What Does the New GM Need to Do In Order to Fix the Sabres?
Buffalo hasn’t made the playoffs in a very long time. How does Jarmo change that?
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42 Comments
Well what do you know there might be hope for them after all of course the new one still needs to do his job correctly. My advice would be to use the rest of the season to figure out the game plan going foward. Cycle through players and goalies in the ahl to try and see who will work best together and just don't stress about making the playoffs so you can get a high draft pick. I'd also suggest talking to the players already on the team to try and get what they feel would work best as a system going forward.
Free the Buffaslug! The thing that would take the Sabres out of their forever rebuild is definitely putting the right kind of veterans around their young prospects and stars, so they can take the next step. Bring in some sandpaper, some character guys, and some older skilled guys who can be mentors. You don't just bring in stopgap veterans because they've played a bunch of games and hope it all works out. I really thought they'd finally figured this out when they signed Zucker, but then realized he was just an outlier. It's not a good thing when your veterans are guys who didn't themselves have the right kinds of mentors around them and are now expected to be the mentors for the next generation of young players on the team.
After the fallout from the not so "thorough" vetting of Babcock in Columbus, Jarmo Kekalainen is being given a rare second chance as a GM just over a year after the mess he made with the Blue Jackets. I'm not saying that the team owner made Jarmo the GM because he was the only guy he saw in his office, when he came by to spread some Christmas cheer to management, but it's as good a reason as any. When I hear the Sabres using the corporate weasel words referring to the hiring of Jarmo as an "extensive search process" it reminds me of the similar wording they used about how they vetted Babcock. Instead of recycling the nearest NHL ex-GM, owners and presidents should do an actual "extensive search process" and do some headhunting in the AHL of their up and coming executives.
I don't follow the Sabers close enough to really know well what has gone wrong at the organization. That said, after 7 head coaches, 4 GMs and no playoff appearances, I start to wonder if the ownership that took over right before they started to fail needs to change before another new GM makes any difference.
Definitely an upgrade but the timing is kind of funny since the sabres showing some improvement this year.
Not trade away all your future stars!
No disrepect to Kekalainen but its absolutley baffling that ownership thinks the man fired from the Blue Jackets is the person that can make Buffalo a playoff team.
New GM create a culture change on and off the ice. Hold on to your prospects and young guns. Be patient. Draft well. Target obtaining leadership and players that give 100% every night. Lots of hungry players wanting to break into the league.
Byram or Power, at least one of them has to be traded. I would trade BOTH of them. Problem with them is they both suck at playing defense. And with Power, his one "strength" (offense) isn't really good either. He hasn't shown much offensively since his rookie year. It's been downhill since. He really doesn't do much on the second power play unit. He kind of drags the unit down some. He's just not agile enough, quick enough to quarterback a PP. He doesn't have a booming shot. Dahlin can get his shot off in a phone booth. Power, needs penalty killers to make a mistake to get a shot off. His passing is average. Sometimes he makes nice plays, but they are just not frequent enough. And again, defensively, he's an adventure. Every time he's on the ice, I get nervous. "Oh no, Power is defending."
So they have THREE offensive defensemen and I only want to keep the good one…Dahlin. I think you only need one. I want to see some of the defensive defensemen (the kids) in the pipeline, get a chance. They've been percolating for a while. One of them, should be ready for a shot. And if they don't grab it, Mtrka is gonna grab it in 2 years.
That's the #1 fix required. Get Kesselring healthy, flush the toilet on Power/Byram and you're probably a playoff contender. If the goaltending holds up.
I'd also trade Quinn or waive him, if necessary. He's just too much of a defensive liability and his hockey IQ is really lacking. He's a turnover machine. If Quinn and Power are on the ice at the same time, I'm in panic mode.
Krebs also needs to be pushed aside. I love his effort, unfortunately, he's not an NHL forward. He really belongs in the AHL. He could be a guy who's a healthy scratch that subs in when someone gets hurt. That's about it. He just has ZERO offensive game. I've never seen such a offensively challenged forward, in my life. There's a reason why he has no goals on the year.
Oh yes, this is what they needed
Christmas came early with an in depth look at the Sabres state of the union by Hockey Guy. 🎄🦬Takeaway-this should speed up our making the playoffs by 3 or 4 years!
