Something is fundamentally wrong with this team.

Think the issues are so deep the only way to get through this is by Pegula's selling the team and possibly relocating somewhere else.

I think the problem is bigger than just the coach. They had a good start this season (9-2-2 in october) and it's not the first time Buffalo collapsed after a good start. They were 20-9-5 in last year and finished with a 33-39-10 record. I don't watch a lot of Buffalo games so sure, Krueger could be a part of the problem. But Buffalo has quite some problems; they lack offense (they're a bottom team in scoring for years), defense isn't spectacular (even though Dahlin and Jokiharju is a good core for the future) and they lack a true #1 goalie. Last year Hutton was pretty good for most of the season, this year Ullmark was. But both aren't consistently good.
However, after the collapse last year and ruining a good start this year, I'd also question the character/mentality of the players too. 20-9-5 to 33-39-10 last year is an insane collapse.

How about no, the Buffalo Sabres should be the Buffalo Sabres until the NHL ceases to be.

Good teams just find ways to win and the Sabres struggle to. They remind me a lot of the Leafs prior to the current team when they'd start every year hot and just suck in the latter half of the season. A mix of on ice personnel, front office and coaching. It's a young core and there aren't a whole lot of NHL winners on the team other than the depth players they scooped from Pittsburgh.

It's almost certainly not Krueger. They just came off a disastrous coach who had a wildly unstructed system, who superceded a coach who won one cup with Therrien's team then precented Crosby and Malkin from winnning again until he was fired, and a disastrous GM who was brutally incompetent and incapable of helping the team when they needed a boost or identifying the aforementioned horrible coach. STOP HIRING EX PENGUINS UNLESS THEY'RE NAMED SYNDEY CROSBY. He makes idiots look brilliant.

Adding a few players to a bad team doesn't instantly make them good if there are systemic problems elsewhere and holes remaining (obviously 2C, Ristolainen playing way too much, and general lack of depth).

But the biggest issue is the losing culture. If you've ever worked at any job with a toxic culture you know what I'm talking about. Kreuger is targeting that very culture for change and is getting praised by the players for it. But change of that sort isn't instantaneous and involves purging people. Purging the entire hockey ops department was likely a good thing as they've largely failed over the past 10 years. Need to follow suit with players. Risto, Girgensons, Larsson to start. Get the long time guys out of there. It hasn't worked with then yet. Thinking it will next year is insane.

If the problem is thr culture set by the owners (which it sounds like it is) then there's a lot more suffering ahead. Culture comes from the top or not at all. Blaming the coach who's been there one year and is the only coach the players have said something good about is idiotic.

I will not go as far to say I think that Krueger is a good coach or the answer at coach because I feel that may not be true. The fundamental issue with this team is the roster. They do not have enough offensive punch. It is hard to say if certain players were being showcased to try and move them or if Krueger was truly playing what he felt was his best lineup night in night out. Without knowing that I am not prepared to blame the coach however he may have had some missteps. Vesey got his opportunities with Jack and could not produce. He just did not have enough skill and speed to play that game and proved better suited with a depth role. Risto was much better this year but still should not be a top pairing minutes eater. Skinner had plenty of high quality scoring opportunities he just did not finish. He should not be expected to be a 40 foal.scorer around 30 is realistic for him. We had no 2C or 3C for the second straight season. Backup goalie was a disaster and Ulmark was ok but not great. They played a very defensive system that shielded him from facing slot of quality chances and when he did he was below average at making those stops. This team was better than the prior year but not much. The GM went into the season with 11 NHL caliber defenseman and probably 10 NHL caliber forwards. That is not a winning makeup. I will grant you that I don't think Kruegers system was one that helped promote slot of offensive opportunities, but it is hard to say whether they lacked so much in scoring talent that he just wanted to keep the games low scoring enough to stay close and hopefully steal some games or whether that is just his system regardless of the players he has at his disposal. IMO if they find a quality 2C and if Cozens proves NHL ready and if they get a little bit better at goaltending so they are league average overall and one last if if they move Risto and or Montour and bring in a quality defensively responsible defenseman to their group Krueger will have a roster good enough to make the playoffs and if they are not at least very close to doing so then perhaps he is part of the problem. That is a lot of work for a first time GM to pull off in one offseason but if he accomplishes at least most of that then I feel we will have a much better sense if Krueger is part of the solution or not.🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞

