Taking Reinhart over Draisatil played a big part too.

A GM’s job is hard though. Homie did a poll before that draft and a very good collection of posters said Draisatil yet the people paid millions of dollars couldn’t figure it out.
- Pegullaville

It happens alot in Hockey, they are drafted so young.

I believe the context was
- ROR engineered himself out of Buffalo with those comments, he knew the impact it would have after 2 years of only saying " I have t-6 o be better, it starts with me"
- the return was suboptimal, but given he was a goner, the thought was that Slobknob and Quitter could produce those points and have the scoring spread out. It was a hope that turned out to be very wrong
- Tage and the draft pick could provide value down the road. The jury is still out on that one...but admittedly it doesn't look great unless Tage becomes a productive middle 6 and Johnson is a 2nd pairing.
- And certainly most hoped Mitts would develope OVER TIME into a 2C, to eventually fill the void held down by Berglund for a year or two.

I dont recall people saying Mitts is it right away...well except for Botts.
- IonSabres

Sbroads specifically said “easily replaceable” over & over, as we often argued about ROR way before he was even traded

Boss did think Mitts would score 60points as a rookie

MANY others on here were VERY high with their expectations for Mitts as well
I’d say most had him at 45points or more as a rookie

And probably 90% of those here ACTUALLY LIKED that terrible BS trade....

And my initial point was that it sucked freaking balls.... what did you think of it?

I never liked TM trading for ROR in the first place. Personally think it was the wrong time, Sabres weren't ready yet.
- Buff36

That doesn’t make sense to me,
but we don’t have to get into it

It’s not like ROR was a vet that couldn’t be here for the long term, he was 24years old when we got him

He could’ve been part of the solution if we didn’t trade him like morons
He’s a really good player

It happens alot in Hockey, they are drafted so young.
- Buff36

What was Kevin Devine’s sales pitch to Kevyn Adams to keep his job ?

I took Grigorenko and made a trade up for Girgensons and passed on Tom Wilson, Tomas Hertl and Tuevo Terravinen

I took Rasmus Ristolainen over Bo Horvat who went one pick later and would have taken Risto top 5 if I had the opportunity ?

Took Reinhart over Draisatil.

Took Nylander over Sergachev. Even “Chiorquin” would have been the better move.

Mittelstadt is unfortunate as every scouting community had him as a top 10 pick, if not top 5, but the fact that he couldn’t do a pull up at the scouting combine and had the worst conditioning testing of any prospect there probably should have raised red flags.

Dylan Cozens may be the only pick the Sabres have hit a home run on in 10+ years outside of Eichel and Dahlin whom were obvious selections.

That doesn’t make sense to me,
but we don’t have to get into it

It’s not like ROR was a vet that couldn’t be here for the long term, he was 24years old when we got him

He could’ve been part of the solution if we didn’t trade him like morons
He’s a really good player
- jdfitz77

Any player could be had for the right price.

The problem isn’t that we moved on from ROR, the problem is that we should have gotten a better return on the trade.

That doesn’t make sense to me,
but we don’t have to get into it

It’s not like ROR was a vet that couldn’t be here for the long term, he was 24years old when we got him

He could’ve been part of the solution if we didn’t trade him like morons
He’s a really good player
- jdfitz77

Why to me ROR is a player, even at 24, was a guy you get to finish your puzzle, like the Blues, not start it off with.

That moron (Guerin) made an excellent pick one pick after the Sabres pick in the draft and made an outstanding trade with Nashville.

One bad trade does not make a GM a moron.
- kingcong39

All this says to me is Judd Brackett is really good at his job.

I guess Guerin should get the credit for bringing him on after Benning cut him loose despite building a cup contending roster through the draft in Vancouver.

All this says to me is Judd Brackett is really good at his job.

I guess Guerin should get the credit for bringing him on after Benning cut him loose despite building a cup contending roster through the draft in Vancouver.
- Pegullaville

How savvy or intelligent did Brackett have to be to take Rossi at 9th overall?

