2014 NHL Draft Thread

[DaBoltsNIsles]

Don't forget Bjugstad and Trocheck. The top 4 seems kind of perfect for everyone. Florida gets a top defenseman with their center depth, Buffalo gets a center (Likely Reinhart) with their defensive depth, Edmonton gets a complete center, and Calgary gets another center as well.

If by some miracle Dal Colle falls to 5 I will be so overjoyed. Tavares might finally get his BOSSY!!

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

do they think they will suck that much next year? or will they do it on purpose to get a better player? risky move

Every year before the draft Garth mentions they might trade the pick. The only time he did it was in 2008 when they were in complete rebuild so he traded down a bunch of times & took Bailey. I expect the Isles to keep the 5th pick & take the best forward on their board.

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

That is Isles head scout Trent Klatt. He looks unhappy with the results of the lottery.

It was probably a rough day for Trent. Chuck probably only paid for a ticket in coach. Then he probably had to pay for cab fare himself. Of course he probably got stuck with the tab for dinner with his buddy Burkie as well. The Isles have the smallest scouting staff in the league.

 

[IPostedWhat]

Another thing to consider Sabres fans is the lottery rules will change next year. Tanking like your team did this year likely won't help you as much.

I honestly hope some team other than Buffalo wins it. Tankers shouldn't get the 1st pick overall.

That's because they traded away players like Pomminville the year before, Miller & Vanek this year. Regier didn't help matters by not restocking the cupboard. Their in complete rebuild because they want to be. The Sabres are the reason why the NHL is changing the lottery next year.

This is great. The Sabres fall to #2 & Edmonton to #3. I have no complaints with how it turned out. It doesn't pay to TANK.

Just because Garth Snow is one step away from trading the Islanders Organization for a few “magic beans”, doesn’t mean you have to be so butthurt over the Sabres finally drafting in the top 3 of a draft for the first time since 1987, while also bending Snow over on the whole Vanek trade. You should be mad at Snow, not the Sabres for fleecing him.

So let me get this straight, you’re happy the Panthers got the 1st overall pick over the Sabres because the Panthers are clearly rebuilding, and not tanking, right? The same Florida Panthers who now have a top 3 pick three times in the past 4 years, and who conveniently lost their last game of the Season, which led to the Oilers passing them by 1 point in the Final Standings. But clearly that can’t be considered tanking or anything, No……it just means they are rebuilding, and victims of circumstances beyond their control. Obviously.

So what should the Sabres have done differently this year in your opinion? How should they have gone about rebuilding without you accusing them of tanking? Even when they had Miller, Ott, and Vanek in the lineup in the beginning of the Season, they were still losing games left and right. They only won 4 games out of 20 to start the season. Were they tanking then as well? Do you think a team trying to trade away its best players, would purposely make them lose games, and play like shit, while still hoping to get top value in a trade for them? That makes no sense.

So what should the Sabres have done with players who were in the last year of their contracts, and clearly did not want to be around while the Sabres started a rebuild? Should they have kept them, finished in the bottom 10 of the League, and then lost them in free agency, while getting nothing for them, a la Drury and Briere? Would that even make sense?

Besides, it’s not like the Sabres didn’t make an effort to at least trade players away for draft picks, players, and prospects to help with the rebuild. They acquired players like Conacher, Halak, Neuvirth, Stewart, Mitchell, etc, and picked up a good amount of prospects and draft picks that will help them out in the long run. And who’s to say they don’t get players like Moulson and Ott back in the offseason? Both said they wouldn’t rule out coming back to Buffalo after this Season is over, so how is that a bad move on the Sabres to trade them away for picks and players, while also getting them back for next year?

And why would they even bother to fire Ron Rolston or Darcy Regier? If you are going to tank, why not just keep them around till the end of the Season, and then fire them? It’s not like Ted Nolan wouldn’t still be available to get as a head coach, as well as Tim Murray after the Season was over. Looks like the Sabres played a lot better with Nolan as HC, so wouldn’t that be counterproductive to trying to tank? Why would the Sabres want to bring in a HC that would actually make the team more competitive and better than they were before? Why would they bring in someone like Tim Murray who has an eye for finding young talent and prospects?

The Sabres had no choice but to blow up the team and try to start over with younger players, and build through the draft. It makes the most sense in order to be completive for years, and other GM’s have stated they are envious of the Sabres right now, and how they are going about with their rebuild.

