thewookie1

Bills are definitely a larger fanbase but a huge number of local Bills fans are also Sabres fans. The primary point of divergence comes from Canadian Bills fans. The NHL is unlikely to allow the Sabres to move however; while I don't think Bettman would put a hammer on it, plenty of owners would question why move a typically popular team in a far greater "hockey town" than Arizona and its endless embarrassments.

**Throws Atomic bomb** you ain’t ducking that

That would be my best guess, he’d want to move us to Austin since Arizona refuses to.

Granato certainly looks like a pissed off Dad in the postgame.

Dahlin has played well, The Cozens line looked dangerous. The Thompson line always seemed a second off. Eakin’s line may as well be a PK and Mitts line was a bag of surprises both positive and negative. Im starting to fear that Mitts injury/injuries may have ruined him.

I just see issues arising from a D corp of Dahlin - Jokiharju Power - Myers Samuelsson - Fitzgerald Bryson Not very much there in regards to veteran presence, Cup winning or competing experience, and mentorship. Also Myers is soft regardless of his spot on the defense; still a great skater and better than a JAG but he doesn't bring much new to the table.

It's more about style and fit; he's more of the same puck moving soft defensively deficient player we already have plenty of. Now if its Myers vs bring back Miller I'd rather get Myers.

I hope PSE is right, I'd rather them not sell the team because I'd greatly fear the team being moved to Hamilton

Not good at Defense and not physical, easy pass for me

Tuch, Cozens, Quinn, Dahlin, and Power are the primary core presently with any of the 3 young goalies filling the goaltending spot. Skinner is a core piece but only in regards to his presence continuing for the foreseeable future. Krebs, Thompson, Mitts, Jokiharju and Samuelsson are the rim of the core. They are highly likely to be part of the Sabres for a while but don’t quite reach the core’s inherent value to the franchise as a whole. Okposo and Girgensons are the shell that help give support and protection to the core and rim. Pysyk this year would also fill this role. While replaced over time the role is always useful and vital for a young core group. Stickers are players like Olofsson, Hinostroza, Fitzgerald and Bryson. Better than JAGs and useful; but not inherently vital on a player to player level. They decorate the shell effectively. Olofsson filled a role as a high level PP asset. Olofsson’s skill at the role is more important than the player’s personal value. If we replace Olofsson with Hoffman, the identity of the team doesn’t drastically change. JAGs are rather self explanatory, they exist to fill space. JAGs can become stickers but don’t necessarily even achieve that level. Asplund has been a Sticker at times but has been a JAG most the year. Bjork’s speed could get him Sticker value but he fails to give much more than existance. Black Holes are JAGs that have gone beyond being mere space eaters and have legitimately become anti-stickers. Will Butcher fills this role very well as he negatively effects the team in practically every facet while gaining nothing in return. Cody Eakin is quite literally hanging by a thread above this category due to his face off skill.

I wonder if Hellebuck would be on the block if the Jets miss?

Dahlin showed up, we hit a few people….. that’s all I got

Not interested in that latter trade; we give up far more than the value of a mediocre goalie and an ok RHD prospect. I keep Olofsson if all they offer are picks and or distant prospects. If they want Olofsson, I want Lundkvist and a 2nd. One is a proven NHL scorer playing injured as an RFA and the other is a Mid to Bot pairing Dman with little proven at the NHL level.

He definitely seems to be slowly edging that way. He’s begun putting the onus on players to step up and take command of their own team. He’s willing to guide and help them but his post games have changed from a tune of their young and learning to their growing and need to keep the pedal on the floor. I’d see if Hornquist is available this offseason. Still a handy net front presence with a mean disposition.

If that NBA player hadn’t touched all the mics in his post game before being said to have COVID; and the Sabres beat Montreal that night, Eichel and Reinhart are still here and we no longer have a long playoff drought. After all, Botts wouldn’t of been fired when we went into COVID break and with this Reinhart likely gets a legitimate extension and Eichel doesn’t bail. Perhaps in 3 years Reinhart will triumphantly return to Buffalo as a vet to help put us into legitimate Cup Contention

This is what I came up with the other day. https://www.capfriendly.com/armchair-gm/team/3071328

Kane only has 1 more year after this year finishes

Interestingly enough he hasn't. Drafted by St. Louis -> Traded to EDM -> Traded to Pittsburgh -> Traded to Anaheim -> Signs with St. Louis -> Picked by Vegas in Expansion Draft -> Signs with St. Louis

He came back already once, how many active players can say they've been traded by the same team twice? Brandon Saad is the only one I can immediately think of.

I think you are on the right track however incorrect in your absolutes. Both Skinner and Olofsson have shown the ability to playmake; they aren't playmakers by trade but can still playmake. Just because you're a finisher doesn't mean you cannot also playmake. Patrick Kane is a great example of a playmaker and a finisher. He even bounced between the roles season to season or even game to game depending on his line-mates. A true finisher that isn't a playmaker would essentially be a player that puts blinders on and fires away at the net. Olofsson was one as a rookie and Skinner was one while a younger player but both have adjusted to passing/creating passing plays since then. Thompson has gained some degree of playmaking skill over time but still is a "shoot first" type of player. Peterka was originally only a finisher as we know one of his knocks going into the draft was his near obliviousness to better plays through passes. He'd put his head down and go for a goal on every shift. However he has learned how to become a more complete player since after he was drafted.

There isn't a good coach that exists who would give the full truth to the media. "Well, part of my team is arguably AHL/barely NHL level in skill, my 1D was out, our 1G had an off night coupled with bad turnovers by our skaters; oh and also they were tired so that made even our better players look worse and made our bad players look horrid. My team has a good amount of raw skill that shows itself at times but creating a consistent showing of it requires discipline, experience and learning to play through the fatigue without turning the puck over continuously." A good coach never throws individual players under the bus unless they know they can handle it and it won't create even further problems.

I don't think Granato can squeeze water out of a stone to the degree we'd need to look great every night. When your 4th line is literally a black hole most games and your dmen's defensive play is suspect besides Dahlin mostly and we have a myriad of mediocre at best goaltenders; no amount of rah rah is going to will this team better when they're already worn down from the heavy game against the Avs.

It’s good to see that even with this loss, the team looked pissed and fought to the end.

I’m almost done with Olofsson at this point. I can understand not being able to shoot; but the rest of his game has vanished. Where is the 200ft threat we saw to start the year? Rough night, unsure why the league endlessly pummels the Sabres with back to backs year after year. Mitts probably pots that last year but playing 10/51 games definitely leaves you a tad off your scoring touch. Without Dahlin our defense turns into a bunch of pure giveaway machines and lacks much of any playmaking ability. Jokiharju was the best of the rest but all of them made brain dead plays frequently

The fact the Avs scored directly due to an ignored penalty that had 2 different penalties just leaves me outraged. God I wish Granato would rip the refs in his press conference like he did during the game. They deserved a better result