nfreeman

Well, McD butchered the QB situation this year, but I'm reasonably happy with Josh Allen, most of the D, #9 overall (where they will most likely get a good receiver or O-lineman) and a ton of cap space. Beane needs to make it count.

I'm on board with ERod moving up to Mitts' line. Not sure about scratching Eichel in favor of Wilson though.

I hate to say it, but that was the kind of loss that a loser team that isn’t going to make the playoffs loses. I thought the call on Risto was the right call, and that it was an idiotic play on his part. They are 4-10 in their last 14 games. It’s time to make some changes in the middle 6. I’d vote for Smith and O’Regan to be called up, but it almost doesn’t matter who it is. They need to do something.

Well, I'm glad we know which temporary housing website JJ favors. But will it be a full apartment, or a room in a shared apartment? Perhaps a bed in a shared room? I was going to express doubt as to whether any more new threads are necessary on this, but now I feel like I need to know how this turns out.

Not surprising but no fun either.

I don’t think he should be sent down yet, but last night was probably the worst Pilut has looked IMHO.

This is pretty obnoxious.

@StuckinFL — i assume you mean a discount of $3.5MM to $4MM in total, right? Not per year? If so, I agree that he might go for that as long as the term is 7 or 8 years. But I also think his per-year number starts with an 8.

A few reality-driven principles are worth emphasizing: - There is NFW that Skinner accepts anything less than a 7-year deal. - Skinner might not hold out for the absolute last dollar if he is happy here, but there is NFW he is taking, say, a 20% discount to stay here, no matter how much he likes playing with Eichel. So if someone offers him $8.5MM x 8 years, for a total of $68MM -- the Sabres are going to need to offer him at least $62MM, even if his center on the $68MM team is Ville Freaking Leino. - Skinner's decision will almost certainly be based on total $$, not average $$ per year.

I noticed that too — that 2nd unit did pretty well — better than the top unit had been doing. I thought it might’ve been Howie sending a message to the top unit. I was hoping he would keep doing that but he went back to the regular rotation.

It sure didn't look that way to me -- more like Getzlaf was telling him exactly what the deal was and Eichel wanted no part of it (which is totally fine, of course, as Getzlaf is much bigger). Separately -- my game notes: - Ullmark was outstanding. I am nowhere near concluding that he's the next #1, but he is definitely keeping the competitive pressure on Hutton, which is great for the Sabres. - Skinner's goal was an elite goal-scorer's goal. The feint to the middle to get Gibson (a very good goalie) off the post, and then going high backhand on the short side? Awesome. - Skinner also had his agitator A-game going last night. - I can see PA's point that some kind of announcement about RJ would've been nice, but I can also understand the decision not to say anything until they had further info. - The D group, top to bottom, was excellent. McCabe had a couple of shaky passes early on but then seemed to find his timing and played very well. - In the 3rd period, when it was 1-0 and the Sabres were killing those penalties, it occurred to me that Bogo, McCabe, Larsson and Zemgus are the guys you call when you have a problem. You don't want to abuse the privilege, but when your car breaks down in a blizzard in the middle of the night, they'll come for you. Solid as a freaking rock. - I think I kinda like Tommer on the checking line with Zemgus and Larry. Those 2 are so good on the forecheck, and keeping the puck in the O-zone, that it inevitably creates more opportunities for Tommer than he gets when he's with one of the other lines. And he's pretty good on the forecheck too. - It's kinda counter-intuitive because they aren't great defenders, but Howie clearly likes having Eichel's line out whenever there's a potential ENG situation. And Reino made another very nice play last night to create the ENG. - It's getting harder and harder to see Pilut getting sent back down. He looks terrific and clearly better than Beaulieu, Nelson and Hunwick. - Ladies and gents: the Sabres are tied for #4 in the entire GD NHL at the xmas break.

So I like my brother-in-law, but he can’t make roast beef to save his life. He and his wife (my wife’s sister) have been hosting Xmas for the past few years, and he’s been buying the wrong cut of beef AND overcooking it. This year, my mother-in-law has moved into a nicer, bigger apartment and is hosting — and my wife and I have seized back the beef acquisition and roasting responsibilities. We’ve acquired a huge honking bone-in rib roast and it is going to be outstanding. I keep it simple — trim the fat, a lot of salt, a bit of pepper, coat in olive oil, cook in a roaster with a rack at 450 for 30 min or so to sear the outer layer, then the rest of the way at 350. Carrots, onions and beef broth in the pan, then make gravy at the end with that mixture and the drippings. It is fantastic when executed correctly.

