DarthEbriate

Fabbro was on waivers and would have been a fantastic pickup granted he joined the Sabres and immediately became Dahlin's right-side partner (or Power's) as he became with Werenski. But I looked into it awhile back, and the day he was waived, Columbus was just a point or two behind Buffalo. I'm not convinced Adams puts in a claim, but maybe Ruff would've convinced him to because of the unclear role for Joker.

@Thorner stole my thunder. Annnnd Esa Tikkanen as a fellow Cup-hoarding Oiler with Selke savvy and Tony Amonte before the trade deadline who was very solid as a youngster and then the statistical leader of those middling Chelios/Daze/Amonte Blackhawks squads (he was a good player). And look at the playoffs. Yes, the Devils were the #2 team in the NHL in a great series that went 7 games. However, look at this murderer's row of a playoff run: 84-point Isles (1 point/game) who'd be 15th if playoffs were seeded 1-16; 88-point Caps (12th of 16); NJ (2nd); and a Cinderella-run Canucks team (14th of 16).

I see it as an option. I think the title could be different, but it would be fulfilling that role. He's Pegula's friend so he can play the czar/overseer without having to learn the GM side. (Why would Ruff want to be a rookie GM and have to get into dealing with agents, etc., and contract negotiations?) From the owner's perspective, it'd be easier to keep Sheevyn as the GM and have them both report to Pegula -- sort of like a few NFL franchises had run in the '00s-'10s with coach/GM on equal footing reporting to the owner (notably the Seahawks with Schneider/Carroll). Adams could also leave the GM spot, but still remain as the Wormtongue POHO good angel at Pegula's shoulder because, you know, he listens.

Benson just needs someone willing to go to the high-danger spots on the ice. As directed at Quinn a couple games ago: when you're on the ice with Benson, go to the front of the net and stay there. He will get the puck to you.

Which seems preposterous seeing how often the Sabres have had a top-10 pick in the last 14 seasons. (10 top-10 picks)

It was also a timing issue. He was returning from surgery within weeks of Quinn returning from his offseason Achilles. A smart, savvy GM gets Kane and sends Quinn back to Rochester for the rest of the season as a rehab. A "no-blockers!" GM does not. A better GM than either of those gets a veteran forward replacement in the summer the instant Quinn goes down, because the team had moved on from Olofsson roster-wise if not contractually. Tarasenko, a player like Zucker, etc. should have been a priority that offseason. If Quinn comes back 100% all the better; if he fails to come back, then go get Kane, too. 5 on 5, the top 10 scoring teams including Buffalo have goal differentials of: +43, +18, +6 BUF, +25, +14, +25, +42, +10, -7, and +1. Those teams with small plusses are either really good defensively (Vegas at +14, Carolina +10), or poor defensively, but with elite offensive talent and a killer PP (Edmonton at +1). And then there's the outlier: the Rangers at -7, who have been a trainwreck all season (and not getting elite Shesterkin goaltending).

Brännström with 2 goals last night in his debut, but the Amerks with 3 PP goals given up is the game. I'm not so stoked that Metsa was the d-man sitting for Brännström though. (Unless he was hurt!) I get it, because Metsa is only on an AHL contract, but I don't have to like it.

Ehrhoff isn't off the ledger yet, though his payments do not count against the cap.

It was the Housley/JBott takeover that wanted to build Nashville-style d-corps. Adams has simply perpetuated it where the only defensive defenseman outside of Samulesson has been a 3rd-pairing ceiling guy (shell of Erik Johnson, Lyubushkin, Clifton). Of course, that Nashville team's D-corps that went to the Final with Housley as their d-coach featured Josi (age 26), Ellis (26), Subban (27), and Ekholm (26). And then a 3rd pair of Matt Irwin!!! and Yannick Weber who averaged about 10 minutes in the playoffs. All we need to do is wait three more years until Dahlin is 27, Power is 25, Muel is 27, and Byram is 26. Adams will still be here and the Sabres will be in the playoffs.

Lots of reasons he'll be back: Alternate captain = leader. PK defender. Never give up on a young defenseman too early. Pegula doesn't want to pay for a buyout or retention for that many years for someone not to be here. Sheevyn probably wouldn't get good value in a trade without retention.

But shouldn't Ruff, with 30 years of coaching experience, have been able to do that already? And then, because he's the future POHO, he could give Adams the shopping list to go get a defenseman who fits the need?

Gotta keep Byram's next contract down.

Points, hardware, accolades, playoffs... who has the better career: Power or Edvinsson?

Are you sure we're talking about the same Ullmark? The discussion was definitely about the risk of extending/paying 1A money to a goalie who had had non-contact knee injuries in back-to-back seasons. But I don't think anyone thought he was a bad NHL goalie. Certainly not after playing behind the Sabres' team defense and putting up the numbers he did.

Ullmark was a much better and more consistent goalie than Luukkonen for the Sabres. Ullmark's career low in save percentage was .905. His second worst season is .912, this year, with Ottawa. Luukkonen was one of the hottest goalies in the league the 2nd half of last season and he only got to .910. He's had one season better than that at .917, which was all of 9 games. Ullmark was, and remains, a bonafide 1A starter in this league.

Saw a highlight... Power just got pushed around by Larkin on that goal. Absolutely no Power. The complete opposite of But more importantly, why in the world is Ruff challenging that? The failure on that challenge should have been rewarded with a 5-minute major.

Zadorov is kind of the ideal Jokiharju partner. Physical, crease-clearing, and going to take chances both offensively and defensively, which allows Joker to be the steady presence and manage the breakout. Now, if they're you're 2nd pair, you're happy. As your top pair (which they are while H. Lindholm and McAvoy are out), they should get exposed. But Boston has good structure to cover for some of that exposure.

Brannstrom has a goal just over a minute into his Amerks debut.

That's true, but,

This one is interesting, but I think it makes sense given their depth at forward. When McDavid is on the ice alone, I'm guessing it's a lot of guys standing around waiting for McDavid to do his magic. I remember one instance of this against the Sabres. McDavid held onto the puck, looking to make something happen, but in either a line change or just no one having the instinct to attack, he had to pull up and it became a turnover and transition the other way.

Saturn has 274 moons now. I guess the rings weren't enough.

I hope Norris gets 2 goals (one on the PP) and an assist tonight. That'd be fun. Detroit is on the brink of collapse, losers of 6 straight, and already separated from the final wild card spot by 3 teams. Time to put them to rest.

Overconfidence. Faith in your friends draft picks.

The VGA monitor gif hitting right in the F-19 Stealth Fighter nostalgia danger zone. I can hear the engines. Ah! Mute the engines.

A Cozens Conn Smythe this season ought to do it.