How savvy or intelligent did Brackett have to be to take Rossi at 9th overall?
- kingcong39

Brackett was probably giggling like a little school girl when he saw him still available.

Guerin will be judged on how good he is at surrounding Kaprisov, Rossi, and Fiala. 2 of those three were brought in by prior management teams and Rossi was an obvious pick.

Sbroads specifically said “easily replaceable” over & over, as we often argued about ROR way before he was even traded

Boss did think Mitts would score 60points as a rookie

MANY others on here were VERY high with their expectations for Mitts as well
I’d say most had him at 45points or more as a rookie

And probably 90% of those here ACTUALLY LIKED that terrible BS trade....

And my initial point was that it sucked freaking balls.... what did you think of it?
- jdfitz77

ROR trapped me.
1st, I loved him his first season and a half...I thought he should be made captain, and AI jokingly said I was thinking of knocking my front tooth out to illustrate how much I thought of him.

By the end of that season after hearing the same I have to be better schtick it got very old, as if he was raising the finger to the fans... I was pretty much done with him and his leadership. Upon hearing his comments at locker cleanup day I remember posting that he had just engineered his way out of Buffalo, and was happy to see him go.

As far as the trade goes, I was happy to see him go, but disappointed in the return, especially not getting a better prospect than Tage.

That doesn’t make sense to me,
but we don’t have to get into it

It’s not like ROR was a vet that couldn’t be here for the long term, he was 24years old when we got him

He could’ve been part of the solution if we didn’t trade him like morons
He’s a really good player
- jdfitz77

Yes a good player that came to a team at the wrong time in my opinion, and didn't move the needle much while he was here.

But Rodgers has 2 mvp awards, won the Super Bowl, and been a Pro Bowl level QB for over a decade now

Allen’s resume of good play doesn’t even last ONE full season yet

The point is that it’s easier to excuse the bad games here n there when u have a bigger resume of excellence

Allen was one of the worst passers in the league his first 2years....
so when we see him have a bad game now, it’s reasonable to point to it & say we’re still seeing bad habits/decisions that were so common in the first 2 seasons
His resume of bad play, is MUCH bigger than his resume of great play
It’s great that we see that changing this season
The more that changes, the more we can feel comfortable counting on elite play from him

And we’ve gotta see it more against good teams,
ESPECIALLY in the playoffs
- jdfitz77

Exactly. The Tom Brady’s. Brees Rodgers etc. they get a pass. They have done it for literally years.

Allen has played realistically 6 good games this year. The rest have been iffy and highly questionable

Yes a good player that came to a team at the wrong time in my opinion, and didn't move the needle much while he was here.
- Buff36

Nope.

His defensive impact was in fact replaced by Larsson, and he provided mediocre 5 on 5 offense when he was here.

Excellent player, not excellent as a Sabre

Any player could be had for the right price.

The problem isn’t that we moved on from ROR, the problem is that we should have gotten a better return on the trade.
- Pegullaville

The problem is that any decent offensive middle six center would’ve nullified any loss on the ROR trade because Larsson became an elite defensive player under Housley and Krueger when ROR left.

The trade will look 2x better now that Ryan Johnson looks really good this year and Tage was becoming pretty solid as well

It was always a futures trade. Of course it was going to look lopsided for a few years

I love how trade experts here are now hating on the ROR and Kane trades.

Kane - we couldn’t ship out Tyler Myers any faster when we traded him to the jets and Stafford was very blah once he got his 4 x 4 contract.

Kane is still a legitimate top 6 forward in the nhl.


ROR - by the end of the season. We were all sick of his poop. Paul Hamilton said ROR stopped his practices with the kids. His attitude was poop.

I blame pegula for saying he didn’t want to pay out his bonus. 89 and clown mentioned it. Botts had better offers

Nope.