And is it also the Sabres fault for having so many injuries this Season? Is it their fault that they dressed over 45 different players, and had 8 different goalies starting? Did the Sabres injure those players on purpose, or paid players on other teams to injure them to help the Sabres tank the Season? And why would all those young players want to try and play like shit on purpose for? They are trying to fight for a place on the Roster next Season. You think the goal of any player is to stay in the minors?

Even with everything going on this Season, the Sabres may have lost a lot of games, but how many times were they clearly destroyed in a game or completely out of it? 27 of their losses were by 1 goal, and they lost in OT or SO 10 times. Overall, they had a handful of games this Season where they were clearly destroyed by the other team, but what team this Season didn’t have that happen a few times? I think the Sabres did pretty damn well considering all the changes and setbacks this year, and they can only get better from this point on.

Why would the Sabres tank on purpose this Season anyways considering this isn’t a very strong Draft class? Most people can’t even decide on who the best player is this year, and most agree that there is no one in the draft who will be an instant starter who could be the face of the Franchise. Even the 1st player picked this year could very well spend next Season in the minors. Seems odd to tank a whole Season just to pick up a player you’ll most likely have playing in the minors.

And they aren’t changing the lottery system just because of the Sabres this year. That’s the most ridiculous thing I have read so far. They were talking about changing it long before the Sabres sucked ass this Season, simply because they were afraid that teams would intentionally tank next Season just to get their hands on players like McDavid and Eichel. You know, players who can make an instant difference, and be the face of a franchise for years to come. I can name quite a few teams who would be willing to suck ass next year just to get their hands on them, and the NHL knows it as well. And I’m sure it was because of the Sabres why they instituted the Lottery system in the first place as well?

Obviously you’re not going to change your opinion on thinking they were tanking this Season, but if you look at the whole picture, you can clearly see that’s not the case. They are a team trying to rebuild, who played the best they could under some tough circumstances, and just didn’t have enough to put them over the hump on most nights. But to say they weren’t trying, or they were trying to lose on purpose is insulting and just plain wrong. I would love for you to look the players in the eyes, and tell them you think they were tanking on purpose. Those players gave it their all this Season, and were sorely disappointed in how
they did this year.

Sabres GM Murray shows honesty, humor in season-ending press conference - Die By The Blade

"This year was completely unacceptable" was Murray's message to his players, and it was the way he began the organization's season-ending press conference. The Sabres GM bristled every time he was asked about finishing last or the concept of tanking. "We want to be competitive. If anybody thinks there's a message of tanking being sent from upstairs, I would suggest they put a camera for 60 minutes of the game when we're losing, and you'll know that tanking is not what we want," Murray responded after a long pause to think. "I know that tanking is a word that's used a lot, but I don't know where the tanking would come from if the GM doesn't want to lose, and coaches don't want to lose, and the players certainly don't want to lose their jobs."

NHL ?not worried about tanking for McDavid and Eichel,? says Buffalo GM | ProHockeyTalk

“We’ve all heard that talk of the five-team, five-year rotation, things like that, but there’s been really no appetite to do that,” Sabres GM Tim Murray said, per the Buffalo News. “They don’t think there’s any appetite right now to change it. I believe if there is an appetite to change it, if they’re going to make a drastic change, it has to be something like three to five years out so it doesn’t affect somebody that’s in that position now.
“From what I understand, they’re not worried about tanking for McDavid and Eichel.”

So I’ll ask you again….What should the Sabres have done differently in your opinion, that would have made them more competitive, while also building for the future?

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

Just because Garth Snow is one step away from trading the Islanders Organization for a few “magic beans”, doesn’t mean you have to be so butthurt over the Sabres finally drafting in the top 3 of a draft for the first time since 1987, while also bending Snow over on the whole Vanek trade. You should be mad at Snow, not the Sabres for fleecing him.

So let me get this straight, you’re happy the Panthers got the 1st overall pick over the Sabres because the Panthers are clearly rebuilding, and not tanking, right? The same Florida Panthers who now have a top 3 pick three times in the past 4 years, and who conveniently lost their last game of the Season, which led to the Oilers passing them by 1 point in the Final Standings. But clearly that can’t be considered tanking or anything, No……it just means they are rebuilding, and victims of circumstances beyond their control. Obviously.

