DarthEbriate

Swedish 2nd rounders: Rasmus the Middle Asplund was definitely a 2nd. And I was reviewing the other day so I know the secretest of answers: Davidsson.

And there's our AHL depth right there (no one would touch Bjork's contract). Maybe a team with injuries takes Hayden.

Now with 17 more line combinations qualifying for the honor!

Oky-Lan Okposi: Fan/Me, Jackikin has turned to the gold side. Fan/Me: You're wrong! How could you even say that? Okposi: I have seen a press-conf hologram of him donning a Knights sweater. Fan/Me: Not Jackikin! He couldn't! Okposi: He was deceived by a lie. We all were. It appears that the The Concept Of is behind everything, including the tank.

Anaheim has UFA Manson RH at the end of this season and UFA RH Shattenkirk at the end of next. I assume they want Shattenkirk for the same reason we do -- the veteran mentor for their young core. But if they elect to extend Lindholm and Manson, would Shattenkirk waive an NTC for one year to perform the same role with the Sabres (and maybe the offer a good extension)? I'd prefer Manson or Braun as targets in the offseason.

This season, health is definitely the cause all three @LGR4GM @GASabresIUFAN @dudacek are stating. The Amerks were in 2nd place behind juggernaut Utica until the injuries (and a COVID wave - Toker, etc.) set in and caused all manner of reshuffling and missed games. @GASabresIUFAN, I think your contention of the bolded... ... needs a touch of clarification. You list the 2017 draft as a backbone of the Amerks team and you're right: it is. But in terms of drafts, 2017 is "just started". Whether a player tops out in the NHL or AHL, it's typically 3-5 years from draft date until they reach that level. The other issue is that the subsequent drafts could be better for the Amerks, but the players aren't there (either injury: Rousek or called up to the Sabres) or in college or Europe. For the past 10 years the bulk of the Sabres' 1st round picks basically skip the AHL, with many cases where much more grooming would've been helpful, but the NHL squad didn't have anyone to block them. The franchise needed to have more draft picks simply settle in at the good-veteran-AHL level (Sean Malone, Brett Murray, or simply stay in Rochester a bit longer before promoting/losing them.

Huh. If I were Rasmus I'd wait until free agency. If the salary is correct this is a pay cut. Someone out there is likely to give him Tyler Myers level money if he reaches UFA status.

Technically, just one of each. At the moment I'd argue the same of Quinn. Quinn is well over a point-per-game but still well below even on +/-. I know it's a garbage stat, but I need him to become the 200' player he was touted to be in the AHL before he gets gifted an opening night start in the NHL. Quinn, JJP, Krebs --- if we get the right veterans as UFA, the dreaded blockers --- the kids should have to fight to get into a Sabres sweater. Even if it's more exciting to see them all together as an energy 4th line. My concern is breaking in 3 forward rookies AND Power all at the same time. That'll be rough for any roster, but especially one not used to winning or playing really sharply game in and game out. (And with no goalie yet to speak of.)

I kept a self-imposed rule of L-R pairings. That 3rd pairing was my great dilemma. I didn't want to split McKee-Warrener. So I have them as an alternate pairing. In the playoffs, I think I play McKee-Warrener as the 3rd pair when shot blocking and physicality (and lack of penalties being called) come into play. But in the regular season, Spacek brings a shot and offense that Mckee just never had. Ehrhoff was a possession beast, even on absolute garbage teams he had positive Corsi, and even then in 2013-14 when they traded Miller his relative Corsi was amazing. So for a 3rd pairing, it made sense to possess the puck and make the smart pass to the forwards. Ehrhoff can also run the 2nd PP. Campbell gets squeezed out because of the forwards and my unwillingness to break up Tallinder-Lydman whose all around game is unsurpassed on a 2000s team. Campbell (and Zhitnik) rushing the puck up ice both became nice-to-have with all that balance up front.

I tried to keep certain players together (Vanek and Pommer; HBD, Hank-Lydman, McKee-Warrener). On D, Campbell should get some ice time, but he's a bit redundant and I'm happy with the left side. Vanek - O’Reilly - Pominville Satan - Eichel - Reinhart Hecht - Briere - Dumont Drury - Peca - Tuch Extras: Foligno, Connolly, Afinogenov depending on the style of the opponent Tallinder – Lydman Dahlin – Numminen Spacek – Ehrhoff Extras: Campbell, McKee – Warrener Hasek Miller Extras: Neuvirth, Ullmark (for shootouts)

Excellent news for Rousek. And that tiny bit about Malone being day-to-day... wonderful! The team has been in a lull since Jankowski signed the Sabres deal and Malone went down.

