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Before injuries, we saw Muel sort of do this... Healthy now, we are seeing it again. With Power, not once was he ever a good Defensive DMan.. So no, I don't think power needs more time... He needs a new team. Get what you can once a decent GM is in place.

Defensemen take time. A couple more years in the weight room and Power becomes a man and finds his edge, we would look like fools trading him now. Sure it is possible he never gets there, but you are looking at a 1 year transformation for Mule who was largely dismissed by this board, and Power couldn’t do the same?.

5 points to tie for 8th spot. They need 6 to gain the 8th spot. But, its good to see you in a hopeful and positive mood on Thanksgiving.

Why do you think this? And if he does become better in two seasons than Muel is right in now then why would you even think of moving him? He will finally be worthy of his contract.

You’ve been around here for over 10 years and never realized that we typically do complaint Wednesday this one week of the year?

Only five points back. Aaaaaaand just nine points out of first in the conference. They can cut that deficit with the Devs to seven tomorrow. And they will. NJ will be traveling day of game?

You are essentially saying what I said. They need to starting winning at a 2 of 3 pace.

I never thought Robinson was ineffective as a Sabre. I am not surprised he is + 12 on a first place team while Malenstyn is -20 on a last place team either. Look at their supporting cast and the difference in coaching and team structure. This forum has way too high of expectations for 4th line players on a last place team. I put my scrutiny on the top 6 forward, the top 4 defenseman and the coaches.

They have 13 games between now and Christmas, 16 between now and the end of the year. Lets just use the end of December (16 more games) for easy math. By then they will have played 39 games. 78 possible points. The last playoff spot is usually around 58% of the points, and right now it is tracking almost exactly that way. So by the end of December, they want to be on pace for 45 points. They currently have 22. Can they get 23 points in the next 16 games? That would put them right on track to where they need for the math. Even 19 or 20 points will not get them to .580, but will have them gaining ground. If they finish the calendar year with 41 points they are 'still in it'. Finish with 45 points and they are right on track. The target record should be something like 9-5-2 between now and the end of the year. Not sure this team can do that though. Maybe if/when Norris comes back and he plays well.....

I’m no fan of Power and would be fine with moving him but I think it’s more likely than not that Power will be a significantly better defenseman at 25 than Samuellson

Who thinks he'll put up a season like Muel in two years?

I don't know. I saw it on reddit, looked it up on X, formerly known as twitter, and passed it along.

Where those numbers come from, I would like to see them for the rest of the top 4, meaning Dahlin, Bryam, and Power.

Great to see this.

Whatevs.

I’ll be sure to close F’ntastic Friday on Good Friday

Wishing people Happy Thanksgiving sucks. Happy Thanksgiving.

The numbers match the eyes. He’s been very good and everything he was always supposed to be.

Hold on to your drumsticks.

Well its Thanksgiving morning. Reading the thread it feels more like Thanksgiving mourning. Blame UPL, Timmins, Power, Tage, whoever and whatever - it was a team loss. It was another game that they looked not ready and unwilling. They are just not a hungry team. The Sabre sit last in their division and last in their conference on this celebratory day. They are only 6 points out of the final playoff spot but the hard part is they have to pass 8 teams in the standings to get there. The cannot seem to get a winning streak going, two games is not a winning streak. They need to start winning at a pace of 2 out of 3 games over the next month to crawl up the standings. Otherwise things will look very bleak by Christmas.

Is that your complaint? That the thread is open on Thanksgiving? Because thats a pretty decent and ironic one if it is...

Watch the highlight again. Tage had good positioning in front as there were two Penguins on the left of UPL down low. There were also two Sabres much, much closer to Rust. Benson dives and whiffs on the puck. Byrum is next closest and offers a lame attempt at a shot block. Offering us a glimpse of his poor defensive skills. Tage was not great overall, but this goal was less on him than others.

On THANKSGIVING?!?!? Since when is this thread open on Thanksgiving?

Really wanted Lyon to get the start last night, but knew it would be UPL between the pipes. And UPL's defenders can point to things that his teammates did to put him in the point that he had to make saves, but that's kind of the entire point of the position. If nobody makes a mistake, you are going to face only about 5 high danger chances per game. But people make mistakes, it's a very quick paced sport and your opponent is taking away time and space, and the good goalies bail their teammates out more often than not. And if the game situation is removed, UPL didn't give up any "bad" goals. Each of the shots that beat him had a factor that made it more challanging than a normal save; but NONE of them were of the "well, Hasek could've stopped it, maybe, but mere mortals didn't have a chance" variety. Yes, the 1st goal was tipped, but the shot was from nearly 10' above the circle and Bryam's stick was at or outside the circle too. If UPL's entire body isn't moving towards the far post, he very likely makes that save even though it was deflected. Yes, his teammates didn't help him on the 2nd goal, but he's the one that overreacted to the initial shot that went wide, which led to him having to overreact when the puck bounced off the boards into his skates which led to him dropping his stick. Once he dropped his stick, he was toast, but he didn't need to be. Stay square and plan on closing the 5 hole with his legs rather than his blocker and that play continues. But he continued the overreaction and tried to make the save with his blocker which delayed the closing of the 5 hole. Yes, his teammates made a poor line change on the 3rd goal and Power didn't step up into the deflector in time to keep him from directing the puck at the net, but UPL only had to move 1/2 way across the crease to get in front of that shot. It wasn't labelled to the far post. If he isn't fully commited to the shot on a 3 on 1, he makes that save. It wasn't a mini 2 on 1 that he should expect his D-man to be able to prevent the shot from the pass, but it was a mini 3 on 1; he has to be cognizant that there's a good chance he's facing a shot from his left side and can't 100% commit to the puck carrier being the shooter. But, when the game situation is included in the evaluation, all 3 were goals that the team really needed him to figure out how to make that stop. The good news is that UPL didn't give up any WTF Specials. The bad news is, all 3 of those goals came while the outcome of the game was still in doubt. The 1st came on only the 3 shot his teammates let get through to him in a scoreless game late in the 1st; the 2nd came literally 30 seconds after his teammates had tied the score; and the 3rd came as time was dwindling when already trailing by 1. That 3rd goal made it an almost certainty that they'd have to pull the goalie at the end and they had given up 8 EN goals this year and have scored 0 6v5 goals this year. That stat is now 9 against 0 for. He isn't looking confident from the get go in any of these games. He's overreacting and fighting to make the 1st stop. He's seemed to be settling in in the 2nd period but he's still isn't looking confident when the game is getting tight. No idea how they give him confidence in himself. That has to come from within. And the shame of that is they set him up to be in a spot to believe in himself and get the team to believe in him too which is that feedback loop that gets him rolling (at least until he runs out of gas 1-2 months later).