Michael Pachla: Buffalo Sabres 2016-17 Individual Stats--March

Me and the boy heading west at 1230. Splurged on tix in 117 pretty damn low.

Mamosers for wings after the game.

Ukrainian gets back in ROC around 12:00am

Should be a good day overall.

Me and the boy heading west at 1230. Splurged on tix in 117 pretty damn low.

Mamosers for wings after the game.

Ukrainian gets back in ROC around 12:00am

Should be a good day overall.
- Der Kaiser

have fun...should be a good game

Zemgus Girgensons was drafted one year before Baptiste, Bailey, Fasching, and Carrier. If it weren't for the circumstances of the team being horrible, he would have been developing and just now breaking onto the scene. He succeeded under a different coach and system. Too many seem to want to give up on him too quickly, which will be a mistake. He will become a solid third line player. He works hard and has character and has been the victim of stunted development because of the mess that we know as Sabres management.

Tim Murray has destroyed this team's defense. He has traded away good defensemen for garbage and has ignored the obvious lack of talent and depth in the previous offseasons. Defensemen take longer to develop after being drafted, which puts us even further behind on our timeline of becoming a true contender, because TM has neglected to draft many quality defensemen. We have one quality prospect who is overhyped and fans have to create scenarios where college FAs and KHL signees will magically fix all the problems. This is blatant incompetence at performing one's duties as GM and in it of itself is reason enough to merit TM being fired.

Reading through the previous blog comments I see that there are some who are looking forward to trying to sign EKane to an extension. Kane has a lot of miles on his odometer. He plays a hard style and has suffered many injuries. He is effective because of his combination of speed and strength. I applaud him for the effort he gives and the tenacity with which he plays, but his body won't hold up forever. He has considerable muscle on a medium size frame which adds weight and wear and tear on his joints. When he loses a step, his production will plummet.

Kane is not an elitely skilled player, he produces because of his athleticism and willingness to go all out. So when he loses some speed, his skill will not compensate and he will not continue to produce what we see from him now. This is his last big pay day, and he will be looking for max term and his numbers will warrant a big salary. IMO he will not produce the results that will justify his salary when he reaches 29 years old, give or take a year. He will become a cap problem.

The fact that Tim Murray has not foreseen this and traded him at the last deadline is another egregious error. Kane misses long stretches every year due to injury. If he is injured next year before the trade deadline we risk getting no return for the mountain of assets we gave up to get him. Even worse, if we sign him, when the team is actually ready to compete, he will be a shadow of what he is now and will create cap problems making it hard to sign our own players and bring in needed pieces.

In conclusion, Tim Murray has done a terrible job and ruined the potential the team once had. He is guilty of misusing assets, misjudgeing our defensive talent, and failing to properly look ahead and assess risk. He said himself rebuilds dont have to take years. He has failed to meet his own expectations. Anyone could have drafted Eichel with that pick. He deserves to be fired before he can do more harm trying to save his job in a desperate attempt to pull off a miracle. His rebuild did not work. It is time to cut our losses and start fresh.

Oh...and the coach sucks too.

Zemgus Girgensons was drafted one year before Baptiste, Bailey, Fasching, and Carrier. If it weren't for the circumstances of the team being horrible, he would have been developing and just now breaking onto the scene. He succeeded under a different coach and system. Too many seem to want to give up on him too quickly, which will be a mistake. He will become a solid third line player. He works hard and has character and has been the victim of stunted development because of the mess that we know as Sabres management.

Tim Murray has destroyed this team's defense. He has traded away good defensemen for garbage and has ignored the obvious lack of talent and depth in the previous offseasons. Defensemen take longer to develop after being drafted, which puts us even further behind on our timeline of becoming a true comtender, because TM has neglected to draft many quality defensemen. We have one quality prospect who is overhyped and fans have to create scenarios where college FAs and KHL signees will magically fix all the problems. This is blatant incompetence at performing one's duties as GM and in it of itself is reason enough to merit TM being fired.

Reading through the previous blog comments I see that there are some who are looking forward to trying to sign EKane to an extension. Kane has a lot of miles on his odometer. He plays a hard style and has suffered many injuries. He is effective because of his combination of speed and strength. I applaud him for the effort he gives and the tenacity with which he plays, but his body won't hold up forever. He has considerable muscle on a medium size frame which adds weight and wear and tear on his joints. When he loses a step, his production will plummet.

