how 'bout this:

florida is one of the favorites in the east right now and if things work out the way they planned, vegas could very well end up in the scf...

meaning both of buffalo's tank prizes could be vying for the stanley cup...i remember not so long ago when jack echl watched ror raise the cup...a few years later he found a way to get the hell out of buffalo...

surely the dahlin camp has taken notice
- Michael Pachla

no state tax will also come to play when a player is a free agent

Ekblad (1st overall), Barkov (2nd overall), Huberdeau (3rd overall).

Then they had a management team that built around them.

Amazing how that works.
- Pegullaville

florida looks great...buffalo has lost 2 out of 3 games over the past eight plus seasons

Ekblad (1st overall), Barkov (2nd overall), Huberdeau (3rd overall).

Then they had a management team that built around them.

Amazing how that works.
- Pegullaville

The Panthers teams also didn't purposely tear down anything like the Sabres did.

They didn't go out of their way to make sure they were awful either, they were just bad.

For every team like the Panthers who haven't won anything yet btw, or say Tampa, there is a team like Buffalo, Arizona, and Ottawa who have been bad for pretty much the last decade.

Today, what does Devon Levi cost the Sabres in a trade?
- TheSabresTaco

why, you want to sell high?

The Panthers teams also didn't purposely tear down anything like the Sabres did.

They didn't go out of their way to make sure they were awful either, they were just bad.

For every team like the Panthers who haven't won anything yet btw, or say Tampa, there is a team like Buffalo, Arizona, and Ottawa who have been bad for pretty much the last decade.
- Stripes77

they also made the playoffs in 2015-16

they also made the playoffs in 2015-16
- Michael Pachla

oh my

ph my
- homiedclown

yeah...what ypu said

Pat McAfee is a national treasure

https://www.youtube.com/w..._channel=ThePatMcAfeeShow
- BeadyEyedDouche

I saw that on twitter the other day. That was goddamn hilarious.

florida looks great...buffalo has lost 2 out of 3 games over the past eight plus seasons
- Michael Pachla

Florida and Carolina both had 9 year playoff droughts within the past decade.

Toronto hasn’t won a playoff series in 16 years.

Between 2011-2017 the Avalanche made the playoffs once.

Edmonton ? Enough said.


How many NHL franchises are sitting prettier present day than those aforementioned ?

Thanks to being terrible you get to draft McDavid, Draisatil, Mackinnon, Landeskog, Makar, Ekblad, Barkov, Huberdeau, Matthews, Marner, Reilly, Nurse, Nylander, Rantenen, Lindholm, Hanifin, Svechnikov.

The Sabres could have built a contender around Eichel and Reinhart (or even better Draisatil).

Thanks to tanking the Sabres could have had two of the top 10 players in the sport in Eichel and Draisatil.

But yes, it’s tankings fault. Not ownership and management building crappy rosters and hiring bush league coaching staffs.

florida looks great...buffalo has lost 2 out of 3 games over the past eight plus seasons
- Michael Pachla

Florida and Carolina both had 9 year playoff droughts within the past decade.

Toronto hasn’t won a playoff series in 16 years.

Between 2011-2017 the Avalanche made the playoffs once.

Edmonton ? Enough said.


How many NHL franchises are sitting prettier present day than those aforementioned ?

Thanks to being terrible you get to draft McDavid, Draisatil, Mackinnon, Landeskog, Makar, Ekblad, Barkov, Huberdeau, Matthews, Marner, Reilly, Nurse, Nylander, Rantenen, Lindholm, Hanifin, Svechnikov.

The Sabres could have built a contender around Eichel and Reinhart (or even better Draisatil).

Thanks to tanking the Sabres could have had two of the top 10 players in the sport in Eichel and Draisatil.

But yes, it’s tankings fault. Not ownership and management building crappy rosters and hiring bush league coaching staffs.
- Pegullaville

carolina never tanked...we can add them to detroit, st. louis, boston and anaheim as teams this century who've won the stanley cup without tanking...

and it gets back to the definition of tanking...teams rebuild, i get that...the chicago blackhawks never finished in last place and drafted kane after winning the lottery and moving from 5th to 1st overall...the l.a. kings had a respectable 71 points the year they drafted doughty second overall...the lightning had the same 71 points that year and drafted stamkos...

the buffalo sabres had 52 points in 2013-14 and 56 points in 2014-15, which is the pure definition of tanking...

only four teams in recent history have done it that way--the '83-'84 penguins and devils and the '14-'15 sabres and yotes

carolina never tanked...we can add them to detroit, st. louis, boston and anaheim as teams this century who've won the stanley cup without tanking...

and it gets back to the definition of tanking...teams rebuild, i get that...the chicago blackhawks never finished in last place and drafted kane after winning the lottery and moving from 5th to 1st overall...the l.a. kings had a respectable 71 points the year they drafted doughty second overall...the lightning had the same 71 points that year and drafted stamkos...

the buffalo sabres had 52 points in 2013-14 and 56 points in 2014-15, which is the pure definition of tanking...

only four teams in recent history have done it that way--the '83-'84 penguins and devils and the '14-'15 sabres and yotes
- Michael Pachla

Colorado finished with 48 points the year they fell from 1st to 4th and ended up with Makar.

