Taro T

Which, in the end, was THE reason he was sent down. The 2nd reason IMHO was because the team was about to go on a long road trip with only 12 fully healthy forwards had Bjork gone down on day 1. Still am interested to see who goes down, Pilut, Sheahan, or rookie F, should they be fully healthy at some point.

And it started right when Ullmark got injured and ended in his 3rd game back. His 1st game back they got a lead & then did their typical blowing of it in the 3rd. Their next game they got to OT before losing and then they finally killed Filly the next game. They went 4-3-3 in that stretch w/ Linus getting all the wins (4-2-1) until he broke again. They ended the year 4-9-0 after Ullmark went out. They lost in OT the game he went out in the 1st. Be it conditioning, still playing Kreuger's system in large part, or whatever, the item that correlated w/ improved play that year was Ullmark and pretty much only Ullmark. It was a happier, relieved squad after Granato finally got a W than it had been under Kreuger, but by W's & L's it wasn't any better.

The hot start in Krueger's 1st year lasted closer to 30 games. But, there were many (not including this kid) who thought the way they were winning was completely u sustainable (kind of like the previous year's 10 game win streak). This year's play seems reminiscent of the way they ended last year which should be sustainable. They should take it to Seattle pretty well - payback for 2 embarrassing L's last year. No guarantee they will, but expect they will.

He was back, but he wasn't the same the rest of that year and debatably the injury was still bugging him the next year (or he might've retweaked it at the end of October) and it set up his long slide into the doghouse.

They don't & they do. Neither belongs in the top 4 & if you can generally shelter them from the other team's top 2 lines they'll be fine on the 3rd pairing. And it's better to have them there than playing against stiffer competition; especially if you can primarily keep the Okposo line on the ice with them. If you can't shelter their usage, you have to look at playing one of them higher up and hope that by keeping his shifts short he doesn't kill you. But that's the same dilemma nearly every team has and MOST of them choose to keep the scrubs out together but in sheltered usage rather than messing up their top 4. There's a reason that neither saw the ice the 1st 5 or so minutes last night while Vancouver was pressing hard to start.

One thing to remember is that, when healthy, Dahlin & Samuelsson can play 25 minutes / night & Power can play 23. Lyubushkin vey likely being able to play 20 knocks a lot of minutes off the 3rd pairings usage. Henri can play 20 too when back. (Realizing full well that when injured, Samuelsson & Jokiharju are available for 0 minutes.) But, they have 8 NHL caliber D even if Fitzgerald isn't exactly a good NHL D. So, right now they still have 6 NHLers. Lyubushkin isn't sitting out. We've seen much worse in Sabres uniforms on a regular basis (looking at you Benoit-Meszaros and Irwin among others) and, if only up for a brief stint guys like Clague & Pritske have played in the NHL & can probably get by and maybe a guy like Prow is on such an adrenaline rush that he can get by too. Heck, people were in love with Gragnani because he actually played well before he & the rest of the NHL realized what he actually was. Let's wait and see just how long Jokiharju and Samuelsson are out before hitting the panic button. These guys, excepting Buush all are young and as such are more likely than not to typically be healthy enough to play, so if somebody is brought in either they're burying Pilut in the AHL or will be back to 8 NHLers when Bryson or Fitzgerald get claimed off waivers should they make a trade now. Yeah, the 1st 2 weeks in November could get ugly if neither is back and especially if, God forbid, they lose another, but isn't Granato's idea to keep the puck in the other guy's end? ;) Plus, Comrie & Anderson have stood on their heads when necessary so far, we might need to see them do it for 2 periods per night rather than just 1. Winning the next 3 just became more important than before, but even w/ a depleted defense none should require extraordinary heroics to do so. Get Henri back for the Pens & Muel back soon after & they'll be alright if the goaltending holds.

