Nolan is quoted on saying something along the lines of

"As long as he doesn't regress in training camp next year he may never see the AHL again..."

Sounds like he'll be up here.. If anything maybe Pysyk splits time but I think he'll be here next year..

No Talinder no Sulzer hopefully no McBain maybe no Ehrhoff? Spots will be open.
- bluengold12

risto had 4 points in 35 games.

i keep reading how much we need goal scoring... and yet how are we going to get better without goal scoring?

where is it going to come from? has anyone stopped and looked at the numbers? looked at even the best season point totals the players on our current roster have posted?

honestly its pretty mind boggling to think just how truly horrendous we were this year. by comparison the 2011-2012 season the habs posted a 75 point season and finished last in the eastern conference. Year before panthers were last wiht a 72 point season.

the last place team for both years were 65 and 62 points respectively. and those teams were almost 10 points worse then the next worst team.

its crazy.
- Putzfrau

Hopefully in a few years we can look back on this year and joke about it.

Ristolinan dominated here and was easily and unquestionably the best defenseman for the end of the season.. Both Nolan and Murray have said as long as he doesn't have a melt down in training camp he'll never play in the AHL again yet everyone wants to forget this..

And yeah whoever we draft doesn't have to but if they are good enough they will play here.
- bluengold12

Not if Murray's plan is to "tank" for McDavid/Eichel.


Did you not hear his end of season press conference. He came right out and said that if a team wanted to tank, they could easily just leave their young players in the minors to develop...

And that's exactly what Buffalo did this year! Pysyk didn't need to be in Rochester at the end of the season.

Nothing like OT in the NHL playoffs. Could be a long night tonight.

risto had 4 points in 35 games.
- Putzfrau

Points don't mean anything for defenseman.. they are nice but its more about how well you dictate the game.. He played very well in his own end.. and if the coach and gm are saying he played well and was the best defenseman here I'm going to tend to agree...

Points don't mean anything for defenseman.. they are nice but its more about how well you dictate the game.. He played very well in his own end.. and if the coach and gm are saying he played well and was the best defenseman here I'm going to tend to agree...
- bluengold12

we aren't going to win more games without points.

we had .5 less goals per game then the next lowest team. and we wont have miller next season.

let that sink in for a while.

i think risto is a fantastic player, and i'm super pumped about him. but he could literally explode next year and it wouldnt matter in terms of how many games we would win. my point was never that he was bad or should play in the ahl, just that no matter how good he plays it isn't going to make us not the worst team in the league.

really? the league isn't composed of 1 team? this is news to me.

i asked pretty explicitly before what team even potentially could be worse then us next year. in my opinion calgary is the only option, and they are a much MUCH better team then we are, and could arguably be better next year then they are now.

we could potentially be worse next year. think of that. we wont have miller, wont have ott, wont have moulson or vanek. hodgson, ennis, stafford aren't going to explode for 60 points, especially given the roster we have. risto could quadruple his point totals and still post less then 25 points in an entire season.

i'm assuming we will play better. what you seem to ignore is just how truly truly horrendous we were this year, and just how much better we could play and still be dead last
- Putzfrau

So what you are saying is that we are the only team capable if being "historically bad"

No one else huh? All it takes is for one team to have a "historically bad" season, while we are just really bad, and all the sudden we aren't guaranteed McDavid or Eichel. Which makes Ekblad a dumb pick IMO

So what you are saying is that we are the only team capable if being "historically bad"

No one else huh? All it takes is for one team to have a "historically bad" season, while we are just really bad, and all the sudden we aren't guaranteed McDavid or Eichel. Which makes Ekblad a dumb pick IMO
- sbroads24

yeah, thats EXACTLY what i said.

no, my point was, when you're this historically bad it would take a miracle for you to not at least be fighting for the bottom in the following season. look up similar teams.

it also wasn't as if this one season was unexpected for buffalo. we've been trending downward. we weren't hammered with injuries and posted an unfortunate season like the 06-07 flyers. weve been bad and have steadily got worse. last season was right in line with where we should have been.

Not if Murray's plan is to "tank" for McDavid/Eichel.


Did you not hear his end of season press conference. He came right out and said that if a team wanted to tank, they could easily just leave their young players in the minors to develop...

And that's exactly what Buffalo did this year! Pysyk didn't need to be in Rochester at the end of the season.
- SuperCat

DID YOU NOT Hear THE PRESS CONFERENCE?!?!?!??!?!?1

He said I wont send all the young guys down to the minors and AHL and play a bunch of 4th liners.. If I wanted to do that then it would pretty obvious I want to tank.. I don't want to do that.. So no he did not say that..... This year I don't know how many times I have to tell people was an exception.. When they inherited the team we were all ready horrible so they decided it was best to have Pysyk play 25 minutes a game and lead the Amherks for what is likely his final season there.. Ristiolinan was a rookie and needed to be down there to learn because it takes defenseman longer than forwards. He played well there then came up and was the best defenseman here and Noland and Murray both said they expect him to be up here next year...

