DarthEbriate

The cap next season is going up an additional $9M to $104M. No player who has access to that UFA class should sign an extension this summer/season. McDavid and Eichel should reset the league next summer. Tuch, whose production has been severely undercompensated in his four years with the Sabres, should wait to take offers from all teams. Some teams next summer are going to have solid, nearly-full, playoff capable rosters and still have $25M to throw at 5-6 players, half of whom might be ELC/minimum 4th liners/6-7 D. And if he believes in the Sabres after this season's outcome, then the Sabres could be one of them. You're throwing away a fortune here. Don't be a fool.

Short-term: It's always whatever team the Sabres are playing, or whichever team's demise will benefit the Sabres the most. Unfortunately, since about 2013, my most hated team whose demise has most "benefitted" the Sabres has been the Sabres. Long-term: Rangers.

That boy is our only hope... If Tuch Icewalker doesn't re-sign with the Rebellion, then it destroys my whole Ebriate narrative. So, this is a surprise (to me as a person -- why would you ever sign with this owner/leadership when you could make comparable money elsewhere but have a realistic chance at long-term success), but a welcome one.

Sarich 6 Rasmussen 9 Remembering some guys. Rasmussen was in the league for 9 seasons (7th overall a career fourth liner is a bit disappointing, for sure). But Sarich played 15 solid years, won a Cup, and fell a half-season short of 1000 games played. Sabres after dark.

Certainly not by accident. Whether it's clever is up for debate. Now, when the starting lineup is Benson-Norris-Thompson and they go stand in line for the anthems (in the playoffs), will I snicker? Also up for debate.

Swap Tuch out for Zucker and you’re probably spot on (with Byram if they ever add the D2). Zucker is better on the PP historically than Tuch has ever been, including saving the PP from being league-worst single-handedly last season. Zucker gets deflections, goes to the net, and wins possessions. Save Tuch for PK1 and PP2.

If they make the playoffs, it’s in spite of the GM, owner, and the bulk of the coaching staff. This franchise should be 5 years advanced of where it is currently — consistently a threat for the top 3 in the division.

Adams and Appert yes. Wilford, definitely. Ellis is assigned back to the staff. Ruff retires but gets an over-top-celebration and a banner next season. Jarmo takes a job elsewhere in the next offseason.

Dragon Con is still pretty fun. However, there are fewer quiet places now. The one Hilton outdoor courtyard used to be a chill spot with a little bar setup and tables. Now, it’s another overvolumed DJ station. I’m old….

Entries and faceoff/possession at the start of the power play are the first two issues. Resolve those and they can get up to 18%. The second is Tage. Good shot, yes. Winning possession back on the wall. Helping with entries… Not really. He needs to begin to outwork the PK in addition to out-heighting them. Do that and a good PP is possible. And Ppwer needs to own PP2.

@sabremike is the context. I look at the Sabres center spine vs the rest of the division. I think 92 is possible, however unlikely. They might find an opponent’s weakness and exploit it.

He’s taller.

Ninety-four? Ninety-four???

The coaches are the same. Are the players better able to execute? Will it matter if it’s Wilford? Or if Luukkonen can’t replicate his good half season? Joker was coachable. He got into Quenneville’s lineup as a rookie kid. He did just fine in Boston. He did what he was told. Which comes back to the question, is the Sabres coaching staff any good? Can the staff improve itself?

I’d bet Buffalo is on his no trade list.

Pronman at the Athletic ranked the Sabres 13th in terms of prospect pool. This includes #1 overall Power at the top of the pool. Paywall article: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6493709/2025/08/27/buffalo-sabres-nhl-pipeline-rankings-2025/ Having a 1st overall in the pool and already in the NHL, but outside the top 10 seems especially disheartening. 1. Power, 2 Mrtka, 3 Benson, 4 Kulich, 5 Helenius From my POV, I wouldn’t include Power in the pool. Too old! Too old (in NHL seasons) to be in the kiddie pool.

First thought: Wow, that's a lot to pay for a 4th liner. (re: Rossi's playoff usage) Second thought: That is an easily traded contract. All the local media in Minnesota have been discussing Rossi as a trade target for 2 seasons, knowing that Guerin doesn't like his size at center. Rossi was BPA but didn't fit the team's thresholds. Guerin is an interesting GM. They had the massive buyouts of Suter/Parise that were as much as 14M against the cap during the flat cap seasons, never seem to show any care in the center position (Eriksson Ek is a very good defensive-first center who is playing a line too high on the Wild every single year), and still managed to make the playoffs 4-of-5 seasons. They got an All-Star for a 5th round pick in Kaprizov and a defensive-minded 1st pairing D from his very first shift in Faber. And the fringes of the roster are ex-Sabres: Bogosian, MoJo - re-signed again!, and Aube-Kubel, with Hinostroza and Cal Petersen in the minors. (At this point, it's hard to call Foligno an ex-Sabre he's been a Wild so long.)

D'oh! Twice. Boychuk and Bishop.

If my AHL coach is skating my 19 year-old #1 prospect forward 25+ min/game in regular season action against 30 year-olds and AHL/ECHL-level scrubs, I'm firing that coach into the nearest exogorth. All situations, key shifts at game's end? Absolutely. But I'm not running them into the ground. I'm emphasizing NHL-length shifts and quality over quantity. Give me a prospect with 17-18 targeted minutes a night vs. overextending.

So in addition to Brian Savage's son, they'll have Curtis Leschyshyn's son, and Les Kuntar's son? Leschyshyn was a Nordique in 1994, otherwise it could've been a full 1994 Habs kids reunion.

I'm not sure Olofsson is going to fit in the Avalanche's or McKinnon's worldview any better than Mittelstadt did. But I do see lots of opportunities for him to play, and with top 6 time with just a single injury. Makar alone could pick up at least five 5-on-5 primary assists to VO while VO just camps on the right dot. VO should get 18+ goals barring a top-6 acquisition early in the season to push him further down the lineup.

They'd better have a good (relatively) draft grade. They've drafted in the top ten in 11 of the previous 13 seasons.

Really can't see how they managed to get a D- when F was right there. They've weaponized all that cap space once -- for 211th overall (Linus Sjodin) and to acquire Ben Bishop's contract to get to the cap floor. Once.

Tuch: I'm Tuch Icewalker. I'm here to rescue you. I've brought your R2-D6 and I'm here with the Son of Ben. And I just signed a new long-term extension.... now let's get you out of your AHL cell so you can... Levi: Somebody has to save our skins!

GM Sheevyn knew that the addition by subtraction was Dahlin, Thompson, and Tuch all along. Think of the futures!