Brawndo

GREENWAY

Donny’s Lineup

Jokiharhju is the scratch on defense

Skinner and Greenway activated off IR

Ryan Johnson is in tonight Skinner and Greenway are not definite to return tonight

Greenway and Skinner can be activated from IR, without a corresponding roster move as the league is in its holiday roster freeze. Starting the 28th two players will need to be moved off the roster.

He would be the piece I flip, that would be a shake up to the room

Buffalo is the 1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th team on the list

At least pay Bob Woods to be a PP Consultant

Fire Mike Bales and see if Mike Condon has interest in coming in to work with Levi

Zemgus would be a great choice for this

Laura Pegula represented the Bills at the owners meetings last March. She has not represented the Sabres at the BOG nor been seen at Key Bank Center. None of the kids have.

If taking the 10th ranked scorer off your team is going to that detrimental to your playoff chances, that gives you a great indication of what your playoff chances actually are. Pretty much the entire core of this team played for their country in the tournament and I doubt you will find a single player on the team that would have shown any resentment over sending Benson to the WJCs. Even in the extremely unlikely event they come close to the playoffs The WJCs are a vacation and overrated? It’s considered one of the most prestigious events for players, especially for Canadians. Talk to the players who have played for their country and see how overrated they think it is. Had they loaned Benson (who mentioned to Lance Lysowski playing in the World Juniors was a dream of his) it would had hardly been giving up. Out of all the prospects this organization has Levi is the one they can least afford to ***** up. At the time the team was rotating three goalies splitting practice and games. For a goaltender making the transition from college to pros this was the worse possible scenario for Him. I also have it on good authority that Levi’s Injury early this season was directly related to his usage to start the season If he is going to remain the starter in Buffalo and get the practice reps associated with it, fine keep him here. If it’s as a backup, then it’s best to send him down I’m pretty sure the Boston Bruins consider Matt Poitras a pro, yet they loaned Him to Team Canada and he is tied for 7th in scoring on the team that is in First Place in the Atlantic. I am an Adams Supporter, I like how the front office has been revamped under him especially the analytics department. I they have gotten better at drafting and (gasp) development. You know what I didn’t like, the fact they basically decided to run it all back. The same roster, the same coaching staff and the same power play. The only difference was trying to play more defensively and that backfired spectacularly. And doing what’s best for winning? No level of this organization from the front office, the coaching staff which is making some boneheaded roster decisions or the players on this roster have given any indication they are doing what’s best for winning. The analytics, counting stats and the eye test all match up this team just plain sucks. They have regressed in almost every offensive metric. They have yet to give any indication that they can turn this around and actually compete for a playoff spot. No one gets a free pass on this season, not the players, the coaches and especially not Adams. The goal was the playoffs and they are well on their way to failing that objective. Sending Benson to WJCs would have had minimal effect on that. Furthermore if Levi does need to go back to Rochester because that is what is best for His development, then that’s what needs to happen.

Bryson clears waivers

Per press release Jacques Martin is the interim HC

Per Friedman

The playoffs are toast for this team. They are what their record says they are. For a front office that decided to run it back, almost everything needed to go perfectly. It most certainly hasn’t. Their top line has one player on IR in Skinner and two others in Tage and Tuch who both came back too early from their injuries and aren’t close to 100% They have three players in VO, Jost and Murray who shouldn’t be in the lineup mudh less together as a line. The coaching staff continues to run the Dahlin-Samuelsson Pairing out even though Mattias is best suited for a 3rd pairing. That’s when they are not playing 11-7. The roster is sending its own message by having a 1-9-2 record after wins, they are not good enough. If taking an 18 yo off the roster for 14 days is going to be that much of a detriment to the team, the playoffs were a fallacy to begin with Jiri Kulich has been loaned and the Amerks are actually in the playoff chase. He would miss five games during the WJCs. Loan Him, let him live a dream of playing for Team Canada. The NHL will be here when he gets back.

Lance Lysowski had an interview with Benson and in it he described how Adams told Team Canada no and explained to Benson why he wasn’t being loaned for the WJCs. Benson is happy being in the NHL, but it doesn’t seem He had a say in the decision

Sending Benson back to the WHL to average two points a game really isn’t going to help His Development now, He has proven he belongs in the NHL. He might need to sit for a game or two as the season goes on. Two weeks away at the WJCs getting a chance to play for Canada would have been a great reward for Him.

I realize He has been the Sabres best player most nights, but the playoffs are all but dead for this team. Maybe they should have let Him go experience the WJCs.