Ellis is the "goalie of the future" until he also signs a 4-5mil contract. Then its the Luukkonen situation again.
It would be easier to grow palm trees in Buffalo than to lower taxes in New York state 🤬 😂
All the dummies saying to get rid of the owner…. That makes zero sense. The only way to do that is he sell team. He owns the Bills and they are a top 10 franchise in the greatest pro league. They have ZERO problems attracting players. The owner basically saved the Sabres and truly cares about them. He just needs to hire a good GM ( hopefully this new guy) & scout department. I love Buffalo but there are a lot of braindead people here. The type that yell "SHOOOT" during a PP. There is 3 guys in the lane 90% of the time.
100% (play-off berth & Tuch signs)
They could try what Arizona did 😢
Tuch, Power and Greenway. Buh Bye
I've heard enough send Tage Thompson to the Blues let's do the O'Reily trade 2.0
How about not pissing off your franchise players(ie Eichel). Jack was an excellent franchise player to build around, the Sabres just effed it up by being combative about repairing his back…
Unless someone crazy becomes available tomorrow (players from the struggling Leafs, for example), I say wait for the deadline and retool a bit, don't think a full tear down and tank for Mckenna is necessary.
Just as a joke since I live in Dallas now gonna go to the stars vs Sabres game and sit in front of of the glass with a fire Jarmo sign 😂😂😂😂
You watch brother they are going to fire Lindy get a president of hockey then trade tuch and powers to Edmonton and powers to Columbus
Trade for ep40
They need a real #1 goalie and a sniper to put with Thompson. They have so many young guys. Their D corps should be fine.
Buffaslug alert
I don't want to see a rebuild. Last 3 games were some of the best hockey I've seen from them in 15 years. Quinn finally showing what he can do. Ostlund looks very good. Adams won the Peterka trade, Savoie trade and Norris has looked very good when healthy. I want to see what the current line up can do the rest of the season.
Bring back your old friends Elvis and Severson
Sadly the "Sabre fix" videos are becoming as annual as the vids about Canada's failure to win a cup. Here's hoping they can finally put one fan base out of there misery. 🤕
1. Trade UPL, Power, and Krebs.
2. Resign Tuch.
3. Upgrade the D
Definitely need to give Doan a contract
It's the same thing as with the Canucks: Nothing changes until ownership changes. The Sabres have all the same meddlesome owner troubles Vancouver does, only Terry is even more meddlesome than Aquilini could dream of, to the point where Jerry Jones would cringe in disgust.
I just don't know if a new owner keeps them in Buffalo anyway.
Sell the team and move.
Nothing changes in Buffalo until the owners change. It's painfully obvious Terry Pegula doesn't give a shit about the Sabres…he basically bought it for her wife so she would have "a hobby". And if the owner doesn't care, why would anyone else.
ruff buff
As a Buffalo fan, I’m done with Owen Power. How many defensive brain farts can one have before he gets dealt or benched?
Sabres desperately need star-level firepower to the forward department. Easier said than done. They also would benefit from a hot goaltender.
It seems the Sabres don't have a clear development plan. It is great to draft good players but a team also must obtain supplemental pieces to help in their development, especially if winning isn't in recent memory. The present roster doesn't appear to have a player from a team with a winning culture.
Ukko is a low end starter high end back up
Power for Hronek and mancini. similar money. but Hronek is settled in and plays a structured game. Power needs to be let loose, too many offensive D already in Buffalo need a more stable defenseman
I've been in a sauna with Kekäläinen, he's a funny dude.
DUMP RUFF NEXT
I’d say hope springs eternal but, while excited about this change, I’ll remain cautiously optimistic.
Maybe they should invest in player development more they damn near a chl team with inexperience. The only people that seem like they getting through to them is the veterans like what you said. I thought Ruff coming back into the picture would do something cause he was there when hasek and peca were in the final. Hasek was good but to develop peca to be as good as he was, was awesome no wonder peca was the captain back then. Owen power just a pretty fae that doesn’t want to mess it up he no hockey play that I acknowledge. I don’t mind saying hard things about players I spoke the truth about Bédard last year cause I watched him with the pat’s and knew he had no defence. This year he sure shut my mouth up and I don’t mind that at all. That’s my goal. If y’all can shut me up then good job really.