Speaking of the Leafs, when Granato was hired (interim removed) I figured we'd play up-tempo run-and-gun, much like those fledgling Leafs teams with baby Matthews and Marner. The key to that was the Leafs had league-average goaltending with late-20s/prime Freddie Andersen. He might not have been able to win in the playoffs, but he turned in solid middle-of-the-pack goaltending in a high-risk high-reward style. That's what we likely would have had with Ullmark. And Hutton was gone, likely for UPL. So it would have been fine -- give the Sabres a middle-of-the-League goalie and they're probably up in competition with Detroit and Columbus this season, which would be excellent given the state of the roster. Alas, Anderson is a backup at this point, Toker/UPL are AHL-starter level, and Dell is a good AHL goalie and a tire fire up here. The one thing I'd like to see Granato do is to use a timeout when the game is getting away from his youthful team. Thankfully, it really has been few and far between. They're likely to give up 5 goals in a game, but many of those goals are empty netters. They rarely give up goals in bunches like they did to Florida. When it does happen, take the timeout and reset the structure.

We must add an addendum that 1year/$750k is not a reasonable contract or term for a team that's trying to truly improve next season. Because otherwise, GM Sheevyn could argue 1. Anderson, 2. Pysyk, 3. Eakin met all the criteria this season. (And I know that Eakin doesn't really meet the criteria except for faceoffs)

This year's mantra was "no blocking" veteran players, so the vets are all on one-year deals. However, next season a few blocking veterans could be a blessing for the franchise to make progress. It would keep too many rookies from flooding the lineup at once and also provide the Sabres with depth they haven't had in years. If Krebs/JJP is the 1st injury call-up, that's probably good for both Buffalo and Rochester. None of it will matter until the team has a starting goaltender who can stay healthy and play +.916%sv hockey (average) and a team that is either defensively stable enough to make that work or offensively dynamic enough to make average goaltending irrelevant.

Was Karabacek a second?

Missed the 2nd.... --How we doing? ++Same as always. --That bad, huh?

Ennis was a top-line skater pre-injuries. Lots of minutes on some bad hockey teams. I had to look up the lines, but in the seasons preceding drafts for Reinhart and Eichel, we were rolling Foligno-Ennis-Stafford and Moulson-Ennis-Stafford as #1 lines. Ennis-Girgs-Stewart toward the end of 2014-15. That's a top line right there. Mitchell, Flynn, and Matt Ellis as the remaining center spine. Those were the dark times, those were the Empire.

Krebs shows flashes in both skill and tenacity, but really would benefit from another chunk of time in Rochester. Because of injuries and COVID (real and false positives), Krebs has bounced all over the lineup. Before March and teaming up with Rasmus and VO, he was often with Okposo or Cozens in a more defensive role (miscast), or on Mitts' wing when Mitts clearly needed a rehab stint. Krebs will have that shield down the game slow down; we've gotta give him more time! The important part is keeping this new line together and injury-free for a couple weeks, especially if Victor continues to heal. VO did a bit of a slapper from the blue line yesterday which is the first I've seen from him since his November injury. If the line gels, gets proper 3rd line minutes, and Krebs learns to use VO as a decoy and shoot the puck himself from time-to-time it could be a really nice fit.

The Red Wings waived RHD Danny DeKeyser (final year of $5M). That contract (and its modified NTC!) aged poorly the instant the ink dried. Juolevi was picked up on waivers over the weekend and the cleared cap space allows them to dress Jakub Vrana. While it'd be good for DeKeyser to keep cashing the checks, I wonder if he elects to not report to Grand Rapids, allowing the Red Wings to terminate the contract and then he can sign with any Cup contender he chooses for minimum salary, similar to what Bogosian did a few years back. How does it impact the Sabres? It doesn't. However, if he skips on the AHL and becomes available on a terminated contract it lowers the trade value of a RHD Colin Miller type, although you wouldn't count on DeKeyser to play the point on a PP2.

Some will boo, some will cheer. It could even make arena experience kind of fun for a bit for all 8,000 that show up.

Eichel was captain (still the last person to wear the C) and was a skating highlights package 6 seasons -- starting with that first race to the puck, wheel and drive and score against.. Columbus. He even garnered some Hart attention despite being on a garbage team. Take the 60 seconds during a TV timeout to give a PA announcement and roll a highlight film with some RJ calls overlaid. It'd be easy to produce and show some goodwill to a player and give the fans a chance to wish him well. The organization can show it's all water under the bridge, say welcome back, and show some class.

Win it for Tuch!

Hinostroza to Eakin for the best zone entry in awhile

LAK is a good-looking team. Lots of speed. Much better test than Toronto (who doesn't play defense) and Minnesota (which is currently struggling on defense).

Man... missed the pass to Dahlin up ice and it's like everyone started floating for the next minute until the goal was scored.