DarthEbriate

You don't have to conserve any space on a seasonal basis. Like you say, you just pay a bit of a premium on a slightly shorter deal. They had all the space in the world to do exactly that. Where was the legit #2-3 D signing to pair with Power for 2-3 seasons? Lyubushkin and Clifton were the multiyear righties. Yes and several NHL teams did (rightfully) tighten the budget for that next season. A couple also axed their AHL staffs like the Sabres did. The contrast is in the bounce-back. Let's look at Detroit's* same seasons: DET: $7.74M (2020-21), $11.9M (21-22), $7.7M (22-23), $1.7M (23-24) BUF: $8.8M (2020-21), $15.5M (21-22), $17M (22-23), $6.1M (23-24) *Why Detroit? Same division, same "not the greatest booming local economy/downtown, but similar passionate fan base", same boat in terms of rebuild, and arguably well behind the Sabres. You're competing with them for veterans who know it will be 2-3 seasons before they're contenders again. In 2022-23, it was right back to business as usual, and then this year -- under $2M in space. The Sabres will be there in terms of cap space ($2M) next season, but by then Detroit will already have playoff revenue, fan interest, and a solid core getting stronger. And spending another $4-10M in cap in 2022-23 could easily have been worth 2 points in the standings. $5M this season could have been a backup goalie and a bottom-6 C/W.

In 2020, Pegula made the Effective, Efficient, and Economical statement. Since then, the Sabres have been: $8.8M (2020-21), $15.5M (21-22), $17M (22-23), $6.1M (23-24) under the cap each season (per Spotrac -- with in-season fluctuations for trades, etc.) They have had massive holes in the roster every season that could have been addressed via trade, retained salary, or UFA. They might not have stated there's an owner-imposed salary cap, but since "EEE", they've not been close the cap.

Not a fan favorite for me though I've been very happy to see his growth. But -- the moment it clicked for me was the outdoor game at home in Toronto. Mitts got to the boards, reversed checked some hapless Leaf (probably Brodie, or Sandin? or similar undersized defenseman) into oblivion, and then calmly went about making a pass. Since then, he's been their most consistent player along the boards, and has created numerous goals simply by winning battles, calmly possessing the puck, and then making quality passes. No other center on this roster is anywhere close to Mitts' skill along the wall and only Okposo and Greenway and Benson are anywhere near as consistent in their efforts along the boards. He'll be missed the remainder of this season for certain. (All that said, it doesn't mean it was a bad trade. And we won't really know the trade's value until additional moves are made and Byram is 2 seasons into his Sabres career or traded rather than extended.) That's the real trick, isn't it. And it'll cost us something extra. 17 thousand. All in advance. We already needed a 4C to take defensive zone draws and be "harder to play against", and now we need that and 2C equivalent. Krebs? Maybe. Kulich? He's a sniper at heart, not a grinder. I think it'll shake out in the end: Byram - Dahlin; Power - RJohnson; Muel - Clifton. And Joker will have a completely respectable career somewhere else -- Sekera-like, or the complementary Lydman type.

A few thoughts that don't involve Rebel pilots: Mitts wasn't the Sabres' 2C. 5-on-5 he was at 15:37 per game, 90 seconds more than TNT, and 2 minutes more than Cozens. He was their 1C this season. And he had earned those minutes based on play. Byram-Dahlin... We'll see, but it seems like both Dahlin and Byram could use a veteran stay-at-home-type to let them go on the offensive. Power still needs that, too. I wouldn't be surprised if Byram looks "best" with R.Johnson the remainder of this season. They're playing on the D-corp's timeline. And that could very easily be 2025-26 now at the earliest (when Dahlin is 25, Byram is 24, Muel is 25, Power is 23, and R.Johnson is 24). 15 years? 16?

Had to trade for Byram to get Johnson's game back on track.

Well, shoot. There goes my preseason prediction that Mitts would lead the team in points. And there goes our best all-around center. On the other hand, his next contract was going to be more than an Efficient, Effective, and Economical front office was going to be willing to pay. Let's go back to the 2019 scouting report: Kakko -- the K-Gun. More Ks to join UPL K^6. Turcotte -- sounds like a guy who would drive an AT-AT Byram -- sounds like a Rebel pilot Cozens -- sounds like an Imperial officer Zegras -- sounds like a bounty hunter Dach -- the excited young snowspeeder gunner! Pod -- "Now, this is Podkolzin!" Boldy -- "To boldy go where no one has... " wrong franchise. Krebs -- sounds like an Ewok  Cole Caufield -- sounds like a Tatooine farmer. I'm looking at you, Biggs Darklighter! We've got a Rebel pilot, an Imperial officer, and an Ewok. We win!

Rousek is about 60 games overdue for the tryout, particularly since VO has been the #13 all season.

Reinhart has over 40 goals this season; Tarasenko gets to be a 2nd/3rd liner. And in hindsight, maybe $5M is a bit much, but Tarasenko would've been a good 1-year fill-in for Quinn. Then, when Quinn returns if you're in it -- you've got a legit top-6 RW problem. And if you're not in, you do what Ottawa is and ship him out for futures.

But the grass is greener on the other side of UFA. Once you get a taste of the playoffs and folks can see what you can do when you’re free of the Sabres, you’ll sign on with the Kings or Preds or Wild.

Chris Taylor joined the Devils staff to be with Ruff again.

Typical overreaction Sabres move would be to send Girgs to NYR with retention via a 3rd team so Drury only pays 25%. And the Sabres get Rempe, who, after skating the rest of the season here, never leaves the AHL again.

