nfreeman

Good writeup -- thanks. He sounds like a real threat to Larsson and Zemgus.

I was going to say that Flagg gets like this every now and then -- but really, who among us hasn't despaired of this team at some point during the past few seasons? I admit to feeling unwarranted optimism every year 'bout this time, but still: - New goalies - Possible new superstar defenseman - New speedy, scoring winger in a contract year in Skinner - 2 new high-ceiling kid forwards in Mittsy and TT, plus Nylander if and when he earns a trip back here - A year of HC experience under Housley's belt - More team speed - Less team psychodrama with departures of Lehner, ROR and Kane - Healthy KO - Healthy McCabe, who looked good in preseason with Dahlin - More guys in Rochester like Pilut, Guhle and Nylander pushing the incumbents I'm telling ya: it's going to be a good year! In fact, I guarantee it. (Please contact Eleven via PM with all guarantee-related inquiries.)

Possible Larsson replacement, if Larsson is waived?

Marvino’s at the plaza at Sheridan & Hopkins? Near the Pop Shoppe and Schony’s? Me too!

Thanks boys. However: even with the 30-day limit, there was no reason to waive Tennyson now, right? i.e. they could've done so when Bogo/Hunwick returned instead of doing so now? So maybe the idea was, as Thorny said, just to sneak him through during a period of heavy NHL activity?

Clearly this was a glorious victory for @Hoss. However, can anyone explain why they bothered to waive him since they evidently were going to keep him with the Sabres for the time being anyway? Also, while I understand the disappointment with Nylander being sent down, I will note: - if he plays well in Rochester he'll be back up pretty quickly -- and if he doesn't play well in Rochester then he shouldn't have made the NHL roster. - I think what really left an impression was how much better he looked over the past few weeks than he did in prior years -- i.e. not so much that he clearly was better than his competitors for the spot.

RHD, age 22, 6’2, 196 lbs, drafted #51 overall by Nashville in 2014. He played 1 year at the U of Wisconsin, then 2 full years in the AHL. Looks like he regressed last year after a solid pro debut season the prior year. So maybe a guy with some potential who needs a change of scenery — kinda like Baptiste.

Yes indeedly. AJ Green had a great catch in the end zone to win the game for Cincy today that none of the Bills' WRs would've been within a mile of. Separately: I thought Allen was terrible in the 1st half and missed a ton of open receivers. This put the game into very-close-to-unwinnable territory, since they were down 16-0 at the half. His INT right before halftime was Peterman-like. I did think he threw it much better in the 2nd half, but it was against a softer D and he still took a bunch of sacks, and either way he still didn't put together any scoring drives. Losing Micah Hyde early was a major blow, but they responded and played respectable D without him. I sure hope Allen plays better next week.

Wilson’s injury may have just created a spot for one of TT or Nylander.

That’s a bummer. At least he was able to get a new 2-year contract a couple of months ago though.

Took wife and daughter to “Black Klansman” tonight (daughter’s 1st R-rated movie in a theater, BTW). Pretty good — if you like Spike Lee, I think you’ll probably like this one. More comparable to “Inside Man” than to “Do the right thing” IMHO.

Sabres' Final Record: 42-33-7, 91 pts, 5 pts out of playoffs Total Goals Scored: 250 Total Goals Allowed: 240 Power Play Ranking: 6 PK Ranking: 20 All-Star Players: Eichel, Skinner Award Winners/Finalists: Dahlin - Calder Player Predictions Top 3 goal scorers 1.). Skinner — 33 2.). Eichel — 32 3.). KO — 26 Top 3 point totals 1.). Eichel — 81 2.). Skinner— 59 3.) Reino — 55 Sabres' best rookie:. Dahlin Biggest surprise: Nylander Biggest disappointment:. Ullmark How many games/wins for the goalies? Ullmark: 26 games — 11 wins Hutton: 56 games — 31 wins other(injuries):

Pilut might earn his way into the group too! Is TT officially a rookie? (Perhaps that’s what you were referring to with the quotes.) I think the cutoff used to be 25 games. Either way he’s a Sabres rookie.

Good info. Thanks. Pilut? Optimistic but I appreciate it.

Also: I’m interested in the sub-plot of what happens with Nylander and Thompson when Sheary and Larsson return, which could be as early as 3-4 days from now. It’s probably fair to say that neither of them has made the team just yet — and we won’t know until Sheary and Larsson return. We should hope that at least 1 of Nylander and TT has shown enough to force JBott to waive Larsson, Wilson or Zemgus when push comes to shove. And that each of Nylander and TT realizes that this is where they are, and works like crazy this week in practice.

I agree with most of this but would also point out that they could keep 8 D and 13 F instead of 7 D and 14 F. In that case they would waive 2 F and 1 D.

FWIW, on the WGR post-game show last night, both Hammy and the host (I think Brian Koziol?) said that they think Nylander has made the team.

So when do we expect them to announce the cuts?

Nylander has made it a competition, but I think TT has been more consistently effective. And the difference in ice time likely means that Howie favors TT. I voted Nylander, Baptiste and Larsson, and Pilut, Tennyson and Guhle on D. The 3 D choices are pretty self-explanatory. On offense, I wouldn't be unhappy if they kept Nylander and waived Zemgus or Wilson or Bailey, but it seems unlikely. They probably want to keep one of Zemgus and Larsson for the experience and grit (and I have them waiving Larsson), Wilson is their guy and Bailey has been getting a pretty long look -- more than Baptiste it seems (although I didn't check the stats on that so could be mistaken).

Good call here sir. This I think is a bit overstated and weave's point about relativity to expectations is probably right. I think Casey and Thompson both looked more ready for prime time than Nylander, and that most of the fuss about Nylander is that he looked pretty good and like he might turn into a good to very good NHL player, whereas until now he had looked completely ineffective and like a high risk to wash out. Mitts didn't come out like McDavid, as we were kinda half-hoping he would, but to me he still looks like he's ready to be an effective NHL center, albeit in a more sheltered role to start. As for my preferred lineup: Skinner Eichel Reinhart Sheary Mittelstadt Okposo Nylander Berglund Thompson (but only if Howie and JBott are sure that Nylander earned it, including in practice) ERod Sobotka Pommer (really CJ Smith though instead of Pommer)

I think they were hoping that Bogo would be healthy, but not counting on it. That would've been nuts. I think they thought their top 4 would be some combo of Risto, Scandy, Dahlin and McCabe, with the other 2 coming from some combo of when-available Bogo, Nelson, Hunwick and Beaulieu, with Guhle and Pilut pushing from Rochester. At this point, with Bogo and Hunwick out, I think I'd prefer a 3rd pair of Nelson and Pilut, but I wouldn't be surprised to see them start with Nelson and Beaulieu.

It's a (IMHO) pretty lousy snack -- kinda like a frito in a cone shape, but not as tasty as fritos.

LTS -- I see your point, but I don't agree. I think the value that can be extracted by keeping vets like Zemgus, Larsson, Pommer, Baptiste, Bailey and Bogo on the Sabres' roster with an eye towards trading them is negligible -- and does not outweigh the cost of loss of team morale that would result from seeing guys who have earned roster spots not get them.

Yeeeeesssshh. Pilut and Ullmark both just got undressed, and not by one of Pittsburgh's stars, either.

Pilut had a nice little play just now to settle down a bouncing puck in the D zone with a forechecker bearing down and made a nifty pass to exit the zone.