DarthEbriate

Why trade him to Toronto? The Sabres are going to ruin their season this weekend.

This is the way. Wait a start or two to ensure he doesn't reaggravate the injury (I'd rather they did that in Rochester -- at least see him recover and play again as part of the conditioning). Then, waive Ellis back to STL before the 30 days expires and say, "Thank you, we've got Georgiev". But his 2024 form was for 20 games. Yes, 20 very good games, but the rest of that season he was just average. The rest of his career he has been below average. Can't risk sending Geertsen down. 4 seasons of $4.75M for a goalie with one 20-game hot streak and otherwise below average numbers? GMs are not lining up for that trade. Maybe a couple late-round picks spaced out over 3 years? Would Adams (or Ruff) in their swansong year, go with Lyon (maximum 44 GP in a season) and Ellis (1 GP)? Not likely. They're going with Luukkonen as their #1 (well, backup as long as Lyon is hot).

Who has never played close to an entire season with a list of injuries as the cause. He is a RFA at the end of the season, which would be enticing to Adams. He's not a scorer, he's not a PKer. He had one hot month (Dec 2023) with 7 goals in 14 games (in a season with 16 goals). That was it. Pass.

Tuch is always going for corners, so missing the net comes with the territory. He could shoot into the goalie's crest each time. But -- that he's always missing the net is a fallacy. He simply alternates good and poor shooting percentages by season. This season is his down year. S% by year: 8.8 | 11.1 | 8.2 | 12.7 | 8.6 | 16.5 | 11.5 | 18.4 | 5.9 coming into tonight's game. The good news is the high percentage years keep increasing. Next year, he'll shoot 20%+ (for some team) and be a 45+ goal scorer.

Now, bully and harass Toronto to sweep the home-and-home, then revisit a reckoning upon the Bruins, and maybe they're on to something.

Never. I've already posted months ago. We can give Jarmo credit. But moves like getting a mid-20s top-4 potential D (like Kesselring) and heart-and-soul middle-6 guys like Zucker and Doan should have happened five years ago when they had Eichel and Reinhart. Multiple resources should have been thrown at goalie, not $750k offers. Adams convinced the owner they should rebuild again. To hell with him. That's just it. For anyone who wants to trade UPL for something useful, you've got to add and add and add (retention, too). He has no trade value. Put your Opponent's GM Hat on and ask yourself, what would you trade for UPL? Unfortunately, Quinn can go invisible for weeks. And last season it was through New Year's. But maybe he's finally going to go from inconsistent young player to semi-consistent veteran? Greenway and Kozak as your 12/13. Geertsen to the minors.

If Quinn can play the entire season like his 2025 side of last year (ignore the 2024 side!) he would be a 20-30-50 guy. And if he's the only defensive liability on his line (no Cozens) he might become a... good hockeyer.

Gahhh! My grits! I was busy looking up Danforth/Krebs career stats. Curse you, Sabres! (Not scorched, but a lot of sticking. So close.)

It's pretty wild that we need our 1st-round key-piece-of-the-Eichel-trade guy on his second contract to become as good as a try-hard undrafted undersized college guy who played briefly in the AHL before going to Liiga and the KHL (COVID year), before making his NHL debut at age 28. Their points per 82 games are very close (though Danforth has the definite edge in FO% and hits; Krebs a large lead in assists).

Hmm. Heading to the third of game #7 on the season and G Ellis (making season debut) has more assists than 1C Norris, 2C Kulich, 3C McLeod, and 5C Kozak combined. (Krebs messes it all up with his two assists.)

My roster isn't cap compliant. Son of Ben - Jackikin Eichwalker - Reino Samidala Jef or Quinn Solo - Tagebacca - Tuch Icewalker Dylando Cozressians - City in McLeods - TBDoan Zemgus - Wedges (Krebs) - Dad Kposobi (Shmeerod) Muel-PO - R2-D6 Unlimited Uncle Owen - Kessel Run BB-4 - Bryson Goalless Levi HC Grand Ruff

But who will protect them when... who is definitely not that guy... Edvinsson... starts taking liberties? 😇 The question for the fourth line (which was very good with Mal-Kozak-Danforth, and still good when it was Malenstyn-Kozak-Dunne)... is Krebs an upgrade from Danforth? We should hope so.

