Taro T

We shall see.

He did get the 1st 4 games of the season. He got injured before or during that 4th game. At this point in time IMHO those games are no more relevant than the games he played last season. To the bolded, at this time, we'll have to agree to disagree. Personally expect he can do that getting 1B/2 usage in the NHL as well or better than if he were in the AHL. Should he continue to have issues with "chaos" in the NHL, then yes, the AHL would be a better place for him to be as that league is much less structured than the NHL and he'd get plenty of opportunity to work on it. One other item, though am strongly advocating for Levi to stay up in Buffalo, am absolutely willing to revisit that opinion should either Comrie get back to his preinjury form or Levi struggle vs lesser NHL competition. (And would agree he should be in the AHL should the latter occur consistently.) But right now, as you mention, he's been treated as the full time 1 and as the 1A. Really don't see the imperative to make him an AHLer if he's not the 1/1A. Personally would rather have him competing against NHLers than AHLers. Expect, much like Benson is too good for the WHL and is holding his own and learning in the NHL, Levi is too good for the A and will do the same.

Mainly because both have been having some major issues with their play. Overall both have been good, but both also have way more head scratching moments than they should. Expect that giving Power time with Erik Johnson will help him settle his play down more than consistently playing with Samuelsson would at this point in time. Not convinced their play last night wasn't better than it normally would be because they both knew they had to play at a higher level all game due to Dahlin being out. It might have been what they'll be when playing together, but again, not convinced of that. Also, expect playing 3rd pairing would help Samuelsson settle down for similar reasons. Once they're both going solid, sure, put them back together. And hope you get to a point that either Adams has brought in a true top 4 to partner with Dahlin or that Johnson gets to a point he can regularly play on a top line sooner than later.

At best, Stillman is 8 on the depth chart, so he very well might not. Have only seen 1 Amerks game this year and wasn't watching closely. @inkman or @K-9 and a couple others could answer your Q far better.

Blues 6 - Sabres 4. Sabres outshoot the Blues in the 1st period 15-8 and come out of that period down 3-1. Sabres tie game at 3-3 in the 2nd and still come out of the period down by 2 goals in a period they outshot the Blues 16-6. Sabres only outshoot them 15-6 in the 3rd and lose 6-4. The Sabres get ##### slapped in Carolina with Comrie in net. They actually played them fairly evenly for the 1st 15 minutes of the game prior to Comrie giving up 2 goals to go down by 2 at the end of 1 and then gives up another goal 1 minute into the 2nd. Playing Comrie in net in Carolina was almost criminal. There was no way they were winning that one. UPL should've gotten that start. (But he got hammered in St. Louis, so so much for that.) They didn't play terrible against the Preds, but a bad goal and an unfortunate deflection was enough going against the guy we hope Levi becomes. The team comes out flat with Comrie between the pipes and no Tuch in the lineup? Whomever could've seen that one coming? Honestly don't see Levi playing in Buffalo this year as the 2/1B to UPL as detrimental to his development. Would be adamant that he needs to be in Ra-cha-cha if it were absolutely the case. Don't see playing him as a 1B/2 as cheating him out of too many games / too many reps. He can always go down for a few days / couple of weeks if an issue starts to arise. And have NO problem at all with giving Comrie almost 0 reps in practice as long as UPL and Levi are performing well. Can't see any positive circumstances where Comrie is a Sabre next year. Expect if they start giving him the 1B/2 goalie starts, he'll start looking much better than he did prior to getting sent down. After coming back from injury the team's record with him between the pipes is now 3-1-1 and that includes 2 starts against the Bruins. His last 4 games prior to getting sent down were against opponents that were a combined 32-13-7 prior to their games vs the Sabres. REALLY wanted to see him get the game against the Blues to get a gauge of how he stands vs middling competition; didn't happen. It is what it is. And, if he does appear to be in over his head should he stay up, he can always get sent down at that point. Keeping him here while Comrie finishes fully healing up over the next couple of weeks / month isn't going to set Levi back irreparably. Should Comrie reach a point where he's playing as well as he was prior to being injured, they can go back and revisit the decision. But right now he isn't. The decision doesn't have to be an all or nothing decision regarding Levi. Play it by ear and go with what makes sense at the time, but if they go to UPL and Comrie right now, it sure does look like they're throwing in the towel on this season. That is unacceptable. Not when competing for a SC is the primary goal; you can't give up 1/3 of the way through. Have said it before, really don't see playing Levi full time vs AHL talent or nearly 1/2 time vs NHL talent appreciably affecting his career trajectory. This kid is special. Would have a significantly different view of this if he weren't. Regarding the 1st bolded; perhaps if they ACTUALLY give him an opportunity to play as the 1B/2, he'd be able to do just that. Regarding the 2nd bolded; what have you seen from this goalie that indicates he ISN'T gaining THOSE W's every single day? And he can get those in Buffalo or in Ra-cha-cha. Look, if he gets 1B/2 usage and gets overwhelmed, then sure, absolutely send him down. But right now, they haven't afforded him the opportunity to demonstrate whether he can succeed there or not.

