100%

Dahlin has great work out habits....sick, the Sabres still fail.

You can't put a guy who spent his entire professional career in the toxic losing environment that is the Sabres, make him captain and expect change next season.

He is too dumb to make the dramatic changes needed. Maximizing Dahlin's on ice performance should be the focus...that's on the GM and coach if the guy works out as hard as you people say he does.

Leadership is only 1 of the many massive holes in this organization with no plans to properly fill.
- washedup20

I don't necessarily buy this notion, but I'm not going to dismiss it either. I'm willing to sink or swim with him at this point. He's still young, turning 24 next month.

The leadership change can have the same affect firing a coach and the assistant having more success can have.

They have their issues, but quit? Really haven't seen that. I saw more of that last year.
- Lunaion

they quit a lot on this team

6k and lately, levi, have made it look better than it really is

so many times they start a period down 1 or 2 goals and get 5 shots on goal the next period, while giving up 15

Edmonton 3rd period
- Buff36

4 minutes, how many others can you find?

100%

Dahlin has great work out habits....sick, the Sabres still fail.

You can't put a guy who spent his entire professional career in the toxic losing environment that is the Sabres, make him captain and expect change next season.

He is too dumb to make the dramatic changes needed. Maximizing Dahlin's on ice performance should be the focus...that's on the GM and coach if the guy works out as hard as you people say he does.

Leadership is only 1 of the many massive holes in this organization with no plans to properly fill.
- washedup20

pegula is flying to buffalo to announce the 2 year girgens extension and give him the C personally in front of the cameras

boss will have a sore johnson the next day

Ugh, Greenway is so much more than a 4th liner and Benson should have stayed in jr.
- Buffalo--Sabres

Greenway is a bottom of the league depth player that should be on a minimum contract. It's a disaster of a contract and Adams traded away the pick that turned into Heidt, a top player in the WHL 117 points in 66 games. - Watch that pick turn out to be a better player than Rosen etc. Greenway was a gamble trade that the prospect whisperer that is Don Meatball could help improve. That is a failure from top to bottom and will remain for the duration of his contract.

Benson should have stayed in juniors, I agree with that. The try-hard narrative is irrelevant. The Sabres suck with him, the needle moves little with him out of the lineup, he is irrelevant too often, piss poor management of him.

pegula is flying to buffalo to announce the 2 year girgens extension and give him the C personally in front of the cameras

boss will have a sore johnson the next day
- homiedclown

4 minutes, how many others can you find?
- Lunaion

nuck game
latest red wing game
pred game
jets game
2 ducks game
blues game
stars game

and that is just the last 8 weeks

I don't necessarily buy this notion, but I'm not going to dismiss it either. I'm willing to sink or swim with him at this point. He's still young, turning 24 next month.

The leadership change can have the same affect firing a coach and the assistant having more success can have.
- buffalofan19

What leadership qualities do you see out of Dahlin that indicate change next season?

I see a talented player, who enjoys the comfort of the Sabres organization.

To be fair, he could probably play 3rd line and be serviceable. It's this blind insistence that he's a top6 forward that's disconcerting.
- QuinnFan

Disagree Quinner,
It is a major fault of The Buffalo Sabres to push guys up one level above the competency... They live the Peter Principle.

I prefer to slot guys based on their historical productions against Production Standards established for each line
-1st liner = 80+ pts (and preferred to have 1 of the 3 closer to 100 or more
-2nd liner =60+
-3rd liner = 35-40
-4th liner = 20+
Obviously, not everyone is going to meet that standard on a young team, especially newer NHL players.

Greenway has 1 season that approaches 3rd line production standards. He is perfectly suited for 4th line duties if this organization had a friggin clue on how to run a NHL hockey team.

Greenway is a bottom of the league depth player that should be on a minimum contract. It's a disaster of a contract and Adams traded away the pick that turned into Heidt, a top player in the WHL 117 points in 66 games. - Watch that pick turn out to be a better player than Rosen etc. Greenway was a gamble trade that the prospect whisperer that is Don Meatball could help improve. That is a failure from top to bottom and will remain for the duration of his contract.

Benson should have stayed in juniors, I agree with that. The try-hard narrative is irrelevant. The Sabres suck with him, the needle moves little with him out of the lineup, he is irrelevant too often, piss poor management of him.
- washedup20

I get why they got sucked into Benson. Hot preseason, hot early season while still under 10 games. But a professional GM and coach have to know better. They made a fan level decision.

I think a leadership group of Dahlin, Tuch, Cozens is more than ok. It’s not their fault they don’t have competent comrades to lead.

Get a coaching staff who isn’t completely useless and continue to fill out the roster and we are ok.

The Byram trade is a good start, but more work to be done.
- Swedish_Jesus

They are good leaders who cant be blamed for failing to lead...brilliant.

What leadership qualities do you see out of Dahlin that indicate change next season?

I see a talented player, who enjoys the comfort of the Sabres organization.
- washedup20

I see a guy who sets the right example, but guys don't follow because the moron at the top said "here, follow the example of these career underachievers instead". The message from the top matters, and it's been an utter catastrophe.

I get why they got sucked into Benson. Hot preseason, hot early season while still under 10 games. But a professional GM and coach have to know better. They made a fan level decision.
- Buffalo--Sabres

It wasn't really a fan level decision so much as it was the fact that this team was never that deep to begin with. Either way, it's still on the used car salesman running the show at the top.

nuck game
latest red wing game
pred game
jets game
2 ducks game
blues game
stars game

and that is just the last 8 weeks
- homiedclown

Think quitting is levels beyond those.

