When if ever will the Sabres be a contender?

[Denverbillsfan]

It seems the same year in and year out that the Sabres end up in last place or close to it. What is it going to take to make them a contender? Everytime they seem to make some good acquisitions it never seems to pan out. I thought this year by picking up just Drury it would help this team out. Even with all the other pickups the team is still no good. How much time and money will it take to get this team ready to get into the playoffs on a regular basis? I want a cup.

[The REAL Sabres]

I think the NHL will do anything to keep 5 dteams from one division in the playoffs, so we better catch Montreal to have a chance this year.

[Napalm]

With efforts like tonight's, the Nhl may not have any worries

[unklechucky]

Great post napalm and btw...welcome back. Tonights game is proof we can quit getting giddy about the Sabres.

[Napalm]

Thanks Unkle. I only listened to the game on internet radio, but It seemed like the Sabres played tonight like they don't want to make the playoffs.

[gibbons]

You gotta be able to spend some money for at least a couple marquee players. To be able to compete with the Detroits, Colorados and Philadelphias of the league. Until we can do that, it's gonna be ugly every year. There's no way a lunch pail group like the Sabres can match up.

[Jim Bob]

Originally posted by Denverbillsfan
It seems the same year in and year out that the Sabres end up in last place or close to it. What is it going to take to make them a contender? Everytime they seem to make some good acquisitions it never seems to pan out. I thought this year by picking up just Drury it would help this team out. Even with all the other pickups the team is still no good. How much time and money will it take to get this team ready to get into the playoffs on a regular basis? I want a cup.

Have you only been following the Sabres for the past 3 years?

Last year was the first time in 7 years that the Sabres had finished in the bottom third of the NHL standings.

And it was the first time since 1987 that they finished in the bottom 5 of the NHL.

The key to turning things around lies with the CBA war that is looming. If Bettman gets a new CBA that levels the playing field between the larger revenue generating teams and the smaller revenue teams, then you could see this team turn around quickly.

If not, then it may very well be a long time until this team is a contender again.

[buffjoe]

Watching the Bruins you can't help but think the Sabres could do a better job drafting and developing players. The Bruins have a nice core of players that they drafted and/or developed. I might be wrong on one or two of these guys but I think Thornton, Samsanov, Gill, Bergeron, Boyton, Raycroft, etc are all Bruin draftees. You start naming Buffalo draftees on the roster and there's not a solid player in the bunch. If the Sabres just did a better job at the draft table there wouldn't be any discussion about payrolls and not having enough money to be competitive.

[LALAFONTAINE]

The Bruins were able to pick Thornton #1 overall. The Sabres haven't drafted there since Turgeon.

Bergeron was a very nice pick. Raycroft was a decent pick, but the Sabres have picks from 1998 that have played well too. Same with Gill.

Boynton was a GREAT pick, a pick behind Heisten. However...the big question I have is whether Regier and Co. were under orders to only draft NCAA or European players in the first round. The rationale for this is that you don't have to sign the player immediately, so it could be a form of cheapness by the Rigases if true.

Checking out the Sabres picks under the Rigases:
Kalinin
Heisten
Kriukov
Novotny
Ballard

All were picks that didn't need to be signed immediately. So far, we know that Kalinin has been a better than expected pick, and Heisten was a bust. The jury's still out on Kriukov and Novotny, and Ballard turned into Reinprecht, so we got value out of that pick.

Why do I suggest this to be a product of cheapness? In the case of Kriukov and Ballard, both were reaches. Ballard was taken when Eminger could have been taken. Kriukov was taken instead of an Orpik or Frolov. And even that would be no excuse in Kriukov's year because neither of those guys would need immediate contracts either.

[Thumper]

Trivia:

Who's the last Sabres draft pick to hit 25 goals?

Our scouting department has plenty of room for improvment.

[Jim Bob]

Donald Audette, right?

[Denverbillsfan]

Originally posted by Jim Bob
Have you only been following the Sabres for the past 3 years?

Last year was the first time in 7 years that the Sabres had finished in the bottom third of the NHL standings.

And it was the first time since 1987 that they finished in the bottom 5 of the NHL.

