The time is rapidly approaching that the Sabres need to honestly consider a wholesale rebuild of this team. The number of issues that have become apparent this year are too numerous to list here, but we all can agree that big changes need to happen.

If we start at the top, Darcy needs to be the first one shown the door. He has again built a soft slow team while allowing his apparent personal relationships with players get in the way of their expected performance. There is no place in the management for a GM who keeps sub par players around because they are friends. Darcy is the first ax to fall. In his place, a particular gentleman currently in Montreal, as the assistant GM, Rick Dudley, would be brought in to clean house.

As I have stated in an earlier post, the changes that need to be made are numerous. We need to make a huge number of moves that I understand would not be either plausible or probable. But for the sake of argument and for entertainment value of the process, I have compiled a different line up that could be implemented under the same salary cap requirements of the cap as it sits today. (not next year, but 2012-2013)

For the purpose of this exhibition, please consider that while the particular player may not be exactly who would be best for the position, rather that the type of player or what type of player they have typically been. With that said, I thank "capgeek" for their Fantasy roster tool, that has allowed me to create this list.

CAPGEEK.COM USER GENERATED ROSTER
My Custom Lineup
FORWARDS
Marcus Foligno ($0.900m) / Joe Thornton ($7.000m) / Corey Perry ($5.325m)
Thomas Vanek ($7.143m) / Cody Hodgson ($1.667m) / Jiri Tlusty ($1.600m)
Brian Flynn ($1.025m) / Mikhail Grigorenko ($1.775m) / Steve Ott ($2.950m)
Ryane Clowe ($3.625m) / Justin Abdelkader ($1.800m) / Dustin Brown ($3.175m)
DEFENSEMEN
Tyler Myers ($5.500m) / Garnet Exelby ($0.600m)
Kris Letang ($3.500m) / Johnny Oduya ($3.383m)
Christian Ehrhoff ($4.000m) / Alexander Sulzer ($0.725m)
T.J. Brennan ($0.550m) / Greg Zanon ($2.250m)
GOALTENDERS
Jonathan Bernier ($1.250m)
Nathan Lieuwen ($0.572m)
------
CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter)
SALARY CAP: $70,200,000; CAP PAYROLL: $60,314,523; BONUSES: $1,910,000
CAP SPACE (22-man roster): $9,885,477

I fully expect to have several people tell me, I shouldn't write after drinking so much Kool-aid, but I am looking for a meaningful discussion on what assets this teams needs to acquire in order to be successful and actually chase the Stanley Cup, not merely watch the finals on tv.... again.

What I tried to create were 4 lines that each had some offensive punch to them while, for the most part, remaining big and tough on the puck. The last two lines have grit and can drop the mits if needed, while still being able to be a scoring threat. If we are honest with ourselves, we see that in our current format having Grigs on the fourth line is a huge waste of time. I mention the comment from another poster here on DBTB, when he refered to replacing Scott with a piece of angular wood, not only because of the humor, but because it is so close to the truth that it is scary.

Please feel free to make suggestions as to replace players on this list, but tell us why and more than "he's awesome". Or even make your own list and post it here to compare.