It must be nice to have Stone (and yes, a good enough team to get into the playoffs -- or barely miss in that one season) take conveniently-scheduled surgeries and be able to bounce on and off of LTIR every season.

Is Ruff the better coach? Would he be a logical next-step playoff-bound coach after Granato got the kids to believe in themselves? Are Lego Y-Wings cool? But no one has answered the question: Even if offered the job, why would Ruff return to this two-bit Jawa-****** franchise? Ruff just signed a multiyear extension. He can kick back on his Ruff duff for all of 2024-25 and take it easy (meanwhile, Granato also just signed an extension so it'd be very un-EEE). And when Ruff is ready, he should have several bench/assistant options and maybe a HC spot available after any midseason firing. He'll likely be involved with Team Canada again. Ruff can get more money coaching elsewhere. Rolston, Nolan, Bylsma - not direct from Pittsburgh, but from USNTDP -, Krueger, Granato -- these are not the highest paid coaches in the league. (And it's doubtful Babcock's agent did anything with the Sabres except to negotiate a higher salary from Toronto.) His last season here the team had already elected to begin selling off parts and was ready to tank. They gave him this center spine to start 2013-14 coming out of the lockout: Hodgson-22, Ennis-23, Grigorenko-18, Ellis -- and then Hecht played center after Ellis was waived (and cleared!). That's not a playoff roster. Big surprise they started out a bit slowly apart from Vanek (who led the league in scoring after 10 games). And Ruff was fired for it. He's watched the organization run veterans and future stars out of town, alienate the (#1 % US television viewing) fan base, let the arena waste away... and purposefully tank for multiple seasons, only to churn through GMs who flopped their the entire makeup of the team and coaches who shouldn't have ever a NHL HC. He's seen team leadership doesn't want anyone with an alpha personality who is going to stir things up (and Ruff has chilled as he's gotten older; but he's still got some fire). He saw his former player, AHL affiliate coach, and now Devils bench coach get fired by the organization -- not for incompetence or leaning too heavily on AHL veterans, but because he and his staff's salaries during the pandemic shutdown prevented the owners from money for yachts and such. If Ruff wants to get to 900 career wins, he deserves somewhere better than this mess to attempt to do so.

^This. UPL may have been unable to go for a bit at the beginning of the season, but he was clearly goalie #3 in the front office/coaches' minds at the end of last season and into the beginning of this one.

Everyone thought Ruff was gone at the beginning of last season after Brunette had joined the staff. Then the players went and started the season 21-4-1. Brunette got a head coach gig in Nashville. I wonder if the Devils front office doesn't regret making this same cut at the end of last season and going with Brunette. (And because naturally the conversation will go this way: why would Ruff come back to work for the Pegulas in any capacity?)

While I am a proponent of giving in to your hatred, what I'm most like to see is the refs and the linesmen all doing their job. You see an intent to injure (even mildly -- because that's what every behind-the-play slash on the calves or wrists is) you call the penalty, every single time. Players are allowed to nearly destroy each other within the rules of the game. But away from the play? I'd be fine with cleaning all that garbage up. The slash behind the play during a line change to send a message is the equivalent of a wide receiver leaving the huddle and running to the sideline, and while doing so, the defending cornerback (to send a "message") goes and headbutts him. The NFL would kick a guy out of the game instantly for something like that, plus the 15 yards. And barring the instantaneous penalty, I want the perpetrator's next shift to result in him taking a 5-minute major for fighting as our 4W/3D sizes him up. No instigator necessary. In this case, our 30 minute/game defenseman doesn't have to fight and miss ice time, but Scheifele sure would.

4. Starting today, the Buffalo Sabres' reason for existence will be to provide all the Wegman's brand 18-ounce plastic party cups.

Vatrano, signed through next season. He's much more likely to get moved to a contender so maybe the Sabres are simply involved to acquire him, retain an additional half (25%) and get compensated as a middleman. But, if you move on from KO and VO, and are dead set on a Rosen/Kulich making the roster next season, then having a Vatrano or equivalent to float around the lineup wouldn't be the worst pickup while you roll yet another kid line. The other option would be Laughton.

The other difference with baseball is you have a bench to rotate through to keep everyone dialed in to big league pitching and you have very distinct matchups. Unless you have an Edgar Martinez who bats over .300 against righties and lefties, you might rotate your DH to take advantage of someone's strength v. lefties or to give the 35-year-old 1B a day off in 95-degree heat/humidity at the end of 14 games in 15 days.

It's possible, however unlikely, the Sabres may find a weakness in the standings, and exploit it. That SW quote completed, no. But to make it possible, the Sabres can only afford to lose games against the Western Conference teams the remainder of the season. Everyone is still in front of them and the teams they're playing (like NYI v. BOS yesterday) the playoff-locked teams are coasting the same as they are against the Sabres.

No one ever wants to avenge Stafford. If you wanted to alliterate you could (or assonate), you could avenge Armia or avenge acquiring Evander.

My main memory of Rempe was watching him try to address a lay-'em-out Kozak check in a T-Birds/Winterhawks tilt. Kozak saw him coming and leaned into him and stopped Rempe in his tracks. Rempe looked confused, then skated away. However, he looks to have put on another 20-30 pounds since then. Still, if he's going to fight in every game, he's probably not going to last long in the modern game. In hindsight, Levi should not have started the season. But he at least put up some NHL backup-adjacent numbers. Comrie has played as well as the powerplay all season.

Smart PK. Played it back to the D to kill time, then reset the attack to Cozens after Vegas relaxed. Well done.

Shortie: goalie corner pocket.

Mitts... and... a screen on the powerplay?