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Post of the year.

Or there is not one thing that is going to get him to sign here vs not sign here. Its a sliding scale with multiple inputs that you have to weigh against each other. Maybe he wants to sign here but at $10m+ per year. If the Sabres don't give in he MIGHT sign that deal 'later' but he's going to wait them out and see if they up the offer. Maybe he would rather play for a contender, so he got the $10m+ offer from the Sabres...and if the team is in contention half way through the season he'll sign it...if they are 10 points out of the playoffs come January he'll breathe a sigh of releif he didn't sign it. Maybe he wants to be here, but the Sabres are only offering something like 5 years at $8m per year. He told them no on that deal, and he's hoping for a hot start to get the team to 'up' the offer. If they don't, he'll reluctantly leave. Maybe the Sabres internally with the analytics department have decided he is worth a LOT less than Tuch, his agent, and even the fanbase think. Maybe the Sabres are putting a lower dollar ammount on Tuch, thinking the charts say a forward like him might start 'declining' before his next deal even starts. Both the Sabres and Tuch KNOW he will likely get a contract from SOMEONE who will pay for past performance, not future performance, and while Tuch would like to stay in Buffalo ultimately he is going to look for someone else to 'overpay' him. Probably 4 or 5 other scenarios other than what is listed above that can be in play too. If Tuch were 26 years old, I would be a lot more worried about this than I am now. For me, the WORST case scenario is they announce something like they extended him for 8 years at $11m-$12m per year. I would RATHER both sides let this play out than that.

Buy less tickets Same as last years goal

Maybe he doesn't want to re-sign here.

I get it, its likely Edmonton would prefer he signed long term.Edmonton might prefer it, and I get the point (even in his 30's, he'll draw the fans in, will keep the team in the playoffs, etc) I'm just thinking of it from a 'win the cup' perspective. That team is aging, including McDavid. If you were looking for a deal that does nothing more than keeps the team together through their 'prime cup winning' window and at a bargain price, this is it. He's signed there now for 3 more full seasons. The first year beyond that is his age 31-32 season. It will be Draisatl's age 32-33 season. If Hyman was back, it would be his age 36-37 season. It will be Nurse's age 33-34 season. Ryan-Nuget Hopiks will be in his age 35-36 season. At that point, without a MAJOR reset that team has aged out of its 'cup run'. This deal maximizes the next few years while those guys are still in their 'prime-ish' years. After this extension is up, they CAN Still sign McDavid, but he will likely be a lesser player by then as well will most of the key pieces of this team. There appears to be very little in terms of young help coming up either to fill in those gaps. So yeah, I get it, he is the face of the team. He sells jerseys, he will fill the seats, he will keep the team relevant beyond 3 seaons from now. Just from a competitive point of view, I think this is a great deal for Edmonton where they can/should re-evaluate the entire roster in 3 seasons from now when the deal is up.

The Sabres already have a goal song that the majority of people really like. Song 2 every goal. But that’s too easy.

Running it back is so on brand.

Is this an instance of "if you have two goal songs, you don't have any"?

1) Sabres point total? 95 2) Will the Sabres makes the playoffs? Yes 3) Sabres leading goal scorer? Tage 4) Sabres leader in total points? Tage 5) Sabres MVP? Dahlin 6) Sabres ROY? No idea (Ellis?) 7) Best off-season acquisition? Doan 8.) Worst off-season acquisition? Georgiev (I was thinking about this last week before he was waived and he was my choice, sticking to it) 9) Biggest surprise? (positive or negative) Samuelsson plays more than 50 games AND is good on the PK and pretty good on the 3rd pair. 10) Breakout player? Kulich (he'll have the greatest increase in points) or Doan (has a chance to become a 'top 10' player on this team in overall play) 11) Will any Sabres players or coaches finish as finalists (win?) for any major awards such as the Norris or Selke? Dahlin has the best shot 12) Unsung hero? McLeod seesm obvious, but since he is a popular choice I'll go with Power. Not that he will be 'unsung' with his pedigree, but I think he will play better than what most people 'observe'. (under-appreciated) 13) Who will be the first Sabre traded away this season? UPL (doubt it but can't think of anyone else) 14) Will KA make any in-season acquisitions before the deadline? Yes something minor/moderate 15) Will the Sabres be buyers or sellers at the deadline? Minor buyers for depth 16) Other bold prediction? {Such as KA gets fired mid-season ;)} Less than 50% chance, but greater than 25% that Bryam gets dealt this year. 17) Any other thoughts? I think this team might have a slow-moderate start to the season, getting the fanbase riled up and not that happy, but I think the team, without major injuries, will 'turn it on' mid season to the end and finish in a playoff spot.

McLeod

Ellis is the backup

Getting a playoff berth. In all seriousness, Zucker on the man advantage after Norris draws a penalty.

Ellis is the backup.

true. any moniker they come up with is going to suck if the team is bad.

who's starting.... Lyon? backup is who?

Zucker

Of course he cleared waivers 🤣I mean, if Buffalo was letting this guy go, who on God's green earth was going to think he was any good?!

yeah its hard to come up with a cool, tough sounding nickname when your team has been 1 of the softest & worst teams for a generation. Maybe Sabres Suckers? Sabres Softees? Pastajoe has the Sickos one covered lol

I feel like I’m on the lowest end of the old guy group around here and I don’t think this reference was all that old. He played during our superbowl era and later.

Hopefully it’s not a Toronto level of Ranger fans.

Sabre Sickos because there’s something wrong with us to still be supporting this team.

GuinsGhetto has a nice ring to it.

1) Sabres point total? 87 2) Will the Sabres makes the playoffs? No 3) Sabres leading goal scorer? Tage 4) Sabres leader in total points? Tage 5) Sabres MVP? Dahlin 6) Sabres ROY? Ryan Johnson 7) Best off-season acquisition? Kesselring 8.) Worst off-season acquisition? Georgiev 9) Biggest surprise? (positive or negative) Geertsen will play many games 10) Breakout player? Doan 11) Will any Sabres players or coaches finish as finalists (win?) for any major awards such as the Norris or Selke? No 12) Unsung hero? McLeod 13) Who will be the first Sabre traded away this season? Krebs 14) Will KA make any in-season acquisitions before the deadline? No 15) Will the Sabres be buyers or sellers at the deadline? Sellers 16) Other bold prediction? {Such as KA gets fired mid-season ;)} Norris will play more than 60 games 17) Any other thoughts? The goaltending will be their downfall