Send Grigs back

[OpIv37]

He's not ready.

As disappointed as I am in Lindy right now, he did one thing right: he gave Grigs every possible chance to prove himself. And yet, he did nothing.

[YardRat]

He screwed Grigs out of a game in Carolina by sitting him for all but 3 minutes, and admitted that.

I know the kid hasn't done much with the stat sheet in his five game 'try-out', but I hope Ruff makes the smart move and keeps him with the big club, let him grow up now instead of delaying the process. Sending him back down will do nothing, and it's way overdue for Ruff to grow a pair and make a ballsy decision. IMO it'll pay-off in the long run, and start reaping reward sooner rather than later.

[YardRat]

Dump Hecht instead.

[Crisis]

There's no point in using a year of his entry level contract up right now, should send him back. He's only 18 and doesn't look like he's ready yet.

[SabreEleven]

Send him back, it one less year Lindy won't have a chance to ruin him.

[camelcowboy]

I dont know what game you knuckle heads watched today but hes not only ready, but was their best player today.

[Skooby]

The kid is F-awesome & what else do we have on offense while Vanek gets his massages?

[Crisis]

What's the point of keeping him up? One more year he won't be on an entry level contract, he's not putting this team over any hump right now.

If he's not scoring (0 points), what purpose does he serve the club if he's going to be playing with 3rd/4th line grinders in the NHL?

[Crisis]

Do you guys actually think he's going to develop at all this season playing with Hecht/Scott/Kaleta etc? Ruff isn't going to put him with scorers, there's no point in him being up.

[rbochan]

Get him as far away from Ruff as he can get.

[trapezeus]

grigs, untapped potential.
Ruff, never tapping potential.

What a great match up.

Ruff is the issue. how many more years do they need to see from this guy. He absolutely blows and got us to the big dance 14 years ago! go back to the rib injury, this cast of misfits tried when someone else showed up.

[Mski]

sending him back does nothing... there is nothing more the kid can learn playing in the Q, and he cant go to rochester, so keep him up here, and fwiw he was the best player on the ice sunday

[Skooby]

sending him back does nothing... there is nothing more the kid can learn playing in the Q, and he cant go to rochester, so keep him up here, and fwiw he was the best player on the ice sunday

Could that not have been more obvious ?

[PTI]

Sabres need Grigs. He has 7-10 goal potential this season!! We might actually need those goals, I am dead serious, Scott, Kaleta, Hecht, Ellis, McCormick might all combine goal for 7-10 goals, we need Grigs on this team. None of those guys I mentioned are going to score at all.

[Skooby]

Sabres need Grigs. He has 7-10 goal potential this season!! We might actually need those goals, I am dead serious, Scott, Kaleta, Hecht, Ellis, McCormick might all combine goal for 7-10 goals, we need Grigs on this team. None of those guys I mentioned are going to score at all.

They might score but it'll be because the shot hit off our opponent and got deflected.

[PTI]

Joel Armia scored twice yesterday!! 13 goals and 20 assists in 33 games this season. He has 3 games where he scored 2 goals, so a lot of games with no goals!

[THATHURMANATOR]

I dont know what game you knuckle heads watched today but hes not only ready, but was their best player today.

Thinking the exact same thing.

Kid is more than ready. You can just see that he has the it factor. I am not expecting a points and goal explosion but certainly belongs.

Yeah lets send him back so we can get more Ellis and Hecht..... YUCK... He has NOTHING else to prove in the minors. Why not get him NHL experience?

[trapezeus]

hecht is the bob corkcum head scratcher of the 2010-2020 sabres history. i'm calling that now. Every 10 years (arguably 5) darcy does something very odd.

Ruff just can't get anyone to play up a notch. they all just kind of cruise on by. I'd send grigs down just to avoid the disaster of ruff yelling at him for not coming back on plays and other such stuff.

And the sabres problem is that vanek hodgson and pominville will score at will in the regular season. but they aren't physical enough to get it done in big time games or games where the other team just wants it.

