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Who else in the organization would take over as Director of Player Development (assuming he is permanently relieved of his duties)?

This will be a very divisive topic. If we are looking at it from a clearly hockey perspective. Michael McLeod (Ryans Brother) would be a big add, he is a big mean physical player, hits, fights, and i believe plays center too I mean honestly Hart would be an upgrade over Lyon and whoever signs him will have a huge chance at a number 1 goalie and a good number 1 goalie being added. Dillon Dube was a bit of a spark plug if I remember correctly, kinda in that Connor Garland mode, but I don't think as offensively gifted as Garland. Cal Foote was a guy I clamored for for a long time, he is Adam Foote's son i believe? was a first rounder, hasn't really been able to find a footing anywhere and has bounced around teams as a 5/6/7 guy. Would he be an upgrade over Bryson or Jones, I would say so. But I would think some team would offer him full playing time Alex Formenton I dont know much about to be honest, I know he played for Ottawa but I dont remember if he was overly physical or not, or skilled. So again, if we are keeping this strictly about the hockey, I would welcome Mcloed with open arms. Hart I would absolutley welcome as that would be an amazing hedge against a UPL downturn, although I doubt he would choose us, as there are teams that need goaltending bad and someone would probably be willing to give the net full time, which we probably couldnt offer, unless he earned it. I'd also consider signing Foote if it meant jettisoning one of Bryson or Jones, preferably Bryson out the door.

Just for fun. Ristolainen and Power age 20-21 seasons compared (removing their initial partial seasons) https://stathead.com/hockey/versus-finder.cgi?request=1&seasons_type=perchoice&player_id1=ristora01&p1yrfrom=2015&p1yrto=2016&player_id2=powerow01&p2yrfrom=2023&p2yrto=2024

If the Sabres sign any of these players I am done

Hart's going to Edmonton. It's inevitable, right?

Annual tiers ranking is out, with Ras landing in a group of 7 (with Crosby, Eichel, Heiskanen, Hellebuyck, Jack Hughes and Matthew Tkachuk) at the top of the 2nd tier. Tier one: McDavid, Draisaitl, McKinnon, Makar, Barkov, Kucherov, Quinn Hughes, Matthews, Kaprizov and Pastrnak https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6594913/2025/09/11/nhl-best-players-list-2025-2026-season/ Why he’s here We have been waiting for Dahlin to fully embrace his top-five potential. Our parting words last year were that he had to show the full picture across a full season to return to Tier 2, and that’s exactly what he did in 2024-25. While he started in 2B this year, the insiders rightfully gassed him up to 2A. As one analyst put it, he is an “all-situations, everything player.” Dahlin drives play from the back end. He’s an elite puck retriever who helps shift play from defense to offense. Despite a heavy workload, he makes the Sabres a better team on both ends of the ice. What holds him back most years? His surroundings. “The team he’s on is such a downer, man. They’re so bad,” a coach said. The key is looking through the chaos in Buffalo to see the palm trees. “Dahlin is unbelievably good,” an executive said. “If he wasn’t playing for the Buffalo Sabres, he would be so much more appreciated around the league.” “He shows up, he plays gritty, he lugs the mail, he defends well, he’s mobile, he’s a great skater,” a former player added. “Everything Makar does, this kid does. He just can’t put up 90 points because they f—in’ suck.”

Owen Power doesn't play hockey like Ristolainen. That's a bad comp, imo.

Michael McLeod, 6'2" C, Ryan's brother Dillon Dube, 5'11" LW Cal Foote, 6'4" RHD Alex Formenton, 6'3" LW Carter Hart, 6'2" G

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/sources-nhl-suspends-players-acquitted-in-2018-sexual-assault-trial-until-dec-1/ Players can be signed by NHL teams on October 15th.

Terrible judgement. Hope he gets the help he needs.

https://www.wgrz.com/article/news/investigations/2-investigates/sabres-staffer-adam-mair-placed-on-leave-after-leandras-law-dwi-arrest/71-c25a3075-ecb6-4656-870a-dab702e280bb You gotta start drinking pretty early in the day to blow a .2 by the time you get to the police station for a breathalyzer. Abhorrent behavior to drive that drunk, especially when you have kids in the car.

I feel like he’s in a walking boot 17 different times over the course of a season.

Almost certainly, IMO

So basically they are being used as a tool for his agent (and Tuch) to get a better contract.

I hope they give him some time off so he can focus on his problem. There’s no excuse for this and plain stupid, a kid being in the car too makes a bad situation 100x worse.

Yikes https://x.com/SeanMickey7/status/1966204129497460747?t=n2GPfwk1zsgmHcucbNDhyg&s=19

Good to hear. This could be the year he makes a bigger impact. We really need that if this team is going anywhere.

Yup. And my 3 millennial kids are long gone and out of the house. No more, "Hey Buddy, what are these phone updates and are they any good?" My youngest son always knows if there are ways to shut them off and which updates are useful.

Good point.

Every time they update the software on my phone. I don't need my phone to sort all of my pictures for me and to take them out of the main gallery and throw them into sub galleries. I don't need my phone dialing screen to look different. Where for the past.... I don't know how many years...I swiped up to answer a call and down to reject it.. I don't now need to swipe right to accept it and to simply press a red button to reject it. When I want to attach a picture to a text... I don't need to have my pictures in the bottom 15% of the screen where I now have to select another thing to swipe to open up my gallery further. And this one totally boggles my mind. I open up my contacts but it doesn't show contacts. It shows my call history. There's a tab for contacts. I pressed that and it's selected and it still doesn't show my contacts in alphabetical order. If I want to see my contacts in alphabetical order, I now have to touch my screen three separate times. Basically with each and every update for the phone, it now takes more taps and more swipes to do what I was able to do with less taps and swipes the year before. Maybe I can dig into settings to simplify this or get it back closer to the way it was... But after every time you do an update I should also have to dig through my settings and try to figure out how to fix what you now broke in the name of an upgrade.

I remember the posts about Risto's great off-season workouts. Did it help his game? No! Unless Power spent the off-season working with a positioning coach, I doubt simply getting stronger will make him a better in zone defender.

Big Ed Oliver in a walking boot and on a scooter today. Life in the NFL is brutal, man. (That said, what are the chances that this is a horse-riding injury?)

Dahlin is a very good defensive defenceman, among the top 10 percent in the league by most analytical measures.

Appert has better hair, that’s it. This guy has old school vibes while being in touch with the development game. He seems to really care about his players.

Again, I don't disagree. I did say a "better version of Risto". Without fighting over words we all want him to be better defensively. Stronger and able to defend the front of his own net and not get moved away easily. To the "2" I guess you don't think Dahlin is in that 3 but I'd disagree. While he's better defensively than Power or Byram his strength is still offense and that's his preference. He's an allstar offensive defenseman, he's only a decent defensive defenseman but that's not unusual for most star D men like him in the league.