LTS

Devon Levi has a sample size of a handful of games. That's true for fans just as much as its true for other teams. He shows a ton of promise, but the trend is generally that it gets worse before it gets better. I give a little credit to the notion that the Sabres built a roster so that Levi would sign. He's signed. At this point the kid needs to really earn and this team needs the best competition it can get. They should absolutely go sign someone who can be a starting goaltender... if one is available. I see people who want to annoint Levi here but in other threads talk about how "nothing is a given for next season".. damn right. Nothing is a given. Go get another goalie.

Now.. this is indisputable. I can't believe there's so much discourse over this. I can't believe we're still going around and around attacking each other over "what might have been". It's only what.. the 243rd thread this season that has evolved into this? Even if we could evaluate a single decision made we lack the macro view of the situation to know what lateral impacts would have happened if a move had been made. Just like we lack a view of the impacts of moves that were not made. You want to be mad they did not make the playoffs.. go nuts. You want to be okay they didn't make the playoffs.. go nuts. I just don't understand the need to attack each other over things. Especially those things that we clearly don't know enough about and as such are nothing more than pure speculation. Or maybe we're aren't attacking each other and I am just reading the situation wrong.

There's plenty of time to debate ifs and buts. For tonight I am going to just be happy that this time was not eliminated until game 80 of the season. There's only one direction now.. the future. I'll be looking forward to it.

That's 100% correct... but he's now established himself as a player who is worth $7.1M.. so I used that number. He's an even better bargain on his current deal. 🙂

You can go back to any point you'd like. The concept of improving is one that moves in a forward direction. As such, looking at history to try and discredit the present is pointless. The question about Mitts now is whether he will stay at this level of production. That level of production has value on the team, especially if you improve the scoring ability of the players around him. Trade? Maybe.. but between free agency and other resources on the team, I think it would be wider to use those first.

Crosby: $8.7M Reinhart: $6.5M Eichel: $10M Kucherov: $9.5M Marner: $10.9M Panerin: $11.6M Cozens: $7.1M Yep... I think there's a bargain in there somewhere.

Yeah. Walman did earn the 4 minutes for it.

Mittlestadt has reached the level where you don't move him unless its part of a package that nets a single far better piece in return. The Sabres have other ways to address defense. Penciling in young players over him is a possibility but a risky one. Sure, they MIGHT be good. But the Sabres are at a point where players have to earn their ice time. Mitts is simply a player that you keep on the roster, especially under his current contract.

Like.. even after that person married you once and figure out who you really were... they chose to marry you again? That's way more impressive than fooling two different people. Congrats. 😉 Are you referring to Chychrun here? The one who is out injured? The one with an injury history? The one the Sabres were in discussions on? If so, I highly recommend reading the trade threads about him. I'm not sure if there is much debate left about that situation. ----- Overall the game was trash. No reason for them to let Detroit into that game. It's a good thing that Husso was terrible too. The Sabres do need to adjust their defensive zone coverage. They over commit. When the puck is on tied up on the boards they collapse around the puck. I presume its with the idea that more people around the puck and they will come up with it. However, far too often, the puck is flipped past their containment and it's open shooting for the other team. Even if they do come up with the puck, the other team being on the outside of the Sabres little grouping will be able to collapse and defend any breakout. A win is a win however.. - Love Cozens.. the kid is a bargain.. he'll be an absolute steal if he ever gets better at faceoffs. - Love Skinner - the whole scenario before and after the Jokiharju goal was classic. He's a pretty clean kind of pest.. and I can respect that. - I am definitely not sold on Levi. He does quite a few things I like and he's shown some very impressive rebound control (as in putting rebounds out to his players). But I feel like he's aggressive and teams will learn to use that it against him. I am not saying he won't be good, but to anoint him at this point is premature.

What facts? You have no solid information, you have interpretations of reactions. I flat out said I recognize when I don't have the information required. If you are happy forming your opinion on the basis of news reporting that's up to you. I believe there are alternative possibilities that cannot be ruled out. That's a world of difference. The Internet world today. Everybody believes everything because there's a video about it. Whatever.

Right.. but it's that mentality (and Tage is just one of a million examples) that is the problem. You want players who want to play, you have to protect themselves and the team from that mentality. He had an assist but I don't know that he really did much to earn it. I can't recall the goal now. I know that throughout the game he was stepping off the ice early, he wasn't very engaged in the play. I know that my takeaway during the game was... "He is clearly not ready to play but he's playing because he wanted to." Managing pain or not.. a player should not be playing unless they will be more effective than the person that will be removed from the lineup. I didn't see any evidence that Thompson was more effective than Olofsson. The reason I blame the coach is that you have to have the will to sit the player. You have to evaluate them. It's a fine line though. Imagine Granato sits Thompson and into the media goes the statement "I was ready to play but coach felt otherwise." This fires up everyone. It's happened before. I'm not saying it would happen here, we don't know. I think the coach believes in the player in this case and wants him in there. I assume they put him through enough pre-game paces to feel confident, but I'd have to ask myself if those pre-game paces are good enough... given what we saw. It's over now... so be it.