They got to get the grit up in Grigs and ask him to move that body around. put him with vanek, maybe get foligno up there with them. Put hodgson with Ott and Pominville. then have ennis, stafford and what ever else hard checking hard working winger there is in ellis/kaleta/mccormick, etc. and then have the fourth line head bashers out there.

He is juggling lines to find chemistry for finesse passing and they don't pass well as a team consistently. yeah, they get pretty set plays occassionally, but how many break out passes cross ice in transition do they miss?

Give grigs a chance to play well by playing with play makers.

[PTI]

He has to play. Seriously, John Scott can barely hold his stick, he has no business out there, his slap shot is crazy weak. Gerbe is too small. He needs to play with some good players though.

[Night Train]

I agree with Op and it's nothing against him...but it's rare for an 18 year old to make an impact and why ruin him ? Let him develop at a proper rate and give him another full shot next camp.

Maybe by then, Lindy would have fired himself. I still can't believe he's basically been cannonized as " Coach For Life " here. What has he done ?

This team looks the exact same as the other .500 non-playoff teams. Eventually, the ticket sales will drop and he's got to win.

[Skooby]

I agree with Op and it's nothing against him...but it's rare for an 18 year old to make an impact and why ruin him ? Let him develop at a proper rate and give him another full shot next camp.

Maybe by then, Lindy would have fired himself. I still can't believe he's basically been cannonized as " Coach For Life " here. What has he done ?

This team looks the exact same as the other .500 non-playoff teams. Eventually, the ticket sales will drop and he's got to win.

The NHL experience is going to ruin him ?? The kid was our best player yesterday, so why would he need to be sent away ??

[trapezeus]

he was our best player in a game where no one did anything. he wasn't exactly lighting it up out there. frankly, if this was a normal team, they'd have the leash on lindy so short. three absolute stinkers in a row against two teams who were essentially left for dead.

this is nothing short of the last 3-5 years of lindy's existance. In some ways these last 3 games had me longing for the lockout again. This is dick jauronish in the futile attempt to do the same exact thing and be stunned that nothing is working.

missing the playoffs 2-3 years is a fireable offense. having never won the cup, there is zero reason he should be retained without consistent results. Either fire lindy or trade away the players who don't care for his style and start over. this risk-less approach to doing nothing because we might get it wrong is infuriourating.

I literally am not watching games unless they are on TV or I happen to be at a bar. I think if this slump continues and the gap from 8th and 9th grows, the fan base will be quite vocal at a sold out stadium of what they want.

[Skooby]

he was our best player in a game where no one did anything. he wasn't exactly lighting it up out there. frankly, if this was a normal team, they'd have the leash on lindy so short. three absolute stinkers in a row against two teams who were essentially left for dead.

this is nothing short of the last 3-5 years of lindy's existance. In some ways these last 3 games had me longing for the lockout again. This is dick jauronish in the futile attempt to do the same exact thing and be stunned that nothing is working.

missing the playoffs 2-3 years is a fireable offense. having never won the cup, there is zero reason he should be retained without consistent results. Either fire lindy or trade away the players who don't care for his style and start over. this risk-less approach to doing nothing because we might get it wrong is infuriourating.

I literally am not watching games unless they are on TV or I happen to be at a bar. I think if this slump continues and the gap from 8th and 9th grows, the fan base will be quite vocal at a sold out stadium of what they want.

So admittedly then with a better supporting cast, Grig might have had an even better performance. There was 4 other guys out there that didn't try, so advocating sending away the guy that is playing hard is madness. How about we send away the Hobbits & anyone under 6' tall?

[trapezeus]

thing is that somehow this season at 5 games with lindy is done. it's obvious. I am under the impression there is some contract accelerator if grigs is here past 5 games. If htat's the case, why waste that season on a half season with a dead coach.

Let him go back, let his contract start fresh next year, and let's have the dumbasses who have put this whole mess in motion since 2008 take the licks for it. and if they should end up a top 5 pick or simply out of the playoffs, guess what impact player we get to select to grow with grigs.