You're also not taking into consideration what other teams rosters might look like at the start of next season for example Vancouver, they are going to be trading a lot of pieces away and probably will be in the McDavid hunt as well there is no guarantee that their roster next year will be better than ours
- sbroads24

Who do u think Vancouver is gonna trade?
Almost their whole team has NTC
So it's not gonna be tht easy for them to do a roster makeover

Amerks post game confirmed Armia was scratched due to illness. May not even play in last home game for Amerks on Friday.

we aren't going to win more games without points.

we had .5 less goals per game then the next lowest team. and we wont have miller next season.

let that sink in for a while.

i think risto is a fantastic player, and i'm super pumped about him. but he could literally explode next year and it wouldnt matter in terms of how many games we would win. my point was never that he was bad or should play in the ahl, just that no matter how good he plays it isn't going to make us not the worst team in the league.
- Putzfrau

Goals and points are important but mostly from are forwards.. I'm getting pissed that people think he will play in the AHL next year when the coach and GM have come out and said that he has to suck next training camp to lose a spot on the roster.. He will be in the NHL next year.

yeah, thats EXACTLY what i said.

no, my point was, when you're this historically bad it would take a miracle for you to not at least be fighting for the bottom in the following season. look up similar teams.
- Putzfrau

What similar teams? We are historically bad. Almost like we are an exception not the rule....as you would put it.

Again, I agree we will be awful, but I'm not brave enough to pretend with certainty that I know exactly what other teams will or will not look like or play like next season

Amerks post game confirmed Armia was scratched due to illness. May not even play in last home game for Amerks on Friday.
- Carlo

Hopefully he's all right..

Hopefully he's all right..
- bluengold12

Amerks said that Armia offered to play, but team felt it best that he sit.

Who do u think Vancouver is gonna trade?
Almost their whole team has NTC
So it's not gonna be tht easy for them to do a roster makeover
- jdfitz77

Kesler and possibly the Sedins. They are rebuilding. Players will be moved IMO

What similar teams? We are historically bad. Almost like we are an exception not the rule....as you would put it.

Again, I agree we will be awful, but I'm not brave enough to pretend with certainty that I know exactly what other teams will or will not look like or play like next season
- sbroads24

fair enough. and as i've stated, we could see a miracle and not fight for the top spot.

however, i'm extremely confident in saying the sabres will most likely be one of the worst teams next year. maybe not dead last. maybe not second to last. but it'll be close, and we will be in contention for that top pick all season.

the funniest part to me is that we could actually be worse. this was a worse team at the end of the year then in the middle. we dont have ott/miller and we dont have vanek/moulson.

its not totally unrealistic to actually think we could be worse next year. and thats crazy.

i also dont feel like its brave or cowardly to state (or not) your stance with relevant data.

TB MTL is a good one. This will be a fun series to watch.

So what you are saying is that we are the only team capable if being "historically bad"

No one else huh? All it takes is for one team to have a "historically bad" season, while we are just really bad, and all the sudden we aren't guaranteed McDavid or Eichel. Which makes Ekblad a dumb pick IMO
- sbroads24

Idk...
Say we do take Ekblad this year
And the. Next year take Barzal & Strome
We still get two really good forward prospects

Kesler and possibly the Sedins. They are rebuilding. Players will be moved IMO
- sbroads24

Gonna be tough to trade the Sedins
They obviously have to go together... And they have to agree to it...
That clearly makes it a very tough deal to pull off
Kesler I could see moving, but again, that NTC makes things trickier
And if Vancouver does move any of those guys,
They'll want absolute top value
I think it'll be tough to make those deals

Gonna be tough to trade the Sedins
They obviously have to go together... And they have to agree to it...
That clearly makes it a very tough deal to pull off
Kesler I could see moving, but again, that NTC makes things trickier
And if Vancouver does move any of those guys,
They'll want absolute top value
I think it'll be tough to make those deals
- jdfitz77

Kesler will go to an American team likely in California or I could see like Pittsburgh or Boston.. trying to get him..

The Sedin's are def trickier to trade.. Not sure what team could pull off a trade like that.. If the Rangers had the cap to do it wouldn't be surprised if they tried as they love making a splash

Kesler will go to an American team likely in California or I could see like Pittsburgh or Boston.. trying to get him..

The Sedin's are def trickier to trade.. Not sure what team could pull off a trade like that.. If the Rangers had the cap to do it wouldn't be surprised if they tried as they love making a splash
- bluengold12

buffalo gets both sedins and ovi.

then they certainly won't be last next year

buffalo gets both sedins and ovi.

then they certainly won't be last next year
- Putzfrau

Why stop there...

Lets get Crosby, Ekblad, Reinhart, Bennett and Shea Weber too...

Why stop there...

Lets get Crosby, Ekblad, Reinhart, Bennett and Shea Weber too...
- bluengold12

hey, at least the sedins/ovi have the potential to be shopped....

it was pretty out there, but not THAT out there.

but i'm down. we might even be a 60 point team then

hey, at least the sedins/ovi have the potential to be shopped....

it was pretty out there, but not THAT out there.

but i'm down. we might even be a 60 point team then
- Putzfrau

Potential.. I guess but even if Buffalo was as good as say they were from 07-0 when they were a fringe playoff team they wouldn't be able to get any of those guys to waive to come here..