TOMapleLaughs Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 Management This is the biggest reason. Part of the reason that the Oilers have been continuously failing in the face of top draft pick after top draft pick is because the losing culture begins at the top. Ownership has been blasted for bringing back faces from the 1980s, the glory days of the Oilers. And while there is something to bringing back the greats of the franchise, giving them management positions might not be the best way to go about it. Questionable leadership leads to strife between them and the coaches, which in turn leads to issues in the way the coach handles the on-ice product. Questionable leadership results in questionable draft choices and pieces that dont fit the overall puzzle of what the team is trying to do. This is how the Nail Yakupov selection happened and he hasnt been able to get the proper support a young player needs ever since. When franchises are consistently failing, there is nowhere else to look other than up. In Buffalo, its still early, but general manager Tim Murray came in with a plan and is executing it the way hes said. Hes identifying building blocks like Tyler Myers and sticking to his guns about keeping them. Hes targeting specific prospects like Hudson Fasching, building up his prospect pool with more than just cant miss prospects. Theres still a long, long way to go, but Buffalo already has a plethora of NHL-ready prospects that will likely flock to the NHL in 2015-16. In Edmonton, it doesnt seem like theres a plan in place and if there is, its not being executed properly. Prospect Pools While the Oilers boast a nice group of prospects Leon Draisaitl still has a very bright future ahead of him despite not doing much this season, they have a deep defensive pool led by Darnell Nurse they still have a ton of holes to fill. There isnt much in the way of depth or size down the middle, they dont have a power play quarterback in their ranks and could find themselves in huge need of one if Justin Schultz leaves or fails to develop and their goaltending hopes are grim. Long story short: they have a few nice prospects, a few more which could potentially make it to be regulars and then a few huge holes. Buffalo, meanwhile, seems to have stockpiled prospects for every role and situation. They might not have a bonafide stud in their goaltending ranks, but there are high hopes for Linus Ullmark and Andrey Makarov as well as a potential sleeper in Jonas Johansson. Defensively, theyre deep as can be: Mark Pysyk, Jake McCabe, Nikita Zadorov and Chad Ruhwedel all appear to be right on the cusp of becoming regulars on the Sabres defense. Up front, they have plenty of high-end talent: Sam Reinhart as the potential franchise center, Mikhail Grigorenko with high-end offensive ability, future two-way stud Johan Larsson, power forward material in Brendan Lemieux, Joel Armia and Hudson Fasching and talented sleepers in the form of JT Compher, Connor Hurley and Justin Bailey. Granted, not all of these players can possible develop to expectations and some of them will flame out entirely. But thats a helluva group to have coming up through the ranks in addition to the building blocks already on the roster. Teams like the Blackhawks and Kings are built through the draft and guess what? They dont keep all of those prospects. Thats the beauty of having a deep pool: if the right ones hit, youre left with a plethora of assets that can be packaged to bring a big piece of the puzzle into the fold. Murray isnt thinking purely in terms of young players he wants on his roster, hes thinking of potential trade assets down the line as well. Building blocks in place This isnt to say that the Oilers dont currently have better building blocks on their roster. Clearly, one would rather have Nugent-Hopkins, Yakupov, Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle than most on the current Sabres roster, but the question remains: will they all be there next year? Eberle is involved in every trade rumor ever, Yakupov is either available for nothing or not at all depending on who you listen to and now even Hall is being thrown around in trade rumors. In Buffalo, Murray has already begun to identify his building blocks. Rasmus Ristolainen is an obvious one; the team spent the 8th overall pick in 2013 on him and he wont be going anywhere for a long time. Tyler Myers, though, didnt seem so certain. Like Eberle, rumors surrounding Myers were fast and frequent and it wasnt beyond the realm of possibility to believe that the team could deal the towering defenseman. That is, until Murray came out and essentially said I havent called anyone about Myers. Hes identified the value Myers has, recognizes that he eats monster minutes and is playing some of his best hockey since winning the Calder Trophy back in 2009-10. Quality young defensemen are a commodity in this league and Murray has one. His other building blocks arent as sexy, but he has two up front: Tyler Ennis and Zemgus Girgensons. Ennis might not necessarily fit everyones description of a building block, but its pretty clear that he is far and away the most talented offensive asset they have on the current roster. Hes creative, can make his own offense and could theoretically thrive with more talent around him and a reduce role hes not a top-line player despite having to be one now and lessened attention