It's just an idea

Botterill was a stupid idiot, it’s good that he was fired. He could not find 2C two years after the terrible deal of ROR. Instead of trading for Haula and Gusev, he traded for Miller and Vesey. Sobotka, Berglund, Sheary, Hunwick, Frolik, Simmonds - Here it is his attack boost for top 6, it's horror. No matter how the owners intervene, but if your GM is an idiot, then it does not matter.

Vesey is not good, definitely not top 6 good. Skinner gets 9 million dollars he should carry his own line. Skinner should have been put on Eichels line when Olofsson went down hurt, but instead they put Vesey there and Vesey had 6 points in 18 games. On the top line. Reinhart hasnt played center in 6 years, its not something you just walk up and do especially at the pro level. You need to be practicing it constantly and he wasnt good at it 6 years ago, hes definitely worse now. I do think analytically Okposo could get a shot with better linemates. Jokiharju is still very young, his potential is blinding everybody. He was good, but he wasnt a complete stud and had his own issues, but he is developing well and visually progressed over the year. Johansson was never meant to play a 2C role, we all got too excited for him, Montour was an analytical darling but since coming to Buffalo he has been average with both coaches. Miller has been trending down, which is why Vegas moved him. I believe Miller will play with Dahlin more, so he should rebound. The team defense was vastly improved this year, while an individual goaltender tanked their team stats through 30 starts, and now admits he's been sick. The team is trending in the right direction, they need better forwards. Thats on Botterill. He spent higher quality assets on Dmen and looked for budget pickups on offense. They have no 2nd or 3rd line. Larsson was their 2nd best center all year. But, yet they were only 1 game away from the 24 team play in. They were in MTL when the season was cancelled, If they won that night they would have leap frogged MTL.

I could really rip this post apart but not even worth the time because you think Okposo belongs on the second line while being centered by Sam. Not a good start

Not a good one

Better than them being out of playoffs for another decade.

Some interesting points. In order:

The silver lining to this is that we now know Vesey sucks so there is no way they will re-sign him.

Agreed on Okposo. Time to give him another shot somewhere other than the 4th line. Saw glimpses of his old self a bit more this year.

Not me! Never understood the Johansson move. He was great with the Bruins in the playoffs the year before which probably had a lot to do with it.

I'm still willing to give Montour the benefit of the doubt. Playing with Risto hurts everyone. Coming here and playing for Housley was a mess. The right move is probably to keep him on a shorter deal.

Disagree somewhat on Miller. If you play him every night I don't think you see his game trend down. He showed a lot of good things when he was on the ice and is a calm presence with Dahlin. Would like to see him extended but I doubt that happens.

The problem is obvious, 2 holes in the top 6. Once that is addressed then we will be fine. Lol relocations only happen with teams that don't sell tickets and Buffalo doesn't have that problem. 50% of ticket holders are Leafs fans who don't wanna spend 50k on season tickets in Toronto

Lol

On Miller, his number were trending down in Vegas. But I still have faith in him, he should rebound as you said, with more minutes. Okposo's numbers were all up against much tougher competition, that may be a sign that he was more healthy than he has been since joining the Sabres? I wonder what this knee surgery will do to him though.

I would say less than 5% are leafs fans, but 75% of season ticket holders sell off their Leafs and Montreal game tickets because they can make the most money off of those to pay back the cost of the season tickets and Toronto and Montreal fans are thinking they are getting a steal

If it's done right he could come back stronger. Depends on exactly what the issue is. Knees tend to go one of two ways: full recovery and stronger than ever or never gonna be the same again. Let's hope for the former. Hopefully just something nagging that he had cleaned up.

