dudacek

I think it’s pretty much out there that the Sabres were talking to the Sharks about Reinhart before ending up flipping him for Levi. But Jeff Marek just dropped a nugget that another team in heavy for Sam was St. Louis, which didn’t happen when the Blues declined to include Ville Husso.

If Adams gets 1st for Miller it's because he has mind control powers.

Kinda. Certainly not Hasek-like in style. Tracking still being the optimum skill like the monsters. But quicker and more more reliant on making saves, instead of simply covering most of the net.

Von Miller shocks the hell out of me.

It’s been a slow steady slog away from athletes toward massive puck blockers in net. Would be nice if Levi is more edge of the wedge for a new wave of goaltending as opposed to a high-risk outlier.

I’m sure it must have something to do with Ralph Krueger.

That was the lineup (at least the forwards) in practice today.

Agreed. Not diminishing Tuch’s role and many others have played their part. But it started with Kevyn Adams and his declaration he was building with players who want to be here and earn the city’s respect.

Skinner Thompson Tuch Olofsson Mitts Asplund Krebs Cozens Hinostroza Girgensons Eakin Okposo Dahlin Joki Samuelsson Pysyk Bryson Miller Anderson Our probable starting lineup in Edmonton is as JAG-free as we've seen all year.

I agree the team has lacked scorers this year, but the injuries of Tuch and Mitts are a big part of that. Their health plus growth from Quinn, Krebs and Cozens should more than make up for the loss of 25 from VO, especially when this exercise also includes 15 from Comtois. How are you upping the snarl factor in the top 9 while also saving a spot for Victor?

Eillot Friedman, who said he talked to Adams about the need of a partner for Power, then speculated that he was not on the team yet.

Adams in an Athletic interview with Vogl: You mentioned Owen. There have been various reports about looking for a veteran right-handed D. If that’s the case, what do you want from a person who would be his partner? Yeah, it’s interesting there’s been reports out there. When we look at Owen, we see a player that’s gotten better from the start of the year to the middle of the year to the end of the year, which to me is so important. No matter how talented you are, no matter where you’re picked in the draft, you have to keep getting better. So that’s exciting. I look at him as a player that’s going to be an every-situation, big-minute player when he’s playing on our team. Whether that’s right in the beginning or if that takes a little time, that’s fine, but I think it’s important to have stability around him, to have a calmness. What we’ve thought a lot about is, “Are there players out there that we could target for trade discussions? Are there players out there that are potential UFA-type guys that we can look at? Or are there guys internally that we think would be a good fit?

As opposed to Adams asking him if he is interested in going to the Leafs, who have offered a 1st?

I've heard Granato say pretty much exactly this on more than one occasion. So many say they want the coach to “let the kids play and learn.” That's exactly what Donnie is doing. He’s not the only coach to understand this, but not many are given the opportunity to do it because their primary job is to win.

I agree with Pi’s observations that the Sabres can be tighter defensively and smarter with in-game tactics and usage. I also think Granato would be the first to admit that, but he’s playing a longer game here, one that coaches generally aren’t afforded at the NHL level. Lack of coaching knowledge is among the least of my concerns with Donnie.

It’s almost impossible for Vegas to fall into a top 10 slot. I’ve got the Islander picking 10th right now. Even if they go say 15 and 10 to finish the year, Vegas only needs to win 5 of their last 20 to stay ahead of them.

These days, I’m more interested in the concept of Comtois than the player. Comtois is having a terrible season, even more disappointing than Victor’s. He’s been completely out of favour since the season started and has been a healthy scratch. He should be available, and fairly cheaply, but the Sabres need to do their homework on his struggles. What I like about the concept of Comtois is that he is a big body who engages physically and gets under the skin of opponents and is a bit of a Swiss Army knife. He can play centre and wing, on any line, and in all situations and matches our age window. He also has enough talent to score 20 goals. We don’t have a young player like that except Cozens and we need one. I get the whole “we’re not talented enough to move good players” but this would about team-building - moving a good player to create space for other good players who are better fits. Quinn is eventually going to make Victor redundant.

I like Vic, but I think a top 9 that includes Skinner, Mittelstadt, Krebs and VO (and to a lesser extent Tuch and Tage) could use more snarl and/or sandpaper. Cozens can’t carry that load all on his own. We need to add a middle six player with some edge. Given Victor’s age and contract situation, his trade value and the fact JJ and Quinn and possibly Rosen are coming behind him, he is the most likely chip to trade. I still am really intrigued by Max Comtois and would like to see them explore trading Vic for a player his age and style.

Correct, sorry for the confusing post. It is the other teams who have games in hand and have to cash them in.

Barring an utter collapse by Nashville, LA or Minnesota, they are effectively in 2 races: with Edmonton for the 3rd seed in the Pacific with Winnipeg and Dallas for 2nd wild card. Edmonton is pacing for 96 points, Dallas 92 and Winnipeg 89. Vegas is pacing for 90, so as of right now, they’d be out. But they have a ton of games in hand with points already in the bank. Its going to be tight, but they are losing ground and need to stop the slide now.

3 guys playing in the middle 6 of playoff teams, each making well over $3 million per and averaging 13 goals apiece right now? Who has guys like that on their 4th line?

You misread the Pysyk reference; they will sign a Pysyk type to be the 7/8, in addition to acquiring Power’s partner. Signing Power, the new top 4 D, a starting goalie and 3 or 4 forwards missing from that group should get them over the cap floor. What I posted isnt my plan for the Sabres, it’s what I am almost certain what Adams is going to do. He’s got about a half-dozen roster spots yet to fill. I hope they are used wisely. In my world he gets a Jay McKee, a Chris Drury, a Marty Biron, along with a Pysyk, a Hinostroza and a Deslauriers.

Because he's the partner Power deserves, but not the one he needs right now

You're reading me wrong. The bold is exactly my concern as well. What I'm not getting across well enough is that I need to see more from UPL before I am willing to commit to him even as half of a 1B combo. Based on what I've seen of him so far, we need to acquire a goalie who clearly better than him, not a Korpisalo or some such he can compete with. I'd like to see him get 15 or 20 games down the stretch to prove he's capable of even 25-30 NHL games next year.

I believe the team is planning to go into the season next year with Thompson Tuch Skinner Mitts Okposo Cozens Krebs Quinn Girgensons Asplund up front, leaving 3-4 slots open. Olofsson and Peterka might take 2 of them. I also believe the team plans to go with Dahlin Jokiharju Power New Guy* Samuelsson Bryson Fitzgerald which pretty much settles the D, except probably adding a Pysyk type for depth UPL will be one of the goalies, along with a vet to be named later. That vet better be a good one. We will have the cap space.