I don't disagree. Gerbe looks like he's lost his fire to go into the boards. stafford's effort vacilating between fighting and defensively helping is also offset that he isn't really scoring at all.

and honestly, i think pominville should be traded. he is a small piece to a big puzzle and we don't have the big pieces. he shouldn't be a captain. he could be somewhere else, but in buffalo, he's just representative of the last 5 years of wasted hockey. goals scored from the outside on pretty passes, non-existant in the playoffs when we get there.

this is even sadder than the bills because the bills have a finite number of games. this is 48 and 5 have been played and you know the sabres are missing the playoffs. pathetic.

[Mouldsie]

He needs to stay. We need a new coach. And he needs to be paired with Armia next year from day 1

[PTI]

Myers is the player that has huge trade value that we can replace. I think they need to think about moving Myers.

[gebobs]

Send him to the Ramparts. Bring him back next year with Armia.

[BuffaloWingEater]

send him back!? is the sabres lineup really so awesome that he can't crack it!? i think not.

[gebobs]

send him back!? is the sabres lineup really so awesome that he can't crack it!? i think not.
No...but my hope for this team was misplaced. They aren't going anywhere. May as well save a year of entry level.

[Mouldsie]

Myers is the player that has huge trade value that we can replace. I think they need to think about moving Myers.
Not against it.... but the haul better be good.

[BuffaloWingEater]

No...but my hope for this team was misplaced. They aren't going anywhere. May as well save a year of entry level.

the sabres are in win now mode and not rebuilding. if linda wants to keep his job he needs all the fire power he can get because the sabres can't score.

[Crisis]

the sabres are in win now mode and not rebuilding. if linda wants to keep his job he needs all the fire power he can get because the sabres can't score.

If your team is in "win now mode" and you're trying to justify keeping an 18 year old rookie with 0 points in the lineup...

[SkateZilla]

He screwed Grigs out of a game in Carolina by sitting him for all but 3 minutes, and admitted that.

I know the kid hasn't done much with the stat sheet in his five game 'try-out', but I hope Ruff makes the smart move and keeps him with the big club, let him grow up now instead of delaying the process. Sending him back down will do nothing, and it's way overdue for Ruff to grow a pair and make a ballsy decision. IMO it'll pay-off in the long run, and start reaping reward sooner rather than later.

Let him grow up somewhere that isnt gonna hurt him or the big team.

[SabreEleven]

WGR justs announce Grigs is playing tonight so he'll be with the team all year.

[PTI]

WGR justs announce Grigs is playing tonight so he'll be with the team all year.

Well, we can't be surprised, this team has no scoring at all, he will be depended on for some. Bet he scores knowing he will be here now.

[SkateZilla]

yup

[trapezeus]

i bet its not until we are just stuck deep in 9, 10, or 11th until lindy decides to use him consistently.

[Skooby]

Best news we could of heard, he's improving every game & has nothing to gain away from the NHL.

[gebobs]

the sabres are in win now mode and not rebuilding. if linda wants to keep his job he needs all the fire power he can get because the sabres can't score.

All in.

[SabreEleven]

i bet its not until we are just stuck deep in 9, 10, or 11th until lindy decides to use him consistently.

So Lindy is going to pull a Spiller....

[SkateZilla]

Well, we can't be surprised, this team has no scoring at all, he will be depended on for some. Bet he scores knowing he will be here now.

Playing the Leafs does that to anyone.

[YardRat]

i bet its not until we are just stuck deep in 9, 10, or 11th until lindy decides to use him consistently.


So Lindy is going to pull a Spiller....

He got 17+ mins of ice time on Sunday, including at least a couple of shifts on the power play, which is more play than Scott, Kaleta, Ellis, Gerbe, Sulzer and Foligno got.

Hopefully Lindy doesn't turtle-up and keeps playing the kid.

[Skooby]

He got 17+ mins of ice time on Sunday, including at least a couple of shifts on the power play, which is more play than Scott, Kaleta, Ellis, Gerbe, Sulzer and Foligno got.