Realize that. But can't hear the phrase "clears it, not out" without having flashbacks to #42.

To the bolded, next season, definitely look at it if noone from outside the team is brought in for a top 4 role. But am not a fan of forcing a rookie onto your top pairing. Presuming no top 4 D-man gets brought it, would like to see them run Dahlin-Jokiharju, E Johnson-Power, Samuelsson-R Johnson for a bit to try to get Power to settle down some. When he does, then bump Muel up with Power to reduce the load on Johnson. Roll Clifton into the lineup fairly regularly and move Samuelsson or R Johnson up with Power when E Johnson is watching.

Mother blankin' Smehlik's middle name. FTG.

Robinson was. Looking forward to Saturday to see if it was legit fitting in with Krebs or just the 'new team adrenaline burst.' Jost looked good for about 20 games before settling in to what he is today.

Levi was. But the team also, for the 1st time all season, made his job relatively easy. (Especially, when considering how good the opponent is and how hard his job was the last time he faced them.) They've played well in front of UPL some, but this was their best game in front of Devon this season by far IMHO. Yes, he faced a lot of tough chances, but he wasn't facing tic-tac-toe plays through the slot, nor uncovered players on the back door. The B's didn't have their A game, but the Sabres had theirs for the most part. Hated them going into Alamo mode the entire 3rd period. And, when you get a chance to get the puck out of the zone, get it out of the ####ing zone. (That stuff will bite them in the butt more often than not.) But even then, they didn't really give up many great chances to the B's. People have talked about Mittelstadt making some nice plays to take away chances, but he wasn't the only one. And when Boston got their great chances, Levi was up to the task.

Absolutely HATE the idea of going to 2 if Comrie as he's playing right now is one of the 2. You, of all people, should be on board with the Sabres doing what it takes to win games.

The SABRES need wins. NONE of the 3 has shown an ability to play well enough for the Sabres night in and night out. Getting repetitive, but give UPL 1/2 of the starts and give Levi the bulk of the others. Once Comrie is actually 100%, start giving him spot starts here and there. (And, there's no way IMHO that Comrie is 100%. He wasn't 100% for about 6 weeks after he was finally back playing last year. He's looked like doo doo since coming back.) Revisit the 3 headed monster once Comrie is ready to actually contribute to team success once again. Being on pace to get ~30-40 NHL games is not going to set Levi back.

Honestly don't see whether he plays in Buffalo or Ra-cha-cha materially effecting his trajectory. And, this team NEEDS to make the playoffs. Levi helps them advance towards that goal.

IF UPL isn't ready on Saturday, then, yes, go with Levi. But IF he's ready, give him the game.

Record WITH the 3 headed monster - 10-9-2. Record rolling with the problem eliminated - 0-4-0. Win hockey games.

