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It doesn't really matter when it was said (if true). It's still the same disgruntlement over position ranking within the system.

The players that departed (Eichel, ROR and Reinhart) have their names on The Cup. And those deals have been made more than a few years ago. The Sabres have not been in the playoffs in a generation. I don't care how you calculate the individual deals. Those deals became major subtractions while our so called additions still have not fully materialized yet. Just ask yourself: if we still had Eichel, ROR and Reinhart would the Sabres be a better team than they are now. You can make your own calculation but mine is that we would definitely better without the deals. My attention is on the present and not a couple of more years down the road. Who knows, by then Tage and Dahlin might be demanding to be traded because they are so frustrated about the present.

3:36

I agree with most of this post, but I don't think that Levi was the centerpiece on the Reinhart deal. The centerpiece return was a 1st round draft pick, which has turned into Kulich. Levi was a piece of the deal, but more of a throw in because Florida had a glut of goalies, with Bob, Spencer Knight, and I think even Lyon at that point (not sure about the timing on Lyon). They may have had even another young goalie in the system at the time. I'm sure that Levi was important to the Sabres at the time, but I don't think he was the centerpiece. Right now, with Reinhart's success, this looks like a bad deal for the Sabres, but maybe in a few years if Kulich develops into a top flight forward and Levi into a starting goaltender, and Reinhart slows down due to age, it will look better for the Sabres, similar to the O'Reilly trade. In the early years of that trade, O'Reilly was leading the Blues to the Stanley Cup, while Thompson was struggling to establish himself as an NHL player. The other guys the Sabres got from St. Louis were beyond busts. Now, with Thompson being one of the top goal scorers in the league, the trade had aged much better for Buffalo, as O'Reilly is an older player on the downside of his career. It will be a couple or more years before we'll know.

Yeah, 162 games... Nope. But playoffs, yep

I am being told I'm hearing the story is true. Devon and his lady friend were seated near a whining baby at a Ground Round in Pembroke.

This is why it's more important to get Ellis game time than it is to get UPL game time. UPL is a known quantity--to us and to the league. Ellis is not. If the Sabres are going to manage the asset that is Colten Ellis--whether it be to get exposure for a trade or to see whether he makes UPL expendable--it is imperative that he gets the backup starts. I don't want to see UPL in net again unless it's an absolute necessity until at least December.

Except you have to read the tweet which said “prior to returning to Rochester.” And Ellis wasn’t here then so this is all for naught.

If Levi feels that Ellis and UPL are ahead of him in the positional rankings, then, if true, his desire to move on is understandable.

I’ll take a 3-2 victory and walk away with a grin on my face. You are expecting too much with your required score. As an Sabre fan you are not in a position to be greedy. 😇

Somewhat different situations? I think comparing first line NHL players to a goalie who has shown he doesn’t belong in the NHL yet is not a meaningful exercise. Unless you’re trying to make a point regarding organizational mismanagement of players? Even then, Levi is still a prospect compared to who you’ve mentioned. And, the Sabres are trying to fix their previous fast-tracking of Levi to the NHL by stapling him in Rochester as long as they possibly can. So I guess I’m missing it…

All of the playoffs for me. Otherwise, I love going to the ballpark, but I'm not going to watch a nine-inning game on TV in July.

Levi’s calculation is the same as it is for most prospects and even established players i.e. where is the best place for him to play. If he believes that he is stuck in a log jam for his position, so if the report of his disgruntlement is true, then seeking a better option is understandable. The Jack, Reinhart, ROR etc. were somewhat in different situations. They wanted to be untethered to a dysfunctional organization where they believed (accurately) that they would have little success here. The record shows that their assessments were correct. Sad to say but true.

Honestly, the guy was always injured his entire development, so it wouldn't shock me if this lingers.

The plan was to have UPL & Levi battle for the Buffalo crease in 26-27 and Lyon would be injury insurance and waived after camp. By then, the career backup would be almost 34 and the contract offset for AHL money would keep him cheap if Lyon didn’t get claimed. And if he did, so what… I still think that’s the plan. Ellis only figures into the plan if one of UPL or Lyon gets hurt this season and he plays great. Sucks for him, but he is injury insurance only. I think the Sabres are doing him a solid by waiting 30 days to waive him (maybe selfishly to make sure UPL doesn’t get re-injured) to give him a chance to get claimed and stay in the NHL elsewhere.

If UPL starts, I will have to seriously question Ruff's judgment

Is it stealing a win if you are the better team? I’d argue the opposite.

How's my boy doing? Well, Nikita Klepov is currently at 9g, 13a in 14games. Puts him first on his team by 2pts ahead of a d+2 guy in Barbanov. There aren't many like Klepov and if gets faster more powerful, he's got some game breaker to him.

If the goal is to win 6 games out of 10, or win 3 games out of 5, then this is a must win. It doesn't matter the month. This team cannot have routinely lose 3 or 4 games in a row anymore. That must stop. The leaders of this team have to step up.

I’m no Adams defender but goaltending is witchcraft. Some kids burst into the league at 20 years old and become all starts. Some guys take until they are 25-28 years old to become a steady NHL goaltender. Adam’s (maybe at Pegula’s behest) thrust Levi immediately into NHL duty. What looked like a promising start to his career (7 games at the end of the 22-23 season) turned into a small sample size projection. They handed him the keys the following season based on those 7 games and it went south quickly. They tried it again last season and it went worse. Should we blame poor supporting cast? Probably. They’ve addressed it somewhat. I don’t think his development has been bad, it’s just not on the schedule everyone here wanted. The problem has been having UPL in the fold. He’s not good.

In the text scene just about everyone ends up in that pit.

I think this still happens to Power

Forget the loser points for a minute, this is also a two game losing streak that needs to end TONIGHT. The Sabres need to look at Boston and hate the fact they lost to them once already. I want to see a 6-2 win tonight. I want to see a full 60 minute effort.

Just let Levi cook in the AHL for another year. He has no avenue to really do anything - he isn't even on the NHL roster. I do wonder what the plan is here though, and I'd imagine Levi is thinking the same thing. You now have 2 prospects who are at the graduation age, an overpaid UPL, and Lyon who has played well here so far. 1 of Ellis/Levi probably has to go next season, and honestly UPL needs to go as well. It's tough to do anything quite yet though. It's a make or break season for the roster as its currently constructed, and poor goaltending was one of the biggest issues last year. The guy STL kept over Ellis is currently 1-2 with a .793 sv% and a 5.81 GAA. Things can take a pretty sharp turn pretty fast. That and short side. You look for the cross ice pass, and he cheats and leaves a gap blocker side.