So what should the Sabres have done differently this year in your opinion? How should they have gone about rebuilding without you accusing them of tanking? Even when they had Miller, Ott, and Vanek in the lineup in the beginning of the Season, they were still losing games left and right. They only won 4 games out of 20 to start the season. Were they tanking then as well? Do you think a team trying to trade away its best players, would purposely make them lose games, and play like shit, while still hoping to get top value in a trade for them? That makes no sense.

So what should the Sabres have done with players who were in the last year of their contracts, and clearly did not want to be around while the Sabres started a rebuild? Should they have kept them, finished in the bottom 10 of the League, and then lost them in free agency, while getting nothing for them, a la Drury and Briere? Would that even make sense?

Besides, it’s not like the Sabres didn’t make an effort to at least trade players away for draft picks, players, and prospects to help with the rebuild. They acquired players like Conacher, Halak, Neuvirth, Stewart, Mitchell, etc, and picked up a good amount of prospects and draft picks that will help them out in the long run. And who’s to say they don’t get players like Moulson and Ott back in the offseason? Both said they wouldn’t rule out coming back to Buffalo after this Season is over, so how is that a bad move on the Sabres to trade them away for picks and players, while also getting them back for next year?

And why would they even bother to fire Ron Rolston or Darcy Regier? If you are going to tank, why not just keep them around till the end of the Season, and then fire them? It’s not like Ted Nolan wouldn’t still be available to get as a head coach, as well as Tim Murray after the Season was over. Looks like the Sabres played a lot better with Nolan as HC, so wouldn’t that be counterproductive to trying to tank? Why would the Sabres want to bring in a HC that would actually make the team more competitive and better than they were before? Why would they bring in someone like Tim Murray who has an eye for finding young talent and prospects?

The Sabres had no choice but to blow up the team and try to start over with younger players, and build through the draft. It makes the most sense in order to be completive for years, and other GM’s have stated they are envious of the Sabres right now, and how they are going about with their rebuild.

And is it also the Sabres fault for having so many injuries this Season? Is it their fault that they dressed over 45 different players, and had 8 different goalies starting? Did the Sabres injure those players on purpose, or paid players on other teams to injure them to help the Sabres tank the Season? And why would all those young players want to try and play like shit on purpose for? They are trying to fight for a place on the Roster next Season. You think the goal of any player is to stay in the minors?

Even with everything going on this Season, the Sabres may have lost a lot of games, but how many times were they clearly destroyed in a game or completely out of it? 27 of their losses were by 1 goal, and they lost in OT or SO 10 times. Overall, they had a handful of games this Season where they were clearly destroyed by the other team, but what team this Season didn’t have that happen a few times? I think the Sabres did pretty damn well considering all the changes and setbacks this year, and they can only get better from this point on.

Why would the Sabres tank on purpose this Season anyways considering this isn’t a very strong Draft class? Most people can’t even decide on who the best player is this year, and most agree that there is no one in the draft who will be an instant starter who could be the face of the Franchise. Even the 1st player picked this year could very well spend next Season in the minors. Seems odd to tank a whole Season just to pick up a player you’ll most likely have playing in the minors.

And they aren’t changing the lottery system just because of the Sabres this year. That’s the most ridiculous thing I have read so far. They were talking about changing it long before the Sabres sucked ass this Season, simply because they were afraid that teams would intentionally tank next Season just to get their hands on players like McDavid and Eichel. You know, players who can make an instant difference, and be the face of a franchise for years to come. I can name quite a few teams who would be willing to suck ass next year just to get their hands on them, and the NHL knows it as well. And I’m sure it was because of the Sabres why they instituted the Lottery system in the first place as well?

Obviously you’re not going to change your opinion on thinking they were tanking this Season, but if you look at the whole picture, you can clearly see that’s not the case. They are a team trying to rebuild, who played the best they could under some tough circumstances, and just didn’t have enough to put them over the hump on most nights. But to say they weren’t trying, or they were trying to lose on purpose is insulting and just plain wrong. I would love for you to look the players in the eyes, and tell them you think they were tanking on purpose. Those players gave it their all this Season, and were sorely disappointed in how
they did this year.

Sabres GM Murray shows honesty, humor in season-ending press conference - Die By The Blade



NHL ?not worried about tanking for McDavid and Eichel,? says Buffalo GM | ProHockeyTalk




So I’ll ask you again….What should the Sabres have done differently in your opinion, that would have made them more competitive, while also building for the future?

