Ryan O'Reilly makes more than all of these guys combined. You forget there is a value placed on them, that is leveraged against you in the form of a salary cap.

I have a friend who just bought some special edition Jeep Grand Cherokee Hemi. Sweet ass truck. But all he does is brag about it and post pics online. "Oh it's so fast. It just rips through the snow. Blah blah blah". But his payment is $600 a month(and it's used, ugh)! He got an awful deal for himself. Yes if you separate the cost vs the results the vehicle can churn out today, ok cool. But only if you can ignore the bigger picture. Yeah my truck isn't as sweet or as fast, but if my sump pump and dishwasher crap out the same week and can just pay cash to replace them. He can't pretend that $600 a month payment doesn't hurt him somewhere else.

Point being: Eichel is ours hopefully forever. We could be sitting in the basement of the league while Eichel learns the NHL game just the same with ROR as we could without.
- Buffalo--Sabres

O'Reilly is paid accordingly. No one on this team plays a more complete game.

Here's a stat for you. Eliminate 8-10 shots a game that he has to face, and I bet that equals half a goal against. It's not the goalie. It's the sh!t defense, which IS on Murray.

And you hit it on the head. It's the bias. Unfair bias. No one can look past it. All anyone wants to talk about is a late first round pick that will more than likely turn out to be, at best, a 2nd line player. I'd rather take my chances with a starting goalie than a 2nd liner.

And the shootout needs to go. Not because our goalie is terrible. Because it's a gimmick for 12 year olds.
- Powerslave

Again, we're back to inserting narratives. If this happened or that didn't happen we are fine. But that's not the reality were in. I won't argue that the defense is poop, but in the same breath the guy who build a bottom three defense for us picked a great goalie? The same one you can't stop a single shootout attempt in 4 separate games this year and sucked last year? Doesn't inspire a ton of confidence.

Oh and that second liner is Colin White. I think I'd take my chances on a Colin White.

And the shootout being a gimmick. Don't remember people saying that when Miller was crushing them.

O'Reilly is paid accordingly. No one on this team plays a more complete game.
- Powerslave

This is one of the worst teams in hockey. Not to take away from his professionalism, but on actual good teams that would be up for debate. That's how good teams work.

Again, we're back to inserting narratives. If this happened or that didn't happen we are fine. But that's not the reality were in. I won't argue that the defense is poop, but in the same breath the guy who build a bottom three defense for us picked a great goalie? The same one you can't stop a single shootout attempt in 4 separate games this year and sucked last year? Doesn't inspire a ton of confidence.

Oh and that second liner is Colin White. I think I'd take my chances on a Colin White.

And the shootout being a gimmick. Don't remember people saying that when Miller was crushing them.
- Buffalo--Sabres

Colin White has proven nothing.

I'm not speaking for anyone else. The shootout blows.

Colin White has proven nothing.

I'm not speaking for anyone else. The shootout blows.
- Powerslave

Lehner has proven nothing. He even said it himself. You wouldn't be complaining about shootouts if those points had us in a playoff spot right now.

Risto - on pace for 45-50 points
Kane - Great 3 months
ROR - will hit 50 points
Lehner- Top 10 Sv%
Eichel - PPG

Yet we still are bad.

This is one of the worst teams in hockey. Not to take away from his professionalism, but on actual good teams that would be up for debate. That's how good teams work.
- Buffalo--Sabres

We're 5 points out of a playoff spot. You people act like we've won 10 games all year, ffs.

Lehner has proven nothing. He even said it himself. You wouldn't be complaining about shootouts if those points had us in a playoff spot right now.
- Buffalo--Sabres

How about the 5 (frank)ing games we lost to the bottom 5 teams in the league?

Were those on Lehner?

Those 5 games put us in the playoffs right now.

Risto - on pace for 45-50 points
Kane - Great 3 months
ROR - will hit 50 points
Lehner- Top 10 Sv%
Eichel - PPG

Yet we still are bad.
- sbroads24

Murray
Disco

Pegula has to wake up.

Those players on that list were heavy investments. Not one of them was acquired by drafting in the default position we earned that season. We doubled down.

How about the 5 (frank)ing games we lost to the bottom 5 teams in the league?

Were those on Lehner?

Those 5 games put us in the playoffs right now.
- Powerslave

When you lose 5 games to the bottom five teams in the league, after the money and resources we spent to get to this point, it just proves we suck at what we do and we don't deserve a playoff spot.

Literally if the hockey buzz posters had played goal in those 4 shootout games, by default we would have a better save % than .000. One puck would have bounced off something.

How about the 5 (frank)ing games we lost to the bottom 5 teams in the league?

Were those on Lehner?

