Taro T

Provided you don't show up when the anthems are starting. Only about 2k seats left available which means right now about 2k attendees won't get shirts.

As mentioned earlier, Adams stated that Johnson will be an NHLer and it was up to Johnson to decide whether he wanted to sign or not. The Sabres deciding now that they may not make him an offer doesn't ring true.

Minor point. The compensation should Johnson not sign will be the 63rd pick in the '24 draft; not this year.

Abso#######lutely. They can still get to 91 and personally want to see it happen. Puts them at a spot where one single extra win every other month puts them at 99 points and over an NHL 0.600. One extra win every month puts them at the 105 you've been talking about. Neither of those are crazy increases in productivity overall. Personally expect to be predicting 110 after this season's off-season moves are made, but we shall see what happens. This team as constituted should be able to make at least 105 an internal goal. And it looks a lot more doable with a win tomorrow over the Otters and then ending with a win against the BJ's on Friday than it does with 3 consecutive L's to close the year out. (Even though it really doesn't mean anything for next year.)

Don't recall Adams exact quote now and don't feel like looking it up, but when he was asked about Johnson at the STH event he said that he'll be an NHLer and whether he signs or not is Johnson's decision. He prides himself on speaking truthfully, so would be surprised if the Sabres are now balking on whether to make him a legit offer. (Realizing Lance is usually quite accurate with his stories. Something isn't quite adding up right now. If Johnson really believes he should be guaranteed a spot on the roster next year, well, could see the Sabres walk away from that. But also have a hard time believing a player with his dad actually in the NHL would expect he could get a guaranteed slot onto an NHL team at this point in his career. And can't see many better situations for a young D-man to step into. Yeah, the Sabres will bring in at least 1 more D-man this off-season and hopefully 2, but with injuries and what not he could see some time in Buffalo next year and if he's as good as he expects he'll be then he'll earn a spot soon anyway.) Still would like to see him sign with the Sabres. But if he doesn't, that's on him, not them.

Or they're playing 3D chess here. Let him walk into free agency then sign him as a free agent. Get the player and the draft pick.

Well, wanting to stay an Aisle, and actually doing that when he sees the offers he receives are not necessarily the same thing.

Have been advocating using Olofsson as part of the package to land a 3/4D. If that is available in FA, then convert him into a future asset. Now that they're finally good enough to afford the luxury of a 1 dimensional player, they don't have room for him.

Can't recall if Clague was with the Amerks on deadline day or not. Don't believe he was. If not, he can't play for them in the playoffs either. Levi can't play for them in the playoffs. The only reinforcement that MAY be coming is Johnson.

If that's the case, then trade Olofsson for a '25 1st rounder and hope the team he goes to bottoms out hard over the next 2 years.

My understanding is that he essentially offered what the Otters were offering but he wanted to keep the 1st top 12 protected. He wasn't given an opportunity to match the Otters offer as the Desert Dogs wanted at least one of Savoie or Kulich in the deal and those were deal breakers to Adams.

To the bolded, therein lies the rub. He played well enough this year that somebody could definitely make a claim on him should they try to send him to Ra-cha-cha. And if they try to keep 3 goalies in Buffalo, they could very well find themselves in a position of needing to either place a player on IR (out 7 days minimum) when he's just day to day because they only have room for 1 healthy scratch on D and on O or risk losing a servicable spare part like Jost or Stillman to have a spare guy with the team should somebody's pregame meal not agree with them or send a guy that would've been in the lineup like Quinn or Peterka to the AHL for the day on paper to keep from exceeding the 23 player limit. Expect UPL would garner more in a trade than Comrie would and also that there's a greater likelihood he's claimed if he's sent to Ra-cha-cha. Which is part of the frustration about hardly playing Comrie at all this year. They still don't know if he'd be an adequate backup for Levi should something go kerplewy this season. (They don't know for sure about UPL either, but that's not from lack of seeing him play. If anything, it's the opposite.) So, they definitely need 1 more goalie that they know they can reasonably rely on, but bringing that guy in pretty much guarantees they have to get rid of 1 of UPL or Comrie and they might lose both. (Not the worst thing in the world, but would like to keep 1 or both to have actual goaltending depth should the Sabres need to go 3 or 4 deep in net next year due to injuries or whatever.)

And yet he brought Anderson in two separate times. Neither of which was he "in his prime." Levi is his LT #1. It is obvious when he talks about him. (We all should be so fortunate to have someone look at us the way he looks at Levi.) So, he very well could prefer a Varlamov to a Hill as Varlomov has been there and done that as the starter and also as the backup after being the starter. Every year on the Island he saw his ice time decrease and he's been tremendously supportive of Sorokin. He seems to be the perfect Martin Gerber to Devon Levi's Cam Ward. He can be the mentor and actually win a game or 10 should Levi have a rough patch. Adams philosophy on goaltending doesn't seem to mesh perfectly with his philosophy on other positions.

