What Our Lineup Should Be

1- your take on Olofsson is absurd- and I’ll just leave it at that, bc i can already tell u won’t listen to reason with him

2- thinking Ryan Johnson is our 4th best defenseman when he hasn’t even played an NHL game yet is absurd as well- hell, he’s barely even played in the AHL !!!

There's no doubt in my mind the organization already knows this but simply doesn't have it in them to do it. Granato is a "players" coach and Adams is a people pleaser. There was literally no reason to pay their 4th line what they did. None of them would have gotten that much on the open market, but they insisted on keeping them happy. Zero chance anyone on the market was offering Erik Johnson coming off a career worst season at 36 years old that kind of money. They couldn't even stomach firing totally unqualified assistants after a year where their penalty kill sank them.

It's a pattern they've repeated ever since both of them took their respective jobs and it's not going to change any time soon. I've nitpicked at a lot of stuff they have or haven't done on the margins but the truth is most of it can be traced back to what I described. They're too scared to make the big trade, and they're too nice to rock the boat.

Fitz/sabretooth9, saying they won't "listen to reason" because he doesn't agree with your take doesn't make them unreasonable. In fact, saying that too someone is itself unreasonable. Your takes are not the only reasonable takes when it comes to the state of the team.

i'll listen to reason and i'm still very much a casual fan but we played our best hockey without him last season and my guess is that if there was any kind of market for him for a legitimate asset in the offseason we would have traded him. we overpaid him when we were looking to get to the floor, that number is not palatable for a contender, and he doesn't fit the timeline for rebuilding teams, like us. i'm also guessing there's a chance he clears waivers at his full number and he can still contribute when needed. and saying ryan johnson is our 4th best defenseman is more of a critique on who else we currently have. i think ryan johnson is our best option to be the stay at home defenseman to power like samuelsson is for dahlin.

I'd let Johnson develop in the AHL for at least a few months but agree he would be our 4th best D even now. I'd really like to reward guys who have stuck with the organization for a few years and haven't been given NHL opportunities. Biro, Murray, Rousek are all good options for 4th line rotation.



Ultimately its the Pegula's money they are spending on 1 year deals to UFAs. We still have 9.5 mil of cap space, its not like those deals to Z, Okie, and EJ cap-strapped us. Why wouldn't you want to reward the longest tenured Sabre and your captain with paying them a little more than they would get on the market? As to EJ, again its not like his contract AAV is killing our cap situation. We could have paid him 7 mil and still been okay. I agree that it appears Kevyn and Donny are very cautious and not inclined to big shakeups, however the team is still building, we are not yet contending. A team doesn't need dramatic moves while they build, they just need to keep improving. When you are a contender and you are up against some issues, then maybe its time for a shakeup. Next year should be the first season where the Sabres are locked in as contenders for the playoffs. I think of them as fringe playoffs this year