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
- jdfitz77

ROR toward the end ...... didn’t play well

ROR toward the end ...... didn’t play well
- Sabretooth9

If u say so
I don’t specifically remember “towards the end”
But he was the Selke winning Cup mvp the next season,
so obviously he was still a really good player

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

It's almost like The Plan changed in mid flight. 1st 2 years build up unprecedented draft capital to build through the draft. 3rd Season, trade significant draft capital to acquire good players in an attempt to start to win then.

Hmmm. Wonder why that happened.

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

He did nothing to make us better, yes he is a good player, we really didn't have enough of a supporting cast. But he didn't push the needle either way.

It's almost like The Plan changed in mid flight. 1st 2 years build up unprecedented draft capital to build through the draft. 3rd Season, trade significant draft capital to acquire good players in an attempt to start to win then.

Hmmm. Wonder why that happened.
- IonSabres

Wonder!!!!

He did nothing to make us better, yes he is a good player, we really didn't have enough of a supporting cast. But he didn't push the needle either way.
- Buff36

No one did for us- maybe Eichel
But that’s bc the “team” sucked
U need more than a few good players to actually have a good team

It's almost like The Plan changed in mid flight. 1st 2 years build up unprecedented draft capital to build through the draft. 3rd Season, trade significant draft capital to acquire good players in an attempt to start to win then.

Hmmm. Wonder why that happened.
- IonSabres

Bc we got Eichel,
so it was time to start trying to win....
not wait 3-5years (or longer) to see if all those draft picks developed into good players

If u say so
I don’t specifically remember “towards the end”
But he was the Selke winning Cup mvp the next season,
so obviously he was still a really good player
- jdfitz77

Again. On the Buffalo Sabres. Toward the 2nd half of the year. He was not good. He literally gave up and was out for a general skate.

We aren’t talking about the blues.

Again. On the Buffalo Sabres. Toward the 2nd half of the year. He was not good. He literally gave up and was out for a general skate.

We aren’t talking about the blues.
- Sabretooth9

Well idk what your point is...?
But what I’m saying is that it’s stupid we traded him, bc he could’ve been a big part of this team becoming a success.
And the return we got for him was dogsh!t

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

I remember almost NO ONE liking it. They said he needed to go, not that they loved the return.

I remember almost NO ONE liking it. They said he needed to go, not that they loved the return.
- 3rd GM's the charm

I argued with many who liked it
Sbroads even tried to say Berglund & Sobatka were “fast”
It was brutal

Remind me again which superstars GMTM traded away to decimate our prospect pool?

Oh yeah, that's right. One of them scored 36 points 2 years ago on a stacked Colorado team. If only we had JT Compher and Nikita Zadorov and his 1 goal here for the past 5 years, we would have won multiple cups.

I argued with many who liked it
Sbroads even tried to say Berglund & Sobatka were “fast”
It was brutal
- jdfitz77

Lol, no I didn’t

I said Berglund could skate for his size at 6’4 and that was true

Someone else Sobotka was fast and I actually disagreed with it

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
- Sabretooth9

Florida gambled on Barkov. Many had Drouin and Jones projected ahead of him and it worked out well for them no ?

How many people had Dubois going ahead of Jesse Puliarvi ?

How many people had Moritz Seider going top 6 im 2018 ?

Nobody had Jack Quinn going ahead of the likes of Rossi or Perfetti. If that works out for Buffalo then I’ll take back everything I’ve ever said about Adams and he and the scouting department he built will have earned every penny they make this year

No one did for us- maybe Eichel
But that’s bc the “team” sucked
U need more than a few good players to actually have a good team
- jdfitz77

That's kinda my point, we didn't have enough foundation around ROR

Florida gambled on Barkov. Many had Drouin and Jones projected ahead of him and it worked out well for them no ?

How many people had Dubois going ahead of Jesse Puliarvi ?

How many people had Moritz Seider going top 6 im 2018 ?

Nobody had Jack Quinn going ahead of the likes of Rossi or Perfetti. If that works out for Buffalo then I’ll take back everything I’ve ever said about Adams and he and the scouting department he built will have earned every penny they make this year
- Pegullaville

Well let’s just be hopeful Quinn does work out,
and move on from the obsession for Rossi

Remind me again which superstars GMTM traded away to decimate our prospect pool?

