DarthEbriate

I don't think Jersey will make it, either. But I do see the love for them as an up-and-comer. It's a lot easier to see Pitt or the Caps falling off a cliff because of age/injuries than just Boston in our division. The Jackets got Gaudreau but nothing else on that team is daunting. Meanwhile, NJD has 2 high-end young centers in Hischier and Hughes. Bratt had 73 points. They were like Detroit and us last year with garbage goaltending and Vanecek should help them at least a little bit toward average. Mercer looked really good and even getting Wood back from injury would solidify the middle six. There is definitely some room for optimism there. (3% is probably one person)

That's the great mystery of line combinations; they sort themselves out. JJP is a rookie and still needs to work on his all-around game, whereas Asplund is really solid defensively. Asplund earned Selke votes on a bad team and will garner even more votes this season as the team improves. Ideally, yes he's checking line guy, but Asplund's game can float up and down a lineup to protect scoring lines with more offensively-focused players. Case in point: Asplund-Mitts-Thompson at the end of 2020-21 or Asplund-Mitts-VO in March of 2022.

I wouldn't predict the Sabres to make the playoffs this season, either. And certainly not until we see what training camp and injuries occur (and if the Bruins bring back Krejci and Bergeron at veteran minimum salaries because why not). I strongly believe the Sabres will be better than last season where they stunk for 3 months. I strongly believe the division is going to condense because BUF/DET/OTT will all be tougher games this season and BOS is already injury-riddled through Thanksgiving, FLA gained Tkachuk, but lost 2 of their best players to get him + lost Duclair for most of the season already, and TB doesn't have the same tier of player replacing Palat or McDonagh. Will that be enough? Maybe. Will it make for an entertaining season? Definitely.

It's difficult to get your name clear of the mess when you helped architect a perennial playoff contender into a perennial laughingstock and punchline.

I'm thinking Bjork's 50/50 on being in Rochester opening night. All the young forwards (JJP/Quinn/ heck, even Krebs (if we signed a... Kadri or Victor Rask or Angry Larry type Eakin-replacement) are waivers exempt, but on the D-side only Pilut is. I can see carrying 8 D (Clague/Fitz) while Pilut starts the season as 1D in Rochester. And then it's a question of how many rookies to weave in at a time: just Quinn for the first couple months... or can JJP and Quinn and Krebs be an aggressive youth line and we forgive them their mistakes and occasionally worry about them getting caught in their D zone by some cycling vets.

I like Zemgus better on the wing than at center. I'm going with the late-season healthy-VO back to Thompson's wing and the idea that only one of Quinn/JJP gets the call so that the other isn't in the club suite. Skinner-Thompson-Olofsson Asplund-Mittelstadt-Tuch Girgensons-Cozens-Okposo Quinn-Krebs-Hinostroza (Bjork) Samuelsson-Dahlin Power-Lyubushkin Bryson-Jokiharju (Clague) Comrie (Anderson)

It sounds like we've got a bunch of cyclop(s)es running round on this island.

They both have fantastic, memeable names. And I'd argue Arttu is better offensively and positionally. Bjork is on the roster for the optics of the Hall trade, he can skate/forecheck/kill penalties in a bottom line role, and he has a NHL salary that helps hit the floor. It remains to be seen whether he makes the opening night roster. Hinostroza starts over him. If JJP and Quinn make the team out of camp, the Bjork is the odd man out and will be an Amerk. Or maybe one of the tankers claims him.

Hopefully these 2 camps are "no signing of him ever because of his past off-ice issues" and "sure, in UFA at a middle-six rate so he can look like a hometown hero".

The positive spins on all this are: 1) There's at least another season of "prove-it" time for the young guys to determine who gets the top-line payments. Only Tage and Cozens and Muel need new deals next summer. 2) There is only so much ice time (particularly on the 1st line and 1st PP) to earn the big money contracts. So if Thompson stays healthy, he'll get the big contract, and a player who gets 2nd-line minutes (like Cozens or Mitts) will get the 2nd line extension. [Note: Eventually, the situation may pan out where a Cozens gets a Cirelli-like 8x$6.25 deal, but that likely won't be until after a 3x$4M deal first.] 3) If the Sabres can identify the core lock up a few top-6/top-4 players long term in the next 2 summers, then those contracts could look like bargains in years 4-8 when the escrow is finally paid off and the TV revenue bumps the cap up a bunch. Then, they'll have the cash to fill out the middle of the roster and also attract the veterans who will take slight discounts to be on a contender. And for all of these... the players can see what's happening. The wave of talent is coming. The goalies are coming. The team started to compete night-in/night-out except for a few hiccups (@ Edmonton, where they rebounded and shut out Calgary the next night) the last couple months of last season, despite sub-average goaltending. The reasons to extend in Buffalo long-term are valid. This is an up-and-coming roster.

