Taro T

We disagree. Fair enough. As stated above, expect we'll see which view is correct by the AS Break.

Don't see a particular matchup issue when the Sabres are healthy, so don't see a reason hy the Sabres can't/won't beat them. They were severely injured for the 1st game this year. They're much healthier now. Last year's game in Buffalo, the Sabres were pathetic & had one of their worst games of the Granato era. If he's as good a coach as we believe he is, the boys will be ready.

Honestly don't believe it's slowing down that causes the overthinking. Expect it's the other way round. Remember, he's been both fully healthy & slotted properly under Granato's coaching for less than 1/4 of a season. The rest of this month should give us a good feel for which view is correct.

To the bolded, absolutely. Hinostroza isn't a part of the future & is the easy choice. Which D to send down is tougher. They seem to like Bryson, so doubt it is him getting sent down. Expect it'd be Fitzgerald going down, but it easily could be Clague. Really doubt either gets claimed & if 1 does, it likely isn't that huge a deal. Would keep all 3 goalies, not just for them all earning a spot on the roster, but also because except for the AS break they've got 4 games / week for the foreseeable future. Sliding Anderson the odd game here or there could be the key to keeping all 3 healthy & not overworked.

Have said before, would be surprised if a roster player gets traded this year. It would need to be a move that really screams the D is going to be upgraded. (Don't even see a potential trade like that for a goalie with the way UPL is playing & the ceiling both Comrie & Levi have.) Next off-season possibly, & next trade deadline after that of the following season is when guys that don't fit LT are identified & shopped.

Thanks to @tom webster for setting all this up. Good to finally meet him. It was fun & we saw a great game.

My guess is that Jost is seen more as the checking C longish term rather than key cog in the offense. There's a reason Krebs is no longer the C sitting when the bench is shortened to 3 lines.

One thing to remember w/ Mittelstadt is heading into the season both he & Granato were talking about him very likely moving to wing. That did not happen. Not sure if it was because Krebs wasn't ready for 3C, Sheahan not being able to take the 4C role, or Asplund not stepping up there either. But he didn't expect to be a C, much less the 2C when the season began. Preparing for 1 role & then being given a different one MIGHT have been a small part of his issues.

Hasn't he been there since he got back in the lineup, or were there 1-2 games played before Jost became the 3rd line C? Some of these milestone points are blending together. (It's late. Working on little sleep & have to get up early again tomorrow.) Don't know if Krebs will become the 3C or if Savoie/Kulich/ other will be there & the Sabres will have 4 lines that can all score. We really seem to be on the verge of having a F lineup from top to bottom that we haven't seen since the mid-70's.

The Kid Line was promoted against Joisey. Mittelstadt & Olofsson did not initially play better at that switch. They actually dropped off slightly IMHO. And it took a handful of games to adjust to Jost. But, again IMHO, Mittelstadt's play had a dramatic shift in style ~7 games ago though not results. The past 4 he's actually had an increase in effectiveness to go w/ that shift in style. And Granato is recognizing & rewarding that w/ stuff like getting to play in OT the last 2 games. That line is not ready to bump back up to 2nd line duty. Maybe they never will be. But, if he can stay on this present trajectory the way other underachievers (an unfair term, but basically young guys that haven't had the light bulb go on yet, though the talent is there) that Granato believed in have done; about the time the team comes back from the AS break they'll get another crack at it. Which would also work wonders for reignighting the Kid Line again. Could honestly see that line being effective at 2nd line duty in a month or 2, though not necessarily good. If it does get there, other teams won't be able to exploit either it or the other middle 6 line in the MMArena; and trust that Granato will adjust their deployments on the road to minimize it there too. And the Kid Line was on fire those 1st few games after the switch. But you can only run on adrenaline so far.

Where are you getting to the point of 2 F's get injured? If Girgensons gets hurt, then Asplund plays & Hinostroza returns to his current role. If a player that has a more offensive role gets hurt & they don't see Asplund as filling his role nor as filling in for an active player that bumps up higher, then they're calling up Rousek or somebody else to step in. But should somebody else get hurt after the hypothetical Girgensons injury, they aren't going to send Vinny down to make other moves. He's the 14 when all are healthy, & if he bumps to 13 he isn't bumping back to 14 except due to players getting healthy. (And he does bump to 14 when players are healthy.) And don't see any scenario where we see Bjork back on the Sabres roster, pressbox or not, during the RS. The ONLY way he's back is if the Sabres are in the layoffs & Ra-cha-cha is done.

