The Tailgate
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Since firing Ralph Krueger the Sabres have actually looked pretty good. Do I think interim Head Coach Don Granato is the right guy behind the bench for the Sabres? I'm not sure....but I'm sure as hell not opposed to it right now. Players have completely stepped up their game, Casey Mittlestadt is playing the best hockey he's ever played in the NHL, Rasumus Dahlin is looking so much better offensively, Jeff Skinner and Victor Olofsson are scoring goals and it seems to be no matter who we start in net they play well. Rumors have come out saying when Krueger held practices some players didn't even show up, now Granato is grinding these guys at practice and the results speak for themselves. This just proves Ralph Krueger is the worst coach in Buffalo Sabres history, his system sucked, his coaching style sucked and his overall careless attitude about how bad the team was under him sucked. I fully blame the failure of this year on Kevyn Adams, Terry and Kim Pegula. They waited far to long to fire this guy, they waited for a 12 game losing streak to get rid of Krueger and by then the season was already lost. Yes, Granato started off 0-6 but it's not easy to get rid of such a losing culture like the one that was surrounding KeyBank Center. In the 11 games since the 18 game losing streak the Buffalo Sabres are 6-3-2 and their last two wins against the Caps and Penguins they played the two most complete games they've played all year. Now I think the focus needs to be on what's next for the Buffalo Sabres? Let's take a deeper dive into what could be next or what I hope to be next for this team in the offseason.
I think the first move we need to make is to re-sign Linus Ullmark, yes I know he said he wants to test free agency but I think we need him because he's proven he can be a #1 goalie in this league. I do think they need a legitimate backup for Ullmark and there are definitely some veteran backups we can go after to sure up the net for next season. Guys like James Reimer, Jonathan Bernie, David Rittich and Jaroslav Halak are just some of the names I wouldn't mind getting in to split time with Ullmark. Then I think we need to move on to our own free agents. For Chris sakes can we finally give Sam Reinhart a real contract, he doesn't need to prove himself anymore.....sign him for 3-4 years and thats the end of it. Jake McCabe is a UFA and there isn't a doubt that he should get signed to a long term deal, he's a great stay at home defender and is just what the Sabres need for a rebuild. Rasmus Dahlin is an RFA, we have to sign him eventually I don't know if we should take care of it this year or wait until is a full on UFA next year. We need to add real depth guys, not Cody Eakin. I full on would also not be opposed to bringing back Brandon Montour, I don't know what his cap hit is gonna be or if he'll even wanna play there again. But I think before all of this we have to figure out what we do with the Captain, I'm full on 50/50 on if the Sabres trade Jack or not this offseason. I truly hope they don't, despite some Sabres fans clammering about Eichel being the problem I believe he's far from the cause of the Sabres failures. But all in all it should be a very, very interesting offseason to come for the Sabres....to say the least.
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April 2024
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