The dreaded TNT/HBO non-viewing, radio-only abstract painting description call tonight here. Hope Östlund plays well. Detroit is playing tremendous hockey to start the season. Need Ellis to play above expectation and for Dahlin/TNT/Tuch/Byram/McLeod to all show up at both ends of the ice to get a win.

1) So don't sign Georgiev. Call Reimer and when he says "No thanks, I'm better than UPL anyway", then call the next guy on the rolodex. If you only need a camp body, don't waste the contract. Keep calling around -- you can always claim someone (Ellis) off waivers at the season's beginning as well if end up liking them more. 2) They have made it abundantly clear they are not calling up Levi in the first half of this season. Ellis, waiver-passing Georgiev, and the planned tandem are all ahead of him 3) Sure, starting tonight. Maybe. He could benefit from no NHL tape on him and get one of those new guy great starts. Or, he could look like an AHL goalie who hasn't played in 2 weeks facing off against the hottest team in the conference. 4) Except Lyon, their goalies have no trade value right now. Partially because of their extreme surplus on the roster and partially because goalies in general have low trade value unless they're a proven stud. The most recent goalie trade was Pheonix Copley -- established AHL starter for 10 seasons, same NHL career sv % as Luukkonen (tweener level backup) -- for future considerations. The trade market is to give them away.

It's early in the morning. Let's quantify this! That will give Adams the benefit of the doubt in his leadoff big roster shakeup because he received many more assets than he gave up. For scoring, I'll keep it simple, even though the range should be much greater (Eichel is more than 5 above a player who never made it to the NHL, for example). The points also reduce the noise of "what did they do to retain X" -- which could cause massive issues with just evaluating the trade (i.e., think if Kesselring and Doan both pull JJPs this coming summer and refuse to sign and get moved for future lesser returns...). Points: 5=unquestioned top line/1st pair 4=2nd line/2nd pair/1st rd pick 3=3rd line/3rd pair/2nd rd pick 2=4th line/depth D/3rd rd pick 1=AHLer/4th-7th rd pick 0= never made it to AHL/future considerations. Bonus points: +1 for cap relief (because theoretically it gives you opportunity to do more for your roster). 1) JJP -4 = Kess 3 + Doan 3 = +2 (Kesselring was a 3rd pair who played up, and Doan is a 3rd liner around the league at this time -- likewise, JJP isn't a 1W in most scenarios at the time of the trade and isn't with Utah now) 2) Coz -3 + future 2nd (-3) + Gilbert -1 = Norris 4 + JBD 2 = -1 (but based on GP would = -6) 3) Sav -1 = McLeod 3 + Tullio 1 = +3 (top 10 pick should equate to 4pts, which would = 0) 4) 2nd -3 = Malenstyn 2 = -1 5) Mitts -3 = Byram 4 = +1 (Byram is on BUF 1st pair, but around the league he's a D3/4) 6) 7th -1 = Rob +2 = +1 7) 2nd -3 + 5th -1 = Greenway +3 = -1 8] Bloom 0 = Stillman +1 = +1 9) Eichel -5 + 3rd -2 = Tuch +4, Krebs +2, 1st +2, 2nd +3 = +4 (strictly asset for asset, and here is where you know that the 5-point tier should really be weighed as 10, but again, to give Adams as much credit as possible in just swapping assets. would = -6) 10) 0 = Butcher (1) + 5th (1) = +2 11) Reinhart -5 = Levi 1 + Kulich 3 = -1 (If Reino is also a 10, this would = -6) 12) Risto -3 = Hagg 2 + Rosen 2 + Wahlberg 1 = +2 (jury still out on Wahlberg's ceiling) 13) Montour -4 = Sardarian 0 = -4 14) Hall -4 + Lazar -2 = Bjork 1 + Kisakov 0 = -5 15) Johansson -3 = Staal 3 = 0 So, giving Adams the greatest benefit of the doubt, based strictly on assets in and out, that's a.... +3. Or, going by the grading system, equivalent to a 3rd line player, 3rd pair D, 2nd round pick. That's the net difference. That's what Adams has accomplished in 5 years with a team/system bursting to the seams with top-10 pick talent. Instead, you know they're down 2 elite players that would be change the entire complexion of the franchise if they had stuck with them, hired a real coaching staff, and had proper guidance on basic roster construction (sign a Zucker-type, draft your own Doan types, sign a true goalie tandem, etc.)