His defensive impact was in fact replaced by Larsson, and he provided mediocre 5 on 5 offense when he was here.

Excellent player, not excellent as a Sabre
- sbroads24

Sabres had no foundation yet when they acquired ROR, plus they traded some of it away to get him. The Sabres had a chance back 2014-15-16 to really load up there prospect pool with talent and chips. Colorado and Winnipeg trades really hurt are system from 2015 and on, plus bad drafting. We are just starting to see are system recover from it. Makes for making trades to fill roster spots or signing players you might not because those spots should be taken by your prospects but we haven't really had that the last 5 yrs.

Sabres had no foundation yet when they acquired ROR, plus they traded some of it away to get him. The Sabres had a chance back 2014-15-16 to really load up there prospect pool with talent and chips. Colorado and Winnipeg trades really hurt are system from 2015 and on, plus bad drafting. We are just starting to see are system recover from it. Makes for making trades to fill roster spots or signing players you might not because those spots should be taken by your prospects but we haven't really had that the last 5 yrs.
- Buff36

Blame pegula for telling Timmy to rush the rebuild.

Taking Reinhart over Draisatil played a big part too.

A GM’s job is hard though. Homie did a poll before that draft and a very good collection of posters said Draisatil yet the people paid millions of dollars couldn’t figure it out.
- Pegullaville

Draistal was the biggest question mark of the top 5 players in the draft.

At the time of the draft. He of course was compared to malkin. I think the “German malkin” was the term used.

But again. He was the biggest question mark in the draft. Sam was considered the best forward by far that draft too

Draistal was the biggest question mark of the top 5 players in the draft.

At the time of the draft. He of course was compared to malkin. I think the “German malkin” was the term used.

But again. He was the biggest question mark in the draft. Sam was considered the best forward by far that draft too
- Sabretooth9

Thats just not true at all. Any 3 of Bennett, Draisaitl or Reinhart were in play for the top forward.

Many wanted the German over Reinhart

Thats just not true at all. Any 3 of Bennett, Draisaitl or Reinhart were in play for the top forward.

Many wanted the German over Reinhart
- sbroads24

Okay Bennett we didn’t want because of a pull Up or lack there of.

Draistal was the biggest hit or miss / gamble of the draft

If your a real life Gm. You take Reinhart. You don’t gamble a 2nd overall pick on a big what if

Why to me ROR is a player, even at 24, was a guy you get to finish your puzzle, like the Blues, not start it off with.
- Buff36

He was a really good, YOUNG player, that could be around for a while....

If not him....
what kinds of players should we have been trying to get?

And why wouldn’t want a guy like that?

He was a really good, YOUNG player, that could be around for a while....

If not him....
what kinds of players should we have been trying to get?

And why wouldn’t want a guy like that?
- jdfitz77

At the end of the year. We wanted him gone and was happy to unload the contract.

Everything around ROR and what he was doing saying and producing was all negative trending

He was a really good, YOUNG player, that could be around for a while....

If not him....
what kinds of players should we have been trying to get?

And why wouldn’t want a guy like that?
- jdfitz77

You DO want a guy like that. A vet that's been around for what, 6 years, at that point? On paper, it was perfect, imo.

Just didn't work out. It happens, more often than not.

Any player could be had for the right price.

The problem isn’t that we moved on from ROR, the problem is that we should have gotten a better return on the trade.
- Pegullaville

Well sure
But now we are paying the price for moving him without a viable replacement
I think just about everyone sees that now....
but it still sucks

I do like Staal though. I think he’s good for this team & should be a good 2C. His leadership certainly won’t hurt either.

You DO want a guy like that. A vet that's been around for what, 6 years, at that point? On paper, it was perfect, imo.

Just didn't work out. It happens, more often than not.
- Powerslave

It didn’t “work out” bc literally every single move gmtm made with defensemen was a disaster

The “team” wasn’t working out,
but that wasn’t bc of ROR- he played well for us