The key to turning things around lies with the CBA war that is looming. If Bettman gets a new CBA that levels the playing field between the larger revenue generating teams and the smaller revenue teams, then you could see this team turn around quickly.

If not, then it may very well be a long time until this team is a contender again.

Your missing my point. Why are you making a big deal about the standing over the years. What I am saying is that any deal that they have done to better this team has gone awry. This team never seem to get any better no matter what they do. Granted we are not a big market team but neither was Colorado when they came out but look what they have done from day 1.

[LALAFONTAINE]

Originally posted by Thumper
Trivia:

Who's the last Sabres draft pick to hit 25 goals?

Our scouting department has plenty of room for improvment.

Amateur scouting perhaps. Pro scouting has tended to be very good, given the value exchanged in trades. But even with amateur scouting, consider the positions the Sabres have drafted (defensemen and goaltenders don't score 25 goals) and consider what position they've drafted from (something like 11 players since 1996 could have been drafted by the Sabres who have pocketed 30 or more goals in a season; the Sabres have two of those players (Satan, Briere)).

Time to dust off my old analysis on draft day.

[Jim Bob]

Originally posted by Denverbillsfan
Your missing my point. Why are you making a big deal about the standing over the years. What I am saying is that any deal that they have done to better this team has gone awry. This team never seem to get any better no matter what they do. Granted we are not a big market team but neither was Colorado when they came out but look what they have done from day 1.

I guess these three deals blew up in the Sabres' faces:

Pierre Turgeon, Uwe Krupp, Beniot Hogue and Dave McLlwain to NY Islanders for Pat LaFontaine, Randy Wood and Randy Hillier, 1992 4th round pick (Dean Melanson)

Stephane Beauregard and a 1993 4th round draft pick to Chicago (Eric Daze) for Dominik Hasek

Barrie Moore and Craig Millar to Edmonton for Miroslav Satan

And look at how many top 5 picks the Avs loaded up on when they were in Quebec. The Nords had the 1st overall pick three straight years and picked in the top 5 in 5 straight years.

I would hope that the Sabres would build a solid core if they were that bad for that long.

The Sabres biggest problem is that they've never stayed really bad long enough to load up on 3 or 4 top 3 to 5 overall draft picks and build a really solid core like say the Thrashers have with getting Kovalchuk, Heatley, and Lehtonen all in the top 2 overall.

[Buffalobro22]

How can you say that any deal we have made has went awry? We traded Warrener, a guy who was too hurt to make a difference here the last two years for Drury, who is now leading the team in assists. We traded Gratton for Briere last year, I would consider that a good deal for us as well. Our winning percentage has increased. Attendance is also up, as surprising as that is when you watch a home game mid-week. IF we miss the playoffs this year, it would be the first time the team has ever missed them three years in a row. Unless teams in last place are making the playoffs then we haven't been there every year.

Sabrejeff, why would the NHL care if 5 teams from the same division makes the playoffs. There would be some intense playoff series that results from that.

[LALAFONTAINE]

I would prefer Warrener and Reinprecht to Drury. They would be better fits and not have albatrosses as salaries. I'm saying that I don't like Drury because I do, but he didn't fit a need like Warrener would.

[Buffalobro22]

Hindsight's 20/20 in this case I think. I would have loved to have been able to keep Reinprecht and still land Drury and if Mckee was healthy this year warrener may not have been as missed. Warrener didn't give this team much the last 2 years, and even though he seemed like a good guy, its a tough business. I guess you have to give up something to get something, all in all I think the trade benefited both teams, Calgary slightly more so. Also, I think Drury has slightly disappointed in the goal category, but I've liked him since he put Roenick on his ass in the opener. It's a shame Satan hasn't clicked with him, they could have formed a nice top on second line, but Satan hasn't clicked with many players this season.

[LALAFONTAINE]

Whoops. My previous message says I don't like Drury. I do. He is exactly the type of player we should get, a player who has his heart on his sleeve. That being said, we overpaid twice for Drury: once in what we gave up, and second with the contract.

Giving up Warrener didn't make sense because RD are a rarity. And our defense already lacked physicality before that trade.