Now that Luukkonen is starting his rehab stint (which has been known as the plan for the last month since he missed most of training camp and all but one period of preseason) -- it reopens the questions around the number of goalies they have under contract. Ellis has gotten 0 games -- Lyon has been great, but now your backup goaltender hasn't played in over 2 weeks -- and his next game will be his NHL debut and first ever on the ice with these defensemen. It's small potatoes, but it also has impacts with future trades/GM interactions, because STL had him lined up for a heavy workload and development with their AHL starting gig. If they get the chance to re-claim him, you've shafted him a month of development. They're likely less worried that you claimed him and more concerned that you're wasting his time. GMs are a small group and they're seeing you waste assets. Agents see this, too. Ellis' agent is increasing his Buffalo tax for any other future clients. Georgiev has gotten 1 game -- because he didn't report to Rochester immediately. Leinonen has gotten 1 game, because Georgiev didn't report to ROC immediately. Levi has only 2 GP, which makes sense because they were both back-to-backs thus far, but now you're also impacting his development time because Luukkonen has to get reps to resume his #1 (or #2 behind Lyon) status with Buffalo. Ratzlaff has played 1 game with Jacksonville, but now will likely have his workload cut while Luukkonen is in ROC, which presumably would force Leinonen down to the ECHL. This all goes back to: Why did the preseason goalie signing (whoever it was) get a contract instead of a PTO? If it's an Adams Tax, then you call someone else. (Or hire a real GM.) With a light slate to start the season in Rochester, why not let Levi be the backup in Buffalo? Maybe shuffle him once so he gets opening night with the Amerks and a free start in there, but otherwise get his GP in Buffalo until Luukkonen is fully healthy and proven ready to go. Why bother to claim Ellis?

For #10, the 2022 NJ 5th (134OA) became RHD Vsevolod Komarov

We know it's Bryson. It's always about Bryson. 😇 Luukkonen as expected. He still needs a preseason. I would like to see what they have in Ellis before just waiving him back for St. Louis to claim. We checked him out of the library and never even opened the cover.

As long as Adams is GM, we're on the Power timeline. Just wait until he's 25. Then we'll all see! The issues are -- there are great young offensive defensemen everywhere these days, just draft one for yourself. Power will never get the point production to increase his trade value or justify his contract unless Dahlin is hurt. As we saw last season, when Dahlin is out, Power doesn't exactly elevate his game. He doesn't have intensity.

Except Adams would've convinced ownership that Suzuki and Slafovsky aren't important components of the team and should be traded, and the goaltending is much too stable.

He'd be more useful if they made it to more shootouts. But alas, he and Geertsen are both fully at passenger status.

Hmmm... Elysian Great Pumpkin as I turn my attention fully to the Mariners? (Not a Mariners fan per se, but it'd be nice for many local folks to be happy. Though if they win, local punks will scare my pups with many fireworks. Punks.)

Solid bottom-sixer who knows his role.

Dahlin's shot blocked. Would rather see them work it to the sides and down low rather than just relying on a point shot... but alas. The better team won. Mostly good effort, though.

He always seems to have slow starts after breaks, whether the beginning of the season, coming back from injury, or after a 4 nations faceoff. But he can be streaky great for long stretches.