SHAAAUGHT!!!

Just like Patty, Okposo has a warriors heart and I don't see him wanting to call it a career just yet. Does anyone know if the Sabres are able to put him on LTIR if they refuse to clear him due to concussion issues, but he claims feels ok to get back on the ice?

Well, from what I've seen so far this season he's at his best when he's a warm body out there not making mistakes. I wouldn't call that good either...

He's made some improvement this season on the defensive side of his game, but his ineffectiveness at faceoffs has me worried about him as a 2C. I think its unfair to think Cozens could step in next year as the 2C, but he could/should challenge at the 3C position. If that happens, does this push Casey out of the organization, or to a wing? I think it's much more likely that he ends up at LW in this scenario but it also may depend on how much he's looking at for his next deal. He hasn't shown as much as Samson did before his 7MM/2yr bridge contract and also burned a year off his ELC for those 6 games in '17-'18.

I'm curious to see how the defense responds after getting Montour back, and having a few days off to rest and practice. They've been spending more time pinned in their defensive zone the last few games, but I've been chalking that up to fatigue. 13 games in 25 day will have that affect...

JBotts has an incredible amount of flexibility next year with so much salary coming off the books. What I hadn't really considered until today was the incremental cap space he should see from Seattle. Here is a decent article from Forbes that talks about the impact Vegas had on the cap. https://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanlake/2018/12/06/nhl-expansion-to-seattle-brings-hope-of-higher-salaries-for-players/#4c6e7d332125 This could give JBotts the option of giving someone like Samson a bigger deal without stretching himself too thin in year 3-8. I see Reino getting 8 years @ 7.5-8.5M AAV,

Meh. Neither player has contributed significantly. Casey is the more skilled player, but he hasn't been able to translate it into points. This could be a major reason Casey isn't translating that skill into points. eRod should've buried that feed from Casey last night. I was only able to watch a few parts of the game last night, and the highlights today. Did this line generate much last night? It looks like Vesey and Casey both had 14-15 minutes, but eRod only had 7 minutes. Did this line get broken up or was it due to PP/PK time?

I'm not saying Casey is a lost cause, I'm just saying we've been waiting on the future for 6 years - it's go time. If the kid can't figure it out we have skaters that could be a better option. Right now I'd rather see eRod as that 3C. I'm curious to see if Krueger makes any changes if that line isn't able to get it going tonight.

$2.5/3MM each for Larsson and Girgs??!!!! I think some people might need to take a deep breath. I would but I just threw up in my mouth thinking about paying a checking line $12MM that has doesn't have skaters good enough to move up and down the lineup. It looks like we have a coach that knows how to get the most out of people, so I'm not worried about paying anyone next year not named Samson (likelay $7.5-8.5/8 years) or Montour (idk yet). Nobody else up for a contract has any leverage; I don't care what type of year they have in '19-'20.

Wrong, this is a Sabres problem. They need a solid third line center and Casey has shown nothing so far to prove he is the guy.

I think we would need to develop his game as a winger, but that is easier to do than develop as a center. He came to camp a lot bigger, but he will need to work on play down low. I just don't think his defensive awareness is where it needs to be to be an effective center, and I'm sick of waiting for him to figure it out. He seems to struggle to find open ice without the puck in the offensive zone, but I think a lot of that has to do with him being concerned about being F1 on the backcheck. #unleashCasey edit: open ice without the puck

Put eRod back to center and move Casey to wing. Let eRod focus on defensive and Casey go ham on wing. In 1-2 years Cozens will be our 2/3rd line center anyways and at this rate it might take Casey another 2-3 years to develop into a solid two-way center. Also, Vesey should spend some time in the press box when Sheary is back. He has been solid defensively but we have enough grinders. Sheary/eRod/Middlestat will cause teams fits if they can play north-south and use their speed to their advantage

Yeah, that's why I think he is more suited as a winger. He is so offensive minded and always wants the puck on his stick. Let's reduce his defensive responsibilities and see how we does on a wing. He does look bigger and heavier this year so I think he would be effective in the corners once he got used to the position. Maybe in time he can develop into an NHL center, but he doesn't seem there yet. I think him playing HS hockey vs Junior and then only getting one season of college hurt his development in that position. He likely just didn't have to worry about defense in that league because the competition wasn't there to challenge him. Remember how Ruff once opined (and I'm paraphrasing) that he wasn't going to put Afinogenov in a defensive role/situation because Max is an offensive player - period end of sentence. While not as extreme of a case, that might be what we have here in Casey...

I agree. eRod has not looked good this year, but besides the Pens game, that entire line has struggled this season. Vesey has looked slow and more suited for a 4th line grinder role. Middlestat has show flashes, but appears more suited as an NHL winger at this point than a center. Sheary was great against the Pens (as usual) but trailed off after that. Sheary gets an incomplete from me at this point because of the injury, but when he was in the line-up he looked more effective than eRod.

I haven't seen a Sabres team play so well to start the season since 06-07. Fast paced, crisp passing, lethal PP, and all 4 lines able to contribute meaningful minutes. I'll remain skeptical through November, but things are looking very positive.

