BillsFan4

They traded their #1 WR and are eating a $31 million dead cap hit for it this year. I am not sure how realistic it is to expect the offense to be better this season. Maybe they are better as a whole because they distribute the ball around more, or because they have better chemistry/energy/team camaraderie (etc). But $31M is a massive amount of dead cap. I think it’s the largest dead cap hit in NFL history iirc? It 100% puts them at a competitive disadvantage this season. Adding a big money #1 WR most likely isn’t happening. That doesn’t mean this offseason is a failure. IMO this offseason was about the start of a roster retool - getting younger and cheaper at a # of positions. The old core wasn’t able to get it done. Time to try something new. Retooling this team wasn’t going to happen in one offseason. The cap situation looks a lot better starting next season, though.

Damn. Im starting to think a trade back makes sense. Get some extra day 2 picks and draft a couple WR’s.

He seemed to do fine with New Jersey’s young players. and he had a 50+ win season with Dallas and New Jersey. 3 of 4 years in the playoffs with Dallas. 3rd best team in the entire NHL last year with a young New Jersey team.

No point in trying to trade up anymore. Maybe a small, lower cost trade up at most. I’d almost rather see them trade back now and use the extra pick(s) to take two shots at WR in the top 3-4 rounds.

Pick is in. seems like they went with a QB. My guess is Maye, hoping he can be Josh Allen-lite. lol

I feel like this hire made too much sense not to happen. Lindy is a good fit for many reasons. - he’s an experienced veteran coach and a true leader. He’s forgotten more about hockey than most people will ever know. He has experience in just about every situation, from rebuilds to win-now and everything in between. And he has a great reputation in NHL circles. He’s well respected among NHL players and maybe now where more than Buffalo. I don’t think he will have any issue getting buy-in from the players. - He holds players accountable, as we all know. Every player said they needed more accountability. Well, they are getting it! lol - He is great at implementing structured defensive play. I have zero doubt this team will look much better in the defensive zone. There will be a defensive structure and it will be obvious to us (unlike under Granato…). - He just successfully coached pretty much the exact system Buffalo is designed to play. If Lindy gets the Sabres playing like the 2022/23 NJ Devils, every Sabres fan will be thrilled. That high speed rushing attack + taking away time & space on defense is exactly what Kevyn Adams wants. I think his system fits better than Berube. I think Gallant’s system would have fit too but he’s not really known for having good defensive structure. If you go listen to the NY rangers player exit interviews after Gallant was fired, there’s lots of talk about needing better structure (similar to Buffalo player exit interviews this season). - and I don’t think any coach will take more pride in coaching the Buffalo Sabres. Lindy is personally invested in this team + city. He’s lived here since 1979. He knows this town and fan base as good as anyone. He is one of us. I think he is going to help repair the broken relationship between Sabres fans + media and the team. I also don’t think this was just a nostalgia hire. Lindy was for sure one of the top veteran coaches available. I think a strong statistical argument could be made that he was the best veteran coach available of the top 3 big names (Ruff, Berube, Gallant or even Boudreau). Over the years, his teams have had better underlying stats in important categories vs. Berube and Gallant. He’s 4th or 5th all time in wins for NHL head coaches. He has at least one 50(+) win season with each team he’s coached. He’s gotten every team he’s coached to the playoffs, and he’s won playoff rounds. Berube has that one magical run to the Stanley cup, but otherwise has been mediocre. Gallant’s had success but his overall fit is more questionable. He’s not known for installing structure and I’ve read he relies on veteran players to lead, which Buffalo doesn’t really have. Of the coaches available, I think Ruff was the best fit. I don’t know if he’s the guy to win us a Stanley Cup. But the Sabres are nowhere near ready for a Cup run. Let’s get back to playoff contention first. I think at the very least Ruff can do that, and get these players playing the right way.

