nfreeman

Pysyk isn't super-fast in terms of chasing guys down, but he's very quick and agile on his skates and can move fast in tight spaces in the D-zone. He just doesn't have much game beyond that quality.

That was awesome. I freaking love this kid. He knows we need him desperately and is going to come down from the fortress of solitude in the far North like Superman and raise everyone up. I think the hockey gods may finally let us out of our richly deserved Black Sunday/tanking 13 years in the hole sentence. Separately: the Dom-era Sabres had a winger named Geoff Sanderson, who was from Hay River, NW Territories (https://www.google.com/maps/place/Hay+River,+NT,+Canada/@60.8479943,-124.8979038,5z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x53c58eb5ea20b66d:0x496a27b76b46d0ea!8m2!3d60.816218!4d-115.7853653?hl=en). He was one of the fastest guys the Sabres have ever had -- legend has it that he developed his speed to keep safe from the polar bears. To my knowledge, Sanderson was, until Cozens, the Sabre from the most remote hometown. (BTW, I find it a bit interesting that the NW Territories are East of the Yukon.) The clouds are lifting. It's going to get better now. Carry on.

From the Athletic:

Welcome @FrenchConnection44! Another Eric Staal would be freaking awesome.

Yet another area in which the NBA is much smarter than the NHL.

One comparable that occurs to me based on the descriptions and highlights is Ryan Smyth.

C'mon homie. We need your commentary tomorrow.

I assume it's like Hardhome and the Fist of the First Men.

He's ranked #20 overall here: https://www.hockeyprospect.com/2019-nhl-draft-rankings/ ...although I have no idea how good/terrible that site is.

Kris Baker wanted the Sabres to take Brink if available at 31.

Kaliyev had 51 goals this year!

Was this necessary? Can't we have a good time here tonight?

That location on the map -- and his mom referring to all the fans back in "the territory" -- awesome!

I am regretfully calling BS on the Aho stuff.

I'm calling NFW on PK to the Leafs.

1st bolded -- still working on that myself. 2nd bolded -- totally agree.

So -- the source for the Lindholm possibility was a poster on an inferior Sabres board you were slutting around on summarizing someone else? And was that the same source for the possible MTL trade? That doesn't sound like good support for "we know JB turned down better offers." I'm still glad you're back though.

Such as? Link?

Vesey is a UFA after this coming season -- so only 1 year left on his contract.

But doesn't it depend on the price? I agree that trading McCabe for him would be nuts, but what about Scandella, Hunwick, O'Regan, a 5th-round pick, or similar cheapo price?

No. In his 2nd stint he had 18 pts in 30 games. http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=177831

It would be great if Olofsson can step up and contribute this year, but there is zero evidence that he'll be able to. I don't see how anyone can look at the Sabres' roster and conclude that no upgrade at LW is needed. After Skinner it's a vast wasteland. But if the LWs below Skinner were Vesey, Olofsson (having proven capable) and Sheary, all fighting it out for ice time, then it starts looking like a real group of NHL forwards. What is the point of this? Just to be argumentative? A more realistic proposal would be GA's idea of Scandella.

Pommer's career will most likely end up being better than Vesey's, but at this point I would absolutely have Vesey. Pommer is out of gas.

Well, you're right that the price shouldn't be too high. I certainly wouldn't want them to spend much to get him. However, as noted previously I disagree about him being an upgrade. The Sabres' middle 6 was freaking terrible last year, and Vesey is a young player with size and speed who can score goals. You are certainly free to prefer guys like Sheary (who was terrible for over half of the season), ERod (who had 9 goals in 74 games), KO, Sobotka, etc. -- but I'd rather give Vesey a try.

UPL turning into Tom freaking Barrasso would be a miraculous gift from the hockey gods and would be exactly what this team needs.