Washington line combos: LW C RW Forwards Alex Ovechkin Rating: 89.1#1 LW Nicklas Backstrom Rating: 80.4#20 C T.J. Oshie Rating: 77.8#19 RW FL1 Rating Rating: 82.42#2 FL1 Jakub Vrana Rating: 73.0#77 LW Evgeny Kuznetsov Rating: 80.6#17 C Tom Wilson Rating: 75.8#32 RW FL2 Rating Rating: 76.46#8 FL2 Andre Burakovsky Rating: 72.1#74 LW Lars Eller Rating: 73.0#74 C Brett Connolly Rating: 73.4#51 RW FL3 Rating Rating: 72.82#11 FL3 Chandler Stephenson Rating: 69.7#170 LW Nic Dowd Rating: 72.0#103 C Devante Smith-Pelly Rating: 69.1#116 RW FL4 Rating Rating: 70.29#17 FL4 Defensive Pairings Defense Michal Kempny Rating: 74.6#30 LD John Carlson Rating: 82.7#3 RD DL1 Rating Rating: 78.62#3 DL1 Dmitri Orlov Rating: 74.7#28 LD Matt Niskanen Rating: 74.7#30 RD DL2 Rating Rating: 74.68#9 DL2 Jonas Siegenthaler

I don't really disagree with any of this, but I also think no one is going to give the Sabres a real #2 center for Guhle and a low 2020 first-rounder. I am generally just looking at the concept of trading for an older guy like Carter (or Patrick Kane for that matter) as an opportunity to dump KO, whom I increasingly think is done like dinner, and then the question is how much would I pay to upgrade from KO to Carter/Kane/other old expensive guy. And while I agree that it's unlikely that anyone will take him, I think it might be feasible as part of a package with sweeteners -- one of which is the opportunity for the other team to dump its older expensive guy. I agree that it's pretty unlikely in any case.

...unless of course the guy you get at #22 overall in 2020, once he finally makes it to the NHL in 2023, doesn’t give you any more than Zemgus or Grigorenko or a million other low-1st-rounders who never did anything significant in the NHL — while you could’ve had, for 2019-2021, the skilled, experienced #2 center (who happens to have 2 rings) that the team is dying for right now.

@LGR4GM -- while LA of course wouldn't take KO for Carter straight up, I would seriously consider giving them KO, Guhle and one of the lower #1s for Carter.

Pretty different scenarios IMHO. There is zero possibility that Skinner would take that contract. There is a real possibility that LA would take KO as part of a package deal for Carter that included other sweeteners. Now, I don’t think it will happen, because I think Carter will make it clear that he doesn’t want to be traded here, and because JB won’t want someone who doesn’t want to be here, and JB also won’t want to part with the amount of sweeteners it would take to get LA to agree. But the concept is not as far-fetched as Skinner taking a 60% discount.

I kinda think it will end up being pretty close to 8x8.

Well, this is still based on low information, but Guhle reminds me more of Soupy. I’d say Borgen is more of a McCabe comparable.

Pilut has to be the top D prospect. I have yet to come away from a Guhle viewing and feel confident that he'll become a good NHL defenseman. With almost no information, I'd guess the D prospects with the best long-term chances are Borgen, Laaksonen, Samuelsson and Fitzgerald.

Really?

I've raised the prospect of Carter previously. I would do it in a heartbeat, but only if they take KO, which I don't think they would agree to.

Nice to see McCabe and Pilut back. Interesting that Zemgus has gotten promoted to a scoring line. FTR, that was an opportunity available to Bergy if he earned it, but nooooooooooo.

As to each of the bolded items: we have no idea what the facts are. While I understand your disgust with Bergy's behavior IF your assumptions about his motivations are true (and they very well could be), and I too am happy at the prospect of being rid of his contract, I think you are being much too quick to dismiss alternative scenarios/outcomes. Me too. And I aspire to be as nice a guy as you are, notwithstanding certain questionable opinions on certain matters.

He's not gone if he files a grievance and he wins.