1752 replies to this topic

[LabattBlue]

I am very interested to see what moves the Sabres make between now and the deadline.  If there is little to no activity leading up to the deadline other than something like Leopold for a pick, I would guess that DR, along with the entire coaching staff may be sent packing in the offseason.

This is assuming that the Sabres continue along at a pace that would have them on the outside looking in, and even if they make a run for 8th, DR's hands may still be tied.

If it means the remainder of the dynamic duo is gone come April, I am completely okay with this strategy.

[LGR4GM]

I think we see moves.  If Rolston is confident/competent he will be asking darcy to move guys or acquire guys. Darcy would be gone already I think if Pegs had tied his hands.  Who moves, I couldn't say. I still believe a defender is jettisoned and 1 of our top 9 forwards takes a walk. I wouldn't be surprised if they try to open space for Getzlaf/Perry (If they are targeting them) Or they could go after O'Reilly in full force.

[TrueBluePhD]

My biggest fear is Darcy makes a series of shortsighted moves to save his own skin, to the detriment of the Sabres future. I hope he's on a tight enough leash where that can't happen.

[LabattBlue]

TrueBluePhD, on 21 February 2013 - 10:46 AM, said:

My biggest fear is Darcy makes a series of shortsighted moves to save his own skin, to the detriment of the Sabres future. I hope he's on a tight enough leash where that can't happen.

^^^ Exactly!

[Falstaff]

TrueBluePhD, on 21 February 2013 - 10:46 AM, said:

My biggest fear is Darcy makes a series of shortsighted moves to save his own skin, to the detriment of the Sabres future. I hope he's on a tight enough leash where that can't happen.

Not only would that doom him here it would doom him elsewhere.  He's not done that before and I doubt he starts now. If anything I fear that they don't do enough at the deadline trying to get into the 8 spot.  Get the youngsters in with Rolston here and lets see what we've got.  Grigorenko needs real minutes, as does Brennan as does Armia when he's eligible. Stafford needs to go and Armia can take his spot though I have no rush to make that move since Armia can't play here yet.  Sit on him and hope he goes on a run.  When he's on the run, move him immediately.

[ThirtyEight]

Falstaff, on 21 February 2013 - 10:57 AM, said:

Not only would that doom him here it would doom him elsewhere.  He's not done that before and I doubt he starts now. If anything I fear that they don't do enough at the deadline trying to get into the 8 spot.  Get the youngsters in with Rolston here and lets see what we've got.  Grigorenko needs real minutes, as does Brennan as does Armia when he's eligible. Stafford needs to go and Armia can take his spot though I have no rush to make that move since Armia can't play here yet.  Sit on him and hope he goes on a run.  When he's on the run, move him immediately.

Who would you sit for Brennan? Or whose minutes would you cut down? Brennan has done nothing this season - even on the PP, which is meant to be his bread an butter. I don't want a top 6 that has 4 players 23 or below (Armia, Coho, Ennis and Foligno)

[Touched by Boyes]

ThirtyEight, on 21 February 2013 - 11:03 AM, said:

Who would you sit for Brennan? Or whose minutes would you cut down? Brennan has done nothing this season - even on the PP, which is meant to be his bread an butter. I don't want a top 6 that has 4 players 23 or below (Armia, Coho, Ennis and Foligno)

I do, since that would be the first steps toward a rebuild and actually giving game experience to young guys. besides how much different is that from now when the top 6 has 3 players (Coho, Ennis, Foligno) and Stafford. Would you rather suck and not get better or suck and give the young'ns a chance to learn on the job.

The season is all but shot, give Grigo some real minutes and at least see what pieces you have for next year's build.

[IKnowPhysics]

I have an inkling that we let this roster pretty much ride for a few weeks while Rolston gets adjusted, that's unless Regier already had plans or unchangable desire to make moves before yesterday.

For instance, I'm not sure I see Regier getting O'Reilly at some great expense/risk, because he's already tried to cause change at great expense/risk.  But if the problems on the roster don't respond to the coaching change, then Regier better move them the ###### out.

[thewookie1]

I'd work hard on getting rid of about half the team in order to force a culture shift.

Sekera
Leopold
Stafford
Gerbe
Hecht
Leino
Adam
Enroth


Making the roster look like this

Vanek-Hodgson-Pommers
Foligno-Ennis- ????
Ott- Grigo- ????
Kaleta-????-????

