SHAAAUGHT!!!

I welcome the move because he doesn't need to be "the guy" and he can help the extremely young crop of forwards develop. All great teams have a depth guy like this on their roster. I also think we don't have to give up much more than a middling prospect or second round pick, and a late round pick to get him because he is owed $6.9M in cash for next season (including a $4M signing bonus). My guess is that if he will be traded, he will get traded before he received his signing bonus for this season.

Not what I had in mind when I hear weaponizing cap space…

No and not true. If you can't do a pullup at the combine it literally means you don't workout enough, or you have an injury. Both of these things are very high on my list of things I would want/need to know when taking a flyer on a critical investment.

Usually not, but for playoff games sometimes there will be events in front of the arena. Depends on the team, the city, and the time of year.

A lot of people are slotting Cozens as 2C vs 3C, but I think you have it correct here with Mitts in the 2C role. I would love to have Cozens make a huge step in the offseason, but I think Mitts is/was ready and just ran into injury problems this season that prevented him from having a larger impact. And I completely agree we need to bring in at least 1 forward, preferably a veteran center that is starting to slow, but still can significantly contribute and work with our forward group (Patty Kane, Toes, Giroux, etc). If we can land Hall for $8M/1 year, I think we can land any of these guys for $9-11M for 2 years without giving up too much, if anything.

This was definitely a nice touch they added this year, but they need to do better with the band selection (albeit I've only seen 3 of the bands). Hiring a bar band that roles through a 97 Rock-ish playlist is kind of embarrassing for an NHL team in my opinion. The Strictly Hip would be the closest I'd get to that locally. Really anyone that would leave an impression so people are talking about who's playing before, during, and after the game. Could you imagine a comedian that does 12 minutes of jokes about the other team? I'd love that and there's a good chance a couple clips a year go viral.

Additional ideas to improve pre-game, in-game, post game experience: 1) Built in aquarium - having tanks built into the wall around the arena provides both ambiance and education benefits for all age groups 2) Live music between periods is a nice addition, but we actually need some interesting musical acts, not your 50 somethings playing Blues and Classic Rock covers - book some B level national bands and unique genres/performances 3) It was in another thread but having a small stage adjacent stage for pre and post game concerts for music or comedy (could have the band play 1-2 songs in between periods as a teaser/bonus); it would also provide the arena an option for non-game day bookings 4) Guest restaurants - weeklong rentals to area restaurants or national chains promoting a new product (thinking shamrock shakes during March, or Dinosaur BBQ selling pulled pork sandwiches and brisket, etc) I'm sure I could think of more but I do have to get to work at some point today...

Somewhat related, I will never understand the people that move to the country from the city/suburb and then proceed to cut down trees and/or spray for bugs. The frog population around my house still hasn't recovered even though it's been around 4 years since the "new" neighbors sprayed for mosquitoes the first three years they were here. On the plus side, it's really easy to identify the suckers in the neighborhood because all you have to do is look for the Mosquito Joe sign in someone's yard.

There is a Today's Cap Hit column on Positional Breakdown tab on https://www.capfriendly.com/. I'm guessing this reflects the current active roster cap hit but I make no claim to it's accuracy.

Right testis or no right testis... we will be talking about the Jack Eichel trade tree for decades

1 Alex Tuch + 1 Peyton Krebs > 1 Jack Eichel

I think Curtis Lazar played 20 something games for Granato, but with more time I think Lazar would have excelled with this system and style. Johan Larson as well.

lol, I'm always around but work is wacky so I'm not able to participate here as much as I'd like. I try to check in at least once a day though to make sure I'm not missing too much!

This is exactly what I want to hear from the GM. He is also proving himself to be an expert negotiator. Stating he plans on using all 2022 first round picks to draft players just increased the value of those picks in a trade. Bravo good sir. Bravo.

Completely agree. The type of cap dump Buffalo should take advantage of is something like Kane's or Toew's $10.5M salary next year or give Giroux 10x2 to come in and help our forwards develop. The Sabres have a ton of cap flexibility the next two years but after that we need to start handing out significant new deals to several projected core players (Krebs, Cozens, Casey, Tage, Samuelson, Powers, Dahlin (again), goalie 1A or 1B, etc).

I'm a poster you know what I mean? And I do my little typing on a laptop. On a laptop, on a laptop yeah I do my little typing on a laptop

My friend is funny Boston New Years Eve 2001 Peed on Fleet Center

I don’t think this year is a fluke for Tage. He has the right attitude and skill set. Future offensive success for him depends on a few things but typically guys don’t score at a 15% clip year over year. That said even if he was shooting at a 10% rate he would have 25 goals this year and I think he likely ends up between 25-35 annually playing PP and as a 1C or 2C.

Was this the scout you spoke with?

It really was, but I always felt it was a little too polished for the band they were. The piano ballad and their attempt at a "Every Rose Has A Thorn" type song was a bit hard to stomach, but I get what they (or their producer) were trying to do. I never got to see them but I appreciated that MC5 vibe they brought. Another garage shredder from that era I just got into last year is Ty Segall. He has some great songs and did the best cover of Lowrider I've ever heard.

I'm glad to see Granato mixing up both the forward and defensive lines so much at this point in the season. It's apparent the Sabres management is evaluating individual skill sets in preparation of offseason whiteboarding. You can't hide behind chemistry, or be a passenger, with the lines moving around like this. I haven't felt this confident about the Sabres FO in a long time...

I would love if Asplund became a CB level player, but I just don't see that happening. If he has a long NHL career it will be as a 4th line shutdown role, but at this point I can't see him as more effective than a healthy Girgs or Larsson. Larsson had an edge that allowed him to play big, and I haven't seen that from Asplund yet. IMO he needs to establish himself as a reliable faceoff guy to have a chance to extend his career in this league.

I think this will be addressed in the next CBA negotiations. My guess is they end up with some sort of draft compensation if they lose a player's rights. It would be interesting if the team that signed a player after his rights expired had to give his draft team one of their picks. It would lesson the sting for a team losing a player, and motivate a NCAA player to sign with the team that spent draft capital on him. In any case, it would be fun to be in the room while they brainstorm what that new rule would look like...

Reasons for Sabres fans not to worry (too much): 1) Levi missed his entire freshman season with an injury 2) Levi missed a large stretch of games his sophmore year due to the Olympics, which he didn't even get to play in 3) Levi didn't win a NCAA championship or Hobey Baker So I think Levi still has something to prove and play for as a junior. Consistency is everything for a goalie, so proving he can play at this level year over year is important. It also gives him time to see if the Sabres are really trending in the right direction.