Taro T

Except ticket sales AREN'T lower. They are up relative to last season and are probably close to triple what they were the 1st post-covid year. They are probably very comparable to or perhaps a bit better than they were the last Eichel year that more than a few hundred fans were allowed in the barn at any given time.

And during the criminal's hey day they had maybe 14k STHers but would guess it was closer to 12k. The Golisano years post lockout were the outliers due to those 2 nearly magical seasons. STH's were way down in '03. And they were still down in the '05 portion of '05-'06. The barn really started to get filled nightly after the Bills season was over and the team really started rolling. Once the waiting list was created, they artificially managed to keep ticket sales up even though the teams weren't as good as those 1st 2 post lockout teams. Would be interesting to see how the roster and how attendence would've progressed had Boychuk not taken out Vanek's knee in the playoffs the year they won the division. The corners for a Thrashers game mid-week in October were ALWAYS empty back in the criminals era. Could ball park guess attendance walking towards our section because if they were only expecting 12k or so, the beer vendor near our section wasn't set up.

2 years ago they had about 4000 STHers. Last year, would estimate it at ~8000. If there are 6k seats open for a non-optimal game that puts STH equivalents at about 12k. That seems like a pretty decent increase from last year IMHO.

And in regards to whether Levi is 21 or 22 this season, he's 21 in 2023 as far as the league is concerned. And he's 22 in 2024 as far as the league is concerned.

How a player's age is defined depends upon which portion of the CBA one is concerned with. A player's age at the signing of his 1st contract is determined by his age on September 15 of the calendar year he signs the contract. For eligibility for a contract to slide a year, an 18 yo and a 19 yo are determined by their age on September 15 of the year they sign a contract and only NHL games count towards that 10 game threshold to count as a season for the ELC. But for a "19 yo" that's really 20 (because of the late birthday) the contract won't slide. For purposes of FA, it depends upon which category of FA you are looking at whether an 18 or 19 yo with 10 games of pro experience accrues a year or if he needs to be on an active roster for 40 games to accrue a year. And even then it can vary as for Group 2 FA (restricted FA's) the player only earns the experience for playing in the NHL BUT when that 19 yo turns 20 (including those guys with late September and on birthdays), any professional games count towards the 10 game threshold to count as a season for the ELC restricted free agency.

Yes. All this.

Really wonder if Rousek isn't gripping the stick too tight knowing the opportunity that's been laid out before him. When you're lightly pencilled into a role, it's yours to lose but it's very losable. It's way easier to play YOUR game when you're trying to steal a job from somebody. Your good plays will get you the opportunity. When you're protecting the job, it's your mistakes that are going to cost you. Could see Rousek miss out on this chance, work hard in Ra-cha-cha and get another crack at it when injuries strike and then look like he did in his 2 games last year. Stillman is looking like the guy Adams and Granato thought they were getting last year. He's not going to be a top 4 fixture but he's good enough to be the 6 which makes him an excellent 7. The big Q IMHO is has Clague played well enough to earn the 8 over Bryson? IMHO he has, but due to the way they've liked Bryson in the past could see him getting the benefit of the doubt on that. Either way, when they need to use the 8th D-man am fully expecting R. Johnson to get the game action. Will be interesting to see if Metsa can climb past Clague and Bryson too. Comrie has been playing like I've expected. He's not giving up killer goals (though especially how ice level shots are his specialty would really like to have seen him stop that 2nd goal even though it was a really tough save with the open man on the back door that was seemingly the bigger threat) but he's giving up enough that they really are going to want to keep him at 30 games tops (should he win the competition to be the backup). Unfortunately, in his 1st preseason game, UPL played as expected too. And found it interesting that with limited vets playing in any given game that Cozens, Mersch (Amerks C), Thompson, and Mittelstadt have all gotten chances to wear an A this preseason. Gives a glimpse into what management thinks of their leadership traits.

Except he wouldn't be a lower pairing player in Buffalo out of the gate. He'd be the 7. They aren't going to sit E. Johnson for a rookie right out of the gate and Granato loves him some Jokiharju. Henri isn't sitting out of the gate either. It's way better for him to be the 1 in Ra-cha-cha than the 7 in Buffalo. When he's at the point that they'll make him the 6, he's better off in the NHL. He isn't going to get the Bryson 8 minutes a game when there are 5 real D-men to play instead of Jacob. He'll be getting at least 12 maybe 15 minutes per game as the 5/6. When the Sabres have 6 legit D through the lineup we'll likely see Dahlin dropping to 23 or so minutes on nights that they aren't in danger of blowing 2 points. Yeah, when the game's in doubt, he'll still get 24+ (and maybe 27-28) but it isn't going to be an everyday thing because that was an everyday thing with there being no faith in the 3rd pairing on many nights due to the injury bug they dealt with. Same logic for Power as well. When Granato needs those guys they'll be on the ice, but they shouldn't be needed to be relied on heavily every night anymore.

Not out of the gate. Granato loves him some Jokiharju. But after he's an injury callup, it could get interesting seeing who stays in the lineup and who gets bumped out.

