nfreeman

How will the taxpayers not bear the burden? The state and county will incur a huge amount of new debt. Even if the stadium generates enough income to pay the interest -- which is questionable -- it certainly won't generate enough to pay down the principal. And there is a limited amount of debt the state and county can incur -- at some point investors will decide they are over-leveraged and stop buying the muni bonds. I think it's also worth noting that the $1.4B is the total before overruns, which are certain to occur and to be substantial. I would bet that those are going to be funded primarily or entirely with public money too.

Well, regardless of how the county is raising the money, the fact remains that in selling the bonds they are taking out a huge amount of debt and using the proceeds of the debt to fund the stadium -- as opposed to funding other things, or even not borrowing and spending the money at all.

Does anyone really think he's not going to turn pro this year? It seems impossible.

Awesome.

Well, it's asking a lot for a young defenseman in his 2nd NHL season to be productive and consistently reliable the first time he (and almost all of his teammate) makes the playoffs. Especially since the Sabres will probably be a low seed and playing one of the best teams in the EC. So yeah, probably the Conn Smythe for Bryson.

Another LHD? Theodore is a good player but the Sabres are pretty loaded at LHD and pretty thin at C. Do you not think TT is a legit #2 C, if not a #1C? Also, Vegas isn't going to trade him.

I agree that he doesn't have 5 more peak years yet, but he's probably got a few left at an elite level, and he's one of the guys who is the heart and soul of the team. They need to keep him. I think they will probably give him a contract structured similarly to Von Miller's -- i.e. a ton of guaranteed money, but no real cap damage if they move on after 3 years. He turns 29 at the end of November -- so a 3-year commitment would be his age 29, 30 and 31 seasons.

He is skating and handling the puck with a ton of confidence right now. More credit to DM.

There were a number of shifts last night where TT’s line utterly dominated the Pens.

I think TT and Dahlin will both get long term deals this summer.

Does anyone know whether the TNT app lets you start watching the game late, including after it’s over? I kinda doubt it but may need a solution as I’m traveling tonight and probably can’t watch the game until late.

Dude. Have we not learned by now that instant karma's gonna get ya?

Thanks. That's not a bad penalty a-tall. They'll probably get at least 2 good years out of Von, and maybe 3.

FWIW, Joe Buscaglia at the Athletic says the Bills can get out of the Von Miller contract after 3 years at pretty substantial savings, so it’s really just a 3-year commitment.

So I was curious about Florida's pick and I checked the NHL's website on the draft order rules. Bottom line is that assuming FLA wins our division -- and they are currently 6 pts ahead of TB, with both teams having played 62 games -- their pick will be no better than 29. If they make it to the finals, their pick will be 31 or 32. The Sabres are currently 7th-worst in the NHL with 19 games to play. They are 1 pt behind Chicago, with both teams having played 63 games. The Sabres are 7 pts behind Detroit, who have also played 63 games. I'd guess the Sabres will probably pass Chicago and end up 8th-worst. So, if someone jumps ahead of the Sabres in the lottery, Vegas continues to crap the bed and Florida does not make it to the Finals, we're looking at something like #9, #15 and #30.

Vegas lost to Winnipeg tonight 4-0 — that’s back-to-back shutout losses. I said in another thread that they really might miss the playoffs. It’s not impossible that the wheels are coming off before our eyes. Lose baby lose!

I’ll see the “don’t hand the starting job to UPL” ante and raise: there is a reasonable possibility that one of Levi or Portillo (or both for that matter) outplays UPL next fall in camp. KA should bring in a no-BS starting quality NHL goalie next year and let the 3 kids fight it out for the other slot with the Sabres. If there is a taxi squad and Anderson wants to return, he should be the 3rd goalie in Buffalo.

So it's been about 4 weeks since his 4-week injury -- has anyone heard anything about Rosie? With all of the Sabres' highly touted prospects, I tend to forget that Rosen was the 13th pick in the 2021 draft (technically 14th but AZ, maintaining their hammerlock on "most Mickey Mouse NHL franchise," forfeited their #11 slot, so he was the 13th player chosen).

This is reasonable, but I think KA had no interest in overpaying a cynical vet who would've come here solely for the money and kept an eye on the exit at all times. That would've directly conflicted with his pretty consistently executed goal of only bringing in guys who wanted to be here. Did anyone execute any deals that turned cap space into good assets this year?

It's starting to feel like a whole lotta nothin'.

Flames 1st period shots on goal in games immediately before and after Sabres game: 19, 16, 11, 9 (6 vs Sabres). Leafs 1st period shots on goal in games immediately before and after Sabres game: 13, 11, 8, 10 (6 vs Sabres). Again, I am excited about the signs of life we're seeing. That can be true at the same time as other things being true. One of those other things IMHO is that good teams generally don't get as fired up and focused against crappy teams as they do against other good teams. You are of course free to disagree.

When The Godfather asks for a favor…

I think “possibility” is probably more appropriate than “fact” here. Do you think high-end opponents generally bring their A games vs bottom dwellers? Do you think they bring the same level of focus and intensity every night?

Another highly enjoyable game with a lot to like from a bunch of different guys. Good for them.

Goal and a power play!