Ott has the ability fit on lines 3 and 4, or 2 if need be + Faceoff guy
If we get Getzlaf or another center Ennis can move back to wing
If Grigo proves himself Ennis can move to wing
Pommers technically could be moved but would need to gain us a Top 3 forward
Players like Armia or other gained players have ample rankings open

Myers-Regehr
Ehrhoff-Sulzer
McNabb-Weber
Brennan

Myers shouldn't be traded unless deemed hopeless and gets us large return
Regehr will likely retire within a few years and be replaced by an AHL prospect we have

Miller
????

Reliable Backup and/or Miller's successor

[weave]

I'm hoping the Sabres are still players in the Ryan O'Reilly derby.  Let the rebuild continue!

[Touched by Boyes]

weave, on 21 February 2013 - 12:31 PM, said:

I'm hoping the Sabres are still players in the Ryan O'Reilly derby.  Let the rebuild continue!

Me too, it would further our transition to a younger team instead of the half rebuild/half contender limbo we usually do

[thewookie1]

Touched by Boyes, on 21 February 2013 - 12:32 PM, said:

Me too, it would further our transition to a younger team instead of the half rebuild/half contender limbo we usually do

If we get O'Reilly, I would probably want to trade Ennis then for a bigger winger, not a power forward but someone with size. Like a younger Hecht like player for the 3rd line.

Vanek-Hodgson-Pommers
Foligno-O'Reilly-Armia(next year)
Ott-Grigo-Younger Hecht like player(back when he was a quality two way forward rather than a defensive forward)
Kaleta-Porter-Tropp

[carpandean]

thewookie1, on 21 February 2013 - 12:26 PM, said:

If we get Getzlaf or another center

With Anaheim sitting at #2 in the league, I would just say "If we get another center ..."

[Spndnchz]

Pretty sure Leopold is gone.

[ThirtyEight]

Spndnchz, on 21 February 2013 - 01:50 PM, said:

Pretty sure Leopold is gone.

Mike Harrington ‏@BNHarrington
Let's just say I'm more than a wee bit suspicious of Leopold's "upper-body"..... He skated fine Tuesday AM. Gotta be deal coming.#Sabres

[nfreeman]

TrueBluePhD, on 21 February 2013 - 10:46 AM, said:

My biggest fear is Darcy makes a series of shortsighted moves to save his own skin, to the detriment of the Sabres future. I hope he's on a tight enough leash where that can't happen.

Given the re-appearance of Ken Sawyer in recent press reports about the Lindy firing, I'd guess that KS will have to approve all trades.

weave, on 21 February 2013 - 12:31 PM, said:

I'm hoping the Sabres are still players in the Ryan O'Reilly derby.

Me too.

[Sherman]

Who is Ken Sawyer?

[tom webster]

nfreeman, on 21 February 2013 - 01:57 PM, said:

Given the re-appearance of Ken Sawyer in recent press reports about the Lindy firing, I'd guess that KS will have to approve all trades.



Me too.

My guess is that there will be a tweak or two but no O'Reilly deal. If Reiger wanted to pull this off it would have been done before Ruff was fired.
My belief is that Ruff wanted a player of O'Reilly's make up as one of his top two centers. LR wanted nothing to do with Ennis as a center. Two things that came up in recent conversations both before and after the firing.
1) Lindy talking before Pittsburgh game about going into the season with the three young centers.
2) Darcy specifically mentioning Ennis, Foligno and Stafford as players who needed to play like the second half of last year.

No links, no sources just my thoughts.

Sherman, on 21 February 2013 - 02:10 PM, said:

Who is Ken Sawyer?

Senior Adviser.

[Falstaff]

ThirtyEight, on 21 February 2013 - 11:03 AM, said:

Who would you sit for Brennan? Or whose minutes would you cut down? Brennan has done nothing this season - even on the PP, which is meant to be his bread an butter. I don't want a top 6 that has 4 players 23 or below (Armia, Coho, Ennis and Foligno)

Other than Leopold?  Sulzer.  Pending UFA who should be moved if there is interest. Plus I think Sekera's gonna get dealt.

Brennan's only played on 6 games and is averaging about 16 minutes a game. He's averaging 2 shots per game which is just behind Ehrhoff's average. He's taken 12 total which is more than Sekera (11) and as many as Regher, Weber and Pardy have combined so on an offensively challenged team who is consistently getting outshot by wide margins he's getting shots in.

[TrueBluePhD]

Falstaff, on 21 February 2013 - 02:51 PM, said:

Other than Leopold?  Sulzer.  Pending UFA who should be moved if there is interest. Plus I think Sekera's gonna get dealt.