As long as we win the Cup it's all good. FWIW, I've got the second (original trilogy) centered around the "trade children" of Jackikin Eichwalker and Reino Samidala. Once upon a time it was just the twins Tuch and Levi, but in reality there were sextuplets: Tuch (Luke), Levi (Leia), Krebs (I think Wedge -- the unsung hero of the Rebellion), Östlund (TBD), Kulich (TBD), and 2023 VGK 2nd (TBD). I don't know how Portillo fits into all of this yet. But Tuch and Levi and Krebs are all sticking around to blow up 2 Death Stars Cups.

Arttu! Where are you? Switzerland. The answer is Switzerland. There goes a great name and a very good AHLer (he rose to the challenge of the playoffs quite nicely). He never got the top six look in Buffalo (mostly lined up with Bjork and/or Hayden) that would have been required to showcase his offense. Maybe this season would've worked as a 13F and rolling four attacking lines. But alas --- best of luck to him.

I like Levi even more. (And still hope Portillo signs.) Note -- Levi is just modeling his meditative stance after Qui-Gon, not his entire game. Qui-Gon's game is morally dubious and marked with questionable decisions: placing wagers on a child's family situation (staying with mother, or being forcibly adopted by Qui-Gon), cheating in a dice chance cube game, promoting children racing in excess of 500 mph, betting on said children, stealing a child from his mother while leaving the mother in slavery, intentionally taking a child into an active battlefield, then abandoning said child on said active battlefield. In summary, keep Qui-Guy away from your children! Here's the passage in full: "Condon said people always text him wondering what Levi is doing. Most coaches don’t bother to ask, knowing better than to mess with a goalie’s routine. But Levi’s routine is one borne out of his wisdom and molded by his childlike joy. He said it is derived from his and his father’s shared love of “Star Wars”. There is a scene in which Qui Gon is dueling Darth Maul. A force field appears around Qui Gon, and he sits down, closes his eyes, and starts meditating. “My dad loves that scene and he kind of got me on it and I thought it was pretty cool,” Levi said. “There’s nothing else to do during a TV timeout that will stop the puck in the next shift, so might as well take it as an opportunity to recenter and focus. "

Because Buffalo. Am I doing this right? (But I think it would be because Crosby doesn't have a "home" NHL franchise to return to and lead to the playoffs.)

I was hoping Jankowski would be back, too. But this is the right move for him. In Nashville, he's in the lineup with a single injury at center; he could even be their 12-13F on opening night. With the Sabres, he'd be a few players from a call-up. Dare I say it --- the Sabres have better forward depth (or at least JJP/Quinn see-if-they-make-it) spots than a playoff team. Congrats to Matt Moulson --- the Moulson will be with you, always. Not a bad little career for a 9th round pick.

I don't like Sand...erson. I had to go back and look. I was mostly talking about goaltending so I didn't mention nearly anyone else. Sanderson's good though and he could make the Sens out of camp, but he's also only 20 and a D, so they might just stash him in AHL to work on his all-around game this season and build more muscle.

The Sens got better-than-average goaltending (relative to league) from Forsberg last season. They kept him and added Talbot, then removed Gustavsson and Murray. The Sens goaltending should be very solid. Some good additions up front and the team that was looking feisty in the Canada division two years back should be better. If Dell doesn't lambaste Batherson, the Sens might've been better than the Sabres last year. Adding DeBrincat is a plus. Detroit had goaltending as bad as Buffalo's last season. For each team, Husso and Comrie to the rescue. If both newcomer goalies play to potential, then both teams will vastly improve. Nothing impacts a team like going from .915 to .895 (as teams: Detroit .897 and Buffalo .899 last season), or vice versa in goal. I see the division condensing into a glorious, fractious, contentious mess. It's going to be fun and it's going to last until March and maybe even April 2023. Get excited, because at least 1 of the 4 from last year won't make the playoffs. It's just a matter of which Atlantic (or Metro) team jumps in and spoils the party. The best thing is... in 2024... Buffalo will be there no matter what.

Thank you! We need things to discuss.

Let's go bold. GM Sheevyn gives in to his hatred and signs Kadri to ensure Detroit and Ottawa stay in our rearview mirrors. The strategy works! But as to the other part of the equation: this means the season begins with JJP and Quinn both in Rochester. They do well as call-ups though because they're ready and raring to go by midseason.

McDonnell was left flat at the blue line and then it looks like Östlund fell for a pass-fake that wasn't there -- tough to read Rosen's head/eyes from this angle. Rosen is nifty. But then, no one was going to take the body in today's games, either.

Everything's coming up Houser!

After his experience with Bor Gullet the KHL, he was heard muttering "I'm the Pilut, I'm the Pilut" with increasing conviction. Welcome back!

He was a simple Meatballs hustle guy. He'd be the 15/16F on the depth chart (JJP, Murray, whoever's hot, Biro all get the call-ups before him), but he'd be a role model energy-wise and with NHL experience for the Amerks.

I wouldn't have minded seeing Cagiulla get the 1-year 2-way here with a spot lined up as a veteran in Rochester with a jump to the Sabres if injuries get out of hand.