Hopefully Lindy doesn't turtle-up and keeps playing the kid.

Agreed.

[SabreEleven]

He got 17+ mins of ice time on Sunday, including at least a couple of shifts on the power play, which is more play than Scott, Kaleta, Ellis, Gerbe, Sulzer and Foligno got.

Hopefully Lindy doesn't turtle-up and keeps playing the kid.

I'm sure Spiller got over 20 carries in one or two games but it will be Matt Ellis' turn with 30 seconds left in a game down by one goal.

[Crisis]

So how are we in "win now mode" by keeping the 18 year old rookie who has 0 points and is a -3 so far tonight?

Really going to do wonders for his development when Ruff is benching him for Matt Ellis.

[Crisis]

So how are we in "win now mode" by keeping the 18 year old rookie who has 0 points and is a -3 so far tonight?

Really going to do wonders for his development when Ruff is benching him for Matt Ellis.

Well make that a goal and a -2

[OpIv37]

Yeah, nice goal to earn us a point.

Still a waste of his contract to use a year in a 48 game season that has already gone to ****.

[PTI]

Well, if this season is gone to the crapper I feel that it is great to get him this experience. Pegula has cash.

[SabreEleven]

Yeah, nice goal to earn us a point.

Still a waste of his contract to use a year in a 48 game season that has already gone to ****.

With Pegula as owner this doesn't bother me anymore. Brieire and/or Drury would still be here if Pegula was owner at the time. If Grigenko turns into a good to great player, Sabres will resign him.

[trapezeus]

i just think having him with lindy is a complete waste and potentially detrimental to his development. glad he scored. glad it was exciting for all the players.

but the problem is that we just lost 4 games in a row in a short season. we are last in the division and out of hte playoffs in the conference. the turnaround needs to happen two games ago. The sabres used to have this thing about not wanting to lose 2 in a row. What happened to that? The postgame and fan comments after the game is so sad. "we were in it in the third." To the most dysfunctional franchise in the league (aside from us).

Terry is no different the Golisano in terms of this wild belief that lindy and darcy can get the job done.

[SabreEleven]

i just think having him with lindy is a complete waste and potentially detrimental to his development. glad he scored. glad it was exciting for all the players.

but the problem is that we just lost 4 games in a row in a short season. we are last in the division and out of hte playoffs in the conference. the turnaround needs to happen two games ago. The sabres used to have this thing about not wanting to lose 2 in a row. What happened to that? The postgame and fan comments after the game is so sad. "we were in it in the third." To the most dysfunctional franchise in the league (aside from us).

Terry is no different the Golisano in terms of this wild belief that lindy and darcy can get the job done.

Sadly, Ruff won't get fired quick enough to save Grigs' career.

[SkateZilla]

Buffalo Players are neutered on Draft Day, as soon as they put on that Draft Day Jersey....

[Skooby]

Buffalo Players are neutered on Draft Day, as soon as they put on that Draft Day Jersey....

This holds true for both the NFL & NHL.

[Crisis]

He should be in juniors right now getting 1st line minutes and developing his game even more. He's clearly still not ready and getting ~10 mins of ice time a game isn't going to do anything for him.

[Crisis]

Bump.

[OpIv37]

So, wtf was that?

We wasted a year of Grigs' contract for ~25 ****ty games. He got minimal experience at best and he didn't help the team win, as it would take a miracle for us to make the playoffs now.

So friggin pointless.

[YardRat]

I'm glad they gave him a run to get NHL experience. It's one year, big deal...those 25 games are invaluable compared to what he could have 'learned' back in the juniors all season. If he turns out to be any good, moneybags Pegula will have no problem ponying up for him when the time is due...it's not like he's a cheap bastard like Ralph, right?

[Crisis]

I'm glad they gave him a run to get NHL experience. It's one year, big deal...those 25 games are invaluable compared to what he could have 'learned' back in the juniors all season. If he turns out to be any good, moneybags Pegula will have no problem ponying up for him when the time is due...it's not like he's a cheap bastard like Ralph, right?