But, but, but losing culture.

Florida and Carolina both had 9 year playoff droughts within the past decade.

Toronto hasn’t won a playoff series in 16 years.

Between 2011-2017 the Avalanche made the playoffs once.

Edmonton ? Enough said.


How many NHL franchises are sitting prettier present day than those aforementioned ?

Thanks to being terrible you get to draft McDavid, Draisatil, Mackinnon, Landeskog, Makar, Ekblad, Barkov, Huberdeau, Matthews, Marner, Reilly, Nurse, Nylander, Rantenen, Lindholm, Hanifin, Svechnikov.

The Sabres could have built a contender around Eichel and Reinhart (or even better Draisatil).

Thanks to tanking the Sabres could have had two of the top 10 players in the sport in Eichel and Draisatil.

But yes, it’s tankings fault. Not ownership and management building crappy rosters and hiring bush league coaching staffs.
- Pegullaville

Yes - replicate Edmonton

Draft the second best player in the league 3rd overall in a “weak” draft

Then Draft the best player in 25-30 years

Colorado finished with 48 points the year they fell from 1st to 4th and ended up with Makar.

But, but, but losing culture.
- Pegullaville

And they’ve yet to come close to a cup, so by your standards it’s just like they’re finishing 6-10, right?

Enough with the losing. You pick where you pick.

The Panthers teams also didn't purposely tear down anything like the Sabres did.

They didn't go out of their way to make sure they were awful either, they were just bad.

For every team like the Panthers who haven't won anything yet btw, or say Tampa, there is a team like Buffalo, Arizona, and Ottawa who have been bad for pretty much the last decade.
- Stripes77

Buffalo, Arizona, and Ottawa also have the worst ownership situations in hockey and terrible management staffs.

They drafted extremely inefficiently with their blue chip draft selections and made stupid decisions in free agency (or lack there of) and trade decisions.

Colorado finished with 48 points the year they fell from 1st to 4th and ended up with Makar.

But, but, but losing culture.
- Pegullaville

point taken, and they've yet to get past the second round of the playoffs despite having him, mac, landy a hall-of-fame player as their gm

And they’ve yet to come close to a cup, so by your standards it’s just like they’re finishing 6-10, right?
- sbroads24

Idk how many cups do Montreal, Minnesota, and the Rangers have in the same time frame being the exact definition of mediocre over that time frame ?

Luckily enough for Montreal they can finally get the 1C they have been needing to get over the hump that they haven’t had since Koivu if they keep losing this year

Buffalo, Arizona, and Ottawa also have the worst ownership situations in hockey and terrible management staffs.

They drafted extremely inefficiently with their blue chip draft selections and made stupid decisions in free agency (or lack there of) and trade decisions.
- Pegullaville

post tank years the sabres have drafted

--mitts 8th overall
--dahlin 1st
--cozensons 7th

what they're saying to these players as they begin to come off of their entry level deals is, "we don't believe you're good enough individually or collectively to win so we need to draft first overall. sorry for all the losses"

point taken, and they've yet to get past the second round of the playoffs despite having him, mac, landy a hall-of-fame player as their gm
- Michael Pachla

Sure, and it took Washington and Tampa forever too.

Yet they always had a better chance with the elite talent than all of the fair weather teams that make the playoffs or just miss the playoffs every year just to get their teeth kicked in

The tanking conversation, again...

Sure, and it took Washington and Tampa forever too.

Yet they always had a better chance with the elite talent than all of the fair weather teams that make the playoffs or just miss the playoffs every year just to get their teeth kicked in
- Pegullaville

not really...both of those teams had finals appearances prior to drafting ovi and stammer and neither team went more than three seasons without a playoff appearance

post tank years the sabres have drafted

--mitts 8th overall
--dahlin 1st
--cozensons 7th

what they're saying to these players as they begin to come off of their entry level deals is, "we don't believe you're good enough individually or collectively to win so we need to draft first overall. sorry for all the losses"
- Michael Pachla

Alex nylander was a bust, that’s on management.

Handed out two of the worst contracts in the NHL in Skinner and Okposo through free agency, through no fault of tanking

Had from 2016 on to build a an adequate defence corps and goaltending, not tankings fault as it should have been done by then with competent management.

Played Risto 25 minutes a night despite him being terrible and refused to trade him for Ehlers, not tankings fault

post tank years the sabres have drafted

--mitts 8th overall
--dahlin 1st
--cozensons 7th

what they're saying to these players as they begin to come off of their entry level deals is, "we don't believe you're good enough individually or collectively to win so we need to draft first overall. sorry for all the losses"
- Michael Pachla

Whether we agree or disagree on the merits of tanking or not, I think the true story is our lousy drafting and development. Missing on 1st rounders like Nylander, Mitts(jury still out), Grigorenko/Girgs etc plus hitting on very little in rounds 2 through 7 is the consistent tragedy for the past 12 years.

And they’ve yet to come close to a cup, so by your standards it’s just like they’re finishing 6-10, right?
- sbroads24

Yeah, it's funny, he rattled off a list of teams that haven't won a goddamn thing, yet claims to be "win it all or bust".