DarthEbriate

Vezina? Unlikely. But here are Ullmark’s career save percentages throwing out the high of that Vezina year: .913, .917, .935, .905, .915, .917, .917, .915, .905. Most of those numbers are with the Sabres defense in front of him, Housley, Krueger, and Granato teams… stellar defensive lineups. There might not be a more consistent above-average but-not-star goalie in the league. Ullmark would’ve been fine. With him as #1 starter, the Sabres would have had a positive goal differential last season. They’d have definitely ended the drought in 22-23.

For Adams, it's the only plan. Hope me Hopey-Hope, you're my only hope. I think at this point (except Samuelsson) it's all minor tweaks and "no reason for preseason" stuff. If it were in the regular season, they'd likely all play unless by resting a game they could get a 4-day break to really heal up. If it were post-season... ha. You're right. That's silly fancies.

Here's a solution. This season, I hope they're better against the rush and better at cycling in the offensive zone. Like... you know, real NHL hockey teams that make the playoffs year-after-year.

But, he needs to be OK with physical contact. He needs to push people out of the way so his goalies have clear view of shooting lanes. He needs to use his size to pin people to the boards, rather than let them loop around to the front of the net and set up easy 2 on 1 opportunities, and he needs to grab people after the whistle. Those are all things accomplished by the players you listed, even Teppo. And it wouldn't hurt to end up with over 1100 points, +450, with 4 Cups and 260+ career playoff GP --- all with the same franchise.

It never dies but lies a dormant volcano... for at minimum 14 years.

Fixed in post. Thank you

Florida extends Mikkola to 8 x $5M for forty total. Second pair defensive defenseman. One more year on the current deal. Edit: Whoops. Did a number transposition there... One more cup of coffee ought to fix that.

Don't let Adams hear that. I still thought for sure that the Rosén pick was going to be Wallstedt (and Cossa available, too), so as to land high pick to pair with Levi's recent Canada junior heroics. But general consensus is he's still a legitimate goalie prospect, just maybe not as good as Wolf.

We stay in these preseason games any longer and we're going to get pulverized. (no reason to suspect that Byram and Power are anything but cautionary rest days to give the AHLers more looks) but if they and Kesselring are dinged up, Greenway is already shouldered, Luukkonen has a lingering strain or something that won't be right... that's a good start to the excuse.

(and maybe he's only a Rochester call away.)

Colorado recovered from their initial injury bug before they dealt him. He did not improve. Wedgwood and Blackwood were drastic upgrades from him.

Has he driven to the net or slot yet this preseason?

Pens forwards don’t have the skill or stick work, but they did a lot of hustling in the first. Their PP attacked the net and earned a goal. But the Sabres should walk away with this game if they go on the attack.

Pens PP goal, Norris a little late to the net. Norris responds and scores on the following faceoff.

Looks like espn+ this season is going to be jager for the first few months. I want a wall-busting elk. Gotta serve it hot.

Norris showed off his speed to create a chance. Pads never got through, but that’ll be helpful this season.

Doan had the opportunity to kill someone. Instead, only knocked him over. Would have to see the replay if it was nicely dodged or Doan pulled up to avoid the suspension shot.

Add in a buyout of Samuelsson to add 3.25M more and you can nab either an experienced 2C-level player or go from a Lyon-level (good backup) to getting another proven starter.

Ice your starters for the home games --- sell those preseason tickets and drum up hype for the season.

Benson just needs a finisher willing to go to the crease on occasion and float for soft spots (Satan-like) at other times. Between Norris and TNT, he should have a solid season. I figure sometime in the next 5 years, he's going to get one lucky Sabre a big 35+ goal payday that they really aren't worth. It'll be fun.

Levi didn't give up a goal in preseason, so he was the best goalie.... We should probably just be happy we don't have four on the roster.

If Geertsen really is a Ruff beloved and automatically has a roster spot and playing time, Krebs had better have a good showing with the top line today.

No. Metsa wouldn't be happy in a press box. UPL initially had no timetable on his injury. But if it wasn't substantial (because about 2 days later it was only day-to-day), why offer Georgiev a 1-year deal? Just give him a PTO for camp. If he doesn't take it, big deal. You had 5 goalies on the ice, even with Ratzlaff out with illness and Lukkonen on the mend for the couple weeks of camp. Give Houser a call.

Novikov needs to make his NHL debut this season, even if only a 2-game stint at the end (and the only reason for just 2 games would be if they're in a playoff spot and all the defenders are healthy and playing consistently). Otherwise, you bring him up for 5-10 games when Samuelsson is out to see if he can handle that role. Re: rushing players. Their biggest issue is the age and makeup of the roster. A playoff veteran team can easily break in one rookie F every 40 games and one rookie D every season. But this is not a veteran team -- it's already a bunch of young guys still learning the grind/consistency and now you throw in another rookie with folks who aren't even 24 yet, all expected to play prominent roles. They may finally be starting to exit that phase simply because enough guys are under contract for long enough term to hold it together.

The floor is there for McDavid (and likely Eichel, as a Cup-winning near Conn Smythe center) to surpass. And the ceiling is set for the rest of next summer's class. What should Tuch's agent be asking for now? $12M? Kaprizov doesn't score shorthanded. If initial ballpark speculation was 8x$9 for 72, and Tuch's agent was thinking 7x$10.33. for 72.3... maybe a new sweet spot is 6x$12M for 72.