If the right deal is there, sure. But with the cap space they have, and the top 3 they have, they also could do what they did this year: add a Lyubushkin (or 2 via FA) & draft a Lindholm (or 2 as they have 4 picks in the top 64). They do have to be careful of adding another guy that is on the exact same timeline as Dahlin, Samuelsson, Cozens, Mittelstadt, Krebs, Power, Asplund, Quinn, Peterka, etc. as if they all pan out as we hope, they'll have to lose some of those they determine aren't core but are 2nd tier. Adding another D-man right in that same mix of making a decision on making a commitment to, MIGHT be better served by filling the 4 slot w/ Lyubushkin (or a new guy of that vintage) and having the other one be Jokiharju's partner on the 3rd pairing. Then, ideally when they're ready to walk away from Lyubushkin they've got somebody in the pipeline ready to step up on an ELC. We know Dahlin can play his off-hand. He's actually better over there than on his "strong" side. Pretty sure that we'll see Power & Samuelsson can flip sides as well so if a lefty like Johnson ends up coming in, he'll actually be arriving into top 4 a year ahead of schedule & they can either let an older D walk in 2 years or they have trade bait as their 9th D now won't clear waivers and Bryson, Fitzgerald, & Pilut are either distant memories, exceeded expectations, or are comfortable in 7/8 roles or being veteran AHLers.

Is there a difference? BTW, your question highlights why those of us that continually harp on getting NHL caliber goaltending keep harping on how important it is. Good NHL level goaltending last year allowed a team w/ a lot of tweeners not just compete but win very early last year & the team fell off the map as the goaltending faltered and the roster got populated w/ AHLers. Once the goaltending came back (though not to the same level) & the AHLers went back home, the maturation of the youth & a few key additions showed us what the team could be through the last 1/3 of the year. And this is why, IF Comrie is an actual good goalie (& it appears he very well could be) & he & the team can stay healthy the playoffs aren't out of the question. If he settles back to league average or Anderson breaks early, then playoffs is probably a bridge too far but they should still stay fun and avoid last year's November & December. (Not that January & February got results, but we could see what the team could be w/ competent goaltending (the March & April Sabres).) The tweeners are gone. Yeah, the Krebs/Quinn slot is currently filled w/ a tweener (and quite possibly the Peterka slot too) but the play of those guys will improve w/ experience so really consider them developers, not tweeners.

Reporter: Is the news on Samuelsson positive? Granato: "you know when you see him go down, and have a tough time getting up, yes positive. So, we won't know more obviously until tomorrow but I was holding my breath like everyone else. And you're wondering what type of news you're going to get so, I am much much happier after hearing that."

Reporter: Any positive news on Samuelsson? Granato: "you know when you see him go down, and have a tough time getting up, yes positive. So, we won't know more obviously until tomorrow but I was holding my breath like everyone else. And you're wondering what type of news you're going to get so, I am much much happier after hearing that."

Very good to hear Granato saying it's "positive" when asked about Samuelsson. Much more positive than they were when he went off the ice.

He got cancer. Screwed up his career timeline pretty well. But worked out great for Buffalo. And pretty sure he's happy w/ where he's at too.

Yep. The looks at their bench pretty much all the 3rd period showed a team that was ready to lose. That 1st Olofsson goal was the excuse they were looking for to quit. Looked like the Sabres during the Covid season.

Jokiharju very likely will be back before Samuelsson. Unless the injury is much less serious than it seemed. (Here's to hoping.)

Pilut was already called up. Yes he is at least as good as Bryson & Fitzgerald. The issue is he's a significant drop-off from Samuelsson. Hopefully we don't have to see whoever else comes up because, yes, there is a huge drop-off from 8 to 9. And this is why Pilut was sent down instead of the other 2 in the top 8 that had to clear waivers.

He's been playing better since playing 30 minutes w/ Samuelsson. He settled down the 2nd 1/2 of that Florida game and has been improving since. Getting away from Jokiharju didn't hurt any either.

Prow has been the guy they've been giving the 1st pairing to all season. Believe Clague is the most experienced.

Yes.

People still want Olofsson in the press box? ;) Wow, did the Sabres need that.

Really believe it was the shock of seeing Samuelsson go down. That injury looked nasty & they all saw how much pain he was in. Granato needs to settle them down & get them back to the game that got them that 2-0 lead in the 1st.

Also, pretty sure they COULD have let him play a month or so ago (realizing they'd've had to designate him differently) but held him out because the kids & other backups were getting the job done and he wasn't desperately needed. By giving him more time to heal, there's less chance of him blowing it out again.

Only for a goalie.

Not necessarily. If it was the tendon that provides stability in turns (pretty sure that's the ACL, but it's late, maybe MCL) you can go straight forward w/ no issues at all but the slightest twist might be excruciating. Hoping it's just a sprain.

Was he actually playing D either night?

But yet Chara never seemed to do so.