Taro T

Don't watch much college football. Watch some. Can't recall ever watching Wyoming. The pundits all were pounding how raw he was. It sure was coming across as he was "incredibly raw". You seem fixated on the statement that his being raw as a big part of why he wasn't this kid's 1st choice; not fully sure why that is when it was a perception that was very common back then. And, btw, compared to the rest of that QB class, he was raw. He was a JC transfer and played on a WAC team (and a middling WAC team to boot). He came pretty much "out of nowhere." That combined with the lack of serious offensive credentials on the Bills staff (remember, though Daboll had been on the Cheats staff for a few SB's he was WR / TE coach for them. His stints in the NFL in other locations were not impressive and a single year as the OC for Bama with all the talent and past success that program had wasn't all that impressive either. Daboll seemed a step in the right direction compared to Dennison, but he wasn't exactly an A-lister at the time and he was the OC for a HC with a heavily defensive background who had been modestly successful as a HC enacting a very low risk game plan. What screamed success at developing the raw kid. Again, had the Bills had a coaching staff that had a more established record at developing O would've been very happy with the pick.

Hoped the Browns wouldn't grab him and the Bills would find a way up to 2 or 3, but wanted Mayfield that year. Wasn't meant to be and it worked out very well. Being bright doesn't mean he wasn't raw. His mechanics have been significantly reworked since he came into the league. And, not sure how "raw" and "not having as much experience" aren't getting at the same thing.

Interesting reply. And kind of ironic; such a childish response coming from somebody pining for the '60's.

And for some of us that didn't want Allen to be the pick, it was the combination of HIS inexperience along with the Bills coaching staff's inexperience & focus on a running game that was the reason for that. Had Reid or someone else with the offensive chops of Andy been the HC, would've been all in on choosing Allen. But the combination of Buffalo having shown no clue how to run an offense (except during the brief Gailey tenure) for 15+ years along with Allen being incredibly raw; saw the makings of a serious cluster developing at One Bills Drive. Turned out that the coaches and Palmer were able to get Josh to come crazily close to his ceiling; but going off the Bills track record, that definitely didn't seem to be anywhere close to a given at the time.

Seriously? How well steeled are you going to get if your boss is PUBLICLY saying "well yeah, Phil is pretty good at this, but he really needs to be better at X, Y, and Z or his simply isn't going to cut it and we're going to punt his arse if he doesn't pick them up."

What possible benefit do the Sabres get by showing what the scouts that DIDN'T want to draft a particular player were saying about him? Do they really want a kid that is now in their organization to know that so & so doesn't believe he skates well enough or has a hard enough shot or whatever the case may be? Would be SHOCKED if they put the dissent in the public view for all the world to see. (And that would be the case for any team putting together a video like this.) You LIKE Girgensons? Mildly surprised at that, as you've been harping on getting the Sabres to dump him for years. Didn't hate them reaching on a goalie that year as much as some others hated it. The goalie prospect cupboard was pretty bare at the time especially considering there was a real risk that Portillo would walk. They have (and at the time had) a LOT of F prospects in the system and, as the Savoie trade demonstrated, they don't/won't have room for all of them. (Mentioned F depth, because it seemed most here wanted an F taken with that pick.) Yes, it was a weak draft, but by choosing the 1st goalie taken off the board, they absolutely got the guy they wanted when the cupboard was bare. (Now, whether they picked the right goalie still seems to be in doubt. But there is no doubt they got the goalie they had rated #1 in that class.) Had they made a similar move this year with as many young goalies in/at the NHL level and in the system; would've hated the move as much as everyone else hates it.

One reason to want him is he's really good near the net on the PP. Something Skinner wasn't overly adept at and really nobody else (except possibly Benson or Tuch) on this roster has come close to it.

Reports like this are why there probably is a pretty strong likelihood that the Sabres do end up trading a bit of their precious future capital for Zegras or someone similar. One more 2nd liner and the team suddenly seems to have some depth when injuries inevitably hit.

Yup. Pretty consistently one of the best 30 goalies in the league, but rarely in the top 15-20. He was an awesome backup and a poor man's starter.

The Fantasy Sports / Betting Line segments might not be an absolute winner ratings wise, but if those segments are sponsored (like beyond the normal advertising levels) then it still likely makes sense to run them.

Soooo frustrating, because they really could've horded some extra assets if ownership were willing to take on some salary while they were at the cap floor these past few years. And now that opportunity is pretty much gone.

There are several that agree with it. Most of us just don't seem to feel the need to shout it every hour on the hour. 😉

Haven't been in the dressing room since they upgraded it back in '12(?). Didn't know they were letting people in there, but probably wouldn't have mattered because ... We had our hands full and needed to go stop by the 'rents, so we just left after grabbing our loot.

