Taro T

Yeah. Not sure why people want Ristolainen-lite back.

Bandits will be playing the Mammoth for the title. Mammoth are the only team the Bandits have played this year that they haven't beat. Last night Mammoth were down 9-5 at the 1/2 and dominated the 3rd to get back into it. It was 9-8 heading into the 4th. Colorado outscored San Diego 12-3 in the 3rd over the 3 games. Final was 15-13. Game 1 is Saturday June 4 @ 7:30. Game 2 is Saturday June 11 @ 9. Game 3, if necessary, is June 18 @ 7. Games 1 & 3, if played will be in Banditland. Colorado's only championship was back in '06 when they upset the Bandits. Let's go Bandits.

Demands or depends? Demands seems a strange word there, but it was the 1st word of the quotation. Not trying to be pedantic, just trying to understand what Karmanos was hinting at. 🍺

IMHO, it simply becomes a question of whether he can step into a support role and be OK w/ it. His skating was so good in his prime, that don't see it being the determining factor. Especially w/ a very likely future opportunity in either the booth or on an intermission show would he be interested in taking a step towards a coaching path? (Which is what that 2nd pairing mentoring role would be a precursor towards.) Does he want to work for a living or become the next Kevin Weekes? Depending upon what drives him, could see him having a preference, but honestly don't know which would be more appealing. And maybe dipping a toe into that water could help him figure out which career to strive for when his playing days are over.

Term is a bit long, but he would fit the bill. As long as they wouldn't have to give him a full NMC, it could work.

Where?

No love for the Red Green Show? Sad.

The Littlest Hobo. Corner Gas. Ann Murray. Justin Bieber. Celine Dion. Michael J. Fox. Alex Trebeck. Truly awe-inspiring. 😛

And the guess was that 1, 2, 8, 9, & 10 aren't real players. Not that you had chosen somewhere between 3-7 real players. (Though, kind of like Cliff Claven's "who are 3 people who have never been in my kitchen" that would be technically correct. 😉 ) Or are you also looking for the year they were drafted? Which would be a true challenge.

Will go w/ 3-7 being real.

No idea. Nor any idea why you think @dudacek expects them to do that either. He's saying their 2 roster spots are open for the taking, not that they'll refill them.

Fair enough. Your post however read contrary to this take, thus the explanation in the post you quoted. And the Sabres don't typically have 14/7/2 any longer.

Not accurate. Teams (well, the Sabres definitely, expect it's a league wide trend) tend to carry 8D and only 13F's for at least since prior to covid. It's way easier to run drills w/ 4 sets of D rather than 3 w/ 1 guy rotating in. And sliding an extra F through the 4th line is easier than trying to squeeze 2 spares in or creating a 5th line w/ the extra D or double shifting someone.

Really don't get the dislike that Olofsson gets around here. He's not the same guy that could only score PP goals when he 1st made the team. And, prior to suffering the hand injury, he was the leading scorer when the team was actually playing well & he bounced back at the end of the season as well when he finally healed up.

NHL Network has been showing the games in the States.

That would be excellent and would really open up the flexibility they have in looking for NHL goalies. And could allow them to follow the Carolina model also, if that's the route they feel comfortable with. (I.e., having 2 guys w/ huge question marks but that have high ceilings as well w/ the expectation that Bales can get at least 1 of the 2 to play near his potential.) Although, my guess is that would probably result in Subban moving on as don't see him penciled into an NHL backup role & can't see him taking the job of UPL's backup. Also, had expected Tokarski to move on hoping for a true NHL backup role & didn't see that as available in Buffalo. Hoping he still moves on as really am hoping both the goalies Adams would now be bringing in are better than him.

