BillsFan4

I don't think it's fair to say they rebuilt from scratch. The Sabres have truly rebuilt from scratch. They have almost nobody left from the previous team. The Leafs rebuilt their front office and coaching staff, but they did more of a retool of their player roster than rebuilt from scratch. They still have a lot of players left from previous rebuilds - Kadri, Rielly, Gardiner, Bozak, JVR, Brown... Those are some important leftovers that are contributing greatly to the Leafs current success. They definitely tanked last year though, and the second half of the previous season. And their turn around has been extremely impressive this season. Babcock is taking full advantage of the roster he has. He has always been a defense first, clutch & grab stayed coach and he has seemed to totally reform that system to fit the offensive ability of his current roster. He is truly one of the very best coaches in the NHL. And I have been beyond impressed with Brendan Shanahan as team president. He is right there with Steve Yzerman IMO, as one of the top (former player) NHL execs. I would take Shanahan here in Buffalo in a heart beat! Yes, I absolutely LOVE the NHL playoffs! IMO it is the most exciting playoff sport to watch. I look forward to the playoffs every year. But hockey is my favorite sport. I have played and/or been involved in the game most of my entire life. I don't have any predictions yet. Playoff hockey is so much different than regular season hockey. You never really know how a series will go, and there are a number of teams playing some pretty good hockey at the moment. And since the Sabres aren't in it, I don't really care who wins either. I usually pick a favorite team for each series and root for them. I can usually find a reason to root for almost any team. I will definitely be pulling for Ottawa though, since our current GM had a huge hand in assembling that team and since I don't like Boston. I don't see them making it past the 1st or 2nd round at best though.

Thanks guys. Glad to hear this.

He was at the Mahomes, Trubisky and Kizer workouts the past few days? good to know. I hadn't seen any reports that he was there, and that above tweet made it sound like he wasn't. Where did you see he was there, just out of curiosity?

Has Whaley been at any of these QB workouts? Maybe he's firmly on the Watson or bust wagon? lol

Lol. Oops. Typo. I meant Pegula was NOT there...

John Murphy said today that Pegula was at dinner with Kizer. Just figured I'd pass on that info... Edit - meant to say that Pegula was NOT at dinner with Kizer. My bad.

I am sure that is maybe some of it, but Eichel did play in a structured system in college under David Quinn and has played for a number of well respected coaches, with very good players too (like Auston Matthews and others). He's played in the US National team development program for 2 years, played IIHF worlds, World Juniors, Youth Olympics, USHL, etc etc. I don't think he was allowed to just free wheel and do his own thing all the time in those programs, with other great players on the ice with him. If it were just Eichel that (supposedly) hated Bylsma's system, I would maybe agree. But even Sam Reinhart supposedly hates it and he plays a more structured game. I've read that it's like half the team that hate his system. He seems to ask his players to play a very rigid/strict, very boring, risk-free defense first type system that is supposedly overly complicated and strict and you can see how it kills creativity and scoring chances. It's not the type of system we should be running with all the talented forwards we have IMO. We should be an offensive oriented, puck possession team, that takes advantage of our player's skill sets IMO, not a dump and chase grind it out, puck retrieval type team (Kane is one of the few forwards we have that really fits this IMO, which is why he looks good playing in this system). IMO What makes the Sabres so awful at possession is their lack of puck support. Watch how many times a defender will go into the zone, retrieve the puck behind the net and then try to make a stretch pass to a forward beyond the blue line in any given game. Those passes rarely connect, and even if they do they're generally not clean, which results in either a turnover or an icing, both of which give up possession. The Sabres lack personnel to make those kinds of transitions work. They need to move up the ice as a team, not with defenders trying to hit forwards halfway down the ice with hail mary bombs. IMO The defenseman should be more active in joining the rush. We have some mobile defenders. The forwards should also come back to help the defense on transition more. Our zone entries also kill momentum so often. He asks players to wait at the blue line while a guy skates it through the neutral zone and then carries or dumps it in. The Sabres have the players (especially at center) to play a more supportive, puck possession type game that IMO would take much better advantage of their skill sets. There were times during the season that they played more this style of hockey, and I thought they looked very good during those stretches. There were a whole lot of similar complaints about Bylsma's system during his time in Pittsburgh. He came in more than half way through the season and used Michel Theirren's system and won a Cup. The Penguins were already a good team. They had been to the Finals the year before Bylsma took over, and they had some major key injuries during Therrien's last year there. They got a number of good players back from injury just as Bylsma took over. The players had supposedly worn thin on Therrien's coaching style (as often happens with yelling and screaming type coaches), and Bylsma being a new style "player's coach" was a breath of fresh air. He won that Cup playing Therrien's system though. Then Bylsma changed to his system and never won another Cup. His system also evolved in his time in Pitts. At first he played a very up tempo, high scoring, exciting system that guys loved playing in (see 2011 Penguins) and had fun. Then he started to go to a more risk-averse, strict, defense first type system (see his last 2-3 yrs with the Pens) that killed much player creativity and you started hearing about how the Penguins hated playing in his system. There were also a lot of rumors he lost the locker room in Pittsburgh. Mario Lemieux even met with Crosby in the visitor's locker room at Madison Square Garden, during that game 6 in the playoffs because ownership was so worried about how Bylsma had lost the team. I don't mean to sound like I am totally against Bylsma, because I am not. But I have a lot of issues with the system he plays. I just don't think it takes advantage of the type of team Buffalo has. But he is a proven NHL coach and I would like to see what he can do with a better defense and not so many key injuries. He has to get more player buy-in IMO too. When half the team doesn't seem to be buying in to the system, it is doomed to fail no matter what system it is. And you heard this all season long from reporters who watched the Sabres practice. The coaches would have the players playing a very specific style in practice and then when the game started, half the team would abandon that style of play and do their own thing. That's where we need better leadership IMO, or they need to get our current leaders to buy in more. Sorry this is so long, I actually shortened it up quite a bit... lol. I could go on for days about this stuff. lol That would be cap circumvention. I'm sure he would if he could. Not to sound like a jerk, but In a way, it's good for the Sabres that Eichel missed his bonus. If he hit it, the Sabres would have been over the cap for this year, and would have had cap penalties next season.

