dudacek

If the story about Golisano leaving the contract on his desk is true, why didn't Drury or his agent do what a normal human being would have done and called and asked him to send it over? Straight prima donna move. This place would crucify Jack Eichel under the exact same circumstances. The deification of Drury around here doesn't pass close inspection. The guy who skipped town for his beloved Rangers, cost the Sabres Briere in the process, and has treated the city and the franchise with nothing but disdain since Black Sunday?

I do not believe this for a second.

This is crazy given the gains the Rangers have made under these two. I hope Drury fails, partly because New York, but mostly because of his sour disposition and the open disdain he has for a city that put him on a pedestal.

I would probably look to enter next season like this: Skinner Eichel ???? ???? Reinhart Cozens Asplund Mittelstadt Thompson Girgensons ???? Okposo Dahlin Jokiharju ??? ??? Samuelsson Bryson Borgen If those ??? are Eakin, Olofsson, Bjork, Miller and Risto we probably didn't do enough, even with two strong goalies. But the off-season will absolutely be a failure if we do not at least acquire two strong goalies and a top 6 physical winger.

Lots of teams have had success with a corps of talented youngsters emerging at the same time. But I think the support around them matters and I'm not sure we have that.

From what I'm reading between the lines, Canada may be more vaccinated than the US by the end of the summer given current trends. Canada's problem has been supply and that is set to change rapidly starting this week. Rates in the States seem to be falling off because of lack of interest among those still needing their shots. Hopefully the US trend reverses and Canada doesn't follow a similar pattern. We are apparently still in track to have first shots to everyone who wants one by the end of June and second shots by the end of summer. In relation to your point, I think a relatively normal NHL season remains within our grasp.

Probably the most inexperienced team the Sabres have ever iced.

I remember execs used to talk about players needing about 200 games before they could be considered NHLers Dahlin 195 Jokiharju 151 Bjork 151 Mittelstadt 147 Thompson 143 Olofsson 114 Asplund 55 Cozens 39 Bryson 36 Ruotsalainen 15 Borgen 14 Samuelsson 10 That's 12 of our 18 skaters these days, including 5 of 6 defencemen. Not sure what the cut-off for goalies is, but Tokarski has played 47 games, Lukkonnen 4 and Houser 2.

There was a pretty big chunk (15-20 games?) in and around February of his first year here where they were apart. That also coincided with his scoring slump, so it supports your "but he's good with Jack" argument. Also, to your first question, looks to me like none: there were less than 10 games in his last year in Carolina where Jeff got under 15 minutes, and at least 30 he had more than 17.

I don't believe he spent much time on the 1st line in Carolina either. Didn't stop him from scoring goals there.

You're missing former #3 Jonas Johanson

Really curious how this season carries over in terms of the kids. The number of young players who have shown significant growth is outstanding and could change our perception of the franchise's ability to develop young talent. How many of these guys are here to stay? How many of them still have room to grow?

They have about $31 million in cap space next year with 10 forwards and 4 defencemen under contract. High-end scenario with their RFAs: Reinhart 8, Mittelstadt 3, Dahlin 8, Jokiharju 2, Asplund 1, Borgen 1 Low end scenario with their RFAs: Reinhart 6, Mittelstadt 2, Dahlin 4, Jokiharju 1, Asplund .75, Borgen .75 So ballpark, you'll have 13 F, 7D (minus the guy Seattle takes) and between $8-15 million (plus the contract Seattle takes) to spend on two goalies, as well as whatever upgrades you want to make

I despise the Rangers, but this is fantastic.

Actually, (prior to tonight) he has the best career shootout percentage of any active Sabre, including Jack Eichel. 😁 And poor @pi2000. It's like he's watching Star Wars in 1977 and refusing to talk about anything other than the quality of acting by the alien extras in the cantina scene.

Just when you thought you knew what you were gonna get... Houser didn’t just look lucky, he looked good. Locked in to the play and moving smoothly and under control. We were god-awful in the first, I mean so bad with our passing and D Zone coverage that the Islanders were unprepared to take advantage. But Houser made the saves when we needed them and we responded. Good goaltending makes such a difference. Exactly one game after I decided Bjork ain’t got it, he shows up with the game of his life. It probably has nothing to do with playing with Sam Reinhart, right? Granato sure seems to love Bjork’s game and believe in his talent. Would sure be nice to uncover a player in someone improperly developed by Boston. Great turnover forced by Caggiula, terrific pass by Skinner, and Eakin finishing with authority. On the same sequence. I’m late posting because I had to go out and buy my lottery tickets. Because I pointed out the opposite yesterday, I need to say Thompson and Samuelsson followed up excellent games with weaker ones today, Although Tage did come on later. Cozens was better, but he’s still fighting it. One thing that Casey Mittelstadt is doing on a regular basis now that he did not before is presenting himself in open ice with clear lanes to cleanly receive or send a pass. His spacing and body control has been exquisite. Couple that with the improved pace and consistency and I think he’s probably for real. Dahlin was quiet tonight for the most part, but not necessarily in a bad way. If you were new to following the team, ignorant of its various storylines and had only watched the past month, there would be no doubt in your mind Reinhart is its undisputed captain and leader. The clip of the D on the bench watching Houser win it in the shootout gets my vote for highlight of the year, Those guys looked like a team. Again, I’m going to be sad the year is over.

Waits for the chorus of Skinner defenders to pull out the pitchforks. Doesnt Donnie know that Jeff has been scoring at over a 30-point pace on the first line!

And so the Carter Hutton era ends quietly in Buffalo 31-49-10, .902 S%, 3.12 GAA. Jason Botterill's drafts better show some lasting utility for this franchise, because his trade and UFA acquisitions are looking pretty feeble.

Sorry for singling you out but these kinda quotes always crack me up. “You think finishing dead last four times in eight years is bad? Wait until you experience what it’s like to have a 90-point season!” (Ominous music)

Can’t wait to see what Bales does.

Last year points by month: 11, 9, 11, 11, 8 that’s remarkably consistent for one thing. For another, the last month of the season is his worst. Previous year: 6, 15, 17, 7, 12, 5. Pretty inconsistent, but, again garbage time was his worst month 2017-18 was the year he he kicked ass in the 2nd half after a horrible 1st half when some started calling him a bust, which may be the source of this myth. (4, 6, 1, 9, 13, 14). For the record, that whole season was garbage time. 2017 4, 8, 9, 9, 8, 8 - about as consistent as it gets. 2016 - 4, 5, 6, 5, 8, 12 - steady improvement as a rookie

This is entirely false. Look at the numbers. https://www.espn.com/nhl/player/gamelog/_/id/3114722/sam-reinhart The history of Reinhart haters moving the goalposts has become laughable. At least do what @PerreaultForever has done and say “I just don’t like him and I’m not going to change my mind” Its a lot better than making things up, or holding him to higher standards than 90 per cent of the league.

I wonder if the Sabres think Borgen is their #6 and aren’t too worried about losing him to the Kraken, although they don’t want to totally tank the chance Seattle might take Miller.

Yep.

Mine agrees. With him and Reinhart. Each will move on to better things.