Give him the start vs Moe-ray-all. And he's won consecutive starts this year (as has Levi). But he has not won consecutive Sabres starts in a long time. Make him the every other night starter and give him the tougher games - aka treat him like the 1A. And treat Levi like either a 1B or a legit 2. And run with that, as long as it is working. When it stops working, THEN adjust it. Give Comrie a start every so often, but 1st get him back to 100%. Once he's 100%, then reconsider how to deploy them.

No. If he's healthy, give UPL the Moe-ray-all game. And then give Levi the Yotes. Alternate them more or less with UPL getting the tougher game until he either falters or Levi continues to play like he did tonight. Then, alternate them with Levi getting the tougher game. Give Comrie an odd game when circumstances dictate it. (Likely stealing one of Levi's starts.)

Go back to the 3 headed monster w/ UPL getting the tougher games, Levi getting the easier ones, and Comrie cheerleading and getting the odd one every 2 or so weeks. If UPL falters, flip him and Levi. If Levi falters, send him down for a weekend to get his head back. Comrie is used to going a LONG time between starts without it affecting his play. And, personally, don't believe he's at 100% right now.

And hopefully it is, don't play Comrie again until he's actually recovered from his injury. He looked good last year until he got injured and then took another 1-1/2 months to look like a goalie after he was back. This year he looked good until he got injured and so far has taken at least another 2+ weeks to look like a goalie again after he came back. (Or if you play him, give him every 6th game, until you SHOULD trust him. When he's fully back, see where the other 2 are, and make a decision based off that.)

Congrats on seeing a great game. Been a long time since you saw one there in their barn.

THAT ... was satisfying. REALLY needed that one. Now keep it up on Saturday against the Habs.

Again, it ISN'T about Levi's development. Playing in Buffalo or Ra-cha-cha will not impact what he's about to become. It's about winning hockey games NOW. Not in a year or 2. And moving away from the 3 headed monster did NOT help in that regard.

So, basically, unless he sticks the entire year, he's free to Buffalo (there's only 58 games left this season). If he misses 14 games, he was FREE!!!!!!!

To the bolded, it probably is better for Levi to get extra work in Ra-cha-cha rather than to be a part of this tire fire that's gone to another level since he was spared from it. But, still not convinced that Comrie coming off injury is better than Levi is right now, and IF playoffs truly is a goal, they have to have their best options for the net available. Still don't see why they chose when they did to send Levi down. Again, IF playoffs is the goal. If they aren't, well, there's a lot of sense to what was done and the timing of it. But after 12 years in the desert, playoffs need to be a primary goal and they need to go w/ the best possible permutation of players for winning now; development be darned. UPL has outplayed the other 2, but he still hasn't had consecutive starts of Sabres games (NOT referring to consecutive starts of his own) that he's won both games for a very long time. He's playing like a poor man's starter or a very good #2, but until he starts showing an ability to get the Sabres consecutive wins, still believe he should be getting only every other start unless there is a significant layoff for the team. Until Comrie plays well post injury, would have UPL getting 1/2 the games, Levi 1/3, and Comrie the odd extra game. If UPL elevates further, cool (great, actually); if Comrie finally pulls it together, cool; or if Adams finally does what he should've done in the off-season and bring in a vet to pair with somebody, then awesome. But until then, don't see an issue with having Levi up for another couple of weeks. They aren't going to ruin him regardless of where they play him or don't play him. Realize that goes against board dogma, but them's this kid's 2 cents. YMM (and likely will) V. (And that's with expecting Levi to get lit up tonight. Why does he keep drawing Boston? St. Louis would've been a good start for him.)

Didn't read the thread, so if somebody already said this, apologies. The only silver lining to Tuesday's game is that there were only 9-10k in the building (announced crowd was 14k, but there's no way they were nearly 3/4 full. The top 6-8 rows of the 300's were packed (probably doing the $20 tix thing) but the rest of the barn was mainly 1/2 full with some prime areas only 1/4 full.) And it was an ESPN+ game only so there were relatively a very few that got the privilege of watching the debacle that was the 1st 45 minutes of that game. Soooo frustrating to watch.