nfreeman

But these are all examples of goalie moves from last season and before then, innit? And no one really expects him to give up real assets for Helle, right? At this point, I would not be surprised if KA brings in a goalie on the Murray/Gibson level if the price is right, but I would be very surprised if he were to trade, say, JJP or Kulich or this year's #1 for a goalie, or if he were to give a FA goalie a contract longer than 2 years. I think Levi is his guy. It's been reported though that Johnson will not play for the Amerks in this playoff run, right? "He's here to be a part of this" kinda sounds like they might play him at some point.

I agree with most of this and certainly would've preferred that he sign earlier and play in this Amerks playoff run. However, regarding the bolded, I think it's highly likely that he understands that he'll be in the AHL next season and is OK with it, and he's OK with it because he knows he wouldn't be ready for the NHL next year. He's almost certainly taken advice from his dad, who's a former player and a member of the Ducks' organization, as well as from other NHL people his dad has checked with. It seems pretty likely that he would've gotten candid and accurate feedback about whether his game is NHL-ready. And if he understands that he'll be in the AHL next season, I can see the reasons to wait until now that others have suggested -- contract negotiations, enjoying the end of his college days, injury, weighing the Sabres against other organizations -- outweighing the urgency to sign and play ASAP. We'll see. KA has spoken reasonably highly of him over the past couple of years and clearly wanted to sign him, so there's a decent chance he becomes a starting NHL defenseman down the road. That would be a win.

I think it’s worth noting that KA deserves some credit here for selling Johnson, a pretty good prospect who easily could’ve been a UFA and would’ve had many appealing options, on the Sabres’ organization.

So next year in Rochester, Johnson and Novikov are the 2 D prospects, right? Anyone else?

Can he play for the Amerks in this playoff run?

I hear ya, notwithstanding the strange new choice of omitting periods at the end of your paragraphs I agree about that 2-year run, although 2005-06 was much more magical IMHO than 2006-07. I was at game 3 of the ECF vs Carolina in 2006, in which the Sabres took a 2-1 lead in the series, and it was freaking amazing (although Tallinder broke his arm in that game, a huge loss and major step in the road to the D-corps ruin). I can't really fault you for being willing to pay any price to get that back. I just think it's so hard, and so random, to go on a deep run in the playoffs, that the right approach is to build a team that has a good shot every year for a number of years -- and trading away a top prospect for one year of a veteran goalie cuts in pretty much the exact opposite direction.

Of course nothing is guaranteed. But as I'm sure you understand, it's KA's job to assess probabilities and act on them. Hello analytics. I think, and I'd bet that KA thinks, that it's much less likely that the Sabres get past the 2nd round with Helle than it is that JJP will become a player who is good enough that we regret trading him for one year of Helle. Similarly, the likelihood of Helle staying longer than 1 year seems quite low -- KA loves Levi and appears not to be interested in committing big dollars and term to any goalie, much less one that would box out Levi. Also, I don't see how you can say that you'd trade Östlund for Helle, full stop, and in the next breath say that you're actively seeking to not armchair GM.

But that's not the hypothetical trade. The hypothetical trade is JJP, or similar high-value asset, for one season that MIGHT include a deep playoff run -- and we should be clear-eyed that the odds of winning more than 1 round with a team and coach this young and inexperienced are quite low. I think there is effectively zero possibility that they trade for Hellebuyck. The price will be too high, and KA IMHO has no interest in boxing out Levi by giving Helle the long-term deal he will demand. Now, if they could get Helle for a 2nd-rounder, or maybe by swapping #13 for #18, and enjoy the fruits of Helle's contract year? I'm in. But I don't think Winnipeg will go for that, and I'm not giving up JJP, Quinn, Kulich, Savoie, Rosen, Östlund or #13 for 1 year of a goalie, and I don't think KA is either.

I agree on slowing it down, but it's way, way too early to come to any kind of conclusions on Rosen.

He's a RHD, 6'2, 183 lbs, age 19 (turns 20 in January), and drafted in the 5th round in 2022. Born in Russia, he just finished his 2nd year in the QMJHL, putting up 39 pts and 60 PM in 62 games. As I said when the Sabres drafted him, he's to my knowledge their first ever guy named Vsevolod. FC Hockey, a publication I know nothing about, describes him thusly: I assume he'll be in Rochester next season. If anyone has seen him play -- let's hear your thoughts!