At this point, that's the potential consolation but it isn't very likely and personally want to see them drafting 6th as they move ahead of the 3 they can still catch and end with 91 and then get a blue chip prospect at 6 winning that lottery for the 1st time ever when they didn't have the best odds of winning it.

Yes, but it will only net them somewhere between 2-6 as they'll end up in the 12-16th slot. (They're currently in 13th; only the Otters can catch them and they can catch Pittsburgh, Nashville, and Calgary.)

And as frustrating it is for us fans to watch our team go a full dozen years in the desert, and with as much value as we put on makig the playoffs, not just for finally ending the longest drought in league history but also for the experience the team will gain from playing actual playoff hockey, we have to remember that Adams doesn't put the same priority/value on the playoffs themselves as we do. That Carolina team that won the Cup in '06 hadn't made the playoffs recently prior to their run. They'd been the worst team overall, the 5th worst team overall, and missed a year of play before their frustratingly improbable run. Yes, they had some grizzled vets that had been there before like Rechhi and Williams and others like Brind'Amour who though they hadn't hoisted Lord Stanley's Chalice knew how to play in the playoffs. But that team itself hadn't done anything before winning it all and they did it behind a 2nd year (pretty sure it was his 2nd, maybe 3rd) Staal and a rookie goalie that never really did anything else after that and an over the hill backup. Adams wanted the playoffs this year, but he wasn't going to sacrifice any of the future to do so. That's why the only moves at the deadline were for guys that he expects can help in the future and not just this season. (And the guys he went after but couldn't land were in that same category.) It's extremely frustrating and he may be proved wrong in his view that the playoffs this year weren't important; but will give him the benefit of the doubt on it for now; because this team looks like a low 100's point team as presently constituted at worst and with any health whatsoever next year should be better than that plus there's a full summer to bring in a couple of tweaks to the roster. Yes, have drunk the Kool-Aid.

Probably because the AHL can't run through their whole season in the same time frame as the NHL with only having teams play 1 weeknight game per week in the vast majority of the season. They are a gate dependent league (even moreso than the NHL) so they minimize the nights that nobody will show up in the barn. Their season only ends 1 week later than the NHL.

Yep. The team has 2 good value trade chips that wouldn't hurt them at all to move on from - the 2023 #1 and Olofsson. They have 2 other decent value trade chips that wouldn't hurt them at all to move on from - the 2024 #1 and 1 of Comrie/UPL. Fully expect the 2 good chips to be used for that #4 D-man. Expecting the other pieces the Sabres need to come via FA, but those other 2 chips might be used if the return is right.

Thought that was the case as of last season. Florida and somebody else had 10 year droughts. Thought the Sabres were "special" with turning it up to an 11.

Realize that other goalies have been had cheaper. Few, if any of those, have been 1 of the best 3 goalies in the game and still under contract for multiple years. He wouldn't be on the market because he absolutely wants out; he'd be on the market because they're retooling and are very high on Askarov. Thing is, they can retool and bring Askarov in while Saros is still there. The Sabres didn't get rid of Miller while he still had term left even though they were in the midst of a scorched earth tank. They only traded him when he was on the verge of becoming an UFA. IMHO the only way Saros gets traded now is if it's a "wow, we can't believe what we're getting offered for him" type of deal. They don't NEED to trade him. Not yet, at any rate.

Really don't see Adams trading for a goalie. Not with Levi so close to being ready to be the man. Do expect a FA brought in, and the hope here is they can convince Varlamov to sign. Not a fan of Andersen and don't know Hill's body of work well enough to have an opinion on him. As for Ra-cha-cha, IF he can clear waivers (a big if) they have the guy that's better than Subban - Comrie (unless he's traded and UPL is the one that gets kept, then they have UPL (but he probably wouldn't clear)).

This. So much this. Really want Varlamov brought in. He'd be ideal in that he can be the #1 if Levi falters and he's used to being the backup. And unlike Saros who would cost a lot in assets, still expect he'd cost Savoie or Kulich and a 1st round pick, he wouldn't be "blocking" Levi if Devon is what we've seen him to be.

Just saw Chicago's 3rd goal. Pittsburgh should be sick. They puked all over themselves.

Thing is, all of the teams that were in the mix with the Sabres had streaks like those 2 that doomed the Sabres. That's why they were where they are. Personally was more frustrated with their efforts and results in the Anderson games against bad teams from January through March. 0-4-1 in those. Make those 3-1-1 or even 2-2-1 and they make the playoffs. Hoping they have a team goal next year of never losing 3 in a row overall nor 2 in a row in regulation at home. If they can keep from building up those long losing skids, they'll be in the playoffs next year. Really expect Adams goal is doing damage in the playoffs next year. After 12 years, will be happy with being there.

They have 1/2 of the goaltending set for next year. They still need to pair Levi with somebody that gives the team a chance to win any given night. Sign Varlamov and then fix the D.