The Sabres didn't look to improve their current roster through many of the trades they made. Halak is an UFA & they traded him away the first chance they got. Stewart will be an UFA after next year I think. I get the fact they're in complete rebuild, but jeez they could have at least tried to add some prospects who are close to being NHL ready instead of draft pick after draft pick. After all draft picks don't always work out. Florida acquired Luongo. They didn't make that trade thinking they're going to be bad next year. Of course the Sabres aren't worried about tanking next year. The NHL is making sure teams don't tank due to the fact they're changing the draft lottery rules.

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

One more thing, INJURIES AREN'T AN EXCUSE. The Islanders had rookie after rookie in their lineup after the Olympic break & finished with the season STRONG.

 

[KennyBanyeah]

I watched about 8-10 Sabres games this season and I saw no evidence of tanking. If they wanted to tank wouldn't they have just taken picks/prospects in the Vanek trade. Ditto for the Miller trade.

They brought in Nolan to coach and when he had the team playing competitively the extended him.

I don't see the whole tanking thing at all. In fact I haven't heard it elsewhere either. The Sabres were just bad this year.

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

I watched about 8-10 Sabres games this season and I saw no evidence of tanking. If they wanted to tank wouldn't they have just taken picks/prospects in the Vanek trade. Ditto for the Miller trade.

They brought in Nolan to coach and when he had the team playing competitively the extended him.

I don't see the whole tanking thing at all. In fact I haven't heard it elsewhere either. The Sabres were just bad this year.

They did. They got the Isles 2nd round pick in 2015 no matter what & their 1st round pick in 2014 or 15. They then got a couple of 2nd round picks for Moulson and another player. The Blues gave up their 1st round pick in 2015 & possibly their 1st in 2014 depending on how far the Blues go in the playoffs. If you look at all their trades draft picks were more important than anything else. They have so many goalies it's nuts.

I'm sorry, but to me it looked like all their organization seemed to care about in their trades was accumulating as many draft picks as possible. I get that they're rebuilding, but you have to put a team on the ice. Maybe they'll be active on July 1st. We'll have to wait & see.

 

[IPostedWhat]

The Sabres didn't look to improve their current roster through many of the trades they made. Halak is an UFA & they traded him away the first chance they got. Stewart will be an UFA after next year I think. I get the fact they're in complete rebuild, but jeez they could have at least tried to add some prospects who are close to being NHL ready instead of draft pick after draft pick. After all draft picks don't always work out. Florida acquired Luongo. They didn't make that trade thinking they're going to be bad next year. Of course the Sabres aren't worried about tanking next year. The NHL is making sure teams don't tank due to the fact they're changing the draft lottery rules.

One more thing, INJURIES AREN'T AN EXCUSE. The Islanders had rookie after rookie in their lineup after the Olympic break & finished with the season STRONG.

They didn’t look to improve their current roster through many of the trades they made???? What are you talking about? Who were they supposed to get, and what team was going to trade away one of their top players in the process???

Any team the Sabres were going to make a trade with, were most likely going to the playoffs, and were not going to give up one of their top players. Teams want to add pieces to help put them over the top, while only giving up prospects, picks, or fringe players. Why would a team trade away a top goal scorer to the Sabres at the deadline? I’m sure if a team was dumb enough to do that, the Sabres would have jumped all over it. Not every team has a Garth Snow at the helm making trades. You don’t think the Sabres tried to get a player like Tarasenko from the Blues? You think the Blues would have traded him for Miller? Let’s be realistic here now.

And of course they got rid of Halak as soon as they could. Why would they keep him? The Sabres didn’t even want him in the first place, but the Blues wouldn’t make the trade unless the Sabres took him. The Blues had no use for him on the roster with a goalie like Miller on the team now. Halak is an UFA, and he wasn’t going to stay with the Sabres at the end of the year, and he made that known. So why would the Sabres keep him? They made the smart play by getting rid of him right away for something, instead of getting nothing for a player most likely to be a cancer on the team.

And who says they didn’t at least pick up players who are NHL ready? What about Stewart, Conacher, and Mitchell? They may not be the greatest players in the World, but they are good enough for a team that is struggling as badly as the Sabres are. The point was that they were at least trying to improve the roster by any means necessary. And was it their fault that some of the players they acquired to help them got injured? As I said before, which players did they really have a shot at getting that would be considered a top 6 player on a good team?