I watched him switch from a 1-2-2 defense to a 1-3-1 or a 2-1-2 in game. It happened frequently enough that I noticed it in multiple games. I remember noticing because it was something I wished the Sabres would do under Granato. I also watched him constantly making in game adjustments during his 16 year tenure in Buffalo. This isn’t some coach I barely know. you yourself said he switched up lines. That’s adjustment too. I have never met a fan that doesn’t have complaints about line combinations and favorite players. It’s a common complaint with even the best coaches. It’s a complaint I had when Lindy was in Buffalo, and a complaint I’ve had about every coach since. I agree Lindy had his favorites in NJ. He had his favorites in Buffalo too. Some don’t always make sense but there’s usually behind the scenes stuff we don’t know about. I think Smith was relied on more this year due to the losses on defense, and also to help put Luke Hughes in more favorable matchups. Smith ate a lot of D zone starts and went against tougher competition. Where as Hughes was given a lot of favorable o zone starts and matchups against lesser competition (and Hughes still struggled in the d zone). When you are down 3 of the top 4 from last year, that happens. But he was barely relied on more… He was still 8th in average time on ice per game among NJ defenseman this season and 21st among NJ skaters, and last season only averaged like 13 minutes a night. Luke Hughes being #1 in average ice time per game was a bigger problem for NJ’s defense in my opinion. He wasn’t ready for it. anyway… I get why you are not a Ruff fan. Your team just fired him. It’s totally understandable! lol. I’m sure I’d be doing similar if New Jersey just hired a coach Buffalo fired. Im happy Buffalo hired Lindy though. Of the veteran coaches available, I thought he was the best fit.

Because the devils took a step back this year and IMO Lindy was the scapegoat. I thought it was much more on the GM, and injuries. The GM refused to address goaltending in any meaningful way even though it was a glaring hole/weakness (it was bad even last year during their record breaking season) and unsurprisingly the devils ended up with terrible goaltending again. They didn’t have one goalie with even a 90% save percentage while Ruff was there. The GM also let two of the team’s top 4 veteran defenseman walk in free agency and didn’t replace them. Then early in the season the Devils lost their #1 defenseman to injury for the year. So they were down 3 of their top 4 defenseman from last season. That obviously negatively impacted the devils ability to defend, which exasperated the already bad goaltending. and their #1 C (and best player) was also hurt for a good amount of the year, along with a bunch of other guys. Devils were top 5 in injuries in the NHL this season. They only had like 5-6 players that didn’t get injured and miss games at some point in the season. I’m sure Lindy made some mistakes, but saying his system is “too old” and that he never made adjustments just isn’t true.

That’s just not true. I literally watched the devils make in game adjustments with my own eyes. How could you possibly watch that NJ/NY playoff series last year and think no adjustments were made by NJ?

He just broke the devils record for most wins and points in franchise history last year. The devils had the 3rd best record in the entire NHL for 2022/23, and the 4th most goals. Lindy is well known for constant in-game adjustments. He’s known as one of the better tacticians in the NHL. So many of his ex-players have talked about it. Devils players even talked about it. For ex: Tyler Toffoli said you have to be very smart to play for Lindy because he’s constantly making systems adjustments in game. You could see the Devils switch from a 1-2-2 to a 1-3-1 or a 2-1-2 on the fly in games. To say he didn’t make adjustments just isn’t true. Last year’s playoff series against the NYR is another good example. After losing the first 2 games of the series, Lindy completely changed the way the devils attacked and defended NY and Gallant had almost no answers for it the rest of the series. Lindy pretty thoroughly out-coached Gallant IMO. and to say his system is out-dated isn’t true either (I mean, we aren’t talking about the old trap system NJ ran under Lou…lol). Almost every coach+team in the NHL use similar systems. Some coaches just emphasize different aspects. The system the devils ran isn’t much different than what many other good NHL teams currently run. They were a very potent rushing attack under Lindy and were the best in the NHL at defending off the rush (last season). If anything, I would argue someone like Berube coaches a more out-dated style (heavy forecheck, dump & chase, grind it out hockey) than Lindy does (high powered offensive attack and taking away time & space on defense). As an outsider (who probably watched more devils games than Sabres games this past season), what I saw wrong with the Devils this year was goaltending, inexperienced defenseman and injuries. Y’all lost 2 of your veteran top 4 defenseman to free agency, then replaced them with inexperienced players. Then lost your #1 D for the season in November (which erased like 60+ points from the lineup). All of that exacerbated the already poor goaltending. Hughes also missed time with injuries too and just wasn’t as impactful (25 less points than last season). Devils were top 5 in injuries this season, but still actually had good underlying numbers for the most part. Plus, NJ got worse after Lindy left, and that was with significantly better goaltending! Most teams get a bump after firing a coach. Almost all of NJ’s underlying analytics got worse after Lindy left (which wasn’t true after Brunette leaving. The devils underlying analytics were good the season before Brunette was hired and good the season after he left. Until Lindy was fired, then we saw the numbers get worse 🤷‍♂️)

It’s so nice to have such a knowledgable, experienced veteran coach again. I feel very confident the team is in good hands.

