I Have No Idea What Is Wrong

I agree with pretty much all of this, including Skinner. Just watch though, Krueger tried to get Skinner to do more, it didn't take, Skinner got demoted, and an AWFUL lot of people held that as exhibit A why the coach had to go. I think granato is letting players play to their strengths, but sometimes, you have to do more. Biron was showing yesterday how the Sabres were playing a 1-3-1 on the pp, that allows them two players on the half wall, but it leaves dahlin as the only line of defense. If it's working, great, the pp hasn't been on lately unfortunately.

Well some easy stuff to start with:

Your D is mostly bad. Some of that is due to injury for sure but guys like joker and Pilut have been awful. Hell basically everyone not named Dahlin and Power generally. You need 3 new d + Sammy back in the lineup.

Goalies arent great either but i dont think theyre killing you - but as you want to start competing youll want to improve in net be that prospect, trade, or UFA.

Your F depth isnt great either. You have some pieces but they need to either keep developing or arent numerous enough (Tuch, Tage).

Skinner is bad on the PP, and Olaf is a PP merchant. Move the latter down the lineup or out of town and stop using Skinner on the PP

Mittelstat is the worst player on your team results wise right now and keeps getting fed big mins. He needs to be gone



Thats your path to contention right there

We are also the softest team in the league, it would be nice to find a physical player instead of Olofsson who will be good in defense.

On defense, we need a guy like Soucy or Lauzon type for the third pair, in case Samuelsson gets injured, he could be replaced at least partially, because Bryson, Pilut and Clague cannot do this physically.

Yes the losing streak looks bad and is disheartening as a fan. Remember that 4 of those losses were close games against top teams in the league (Tampa, Carolina, Vegas, Boston). We are not expected to beat those teams, even when we play relatively well. What concerned me was the loss to Arizona where no effort was put in by the players. The losses to Vancouver and Ottawa were tough but let's be honest, both of those teams should be better than their records show, so again I'm not overly distraught that we lost to them. Sucks that its all in a row though, and you know if it sucks for a fan its a heck of a lot tougher as a player.

Sabres gameplan fell apart since we lost Samuelsson and had to play Pilut and Clague. That's a big reason why we are giving up 4+ goals a night. Goaltending has not been good, but I'm gonna shift the responsibility on that mostly to the D-core playing in front of them. Would love to see a healthy UPL get some starts soon.

Offensively it seems like only Thompson and Cozens give it everything they can each shift. Tuch sometimes still appears careless with the puck and doesn't keep his feet moving when he's not attacking. Rest of the forwards are not engaged in the game it would appear. We need our offensive players to produce offense, but we also need all our of players to be tough to play against defensively and be wayyyy more willing to win puck battles and defend the neutral zone, as other teams have way too easy of a time entering our zone with the puck.

If I'm Adams, I look at moving guys like Mittelstadt or Krebs for a quality defenseman who plays a 2-way game with an edge, but I certainly don't panic and make a poor trade. We have 3 2nds in this upcoming draft, I'd look at moving up to 2 of those for a player that fits well into either the D-core or the center depth. Biro and Weissbach deserve a call-up, Bjork needs to be converted into a Viking or something and go on an exploration of anywhere but Buffalo, and Quinn should return to the AHL until he gains back some confidence.

I conclude my rant. Thanks for putting up with it

I do have a clue what is wrong with this team but I just wanted to be dramatic. Either way this answer was very good and echos most of my thoughts.

Forward core needs help. Tuch and Thompson are solid top 6 forwards. Thompson is a 1C and Tuch a 2RW. Cozens is a 2C at even strength and needs to improve in the Dot and also just needs some luck converting. Peterka is the future 1 RW in my eyes he is just so dynamic fast and is always doing positive things in the ozone as well as playing solid defensively. Quinn needs time, he isn't as strong as he needs to be which is holding him up, he gets knocked off the puck to easily and doesn't have blazing speed to make space for himself. When he had space he is a weapon, so I think in a year or 2 when he builds strength and experience he is the #2LW. I think Asplund and Okposo are solid depth options, Girgensons is not so much, probably not worth re-signing. Skinner needs to work harder. I'd be fine with a 3rd line that plays 8-10 minutes a night that looks like this. Skinner - Mittelstadt - Olofsson until they prove they can add value at 5v5 and will work hard.

Future Core in the team looks like this for me

(-----) - Thompson - Peterka
Quinn - Cozens - Tuch
Skinner (because of his contract) - (-------) - (------)
Asplund - (-----) - Okposo if he re-signs