...

Not to argue, but, rather, to discuss... I don't see how Montour could change the makeup of the D as it's presently being used. He's no 24 minute a night guy and we already have plenty of puck-moving D. No one on the team seems disinterested at this point, so "healthy internal competition" isn't going to factor in. If anything, I'm a little concerned that inserting Montour will create the step back rather than address the slow-slippage in play we've seen creep into the team since the first few games.

Especially when the cap-hit estimates for Dahlin flung around this board over the summer were as high as $12mil if memory serves.

Whatever happens, this month defines the team for the rest of the season.

Let's keep some perspective. Every team is going to bring their A-game to the Sabres while the below is true:

This week, in particular, will verify that (or not). They get several days to address some things that have slipped lately. If they can do that and it shows this weekend, you will be correct.

"Great October but..... What Does November Hold?" Easy: more bickering. More complaining. More Sabrespace.

Didn't Phil come in here saying the boys would need to be able to handle the rigours of his system?

Well, this kind of helps to explain a little of last night:

Take heart, if you look at the chart, they all sucked in the third, not just Dahlin.

So here we are, regressing to the mean.

I will refer to the beginning of this thread to describe the OT:

That was the most bizarre OT.

I'm totally fine with a rout.

Meanwhile, they're making the offense look easy.

Agreed.

Up until that last shot across the crease, Hutton has been making his own luck. The crease shot was just lucky.

What would he be bouncing back from? The season started in October and he made the same mistakes more frequently last year. I'm trying to recall how he looked in the first few games, but all I remember is people complaining about him.

Absolutely. Love the logo. Only criticism is the colors are little muted.

Nice OP @jsb! Blows my mind we made it through the weekend still being number one in the league. The 'Yotes will give Buffalo a legit test tonight. Haven't watched them, yet, this season to see what kind of game they're playing, so I have no idea if wanting to see Borgen in the lineup is warranted, but I would like to see Borgen in the lineup.

In a way, I'm a little glad Botterill didn't move right away to add a second liner. It may have been hasty in retrospect without first knowing what this team is. I still can't put my finger on what this team is and what the appropriate upgrade should be. Not like scoring is a stand-out issue right now, or goaltending, or defense. However, it's clear this team needs an upgrade somewhere.

Well, I mean at his face.

"The vibes are so good" ~ John Gilmour, Sabres Defense

Also, the book on Ullmark is to shoot high on him.

The only thing I would say about what I saw is that the PP needs more work. The counter to the Sabres' PP is clearly to pressure the players, and that has been working lately. The Sabres need to work on moving the puck quicker (someone here was on that train all last season). He's been on and off the Sabrespace trade block since this summer.

Especially since he can actually play defense.