Taro T

And prior to the lottery, for the draft the Sabres will be seeded between 12 and 16. They currently would have the 13th pick. The Otters could tie the Sabres and the Sabres could pass Pittsburgh and Nashville and tie Calgary. The Otters would have more RW's than the Sabres if they're tied and the Sabres would have more than Calgary if they were tied. So, the Sabres pick will be one of 2-6 and 12-16.

No. The Aisles have the tie break on the Sabres. It is done.

And with Pittsburgh and Buffalo both losing today, the Swamp Cats are in. (They hold the tiebreaker over Pittsburgh should Pittsburgh beat the BJs and Floriday lose to the Canes.) An Aisles win tomorrow and the 8 Eastern Conference teams are set, though seeding can still get changed Thursday. The Pens might not get an opportunity for their game vs the BJ's to matter.

Kyle Okposo - "... we became an actual hockey team this year." Can't argue with that.

And there's actually a very good chance that had they gotten to play C-Bus back when they were supposed to have done so, they'd've actually made it to game 81 before getting eliminated. Baby step. Now, win the next 2 games and get back into the 90's that is the minimum necessary to get into the conversation for the playoffs. It's been too long since they've even been there.

Bummer. Still want to see them win these last 2 games and end on a high note. Not wishing my life away, but very ready to see hockey return in October.

Well, Power definitely got his paradaigm shifted with the SO goal last night. He's shot from everywhere tonight including from outside the blue line.

How did Quinn not score?

Sammy! The Muel!

Shannons.

Actually, saw a guy walking around in 1 of those jerseys and he was wearing the matching "Hat" hat.

Let's go Red Wings! Make Carolina have something to play for when they face Florida!

Could see Comrie having trade value, but UPL almost definitely has more and Comrie also probably has a greater chance of clearing waivers should the Sabres decide to send one of the 2 to Ra-cha-cha. But doubt either will clear waivers; there are always teams looking for goalies.

True. And realize it's a strange time to bring it up as he's actually got a bunch of assists the last 3-4 games but they pretty much are entirely 2ndary assists (with at least a couple (if not several) on zone exits) and the reason it was even brought up was another poster had commented on his shooting or lack thereof.

He passes up those opportunities too. Unless he has an absolute grade A+ opportunity he doesn't shoot. He'll shoot more as he gets confidence in his shot, but right now, he passes up a lot of good opportunities.

Watch for it. Once you see it, you can't unsee it. As flaws in his game go, it's a great one to have, as it is something that will be completely out of his game in 2 years if not even next year. The ones that get fixed simply by growing into a full grown adult when you're 19 or 20 are the easy ones as time fixes them. Not knowing where to be when the other team is cycling or not knowing when to pinch and when not to are way tougher to fix as they require understanding the game at another level. Power doesn't have either of those issues.

No, with Power it isn't simply a case of making sure his shot isn't into a F's shinpads resulting in an odd man rush going the other way. He NEVER shoots unless he's almost in the blue paint or he literally has no other options. He should have at least 3 more shot attempts every game. They lose a lot of opportunities for rebounds because he simply won't shoot. Am at the point where it is really frustrating watching him out there when there is a cycle going because if the puck goes to him even when the shot is the right choice it isn't getting taken.

Am hoping that SO goal gave him the confidence that he can score on NHL goaltending (and a pretty durn good one too). He's got the same disease a lot of the young guys have (nofaithintheirshotitis). He'll shoot more next year and a lot more the year after once he actually feels strong out there, but rignt now he acts like he has a peashooter and refuses to fire unless it is the only option available to him. 30 goal scorer Cozens still suffers from this malady a touch but he definitely had the lightbulb switch on back sometime around early November and now will shoot when in a moderate danger area unless he thinks there's somebody open in a high danger spot.

Would offer him a 2 year deal at pretty much his current deal with the understanding that he needs to beat somebody out to be more than Hinostroza (13th F) and will have to fight off Rousek at a minimum to maintain that status. IMHO He brings more to the table than Hinostroza does (realize that's arguable, but his age definitely fits in better with what they're doing than Vinnie does) and him getting ~$2MM/ year to be the 13th F doesn't cause cap issues until that deal would be ending. He's a good fit in any of the bottom 6 slots and can play PK in a pinch. Pretty sure his offer is going to come at the end of one of those "hard conversations" that Adams talks aout having to have with some of the guys. If he wants to be a part of this, he has to realize it's as a spare part unless he can elevate some portion of his game.

It's not that he's a 4th year player, it's that only contracts signed by 18 & 19 year olds can slide. (Definitely true for NA prospects; pretty sure that's the case for Euros as well, but not positive.) So, as soon as he signs during this season, this is his 1st ELC year because he is 20+ at the time of signing.

Not surprising, because he started saying that about 4 weeks ago.

This is (obviously) the toughest of the remaining 3 games. Don't know if they can pull it off, but they definitely have a chance and they will fight to the end especially if Levi "chooses" to play tonight. Am expecting we see them continue to play physical like they have the past 2 games. It's amazing how when you have a goalie you trust, you're more willing to throw a hard check and possibly get out of position than when you have a goalie that you don't trust. Get the W and make Thursday's game the new "biggest game of the last decade."

Not positive, but believe they have hth lower in the tiebreaks for 2 reasons. 1. To mildly incentivize teams to win in regulation. and 2. To not have to worry about having to drop 1 of the games between the 2 teams when so many of the teams in conference play an odd number of games. (And personally believe 2 is a bigger reason than 1 for that order of the tie breakers.)

Personally, want to see Varlamov (or equivalent) brought in next year with an expectation he'll get between 35 and 55 games. One of Comrie or UPL getting traded and the other guy pencilled in as the backup with Levi told that if he keeps doing his thing, he'll be bumped up before camp is over. Try to get the guy that they kept through waivers into Ra-cha-cha when camp breaks (because, let's face it, Levi is way better than that other guy). And then let the fun begin. Whoever is going better between Varlamov and Levi gets the extra starts. Expecting by January it'll be Levi's net, but am fine with however it plays out.

You said the Sabres would have the tiebreak over them at 93. That isn't correct. The Sabres can't get the tiebreak over the Aisles. They need to be ahead of them. So, the Aisles need to stay at 91 or at most 92 or the Sabres can't be ahead of them.