And injuries aren’t an excuse?....Really? Sure, when you are talking about a player here and there, but when your entire team is ravaged by injuries, and you are using your 8th string goalie, who wasn’t even a starter in the minors, then injuries are a pretty good excuse for playing like shit. You think any team who is down to their 8th string goalie, and has dressed over 45 different players on the Season, is going to be one of the top teams in the NHL? If a team like the Pens, Hawks, Bruins, or Ducks lost most of their starters to trade or injuries, and were using an unproven minor league goalie as their starter, do you really think they finish the year as one of the top teams? Just look at the Blues, and what happened to them at the end of the Season with all their injuries. Everyone likes to say that injuries aren’t an excuse, but sometimes you have to be realistic about it.

I’m aware the Islanders had injuries as well, and they played pretty well down the stretch, but they still finished in 25th place. Do you really think they wouldn’t have won more games if certain players never got injured? Weren’t they a team most had making the Playoffs? Isn’t that why they made the trade for Vanek……To help put them over the hump? And if I remember correctly, the Isles barely beat the Sabres in the last game of the Season in the SO. You know, the same lowly Sabres who were tanking. I wouldn’t be too proud to be a fan of a team that barely beat the Sabres in the SO, who were using their 8th string goalie making his 1st NHL start. Especially when you think that team is trying to tank. Just saying.

I was listening to local sports radio today, and they were talking to Sean McIndoe (DownGoesBrown). He said that the Sabres are going about with this rebuild the smart way, and he’s envious as a Leafs fan of how they are embracing it, and going about it, and he wishes the Leafs would do the same thing. He said he’s not looking forward to his team playing the Sabres in a few years, because they are going to be a force to reckon with.

And like I already posted before, there is no guarantee that the NHL going to change the lottery and draft for next Season. Tim Murray and other GM’s believe that a change would most likely happen 3-5 years down the road. So I guess we just have to wait and see.

If you really think the Sabres aren’t trying to build a team that will be competitive for years, then I really don’t think anything is going to change your mind. For the 1st time in a long time, I honestly believe the Sabres are going about building a winning team the smart way, and I’m excited for the future. It also sounds like Tim Murray is already hinting that he plans on being VERY active come July 1st, so who knows what’s going to happen?

I watched about 8-10 Sabres games this season and I saw no evidence of tanking. If they wanted to tank wouldn't they have just taken picks/prospects in the Vanek trade. Ditto for the Miller trade.

They brought in Nolan to coach and when he had the team playing competitively the extended him.

I don't see the whole tanking thing at all. In fact I haven't heard it elsewhere either. The Sabres were just bad this year.

 

[Cobiemonster]

The Sabres didn't look to improve their current roster through many of the trades they made. Halak is an UFA & they traded him away the first chance they got. Stewart will be an UFA after next year I think. I get the fact they're in complete rebuild, but jeez they could have at least tried to add some prospects who are close to being NHL ready instead of draft pick after draft pick. After all draft picks don't always work out. Florida acquired Luongo. They didn't make that trade thinking they're going to be bad next year. Of course the Sabres aren't worried about tanking next year. The NHL is making sure teams don't tank due to the fact they're changing the draft lottery rules.

Florida made that move for Roberto Luongo because they know they already have guys are on the verge of breaking out - they're not in as bad of a spot as the Sabres were and they're not in phase 1 of the rebuilding stage yet, they're further along

The Sabres don't have any of that so their best chance is to go about it the way they have - and considering how they played the last part of the season, with the scrap that they've had, it's very commendable - the goalies that have stepped in and played have been very serviceable and at the very least they could be good depth in the future - what do you want the Sabres to do, go out and get a couple of guys and go from being the worst team in the league to the 5th or 6th worst team? I'd rather be real bad for a few years than be in the mediocre stage year after year and get stuck in a position where you can't go up or down - that's why the Sabres got rid of everybody because they knew they weren't going to contend for a championship by going from mediocre to great again, they had to blow it up(like the Sixers in the NBA) - it's the only legitimate way to do it, as sad as it sounds - and a bunch of teams have lucked out with the lottery in the past too and those teams didn't do as much as far as trading everyone for picks and prospects - Sabres are trying to accumulate as much as they can and hope that they can get back on track soon enough

 

[sabresfaninthesouth]

They tried the last few years to rebuild by spending big money during UFA (Leino, Ehrhoff), making big trades (Roy/Ott, Kassian/Hodgson, Regehr), and re-signing some of their current (at the time) players to big contracts (Vanek, Pominville, Stafford, Roy, Miller) and look where it got them. Some of those were before Pegula's time, but when he came to town the team opened their wallets in a big way. Some of those moves (Leino) were disastrous. But they tried to build a winner the same way that teams like Toronto, NYR, Calgary, and Philly have been trying to build winners for a while now: by spending a ton of money on players that just aren't good enough.