You figured wrong.

The line of people to get into the sale area was long when we showed up 20 minutes before the sale was supposed to start and well after they'd already started letting people in. By the time we left, just before the sale was supposed to start there were at least 100 people in line waiting to get in. That's why we didn't look at skates, helmets, bags, nor a few other pieces of equipment and we didn't look at any of the water bottles nor stuff like that. We had our shopping list, filled it, and got out of Dodge.

Umm, as mentioned, DIDN'T LOOK AT SKATES. 😉 Sticks were $100. Which is a really good price for 1 piece composities.

So, @PromoTheRobot did you come in for the sale? There was some pretty cool stuff there. They actually opened up the doors by 10:30AM. We were there just a few minutes after that and people were already walking out with merch. With Adidas losing the NHL contract, there were a lot of blank pro pro weight sweaters. Unfortunately by the time we got into the sale almost all the Benson sized ones were gone. But did manage to snag one. (Will probably have to get Benson put on it, as he's probably the only one on the team that wears that size. 😉 ) Didn't look at skates, as just bought a new pair a year ago and at this kid's age, pretty sure that's the last pair that will ever be buying. There were a lot of gloves and a fair # of sticks. (Sucks that so much of the team are lefty shots. 😉 There were about 4 racks of lefty sticks and only 2 righties and most all those were EJ's. 😢 He uses a seriously stiff stick.) They had practice jerseys too with about half of them having a player name and # on them. A girl that was in the store earlier found a couple of Samuelssons but 'bout all that was left when we got in there were Amerks, Clague, Jost, and Bryson (apologies for the repetition). Son got some nice goalie sticks (they're crazy light) and a pair of pants. There was a lot of Amerks gear too. But we stuck w/ the Sabres stuff as there didn't seem to be a price break for going w/ Amerks gear. We just looked at the stuff we were really interested in because the line was stupid long by the time we left about 5 minutes before the sale was supposed to start.

Durn it. Was hoping they'd give him $60/yr fully guaranteed. Eh, he almost got 90% of that.

Don't forget Mittelstadt WANTED to sign here. He simply didn't get an offer. So, they've signed 6 of 7 and it was their choice to not go for 7 of 7. Only Olofsson didn't want to be back, of the recent younger guys. And that was a function of not fitting in for a nightly slot in the lineup; not because he didn't like it here. He didn't like the press box and couldn't earn his way out of it.

None of the anwers, the way they're written, is quite accurate. Yes, the Sabres will be OK in net. The big question is "will they be GOOD in net, this season." The answer to that is something like either probably or hopefully. Personally, expect that the goaltending will be good this year. But wouldn't have a whole lot down on that bet.

There are exactly 64 NHL goalie jobs. (Well maybe 66 to cover for a team or 2 having a "3 headed monster.") He's a starter. Will he be for all 5 years? No data. But being top 25 (and believe someone said he's actually 17th highest paid) only puts him ahead of 7 starters (and if he's 17th, he's only ahead of 15 starters). The cap keeps going up and by the time they have to be making a serious decision on Levi's pay (a couple of years from now as he's ~4 years away from UFA status) UPL quite likely won't even be in the top 32 of goalie's pay. The man's an amplifier and this is his Sally Fields moment - you like me, you really like me. There's a very good chance this deal works out, and even if it doesn't, there will be methods available to get out from under the deal.

Not in Buffalo, it don't. 😉

Wifey still on occassion will sing their UPL song. What a great bunch of characters they seem to be.

The clause in the CBA that says comparable players' contracts are used to help determine what the player's salary will be was in the post you quoted. Whether you choose to believe it or not is your choice.

One other reason to like this contract is that, for whatever reason, it seems that UPL plays significantly better when he truly believes his team is behind him and trusts him. This contract directly tells his that the team believes in him as a #1. (He has stated that in interviews that it's important for him to know the team believes in him. Maybe that was just a function of his youth and he'll grow out of needing that validation. But considering he seems to have an "amplifier" personality; that 1 extra year might've bought a better goalie than we'd've gotten even with a 3 or 4 year deal.) Personally expect that he'll play a lot better with this deal than he would've on a "prove it" 1 year deal with Levi breathing down his neck. Ruff has spoken highly of him. This proves Adams thinks highly of him too. And if they're wrong, well, TO & other teams seem to be able to get out of even worse bad contracts every single year. No reason the Sabres shouldn't be able to do so as well. AND they've still got Levi in the wings. Kind of feels like they are setting up their own little Ullmark Swayman situation here. Here's to hoping they did. (We're due for getting to actually have nice things again.)