think they're struggling with how to play.

They were all good with run and gun, outscoring teams, defense be damned. And it almost worked. Had Buffalo's power play and PK been more effective two years ago, they would've made the playoffs. And that was before UPL emerged.

There are other styles. They could play the Islanders defensive style. The Florida/old LA Kings power style. The Lightning / old Blackhawks possession style. At this point, I don't think anyone cares. Just pick a method and do it.

This high-talent roster playing a defensive style, without the horses on defense, isn't working.

They can't play possession because they just cough it up every single time. There were so many plays yesterday where the dmen hit the redline, and dumped it in as the team was changing and Colorado just grabbed the puck uncontested with speed and moved it out. They need to understand what the situation is each time and they just don't, they follow the teleprompter instead of instinct to stop, pull it back, keep possession, let the change happen and then resume.

 

[OkimLom]

Sounds like we need to combine them all with Murray too

One hires the coach, one builds the main roster, one handles the drafting/prospects…let’s get crazy

 

[MagnumForce2]

I would like to see Kulich on the 1st line with Thompson and Tuch against Winnipeg. Peterka, Benson and whoever on 2nd line

 

[SabresFan26]

I would like to see Kulich on the 1st line with Thompson and Tuch against Winnipeg. Peterka, Benson and whoever on 2nd line

What has Kulich done to deserve it? 2 points in 16 games.

 

[Ace]

What has Kulich done to deserve it? 2 points in 16 games.

He outworks everyone but Benson every night with a rotating cast of line mates while getting the least minutes among forwards

It’s not a fantasy lineup. And…even if it were…who in the world do you think is blowing away that stat line right now? Peterka’s one goal in November while being fed offensive zone starts? Quinn’s one empty net goal on the year?

 

[MagnumForce2]

What has Kulich done to deserve it? 2 points in 16 games.

So the same lines as against Colorado?

 

[Mattilaus]

One hires the coach, one builds the main roster, one handles the drafting/prospects…let’s get crazy

Which one is which?

 

[Fjordy]

Marino, for me, would have been and still is a hard pass. Kovacevic and Jensen would have been interesting but feel they would have been just as bad as what we have now. Fabbro, I would have taken a chance on for something dirt cheap future considerations or Glotov's rights ).

Well I disagree, Marino has always been good for me. Jensen seemed decent in Ottawa covering Chabot/Sanderson. Kovacevic looks like a diamond that just got overlooked. Just needs to work and not sit back like Adams does.

 

[paulmm3]

From a medical standpoint, I lay some of the blame for the current state of the Sabres at the feet of the team orthopedic surgeons. They should have let Jack Eichel have an ADR like he wanted and like Vegas did instead of insisting on fusion or nothing. The evidence is equivocal and a spinal fusion is a much older and better studied procedure. His orthopedists were too uncomfortable with newer procedures. The orthopedists in Vegas and many other places felt differently. Not only did they feel uncomfortable with a new procedure many others looked at the same evidence and felt comfortable with - they felt so strong in their conviction as to run him out of town.

Our team orthopedic surgeons were wrong. Jack's artificial disc is holding up fine to an NHL workload, and he is flourishing. I would love for Jack to be our current 1C.

 

[ValJamesDuex]

From a medical standpoint, I lay some of the blame for the current state of the Sabres at the feet of the team orthopedic surgeons. They should have let Jack Eichel have an ADR like he wanted and like Vegas did instead of insisting on fusion or nothing. The evidence is equivocal and a spinal fusion is a much older and better studied procedure. His orthopedists were too uncomfortable with newer procedures. The orthopedists in Vegas and many other places felt differently. Not only did they feel uncomfortable with a new procedure many others looked at the same evidence and felt comfortable with - they felt so strong in their conviction as to run him out of town.

Our team orthopedic surgeons were wrong. Jack's artificial disc is holding up fine to an NHL workload, and he is flourishing. I would love for Jack to be our current 1C.

and another reason why players and agents want nothing to do with this place until the name at the top changes.

 

[Tijuana Donkey Show]

The 4th line is never actually together.

This team is going to live and die by Quinn Cozens and Peterka's production this year.

And the crazy part is, PegAdams thought this was a great idea!

 

[HaNotsri]

View attachment 940181
Which one is which?

To tired to look it up but there's one where all look like the one to the right.

 

[TehDoak]

From a medical standpoint, I lay some of the blame for the current state of the Sabres at the feet of the team orthopedic surgeons. They should have let Jack Eichel have an ADR like he wanted and like Vegas did instead of insisting on fusion or nothing. The evidence is equivocal and a spinal fusion is a much older and better studied procedure. His orthopedists were too uncomfortable with newer procedures. The orthopedists in Vegas and many other places felt differently. Not only did they feel uncomfortable with a new procedure many others looked at the same evidence and felt comfortable with - they felt so strong in their conviction as to run him out of town.

Our team orthopedic surgeons were wrong. Jack's artificial disc is holding up fine to an NHL workload, and he is flourishing. I would love for Jack to be our current 1C.

Eichel wanted out before the surgery though. That was simply the straw that broke the camel back.

There was 6 years of screw ups prior to the Eichel situation going south that were the issue. If they were a consistent playoff team, the Sabres probably have a better relationship with Eichel and let him have the surgery.

From the view point of "this guy wants out" I can understand them not wanting him to get a risky surgery before trading him. The big problem was they should have been much more proactive in letting teams have the full medical records and getting bidders lined up before the draft rather than letting the situation drag out.

