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Kevyn Adams has been waiting several years to luckbox his way into a goalie or goalies that the organization can trust. There's no chance Colten Ellis is going anywhere, anytime soon. They have Lyons who looks good and they need to see what Ellis can do on a semi consistent basis. Both these guys look calm and poised. They may have hit on something great and cannot dismiss that. If I was GM I would have been on the phone last night trying to see if I can muster up a trade of UPL. He's not the future here imo. Other teams need experienced goaltending. I'd also see if I can move Owen Power, just because I'm over him. Sell high while both guys have some decent value.

This is a good site for assessing NHL teams' 23-man rosters. https://puckpedia.com/lineups/buffalo-sabres If my math is mathing, UPL on a conditioning loan to Roch would give the Sabres 23 players on their NHL roster.

I'm done with UPL. Get him off the roster and free up cap space. He will play well since he needs to "prove something" again, which is the only time he does, use it to drive up his value then get whatever you can for him and keep it moving.

Fwiw, this blog seems to imply that, having assigned UPL to Roch for conditioning, the Sabres are already carrying 3 goalies on their roster? https://www.pensionplanpuppets.com/understanding-conditioning-stints-toronto-maple-leafs-roster-loopholes-that-arent/ Conditioning Loan The standard form of the loan lasts for 14 consecutive days. The player is sent to the AHL, plays in whatever games he’s assigned and then returns to the NHL at the end. His salary is paid as if he’s in the NHL, and the player counts against the salary cap and the 23-man roster limit. A team has to have the kind of cap situation that allows for enough players as extras to make this possible. The Commissioner has the right to investigate the circumstances of any loan, so teams cannot use the loan to evade waivers or the salary cap. Players must consent to conditioning loans as well.

This is the only real answer.

Sure. My point being: Lyon is and will remain on the team's NHL roster. It's an open question whether he's the team's 1, 1A/1B, or 2. So there's no further need to evaluate him in connection with (making a roster spot for) UPL's return. It's Ellis that may create a roster conundrum if he repeats the performance he had last night. Shenanigans are always possible, I suppose. Anyone know what the league's rules say about this sort of thing?

Unless.... UPL has a "setback".....

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?

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.