Those 5 games put us in the playoffs right now.
- Powerslave

YOURe also only 6 points up of the last place team in tne east...after playing,what,5 more games?

YOURe also only 6 points up of the last place team in tne east...after playing,what,5 more games?
- Larsson_fan

The East is an odd beast this year. The Sabres have 29 more points than the Avs and 13 more than Arizona. To get into the playoffs in the West you'll need about 90 points. It will likely be 5 or more points higher in the East. The East standings are more jam packed than they've been in quite some time. There are no "bad" teams in the East(really only 2 bad teams in the league) this year, mostly because Columbus, Buffalo, and Toronto are all on the upswing. The NHL has got to love this.

Edit: And to actually answer your question, no, Sabres have 66 in 66, Carolina has 62 in 62, NJ has 62 in 65 and Detroit has 61 in 63.

Risto - on pace for 45-50 points
Kane - Great 3 months
ROR - will hit 50 points
Lehner- Top 10 Sv%
Eichel - PPG

Yet we still are bad.
- sbroads24

I just enjoy the irony in murrays approach. He spent a ton of assets to land mid 20s players to speed up the rebuild

Now he must rely on lesser picks to speed up the rebuild

I still think firing Bylsma and giving the next coach the remaining games and offseason to get his style in place is the best course of action..

and before I get jumped on for ranting about the coach...I realize that finding a replacement head coach right now may not be feasible and we would have to wait for the offseason to do so. But if Jack is this pissed off about the coach and his style choice...or even the way that the players on the team respond to the coaches message (for those of you who like to blame it all on the players)..something has to give, and the common theme there is disco freakin dan.

My wife was amazed last night that it was 3-0 Buffalo. I turned to her and said. They will likely still lose this game. She has seen enough Sabres games to know this to be true. Sure as hell... 4-3 loss.

Risto - on pace for 45-50 points
Kane - Great 3 months
ROR - will hit 50 points
Lehner- Top 10 Sv%
Eichel - PPG

Yet we still are bad.
- sbroads24

this is accurate

Risto now averaging 27:00 min/game

My wife was amazed last night that it was 3-0 Buffalo. I turned to her and said. They will likely still lose this game. She has seen enough Sabres games to know this to be true. Sure as hell... 4-3 loss.
- burner087

I walked into the bar and the pens got their first goal

I told my friends sabres would lose 5-3

I almost got it right


side note, if that 3rd goal was done by a sabre it would have been waived off instead of counting

How about the 5 (frank)ing games we lost to the bottom 5 teams in the league?

Were those on Lehner?

Those 5 games put us in the playoffs right now.
- Powerslave

0-8-2 vs the bruins, canes and devils


add a loss to yotes and colorado


and the shoot outs


they don't deserve to be a playoff team this year

The East is an odd beast this year. The Sabres have 29 more points than the Avs and 13 more than Arizona. To get into the playoffs in the West you'll need about 90 points. It will likely be 5 or more points higher in the East. The East standings are more jam packed than they've been in quite some time. There are no "bad" teams in the East(really only 2 bad teams in the league) this year, mostly because Columbus, Buffalo, and Toronto are all on the upswing. The NHL has got to love this.

Edit: And to actually answer your question, no, Sabres have 66 in 66, Carolina has 62 in 62, NJ has 62 in 65 and Detroit has 61 in 63.
- Wetbandit1

sabres won't get to 90


thank god the leafs won't either

leafs lost 5 in a row

To everyone concerned about the Sabres rebuild and the associated timeline...RELAX.

I'm moving to Florida in late summer of 2017 after watching this team since 1971.
45 years and only about 10+|- of them were anything worth a damn.

Therefore, Sabres in 2017-2018 should have their playoff run start and win the Stanley 1 or 2 years later ... book it.

Since I'm moving to the Tampa area (Sarasota really), by then the Bolts should be a cellar dweller!

How much longer must we wait? Somebody please give me an answer without smarta$$ remarks. This team reeks of stagnation and ineptitude....

How about the 5 (frank)ing games we lost to the bottom 5 teams in the league?

Were those on Lehner?

Those 5 games put us in the playoffs right now.
- Powerslave

Said this before (I actually got this from the SiriusXM NHL channel). If you're not within something like 2 points of a playoff spot by US Thanksgiving, you're pretty much out. The standings don't alter that much after that point.

Said this before (I actually got this from NHL.com). If you're not within something like 2 points of a playoff spot by US Thanksgiving, you're pretty much out. The standings don't alter that much after that point.
- buffalofan19

leaf fans disagree

leaf fans disagree
- homiedclown

I'm not convinced they're done. If anyone can right that ship, it's Babcock.