And Stillman was not on the roster to leave unprotected. I'm also reading all of your "improve the defense" comments. Borgen doesn't improve the defense all that much. And so pointing out Borgen is not really relevant to your point of improving the defense. You can go on and on about how to improve the defense, but at least use relevant arguments. Borgen would not fix the situation in Buffalo right now. Not if you are advocating for players like Chychrun. If you think it takes a Chychrun to improve the team then Borgen is not at that level.

This piece does nothing to change my mind. If you watch Ovechkin he's about as monotone as he can be in some of those "promotional" parts. About halfway through I got sick of watching because it was clear that people were simply going with "Well, he's on stage, so he must support him." It proves nothing. The simple fact is that we do not know about the situation. We know Putin is a sociopath. I'm not sure its debatable. We know some super sketchy things happen in Russia. Clearly Putin is okay with all of it (we like to hold the top of all organizations accountable for the actions that occur under their watch, right?) Bottom line, I am defending Ovechkin. I recognize when I don't have the information required. I am open minded enough to think that there might be more than what is presented in the media (whoever heard of the media being biased or fooled?).

The whole team does not initiate contact that often. It's a coaching thing. They are looking to chip the puck and break up ice versus get tangled up in a body. I hope it changes because until they finish checks they will be limited in what they can accomplish. It's not about hitting everything.. but you have to hit some things.

I would have preferred Olofsson. I would have commented in the GDT but I can do it here. Shame on Granato for putting Thompson in the game. I know Tage wants to play and help the team but he hurt the team last night. He was completely ineffective, even more than Olofsson would have been. This mentality of playing players when they say they are ready has to stop. Very few players at 80% are as good as other at 100%. The skill differential just isn't that great. I don't think Thompson was even at 80%.

Really? The Kraken selected Adam Larsson, Vince Dunn, Jamie Oleksiak, & Carson Soucy in the expansion draft. Soucy is about the same stats wise as Borgen and the others are all above him. So he's not even in the top 3 defense they received. Now, let's talk about McCann, Eberle, Gourde, and potentially a few others on Forward. So Borgen did what here? Fought? Big deal. He's not the difference maker in Seattle and he'd be a JAG here too. Would it be nice if he were on the roster now? Potentially. But he's not.. you keep diving back into the history books looking for "what ifs".

How do you know players like Putin? Because they say so? Would one possible alternative to your story be that Putin elevates any Russian who achieves world wide fame to national hero status as a way to market his country and regime and that anyone who does not play along finds people disappearing? What do we really know?

Indeed. It's also why I don't give any crap to Russian players in the NHL being concerned about their own safety or the safety of people they know. It's a very different world.

This is a playoff game. I mean, they should all be playoff games for the Sabres but not all the teams they are playing have the same playoff urgency. This is two teams fighting for who gets a better chance to get in the playoffs. The outcome has a very direct impact... so it will be interesting to see how they face this game and what happens. I'll hope for the best....

People have not let go of the history of Mitts. That's the situation. They'll still look at some of his plays and say he's careless or makes poor decisions but I've seen similar decision made from the Norris heralded defenseman on the team and no one says anything. He's improved considerably and that's a benefit for the team. Whether he stays or not is another story. There are a few others that would get moved first but if right piece for the Sabres was out there and Mitts was the key player going back I think they would move him. He's not irreplaceable, but he certainly is adding value to the team.

You're likely at $89 a month now that they raised the RSN fees.

I'm the same way. I have so much information coming at me on a daily basis that driving in silence is the perfect way to eliminate it all and enjoy the break. Much like I don't listen to pundits discussing the Sabres chances... I'm good with any outcome at his point. I saw what I needed to see this season.

I have no information but one thought I have is that Adams did not fully address the goalie situation because he wanted to minimize the risk of Levi not signing, especially since he knew Portillo wasn't going to sign. A hard liner could say, screw Levi... but I don't think Adams is a hardliner and anyone else is not the GM of the Sabres. I think they will address goaltending in the offseason and I would not be surprised if its Saros. Potentially the case but I'm more along the lines of telling the players who would probably may more defensively to not do so and take more risks. Every coach has a strategy.. and not every strategy is right for every group of players. We'll see what happens.

It's a fair point. I should not have used the word lifestyle and I probably went with terminology that is commonly used and that's my mistake. Lifestyle does imply choice and that's not what I meant. Community is a better term. Is there a rule that says all players on the ice during warmups must wear the same uniform? I support Boosh, but I would love for him to be on the ice (unless that, too, is a risk for him as well).

The vast majority of society does.