While the anecdote about MacKinnon's "team rules" makes for great entertainment, the team didn't win the Cup when he was the captain. Gabriel Landeskog had the "C", and was given it very early in his career. Either you can lead or you can't. It's time to find out if Dahlin can.
- buffalofan19

Disagree, all he has seen is dreadful losing and bad leadership for those years... Sans last season perhaps.
People can and do learn to lead all over the world... If they are open to learning and have good mentors.
That is what I'm driving at. Dahlin is the Peter Principle playing out if they give it to him... Learning on the fly with little guidance on how to do it.

Disagree, all he has seen is dreadful losing and bad leadership for those years... Sans last season perhaps.
People can and do learn to lead all over the world... If they are open to learning and have good mentors.
That is what I'm driving at. Dahlin is the Peter Principle playing out if they give it to him... Learning on the fly with little guidance on how to do it.
- IonSabres

Again, Gabriel Landeskog got the captaincy at age 18 and won the cup. Granted, it took him a decade to get there, but it still can work. I'm all for surrounding him with better players with better work ethic around him, but just about any "gray beard" that both has captainship qualities and is willing to come to this poopshow is likely so over the hill that he's a liability on the ice elsewhere.

100%

Dahlin has great work out habits....sick, the Sabres still fail.

You can't put a guy who spent his entire professional career in the toxic losing environment that is the Sabres, make him captain and expect change next season.

He is too dumb to make the dramatic changes needed. Maximizing Dahlin's on ice performance should be the focus...that's on the GM and coach if the guy works out as hard as you people say he does.

Leadership is only 1 of the many massive holes in this organization with no plans to properly fill.
- washedup20

Agreed.
We have watched a ruderless organization for 13 years and it is suggested to just do the same.
Einstein is said to have had a theory about this.

It is similar in nature to the argument which has also been proven false... Just get good players... Complete BS.

I see a guy who sets the right example, but guys don't follow because the moron at the top said "here, follow the example of these career underachievers instead". The message from the top matters, and it's been an utter catastrophe.
- buffalofan19

It always falls back on the GM, if he is the de-facto captain now since Okposo is gone, I haven't seen changes in play that indicate Dahlin is moving any needles...at some point a leader would go crazy (like Mackinnon) and say (frank) the coach and GM, these are the standards we need to uphold.

Cozens is (poorly) the only one I have seen attempt that, once he failed he got in line with the rest of them.

The theme of this current group is complacency.

Think quitting is levels beyond those.
- Lunaion

tell that to the people spending their hard earned money to watch that crap

tell that to the people spending their hard earned money to watch that crap
- homiedclown

People spending their hard-earned money want one thing: winning. Anyone who says otherwise is a liar. Even the so-called "Hardest Working Team in Hockey" was only watchable because the best goaltender on the planet was stealing games for them and getting them deep into the playoffs.

pegula is flying to buffalo to announce the 2 year girgens extension and give him the C personally in front of the cameras

boss will have a sore johnson the next day
- homiedclown

Atlanta is burning... Adams: we just gotta have Zemgus!
So friggin laughable.

It always falls back on the GM, if he is the de-facto captain now since Okposo is gone, I haven't seen changes in play that indicate Dahlin is moving any needles...at some point a leader would go crazy (like Mackinnon) and say (frank) the coach and GM, these are the standards we need to uphold.

Cozens is (poorly) the only one I have seen attempt that, once he failed he got in line with the rest of them.

The theme of this current group is complacency.
- washedup20

Jack Eichel did that with Dan Bylsma, basically got him and Tim Murray fired, and eventually he was given the moniker of "spoiled brat" on his way out.

You could be right. Dahlin could be a complacent loser just like the rest of them. The problem is a guy with those qualifications that's also young enough not to be a liability on the ice isn't coming through that door, not for this team, that's this bad in this market. It has to come from within.

tell that to the people spending their hard earned money to watch that crap
- homiedclown

You're making me defend this team, which I'd rather not do.

It always falls back on the GM, if he is the de-facto captain now since Okposo is gone, I haven't seen changes in play that indicate Dahlin is moving any needles...at some point a leader would go crazy (like Mackinnon) and say (frank) the coach and GM, these are the standards we need to uphold.

Cozens is (poorly) the only one I have seen attempt that, once he failed he got in line with the rest of them.

The theme of this current group is complacency.
- washedup20

Dead on.

Jack Eichel did that with Dan Bylsma, basically got him and Tim Murray fired, and eventually he was given the moniker of "spoiled brat" on his way out.

You could be right. Dahlin could be a complacent loser just like the rest of them. The problem is a guy with those qualifications that's also young enough not to be a liability on the ice isn't coming through that door, not for this team, that's this bad in this market. It has to come from within.
- buffalofan19

Touché on Eichel - he was competitive but not a leader. He had the right idea but didn't have the leadership qualities to execute them.

Dahlin is a loser because he plays in Buffalo. I don't think he is a loser, I think he lacks the required intangibles to be a leader, if given the C, he isn't aware enough to acquire those leadership traits...resulting in more failure for the organization.

Setting Dahlin up to fail as a leader is the GM's fault.