Taro T

That's true. But there is no evidence that the origin of the idea to punt O'Reilly came from ownership. We're agreed that once the decision to punt him was made that the owners wanted him gone before the bonus kicked in regardless of how that affected the return.

Levi was born in December '21 so he's considered 22. 22 year olds and 23 year olds sign 2 year ELCs. The only way to effectively slide a year of his ELC at his age is to not let him play in Buffalo at all this year. Can't see that happening. He's effectively going to be on a 1 year ELC starting next season.

Will defintely be at the Otter game. Can't justify driving to Columbus for a game.

The TEAM quit. The TEAM has never quit while Tuch was on the ice.

Did not. Glad that you didn't take the discussion that personally. It wasn't meant to be.

@LGR4GM a less flippant response follows. No, we don't agree which is perfectly fine. This place would be extremely dull if everyone did agree on all items. But what isn't perfectly fine and makes discussion difficult is when one person latches onto a belief that something was said but it wasn't and continues to argue against that thing that wasn't said. NEVER said that the win was strictly because Tuch was back. (Even in throwing you the bone that something similar to that was said in the game day thread, it wasn't. What was actually said was "a Tuch led team never quits." They are actually quite different statements, but again was throwing you a bone there in saying they were essentially the same.) What was said, several times now, is that the team has never quit with Tuch on the ice but it has when he hasn't been there. And personally, want the guy wearing that letter to be the guy that's never been a part of a game where they have quit. This team is very fortunate to have several natural leaders on it. Dahlin is one of them. And Dahlin is a better player than Tuch is. There's a reason he went to the ASG and Tuch didn't. That said, the best player, even when he's a leader, isn't necessarily the best leader. And never said any of the other things you were arguing against either. Thought my posts were quite clear. Not sure how to make them any clearer. It's probably for the best that you aren't going to respond for a couple of weeks. Regards.

How does one response again?

That WAS NOT WHAT WAS SAID. Talk about bias. What was said was that the team quit in 2 games. There was only 1 leader on the team not involved in either game. That is the person that should be captain. (What was said in an earlier post was that the team quit in 2 games in the past 2 seasons. Both happened within a week of each other. Other than 1 of the goalies (Anderson) and quite possibly Bryson &/or Clague only 1 player on the team wasn't involved in either game. And that person was Tuch.) And before you come back with "well, you said that in the game day thread" well, yes, something similar was stated there. But go back and read THIS entire thread. That point doesn't come up once. Not from this kid at any rate. There are several players that could make fine captains for the Sabres. IMHO the best of those options is Alex Tuch. And the selling points that put him into that discussion are he's a leader, a very good player, sweats the small details, has bled Sabres colors since he was a small child, and the point that puts him over the top IMHO is that the team has NEVER quit when Tuch has been in the lineup but they did for the only 2 times in the past 2 years in 2 of the 8 games he was out with injury. He literally is the only one of those candidates for captain that it can be said that the Sabres never quit while he was there. Every other one was in one of those games and most were in both.

His teammate wouldn't be essentially the only reason NU got into the tournament should it miraculously happen. The same can't be said of Levi.

To the bolded, yes, it literally was stated that he absolutely won't lose his letter in the post you quoted. And, where are there posts that Dahlin ISN'T a leader. Haven't seen any. Believe that he is a leader and would be in this kid's top 3 for getting the C after Okposo is no longer the captain. Have even said on numerous occasions that he very well could get the C next. But IMHO there is a better choice for that honor. And yes, Dahlin also did not play in the Bruins game. But he certainly was a part of the Dallas game which was the other one they quit in. Again, Tuch was the only leader on the team that wasn't involved in EITHER of those 2 games. And that resonates.

Yes, he wears the A. Most teams have at least 1 D-man wear a letter. He is clearly the leader of that group. What does that have to do with anything regarding whether they give somebody else the C when Okposo is no longer the Captain? Lots of teams change up who wears a letter in any one season and guys that haven't worn letters get them and even sometimes guys with letters don't have them the next year. Jim Schoenfeld was still with the Sabres for a few years after the C was taken from him and given to Gare. Not saying Dahlin will lose his letter, he absolutely won't. And he might even be the next captain. But those 2 games that the team quit stand out like a sore thumb and the only leader on the team that wasn't involved in either game is the guy that's the subject of this thread. That resonated here.

