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Rosen is the player I have in mind also, and pairing him with Clifton is a good idea. Hard to know however how highly teams value an AHL top scorer. Playing good in the Calder playoff might help us. I see Devils as a team that could be interested in Rosen, a swede about same size as Bratt. An upgrade over Samuelsson would be nice. Wonder how San Jose are thinking with Ferraro, do they want to trade him on deadline för pics or could they take on a player signed long term along with a sweetener?

I wonder what a Rosen/Clifton or Quinn/Clifton pairing could get, in terms of an upgrade on Clifton. I've also wondered what overpaid but still useful veteran RHD a futures/Samuelsson pairing might fetch from a team looking to dump salary.

The best way to get a good stay at home RHD might be to trade a decent winger to a team like Devils or Vegas. Are we willing to do that? And in that case who?

Montreal just had pretty much the same season the Sabres had 2 years ago, with a late surge to 91 points, young veterans having career years, a very promising crop of rookies and some holes to fill. It will be very interesting where they go from here.

Okay.

I maintain what I said and think the point is sad. Kubel didn't block anyone. Let me phrase it this way. You're suggesting that Kubel kept those players in Rochester until they were ready and better. I'm saying those players were already better and that's a low bar to clear.

Natural stat trick shows Ras and Bo played ~40% of minutes together 5v5. https://www.naturalstattrick.com/linestats.php?fromseason=20242025&thruseason=20242025&stype=2&sit=5v5&score=all&rate=n&team=BUF&vteam=ALL&view=wowy&loc=B&gpfilt=none&fd=2024-10-04&td=2025-04-17&tgp=2000&strict=incl&p1=8481524&p2=8480839&p3=0&p4=0&p5=0 To point about salary cap - Sabres are 4th in Cap on Defense next year with 4.35 FTE’s signed. Those above the Sabres have 6-8 signed. Washington is tops at $6m more than Buffalo. If you get an arbitration/2 year deal for BB and an RFA for Bernard Docker you are adding $8m (?) and surpass Washington. And unless you can somehow move Clifton or Samuelson without retention you have no room to sign a better, stronger Right handed D to support Power. So how is that improving the overall D? I remember when the Kings won the cup here in LA. Jake Muzzin was Doughty partner and he was a classic stay at home D man. Maybe on a bridge contract - 23 years old, 6’3/220. Dahlin and Bo pairing - maybe they did have the best analytics stats. But maybe a Zack Whitecloud type player with a $3m contract might be just as good when paired with Ras, and allow you to sign or trade for a vet on your second line to support Power/Byrum. I fall on the side of not having 3 D that make $8M +. I’m also moving Power first b/c his contract has cost certainty which is valuable with a cap that is going up. I think he delivers a much better return.

because there were players ready to come up from Rochester. That's the point.

They literally aren't going to do *****.

After the most catastrophic failure of a season in team history these ***** are essentially going to run it back.

Ref leaning to the Peg. Lousy call, embellishment on Sunqvist?

Yep. They have a bright future. Nice young core with Suzuki, Caufield, Hutson, Slaf, Demidov and a good compliment of vets like Anderson, Gallagher, Evans, Dvorak, Armia. They understood the assignment.

Would have been nice to see the series with Laine in it. Montembeault, as well.

Yes, but I think that still fits, despite the fact Ruff is clearly more qualified than Krueger. A big part of Dahlin's struggle was Krueger trying to change the way he played and all the mistakes were a factor of Ras trying to do things that didn't come naturally to him. I think there was definitely some of that going on with Power, who had never had an NHL coach besides Granato. Remember how much Byram struggled in his own zone when he first arrived? And then how he talked about being much more comfortable in Ruff's system, and it showed? Power went from +8 to -13 on a team that generally improved at 5-on-5 and was noticeably more mistake prone

Laval takes Gm1 in CLE 3-2.

Except Dahlin only had a bad year 3 because of Barf Kruger.

Sad thing is there was a small amount of buzz building around the Sabres after the 2022/23 season ended. Looked like an exciting young team with a lot of talent that could grow into something. Then we did nothing that summer to help the young guys and have gone backwards two straight seasons. Nobody gives a ***** about this franchise because we're totally irrelevant.

They do look good, but I've been impressed with the Habs. They're young and have been a game opponent. As we sit here going backwards, in the last 5 years the Habs have made a surprise run to the Cup Final, tore it down almost to the studs, rebuilt and returned to the playoffs. Their arrow is pointing up. We're going the other way and don't appear too eager to do anything about it.

I'd keep Power (vs. Byrum) IF they get a legit stay at home RH defender to partner with Power. If they refuse, then trade either Power or Byrum to get a legit 1C or 2C. I get it that Byrum alone won't fetch that return by himself, so picks and/or prospects needed to be included. I know there are many who feel the Sabres score enough goals, but I think they are still lacking a playmaking center who can control play and make zone entries on the powerplay. IMHO - our powerplay will suck until they can add that type of player to the team.

It was kinda painful listening to that and realizing how far outside the NHL mainstream the Sabres are. The context was Sullivan and Tocchet and how aggressive the Rangers will be and who else might be interested, with absolutely no suggestion that the Sabres may be a player for anything and anyone. Just 'some kinda change likely', with the implication that it won't be anything juicy. How could it be? We're the poor, slow cousins of the NHL community.

Watching real hockey teams like the Panthers-Lightning duke it out makes me so mad.

Name him Supreme Chancellor of the Sabre Empire and put him in charge of KBC promotions, I don't care as long as he's not making hockey decisions.

Again with the “next year” threat. The Sabres better do more than just make the playoffs. Get past Round 1 at least. Anything less is laughable, imo.

Demotion by promotion

Is he getting promoted out of the way?