Agreed. VO is much more prepared than Casey could have ever been. But the SHL plays 52 games a season, and the AHL plays 76. The AHL schedule is definitely the closest to the NHL, but the compete level is nowhere near the same. VO's going to have ups and downs during the season and it wouldn't be surprising to see him come off that first line at some point if he struggles. If that happens it will be interesting to see how he responds, and how he does playing with other forwards. People have been talking about him as a only a sniper, but that's really the only role he's been asked to play so far. I'm not sure what his ceiling is yet, or what type of player he could be, but I'm looking forward to watching him and trying to get a read on it

Agreed 100%... if his conditioning holds up. I'm not saying he's out of shape, but it's his first year in the league and it's a long grueling season. Just ask Casey.

Should we expect these guys to shift gears for regular season? Yeah, of course. Sure the bubble players and guys looking to move up a line or get some PP/PK time are going to givr 100% in preseason, but half the team is just working on timing and not getting injured. It’s similar to the Sabres games in Feb-March. Fans talk about players ending the season strong, but by then the Sabres are seeing the other teams back-up goalie 50% of the time. All I’m saying is pre-season is not a true reflection of a teams potential. It’s a chance to get up to game speed, evaluate your depth, and identify development plans for players. I agree on Middlestat looking not very good out there. I don’t think Skinner or Tage looked great either though. But Risto looked fantastic, and Sobotka looked really fast. I still don’t think Sobotka has a role on this team when Larry gets back, but I don’t think we should be in any rush to move Risto unless we get a true top 4 forward. His contract terms make him valuable to almost any team out there.

I think he may have an “elite” season or two in him. His ceiling is still high even at 26 - goalie development is strange like that.

What I typically do is cancel the cable TV subscription part of my Spectrum package in May/June, and then re-add it in September before the season starts. This allows me to qualify for a package deal so my bill goes from $70/month for internet only to around $115/month for internet and cable. It won't help you guys for this year but something to consider going forward. Also, I recommend calling Spectrum and trying to renegotiate - just tell them you can't justify spending that much money (whatever your bill is today) on cable TV when you spend 90% of your time watching Netflix/Hulu/Amazon/etc. And if it doesn't work, call back every 2-7 days until you find someone that will help you. This is what I did before I started cancelling cable in the summer.

What are the chances Okposo is healthy and can play on a 3rd line with Rodriguez and Sheary instead of Girgs and Larry on the 4th? The (at least) 3 concussions in 3 years took a toll on his cardio and speed the past few seasons, but he was a 50-60pt player before that, and 45/44pt player in 16-17/17-18. I can see him being a 20g/50pt player again if healthy and playing with speedy guys like eRod and Sheary. Kyle isn’t playing in da beauty league this year so we have to wait for camp to see, but I think that would give us a strong bottom 6 with Sobotka playing on the 4th line.

Lol. I was thinking the same thing but it is substantial for 2 reasons. 1) JBott corrected valued a support player and gave him an fair and appropriate contract 2) everyone on Dallas loved Elie because he’s a competitor and gives 100% every game - that’s the type of example and work ethic we need to set for the prospects in Rochester

Correct, and the offer from the team was 1 year.

I completely agree. TM was a failure when it came to attracting talent, hiring coaches, and signing deals. He constantly overpaid and didn't know how to build a team. This is what I picture today when I think about GMTM JBott had a decent roster last year, but the team failed, and a lot of that had to do with coaching (and because JBotts couldn't make a deal for a top six forward during the season). So what does he do? Fires the coach and goes and get one that is a world renown team builder. I'm not sure if Kruegs was the entire reason Johansson signed, but it definitely helped getting him signed, and at a reasonable price. Comparing JBotts to GMTM at this point is premature. JBotts is about to start his 3rd season at the helm, and you can already see how he's shifted from a short-term strategy (I need NHL ready skaters in my line-up) to a long-term strategy (I need enough talent on the NHL squad so I don't have to rush kids on ELCs into the league and I need a healthy AHL team to develop those kids). TM said all the right things, but didn't know how to deliver.

That is pure speculation on my part, but if you look at the timing of these deals it appear JBotts and his front office have been working this daily and I don't expect them to stop until their team is finished. I think it's a safe bet the Sabres aren't going to be signing anymore FAs, so all other moves will be signing RFAs and through trades. Originally I expected JBotts to sign all his pending RFAs and then re-assess his cap situation before making a trade. But after the Johansson signing (he's a LW and we need an established 2C to legitimize this line-up) I'm now leaning towards a multi-player trade that moves around a big chunk of salary (Risto/Scandella/Bogo/Sheary/Sobotka) among a pick or two to get that 2C. Fingers crossed! Edit: arbitration on remaining RFAs starts in 3 weeks

Glad this is done. I like Larry, Girgs, and Okposo as the 4th line with Wilson rotating in. Now we only have $5.1MM to sign Ullmark, McCabe, and E-Rod, which is not enough. The dominoes continue to fall. Should be an interesting next 7 days...