What? Who said this? What exactly did he/she say? Please do not vomit up gibberish like this and waste everyone's time. What stats, specifically? I hope you have something better than plus-minus to support this. Here's what the Athletic had to say:

No. Savoie is the exact opposite of a lock. He's about as big a maybe as can be. And do we know that's going to happen? i.e. is this another "lock" that the Sabres should make FA decisions based on? If Kulich or Rosen earns a spot, he'll have a spot. (This seems almost impossible in the case of Rosen, and possible but unlikely in the case of Kulich, IMHO.)

I'll add that I think this makes a Zemgus return less likely, although not impossible.

I think this is probably best viewed as a "continued cleanse of prior toxic culture/growth of positive culture" move. I don't disagree that KO's play declined last year but he still had 11 goals and 28 pts and played almost 15 min per game on a decent team. He's still an NHL player. And his teammates seem to love and respect him. I'm fine with it.

I just saw Fast X. It certainly wasn't great, and you are probably a more discriminating viewer than I am, but I find all of them more or less the same level of "stupid but entertaining with great action sequences." I'm also interested in the increasing number of appearances by major actors/actresses.

Maybe it was blocking the view of people behind them?

I'd prefer Florida and Dallas to win, but I think it will be Carolina and Vegas baby Vegas.

IMHO during the latter years of the Eichel/Reino era there was enough talent in the key positions, other than goalie until Ullmark's last year here, for a good GM/coach combo to have put together a consistent lower-tier playoff team here. Eichel, Reino and Montour are all upper-echelon NHL players, and there are a number of other Sabres alumni who are still solid contributors, many on playoff teams (McCabe, Bogo, Colin Miller, Lazar, Scandella, Sheary, Rodrigues, Vesey) But TM, JB, Howie and especially Kruger were all bad-to-terrible at their jobs in multiple ways -- none was even average! -- and this created an insurmountable obstacle. Totally agree. VGK and the Kraken aren't better than the Sabres because they got some kind of boost from the expansion draft rules. They are better than the Sabres because the Sabres were a terribly run franchise for a decade. I agree with this. I think you generally take a rose-colored view of Jack's behavior and leadership while he was here, but there is no question IMHO that the franchise failed him, that a decently run franchise would've gotten much more out of Jack than the Sabres got and that Jack made the right decision in asking to be traded (and that KA made the right decision from the Sabres' perspective too).

What a play by Reino on that GWG. Lousy defense and goaltending by the Leafs on that play, but still a great play by Reinhart. Meanwhile, the Leafs are about to get bounced, and there is a very real possibility that they trade Mathews this summer, as he has 1 more year to UFA and it’s not clear whether he’s willing to sign an extension there.

This Fla-Toronto game is a classic, tight, hard-fought, no-penalties-called, tense playoff game.

Carolina is extremely well coached IMHO and executes a 200-foot game extremely well. A couple of summers ago I was hoping Carolina's owner would be too cheap to pay Brind'amour market rate and TP would swoop in with a huge offer. I'd probably pick Brind'amour as the best coach in the NHL. In any case, I think the most likely outcome in the EC is that Florida wins 1 of the next 2 at home and then finishes off the Leafs in game 5 or game 6, and Carolina beats Florida in the next round. FWIW, Carolina won 2 out of 3 vs Florida this year. On paper this is logical but every year, and especially this year, it becomes clear that there is an element of randomness in the NHL playoffs -- goaltending, injuries, puck luck, etc. -- that produces unexpected results. On the one hand it makes for excitement, but on the other hand it means the better team frequently loses.

Kinda interesting how Drury has conducted the Rangers in a “business as usual” way. I would’ve expected better. In any case, his head is probably next on the chopping block if they don’t have a better season next year.

So the EC Finals are looking like...Carolina vs Florida! And in the West...maybe Vegas vs Dallas? Garments will be rended and teeth gnashed in the GWN if that happens.

Reino has been very good in these playoffs. I thought he was pretty quiet last night, other than that very sweet assist, but still effective. He has his limitations but It seems like he never makes a flat-out bad play, he pretty consistently gets the puck to the right spot and he wins most of the contested pucks. I'll even say that his skating is improved as well. He's just a very good top-6 NHL forward.

This is maybe stating the obvious, but Tkachuk was the best player on the ice last night IMHO. Also, Bobrovsky has been up and down the past couple of seasons but is playing very well right now.