Have you watched him at all?

Take it up with Appert. He's the one who said that's how they're going to use him.

Well, the silver lining in losing UPL to waivers is if he is claimed the claiming team needs to get him into 10 games (dressing as the backup counts) or keep him up for at least 30 days before sending him down or else the Sabres jump to the front of the line to reclaim him. (After any other teams that made a claim at that time.) So, if the Sabres really want him back, they'll likely be able to do so. And if they aren't able to reclaim him, he still may be helping the Sabres by losing games for a TB or other rival.

It makes a ton of sense. The Amerks are the development wing of the or-gan-i-za-tion. There is no room on the Sabres on any sort of consistent LT basis for Johnson to be running the PP. Let him spend his time becoming a stud PKer and focus on breaking up plays and moving the puck up ice at 5v5.

Dang, we're even using versions of the same analogies now. 😄

Well, they've said they won't use Johnson on the PP down in Ra-cha-cha because that job is locked up in Buffalo between Dahlin and Power. So, if you aren't going to use him there, why bother in exhibition season? Wouldn't minded seeing Metsa get a chance there but after Johnson gets called up to Buffalo Clague and Bryson could very well be Ra-cha-cha's PP QBs. And though really respect @Weave's opinions really don't believe that both Comrie and UPL will be Sabres on October 11. Either 1's an Amerk or he's wearing some other team's logo either due to a trade or simply getting claimed off waivers.

Thompson just totally got toasted on that. 3-1 on the empty netter from O'Connor.

2nd unit - Mittelstadt, Biro, Bryson, Cederqvist, and Peterka.

Can the Sabres do anything on the PP when the final TV timeout of the night is over? Didn't pay attention to who we had out there on the earlier one. Thompson, Mittelstadt, Benson, Peterka, and Johnson? Thompson, Benson, Clague, Greenway, and believe Peterka. Kulich.

Comrie was expecting that to get past the man in front that tipped that. And he legitimately had reason to fear the backdoor play because that guy was completely open.

Biro came so close to getting the goal off the takeaway. Just caught the wrong side of the post.

And we're basically talking past each other. You are right that Fantilli will be 19 when this season opens. And Eichel was 19 for almost the entire year his rookie year, but he started out at 18. Dahlin was 18 essentially his entire rookie year. But your argument seems to be that well, in general, 18 yo's don't make the NHL and even fewer are impactful. We are in agreement on that. But that doesn't really color the discussion about Zach Benson at this point in time. Because he is passing the eye test a week and a half ahead of the NHL season actually beginning. Heck, the "smart" opinion is that Levi will be in over his head, if not immediately then soon after a book is out on him. But he passes the eye test too. And at this point, it doesn't make sense to view him in relation to the entire set of college goalies. One of these things is not like the others. IMHO, Benson has earned the opportunity to demonstrate that he might not be also. Doubt we'll see eye to eye on this. And that's fine. We'll see 2 weeks from now how it ends up playing out.

And they DID give up Fitzgerald for nothing. So, it happens that they do give up on players. Personally expect Clague to be the 8 if they keep 8 up. And should they need to bring the 8 into the lineup, as soon as the injured guy is on IR we'll see R. Johnson get his opportunity to show what he can do.

And Ryan O'Reilly was a 2nd rounder who made the show out of the gate too. (Much different body type and player than either Skinner or Benson and he wasn't a scorer early in his career; but it DOES happen on occassion.)

But that's the inverse of the same logic that people who weren't paying attention to how he was playing were using for keeping Sam Reinhart on the big club after his 9 game look had passed. "Well, the last guy drafted in the top 3 that DIDN'T make the NHL right off was Dumont. So, they will keep him." (Then it became they have to keep him.) Reinhart wasn't ready for it. Well, he wasn't ready for it. He was good sized for an 18 yo but was getting knocked around a lot and he wasn't strong enough nor strong enough on his skates to be effective in the NHL. Even the Murray run Sabres ended up smart enough to see that he was better off rounding out his game in the W than getting knocked around in the show. There are always exceptions to every "rule." Only 2-3 18 year olds any given year are ready for the NHL and actually make it and belong there. Just because the Sabres lucked out and got this kid to slide to 13 doesn't mean he doesn't belong nor that he doesn't even deserve a shot and that he ISN'T one of those 2-3 that deserve that opportunity this season. He's looking really good so far. Don't believe so. As stated above, there truly are only 2-3 kids each year that belong in the NHL at 18 (and occasionally not even that many). But IMHO saying only a couple or a handful are good enough to make that jump and even fewer truly belong doesn't really matter. This discussion isn't about a generic 18 yo. It is about Benson specifically. And he hasn't looked out of place at all and IMHO has been one of the 10 best Sabres forwards that have been put out onto the ice. And agree that he will end up where he's supposed to. Adams and Granato seem to have a good handle on that aspect of the game.

Game isn't on TV. it's on the Sabres website. (Pens broadcast though.)