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Agreed. Stats can show you some things you might miss following the puck and you don't always account for every player (especially as the camera follows the puck) but if you know the game the eye test will always tell you most everything you need to know and certainly everything important. Stats are a tool but they are just stats.

Sorting out the goalie situation shouldn't be as hard as they are making it to be. If Lindy and the other coaches can't figure out which one of the three goalies is least suited to presently be on this team, then maybe they should just put the 3 of them in a room and have them play 3-way rock, paper, scissors to settle it.

They're at NHL 0.500. They have 6 teams to leap frog to get into the playoffs. NHL 0.500 only gets you to 82 points which even in a weirdly low points total season will still miss the playoffs by a wide margin. The "real" 0.500 doesn't have any bearing on whether they make the playoffs or not. Get to NHL 0.600 and they'll be in. Regardless of whether they end up with no additional OTLs or get 16 more.

We aren't ever going to agree on stats world and watching hockey in real life world so why do you even want to go there? Just accept me as an old former hockey player who is trapped in old school ideas and I will accept you as a video game raised younger person who has never played the game and thus doesn't fully understand it and we will each go on our way not agreeing with anything the other says. It's much simpler.

They're currently 4 under real .500, which means they will miss the playoffs by a considerable margin. They need to go 4-2 on this roadie to get to 2 under. Then we can start to daydream about gradually working their way up to 2 over and a Lindy redemption story. Any worse than 4-2 and all that's happened is that they are 6 games closer to missing the playoffs by a mile yet again.

Östlund may have to go down temporarily while we sort out the goalie situation, hopefully sooner rather than later. Probably by the end of this road trip barring injury if I'm betting. I'd have Krebs available now, and Greenway later in the season if we get Kulich and Danforth back.

And if he pans out in his next stop, well, good for him. Just don't see him ever being THE guy in Buffalo.

I'm shopping UPL and taking the best offer. If that is a mid round pick where they have to retain some salary...fine. If its future considerations...fine. If its actually something of value...fine.

Agree. But Kulich played a lot of center last season and some for parts of this season. Kulich is still valuable as a winger and versatility is never a bad thing. Östlund is a true center. He sees and feels what’s happening on the ice and is smart with his positioning. So far he is willing to get back and be defensively responsible. He plays like he has had good coaching coming up.

Part of the issue here is the assumption you must say a number and that's that. It isn't and never will or should be. It's why almost everyone on this board who uses numbers adds context. The inverse is not true at all. Lots of ppl make claims that aren't backed up by the numbers.

Yea and sometimes the eye test is total ***** as ppl ascribe things to a player that aren't actually that player. Happens way more than analytics being wrong especially when analytics literally can account for not only linemates but opposition. Stats are literally a reflection of actual performance. You're confusing stats with prediction. Stats tell us what happened, not if it will continue.

No, the CBA actually isn't clear on what happens when a player would be eligible to be returned to the active lineup from IR and another player goes out sick at the same time. The situation isn't particularly addressed there. The team WOULD be allowed to bring up an AHLer under emergency conditions should 1 of the 6 D-men on the active roster be unable to play on a particular night. (Teams with less than 2 healthy goalies, 6 healthy D-men, and 12 healthy F's can make emergency substitutions of them provided the move keeps them cap compliant; they can also replace them if it makes them cap uncompliant but there are extra hoops they have to jump through.) They would not have to send a player down to Ra-cha-cha to get back under the 23 man limit while they only have 5 healthy D available (even if the 6th one has a 24 hour bug, or a very minor injury that would only keep him out of the lineup briefly). Again, the situation isn't directly addressed, but just like the AHLer called up in the emergency would have to be returned when the emergency is over, should they be able to activate Kesselring to fill the emergency, once that other player were able to play again, the Sabres would have to waive someone else to get to the 23 man limit. And it seems that the rule of thumb for whether something is possible that hasn't been specifically addressed by the CBA is yes, it is possible because it isn't specifically prohibitied.

Sometimes the eye test is more informative than the analytics. And sometimes who you are playing with influences the analytics ascribed to you. Stats can be useful and also not reflective of actual performance.

I mixed up the games. It was 5-0 home loss to Jersey I should have referred to. I thought the Sabres actually played well in the loss.

The Sabres have a 23 man roster right now with Kesselring, Kulich and Danforth on IR. I doesn't look like Danforth and Kulich are coming off IR any time soon. If they take another D (Johnson?) on the WC swing the choices to create a roster spot are 1) Do nothing if there is another injury against the Flyers or 2) Send Östlund down. This is the simplest move and we know how much Adams likes simple. If they like what Östlund brings then they move on to one of options 3-5. or 3) Waive Dunne - He is 26 year old journeyman. I doubt he gets claimed if waived and if he does such is life. or 4) Waive a skater not named Dunne - guys like Krebs, Kozak, Bryson all fit the bill of "replaceable" depth players. I doubt any are on KA's list. Bryson because he must have some incriminating photos of Adams (no other reason he is still a Sabres or in the NHL for that matter). Kozak because he can play anywhere and is an absolute effort forward that even Adams wouldn't be stupid enough to part with. Krebs because he can play anywhere in the bottom 9 and Adams would never admit he screwed up in acquiring him. or 5) Move on from one of Lyon, Ellis or UPL - If we move on from one of the goalies, odds favor Lyon. He's on a two year contract and might clear. If not, not. Adams again won't move on from his guy UPL and Ellis is cheaper and has more upside than Lyon.

hindsight is 20/20

I'm not seeing that.

Interesting. Finland doesn’t have a lot in the crease right now. Juuse Saros has looked bad on a bad team, Joonas Korpisalo’s numbers are even worse and he’s clearly just a backup in the NHL these days, and Kevin Lankinen’s numbers are even worse than Korpi’s as an NHL backup. I think Luukkonen is a lock and might even play 🤢 Good thought on the “why” question I had. Thank you.

Agree but why does national media know about it?

I don’t agree and I think this is recency bias. Kulich was centering a top six line as a rookie and in 62 games, he put up 15G, 9A and was only a -4. I think what it boils down to is usage. Östlund is centering a bottom six line with absolute dawgs on each side (Doan & Tuch yesterday, before that Benson & Kozak). He’s been good but there’s no pressure for production. Kulich had that pressure to produce and was on a 20 goal pace as a rookie…and was not a dud defensively. I’m not down on Östlund at all. He’s a smart hockey player and the points will come. But their usage is completely different and it’s important to consider.

Great Keegan-Michael Key skit! 👍

This was brough up a few places before...I think he is pushing really hard becaue he is worried about his place/spot on the Olympic roster. If he isn't starting over a journeyman and a guy who just broke into the NHL after playing in the AHL and ECHL, it doesn't look good for him.

i'd be concerned if he didn't want to play more

No, I think they'd have to fill from the active roster. I wonder if Kozak has ever played D.

I thought a few times last night that he made some good plays but didn't post about it. Offensively he was very good and defensively he didn't make glaring errors.