In The Buff

that play at the end of the game last night after the empty net goal, summed up a lot about Dahlin's play where he slapped at the puck & whiffed & went flying past the net the next Lidstrom...

i hate when people bring up Lidstrom when speaking about Dahlin. Its grossly unfair to both of them. But i dont believe people had the same concerns with Lidstrom at this state in his career (if ever). Sure Lidstrom was calm on the ice when he played. He was patient & calculated with everything he did. He was practically a coach on the ice, always seemed to be in the right places at the right time, and other teams respected him. He also always stood up for himself & stood up for his teammates. Never a fighter per se but you don't need to be. But these are all things i dont think one would say about Dahlin. Dahlin i'd say looks calm in the offensive end, on the defensive end he looks like a deer caught in headlights sometimes. But i dont want to get too far off track. Other teams dont respect Dahlin like they did Lidstrom. Dahlin needs to earn their respect & that just hasnt happened yet. We can say he's still young & to give him time & we'll be able to say that for a little bit longer, but at some point we'll have to stop. I'm honestly kinda lost on the comparison tho. I know when Dahlin was drafted everyone said "he's the next Lidstrom" but its been a few years now, do we still think that? It takes more to be a great player than just being able to stickhandle & skate better than most of your peers at your position. In fact that's probably the least important when it comes down to it. I mean when you think of Lidstrom is that what YOU think of 1st?

OP brings up a good point & i think it goes into something else too. Rasmus needs to have some fire in him in general. He needs to toughen up. You have the size. You have the skill. You need to have the heart too. That will to compete & be all you can be & to not let others bully you or push you around. Being willing to take a punch in the face to land a punch of your own, because you believe yours will be the knockout blow. A sense of urgency too. I've rarely if ever have seen that kinda thing from him & until he does i don't think we'll see him take that next step as a player. Like others have said, its not something you usually just develop. I guess we just have to hope with more sticks to the face & nights getting tossed around, maybe then he'll say i cant take it anymore & turn that switch on.

Well the Rangers just gave Zibanejad his extension. That should put an end to the Jack to NY talk

Others have already answered you. But i also have alternative streams for tonights game, should you or anyone else need them. As well as links for any other sporting event. Feel free to PM me if anyone needs some help watching the game and as always... GO SABRES!!!

I hope they're not on ESPN+. It's going to be enough of a challenge to get viewers watching us this year as it is. Putting it behind a paywall service is not going to help matters. But if they are it won't stop me from watching. I have a stream link for everything 😛

From the choices, Okposo would seem to be the most likely if one were forced to choose. However given how i don't feel as if this team has a player that fits the criteria I'd probably not give it to anyone. The fact our 2 'best' choices are Zemgus & Okposo, its a bit of an indictment on the State of our Franchise & the lack of quality players with any sort of leadership traits whatsoever

Well for Vegas, Ducks & Wild 1 of them would be getting Zibanejad, who has put up more points per game than Jack & doesn't come with the injury concerns. The extension won't come cheap for sure, probably around the $9-9.5m mark. So basically the same cost as Jack. Not saying i think any of those are likely to happen, but there's not much info coming out these days other than crickets haha If a deal is to be made at all, maybe its taking so long because there is a 3 way trade being discussed, and thats what is dragging this out. Or the sides are just too far apart

Its not anything i've consciously worried about, but we're so universally renowned for being dysfunctional, that i could even see the rest of the hockey world sympathizing with Power's situation & supporting him for deciding not to play here. There's plenty of examples they could give, where Buffalo arguably hasn't been good for certain players careers, where one could make the case he'd be better off going that route. I can even see people close to him suggesting it, even if its in jest. I suppose it'll come down to how much Power wants that paycheck & what type of person he is & the challenge he's willing to accept.... Idk. I don't wanna think about it lol

haha... I believe the guy is a Sens fan. It was from that TopShelfHockey channel on youtube. He thinks, as do many i suppose, that the Rangers are the most likely suitor for Jack atm. I'm not too thrilled with the returns but I imagine they're probably more of what we're looking at than a top level prospect coming back.

Saw a stream on youtube going over possible 3 way trade scenarios for Jack & since its so quiet I figured i'd share the screenshots to see what you all thought.

I'm well aware of the reason why linguistically people named John are nicknamed Jack. I said not enough Sabres fans are asking that because I was thinking more along the line of perhaps his parents knew something about the kid from the start... that he was more of a John than a Jack... given the way things have worked out with him. He's less of a Jack & more of a John. In a late night & im tired & have spent 10 years being disappointed with this franchise kinda way Thanks though (i guess) 😛

that's the question not enough fans are asking!

All you guys are slotting Jokiharju with Dahlin but I'd prefer to see them split up. I'd like more balance across the lines where theres a stay at home defender paired with each. Where Dahlin can be Dahlin where he has the freedom to be Dahlin & his defensive pair can cover for him & do the things Dahlin cant... like adding a physical element to the other side. Then Jokiharju can be the main puck mover on the other pairing & have the same thing for him. If they're both paired together it seems 1 is being wasted to a degree, since they both cant be moving the puck thru the neutral zone at the same time or making an offensive play down low. I haven't really looked at potential lines tbh just because of the State of the Franchise right now. Maybe Joki & Dahlin are just the best we can put together from what we have, but ideally i'd like that balance in our pairings & for each to have freedom to play to their strengths. Idk if that makes sense lol

Man Borgen dropped him pretty good. Was hoping it'd be the other way around. Gonna miss me some Borgen

Yeah i dont think any of us would think that Linus was worth more than $5-6mil per or would even want to sign him to a long term deal. Its more imo the total lack of addressing the position at all. After needing to address it last year as well. And since we appear to be tanking next year & starting fresh, if we don't add in some veteran help & solid goaltending, we would be repeating the same mistakes of the past & haven't learned anything... Probably destined to be in this exact same position again years from now too. Thats the infuriating part for me. Not learning from our mistakes... mistakes that we've all suffered thru.

After Linus left, KA should've offered Seattle this. Is he afraid we'll win too many games if we have a decent goalie here? It doesn't make any sense for what his plan is with our goaltending situation. I don't want UPL or Tokarski up here to get rekt every night. We could've had Vanacek for a bag of pucks it looks like. Anyone have any idea on what the "plan" could be? Holding out for a potential G coming back in an Eichel trade? I don't get it

good pickup... Will be interesting to see what the "future considerations" will be

Yep, that was my 1st thought too. This is what good teams do... Boston that is

dont know if this has been posted

that would be something haha... Tbh there shouldnt be any pressure on the team to succeed or win, so the only place we can go is up right? right? 😁

done deal