would benefit a player like him. Girgensons, meanwhile, is already appearing to be a future captain and one of the heart-and-soul players on the Sabres. He does a little bit of everything: he can score, he hits, he plays defense, hes decent on faceoffs (though this really needs to improve) and he can play in all situations. Hes not a superstar in any sense, but he could become the second/third-line center that teams covet. Hes already a fan favorite in Buffalo, though probably not on the same level that he is in his native Latvia. Hell be a leader on what should be a very young team next year and someone that has that Sabre for life feel to him. The difference between these two groups is that while they might not have the overall talent of the aforementioned Oilers, theyve already been identified as both on-ice and leadership building blocks that Murray would not deal. Thanks to the management situation in Edmonton, you cant quite say the same about their group. Stability Though both franchises are in the middle of ugly rebuilds, the overall feeling from the two couldnt be more different. The Oilers are clearly panicked about where they are, looking for any answers to get the ship turned in the right direction. Theyve been bad for so long despite having so many prime draft choices, that its got everyone running around making questionable decisions. In Buffalo, ownership is fully supportive yet staying out of the way and Murray is free to run the show. Hes making the moves he wants to make, getting the guys in that he wants in and generally being patient and picking his spots. Rebuilding the right way involves having said plan and being able to follow up on it. The Oilers cant go five minutes without a coaching change or trying to shuffle things around. Huge difference. http://twopadstack.net/sabres-wont-end-like-oilers/ I saw this and thought it was important to put here, because any time somebody mentions the correct method of rebuilding here, it's... "Tanking is bad," As said multiple times here, Edmonton is not the example to follow when it comes right down to it. This article points out multiple reasons why. Sabres have spent most of their high picks of defensemen (Ristolainen, Zadorov, Pysyk, McCabe) and centers (Reinhart, Grigorenko, Girgensons). Edmonton mostly picked wingers with their high picks, which is an odd foundation on which to try to rebuild. Like it or not, we're going to through the same process here. So take note of which direction Benning goes in with his picks. If he collects good picks, selects a pile of two-way defensemen and two-way centers with his high picks, that's good. If he doesn't embrace the rebuild and goes year to year and selects a pile of wingers instead, that's bad, m'kay? If he identifies his youthful building blocks and keeps them around, giving them a solid foundation for a build, that's good. So far, so good, at least with Edler and Tanev, and coming up quickly is Horvat. But Shinkaruk and Kassian talk is disturbing. Maybe they're not 'building block' material? But trading youth in a rebuild is bad, m'kay. I have high hopes that Benning and Linden do this thing the right way. It's been proven time and time again what works around the NHL and what Edmonton has done since losing Pronger is irrelevant as it seems like a deliberate failure in every regard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warhippy Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 Why won't the sabres be as bad as the oilers? Because the Sabres were mediocre for a couple seasons and only down right bad the last 2. The oilers have been god awful since the 2006 run. Sabres drafting for organizational need where as Oilers ONLY draft the BPA with no thought to 2nd and 3rd round drafting Face it, every single team in the league has had to do a rebuild of sorts and universally all of them have pulled their heads from their butts years earlier than the Oilers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuxfanabroad Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 Elephant in the room is simply geography, though no one would ever admit as much. A location like Buffalo(NY state; tax benefits; travel; etc...) will always draw the essential FA pieces to plug holes, & occasionally be a destination players will accept going to(eg:waive a NTC, if requested). Edm's the opposite, & it'll get worse, as the tar sands fantasy becomes eco-financial quicksand. Switch owners, mgt & all these variables between cities & Murray/Buff owners would evolve into the same problem. It ain't the '80s anymore folks. Intelligent folk RUN from big shopping malls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warhippy Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 Elephant in the room is simply geography, though no one would ever admit as much. A location like Buffalo(NY state; tax benefits; travel; etc...) will always draw the essential FA pieces to plug holes, & occasionally be a destination players will accept going to(eg:waive a NTC, if requested). Edm's the opposite, & it'll get worse, as the tar sands fantasy becomes eco-financial quicksand. Switch owners, mgt & all these variables between cities & Murray/Buff owners would evolve into the same problem. It ain't the '80s anymore folks. Intelligent folk RUN from big shopping malls. Geography has little if anything at all to do with decent scouting and smart drafting/development. Edmonton isn't doing any of that. Buffalo is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuxfanabroad Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 Hippy, Buff has the stench of Pitt aound '82, '83.. They've been dumping good pieces for a while now. Also reminds me of Wash about a decade ago. That said, if I were Edm's GM, I'd have taken a page out of the early'90s Nords playbook..The three top picks they had, were all parlayed into wealth. At the end of the day, it's no question Calgary has schooled Edm on janitorial skills; will be interesting to observe the two franchises over the next half-decade. I'd still contend Edm could turn things about, with a few good moves. Either squad is WAY better off than the Leafers... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronalds.Kenins41 Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 Sabres have spent most of their high picks of defensemen (Ristolainen, Zadorov, Pysyk, McCabe) and centers (Reinhart, Grigorenko, Girgensons). Edmonton mostly picked wingers with their high picks, which is an odd foundation on which to try to rebuild.Like it or not, we're going to through the same process here. So take note of which direction Benning goes in with his picks. If he collects good picks, selects a pile of two-way defensemen and two-way centers with his high picks, that's good. If he doesn't embrace the rebuild and goes year to year and selects a pile of wingers instead, that's bad, m'kay? If he identifies his youthful building blocks and keeps them around, giving them a solid foundation for a build, that's good. So far, so good, at least with Edler and Tanev, and coming up quickly is Horvat. But Shinkaruk and Kassian talk is disturbing. Maybe they're not 'building block' material? But trading youth in a rebuild is bad, m'kay. I have high hopes that Benning and Linden do this thing the right way. It's been proven time and time again what works around the NHL and what Edmonton has done since losing Pronger is irrelevant as it seems like a deliberate failure in every regard. Lets see Potential Two way forwards Horvat Gaunce McCann Potential Two way defencemen Tanev Corrado Pedan Clendening Stanton I probably left out some names(or included some extra ones), but you get the gist we are doing too bad according to the article's standard of a good rebuild. Always more room for more but not bad at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SabreFan1 Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 Hippy, Buff has the stench of Pitt aound '82, '83.. They've been dumping good pieces for a while now. Also reminds me of Wash about a decade ago. That said, if I were Edm's GM, I'd have taken a page out of the early'90s Nords playbook..The three top picks they had, were all parlayed into wealth. At the end of the day, it's no question Calgary has schooled Edm on janitorial skills; will be interesting to observe the two franchises over the next half-decade. I'd still contend Edm could turn things about, with a few good moves. Either squad is WAY better off than the Leafers... The only piece that has thrived since the Sabres traded him away is Pominville. Halak doesn't really count because the Sabres had him for 5 days. Up until then he was average for the Capitals. Vanek hasn't even hit double digits in goals yet in almost 50 games. Miller is pretty much playing exactly the same as he did in Buffalo. Gaustad is only getting about 12 minutes of ice time per game. I miss Ott, but he has one foot out of the door in the NHL. Moulson was only gone for a few months. With the exception of the Halak trade, the Sabres have been doing quite well in the trade market. http://www.nhltradetracker.com/user/trade_list_by_team/Buffalo_Sabres/1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dral Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 The only piece that has thrived since the Sabres traded him away is Pominville. Halak doesn't really count because the Sabres had him for 5 days. Up until then he was average for the Capitals. Vanek hasn't even hit double digits in goals yet in almost 50 games. Miller is pretty much playing exactly the same as he did in Buffalo. Gaustad is only getting about 12 minutes of ice time per game. I miss Ott, but he has one foot out of the door in the NHL. Moulson was only gone for a few months. With the exception of the Halak trade, the Sabres have been doing quite well in the trade market. http://www.nhltradetracker.com/user/trade_list_by_team/Buffalo_Sabres/1 Kassian ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mackcanuck Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 As long as EDM continues to keep their Old Boys Club and hiring their best friends instead of the best hockey people available, they will continue to languish in the bottom of the standings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SabreFan1 Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 Kassian ? Not yet. It's a shame. I like Kass, but he's been disappointing. I wish he would take his effort up a notch or two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOMapleLaughs Posted January 30, 2015 Author Share Posted January 30, 2015 Tanev Corrado Pedan Clendening Stanton Yeah, um, we're going to need more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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