Is that Darren Pang? The goalie crew is growing jesus.

Can everyone stop saying that teams like the Devils and Rangers have "passed" the Sabres in their respective rebuilds? Not a single game has been played yet this season. Seems very premature to say either of those teams have a "much stronger team." But even if that turns out to be true, neither of these teams truly tore down their roster like the Sabres did in 2014 (when the true rebuild started), so it's really not fair to compare them. They've also made the playoffs much more recently than the Sabres, and were NEVER as bad as the Sabres were at the start of the rebuild.

Let's also not forget that both of those teams' seasons lie on the backs of many unproven talents (Hughes, Gusev, Kakko, Kravtsov, etc). Remember when everyone penciled Buffalo in for the playoffs in the 2015 offseason after they acquired ROR, Kane and Lehner, and had two promising rookies in Eichel and Reinhart coming up? Injuries, team chemistry, and overall luck are huge factors in a team's success, and nobody really knows how good a team is going to be until the season starts.

I think it's hilarious that every time there's a move in the league, people **** on Botts for not doing anything even though he's acquired MoJo, Jokiharju, Vesey, and Miller for peanuts. They're not stars, but they're legitimate upgrades to the roster. The reason why the rebuild has taken so long is because GMTM rushed it by signing big-name players while ignoring the depth and defensive issues on the team. It's really been two rebuilds: one rushed attempt, and one cleaning up the other's mess.

I really don't feel like diving into this essay, but Gusev is not in the same stratosphere as the 4 guys botts acquired. Those are all meh guys. I know, I know, he hasn't played a game yet, yada, yada, yada. Just wait. The devils just stole him.

it takes two to tango and you never know what goes on behind the scenes. my guess is that NJD was a place gusev was willing to go because it's the NYC metro area and they, like very few teams at this point in the summer, had the ability to take a gamble and pay 4.5 million for a guy with 0 NHL games. we just saw panarin and bobrovsky walk away from more money from a good team in because it was in a city they didn't want to play in anymore. they went where they wanted. lots of people want to play in NYC or Florida. gusev had some leverage and again, take a look at how many teams have $4.5 million in cap space left. with a price tag like a 2nd and a 3rd, i'm sure a lot of other teams were willing to go that far and talked to VGK about it but either gusev wasn't willing to sign there or, again, NJD is in the NYC metro area and just had more money to give him. buffalo paid the exact same price for a known commodity in marcus johansson. gusev probably has a higher ceiling but we already know johansson's floor and his role is a defensive-minded stabilizing force on young team. i'm not going to call you a fair weather fan because i don't think fair weather fans make capfriendly teams and you have every right to quit on a team and criticize ownership. i get the gusev argument but i'm not going to knock botterill for this one because he signed marcus johansson already and paid a similar price for colin miller. i find it hard to believe he didn't at least talk about gusev when he was talking with mcphee. that's just my view of this. i think botterill's moves have been good for the most part (i believe ROR trade was owner driven) but if he does not hit on 1st and 2nd round picks, he'll be shown the door like every other GM in sports.

I don't get how I'm quitting on the team. I know that's not what you're saying. I've seen load of sabres fans and bills fans and blue jays fan (my 3 teams, what a lineup) say they're "about done with the team". Doesn't mean I'm abandoning them. I'm just done wasting my time getting excited about this regime and their moves. I hope to God I'm wrong but this just seems like a revolving door and it starts at the top.

As for your analysis, you're probably right but I would have given more to get a potential star offensive player that the team sorely needs. It's just deflating to hear the same story over and over with a slight twist to it each time. It's maddening.

Idk man Sabre’s looking really good going forward.

They have a better D core than almost anyone in the Atlantic potentially. Dahlin, Montour, Jokiharju...and strong supporting cast
Eichel, Mittelstadt and Cozens as options at C and I like Skinner and Reinhardt enough. Luukonen seems smoking good.
Also really always liked Kruger and thought he could really be a high end coach.
Can’t really say Botterill isn’t getting stuff done, even if the time line isn’t to ur satisfaction

The Ryan O'Reily trade really hurt the Sabres Sobotka. and Berglund were not only unhelpful but were negatives and Sobotka is a negative again this year - to put this trade in perspective I think the Sabres should have gotten a 2019 1st 2020 2nd and Tage Thompson just for taking the Salary dump of Sobotka and Berglund meaning St Louis got a top 10 center for free.

Try being an Oilers fan...