Oh yeah, that's right. One of them scored 36 points 2 years ago on a stacked Colorado team. If only we had JT Compher and Nikita Zadorov and his 1 goal here for the past 5 years, we would have won multiple cups.
- 3rd GM's the charm

I don’t see Yzerman trading the farm for the Red Wings to compete this year do you ? GMTM could have sat on his hands for one more year and finished bottom 5 and we could have added another high end forward prospect and found out what he had in our farm system before making the big chess move.

How different does this team look if we kept Compher and moved Bailey in the original ROR trade ?

How about if we got Robert Thomas back from the Blues instead of Tage ?

That's kinda my point, we didn't have enough foundation around ROR
- Buff36

Because every move on defense was a failure
And Lehner was a psycho drunk

What did u want us to do....
wait for 3-5years for our draft picks to MAYBE develop into “foundation” type pieces?

I don’t think that’s realistic that we’d essentially tank for 3+ more seasons

I don’t see Yzerman trading the farm for the Red Wings to compete this year do you ? GMTM could have sat on his hands for one more year and finished bottom 5 and we could have added another high end forward prospect and found out what he had in our farm system before making the big chess move.

How different does this team look if we kept Compher and moved Bailey in the original ROR trade ?

How about if we got Robert Thomas back from the Blues instead of Tage ?
- Pegullaville

Yzerman didn’t just draft Sam & then Jack either
Bad comparison

I don’t see Yzerman trading the farm for the Red Wings to compete this year do you ? GMTM could have sat on his hands for one more year and finished bottom 5 and we could have added another high end forward prospect and found out what he had in our farm system before making the big chess move.

How different does this team look if we kept Compher and moved Bailey in the original ROR trade ?

How about if we got Robert Thomas back from the Blues instead of Tage ?
- Pegullaville

You are really going to compare a top-3 GM in the NHL to Tim Murray?

The point is, we traded away a bunch of bottom-6 players and our problem has always been top-9 scoring. None of those players would have made us any better.

But the next time you compare the Jonas Brothers to Pink Floyd, I'm not going to humor you with a response.

That's kinda my point, we didn't have enough foundation around ROR
- Buff36

He’s the most over rated Sabre in history

He was great his first season here, the last two there wasn’t a single case to be made that he was a top 20 NHL center.

Excellent defensively, really good on the PP

At EV as a Buffalo Sabre 2015-2018

Goals - 32 (93rd among centers)
Assists - 68 (43rd among centers)
Points- 100 (56th among centers)

He was good here. Absolutely nothing more, and it isn’t a Greek tragedy we moved on

Yzerman didn’t just draft Sam & then Jack either
Bad comparison
- jdfitz77

Yzerman inherited Larkin and Mantha and the Red Wings just had a very good draft starting with Lucas Raymond who is going to be a stud.

Larkin, Mantha, Raymond, Seider is much more to build around then just Eichel and Reinhart.

You are really going to compare a top-3 GM in the NHL to Tim Murray?

The point is, we traded away a bunch of bottom-6 players and our problem has always been top-9 scoring. None of those players would have made us any better.

But the next time you compare the Jonas Brothers to Pink Floyd, I'm not going to humor you with a response.
- 3rd GM's the charm

Sure, and without ROR in 2016 we probably finish dead last or close to it.

We could have added one of Matthews, Laine, Dubois, M.Tkachuk to Eichel and Reinhart instead of Nylander.

You’re right though, GMTM and our scouting department probably would have drafted Puluarvi and we’d sitting here complaining about another high draft pick our management team squandered

Bc we got Eichel,
so it was time to start trying to win....
not wait 3-5years (or longer) to see if all those draft picks developed into good players
- jdfitz77

Yet, here we are those + years later, with a middling pipeline, a team still needing a 1RhD, G, and 2LhD. And with a significant number of roster spots on short-term deals needing to be renegotiated next season.

I think the Sabres will be entertaining if the season is played, but not counting on them accomplishing much except some younger players continued development, and an opportunity for Adams to see what they have so they can maximize that flexibility they structured with those short term deals.

Remind me again which superstars GMTM traded away to decimate our prospect pool?

Oh yeah, that's right. One of them scored 36 points 2 years ago on a stacked Colorado team. If only we had JT Compher and Nikita Zadorov and his 1 goal here for the past 5 years, we would have won multiple cups.
- 3rd GM's the charm

No superstars to be sure. But serviceable players that could have addressed the constant revolving door of poopty players the team has experienced over the last 3 years.