Would Buffalo be an obvious playoff team if they didn't make terrible moves

[Miro4Norris]

Peterka-Eichel-Thompson
Hagel-Reinhart-Cozens
FA(Zucker)-Benson-Savoie

+ Quinn, K.Helenius, Östlund, Rosen, etc.. to develop or improve the team with trades

Byram-Dahlin
Power-Montour
Samuelsson-Jokiharju

Ullmark
UPL

Ofc this might be currently slightly over the cap with UPL as #2 etc, I dont know. Ofc some of these guys in last years wouldn't have been drafted if they were a better team. Maybe I forget some players they gave up in a bad trades. But that is some terrible asset management. I think this would be a one of the best teams in the league for a long time with a solid coaching and roster improvement with all these assets. Terrible work by Buffalo management.

How would you rank this team in NHL?

 

[hamzarocks]

Is that team cap compliant?

On paper if they somehow got all those prospects + kept the guys they dealt + could fit the team cap wise, then that's a cup contending team

 

[HugeInTheShire]

Peterka-Eichel-Thompson
Kulich-Reinhart-Cozens
E.Kane-ROR-Benson

+Savoie, Quinn, K.Helenius, Östlund, Rosen, Levi etc.. to develop or improve the team with trades

Byram-Dahlin
Power-Montour
Samuelsson-Jokiharju

Ullmark
UPL

Ofc this might be currently slightly over the cap with UPL as #2 etc, I dont know. Ofc some of these guys in last years wouldn't have been drafted if they were a better team. Maybe I forget some players they gave up in a bad trades. But that is some terrible asset management. I think this would be a one of the best teams in the league for a long time with a solid coaching and roster improvement with all these assets. Terrible work by Buffalo management.

How would you rank this team in NHL?

You realize that you have ROR and one of the guys he was traded for on this team right?

 

[Bear of Bad News]

Most teams would be obvious playoff teams if they consistently made good moves and avoided poor moves.

 

[Miro4Norris]

You realize that you have ROR and one of the guys he was traded for on this team right?

No I didn't realize that. I edited him off

 

[justHypnos]

You realize that you have ROR and one of the guys he was traded for on this team right?

And they got Montour by trading the pick they got for Kane. Kulich for Reinhart.

I also doubt Mittelstadt would’ve had the value to be moved for Byram at the time if he had been blocked by 2-3 centres.

 

[Miro4Norris]

Most teams would be obvious playoff teams if they consistently made good moves and avoided poor moves.

Yes, but not being able to keep guys like Eichel and Reinhart are just not random unlucky moves. They are terrible moves right from the beginning. I don't think any team has made as many poor moves than Buffalo on a last decade.

 

[Miro4Norris]

And they got Montour by trading the pick they got for Kane. Kulich for Reinhart.

I also doubt Mittelstadt would’ve had the value to be moved for Byram at the time if he had been blocked by 2-3 centres.

OK, didn't realize Kulich was drafted on FLA #28 pick. i edited ROR, Kane and Kulich off. Mitelstadt had probably more potential, and he also would have likely became a better player with a decent coaching.

This team is little nerfed now from what it was before, but I still think it's a great team.

 

[MNRube]

That team is a contender. Assuming they would move guys like Benson and Savoie for dependable bottom 6 vets. Much like the current version, this alternative version lacks defense and role players

 

[Macbanan]

One of the biggest issues is still that Power and Byram are firmly stuck in the "promising" category. Right now they simply don't have a good impact. Samuelsson and Jokiharju are just bad.


Adding Montour would be big but I think his style of defending would suffer and he might regress a bit and play closer to how he did when he was here.


Still think that team would make the playoffs but not much more than that without improvement on defense.

 

[LeonDraisaitl]

Buffalo would have been much better off finding someone that has a plan to put a team together, find players/playstyle that gels well, focus on the team culture and the type of players you want to build around.
Buffalo strikes me as the type to just add names to the roster like it’s gm mode

 

[VaporTrail]

Savoie isn't even an NHLer yet...What's he doing on the third line ?

 

[BB79]

The worst move they made is keeping Pegula as owner. He should trade himself

 

[PAZ]

Same as now. Maybeee playoff bubble team.

Doesn't matter how good it looks on paper, that team isn't going anywhere with how the team is managed. It's a bunch of skilled players that aren't leaders. As plenty of them have proven they aren't the problem, but I don't see one player that will steer the ship when the going gets tough.

 

[WADEugottaBELAKthat]

Yes, but not being able to keep guys like Eichel and Reinhart are just not random unlucky moves. They are terrible moves right from the beginning. I don't think any team has made as many poor moves than Buffalo on a last decade.

Yeah you never draft players #2 overall with the intention of trading them.

 

[Hockey2Hockey]

Yes, a team that makes less dumb moves is set up for more success.

 

[Miro4Norris]

Savoie isn't even an NHLer yet...What's he doing on the third line ?

Obviously this would not be the exact team if they were contenders but i just preferred to add some trade assets/future pieces to the bottom Lines to point them out Instead of adding some Random veterans who they could be traded if Buffalo were actually a contender.

 

[Painful Quandary]

The biggest problem was Pegula investing in Ehrhoff and Leino rather than scouting and development. Buffalo's drafting record is abysmal outside of the first round, and even there it is more hit and miss than it should be.

 

[Xspyrit]

Couldn't have kept Eichel, he wanted out

 

[sr edler]

Both Reinhart and Eichel wanted out and thus forced the hand of the GM. Getting Tuch back in the Eichel deal was as good of a return they could get, they were never getting someone like Theodore back. Kulich and Levi for Reinhart isn't catastrophic either. Kulich looks like someone who can be a difference maker.

 

[DJN21]

The biggest problem was Pegula investing in Ehrhoff and Leino rather than scouting and development. Buffalo's drafting record is abysmal outside of the first round, and even there it is more hit and miss than it should be.

The ehrhoff signing was actually brilliant until the nhl decided they could snap their fingers and change rules after the fact and penalize the sabres essentially for making it. He was a perfectly fine player for us on a relative song cap wise. The sabres had to cut ties to avoid a huge potential cap penalty against them after the rules were changed. That contract shouldve been grandfathered in. Alas...here we are.

 

[enthusiast]

They’ve made a lot of poor roster choices but the coaching and management issues were always the real cause of their failure (aside from tank years)

 

[BFLO]

Couldn't have kept Eichel, he wanted out

If they hadn't made so many dumb moves, they would have been a winning team, and Eichel would have wanted to stay.

 

[Painful Quandary]

The ehrhoff signing was actually brilliant until the nhl decided they could snap their fingers and change rules after the fact and penalize the sabres essentially for making it. He was a perfectly fine player for us on a relative song cap wise. The sabres had to cut ties to avoid a huge potential cap penalty against them after the rules were changed. That contract shouldve been grandfathered in. Alas...here we are.

I forgot how many of those compliance buyouts were about the CBA changes. Those ex post facto penalties should never have been a thing and those contracts should have been grandfathered in. I am not a Canucks fan, but the fact they got nailed by Luongo's cap recapture penalty when he retire with Florida nearly a decade after the CBA is ridiculous.

 

[Xspyrit]

If they hadn't made so many dumb moves, they would have been a winning team, and Eichel would have wanted to stay.

OK, but it becomes too many IFs at some point, even in a hypothetical like this poll