How is being a healthy scratch and getting less than 10 minutes on the ice in a game more helpful than him in juniors right now? With that logic he'd still be here.

There's something called a salary cap and keeping young talented players under organization control is kind of important.

[OpIv37]

Completely agree on the cap thing.

I have no doubt that Pegula would pony up the bucks if it were up to him. But it may not be. Vanek has a big cap hit, plus we have guys like Stafford, Myers and Leino on ****ty contracts. If he turns out to be what we think, there may not be room under the cap to sign him.

That being said, hopefully we can unload some of these contracts before it's time for him to re-sign.

[mightysimi]

It isn't about having the money, it's fitting 23 players under it. They did nothing but force themselves to pay him a year. Not to mention another year in the minors if that is what it took to keep him at a low cap number until the rest of the team is decent. On the positive note, you can probably look forward to McKinnon or Drouin on your team coming up.

[YardRat]

Grig's salary cap hit is going to be just above 1mil, because there is no way in hell he is going to hit his incentives this season. The same for the next two seasons, unless he happens to hit all of his incentives which would add up to just shy of 1.8mil. If he does, great...that means he's playing well.

If he would have been shipped to the juniors after his trial period, it would have saved the team approximately 750k in cap space for this season...big deal. It's not like money-bags Pegula would be able to bring anybody in this season for that dollar amount that would have made any kind of significant difference in the team's performance, and it sure as hell isn't going to restrict the team from re-signing somebody they want to keep. That's freakin' pocket change. From what I've seen, the entire current roster carries cap hits more than Grigs, save for 2 players (Foligno and Porter).

This kid has the ability to be the superstar (a real one, not a mirage like Vanek) that the team has lacked for so long, and any experience at the NHL level that can speed up his learning curve is money well spent on the future, IMO. The cap ramifications are almost completely insignificant.

[YardRat]

Completely agree on the cap thing.

I have no doubt that Pegula would pony up the bucks if it were up to him. But it may not be. Vanek has a big cap hit, plus we have guys like Stafford, Myers and Leino on ****ty contracts. If he turns out to be what we think, there may not be room under the cap to sign him.

That being said, hopefully we can unload some of these contracts before it's time for him to re-sign.

They have six roster players currently under contract for '14-'15. Six. Projected to be 42+mil under a 64mil cap. If they can't afford to re-sign him at that point, especially after getting rid of all the dead wood, this team has much more serious problems than worrying about fitting Grigs under the cap.

[mightysimi]

His contract isn't up during that season. there is 2 more seasons before you have to pay him. What if you wanted to grab a bunch of FA's? In 2 years, if you have a bunch of players that you are paying, you might find it difficult to pay Grigorenko. Or if you say you are happy to not sign anyone for 2 more seasons just to be sure he can get paid.

[Crisis]

Grigs 0 pts -3 through so far this playoff series (3 games)

glad we rushed him! but he has nothing left to improve in juniors!!!

[Skooby]

We'll be drafting 11/12th again this year as well, oh joy.

[mightysimi]

We'll be drafting 11/12th again this year as well, oh joy.
Deep Draft though

[Skooby]

Deep Draft though

We need it real deep.

[Crisis]

Eliminated from playoffs. Hopefully he looks better in Rochester.

[PTI]

Once they are eliminated, should they not just play him a few more games in Buffalo?

[OpIv37]

Once they are eliminated, should they not just play him a few more games in Buffalo?

And what? Take minutes away from Drew Stafford? Blasphemy.

[Mski]

And what? Take minutes away from Drew Stafford? Blasphemy.
more like take minutes from hecht

[OpIv37]

more like take minutes from hecht

Hecht has been playing with Kaleta and Scott.

Grigs isn't going to do or learn anything on a line with those two. If they bring him back, they need to find a way to get him on a line with someone who at least offers a little bit of offense to help him out.

[trapezeus]

grigs with vanek would have been exciting to watch. get a stay at home defensive pair with those guys and put like an ott on the other wing.

oh well...let him rest now. start of next season he better compete with our first overall pick....i'm so positive that pegula bought that first ball.