Brennan's only played on 6 games and is averaging about 16 minutes a game. He's averaging 2 shots per game which is just behind Ehrhoff's average. He's taken 12 total which is more than Sekera (11) and as many as Regher, Weber and Pardy have combined so on an offensively challenged team who is consistently getting outshot by wide margins he's getting shots in.

Getting rid of our second best defenseman in favor of a rookie who is a disaster defensively is not going to help our shot differential.

[Who Else?]

At some point the roster has to turn over some, or else what was the point of firing Ruff?  Just to please the fans?

[26CornerBlitz]

TrueBluePhD, on 21 February 2013 - 03:19 PM, said:

Getting rid of our second best defenseman in favor of a rookie who is a disaster defensively is not going to help our shot differential.

I don't get the eagerness to move Sekera.

[LGR4GM]

Spndnchz, on 21 February 2013 - 01:50 PM, said:

Pretty sure Leopold is gone.

ThirtyEight, on 21 February 2013 - 01:56 PM, said:

Mike Harrington ‏@BNHarrington
Let's just say I'm more than a wee bit suspicious of Leopold's "upper-body"..... He skated fine Tuesday AM. Gotta be deal coming.#Sabres

I agree I think he was traded and it was in the works prior to the Winnipeg game.  Maybe waiting on some final paperwork or such.

[inkman]

Spndnchz, on 21 February 2013 - 01:50 PM, said:

Pretty sure Leopold is gone.

The Lord works in mysterious ways

[ThirtyEight]

So is there any information about Leopold? Or is it just speculation?

[LGR4GM]

ThirtyEight, on 21 February 2013 - 03:38 PM, said:

So is there any information about Leopold? Or is it just speculation?

He was scratched against winnipeg and did not take part in the morning skate at all today.  It is just interesting that he suddenly has a "upper body injury"

RP
John Vogl ‏@BuffNewsVogl
Jordan Leopold is not skating with Sabres this morning. He is sitting in stands in Toronto in street clothes.

[Robviously]

26CornerBlitz, on 21 February 2013 - 03:22 PM, said:

I don't get the eagerness to move Sekera.

It's not eagerness; it's recognition that he's an asset that could net us something valuable in return.

[qwksndmonster]

Robviously, on 21 February 2013 - 03:43 PM, said:

It's not eagerness; it's recognition that he's an asset that could net us something valuable in return.

One person cited him as someone to jettison because of a culture change.

[LabattBlue]

26CornerBlitz, on 21 February 2013 - 03:22 PM, said:

I don't get the eagerness to move Sekera.

I would rather move any of the "elite" blueline prospects(Brennan, Pysyk, McNabb, JGL, McCabe, Scheistel, blah blah blah) before I moved Sekera, but in the right deal(O'Reilly) where you have to give to get, if the Avs wanted Sekera+, so be it.

[Spndnchz]

ThirtyEight, on 21 February 2013 - 03:38 PM, said:

So is there any information about Leopold? Or is it just speculation?

Just me speculating.  He may have been hurt in practice but I see no need for DR not to chuck him for a draft pick.

[Robviously]

Spndnchz, on 21 February 2013 - 03:58 PM, said:

Just me speculating.  He may have been hurt in practice but I see no need for DR not to chuck him for a draft pick.

Let's hope.

[apuszczalowski]

Who Else?, on 21 February 2013 - 03:21 PM, said:

At some point the roster has to turn over some, or else what was the point of firing Ruff?  Just to please the fans?

I would say thats all the move was, to try and give the fans what they want to keep them from rioting and seeing an empty arena

The roster hasn't really turned over much in the last decade, why would Regier do it now when he can just continue with his plan of turning it over to youth from Rochester, sounds like thats something the new coach would love, getting his boys up here to play for him again....
Can it really make things any worse?

[weave]

apuszczalowski, on 22 February 2013 - 12:24 PM, said:

I would say thats all the move was, to try and give the fans what they want to keep them from rioting and seeing an empty arena

The roster hasn't really turned over much in the last decade, why would Regier do it now when he can just continue with his plan of turning it over to youth from Rochester, sounds like thats something the new coach would love, getting his boys up here to play for him again....
Can it really make things any worse?

huh?

[Eleven]

weave, on 22 February 2013 - 12:30 PM, said:

huh?

I'm not sure what that was about, either.  Miller and Hecht, that's it.

