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Kozak is a Sabre now.

Any ideas on other new additions to the roster this year? I believe I've heard Doan referred to (predictably) as "Doaner." Who else merits an update for this edition? Kesselring? Timmins? King? https://kslsports.com/nhl/utah-mammoth/michael-kesselring-opens-surprise-christmas-gift-from-utah-hockey-club-teammates/533805#:~:text=“On social media they called,his new crown for Christmas.

Didn’t realize Rosen has 6 points in 8 games. Hope he keeps producing. He has the tools to be a JJ type. Him and Östlund play well together.

I still need to see Kozak stay healthy, but I'm on the train of him taking Krebs' role by New Year's. However, that just puts Krebs in his right spot -- he becomes the 13th F. He can mostly move up and down the lineup for spot duty. He won't wow you, but he won't be a terrible drain you and he brings energy. If someone is out long-term, then you've got Östlund & Rosén ready in the wings.

He's just more poised. Power is still trying to catch up to the game; Byram is up to speed. Maybe Power gets there, but right now I like Byram better.

Watching them last night reminded me of the Sabres after Ryan O'Reilly was traded. They've got McD and Draisaitl, similar to Eichel/Reinhart and then.... nothing. It's just not sustainable. I said upthread: all you need to do is hit McD every opportunity. Because of their lack of quality forwards, if EDM gets behind they play him more and more and if he's beat up he's not gonna have anything left in the tank at the end of the game. There were only two or three moments where he looked dangerous; the rest of the time he looked tired.

As we seen forward positions in the NHL are fluid.

Greenway can fight. Having him in the lineup makes Geertsen waivable. Malenstyn is one of those guys who looks good skill wise but cannot process the game at an NHL level. Guys like that are easily steered into the corner where plays go to die. Fun fact is he has just 1 takeaway but 9 giveaways, including 5 in the defensive zone. We don't need this guy for anything.

I enjoyed reading through my initial posts on this thread. A renewed nickname roll call for one player: Josh Norris. Neuf? Did it not carry over from Ottawa? (Also, apologies for not embedding the link - it would not embed here - the OP may have taken it down?)

Kesselring: DNP If they can start getting some return there, the deal really looks that much better.

I will believe it as soon as Terry Pegula sits in front of a podium and says "Jerry Forton and Kevyn Adams no longer have any job in any capacity with the Bills, Sabres, Harbor Center, etc. Him nor Adams are on my payroll in any capacity."

Right, if Lindy really wants that role, Dunne is a better fit. But do you keep him up over a Rosen or Östlund? edit: Hey @SDS, if we are going to have that filter on Östlund, how about one to put the accent on the "e" in Rosen?

JJ Peterka: 6g, 7a, 13pts, +1 in 19games Josh Doan: 5g, 7a, 12pts, -4 in 19games

Right, and people who think they have all/most of the answers are generally the ones who make the worst hiring decisions. I have found that people who have an honest inventory of their own strengths/weaknesses generally do a better job solving problems than those that don't. Terry considers himself a "hockey man". I would much rather any organization (professional sports or otherwise) be run by somebody who is wildly successful in a different industry to come in and go "holy shnykies, I don't know anything about this, let me assemble a group of qualified people who do".

Östlund is a pure centre. Kulich is the one that should move to the wing when he returns. Tage Norris McLeod Östlund Kozak is a very good Centre spine.

Some things I didn't mention after watching the Oilers game: One of the best games of the season, up there with the Florida game. Ellis - keep riding him. There is no reason not too. Right now he is playing the best of the 3. I like they way he comes out and challenges the shooter. He talks about anticipation, he made several big timely saves. Oilers - they did look tired or lazy or something. They are in the middle of a 7 game road trip. Draisaitl seemed to be very pissed at Tage at the end of the game but he never came out for the final shifts. Anyone know what happened? Home games - it is important that the Sabres keep winning and get the home crowd back. They are still last in the conference and they need a big winning streak as they have to pass 8 teams just to get to the last WC spot . They must avoid another Blues like performance against the Flames on Wednesday.

According to this it was not mutual but I am unclear on what that means. Makes it sound like the Sabres didnt have interest but the player expected to get an offer. https://sabrenoise.com/3-prospects-the-sabres-no-longer-have-rights-to-01jwvtenp7pw "This one was a confusing one for the Sabres as they have a 22-year-old center, with almost three years of professional hockey experience, who they didn’t want to bring over to the AHL or ECHL, as this was not a mutual parting of ways."

I noticed that on the Amerks roster they list Dunne as a center, and Östlund as a LW.

😳

I generally agree here, but I'd say to Power's credit there has been some steps forward this season. He is a little more willing to take the body and has definitely shown an increased willingness to block shots. I also like how Lindy is using his size and reach to clog passing lanes on the PK. He is still terrible 5 on 5 defensively where he is more easily caught out of position than on the PK. As to why we shouldn't keep both, Samuelsson is playing his way to being Dahlin long-term partner. However that leaves Power and Byram to anchor the 2nd and 3rd pairings. I don't see the Sabres wanting to pay 8+ a season for a 3rd pairing D long-term.

Spooner, you have your own Fire Adams thread.

Byram is playing better than Power IMO. Byram is faster and can log a lot of minutes. Even though he is smaller than Power he is much more fiesty. The illusion of Owen Power is still there though.

Yes, the league suggested Botterill; but the other finalist to replace Murray was Zito. It's no different than when the Bills were looking for a new coach and it came down to Ryan and McDermott; Pegula (at the suggestion of Brandon) chose Ryan. The parallel goes so far as to Zito sitll being available when Botterill was canned, just like McDermott was. Unfortunately, that's where the parallel ends. But still, he has options to rectify the current mistake, and one of them is already in the buidling.