Cool scenario. How you going to get the Sabres to not watch that OT period for 2 days? ;) The Aisles last game is on a Wednesday. The Sabres close out the home schedule on that Thursday and then have their makeup game in Columbus on Friday.

Would expect the correct word instead of the bolded is "possibly" not necessarily "likely." Comrie was NOT his 1st choice in the net. He was rebuffed at a minimum by Murray. He likely was rebuffed by at least Gibson as well. And we all know how the negotiations with Ullmark turned out. He has to be looking for more consistent goaltending than he's gotten. Whether he can get that for a price he considers palatable remains to be seen.

Which is why they'd be able to recoup MOST of what they spend on that goalie but not all of it. And that N in your scenario could very likely be 1 year. There will be little value lost with a goalie that has a good body of work but wasnt a good fit in a particular destination for a short time. (See Ryan Miller's Vancouver contract for reference. He was not a fit in St. Louis but that wasn't held against him.)

They are 5 points back of the Aisles with 3 games in hand. They are 2 points back of the Swamp Cats with a game in hand and should that one be won in regulation they will hold the tie breaker. They are ahead of all the other contenders except the Pens, either on straight out points or via tie breaker with the Caps and they have at least 1 game in hand on everybody including the Pens. Win their games in hand, and literally they are in a playoff spot. Which means they literally can control their own destiny regardless of what any of the other teams do (provided they win their head to head games with the others in the chase, which again is a case of controling their own destiny). Winning out, which is unrealistic with 16 games to go and they're in. Only losing as often as the other teams do, (after they've won their games in hand) both of which are realistic, and they're in.

You keep saying that, but don't actually believe it is true. Believe the causation you've identified is merely a correlation with their propensity to play poorly at home but very good on the road. When they are healthy that is. They've put themselves into a playoff spot IIRC twice so far. The 1st time they then played Calgary Carolina at home where the Sabres rarely win except when they're wearing B&R for whatever reason. And the other time, Alex Tuch went out of the lineup for 8 games and Dahlin missed 2 or 3 games.

And even with EVERYTHING going wrong last week, they were never more than 7 points out with games in hand to make some of that up. Play at an NHL 0.600 and they have a chance. Play above that and they don't need luck to get in and can take care of their own destiny.

And courtesy of everybody else in the top 7 WC slots losing their last game, should the Sabres win all their games in hand, they'd be in the 8th seed. A tall order, but they are still in a position where they can take care of matters on their own without worrying about what anybody else is doing. They still are very much in this race on the Ides of March. 10 years since that was the case.

Well, that list is the biggest creditors owed by Diamond Sinclair. They probably included the Sabres because they're the only sports team besides the Diamondbacks on the list. (Included in the teaser, that is.)

And according to that article the Sabres are owed a grand total of $30,100. Pretty sure they can work something out there. ;)

Thanks. Figured out what you were referring to after posting because in the ESPN game they were talking about the animated one a few times. Recorded it to check it out. Not positive that will actually get watched, but it might.

???

The answer to your entire question would certainly be that it would significantly boost it. But as to the bolded portion of it. Have been imagining it since at least December. That's the short term dream scenario.

Don't see it as a conundrum. They need to be proactive. And, as others have said, it's not like Adams hasn't tried to be proactive. He simply hasn't been good at it. They're at a spot where the fans are ready to come back. Making next year another development year, which it will be without goaltending, could put a kibosh on that.

One other thing that hasn't been discussed here is should the Sabres trade for a starter, if UPL or Levi take off and really come into their own, there is most likely nothing preventing the Sabres from recouping most of the assets they gave up for that goalie as they are far from the only team looking for a legit starting goalie. Either at this deadline or at the next draft. Its not like bringing somebody in is simply throwing away futures for the present. Rather it's insurance for the future and improves the present.