DarthEbriate

They have a 1OA, 1OA, 4OA, and they're most excited about Kesselring... a 5th round pick who was a 3rd pairing guy in Utah -- who played up in the lineup last year because of his team's injuries. But Kesselring spent the bulk of his time with Ian Cole, Sergachev, and Olli Maata -- three guys whose play in their own zone would place them #2 behind Dahlin on the Sabres blue line. Now, Kesselring has to elevate and cover for his partner, rather than the be the guy who is free to just play. (Unless he's paired with Dahlin.) It's an opportunity for Kesselring, for certain. But it's also very much a big pipe of hopium.

Greenway week-to-week..., eh? This lineup looks less likely for opening day.

There is so much cap space available next summer. Every UFA should take it to 7/1/2026. It's silly cap space, because teams didn't use it this year. A team could sign McDavid and Tuch. And their competitor could sign Eichel and Kaprizov. Sign with the Sabres for $9M this year... or $11M next summer. Or... and here's the fun part... go get join a winning franchise instead. (And I know they'll all just re-sign with their current team for less than they should.)

Huh. How are they going to do the rotation, then? Tuch or Thompson has to give up an A for Samuelsson to have his A in home games? That's as silly as it was last year.

By Thanksgiving, absolutely. For opening night, I'm going by the tried-and-true Ruffism of keeping all newcomers together on the same line. Greenway-Zucker gives Kulich the experience to play a solid checking game.

Agreed. Just going by the label on the chart. I can see Detroit and Buffalo swapping positions this season, and again after next season, depending on how UFAs play out. They're both in 1C purgatory. (Yes, Larkin looks good on Team Canada and he plays with speed. But... he's not striking fear into any championship contender in the playoffs.)

And their little arrow shows that they were near where Detroit was the previous year. Just spinning. The best outcome of the season would seem to get back to the Detroit - window opening - this season. And the other outcome is they slide to where Nashville is.

Benson - Norris - Thompson Quinn - McLeod - Tuch Zucker - Kulich - Greenway Danforth - Krebs - Doan (Malenstyn)

Invitee d-man Aidan Fulp is a Leap Day Baby. Nice.

Every year. But it is fun to see someone on the Prospect's Challenge roster gain 10 pounds in 4 days for the Training Camp roster. And then lose 10 pounds for the regular season when they report to Rochester.

Baker Fairburn Hockey Show podcast pointed out that the contract pays the same $825k in the AHL as well. That this isn't a PTO or a "reboot your career" 2-way contract is an interesting choice. I'm now curious as to what Adams has to say about Luukkonen's injury in the preseason press conference tomorrow. Speculation: I'm mildly shocked Georgiev didn't somehow get a No Movement Clause out of it to control where he's traded to in the event Luukkonen recovers quickly. Signing another backup at full price, when you already have the backup (Lyon) and the future/understudy (Levi), for a starter who has no timetable for return and the injury is undisclosed instead of a UBI/LBI distinction is... odd. I don't want to learn that our starting goalie is suffering from a case of idontwannabeinbuffalitis. That stuff's contagious.

I needed to add more ever ever evers to emphasize my point. 😇 I do wonder what Adams will try to fix this upcoming season/offseason. NHL-ready #1 centers would be a good target. Trade Norris for one and add two more in the draft. I'd say goalie but they already have nine in the system, so I figure they're already starting to address it.

While I believe it's much too early to grade a draft, my main response is: you can never have too many big RHD. Never ever ever. Nice rush goal from Mateo and Nadeau. Jacksonville top line preview.

I don't expect Neuchev to try to annihilate someone. But as a counterpoint, it would have been a good time to test out the new shoulder. However, what I'm most disappointed by is that by avoiding any check, it led to a Pens scoring chance. Separate the man from the puck and dump it back in and go for a change. Telegraphed passes like using he's using a rotary phone.

Morning hockey. Missed opening goals. Neuchev could've decapitated a guy and... stepped aside. Which is nice... in a practice.

For a 2nd.

The Sabres may have no reason for hope, but Soup is above reproach.

https://www.nhl.com/sabres/news/how-to-watch-buffalo-sabres-new-jersey-devils-prospects-challenge-rookie-camp

We've got a game tonight!

I'm guessing this as well. Georgiev had a good age 26 season, but it's otherwise been a downward spiral for him. He gets a chance to get a mini resurrection to his career --- but he is not blocking Levi if Luukkonen is out for a longer term. No timetable seems... either like normal Ruffspeak or a bit alarming.

Strictly because we're in the hopium thread I offer refutations. Scenario 1 - I don't think a Dahlin trade request happens before this season's trade deadline. They have one season to go for it. Scenario 2 - True, but no "fringe" team can lose their leading scorer and a Norris-caliber defenseman. A great team, sure. A borderline team: no. For example, take Quinn Hughes and ... Pettersson? out of the Canucks lineup. No chance. Scenario 3 - Georgiev! Anyway, it's about committing to team defense and giving whoever is in goal a chance. If UPL stays upright and doesn't overslide his net, he can be effective. Scenario 4 - If Ruff is that out of touch, he should just retire. There's no reason to grind the youngest (again x5) team in the league. And he doesn't have anything to prove. What's at stake? His job? He's a lame duck. He can cruise. And maybe that attitude will help the players relax. But yes, they could all still be sorely underwhelming, even with improvements from last year.

Hmmm. Someone isn't ready for the preseason. Because he's not an upgrade on anyone except Lyon, and Lyon is a proven backup who knows how to sit for a time and come in and give you .900.

Just for fun. Ristolainen and Power age 20-21 seasons compared (removing their initial partial seasons) https://stathead.com/hockey/versus-finder.cgi?request=1&seasons_type=perchoice&player_id1=ristora01&p1yrfrom=2015&p1yrto=2016&player_id2=powerow01&p2yrfrom=2023&p2yrto=2024

The 2 split screen makes almost no sense. Just do a single extra picture in the upper right... For racing, everyone is in fire suits and helmets, or worse -- in a helmet and moving 200 mph. The only people they can show with emotion and faces are the team chief and the wife. It's a tricky broadcast to show the humanity. They're better now with the mic'd up style radio and tons of onboard cameras. But back in the day, filling a 2-hour race was a challenge beyond the cool nyeeooommm sounds. Edit: Off Topic, but on the topic of nyeeooommm sounds... Our GM had to go and ruin everything with his talk of palm trees, but I still have the Sabres cars built and ready for action.

I don't gamble -- I'm not scum and I don't like being told the odds. But if the Sabres over is 82.5, I'm taking the over immediately.