Kane is not an elitely skilled player, he produces because of his athleticism and willingness to go all out. So when he loses some speed, his skill will not compensate and he will not continue to produce what we see from him now. This is his last big pay day, and he will be looking for max term and his numbers will warrant a big salary. IMO he will not produce the results that will justify his salary when he reaches 29 years old, give or take a year. He will become a cap problem.

The fact that Tim Murray has not foreseen this and traded him at the last deadline is another egregious error. Kane misses long stretches every year due to injury. If he is injured next year before the trade deadline we risk getting no return for the mountain of assets we gave up to get him. Even worse, if we sign him, when the team is actually ready to compete, he will be a shadow of what he is now and will create cap problems making it hard to sign our own players and bring in needed pieces.

In conclusion, Tim Murray has done a terrible job and ruined the potential the team once had. He is guilty of misusing assets, misjudgeing our defensive talent, and failing to properly look ahead and assess risk. He said himself rebuilds dont have to take years. He has failed to meet his own expectations. Anyone could have drafted Eichel with that pick. He deserves to be fired before he can do more harm trying to save his job in a desperate attempt to pull off a miracle. His rebuild did not work. It is time to cut our losses and start fresh.
- SabresPanacea

fair criticisms all around...for the most part

You make some good points here on Girgensons and Kane, I agree completely. But I think they're a coaching change and a couple trades away from being a playoff team

Zemgus Girgensons was drafted one year before Baptiste, Bailey, Fasching, and Carrier. If it weren't for the circumstances of the team being horrible, he would have been developing and just now breaking onto the scene. He succeeded under a different coach and system. Too many seem to want to give up on him too quickly, which will be a mistake. He will become a solid third line player. He works hard and has character and has been the victim of stunted development because of the mess that we know as Sabres management.

Tim Murray has destroyed this team's defense. He has traded away good defensemen for garbage and has ignored the obvious lack of talent and depth in the previous offseasons. Defensemen take longer to develop after being drafted, which puts us even further behind on our timeline of becoming a true contender, because TM has neglected to draft many quality defensemen. We have one quality prospect who is overhyped and fans have to create scenarios where college FAs and KHL signees will magically fix all the problems. This is blatant incompetence at performing one's duties as GM and in it of itself is reason enough to merit TM being fired.

Reading through the previous blog comments I see that there are some who are looking forward to trying to sign EKane to an extension. Kane has a lot of miles on his odometer. He plays a hard style and has suffered many injuries. He is effective because of his combination of speed and strength. I applaud him for the effort he gives and the tenacity with which he plays, but his body won't hold up forever. He has considerable muscle on a medium size frame which adds weight and wear and tear on his joints. When he loses a step, his production will plummet.

Kane is not an elitely skilled player, he produces because of his athleticism and willingness to go all out. So when he loses some speed, his skill will not compensate and he will not continue to produce what we see from him now. This is his last big pay day, and he will be looking for max term and his numbers will warrant a big salary. IMO he will not produce the results that will justify his salary when he reaches 29 years old, give or take a year. He will become a cap problem.

The fact that Tim Murray has not foreseen this and traded him at the last deadline is another egregious error. Kane misses long stretches every year due to injury. If he is injured next year before the trade deadline we risk getting no return for the mountain of assets we gave up to get him. Even worse, if we sign him, when the team is actually ready to compete, he will be a shadow of what he is now and will create cap problems making it hard to sign our own players and bring in needed pieces.

In conclusion, Tim Murray has done a terrible job and ruined the potential the team once had. He is guilty of misusing assets, misjudgeing our defensive talent, and failing to properly look ahead and assess risk. He said himself rebuilds dont have to take years. He has failed to meet his own expectations. Anyone could have drafted Eichel with that pick. He deserves to be fired before he can do more harm trying to save his job in a desperate attempt to pull off a miracle. His rebuild did not work. It is time to cut our losses and start fresh.
- SabresPanacea

I agree on Zemgus and would like to give him another year but with a different coach. However, if someone wanted him now as part of a trade for a top 4 defense man, he'd be gone.

Murray has done a horrible job with the defense and a lot of asset management, but he can turn it all around this off season. I think this summer will be his make it or break it chance at keeping his job.

But all teams have at least 1 or 2 college or KHL signings, it's just part of the game now. No team recently has been a contender with a completely organic roster. Finding overseas UFAs should have been something we needed to do years ago.

Bylsma sucks! Agreed.