[OpIv37]

grigs with vanek would have been exciting to watch. get a stay at home defensive pair with those guys and put like an ott on the other wing.

oh well...let him rest now. start of next season he better compete with our first overall pick....i'm so positive that pegula bought that first ball.

You think so? I'm not sure, for one reason and one reason only: if he bought the first ball, we have to lose more to make the win more convincing. And if we have to lose more, there's no way he'd be letting Rolston sit Leino.

[mightysimi]

grigs with vanek would have been exciting to watch. get a stay at home defensive pair with those guys and put like an ott on the other wing.

oh well...let him rest now. start of next season he better compete with our first overall pick....i'm so positive that pegula bought that first ball.

Making 3rd liners into 1st liners can't be a recipe for success. Ott is heart and soul but he isn't going to bury for you.

[trapezeus]

yeah, wasn't sold on ott being on the first line, but i want someone who plays two way on that line. so that you essentially have 3 men coming back quickly for defense and has almost no scoring responsibilities. Does anyone remember who was the other winger on the mogilny and lafontaine line?i dont'.

it's just curious that the lottery system changed this year. it's ripe for a team not finishing in bottom 5 gets it. the story becomes about how it happened the first year and less about how they got it. it'd be one thing if like toronto or montreal or some NHL darling city got the ball. but for buffalo to get it, it doesn't really raise many eyebrows.

[mightysimi]

It's about players buying into a system. If you watch Vancouver, which is a good defensive team, they send 2 guys deep and the third guy regardless of who it is, is high all the time. Well unless they have the puck. The players have to be willing to take on that role. So many offensive players don't. They either buy into it or you sit them. You can't continue to reward ice time to guys who are routinely -1 or -2. It's not a matter of guys pinching and need to stay at home but reading when to do it and knowing that there back will be covered if they do.

[mightysimi]

As for the lottery, it is just that now every team can get first pick with it obviously weighted towards the worst record. Like the NBA but in the NBA anyone can get 1st - 3rd. Other than that, it's the same.

[Mski]

yeah, wasn't sold on ott being on the first line, but i want someone who plays two way on that line. so that you essentially have 3 men coming back quickly for defense and has almost no scoring responsibilities. Does anyone remember who was the other winger on the mogilny and lafontaine line?i dont'. anyone remeber who the goon was that played with Gretzky and Messier?

and before that gets taken out of context... the point is you need a gritty/dirty player on your top line playing with your two top play makers, one it protects them and two it allows them to stay out in scoring positions while someone like Ott goes and digs the pucks out of the corners

[PTI]

anyone remeber who the goon was that played with Gretzky and Messier?

and before that gets taken out of context... the point is you need a gritty/dirty player on your top line playing with your two top play makers, one it protects them and two it allows them to stay out in scoring positions while someone like Ott goes and digs the pucks out of the corners

Did Marty McSorley play on the same line. The line was Gretzky and Jari Kurri and Glenn Anderson I thought.

[jimmifli]

anyone remeber who the goon was that played with Gretzky and Messier?
Dave Semenko. But only when **** started hitting the fan.

[SabreEleven]

WRG is reporting Grigs is back in Buffalo and should be in the lineup tomorrow night. He should stay in Rocherster and help them win down there.

[SkateZilla]

WRG is reporting Grigs is back in Buffalo and should be in the lineup tomorrow night. He should stay in Rocherster and help them win down there.


He Cant. He's Under Age. He's Not AHL Eligable until 2014/2015

Which is why it was Buffalo or Quebec Major League.

[SabreEleven]

He Cant. He's Under Age. He's Not AHL Eligable until 2014/2015

Which is why it was Buffalo or Quebec Major League.

I thought this also and made the same claim on a Facebook thread but actually did some research. It turns out that if his Junior season is over, he can play in either one. There is only an agreement between Junior leagues and AHL.

[SkateZilla]

Oops, yeah, You're right.