Granato's been deploying his line as the 3rd scoring line. Considering all the other 3 lines do have chemistry, there isn't much more he can do without benching Olofsson, and we've seen he isn't benching VO. He seems to play well w/ Jost. The 1st few games they didn't seem in sync, but it has been better the last 6 or so games. Even to the point where in the last game they were able to set up Olofsson for a couple of chances & the goal they scored. They weren't getting chances earlier. Will it continue? Granato seems to think so. Personally hope so. We get another chance to watch the experiment unfold at 7PM tonight. Looking forward to it.

To the bolded, exactly. And the 13th F is injury insurance at home too. If e.g. Girgensons goes down, Asplund is going in. The player coming up is coming up to sit in the pressbox. There isn't any AHLer filling that role better than Rasmus. Why would Bjork suddenly be a better option to sit in the pressbox than Hinostroza? If somebody gets hurt in warm-ups, does ANYBODY (other than Bjork's mom) want to see him stepping in over Vinny?

Which, oddly enough would happen at the exact moment they're on an NHL 0.600 pace. 😉

Not ALL he does, but yeah when not scoring empty netters, it is far and away the way he pots the bulk of his goals. He's at his best on a line w/ a true digger & a true setup man. With both, he's a poor man's 1st liner. Without 1, he's a 3rd liner. Without both, well, let's just leave it at he's not a driver. In that case, if he's with a couple of defensively responsible teammates, he can be good enough defensively but he won't be scoring. Agree that Quinn's ceiling is far higher & the smart play is to be doing w/ Quinn what they already are doing. Giving him sheltered minutes at 5v5 when possible. (And it hasn't been possible much since demoting the Mittelstadt line to line 3. If they continue to pick up their play, then the Kid Line can get easier minutes again & do their full on RAV Line impersonation.) But also getting him PP & PK time on 2 PP & 3PK. As he & Peterka show they might be able to handle tougher assignments, they get them. But they aren't put in situations where they'd be likely to fail. Thus them playing in all situations the 1st 2 periods, but losing some shifts in the 3rd when good teams are desperate to come back. And growing that Kid Line into a true 2nd line behind the Thompson line will be tremendous for the long term success of this team. Which is what THIS year is all about. We're watching what the Carolina fans missed in '04-'05.

Well, those that are going to the game might like to see the very deserving Rasmus Dahlin there too.

Imagine seeing him standing next to Krebs fiancee.

Nah, that was Kessel. Wheeler gave up his right one. 😉

He very well might not, & said he likely wouldn't be back upthread. But if the hole they want/need to fill is say Girgensons, then Asplund steps into the lineup. Doubt they'd bring Rousek up to sit in the pressbox. Maybe they would, but expect they'd rather have Vinny sitting while Rousek continues to get solid minutes on the A.

When it rains it pours. Get better, Murphy. Prayers going out. Kim Pegula pethaps?

Depends on whether they need to plug an offensive or defensive F into the lineup. Defensive, Asplund plays & Vinny is 13th. Offensive, Rousek gets a shot & Asplund stays 13. Either way, Vinny doesn't play but he might be back up. They aren't benching the kids, and they aren't taking a 4 for Asplund. A 5 for Hinostroza, maybe. (Probably?)

Really doubt they trade anyone that has been dressing regularly for a prospect or a pick at this point. They still say & act like they believe in them as part of the future (or at least potentially part of the future). They don't send that away in the 1st year they've been good in the last 12. That isn't how these guys operate.

Yep. They have 13 games in 22 days coming up. Could see Anderson getting 1 game in that stretch, 2 tops. UPL gets 7, maybe 8 and Comrie the rest. The schedule gets back to that same compactness after the AS break through close to the end of March. Having a 3rd goalie up to take 1 every 8-10 games could be the smart play. Vinny, we hardly knew ye.

Which is why they're limiting the fan voting to ~10 days and have several other hurdles for allowing a vote to count. The NHL ALWAYS does the expedient thing rather than the right one & could screw up a 1 car parade.

The only 2 D on the Sabres that don't have to clear waivers to be sent down are logging close to 30 minutes per game. Whomever goes down will need to clear waivers. Just don't see that being too difficult for the D-man that eventually goes down nor the F who's demotion is imminent. And if either or both do get claimed, like you said, it's nice to finally be the sort of team again where that's an issue.