… What if God was one of us?
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus
Tryin' to make his way home?

What if we had a coach that didn't limit the defensive core's biggest strength.

yup

What if Mittelstadt had 50 points this past season?
I think this is his ceiling, IMO 40 pts/yr would be a good target.
Only 100 forwards had 50 or more pts in the '18-'19 season, that is about 3 per team top line players in other words.
Only 141 forwards had 40 or more, as I said IMO that is a good target for a 2nd line player.

What if Thompson was a solid 3rd line RW?
I see no reason why he will not be a solid 3rd line player bumping up a line or two when there is an injury.

What if Ristolainen was actually a good top pair dman?
He is now.
40 pts/yr every year, he was on pace to do it this year as well.
He is one of the top hitters among all skaters.
He plays almost 24 minutes per game for at least 4 different coaches.

What if Ullmark was a top 20 goalie?
LOL, among all NHL GK who played a minimum of 30 games his SV% was 17th, but his average shots against was 4th highest 31.35/gm.
Where he let the team down was 3rd period and OT sv % both very poor.

What if Hutton was a competent backup?
I cannot help you here, he has not performed well.

Let's add a couple what if:
What if Kahun can be a good #2 Center man?
What if Skinner can get back to 30+ goals next year?
What if Girgensons and Larsson can be resigned and continue to shut down the other team?
What if the PK and PP can return to at least the top half of the league?
Well let's see what next year brings us.

I think the biggest what if is what if we got fair value for Kane and ROR or simply kept one or both?

The haul for Kane should have been:
2019 1st
2020 2nd conditional on Kane resigning
Noah Gregor

For ROR:
Parayko
Sobotka
2019 2nd

OR

Thomas
Sobotka
2019 1st
2021 2nd

I think the bigger What If is why did Murray trade away so many picks for garbage and not get value for who he traded away.
Look at the picks OTT and MTL have.
MTL had 10 picks last year and 11 the year before.
O'Reilly who did nothing for Buffalo except lead them to last place then report to the world that he quit on the team, and this is the Captain.
Kane was a womanizer who wore out his welcome in Winnipeg, in Buffalo and from what I am hearing seems to be wearing out his welcome in San Jose.
Murray should have known that Lehner was a bipolar alcoholic, if he did not, how good could he have been since that was his team before coming to Buffalo.
Two seconds and McNabb for a fourth liner and a career AHL player.
Murray wanted more from LAK when they offered a first and Pearson for Moulson and Ehrhoff. We got nothing for Ehrhoff and 2 seconds for Moulson.
Murray wanted more from BOS when they offered 2 seconds for Stewart, all we got was one second for Chris.
Now I see Compher, Armia, Zadorov, are all playing well. What if they were kept on this team that needs LHD and secondary scoring?
What if Myers was traded for at least a first.
What if Draisaitl was taken over Sam
What if Sergachev was taken over Nylander
From 2014 to 2016 the Sabres would have had 3 more first round picks and at least one more 2nd.
There is your What if put it where it belongs, Murray inherited a team with the BEST prospect pool, 8 picks in the first 2 rounds combined in the '14 and '15 draft and he left a last place team with a lower 3rd prospect pool and no extra picks.
Let me add, Rochester was near the bottom of the league all three years he was here and said wait until his prospects join the team. Botterill's Amerks have made the playoff every year. He knows how to build a team, Murray knew how to destroy a team.
There is your What if we started the rebuild when Dahlin was drafted.
BTW STL would not give up Parayko for anything, lets give Thompson another year and so far Buffalo turned the O'Reilly picks into Miller and Ryan Johnson. While the Kane first round pick became Montour. Not a bad return for either one of them.
You want to cry about What if look at the huge errors Murray made.

"He knows how to build a team, Murray knew how to destroy a team."

Botterill literally traded away exactly what this team
needs in ROR for essentially Tage Thompson and Ryan Johnson. That right there is the definition of "destroying a team"

You are one of many who forgot that St Louis was one point out of the playoffs in 2018, then added Perron and Bozak as well as O'Reilly.
Then along came Binnington who won 24 games from January 3rd to the end of the season.
But give all of the credit to O'Reilly.
I guess you also did not know that up to the Boston series, O'Reilly had the worse +/- of all playoffs skaters.
You also probably did not know in the crucial 7th game against Dallas he was on the ice for the ONLY Dallas goal.
So go ahead anoint Oh why did you lead Buffalo to last place then quit on the team O'Reilly.
He never did it here and until Binnington joined the team was leading the Blues to last place over all.
But keep telling yourself he put Buffalo into the playoffs and was the ONLY reason the Blues won the cup.
Any player who says he quit should be out of hockey, this is a kids game that they play for fun. How can you lose your love of the game.
I was shocked that the Sabres got as much as they did.
As for Kane, he was so loved by the league that the Sharks were the only team bidding for him so please tell may how we could have gotten more for him.
Considering what O'Reilly said at the end of the season and the reputation that Kane built for himself, the returns were remarkable.
Finally, I guess you forgot the team with O'Reilly, Kane and Lehner finished last over all (Murray's team) which allowed the team to get Dahlin.
You can change history, but the fact remains O'Reilly quit, Kane was selfish and Lehner was a drunk. Wow great trades and way to build a team.

But why do I even try, Murray's team finished last in 2017, second last in 2016 and last in 2015. But somehow you want to wax nostalgic about the great job Murray did.
Even after I recount all of his terrible trades, what he was given at the start, and what the team finished when he was done.

You are one of many who forgot that St Louis was one point out of the playoffs in 2018, then added Perron and Bozak as well as O'Reilly.

Then along came Binnington who won 24 games from January 3rd to the end of the season.
But give all of the credit to O'Reilly.

i stopped reading your essay right here

ROR won the the Conn Smythe dude

You can stop reading now, The Sabres with O'Reilly finished second last, last and last over all. Then announced he quit on the team, just the player I want to keep.
I met several Blues fans earlier this year and they shared my assessment that O'Reilly may have won the Con Smythe but he did little to get them to the finals.
He did nothing in Buffalo to get them to the playoffs and self proclaimed that he quit on the team.
Do you want quitters on your team? I do not, I want players who are so tired at the end of their shift they can barely skate to the bench.
I guess then you did read that he had the worse +/- among all skaters going into the finals.
Yes he had a great series, I will not deny that, but he did not get them to the playoffs, Binnington did that.
He did not get them to the finals, the rest of the team did that.
He was the captain, but he steered the ship to last place over all, let's not forget that. LAST PLACE OVER ALL.
Steve Yzerman missed the playoffs twice in his career and you can look but he often played for really bad teams. O'Reilly in 11 years took his team to the playoffs 3 times.

I wasn't crying at all, just simply responding to this AGM... Murray sucked for sure, but I'm talking recent history here. Trading Vanek and Pominville was an atrocity. Got fleeced in both trades and shipped out the identity of the Sabres

OK fair enough. I am sorry if I unloaded on you. Murray's rebuild was terrible and resulted in a last place team.
I know many fans hate Jason for trading away O'Reilly but when a player says he quit, let's show him the door.
Any way let me say again, I am sorry I unloaded on you. To the point you replied to me in a very gentlemanly fashion, thank you!
But you know both Vanek and Pominville were traded when the team started to deconstruct and rebuild.
You are most likely correct about both of the trades. A team seldom gets what better players are worth in return, that is why rebuilds are so difficult.
I have said this before, the Sabres have been extremely unlucky.
They got poorer picks in 5 of the last 6 lotteries.
Many more as well, but that is enough IMO>