That's not how it works. There are clearly defined entry level contracts/bonuses. Eichel got the max ELC contract with the max bonus structure.

Dean Lombardi and Darryl Sutter both fired by the LA Kings. Rob Blake named GM and Luke Robitaille named President. Interesting...

I was referring to you seeming to think its impossible that this team improves, not my point of view on the team or the standard I am holding Tim Murray to. Like I told you earlier in this thread, while not totally sold on him, I don't think Murray is nearly as bad as you make him out to be. rebuilds take time. I think there is a lot of young talent on this team that will continue to grow and improve. I think we have a good core of players, and we will add another this draft. I think the future looks bright for the Sabres, whether Murray is the GM or not. As far as Eichel, I think he was pissed off that the season ended and the Sabres didn't make the playoffs, and he also just found out he missed out on a $2 million bonus by .01 points (for being in the top 10 in PPG) hours before that interview, so I am sure that was a factor in it (did you notice how he answers that "you were almost a point per game player" question? and how he said he wished he had his last 6 games back (where he only scored 2 points total)). He also sounded like he was possibly upset with some of his teammates, by the "you can't just be happy to be in the NHL" and "have to hate losing more" and "culture change" comments (among other comments). I am not at all taking it as his future with the Sabres is doomed, or that he has no confidence in Tim Murray. I have in fact heard a number of Sabres players, including Eichel, say some very good things about Tim Murray and the confidence they have in him. Bylsma is a different story. Multiple different sources have said (for over a year now) how much Eichel hates playing for Bylsma and hates his system. If you want to read into anything, read into how he answered the questions about playing in Bylsma's system...

The 2nd round pick Cleveland got was the main factor in that whole deal. They basically bought a draft pick with their extra cap space.

I agree with much of what you said, but, unless I am overlooking something, he did take a pay cut. Tyrod was guaranteed (and due to make) $27.5M in 2017, if the Bills picked the option on his old deal. And now he is only guaranteed $15.5M. Also, Tyrod scheduled to make must over $40M total by 2018 on his old deal, and now will make $30M if he is here for both years of his contract the way it is currently written. http://www.buffalorumblings.com/2016/8/16/12505676/full-tyrod-taylor-annual-contract-breakdowns http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/buffalo-bills/tyrod-taylor-7899/

I totally agree. I think it's the QB position in general. I think Pegula knows how important the Qb position is, and I really like that the Bills seem to really be doing their due diligence on the QB draft class the last couple of years. It seems like they have heavily scouted and vetted quite a few college QBs these past couple off seasons. I don't think Pegula visiting him gives us any real indication of what round they would be willing to take him in. I just think it shows that they are doing their homework on the QB draft class, which is great IMO.