Edited by Eleven, 22 February 2013 - 12:35 PM.

[weave]

Eleven, on 22 February 2013 - 12:34 PM, said:

I'm not sure what that was about, either.  Miller and Hecht, that's it.

Even if he shortened the time duration to 5 years it still gets a "huh?"

[Who Else?]

apuszczalowski, on 22 February 2013 - 12:24 PM, said:

I would say thats all the move was, to try and give the fans what they want to keep them from rioting and seeing an empty arena

The roster hasn't really turned over much in the last decade, why would Regier do it now when he can just continue with his plan of turning it over to youth from Rochester, sounds like thats something the new coach would love, getting his boys up here to play for him again....
Can it really make things any worse?

I just don't see what's left in Rochester.  Obviously the goalie must not be good enough to push Enroth.  The next great hope is already here (Grigs).  Other than a few D-men in the system I don't see anything there, especially when you look at how guys like Brennan and that guy we traded to Vancouver ( I forgot him already) have performed here.  We can still call Mancari, McCormick, Adam, or Ellis though.  Porter may be an alright 3-4 liner.

There are way more holes here than the hope of Armia and Grigerenko can fill.  I'm sure Darcy can see this.  I would like to see some youth brought in through trades, not just waiting for draft picks to develop or get their work visas or whatever.  Rolston is renowned as a player developer.  I hope he does well, but he was hired to develop players in the minors for a reason.  I'm ready to give up assets for 20-24 year old players to fill the third and fourth line with some youth and vigor.  Right now this team has two legitimate players on the bottom two lines, Kaleta and Ott. Good teams have players like Paille or Sutter (Penguins), that will never be top line players, but play every shift in their roll and bring energy.  How many other teams have to use their top line to consistantly kill penalties. And yes I know there are holes in the top two, but those acqusitions are just not happening right now.

[carpandean]

Who Else?, on 22 February 2013 - 12:39 PM, said:

How many other teams have to use their top line to consistently kill penalties.

Jason Pominville is just slightly behind Pavel Datsyuk and Ryan Getzlaf in SHTOI/GP (picking the two biggest names that jumped out, but there are others.)  He averages 2:09 per game and a whole lot of big name players (Kovalchuk, Giroux, Marleau, etc.) average between 1:50-2:00.  Hodgson is below those players.

[apuszczalowski]

weave, on 22 February 2013 - 12:30 PM, said:

huh?

Maybe a decade was a stretch, but since the last lockout
Miller, Vanek, Hecht, Pominville, up until last offseason Roy, etc.

I guess the issue is that when I am thinking of a roster being turned over, I think of more then just moving guys up and bringing in 3rd & 4th liners. I am thinking more of experienced guys being brought in from outside the organisation.

Edited by apuszczalowski, 22 February 2013 - 02:56 PM.

[nfreeman]

Here's something to consider:  the trade deadline is April 3.  There are 19 games left before then.

Just for yuks, let's say that IF replacing DR before the deadline were a possibility (say, if the Sabres were to stay in an awful losing streak), the new GM would need to be in place by March 23.  That would give the new GM 12 days, and 6 games, to figure out what to do at the deadline.

That would leave 13 games between now and the hypothetical March 23 deadline to dump DR and have a new GM somewhat ready for the trade deadline.

How bad would the Sabres' record need to be in those 13 games?  If they go 3-10, would that do it?  How about 4-9?  Do I hear 5-8?

Or is there no 13-game record bad enough to get DR canned?

I think 3-10 would do it, and 4-9 would be pretty GD close.

[Spndnchz]

nfreeman, on 22 February 2013 - 03:09 PM, said:

Here's something to consider:  the trade deadline is April 3.  There are 19 games left before then.

Just for yuks, let's say that IF replacing DR before the deadline were a possibility (say, if the Sabres were to stay in an awful losing streak), the new GM would need to be in place by March 23.  That would give the new GM 12 days, and 6 games, to figure out what to do at the deadline.

That would leave 13 games between now and the hypothetical March 23 deadline to dump DR and have a new GM somewhat ready for the trade deadline.

How bad would the Sabres' record need to be in those 13 games?  If they go 3-10, would that do it?  How about 4-9?  Do I hear 5-8?

Or is there no 13-game record bad enough to get DR canned?

I think 3-10 would do it, and 4-9 would be pretty GD close.

6-10 got the coach for life fired.  Another 6-10 gets the GM for life fired?  I guess it depends if the 10 comes first and then a six game win streak.