DarthEbriate

Definitely. But we must remember that Hagg looked very solid in the first week last season, too, then just faded away.

Asplund, Cozens, and Boushh good on the initial PK shift. Good kill overall.

Now let's get a pass set up to VO or Tager

Dahlin almost. This is a game-turning kill.

With Muel and Boushh in the box, it's Bryson and Dahlin on the PK. Nice clear.

Phew And 2 more

Boushh starts his rub-out a couple strides too late.

A full season of All-Star Dahlin will be a beautiful thing.

Was Krebs trying a no-look there? Without the puck.

Rasmus the Younger! Set it up, put it in.

He just missed on the Muel deflection.

Woooooooo! And... yeah, I'd still probably have him in Rochester and Hino in the lineup because I'm a fool. Prove me wrong, JJP!

It's fantastic compared to last season's home opener.

Not such a power play there. Krebs caps it off trying to force a pass through everyone. Motte is a very underrated UFA signing for them. He's a solid sparkplug guy.

Ottawa is doing very well getting the puck past our pinching defense and getting rushes.

Warming up and starting to skate.

Sanheim is also already being paid more on 2 x $4.675 that ends next summer. Sanheim has a better shot for sure (he's got 9,8,7 goals in full seasons), but just like Muel he doesn't project as a PP defenseman as he's got Provorov and DeAngelo in front of him. Sanheim (and Risto) both only averaged 0:40 of PP time last season. Sanheim is going to eat a lot of tough minutes though, the same as Muel. It makes the Muel deal look better, especially if he contributes anything offensively.

If we're going goofy fun sing-a-long like that everyone can get up and sing drunkenly? Stamped to 83 seconds in for the finale. But my real one is the same as last season:

It doesn't have to be Ullmark. It's that the Sabres waited until UFA with a homegrown goalie who was a proven .915-.917 guy (and was .917 with Boston last year) and then went with a retired guy (who we like for his presence/composure, but the numbers don't like on the ice) and AHL-level replacements. Anderson and Tokarski were .898 sv% in their combined 60 games. If a goalie (Ullmark) plays at .917 instead of .898 over 50 starts (same # shots faced that Anderson/Tokarski faced), that's about 30 goals difference in just those 50 games, let alone keeping Dell/Subban out of the lineup. (We can keep Houser and his 2-0-0 .942% numbers. 😇 ) The Sabres would still have needed more scoring (and fewer injuries to alllll the goalies), but then the March-April run gets the League really excited (and perhaps UFAs this offseason) because the Sabres are in the mid 80s for points last year instead of mid 70s.

Holy hell. Arizona's joke of being the 2nd tenant in their new home stadium in addition to any upgrades/construction results in a schedule that looks like this. (H)ome and (A)way. A,A,A,A,A,A, H, H, H, H, A, A, A, A, A, A, A, A, A, A, A, A, A, A They have 4 home games 10/28-11/3 and then their next home game is December 9th hosting Boston.

And the Sens and Red Wings are saying the same about us. This is where the fun begins.

Including spinning.

This is the year to find out. More reinforcements are on their way. We've seen flashes (April/May 2021 after HCDG took over: 16 pts in 21 games; recovering late in 2021-22 where he was a 0.5 ppg guy on mixed 2nd/3rd lines) Edit: And training camp last year where he was the clear top center (even over Tage) to start with Skinner.

There's also a wrinkle available in the lineup. Cozens' Matthews/McDavid ownership in November back-to-backs last season was a speed line of Caggiula-Cozens-Hinostroza. Add Hino on RW and use the better forechecker of Krebs/JJP on the left and you've got a modified checking line as well.

Relying on a rookie on each line is daunting, but gotta see what they can do.