Then, heading into last season they were regarded as a borderline playoff team even though they had failed to make it the season before. Then reality set in and everyone saw how bad they were. They tried to make adjustments by canning Ruff, but the team kept getting worse.

It was at that point that the team had to make a decision: keep going as is (since it was working out so well) or enter full-on rebuild mode. They chose the latter because they saw that they couldn't buy their way to a Cup. The fans were pissed at first because they kept the same GM who got them into that position in the first place. And they kept a coach who wasn't fit for the NHL without even interviewing a single other candidate. And then they blew that up too. New coach, new president of hockey ops (even though he didn't stay long), and eventually a new GM too. And a totally new GM. Not some rehash like a Burke who's been all over the league.

Every knowledgeable hockey writer, commentator, GM, etc. will tell you the Sabres are going about this the right way. Every. Single. One. And yet, we're supposed to believe they were tanking because one random commentator on the internet says so. The "what else were they supposed to do" question has been asked without response already, so I'll skip that.

And to argue that the league is changing the draft rules because of the Sabres is an absurd notion. The Penguins drafted 1st overall twice and 2nd overall twice in a 4 year stretch. The Oilers drafted 1st overall three years in a row. And yet we're to believe it's because of the Sabres finishing last for one year that's leading the league to change the rules? You're as bad as the Buffalo conspiracy theorists that think the league is out to get them.

 

[puckhead]

10 weeks till draft.

looking through past canuck top 10 picks (masochist, you say?)
what ever happened to Dan Woodley? #7 overall in 1986
2 goals in 5 games, never heard from again.

 

[Johnnydollaz89]

I watched about 8-10 Sabres games this season and I saw no evidence of tanking. If they wanted to tank wouldn't they have just taken picks/prospects in the Vanek trade. Ditto for the Miller trade.

They brought in Nolan to coach and when he had the team playing competitively the extended him.

I don't see the whole tanking thing at all. In fact I haven't heard it elsewhere either. The Sabres were just bad this year.

And outside of having 1 shot on goal in the 2nd period game against us in the 2nd to last game of the season, they sure played pretty well against us. They wanted the win, the Rangers just turned it up after going down 1-0. Sabres played rather well in that game.

 

[mattola]

10 weeks till draft.

looking through past canuck top 10 picks (masochist, you say?)
what ever happened to Dan Woodley? #7 overall in 1986
2 goals in 5 games, never heard from again.

2 picks later Brian Leetch

he plyaed between the IHL, ECHL, AHL and COHL?? what the hell was the COHL?

Dan Woodley hockey statistics and profile at hockeydb.com

 

[mattola]

COHL

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

They didn’t look to improve their current roster through many of the trades they made???? What are you talking about? Who were they supposed to get, and what team was going to trade away one of their top players in the process???

Any team the Sabres were going to make a trade with, were most likely going to the playoffs, and were not going to give up one of their top players. Teams want to add pieces to help put them over the top, while only giving up prospects, picks, or fringe players. Why would a team trade away a top goal scorer to the Sabres at the deadline? I’m sure if a team was dumb enough to do that, the Sabres would have jumped all over it. Not every team has a Garth Snow at the helm making trades. You don’t think the Sabres tried to get a player like Tarasenko from the Blues? You think the Blues would have traded him for Miller? Let’s be realistic here now.

And of course they got rid of Halak as soon as they could. Why would they keep him? The Sabres didn’t even want him in the first place, but the Blues wouldn’t make the trade unless the Sabres took him. The Blues had no use for him on the roster with a goalie like Miller on the team now. Halak is an UFA, and he wasn’t going to stay with the Sabres at the end of the year, and he made that known. So why would the Sabres keep him? They made the smart play by getting rid of him right away for something, instead of getting nothing for a player most likely to be a cancer on the team.

