nfreeman

I think part of DM's psychological revival of Skinner though is putting him on the top PP unit. I would guess that Mitts stays on the 2nd unit for a while.

I was referring to last season and this season. His 13 goals in 56 games last season and 7 goals in 40 games this season isn't going to get him a fat UFA contract unless he has a major rebound season next year. Me too.

I can't see anyone giving up a first or a good prospect this year for VO. He's injured and his last 2 seasons he's produced very slightly above JAG level. I think it's about 50/50 that he and the Sabres will agree on a deal that is longer than 1 year this summer, and only about 25% likely that they agree on a deal that is longer than 2 years. He is going to want to be paid well to give up UFA years, and the Sabres will not want to pay that much given injury risk and mediocre production for the last 2 seasons. OTOH, he has to consider that he will turn 28 in his UFA summer and would really have to deliver a monster season next year in order to attract, say, offers of 5 years x $5MM. If he can get, say, 3 years x $4.5MM from the Sabres this summer, he might decide the prudent move is to take it. Tricky decision for both sides.

Maybe they want to give Mattias a game to catch his breath as he's been a bit shaky lately but they don't want to put pressure on him so they are hiding behind a D rotation story?

I’m still giggling about that post/gif combo.

Well said. It seems likely that he has a serious issue in his shoulder that has impaired his shot, which is his best NHL talent, and which will not magically heal this season. If that's the case, then we're looking at shoulder surgery this summer -- right after he's produced maybe 12 goals and 35 pts and right when he needs a new contract. I don't think they would, or should, commit, say, $4.5MM x 4 years to VO in that situation. OTOH, if they give him a 1-year deal and he comes back healthy next fall, he's reasonably likely to put up 30 goals in his UFA contract year, which would make him highly likely to be too expensive to keep. I'd be pretty disappointed to lose another good player because we didn't give him a long-term deal when we had the chance. I'd try to give him a 2-year deal at, say, $4MM per year, and if he kills it next year, try to extend him the following summer. But if he's willing to bet on himself, he probably wouldn't agree to that kind of deal. It's a tricky one for KA. As noted upthread, the Sabres are far from having too many good players. We can be pretty comfortable with the top line and reasonably confident in Krebs and Cozens. But Quinn and Mitts so far haven't produced anything at the NHL level and can't stay healthy, JJP looks great but also hasn't done anything in the NHL and Rosen, the Russians and whoever they draft this year are just rolls of the dice. If they think they can get VO healthy, it would be nuts to trade him on the assumption that they have plenty of good young forwards who can take his place.

Well, the injuries and aborted/limited recoveries this season have been abnormally bad, and KA just said that he's going to evaluate the medical staff over the summer.

This is a pretty interesting question and a bit of a dilemma for KA. When healthy, VO is IMHO a legit 25-30 goal guy with pretty good speed and hockey IQ and is a major weapon on the PP. He’s also homegrown and generally the kind of guy you want to keep around. But shoulders are tricky (I’m assuming that is what’s ailing him.). Can you get comfortable that he will in fact return to full health? Can KA rely on the Sabres’ medical team to give him advice on which he needs to base a $20MM+ decision? I hope he fully recovers and I hope they keep him. He’s a good scoring forward and they need as many of those as possible.

FWIW, Joe Tsai bought 49% of the Nets initially before buying the rest of the team 2 years later.

I agree with the bolded, and I'm optimistic about Krebs and Quinn, and hopeful about VO, Mitts and JJP, but my point is that they kinda need ALL of them to do so, which isn't likely -- one or more are likely to be injured, wash out or encounter other issues.

They really need all of Quinn, Mitts and VO, and maybe JJP, to play at a top-6 level next year to have a legit top 9. Right now they are pretty much a 1-line team.

What are your team and individual awards (positive and negative) Most Improved Player? TT -- no question about it Most Valuable player? Dahlin -- also no question about it Rookie of the Year? Is there one? N/A -- would've loved Quinn to seize this but injuries have so far disqualified him. Krebs is probably the front runner but also hasn't played enough games. Unsung Hero? N/A -- there haven't been enough players who have played well, and the handful that have played well haven't escaped attention. Comeback player of the year? Skinner by a mile Biggest Positive Surprise - Player? Tie -- TT and Skinner Biggest Disappointment (Player and Team) Player -- It's a bit unfair, as he doesn't really have an NHL track record, but I'll go with R2 -- I thought he would seize the opportunity and become a good scoring forward. Team -- overall performance. There have been way too many nights where they've come out comatose and the game has been over by the end of the 1st. Biggest Team Accomplishment? Getting what look to be 2 future mainstays in Krebs and Tuch out of the Eichel debacle. Best KA Acquisition? Tuch Worst KA Acquisition? The rotating cast of losers in net

The only Sabre I can remember scoring 4 in a game is Rico, who had 4 the day they beat Washington 14-2. Does anyone remember it happening otherwise? And he had a shot at an ENG for #5!

Sabres with a 1-goal lead late in the 3rd -- witching hours. EDIT: yikes -- Habs PP coming up.

Great hat trick by Skinner, and great effort, but he kinda kicked it in on purpose, innit?

Nice backcheck by Skinner. He's clearly energized by winning @GASabresIUFAN's SabreSpace comeback player of the year award.

What a great pass by Krebs to TT. And then they again pull the loser move of (almost) giving one up immediately after scoring. This team has many miles to go.

Yeeeeshh.

The last 4-5 episodes of the latest season of curb your enthusiasm are outstanding.

This is obnoxious.

Canada lost despite outshooting the US 37-22 -- so Canada's goalie gave up 4 goals on 22 shots, resulting in a humiliating loss to those damn Yanks. There's gotta be pressure in the GWN to make a change in net. Here comes the Natural.

I have pretty consistently been concerned about a new owner moving the team, but I think Tsai is less of a flight risk than most other potential buyers (although still a higher risk than TP). My impression is that he wants to own sports teams more to collect trophies than to squeeze out value.

Floating around among whom? I appreciate that you will not want to name names, but a bit more detail would be nice. I will say that I am fairly familiar with Joe Tsai as a sports owner, since he owns the Brooklyn Nets, of which I am a fan. PA and the rest of the PA militia would be wise to heed the warnings upthread about being careful what you wish for -- the Nets have become a major player in the NBA under his ownership, but he is more involved than TP is in trades, FA signings and other major franchise decisions. Also, like TP, there has also been a fair amount of turnover in senior executives working for Tsai. In any case, if TP does sell, I wouldn't be shocked if Tsai were the buyer, as he is stinking rich and has evinced an interest in owning multiple sports franchises.

link?

Did anyone notice whether VO fired the slapper last night? I watched about half the game and didn't see one. It's been an under-the-radar significant loss in a season filled with major injury losses, IMHO.