I'd need to see a replay, but wasn't that boarding by Chiarot on Robertson?
- Monkeypunk

i concur

Wait, what happened here?!?!?
- Whipper

https://www.nyrangersinsi...nds-up-for-sportsnet-host this is all I got

i concur
- dmnted

Looked a lot like Tanevs penalty last game.

OMG STOLARTZ !!!!!!!!!!!!

CLUTCH save.

JT

that one will stick to JT for sure

GOAL!!!



BOO Yeah!!!!

JT! Boom!

Poor, washed up Tavares

Poor, washed up Tavares
- Canada Cup

Whatta bum. Offer him league minimum.

solid W by the Leafs !!!

Stolarz is your starter. Period.

Whatta bum. Offer him league minimum.
- GalacticStone

Move matthews to the 2nd pp when he returns

Poor, washed up Tavares
- Canada Cup

did he loose his cra case ?

Underhill. Assume the sucking position.

Eichel and Reinhart are examples of good players that the Sabres just didn't, couldn't or wouldn't properly build around. Both did go on to show that they could be successful players, so I think there's some evidence there that the Sabres did give up on them - or at a minimum fail them.

The Sabres, as you'd noted, drafted in the top-10 for 10 straight years between 2013 and 2022 (Ristolainen, Reinhart, Eichel, Nylander, Mittelstadt, Dahlin, Cozens, Quinn, Power and Savoie).

Of that list, I think you have Dahlin, Dozens, Quinn and Power are still on the team.

Obviously we can argue that they could have drafted better - they could have managed their deeper picks better (over that same time they also drafted Zadorov, Compher, Guhle, Hagel, Luukonen, Olofssson and, I suppose, Samuelsson - so not a lot given the dozens and dozens of picks they made). But a good team is really built on the ability of your top few stars - they dictate the team. Obviously this isn't for all teams - but many teams are built that way and the depth players hold the fort for the stars. Buffalo kept moving out their stars, giving up on them, and never really supporting them. If that team is ever going to see success they need to support them.

So in a way - in the conversation - you're both hitting on problems with the Sabres rebuild. A rebuild starts with a new foundation and you can't establish that if you keep tearing apart the new foundation.
- Monkeypunk

I think it's tough to find a cup winner in the cap era who "just kept tanking".

Edmonton is another example, and they got real close but also they stopped tanking for years before their finals appearance.

Same with Pittsburgh and Tampa.

All drafted a couple few franchise cornerstones at the top of the draft, and then abandoned the tank and built their team around those players. No one "just keeps tanking" and finds themselves hoisting the cup.

Good win by the Toronto Maple Leafs.

In stonarz we trust 💙

In stonarz we trust 💙
- mr.sir

You Sir, are a Turncoat!

I like your thinking on upgrades but your pairings are good too.


Still think we need a 3C/2LW tho
- underhill14

Totally agreed.

Eichel and Reinhart winning cups had precisely zero to do with Buffalo tanking.

Florida and Vegas didn't "just keep tanking" either.

Classic speak from bumhole.
- joel878

Precisely 100% to do with both players being core players on Cup winning teams that Buffalo did not retain.

Florida absolutely did keep tanking, for a very, very long time.

They didn't just get one draft lottery and shot up to the Cup final. They had multiple top 5 picks for years. They built a core of lottery picks until they had a solid base.

Vegas' situation was very unique because of the expansion draft so that's an outlier, not the general rule.

Classic insults because you have nothing else to bring to the table.

Eichel and Reinhart are examples of good players that the Sabres just didn't, couldn't or wouldn't properly build around. Both did go on to show that they could be successful players, so I think there's some evidence there that the Sabres did give up on them - or at a minimum fail them.

The Sabres, as you'd noted, drafted in the top-10 for 10 straight years between 2013 and 2022 (Ristolainen, Reinhart, Eichel, Nylander, Mittelstadt, Dahlin, Cozens, Quinn, Power and Savoie).

Of that list, I think you have Dahlin, Dozens, Quinn and Power are still on the team.

Obviously we can argue that they could have drafted better - they could have managed their deeper picks better (over that same time they also drafted Zadorov, Compher, Guhle, Hagel, Luukonen, Olofssson and, I suppose, Samuelsson - so not a lot given the dozens and dozens of picks they made). But a good team is really built on the ability of your top few stars - they dictate the team. Obviously this isn't for all teams - but many teams are built that way and the depth players hold the fort for the stars. Buffalo kept moving out their stars, giving up on them, and never really supporting them. If that team is ever going to see success they need to support them.

So in a way - in the conversation - you're both hitting on problems with the Sabres rebuild. A rebuild starts with a new foundation and you can't establish that if you keep tearing apart the new foundation.
- Monkeypunk

I think it takes roughly 5 or 6 years of tanking and top 10 picks to give a team a strong chance of creating a core of players they can reasonably rely upon competing for a Cup.

In 5/6 lottery picks, you're probably going to completely whiff or bust on at least one or two picks. Then you'll probably get at least 1 maybe 2 star or "superstar" players. And then perhaps one other "core" player with a bit of luck.

You also get a variety of positions. Perhaps 2 forwards, 2 D and occasionally a star goalie (Pittsburgh as a quick example).

With that core, if talented enough and diverse enough in types of skills and positions, you can start to add free agents and depth to the group and start taking consistent playoff runs.

I vote Zezel as new blogger
- Aaron_85

Not one reply. NO ONE CARES.

You are complicit in destroying this thread.

Precisely 100% to do with both players being core players on Cup winning teams that Buffalo did not retain.

Florida absolutely did keep tanking, for a very, very long time.

They didn't just get one draft lottery and shot up to the Cup final. They had multiple top 5 picks for years. They built a core of lottery picks until they had a solid base.

Vegas' situation was very unique because of the expansion draft so that's an outlier, not the general rule.

Classic insults because you have nothing else to bring to the table.
- Rare_Jewel

The point wasn't about the players it was about the organization, genius.


Florida didn't just "keep tanking" either, did they.

They established their core group from lottery picks, abandoned the tank and spent years adding around that group and growing.

They tanked, until they didn't, and then they spent years not tanking and eventually won. Just like the rest.

You perpetually speak to everyone as though you are the only person on planet earth who knows anything, it's just it's a tough sell when everything that comes pouring out of your female genitalia mouth is stupid.