And who says they didn’t at least pick up players who are NHL ready? What about Stewart, Conacher, and Mitchell? They may not be the greatest players in the World, but they are good enough for a team that is struggling as badly as the Sabres are. The point was that they were at least trying to improve the roster by any means necessary. And was it their fault that some of the players they acquired to help them got injured? As I said before, which players did they really have a shot at getting that would be considered a top 6 player on a good team?

And injuries aren’t an excuse?....Really? Sure, when you are talking about a player here and there, but when your entire team is ravaged by injuries, and you are using your 8th string goalie, who wasn’t even a starter in the minors, then injuries are a pretty good excuse for playing like shit. You think any team who is down to their 8th string goalie, and has dressed over 45 different players on the Season, is going to be one of the top teams in the NHL? If a team like the Pens, Hawks, Bruins, or Ducks lost most of their starters to trade or injuries, and were using an unproven minor league goalie as their starter, do you really think they finish the year as one of the top teams? Just look at the Blues, and what happened to them at the end of the Season with all their injuries. Everyone likes to say that injuries aren’t an excuse, but sometimes you have to be realistic about it.

I’m aware the Islanders had injuries as well, and they played pretty well down the stretch, but they still finished in 25th place. Do you really think they wouldn’t have won more games if certain players never got injured? Weren’t they a team most had making the Playoffs? Isn’t that why they made the trade for Vanek……To help put them over the hump? And if I remember correctly, the Isles barely beat the Sabres in the last game of the Season in the SO. You know, the same lowly Sabres who were tanking. I wouldn’t be too proud to be a fan of a team that barely beat the Sabres in the SO, who were using their 8th string goalie making his 1st NHL start. Especially when you think that team is trying to tank. Just saying.

I was listening to local sports radio today, and they were talking to Sean McIndoe (DownGoesBrown). He said that the Sabres are going about with this rebuild the smart way, and he’s envious as a Leafs fan of how they are embracing it, and going about it, and he wishes the Leafs would do the same thing. He said he’s not looking forward to his team playing the Sabres in a few years, because they are going to be a force to reckon with.

And like I already posted before, there is no guarantee that the NHL going to change the lottery and draft for next Season. Tim Murray and other GM’s believe that a change would most likely happen 3-5 years down the road. So I guess we just have to wait and see.

If you really think the Sabres aren’t trying to build a team that will be competitive for years, then I really don’t think anything is going to change your mind. For the 1st time in a long time, I honestly believe the Sabres are going about building a winning team the smart way, and I’m excited for the future. It also sounds like Tim Murray is already hinting that he plans on being VERY active come July 1st, so who knows what’s going to happen?

So your telling me they couldn't have asked for a top prospect instead of a 1st round pick in any of the trades they made? I never said top player from another teams roster. Everyone knows that wasn't going to happen.

The Islanders played 12 defenseman this season. They had 5 rookies on D in a game in Montreal in which they shutout the Habs. At forward Brock Nelson, Anders Lee, Ryan Strome, Johan Sundstrom, John Persson, Mike Halmo, Brett Galant & I'm probably forgetting somebody, all played quite a bit after the Olympic Break. That's the team that beat Buffalo at the end of the season. Every team has injuries. It's simply not an acceptable excuse. Don't talk to me about goalie problems. The Islanders have zero depth in goal. When the Isles still had a sniff at the postseason Nabokov got hurt. Nilsson played pretty well at the end of the season, but they were just playing every other game. Kevin Poulin has become a bust. I saw Neuwirth play a game for the Sabres & he looked good. Goalie shouldn't be a problem for Buffalo going forward.

Now as to how the Sabres are going about their rebuild. If they get lucky & draft the right players they could be a team stacked like the Pittsburgh Penguins. If luck isn't on their side & they draft the wrong players they could be the next Edmonton Oilers. The draft is a double edge sword. It can build Championship teams in a hurry or it can set you back 5 years. I hope things work out for the Sabres. They've done everything they can to set themselves up for the next two drafts. I guess another positive is Regier won't be the guy making the picks. Then again the GM relies heavily on his scouting staff during the draft. So the mistakes Regier made on draft day weren't entirely his fault. Murray knows all about scouting. He did a solid job in Ottawa. We'll find out how good he & the Sabres scouts are in a few years when the players they draft should be in the NHL & contributing.