Personally, I never got the impression Adams was going to conduct a wide coaching search. I thought it sounded like he had a handful of very specific candidates in mind. He even said he was going to move quickly if all went as planned. I think an argument could be made that Ruff was the best available candidate for Buffalo, and maybe even the best available veteran coach on the market. Maybe you give the nod to Berube for the Cup win. But on overall resume, Lindy was right there with any available coach if not better. I think an argument could be made for any of Ruff, Gallant or Berube. Depends what the team needs. I’d say for Buffalo, Ruff was the best fit. I just think Kevyn Adams vision for the roster is pretty much exactly how New Jersey played, and we saw how successful that was last season. and I don’t at all buy that Brunette was responsible for it. The devils had good underlying numbers before Brunette got there and after he left, and they got worse after Lindy was fired. Also - agree on Adams and changes this offseason. I think we will definitely see a new bottom six but I hope he also makes an addition to the top 6.

we don’t really know who else Adams interviewed. He very well could have interviewed Gallant and/or Berube, etc. It’s also possible that Berube wasn’t interested (I think Gallant probably was). There aren’t a ton of accomplished, experienced veteran head coach available. I read rumors they interviewed Mike Yeo but I have no idea if it’s true. who else is there that meets the criteria? I don’t think they had any interest in Todd McLellan and I don’t blame them. Reports are that he purposely tanked his Sabres interview last time around (when they interviewed him before hiring Krueger iirc). I hope they did interview other candidates, if for no other reason than to hear their evaluation of the Sabres roster/players, etc. But even if they only talked to Lindy I’m ok with it. The fit seemed obvious. It wouldn’t surprise me to learn they talked to him before they even fired Granato.

I actually love this hire. I thought he was the best fit of the veteran coaches currently available. I would have been good with Berube or Gallant. The rumors of Mike Yeo scared me. I thought Boudreau would be a good fit too but after reading more about him I don’t think he’s the disciplined coach we needed right now. Berube- I thought the style of game he likes to play didn’t really fit this roster. Gallant - I thought his style of play fit well but I had questions about the overall fit that I didn’t have with Lindy. I’ve seen it reporter that Gallant relied on veterans to lead and the Sabres don’t have any. There were also the exit interviews from the rangers players last season after he was fired. Reminded me of Buffalo’s sit interviews this season. Lots of talk about needing better structure, etc. and if you liked Gallant, you should be excited about Lindy because Lindy just coached circles around him in last year’s playoffs! Gallant had no answers for the changes Lindy made to the way NJ attacked and defended NY. Ruff just checked all the boxes for me. I feel like he’s exactly what this team needs. The way he had New Jersey playing last year is EXACTLY how we hope the Sabres can play in the future. Aggressive, high speed offensive attack with constant in your face pressure on defense. If Ruff gets the Sabres playing like the 2022/23 Devils, and actually gets good goaltending (unlike in NJ), the Sabres could be a legit powerhouse. Fans will be thrilled if we look like that 2022/23 Devils team did! I know I certainly would. He’s a good, well respected veteran coach (and probably even more so in Buffalo) with a history of playoffs, and winning rounds in the playoffs too, + winning with multiple teams. He’s had 50+ win seasons with every team he’s coached (here in Buffalo, in Dallas and just last year with NJ). He will be a true leader for the team. He’s someone they can all look up to and follow. I don’t expect buy-in to be an issue. He will hold the players accountable. He will run tough practices. He’s one of the best tacticians in the NHL. He’s great at in game, and between game adjustments. and NOBODY will take more pride in this job than Lindy Ruff. Nobody wants to get Buffalo back to being a winner more than Lindy. Nobody is invested more in Buffalo than Lindy. He still lives here! I also think he can help repair this rift between the team/players and fans. Then add in that Kevyn Adams has coached by Lindy’s side and it just made too much sense not to happen. I honestly even think that Lindy becoming available in March could have been when Adams started seriously considering moving on from Granato.