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WOW. To the bolded, the same. Those numbers are incredible for a guy who was (tied for) third in the league in goals scored. Appert needs to find a way to make it easier for the unit to work. Fine if Tage’s office is the decoy. But if Tage is not working and the decoy is not working, then it is not working. I guess I’m back to the drawing board and would need to think about it from scratch again.

Some thoughts: 1. Put Byram in Peterka's spot. 2. Not sure who to put at the bumper. Would expect they'll give Norris the 1st crack at it (maybe they'll flip him and Byram) but personally would look at Benson 1st. Then Norris, Kulich, Quinn, Tuch in that order. 3. Let Power or Power and his partner (but ideally just Power) run the 2nd unit. Have Tuch down low, and the other 3 mentioned above that don't end up the 5th pice of the 1st unit working the 2nd unit. 4. Lose the 100' drop pass. We get it Seth, you have no idea WHY you have them do the drop pass. Well, other teams run about a 40' drop pass (some of the time, not friggin' always) so they can have 2 guys flying and the other 3 coming with pace ahead of them initially to give the puck carrier 4 passing options (each of which could have that player now carry the puck in, pass it to another teammate, or work the good old give'n'go) plus a dump in and carrying it in all viable. The only one on this roster that consistently can carry the puck in is Dahlin. He should TYPICALLY, but not always, be the guy carrying the puck into the zone. Improve the entries and you will necessarily improve the PP even without doing any of the fancier things they SHOULD be doing. 5. If you do have both Dahlin and Byram on the ice, consider cheating both of them in a little lower into the zone to put more pressure on the D and make any point shots more dangerous. 6. Add significantly more player movement to the PP. They move the puck around the exterior a lot. (Primarlily Dahlin to Thompson and Thompson to Dahlin.) Adding movement to where the players are will open up passing lanes and will also put pressure on the D. Let Thompson set up in the bumper more often than they currently do. 7. Add movement below the goalline. It puts pressure on the D, allows players to sneak into shooting lanes, and forces the goalie to be looking behind him and he likely won't move as cleanly when the puck comes back to a scoring area. 8. Increase the sense of urgency. They don't make quick passes. They allow the D to reset their formation, or never break it in the 1st place, way too often. 9. When there is a board battle, you HAVE to outnumber the opponent. Sooooooo many times, the Sabres who had the extra man would actually be outnumbered on the boards. Which, should their 1 forechecker beat BOTH defenders, gives the other skaters all sorts of clean options. Problem is, way more often than not, the one Sabre would lose the board battle and then we'd be about 8 seconds away from Power (or somebody else) dropping the puck back into one of his own face off circles while the other 3 skaters hung out at the opposing blueline relatively motionless. Bring 2 or even 3 guys into the board battle and then once you win the battle get into a frenzy heading towards the net with ONE guy ready to break to the far side which now should be open. Again, you give yourself options this way. This one was listed 9th, but it really should be higher on the list. 10. Figure out who will be your primary PKers and DON'T have them on the top PP unit. Have your best going against your best in practice, and don't keep doing the same low intensity things that you clearly are doing in practice. The PK is quite passive and as a result, the PP sure does seem to be comfortable working the perimeter because that works in practices. And if you're afraid that your PK unit will run around too much if they're pressuring in practice; well then let the top PP unit work against some of the guys that aren't regular PKers or the 2nd unit and have them working the Canes PK (high pressure, high energy, doesn't give up many chances but the ones they give up are A-1 opportunities). Sooooo many things they can and should do differently. Absolutely hate watching them on the PP. And it's worse being there in the building because you can see where they all are when that idiotic drop pass happens.

I think another big issue is entries. I don't have the stats to back this up (and don't know where to get them), but it feels that the Sabres waste a lot of time regrouping after their attempts to carry the puck in get blunted. They don't like to dump it it in, and those times that they do, they aren't very good at getting the puck back.

I think one thing that needs to be discussed first is exactly why the PP is as bad as it is. I'm going to start with something I discovered that was a bit unexpected: Tage Thompson kinda sucked on the PP and has for some time. I still had this picture in my head of the guy who bombed 20 PPGs three years ago, but that guy has disappeared. Tage dipped to 9 PPG two years ago and just 7 last year, despite buckets of ice time. 60 players had more PP goals, 35 had more shot attempts, 91 had more PP goals per 60, 114 had better PP Shooting %. This is a guy who is top 20 in the league in both shooting percentage and total shots and leads the entire league in ES goals. How does this happen? I think you're on to something with the playmaking issue: they aren't get the puck to Tage in optimal ways.

I’m fine with this list. But I am also a realist and a new owner isn’t going to be a thing. A new GM should have already happened, but the owner isn’t changing…and he chooses the GM. The head coach is a realistic change the following season. I believe that Lindy has lost his fastball and 2025-26 is it for him. At the end of the day, this is a fair list. But I wouldn’t bother mentioning owner or GM because we are stuck with these guys this upcoming season. There isn’t much they can say or do that will get this team to the playoffs. You’re probably better off choosing roster guys who could exceed expectations and drag the Sabres until the playoffs. A guy who I was recently considering is Benson. If he’s a top six guy, can he produce points at a top six level? That’s what I am thinking about when I reflect on the original question. Or maybe it is Kulich? UPL must be on the list no matter what.

Schuyler County. Doesn’t one plumber want business?? I’ve been without water for ten days at the cottage and it’s a struggle to get help. I realize this is a first world problem, but dang will someone please return my call?

