DarthEbriate

Mitts is almost back! Will Quinn play on Mitts' wing? No. Sadly, no. And that's with half a season left to go.

That stinks. It also explains why Quinn didn't look as a strong in the 3rd and wasn't on the ice for the game-tying goal attempt. ++You don't believe in the Hockey Gods, do you? --Kid, I've skated from one side of this league to the other. I've seen a lot of strange injuries, but I've never seen anything to make me believe there's one all-powerful force demanding injury retribution for constant "tanking" and "resetting". There's no mystical energy field that controls my injury list.... But, that doesn't mean I'm not building a shrine to make sacrifices for promoting player health going forward.

And look at those dominant +/- numbers. 😇

Just cannot keep a lead.

Blergh

We had the splashy exciting open. Then the opening credits... Now we have to establish things like plot. And character! Boring!

The electric start has turned into a series of icings.

Their defense makes our defense look downright dead puckish.

Thanks, Dell.

QUINNNNNNERRRRRRRR! But that one was.

Alright... time to get the new-look PP firing on target.

Lovely feed from Thompson to Quinn. Close for the kid.

Pysyk banked it off the boards... right around his teammate and right to the Stars... and immediate re-entry into our zone. Sloppy there.

I guess... keep the A?

Seguin was Muled.

Murray is... sent down, taxi listed? Not listed in the lineup, scratch list, or the injury report...

Odd to break up the Skinner-Cozens-Tuch; and Skinner/Tuch duo entirely.

That too. Still getting assists ala Eichel early last year. Edit: And like Eichel, it's obvious something's very wrong with him.

Totally agree with this if the other wingers could stay healthy. He's starting to shoot wristers now (I remember 2 from last game) but until teams fear that slapshot on the PP and he has confidence/comfort to play like he was early in the year 5-on-5 (that drive and dish to Asplund for the winner in Anaheim), he's a temporary JAG. Trouble is he's stuck in the lineup because everyone else is an injury turnstile. Hinostroza could have taken his place in the top-6/PP role for a bit, but now he's out for extended action, too.

That's the dilemma: in the summer of '06 Max was 26 and the leading points-scorer on the team (because Briere missed time with his hernia). Vanek was a 22 year-old coming off a 25-goal rookie campaign and still learning how to play at the NHL level. Roy was also instrumental to that team, but Connolly is not always of full health, so you hate to lose the center depth. That '06 summer, Max gives you the best immediate trade value. Vanek really breaks out the following President's Cup season... which is what drove his offer sheet to the extreme. It's the get-you-out-of-seat electrifying perimeter playmaker vs. the kid you don't yet know is going to be a PP stalwart in front of the net for the next 10 years and be around 30G every year. That's the next summer. Buy yes... if we had already locked up Briere and Drury, then maybe we've got 8 firsts for the next four years to bolster the core for the next decade. (Although... it was late-era GMDR making the picks, which was not really making hay through the drafts.) And no tank necessary.

I'd argue he looks like he doesn't belong... for the better. Give him 10 games and if he starts looking like hot garbage, then that's when he belongs. 😇 Don't forget Bryson v. McDavid. And Gorges also v. McDavid. Angry Larry

It would have really freaked out the fanbase, but the 20/20 hindsight move was to trade up-and-coming offensive dynamo Afinogenov after his career year to some team that needed dazzle for 2 high picks and an up-and-coming offensive prospect to be a part of the next wave. Then, give more ice time to Paille in 06-07. Keep McKee, and either Grier or Dumont (or both since they're aware you're going for the Cup and likely to take just at market value to win). And something something don't be afraid to extend players in-season.

You can even add Quinn (mono) and Samuelsson to the list as they'd have both been up earlier, health permitting. The really disheartening part of it (along with the Sabres' lack of bona fide NHL-level depth because of roster construction) is that we did start the season in pretty much full health. Oglevie and Samuelsson were the only 2 folks injured to start the season (and Eichel/Tuch, technically). It lasted one period. We didn't have some folks returning to health or reinforcements coming, it was just immediate attrition. By the end of game 1: Mitts and Joker. Then Olofsson, Anderson, Caggiula, Hagg... and it hasn't stopped since. Someone comes back to health and they're hurt again (Mitts, Subban), or they take the place of someone who just got hurt/protocoled (Girgs back from COVID, Okposo out on COVID).

Can't argue any of that. But I've made thousands of posts concerning a franchise that hasn't been relevant, and rarely even competitive, in 10 years -- I can no longer make any claims on reasonable adult thinking.

Definitely. I should have simply asked which of the two were preferred. But there is a strong possibility the best centers/scorers are gone and we're looking at a defender as BAP when we pick (possibly 4th-8th), but if in the top 3 I would have to think we're on a center. But that's a different thread.