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Buffalo News has a lengthy Sabres-focused interview with new COO Pete Guelli. He says the Sabres are expecting a season ticket base of about 10,000 last year to grow about 10-15 %. New roof underway, new scoreboard ready by August, lots of other business-related tidbits, including an answer to everyone’s favourite ownership question. https://buffalonews.com/sports/professional/nhl/sabres/pete-guelli-coo-terry-pegula-buffalo-sabres-nhl-lindy-ruff/article_33306f9c-22a5-11ef-90ca-2b5da1025629.html

Forgot Housley. But in general, I think the only area that shows a clear pattern is when it comes to GMs. Which seems to make sense if you consider how that one is the Pegula hire.

Sidenote: there are rumblings on the interwebs that Montreal really likes Sennecke. Take it with a grain of salt cuz it's rumor season.

And yet here he is in his first finals.

Now lets add timelines. Coaches, going backwards…. Granato fits Housley fits Kreuger - minimal experience and out of the game at the time - push Bylsma - you got me GMs going backwards Adams fits Botteril fits Murray fits Roc HCs Leone fits Appert fits I have no idea after that. the rest are assistants, so they’ve managed to put some experienced assistants under their learning the job GMs and HCs. So the trend certainly appears to be less experienced as the Pegula reign carries on.

If either of them don't hit that it will be a major disappointment this coming season.

You can’t take anything for granted. But I don’t think it is a stretch to expect 25-30 goals and 50-60 points from each of Quinn and Peterka next year. Third-year forwards with their track records often have productive seasons simply through the experience they’ve gained. It’s a pace each produced at last year and there’s a pretty good case they’ll enter the season as the team”s #2 and #3 wingers after Tuch. The ice time should be there. There’s also a chance each could get more PP time, given the need to revamp the PP, the fact Appert will be in charge of it, and how each had great PP success under Seth in Rochester.

He averaged a shade under 20 yards a catch on his 28 receptions. The leading receiver on that squad only had 43 receptions, or a paltry 2.6 a game, less than one more reception per game than Lofton. The Raiders had crap QBs so it’s not as though they were some sort of passing juggernaut. He still had the athletic chops to play in the league, but his high salary, the third highest on the Raiders when they signed him, simply made him expendable when guys like Gault and Fernandez were giving them the same kind of deep threat. I remember discussions about his age, but none about him being washed up, so I’ll just agree to disagree on that point.

My sense is that I don't see any of the three players that @Archie Lee listed (Quinn, JJP and Benson) being a piece in a major deal. It just seems to me that KA is committed to his prospects that have moved up to the NHL. However, that's not to say that the GM won't include some high-end prospects and high draft pick in a deal that would be categorized as little less than a major deal. Will the GM be active in pursuing players this offseason? Probably so, but they will be players who will be used to reconfigure and bulk up the lower lines. I say that because that is what he has repeatedly stated so. As the saying goes: TBD.

Mock draft I just made. Not rankings.

What are the parameters to the pattern? The Sabres under Pegula? Ruff is about as opposite to the pattern as you can get. Granato fits the pattern Krueger does not fit the pattern Bylsma does not fit the pattern Nolan does not fit the pattern Adams fits the pattern Botterill fits the pattern Murray fits the pattern Karmanos does not fit the pattern Sexton does not fit the pattern Patrick does not fit the pattern Ventura does not fit the pattern Leone fits the pattern Appert fits the pattern Bales does not fit the pattern Wilford does not fit the pattern Ellis fits the pattern… Is this actually a pattern?

Well... *****.

Well you should expect it because at least 2 will be around next season. Now if the Sabres do make some big trades this off season then then I could see one of them going.

Is that yours? Ranking or what you think teams might do? I would take Catton with what was available at 11. Haven’t given it a ton of thought, but he might be as high as 6 on my list.

It actually would make more sense were the Dakota's to be divided into East & West Dakota rather than North & South. (In both states, ranching is bigger in the east and mining bigger in the west.)

It might. Depends on the situation. I don't need to say McDavid is great. Everyone knows that. What I don't think enough people realize is the dropoff from McDavid to #2, who might be his own teammate in Draisaitl is like the dropoff from #2 to #100. He is THAT much better than the next closest player.

Learning he’s Canadian has changed everything for me. (Well … not *everything.* I mean “everything” insofar as my view of Chase Claypool is concerned.)

So McDavid is great. Is that your point? A couple of highlight goals won't get it done against FL.

Mock draft: 1. Celebrini - Sharks 2. Demidov - Hawks 3. Levshunov - Ducks 4. Silayev - Jackets 5. Iginla - Habs 6. Buium - Utah 7. Lindstrom - Sens 8. Dickinson - Kraken 9. Yakemchuk - Flames 10. Sennecke - Devils 11. Catton - Sabres 12. Greentree - Flyers 13. Parekh - Wild 14. Eiserman - Sharks 15. Nygard - Wings 16. Jiricek - Blues

So does Dakota North.

Apparently with the bar lowered enough to get Housley in, Pete managed to eventually Sneak in himself. (Honestly had no idea that he'd been elected this past season; or at minimum completely put it out of mind.)

Sunrise. Bills play in Orchard Park. They are called Buffalo. I get it.

Dakota Fanning disagrees with this take. 🤪

FireLeone.com is available...

Doubtful, unfortunately