DarthEbriate

Yup. Levi is going to demand the Oettinger treatment. He might not make the Sabres out of camp (but he won't have the likes of established NHL goalies Bishop and Khudobin in front of him), but he's playing fewer than 40 career AHL games before he's back up with the Sabres for good. And yes, that means moving a goalie if need be to clear the roster spot.

He didn't need goatheads or giraffes. He did need the Muel, though. He's a legit NHL goalie in that if he sees it, he stops it. Yes there will be occasional bad one that all goalies give up, but he's going to make so many great shots look harmless because he'll already be there by reading the play and being extremely fast. (A quicker Miller.) Maybe not scratched, but he'd never have made it back to the top line. And Thompson would be a 3rd-line winger.

Yes, 1 year remaining after this one. So... 10 games and 1 year remaining.

This is what I can't understand. I mean, he saw Levi in camp and knows the GM love him. But... didn't he also look at the empty AHL spots, the retiring 42 year-old, the 1-year contract on Comrie, and UPL and say... "Well, I can do pretty well against all the rest of that?"

This is where the fun begins.

It's the question of... what would we say if we watched Hasek and the '99 Sabres live with modern communication technology? There would always be some folks would certainly complain that Hasek let himself get out of position and that made him have to do the rolling save in the first place.

Rosen ties it late. Weissbach and Houser take care of business in the shootout.

Best goalie on the roster.

They got a President's Trophy with that trade. (So far.)

He's in their heads!

Ok... now for the Sabres to score one.

All the goathead (and white reverse retro) games are predetermined for the calendar early in the season, aren't they? For marketing and opposition planning purposes. I don't think they're allowed to just change the jerseys they're going to wear or wear them more than initially planned.

Fun stat of the day: Corey Perry is a -25 on the TBL. The next closest is -9 by D Hadyn Fleury. The team has a +31 goal differential. I'm guessing he'll probably hang 'em up after this season and pretty darn good (if ratty) career.

And Ullmark put up a +.913sv% every single season except for one while with the Sabres (and his poorest 2018-2019 season was basically Anderson's numbers this year). It didn't matter if it was Housley, Krueger, or Granato, Ullmark was consistent and improving overall year-to-year. But the other guys were always garbage except for 1 month of Hutton and... Houser!

The late '90s going down into the dead puck era were a magical time. Also, those late '90s Red Wings were an amazing defensive team for many reasons (namely a Hall of Fame studded roster), but one of the biggest reasons is they possessed the puck all the time. They were as fun to watch as Buffalo for the opposite reason... they had the puck and were threatening to score, whereas the Sabres didn't have the puck and were being threatened to be scored upon... and then would get a rush goal after Hasek made yet another routine amazing save.

Like Michigan the year before (with Power, Beniers, Kent Johnson, Portillo, etc.) they wanted to have their shot at the title. Ryan Johnson knew this season's Gophers squad was stacked and acted accordingly. And emphasis on the second line... he's not the glamourous one, but he's on the top pair, leads the team in blocked shots, and is a mainstay of their team. He'll be fine. Joki was an NHL regular at age 20 (D+2) and Pysyk at age 24 (stewed a bit in the WHL) -- though it's a bit confusing with him because he'd played 44 games at age 22 and then his age 23 season was a fun mix of a) he and McCabe both starting the season injured, b) the front office being more excited by rookies Ristolainen and Zadorov, and c) the front office being really really more excited in McEichel and icing Benoit and Meszaros as tank commanders. It could easily be argued the team would have been out of the guarantee of Eichel with a D corps of Myers/Bogo, Gorges, Weber, McCabe, Pysyk, and weave in games from Risto/Zad/Balls/Mesz and Strachan instead of leaving McCabe and Pysyk in Rochester almost all season (9 combined NHL gp). Still a tanking team, but more in the top-5 than in dead last. tl;dr If he signs, Johnson will get his 2-3 games this year, do a season in the AHL with some callups (during which he could stick), and then should be in the NHL in 2024-25.

You'll start getting worried when the crowd starts chanting "... we want 7!" after Skinner nabs #6 to start the 3rd period.

Game of Battleship? (Miss!)

No. No we shall not. ESPN+/Hulu and NHLNetwork do not play together. And Ray's got his shirt off.

To clarify, UPL is waivers exempt this season (barring an extremely successful playoff run where he's playing). Next season, he'll have to clear waivers based on the number of seasons played. https://www.capfriendly.com/waivers-calculator/ukko-pekka-luukkonen#results

That's a good comparable. Late 1st, <200#, known as a defensive defenseman with wheels. If Johnson can be a Pysyk --- and early-ish in his career --- that's a great addition. Pysyk was very calming for the kids last season. And had Pysyk re-signed (and not torn his Achilles), he's the #6 this season over Bryson and the defense probably holds together enough to scrape out 2-3 more wins over the course of the season when the D injuries struck because you've got a cagey vet instead of some combination of Bryson/Clague/Fitz/Stillman all in the game at the same time. Another hopeful comp would be a Ryan Lindgren.

Who? Tampa?

Fedun's an odd comparable as an undrafted player against 2 first-round picks. The question is: What is Jokiharju's ceiling? I still see an inconsistent 23 year-old who occasionally looks solid, occasionally gets feisty after the whistle (more last season than this season), occasionally makes beautiful stretch passes, and also gets overpowered, caught looking in his own zone, and flat-footed on the opposition's blue line. But then, Brian Campbell was inconsistent (and sometimes an outright hot mess) until he was 26. Joker has been pushed into a top-4 role because the lack of depth around him forced him to be, but I see a player who can become a top-4 still. And all the better if he only needs to be a 5 because he's got a bunch of stars above him.

Montour did for the back half of that season. It just wasn't sufficient for him to stay with the overall switchup/rebuild that was ongoing again. And as a UFA, I can't blame him for going to a team higher up the standings and with a similar run-and-gun style. But he'd have been a top-4 (and PP2 guy) with the Sabres last season for sure. Hard to say about this year with Boushh and Joker on the team. Maybe Dahlin would've stayed on the left side at all times. C'est la vie.