Zemgus Girgensons was drafted one year before Baptiste, Bailey, Fasching, and Carrier. If it weren't for the circumstances of the team being horrible, he would have been developing and just now breaking onto the scene. He succeeded under a different coach and system. Too many seem to want to give up on him too quickly, which will be a mistake. He will become a solid third line player. He works hard and has character and has been the victim of stunted development because of the mess that we know as Sabres management.

Tim Murray has destroyed this team's defense. He has traded away good defensemen for garbage and has ignored the obvious lack of talent and depth in the previous offseasons. Defensemen take longer to develop after being drafted, which puts us even further behind on our timeline of becoming a true contender, because TM has neglected to draft many quality defensemen. We have one quality prospect who is overhyped and fans have to create scenarios where college FAs and KHL signees will magically fix all the problems. This is blatant incompetence at performing one's duties as GM and in it of itself is reason enough to merit TM being fired.

Reading through the previous blog comments I see that there are some who are looking forward to trying to sign EKane to an extension. Kane has a lot of miles on his odometer. He plays a hard style and has suffered many injuries. He is effective because of his combination of speed and strength. I applaud him for the effort he gives and the tenacity with which he plays, but his body won't hold up forever. He has considerable muscle on a medium size frame which adds weight and wear and tear on his joints. When he loses a step, his production will plummet.

Kane is not an elitely skilled player, he produces because of his athleticism and willingness to go all out. So when he loses some speed, his skill will not compensate and he will not continue to produce what we see from him now. This is his last big pay day, and he will be looking for max term and his numbers will warrant a big salary. IMO he will not produce the results that will justify his salary when he reaches 29 years old, give or take a year. He will become a cap problem.

The fact that Tim Murray has not foreseen this and traded him at the last deadline is another egregious error. Kane misses long stretches every year due to injury. If he is injured next year before the trade deadline we risk getting no return for the mountain of assets we gave up to get him. Even worse, if we sign him, when the team is actually ready to compete, he will be a shadow of what he is now and will create cap problems making it hard to sign our own players and bring in needed pieces.

In conclusion, Tim Murray has done a terrible job and ruined the potential the team once had. He is guilty of misusing assets, misjudgeing our defensive talent, and failing to properly look ahead and assess risk. He said himself rebuilds dont have to take years. He has failed to meet his own expectations. Anyone could have drafted Eichel with that pick. He deserves to be fired before he can do more harm trying to save his job in a desperate attempt to pull off a miracle. His rebuild did not work. It is time to cut our losses and start fresh.
- SabresPanacea

Haven't seen you in awhile, have you been preparing this speech the whole time?

Haven't seen you in awhile, have you been preparing this speech the whole time?
- chilliard77

Quality takes time

Quality takes time
- SabresPanacea

What have you been up to?

Zemgus Girgensons was drafted one year before Baptiste, Bailey, Fasching, and Carrier. If it weren't for the circumstances of the team being horrible, he would have been developing and just now breaking onto the scene. He succeeded under a different coach and system. Too many seem to want to give up on him too quickly, which will be a mistake. He will become a solid third line player. He works hard and has character and has been the victim of stunted development because of the mess that we know as Sabres management.

Tim Murray has destroyed this team's defense. He has traded away good defensemen for garbage and has ignored the obvious lack of talent and depth in the previous offseasons. Defensemen take longer to develop after being drafted, which puts us even further behind on our timeline of becoming a true contender, because TM has neglected to draft many quality defensemen. We have one quality prospect who is overhyped and fans have to create scenarios where college FAs and KHL signees will magically fix all the problems. This is blatant incompetence at performing one's duties as GM and in it of itself is reason enough to merit TM being fired.

Reading through the previous blog comments I see that there are some who are looking forward to trying to sign EKane to an extension. Kane has a lot of miles on his odometer. He plays a hard style and has suffered many injuries. He is effective because of his combination of speed and strength. I applaud him for the effort he gives and the tenacity with which he plays, but his body won't hold up forever. He has considerable muscle on a medium size frame which adds weight and wear and tear on his joints. When he loses a step, his production will plummet.

Kane is not an elitely skilled player, he produces because of his athleticism and willingness to go all out. So when he loses some speed, his skill will not compensate and he will not continue to produce what we see from him now. This is his last big pay day, and he will be looking for max term and his numbers will warrant a big salary. IMO he will not produce the results that will justify his salary when he reaches 29 years old, give or take a year. He will become a cap problem.