Funny that all the AFC East teams visited with him, and only the AFC East teams. I guess they all remember the Jim Kelly days well...

I didn't really mean to imply that the Bills would have cut Tyrod. I have no idea if they would have or not. It seems kind of crazy to me that they would have cut him, especially since they had nobody even remotely close to better to replace him with. But then again, who knows with the Bills... The restructure could have all just been a game of chicken to see who blinks first, or they could have been serious about moving on from TT and signing Hoyer (like the rumors said) if he wasn't willing to take the pay cut. We will probably never know for sure, but I am glad that they kept TT. I do think that Tyrod is betting on himself with this contract though like you said, and I kind of think that Whaley is banking/betting on Tyrod staying the same or failing, because if he does improve, like you said he will most likely make more than what the Bills originally had him locked up at and Whaley will look kind of foolish. At the very least, Whaley hedged his bet.

The owner met with Bryce Petty a couple years ago, and took him out to dinner (in Texas I believe). Unless you think they thought Petty was a 1st round caliber player...

I didn't take him sitting in his equipment anything like that. I took it as him being ultra competitive. I don't at all think the whole thing is screwed up. I think you are expecting way too much, too fast. Most rebuilds seem to take an average of 5 years before they start seeing results. Some even longer. Buffalo is one of the youngest teams in the NHL. There's a long ways to get yet... This season was absolutely a disappointment. But I don't think it's impossible for things to improve next season. The Sabres were near the top of the NHL in man games lost to injury. Thats a lot for a young team to overcome. As far as Eichel being unhappy with losing - GOOD! I want him to hate losing. A lot can change in the time we still have him under team control though. If we start winning he won't care about losing in his first couple/few years in the league. It's WAY too early to start worrying about losing Eichel yet. Nolan Patrick Personally, I loved the way he announced the selection. I hate all the drama building BS that some GMs do... That's much more annoying to me than the way Murray announced his pick.

I do. This is not the first time we've seen the Bills show heavy interest in the QB class and not take a QB high. We may or may not, but there was a whole lot of smoke last year about drafting a QB in the 1st, and even trading up with the a Browns to #2, and we waited till the 4th. I think it's 50/50 that we take a QB in the 1st this year. If they feel like there's a franchise QB to be had, and he's available at #10, I think they draft him. If not, they won't draft a QB until later. I am very happy to see them doing their due diligence though.

And Bryce Petty IIRC

I believe the most Tyrod's agent could do was kind of subtly gauge the interest level other teams had in Tyrod, without getting into any type of specifics like contract details/numbers etc. So I would imagine that they didn't feel Tyrod would get much more than what the Bills offered him in the renegotiated deal. I believe Whaley made a comment along these lines when talking about the renegotiated Tyrod contract. And I also feel that Tyrod likely felt this was the best place for his chances to be successful, compared to the Jets & Browns and whatever other mediocre team might have been interested. Knowing most of his teammates, being a leader in the locker room and not wanting to start over probably factored into it too. He probably could have gotten the same amount of money (that the Bills ended up paying on the restructure) elsewhere, but felt better about his chances of long term success here.

Hey, Shaw! Good to see you here. I always enjoyed your posts. I hope you stick around. This place has been pretty good so far. I've even seen guys like John Wawrow posting in some threads and providing info/answering questions etc. (which is pretty cool IMO). This particular thread is not a good representation of what this message board is like as a whole.

I fhought that was only for players who are about to be free agents?

Remember him from Hard Knocks. He had potential, was just raw. Hopefully he's progressed some... IIRC, Mike Waufle and some other Rams coaches were pretty bummed they had to cut him. Loved his work ethic, motor and personality.

I was just messing with you man.

I have honestly never seen you contribute to any other topic besides trashing Tyrod. I once looked at your post history on BBMB. It showed your last 500 posts and every single one was on Tyrod Taylor.