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

[avocadosmoothie]

how are they nowhere near the playoffs even now? just baffling how bad that team is with the players they have

 

[Legion34]

I am starting to believe some teams just have environments that don’t work.

Every single Toronto player who leaves goes on to a cup or cup final.

Kane. Eichel. Reinhart. O Rielly. Ulmark.

The core didn’t work.

People always say nebulous things like “the mix is off.

Really I think it’s the environment.

 

[BFLO]

how are they nowhere near the playoffs even now? just baffling how bad that team is with the players they have

Worst owner in North American pro-sports.

 

[ijuka]

Usually if teams don't make terrible moves and make great moves instead, they tend to be better than they otherwise would be.

 

[RandV]

The problem with an exercise like this is you're including top picks over an 8 year span. Reinhart and Eichel came in 2014/2015, Dahlin in 2018 and Power in 2021. If the Sabres were in any way run competently they would have started building off the former group and being nowhere near the drafting range for the latter. Probably the biggest reason they wanted out is years after being drafted the team is still getting 1st overalls.

 

[Stephen]

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.

Just my take, but that is some lazy and outdated cliches about why Buffalo struggles. Over the years they’ve drafted, signed and developed quite a good roster of NHL talent in and ourside of the first round and have certainly had over a decade since the Leino Ehrhoff experiments. They are no more burdened by them as Toronto is by David Clarkson.

 

[Stephen]

The problem with an exercise like this is you're including top picks over an 8 year span. Reinhart and Eichel came in 2014/2015, Dahlin in 2018 and Power in 2021. If the Sabres were in any way run competently they would have started building off the former group and being nowhere near the drafting range for the latter. Probably the biggest reason they wanted out is years after being drafted the team is still getting 1st overalls.

A lot of teams benefit from having an earlier rebuild finished off with a latter rebuild. But you’re right in the sense that the success of the 2010s crop would have butterfly effected the 2020s crop and there’s a limit to how much the Power and after classes would be on the Sabres if all worked out. There’s a cutoff around 2021, when Jack Eichel, Ullmark and Reinhart were still part of the program.

 

[Panthaz89]

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

If the Sabres moved Benson for a bottom 6 dependable vet when the guy already beats out several top 6 players for the puck in contested scrums at 18 that would be a horrific move.

 

[Beerz]

What an absolute mess of a thread

 

[Beerz]

We still have Ostlund and Eichel lol

 

[Siidekik]

Still baffling how close they were in 2023. Wtf happened since then

 

[Perfect_Drug]

Couldn't have kept Eichel, he wanted out

He wanted a neck surgury of his chosing. Buffalo said No and only offered him a surgury of THEIR chosing. So he asked for a trade to a team that would alloe the surgury of his choosing.

 

[Beerz]

He wanted a neck surgury of his chosing. Buffalo said No and only offered him a surgury of THEIR chosing. So he asked for a trade to a team that would alloe the surgury of his choosing.

He asked for a trade before the injury.

 

[Beerz]

Lets just think about this whole concept of the thread.

We keep Eichel and Reinhart and still expect to get the likes of Savoie and Benson.

There is still so much wrong with the premise of this thread even after all your corrections

 

[Fatass]

Like the centres. Don’t like the hockey iq of the D. Playoff team for sure. But that’s about the ceiling. Need quicker to process D.

 

[Ace]

Apparently they wouldn’t be since they were still, according to the roster, drafting in the first half of the first round to take Savoie and Benson.

This is a stupid exercise because it ignores realities (Eichel demanded a trade pre-injury…when they had all the players you want them to have and finished in LAST PLACE IN THE LEAGUE. yes, with Reinhart, Eichel and RoR. Reinhart wasn’t re-signing so not trading him is losing him for nothing…which feels dumber than what you are blaming them for). It gives them their top prospects drafted higher than you think they would be ignoring THEY HAD THE PLAYERS WHEN THEY WERE f***ING BAD.

I understand the original premise was trying to give them both the guys they moved, guys they traded for in those moves, and the draft picks they made finishing where they did…but can you see how ridiculous that is?

 

[MNRube]

If the Sabres moved Benson for a bottom 6 dependable vet when the guy already beats out several top 6 players for the puck in contested scrums at 18 that would be a horrific move.

The lineup in the OP would not be waiting for a kid to develop while they have a glaring need for role players and checking Fs. Also, Benson will be 21 this coming season and has yet to eclipse 30 points.

 

[Painful Quandary]

Just my take, but that is some lazy and outdated cliches about why Buffalo struggles. Over the years they’ve drafted, signed and developed quite a good roster of NHL talent in and ourside of the first round and have certainly had over a decade since the Leino Ehrhoff experiments. They are no more burdened by them as Toronto is by David Clarkson.

My comment was more about how few players Buffalo managed to develop during the time period of 2012-2020, especially outside of the first round and some notable misses in the first. I read somewhere on this board years ago that Buffalo had been cutting corners with their scouting, which was a result of the pre-Pegula ownership and something that apparently took a while to correct. Knowing that, it would have made more sense for ownership to spend money on drafting and development for than UFAs, especially considering they were a bubble team at the time.

 

[Perfect_Drug]

He asked for a trade before the injury.

I remember that's how some fans twisted it.

But I believe he said he didn't want to go through ANOTHER rebuild: AKA deliberate tanking seasons.

 

[Fatass]

I remember that's how some fans twisted it.

But I believe he said he didn't want to go through ANOTHER rebuild: AKA deliberate tanking seasons.

And then he wanted a surgery the Sabres refused. Got traded to a club that had no issues with the type of surgery. Go it done. Healed up good and led his new club to the Cup.

 

[Beerz]

I remember that's how some fans twisted it.

But I believe he said he didn't want to go through ANOTHER rebuild: AKA deliberate tanking seasons.

No that was Reinhart after the Jack trade.

Jack was frustrated with losing understandably ..he told Adams to do something or he wanted out. It was reported by Bob MacKenzie.

Adams went out and got Taylor Hall and Eric Staal and that got Jack to back down. Sabres fell on their face again that season.. Staal dipped..Hall dipped. Next season Sabres were again struggling...then Jack got hurt and the surgery debate began.

 

[Beerz]

I remember that's how some fans twisted it.

But I believe he said he didn't want to go through ANOTHER rebuild: AKA deliberate tanking seasons.

Sabres never had another tanking season after Jack was drafted.

 

[Fatass]

Sabres never had another tanking season after Jack was drafted.

Intentionally.

 

[Beerz]

Intentionally.

Tanking is intentional.

 

[Fatass]

Tanking is intentional.

Sure.