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So Kesselring was the throw in?

Yeah but as you constantly say, the Sabres rush players and stump their development. Now you want to use that against Doan who was brought along slower and that's what's funny.

Matt Ellis, the Matt Ellis of brothers to rookie goalies?

I think he goes back to St. Louis where we got him from. They waived him to stick him back in the minors and didn't clear waivers cuz the Sabres snagged him. But if the Sabres waive him I think STL gets first shot at claiming him. He's the starter, until he isn't. The burden is on UPL to play his way back to the starter role I think.

Others said upthread that conditioning stints have fixed timelines. I don't think there's as much flexibility as you imply. I don't think the Sabres want or need to further evaluate Lyon - he's a known commodity at this point.

He played part of one game before getting hurt. Whether or not he like it, UPL needs more than just one rehab game before he’s ready to go.

We need data and science to get on this. We're far along enough in the modern era of youth sports where pro players bodies may also be worse for wear from a childhood spent focused on one sport, year-round.

16 points in 7 games for Eichel. He’s certainly lived up to the early billing They’ve just realized their seasons actually start in April. At the very least in McDavid’s case. I’d pay much more attention to his 33 points in 22 playoff games last year

Slow start last year too, no? Some of the slow starts we’ve seen probably balance with some of the heaters cooling off Edit: it was 2 years ago. 1 point first 6 games

An extra week or two won't hurt him, other than a bruised ego. It buys the Sabres time to assess Ellis and Lyon further. Ellis is not gone, at least not for nothing.

To trade Power I would need it to be a Peterka type trade where they get 2 pieces back that can improve the team. Doan and Kesselring are good pieces. Power for a scoring forward and a solid D replacement. One proposal I saw online was Power to SJ for Will Smith and Ferraro. That is the type of deal I would move Power for. Smith has the potential to be a big time point producer and Ferraro is a short term replacement til someone like Novikov is ready. A deal like that is the type I would hope to see for Power.

Give UPL his 2 weeks of rehab. Give Ellis another game or two in that period. Bring up UPL and go with 3 for awhile until you can trade one of them for something.

Also Ref's The criminals look for the weakest link. Either guys who have addictions or don't get paid very well. Ref's are an easy place to start. In game betting makes it worse. In the book I referenced there were people in the stands giving signals to players or refs during the game by turning hat's from one side of the head to the other. It's easy when you have a sport with a ref who can call penalties at will or a goalie who can determine the outcome late in a game on his own.

Just an eye test thing for me. Kozak seems faster, more determined in the forecheck, and more committed to getting to dirty areas. I dont expect tic-tac-toe on the 4th line, and he just seems to have a better direct game than krebs at the moment.

No

I think Kozak game is passing Krebs right now. Given all the injuries we will have more games to compare them and really get a closer look. Krebs gave us 10 goals, playing a lot on the 4th line last season. He logged 81 games and was +1. I don't dislike Krebs but if Kozak can be 4C then Krebs could be packaged for help somewhere else. When UPLs AHL assignment ends I would carry 3 goalies for awhile just to compare Ellis and UPL. Lyon is the #1 until proven otherwise. Or we waive Ellis and risk losing him to a goalie poor team, of which there are several.

I was hoping they'd move UPL this offseason. I was also hoping they'd make a big swing at the position to try and finally fix things back there.

I'm not sure when the clock runs out on the 30-day thing with STL - something like they automatically get him and he goes to their AHL affiliate (I'm not 100 percent certain on this rule so someone can feel free to clear it up). Anyone else who claims him after that window has to keep him on their roster, so if you can wait out that period you might be able to send him to Rochester and waive Georgiev if he clears. He's had jumbly lines since the get-go with benson missing time and Norris being hurt in the first game. I think he might have played center for a game. It's certainly not good enough and he needs to play better though.

I think Norris' timeline was 1 month but I am not sure. Tage is taking heat here at Sabre Space. 7 games with 1 goal, 4 points and a -7 is not helping. He is pressing out there no doubt. I expect he will get on a hot streak and the goals will come.

It's really not something you can teach.

I agree with this, and also with the WAY they are training. It used to be that players played whatever sport was in season. Football, basketball, baseball, etc... all of them require slightly different skills and movements so you are building up different areas in ways that you aren't in other sports, plus you are giving some areas more of a rest. Now, players focus on the same sport from a young age all year round many times, which tends to hurt them from a development standpoint often times and also from an injury standpoint since you are adding much more wear and tear to the same areas over and over again non-stop over the course of your youth and then as a professional. Then training has become year round as well, so even in the off-season, you are still doing significant work. While that helps make them stronger, faster and more explosive, it also puts miles on the tires and eventually, those tires wear out. The human body only has but so many repetitions in it of any movement, so the more you do as you are younger non-stop all year round and then during the off-season, the more likely you are to have serious issues like ACL, Achilles, etc where it just has worn out over time and needs to be replaced. The one good thing is that these seem to be so good these days, that often times players are coming back ready to go without much drop-off anymore.

I'd rather carry 3 goalies and waive Geersten. I don't think he's adding anything of value. Hopefully Greenway is back soon, then you send Östlund back to Rochester (or whoever they call up to play for Zucker, because I hope to god Geersten doesn't return to the lineup) If we can trade Ellis for something, great. But I'd rather keep him a bit longer until we're sure UPL is going to be good.

Well thats good, who'd have thought he'd need to be called up by the 8th game. If Zucker misses time thats like... 1/3 of the salary cap payroll tied up in injuries right now.

Ellis was good last night and seems like a nice kid, but why would we keep three goalies? Three healthy goalies creates more problems than it solves. I’m down on UPL more than anyone, but we are stuck with him. I could not imagine this GM would trade or waive him, so we thank Colten for his time here, waive him, and hope Lyon stays hot.

Sports gambling will end more coach and player careers in college and professional sports. Book it. Organized crime. Temptation. Easy money. Greed. Addiction. Potent mix. The NHL is not immune to it.