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

Florida made that move for Roberto Luongo because they know they already have guys are on the verge of breaking out - they're not in as bad of a spot as the Sabres were and they're not in phase 1 of the rebuilding stage yet, they're further along

The Sabres don't have any of that so their best chance is to go about it the way they have - and considering how they played the last part of the season, with the scrap that they've had, it's very commendable - the goalies that have stepped in and played have been very serviceable and at the very least they could be good depth in the future - what do you want the Sabres to do, go out and get a couple of guys and go from being the worst team in the league to the 5th or 6th worst team? I'd rather be real bad for a few years than be in the mediocre stage year after year and get stuck in a position where you can't go up or down - that's why the Sabres got rid of everybody because they knew they weren't going to contend for a championship by going from mediocre to great again, they had to blow it up(like the Sixers in the NBA) - it's the only legitimate way to do it, as sad as it sounds - and a bunch of teams have lucked out with the lottery in the past too and those teams didn't do as much as far as trading everyone for picks and prospects - Sabres are trying to accumulate as much as they can and hope that they can get back on track soon enough

The Sabres have an owner who can afford to go out & sign whoever he wants. If he owned my favorite team there's no telling how good they might be next year. Instead I expect the 7th or 8th seed if a solid #1 goalie is signed.

Please don't compare the Sixers to the Sabres. The Sixers were an EMBARRASSMENT to PROFESSIONAL SPORTS this season. When Carter Williams was on the DL because he got an infection from a tattoo you know the team doesn't give a shit about winning. They set a record that likely will never be broken for consecutive losses in a season & still didn't have the worst record in the league. Now that's beyond pathetic.

My issue with how Buffalo is going about their rebuild is they didn't get any top prospects in the trades they made. The one thing they have going for them above all else is their owner. If they don't draft well he's going to have to spend his team out of their rebuild. Time will tell. It's just sad how far this team has fallen in such a short amount of time.

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

2 picks later Brian Leetch

he plyaed between the IHL, ECHL, AHL and COHL?? what the hell was the COHL?

Dan Woodley hockey statistics and profile at hockeydb.com

That happens every year to some team. I still laugh about the year Minny took Brian Lawton 1st overall. He had a solid career, but he was no LaFontaine or Yzerman that's for sure.

 

[mattola]

That happens every year to some team. I still laugh about the year Minny took Brian Lawton 1st overall. He had a solid career, but he was no LaFontaine or Yzerman that's for sure.

yeah I know it still sucks but sucks more that year because Leetch was the Conn Smythe winner in 94

 

[Cobiemonster]

The Sabres have an owner who can afford to go out & sign whoever he wants. If he owned my favorite team there's no telling how good they might be next year. Instead I expect the 7th or 8th seed if a solid #1 goalie is signed.

Please don't compare the Sixers to the Sabres. The Sixers were an EMBARRASSMENT to PROFESSIONAL SPORTS this season. When Carter Williams was on the DL because he got an infection from a tattoo you know the team doesn't give a shit about winning. They set a record that likely will never be broken for consecutive losses in a season & still didn't have the worst record in the league. Now that's beyond pathetic.

My issue with how Buffalo is going about their rebuild is they didn't get any top prospects in the trades they made. The one thing they have going for them above all else is their owner. If they don't draft well he's going to have to spend his team out of their rebuild. Time will tell. It's just sad how far this team has fallen in such a short amount of time.

Just because the Sabres have an owner who can spend money on whoever he wants, doesn't mean he can get whoever he wants - there are very few top end FA's available every year because teams lock up their star players, so it's not going to work signing guys like Ville Leino to ridiculous contracts - the key is that they need to draft better and stop overspending on FA when they're not close to winning

Sixers lost 25+ games in a row and still didn't pass the Bucks for the worst team in the league - and the Sixers are the embarrassment of that league? The Bucks should be relocated after the people who just bought that team for 500+ million - the Sixers have been mediocre for so many years, what do you expect them to do, continue to be that way? No free agent is going to want to come there, that's why they have to blow it up and get great players via the draft - the NBA is a league with many flaws anyways - that's the only way in order to get back up to the top

How were the Sabres going to get any top prospects in those deals? Every fucking team knew they were going to trade Ryan Miller/Thomas Vanek/Steve Ott/etc, so the Sabres knew they weren't getting a top notch prospect - what did you want them to do? Keep those veterans and then let them walk and get nothing in return or keep those guys and continue to be mediocre? Like your Islanders? Islanders made way worse trades than the Sabres, if you were a Sabres fan you would have loved those moves the Sabres are making

The Sabres have fallen so far because they stuck with the same cast so long and that's how they've gotten to this point