 

[BFLO]

From a medical standpoint, I lay some of the blame for the current state of the Sabres at the feet of the team orthopedic surgeons. They should have let Jack Eichel have an ADR like he wanted and like Vegas did instead of insisting on fusion or nothing. The evidence is equivocal and a spinal fusion is a much older and better studied procedure. His orthopedists were too uncomfortable with newer procedures. The orthopedists in Vegas and many other places felt differently. Not only did they feel uncomfortable with a new procedure many others looked at the same evidence and felt comfortable with - they felt so strong in their conviction as to run him out of town.

Our team orthopedic surgeons were wrong. Jack's artificial disc is holding up fine to an NHL workload, and he is flourishing. I would love for Jack to be our current 1C.

Eichel has only played ~200 NHL games with the artificial disk. We're still very much in the "short term" window where most doctors thought it would be fine.

The issue is that a lot of doctors don't think it will last through a full NHL career. Will the disk last another 200-800 games? We still don't know. The potential consequences for the disk failing include paralysis below the neck and death.

 

[Sabresbyswords104]

Its not okey losing the game against Colorado. Something needs to change. 5 goals is to much , they need to make some trades .

Barzal and dobson for Cozens, 1 round pick, Byram and Hellenius

 

[michaelsaas]

We have talented players. Once they move to a winning culture they will thrive (see Reinhart and Eichel) bringing players who were good on other teams in will just make them crappy on our team.

 

[Fjordy]

Its not okey losing the game against Colorado. Something needs to change. 5 goals is to much , they need to make some trades .

Barzal and dobson for Cozens, 1 round pick, Byram and Hellenius

Dobson sucks, Barzal isn't perfect right now either. I don't like this deal.

We have talented players. Once they move to a winning culture they will thrive (see Reinhart and Eichel) bringing players who were good on other teams in will just make them crappy on our team.

What should we do then, wait for the youth to grow? No, we've done that before and it didn't work. And I don't believe in this nonsense that other players who come to us will all be terrible, it's some kind of myth. ROR wasn't bad. Byram, on the contrary, only started playing better. Zucker, McLeod, they were all decent. Almost anyone on this team should be available to make the right trade, and almost no one gives a shit about our futures. We learned that last summer.

 

[truthbluth]

So the f***ing move is benching Bryson for Johnson? That’s the big solution from Kyvyn?

Edit: Ugh, I just realized it probably means Dahlin is out, which is just great.

 

[Dreakon13]

What should we do then, wait for the youth to grow? No, we've done that before and it didn't work. And I don't believe in this nonsense that other players who come to us will all be terrible, it's some kind of myth. ROR wasn't bad. Byram, on the contrary, only started playing better. Zucker, McLeod, they were all decent. Almost anyone on this team should be available to make the right trade, and almost no one gives a shit about our futures. We learned that last summer.

It's a combination of these smaller, winning moves (ie. Zucker, McLeod)... and the glacial push towards getting a structure of play implemented that rookies and players brought in through trades/signings can understand and fit into easier.

If this team has had any success the last 13 years, it's all been on the backs of individual efforts and talents. Ruff is the first real coach with the first real plan we've had in forever, maybe since Bylsma or Ruff round 1, but now we're running into the problem of whether or not the players they've banked on are too far gone (or never were there) to play in a truly structured NHL system.

In a perfect world we'd just trade our top 6 for an already finished product, but that isn't how it works. There might be quality for quantity trade that needs to be made somewhere, if Adams is savvy enough, but no team has the assets to do that for all of the 4-5 players in the top 6 we have a problem with most nights. They don't really have a choice but to grow this group and try to get them working well enough to at least make the playoffs.

 

[Fjordy]

It's a combination of these smaller, winning moves (ie. Zucker, McLeod)... and the glacial push towards getting a structure of play implemented that rookies and players brought in through trades/signings can understand and fit into easier.

If this team has had any success the last 13 years, it's all been on the backs of individual efforts and talents. Ruff is the first real coach with the first real plan we've had in forever, maybe since Bylsma or Ruff round 1, but now we're running into the problem of whether or not the players they've banked on are too far gone (or never were there) to play in a truly structured NHL system.

In a perfect world we'd just trade our top 6 for an already finished product, but that isn't how it works. There might be quality for quantity trade that needs to be made somewhere, if Adams is savvy enough, but no team has the assets to do that for all of the 4-5 players in the top 6 we have a problem with most nights. They don't really have a choice but to grow this group and try to get them working well enough to at least make the playoffs.

Well, what's the problem, make trades, and don't wait until all the children grow up and possibly become influential players, you can wait forever.

 

[toddkaz]

So the f***ing move is benching Bryson for Johnson? That’s the big solution from Kyvyn?

Edit: Ugh, I just realized it probably means Dahlin is out, which is just great.

Its a short term solution and Johnson isn't the fix either because we need a more physical defenseman but at least Adams isn't blind. Thats step 1. Our only hope is he can make it to step 2 before its too late. Thats make a trade.

 

[michaelsaas]

Dobson sucks, Barzal isn't perfect right now either. I don't like this deal.

What should we do then, wait for the youth to grow? No, we've done that before and it didn't work. And I don't believe in this nonsense that other players who come to us will all be terrible, it's some kind of myth. ROR wasn't bad. Byram, on the contrary, only started playing better. Zucker, McLeod, they were all decent. Almost anyone on this team should be available to make the right trade, and almost no one gives a shit about our futures. We learned that last summer.

What Dreakon said - plus the problems are at the very top plus I don't know if I really care anymore what they do.