Haha i'm very aware, my knees are shot after a couple

First of all thanks for your comments.
You all gave me a lot to think about and to consider.
None of you let me down, you all lambasted me.
I guess, many forgot to read the title and the comments and respond why the team’s record was not significantly better than last year.
What I wanted answered is, how a top line LW, #1 RHD, top 4 RHD, mid 6 forward (considered a character addition) can be added and the team only improves from 46% to 49%.
@justaBoss
I completely agree, paying 3 GM’s at the same time is not a formula for success.
@WellIDK
You are correct there are many problems with the team.
IMO the Pegulas do not understand how hard it is to build an NHL team. They view the success with the Bills and think the Sabres could be turned around as quickly.
In the NFL the players drafted are 22 or older and are physically mature and ready to compete.
Hockey players drafted do not turn 22 until 4 years after being drafted, so changing jockeys every 3 years is not enough of time.
@thewookie1
He is half correct; the Pegulas are the biggest problem.
@Terry_AkiSauce
The players have been satisfied with losing it is hard to get it out of their system.
It all starts with making the farm team a winner. At least they made the playoffs the last three years.
@Taxtime
So a new “better” coach gets 3 new forwards and 3 new NHL quality defensemen and he barely improves over the “a wildly unstructed system”?
You are correct, there is a losing attitude. Maybe you remember Botterill’s first year he brought in 6 players who all had playoff experience and a total of 4 Stanley cups, yet that team was “led” to last place over all. I am sure you remember Nolan saying that there was no accountability.
On your second post, I agree both Miller and Montour are better than what they displayed playing for Buffalo, but is that not the purpose of my post to say the coach did not bring out the best in the players.
@dzmets
IMO, Krueger decided the line-up, I do not remember any forwards being showcased, as Krueger would have had THEM playing with Jack, not Sam and Victor.
You make some good points, but since most think Housley was a poor coach yet he had a 46% record and 3 NHL quality defensemen are added and 3 NHL quality forwards are added and the Krueger who is considered a good coach has a 49% record. IMO Unstructured Housley would have easily produced a better record than 49%.
@ SalamiCheese
Listen to this entire interview then talk to me:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_ZpOdjLiSo
:22 second, "I was not mentally tough enough" your captain should be the toughest of the team.
1:20 "we are stuck in this mind set of being OK" the captain is responsible for making the team a winning team.
1:55 "through the year I lost my love of the game" Kids play this for fun! how can you lose the love of having fun?
3:04 Asked "when did the team as a whole start feeling sorry for itself" he answered 3:14 "It happened right away!"
3:26 paraphrasing here I am getting ready to play overseas it has been a long time since I have had that kind of excitement, have a chance to win something.
4:57 again paraphrasing I was lost my love as soon as the season started, "right from the get go".
5:05 He asked again paraphrasing kids love this game why did you lose it he replied "at times through the year I felt I lost it."
6:02 "Kind of how I felt out of love for it"
I agree, not getting a #2 center was an oversight.
Playing Sam with Jack makes no sense to me all.
Maybe neither Haula nor Gusev were offered to Botterill or they wanted more from him, than they got from the other teams.
@asauer1122
The line-up is not the point, the improvement of the line up over the previous year and the lack of the improved record is the reason for the post.

Let me close to everyone.
Of the 33 Sabre prospects on https://dobberprospects.com/team/buffalo-sabres/ 30 are recent additions.

Krueger's system requires a lot of endurance and cohesion. It takes a certain type of player to sustain the intensity and commitment needed. Sheary, Vesey, and even Johansson aren't those type of players just to name a few.

Add in a goalie who couldn't see.

Then there was the bizarre roster decisions... They weren't merit based which is not Krueger's style.
Miller benched for Bogosian despite clearly being the stronger player. Vesey playing top line instead of Skinner when Olofsson went down. Pilut in the minors when he shows all the signs of a solid 2nd line defenseman. Trying Johansson at center. Continuing to play Risto too much even when Krueger said he shouldn't (to keep intact the excuse that he's overused). Keeping Reinhart stapled to Eichel's line in a contract year (exactly as they did with Skinner to try to convince him to stay). It all reeks of a GM desperate to save his job interfering. Trying to showcase players, make his acquisitions look better than they were, retain players at all costs...