The fact that Tim Murray has not foreseen this and traded him at the last deadline is another egregious error. Kane misses long stretches every year due to injury. If he is injured next year before the trade deadline we risk getting no return for the mountain of assets we gave up to get him. Even worse, if we sign him, when the team is actually ready to compete, he will be a shadow of what he is now and will create cap problems making it hard to sign our own players and bring in needed pieces.

In conclusion, Tim Murray has done a terrible job and ruined the potential the team once had. He is guilty of misusing assets, misjudgeing our defensive talent, and failing to properly look ahead and assess risk. He said himself rebuilds dont have to take years. He has failed to meet his own expectations. Anyone could have drafted Eichel with that pick. He deserves to be fired before he can do more harm trying to save his job in a desperate attempt to pull off a miracle. His rebuild did not work. It is time to cut our losses and start fresh.
- SabresPanacea

I'm open to this discussion but I think this is easier to say than to prove. Please provide specifics to support this generality.

Since Murray was hired in Jan 2014, what GOOD DEFENSEMAN has Murray traded away? And what GOOD DEFENSEMAN has come into the league or been traded that Murray did not get.

I can think of 4 significant trades involving Dmen - Larsson, Seth Jones, and Subban/Weber. The only killer Dman drafted was Ekblad, and we had no shot at him. What else am I missing?

I'm open to this discussion but I think this is easier to say than to prove. Please provide specifics to support this generality.

Since Murray was hired in Jan 2014, what GOOD DEFENSEMAN has Murray traded away? And what GOOD DEFENSEMAN has come into the league or been traded that Murray did not get.

I can think of 4 significant trades involving Dmen - Larsson, Seth Jones, and Subban/Weber. The only killer Dman drafted was Ekblad, and we had no shot at him. What else am I missing?
- Der Kaiser

The insignificant moves. The ones that went under the radar but wound up being good. Those would have been better options than going for draft pedigree like kulikov or bogosian. Would've cost less too.

Zemgus Girgensons was drafted one year before Baptiste, Bailey, Fasching, and Carrier. If it weren't for the circumstances of the team being horrible, he would have been developing and just now breaking onto the scene. He succeeded under a different coach and system. Too many seem to want to give up on him too quickly, which will be a mistake. He will become a solid third line player. He works hard and has character and has been the victim of stunted development because of the mess that we know as Sabres management.

Tim Murray has destroyed this team's defense. He has traded away good defensemen for garbage and has ignored the obvious lack of talent and depth in the previous offseasons. Defensemen take longer to develop after being drafted, which puts us even further behind on our timeline of becoming a true contender, because TM has neglected to draft many quality defensemen. We have one quality prospect who is overhyped and fans have to create scenarios where college FAs and KHL signees will magically fix all the problems. This is blatant incompetence at performing one's duties as GM and in it of itself is reason enough to merit TM being fired.

Reading through the previous blog comments I see that there are some who are looking forward to trying to sign EKane to an extension. Kane has a lot of miles on his odometer. He plays a hard style and has suffered many injuries. He is effective because of his combination of speed and strength. I applaud him for the effort he gives and the tenacity with which he plays, but his body won't hold up forever. He has considerable muscle on a medium size frame which adds weight and wear and tear on his joints. When he loses a step, his production will plummet.

Kane is not an elitely skilled player, he produces because of his athleticism and willingness to go all out. So when he loses some speed, his skill will not compensate and he will not continue to produce what we see from him now. This is his last big pay day, and he will be looking for max term and his numbers will warrant a big salary. IMO he will not produce the results that will justify his salary when he reaches 29 years old, give or take a year. He will become a cap problem.

The fact that Tim Murray has not foreseen this and traded him at the last deadline is another egregious error. Kane misses long stretches every year due to injury. If he is injured next year before the trade deadline we risk getting no return for the mountain of assets we gave up to get him. Even worse, if we sign him, when the team is actually ready to compete, he will be a shadow of what he is now and will create cap problems making it hard to sign our own players and bring in needed pieces.