How many injuries should we anticipate next year? Tuch, Mittelstadt, Olofsson, Hinostroza, Girgensons, & Quinn all missed significant time. As did Eakin & Caggiula who almost definitely won't be back. There were probably a couple of other F's that missed time as well that simply aren't coming to mind. Vinny may not be back either. My expectation is they'll be down 4 F's at some point & right now they don't have the depth to handle it. So, w/ your 12, the depth behind them is R2 Rou2, Bjork, & Murray. (Biro, Weisbach, & Rousek too.) But that isn't exactly a lot of depth. Adams will definitely bring in some UFA's to fill in the depth behind the top 12. IMHO, he'll bring in 4 NHL capable UFAs along w/ a handful of AAAA guys that will be signed for Ra-cha-cha, & 2 of those guys are going to either be penciled into the lineup (Hinostroza & a 4C) or will seriously push those other 12 to hang onto jobs. R2 Rou2 will make a serious push as well. Quinn played great in the RS & one of the spots is his to lose. After Peterka's playoff play, he also likely has a spot to lose, but still could see him not being in the opening day lineup. Wouldn't have any money down on it & will be very happy for him if he's up on day 1, but won't be as shocked as some here will be should he not be there on opening night. And if Adams doesn't make the moves anticipated above, that'll change the calculus & make JJ close to a lock. And at D am expecting similar. Expect 2D brought in, 1 a Pysyk (possibly even Pysyk) and a top 4 guy along w/ a bunch of guys to fill out Ra-cha-cha.

That would be preferable to Anderson (Fred or Craig) or Campbell.

It would be great if Jokiharju could grow into a true 4. But, he's not there yet & honestly might never be. (Though 1-3 are going to be so good, it won't be crippling as he'll likely be able to do it well enough.) So, w/ them having a ridiculous amount of cap space ST & really only 1 absolute must have items (a friggin' goalie) would really like to see them address their 2 d biggest hole - #4 D. (Adding depth at 4C would be the 3rd item to fix.) Trust that IF he addresses that 4D role, he'll get it right. So, really want to see him go for that fix.

Just don't see Adams bringing in a guy that let a contract dispute carry over into the RS. Don't see him opposed to bringing in a potential 80 point guy, but don't expect he'd bring in THAT one.

There absolutely is potential in his game. He's only 22. But right now he's a 3rd pairing D-man on a good team. That he has been a 1st pairing D-man for large stretches of this past season is an indication of how far this team needed to progress talent-wise from where they were on opening night. And he improved this year. Dahlin being on an island facing multiple 2-on-1's each game when paired w/ Henri didn't happen after October. But he still panicks (probably too severe a word, but it conveys what happens) in his own end when facing a strong forecheck & takes himself out of position too often. They need better from that 4D role, especially if the 3D is going to be filled by a rookie. Power needs somebody that can cover the mistakes he makes as he learns the NHL game. That's not in Henri's wheelhouse IMHO. My ideal scenario is still the Sabres bringing in a solid vet to pair w/ Power until Jiricek (who miraculously slides to 9) is ready in 3 years to step into that role w/ Bryson & Jokiharju manning the 3rd pairing until Johnson is ready to replace Bryson at the end of the year, or sometime the following year. Pysyk & Fitzgerald fill the 7 & 8 slots u til Bryson sliding down makes Pysyk superfluous. Keep trying to bring in & develop more young talent, but that is a D you can rely on for years as they all eventually get to their primes & the 5-8 guys can be replaced cheaply when/if they want to try to find their payday elsewhere.

IMHO Jokiharju is an adequate partner for Power but not a good one. Absolutely want that slot upgraded. Again, IMHO, Jokiharju is an ideal 5 and if he can get slotted in there on a regular basis the Sabres are a goalie (maybe 2 if Adams is wrong about UPL) & depth at the checking C role away from being legitimately in the mix to make the playoffs even in the stacked east.

Yes.

Between the owners' wealth & their challenging the cap floor, every contract for a guy that might fit into their future should be a 1 way contract if he's at a spot it is allowable.

Only problem w/ having a Krueger-less 2 seasons is we might very well now have Botterill overseeing the team. Which would still leave the team w/ no goaltending but a glut of RHD rather than LHD. (Sometimes it's like we're living through a really bad hockey themed Twix commericial.) Also, expect we'd have a plethora of 3rd liner wingers getting asked to play C &/or on the 2nd line. We'd also likely have suffered through just as bad a HC as J Botts only other hire was just as bad. Though he likely wouldn't have run a soccer team. We'd be in roughly the same spot except we'd probably still have all the cliquishness we ended up w/ during J Botts tenure any way so the future would still be Eichel & a prayer w/ no guarantee Reinhart would've signed whatever offer J Botts made w/out going to arbitration making it a 1 year deal.