It's possible that Krueger made these decisions based on attitude and buy in rather than merit but it really didn't look like it from the outside and nothing the Sabres said in the post mortem backs this up. I can't say for sure but this offseason will tell us a TON based on the type of players they target.

They really did get some low key good results. Replace a blind Hutton with a routine backup, take away Skinner's insanely bad luck, replace Vesey with a guy who could occasionally hit an empty net, take out Bogosian and insert Miller or anyone else... Play Pilut... It's a very different year. Could be the coach. Aggregate evidence makes it seem unlikely as he just showed up and has made progress with the players (something Botts never did).

Also, playoff experience can be a bit overrated (look at Leino). Especially on guys coming from Pitt. It's easy to win with Crosby, Malkin, Hossa, and Letang doing all the heavy lifting... Sheary is the perfect example. A complimentary player on a good team who adds nothing on his own.

Botterill's first season he brought in Wilson and Nolan who each had two cups.
Pominville, Scandella, Pouliot and Beaulieu all had playoff experience.
Other than they, only O'Reilly had any playoff experience.
After making those moves the Hockey Writers predicted the Sabres would end their playoff drought.
We all know how that ended, Dahlin!

Listen to this entire interview then talk to me:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_ZpOdjLiSo
:22 second, "I was not mentally tough enough" your captain should be the toughest of the team.
1:20 "we are stuck in this mind set of being OK" the captain is responsible for making the team a winning team.
1:55 "through the year I lost my love of the game" Kids play this for fun! how can you lose the love of having fun?
3:04 Asked "when did the team as a whole start feeling sorry for itself" he answered 3:14 "It happened right away!"
3:26 paraphrasing here I am getting ready to play overseas it has been a long time since I have had that kind of excitement, have a chance to win something.
4:57 again paraphrasing I was lost my love as soon as the season started, "right from the get go".
5:05 He asked again paraphrasing kids love this game why did you lose it he replied "at times through the year I felt I lost it."
6:02 "Kind of how I felt out of love for it"
After that what would you have done with O'Reilly?

I was excited with Krueger initially, I thought he was just what the team needed a motivator.
Unfortunately Hutton went blind, Skinner, Rodrigues and Vesey have career bad years.
But I do not think Krueger knew how to put together a line up.
Sam is suppose to be a playmaker why is he on the same line with Jack?
We will see what the future brings.
After listening the Pegula press conference, they reminded me of the Rigases.

You've clearly already made up your mind and are stuck in the past. How does any of that have to do with Krueger?

I do not know what is Krueger's style.
You are speculating that Botterill dictated what Krueger to do.
If I were Botterill, I would NOT play Sam with Jack as that only inflates Sam's value in a contract year.
I was really high on Pilut. He was on fire in Rochester his first year.
While Pilut looked really good in Rochester, he was given chances under Housley as well as Krueger but he just was not NHL material. 6 pts, minus 12 in 46 games.

Ullmark started 29 of 39 games while Hutton struggled with his vision, I have no idea why he was not sent to Rochester and bring up either Hammond or Johansson.
Why would a GM not bring in Hammond who he signed just in case?

IMO we can fault Botterill for not trading for a center but maybe he considered that to be Sam.
Playing Sam with Jack only added $2,000,000 to Sam's long tern contract, I find it hard to believe a GM would want to do that.

Ristolainen played many minutes for EVERY coach, it appears Krueger did cut his minutes by about 10%.

But no one responded to my first comment all the way at the top of this post.
When the Sabres played Tampa in Europe, not only did no one come to Skinner's defense, but no one jumped in after Ristolainen delivered a huge hit and was challanged.
Who would want to play for a coach who essentially discourages players sticking up for each other.
I know all of the players say they like Krueger, if that were the case the results would have been much better, as we all put out for someone we like.

This team was MUCH better than the one Housley coached, the results are not much better.

I know I am taking a very unpopular pov,
When we hired Krueger, I was happy.
Let me say, it was not until end of the season review with many people who know more about hockey than I convinced me that Krueger WAS the problem.
I have not read anything here to convince me to that i was right originally and wrong for changing.