Not running Cozens out there because of his salary or because he felt he was paid to score goals will help a ton. He was out of place at the bumper or near the point. If PP1 is Dahlin and whomever, with Tage in his office and Zucker net front is the best option. Who is on the half wall driving the PP is unknown, but it can’t be worse than Cozens. Maybe it’s McLeod? I don’t see a natural playmaker in that spot and it is why I am concerned the unit will struggle this year. Maybe Tuch will keep it simple and Dahlin can work miracles?

Power play ice time: The Sabres first PP typically ran out these 4 Dahlin (point) 3:09 per game Peterka (right halfwall) 2:55 Thompson (left halfwall) 2: 54 Zucker (netfront) 2: 52 These guys also got significant minutes Tuch 2:19 Cozens 2:18 Quinn 2:14 These guys got some looks, mostly 2nd unit Power 1:26 Benson 1:25 Kulich 1:25 Byram 1:08 These guys got spot duty Krebs 0:30 McLeod 0:29 Goals: Zucker 11 Thompson 7 Peterka 6 Dahlin 5 Tuch 3 Quinn 3 Benson 3 Points: Zucker 21 Dahlin 21 Peterka 18 Thompson 16 Quinn 13 Tuch 11 Power 6

They scored 43 goals total, and ran at an 18% clip, good for 24th in the league. It was up from the 16.6% pace from the previous year (29th) when they only scored 37. Those numbers seem inexcusable for a team that was 4th in the league with 185 goals at 5-on-5 How do they fix it?

ER trips with one year olds. Probably just a cold but it fired up her asthma like crazy.

But it’s not honestly not something that I need to belabour - like I said I’ve never seen a fan I’d call more passionate/have more of an undying and unwavering loyalty than those still posting here in the midst of this drought and I’m pretty sure these people refer to themselves as fans. As long as these people call themselves “Sabres fans” I’m comfortable saying the term “fan” can be just as indicative of whatever other standing being claimed “supporter” has. Being upset at results doesn’t indicate a lack of unwavering support both are equally illogical imo cause following one professional team you aren’t really a part of always is imo. The conflict of interest with ownership management and players is often striking never mind the poor odds of success in general

The cowboys thing is just about how they have stereotypically passionate fans - but none as far as I’m aware call themselves “supporters” - because that’s a European thing primarily. I don’t agree with the definitions being thrown around about one of “fan” or “supporter” necessarily indicating a different type of fan or one more logical or one more passionate.

you love deploying #fancywords almost as much as @LGR4GM enjoys dropping #fancystats

absolutely for the precise reasons we were debating. (double jinx no take backs.) no idea what you’re on about here. nope. wrong.

Those hairy ass centipedes are all over my garage. Normally I see one or two a year. I hate those goddam things

Serious fish kill on Ischua Creek. Apparently wildlife too. Not good.

Jets with 22 points fewer than last season? I see 101-102 points maybe, but 94?

1. New Owner 2. New GM/Director of Hockey Ops (preferably 2 people) 3. New coaches

After all these years, I finally watched the Sopranos. What a great show with a ridiculous, dumb, stupid, disappointing ending. 😡

UPL, Power, Norris Better goaltending is needed. Power needs to step it up. A former #1 pick needs to be better than inconsistently solid. All about health with Norris. He’s likely produce if he’s on the ice.

I mean, i liked Nazar as a prospect and can't say I've watched much of him since, but this interests me: Nazar C 5'10" 190, picked 13 2022 NHL Draft Östlund C 5'11" 175, picked 16 2022 NHL Draft Nazar 2024 WJC GP: 7, 0/8/8 Östlund 2024 WJC GP: 7, 3/7/10 Nazar called up this year after a 21-game 11/13/24 run as an AHL rookie Östlund called up this year after a 32-game 17/17/34 run as an AHL rookie And that's where they diverged: Nazar had 26 points in 53 games, Östlund had none in 8. Nazar played PP, with 16 minutes a night on the 2nd line at 43% SAT% and 43.2% xGF% Östlund played 10 minutes a night with Malenstyn and Lafferty at 55% SAT% and 46% xGF% One guy gets millions and is pencilled in for an important NHL role and has his fan base excited, the other guy is expected to spend the entire year in the minors again. There's sometimes a very fine line.

I agree with the last line. The best of them are already on the roster. We no longer have any rebuild advantages from those trades. I didn't count Mrtka yet as he's new and very raw. Remains to be seen what he becomes. Likely plays but really unknown at this point. Levi idk. Can he become the guy here like Wolf has. Maybe. I certainly hope they give him this year in the AHL though. Then we shall see. I have no faith in Östlund making it at this point.

Which, provided they don't drive the good guys away frittering away the present, will be good enough to keep the team in the mix. And once it IS back in the mix, THEN you can actually start getting FAs that other teams also want and who don't necessarily have ties WNY/the NP to want to come here. Heck, wasn't a big part of pushing for getting the combine in Buffalo to give the young players a chance to experience Buffalo when the weather is actually good and they can see there's way more to it than the seeming dystopia a 20 minute ride from the airport on the Kensington provides. Get relevant and that strategy MIGHT be able to be somewhat successful. (It's pretty much pointless when you're the NHL's version of the NY Jest.)

Yep, if a Tuch level core player emerges from the system it will be a surprise: a Brodie Zeimer goes Brandon Hagel kinda thing. He’s got a lot of upside but I generally think a positive result for Mrtka is Myers, Östlund is McLeod. Maybe Helenius can be Derek Roy, but I think that’s probably stretching it.

Would add Novikov to that list. And do expect Johnson to be an NHLer as well, but could see him being a 7/tweener just as easily as seeing him be a 4/5. The rest, yeah some will make it, but likely not in a particularly meaningful way. (Maybe Wahlberg figures it out, and as he has tools not many of the prospects have, he'll get a shot at some point.)