In conclusion, Tim Murray has done a terrible job and ruined the potential the team once had. He is guilty of misusing assets, misjudgeing our defensive talent, and failing to properly look ahead and assess risk. He said himself rebuilds dont have to take years. He has failed to meet his own expectations. Anyone could have drafted Eichel with that pick. He deserves to be fired before he can do more harm trying to save his job in a desperate attempt to pull off a miracle. His rebuild did not work. It is time to cut our losses and start fresh.
- SabresPanacea

Well written, solid post although I don't necessarily agree with all of it. Right now it's so hard to determine what the issue is with Girgs - is the coaching/systems or is it the player? Regarding Kane, I would be all over trading him on July 2 onwards if Murray knows he isn't signing an extension here. We gave up a lot to get him, we have to get a good d-man in return and hope to God that one of Nylander, Baliey or Baptiste can fill his shoes. One thing many of us agree on is that Disco needs to be canned. After the recent handling of the Rhino incident, I am done with him. Plus the team will (at best) achieve the same point total as last year. Unacceptable.

Keep the solid posts coming!

The insignificant moves. The ones that went under the radar but wound up being good. Those would have been better options than going for draft pedigree like kulikov or bogosian. Would've cost less too.
- Sabresfan-365

He's making both.

He's making both.
- Der Kaiser

Antipin would be his first as far as the blueline goes

Antipin would be his first as far as the blueline goes
- Sabresfan-365

Ruhwedel, Nelson Fedun, Falk ask what you're drinking today.

Ruhwedel, Nelson Fedun, Falk ask what you're drinking today.
- Der Kaiser

**good under the radar signings, ones that work out

Ruhwedel was darcy.

Nelson is where? Falk is a#7. E-Rod looks like he can be that up front. Antipin could be our version of zaitsev.

Signing a 7th d-man to a 7th dman contract and getting 7th dman results out of him isnt an under the radar move. Its signing a 7th d-man


Fedun was one, then for whatever reason they identified him as the one who should be sent back down/scratched?

**good under the radar signings, ones that work out

Ruhwedel was darcy.

Nelson is where? Falk is a#7. E-Rod looks like he can be that up front. Antipin could be our version of zaitsev.

Signing a 7th d-man to a 7th dman contract and getting 7th dman results out of him isnt an under the radar move. Its signing a 7th d-man
- Sabresfan-365

This comes in the context of a post saying he has "mismanaged defensive assets."

And my request that somebody identify specific "good" Dmen who moved or came into the league since January 2014.

Getting 7th DMan results from a 7th DMan shouldn't get anybody fired, and there's still just a bunch of generalizations.

This comes in the context of a post saying he has "mismanaged defensive assets."

And my request that somebody identify specific "good" Dmen who moved or came into the league since January 2014.

Getting 7th DMan results from a 7th DMan shouldn't get anybody fired, and there's still just a bunch of generalizations.
- Der Kaiser

Part of a general managers job is getting people to say yes to him. Whether that's another GM, or a UFA.

Murray succeeded in that aspect when he had a boatload of assets to overpay. Now it isn't as easy for him. That's still his job though.

Part of a general managers job is getting people to say yes to him. Whether that's another GM, or a UFA.

Murray succeeded in that aspect when he had a boatload of assets to overpay. Now it isn't as easy for him. That's still his job though.
- sbroads24

Every other GM has a job to get to yes -

So I'll keep waiting for post Jan 2014 specifics.

Every other GM has a job to get to yes -

So I'll keep waiting for post Jan 2014 specifics.
- Der Kaiser

And I'll keep waiting for this team to come close to a playoff birth under Tim Murray.

I'm sure it's been the same 16 teams since 2014

This comes in the context of a post saying he has "mismanaged defensive assets."

And my request that somebody identify specific "good" Dmen who moved or came into the league since January 2014.

Getting 7th DMan results from a 7th DMan shouldn't get anybody fired, and there's still just a bunch of generalizations.
- Der Kaiser

ok then thats my bad. There's a few names there though just outside the trade market.

Vancouver found Stetcher and Tryamkin

Toronto found Zaitsev

ok then thats my bad. There's a few names there though just outside the trade market.

Vancouver found Stetcher and Tryamkin

Toronto found Zaitsev
- Sabresfan-365

"There's nothing he could have done about the blue line"

Like, WTF?

"There's nothing he could have done about the blue line"

Like, WTF?
- sbroads24

Goligoski could've been an option. Same with Demers.

If the argument was theres nothing he could've done to make it a cup contender that quickly i agree *except he shouldnt have set such lofty expectations*.

They easily could've put together a playoff one. Ive said it already but if this team was even mediocre 5v5 we're in the playoff hunt. its that bad, after 4 years.



If he had done nothing about the blueline, we'd still be in a better spot. Problem was he did something dumb, like identifying 2 pylons as top four guys.