DarthEbriate

Carolina is on their penultimate road trip of the season, visiting DET, BOS, BUF, and WSH. They've lost to Detroit and... Boston???... already. They'll either be very eager to put an end to the silliness and trample the Sabres with 2 full rest days, or they're going to continue to drift along at tropical depression strength until they get back home and start thinking about gearing up for the playoffs.

The possible Pettersson conversations are gone with the acquisition of Norris, but lead to conversations of RFA Quinn & RFA Byram to VAN for Hronek + pick(s), so that Adams locks in the long-term contract before Hronek's NMC begins. No need to spend $7M bridging the two RFAs and instead have a top-4 RHD to pair with Power. Bryson, JBD, Clifton, and Novikov for spots 5-8.

The team no one wants to play in the playoffs!

2 games played, 2 games won.

Power (239 career GP) and Byram (240 GP) are currently where Dahlin was at the halfway point of his age 21 season. Dahlin's 2021-22 (HCDG's first full year), typically paired with Joker (and Pysyk, then Muel at the very end of the year) and went 13-40-53 -22. Was the Sabres' rep for the ASG. The following season was his leaguewide breakout and he's received Norris votes ever since. Adams has to be banking on Power and Byram following suit next season (right around 280 GP).

I still don't know for sure. Krebs is either Biggs (wait, wait!) or Wedge (the unsung hero of the Rebellion). Either way, he helps the Sabres defeat the first, or both, Death Star Stanley Cups.

The Bruins tanked the end of one season, which was smart given where they were and that they do need a bit of a rebuild. A top 5 pick can help accelerate that. One good offseason, a center for Pastrnak, and a healthy top D-pairing of McAvoy/Lindholm, and they can be right back on the ascent. However, the Korpisalo contract is a problem. The Sabres did a multi-year tank of their entire franchise. They didn't keep Miller (Swayman), Vanek or anyone top-line worthy (Pastrnak), or a real top-D pairing, in reserve.

If the season ended today, the Sabres would draft 9th.

With Eichel, he may want to stay and be a winner in Vegas rather than go home to be a savior again for the Bruins rebuild. It’s easy to trust Vegas with the cap space increasing.

Jokiharju is their best defenseman and was somehow a +1 today and is a plus since joining their team. But when Joker is your best, you’re going to have issues. Apart from he and Zadorov, the rest of that AHL d-corps is like watching the Sabres-Canes playoff series or the Reinhart/Eichel tank seasons with less experienced players.

When Pastrnak isn’t on the ice or if one of the Sabres isn’t missing a stick, the Bruins look like an AHL squad because they mostly are.

That is one shaky goalie these days.

Sabres waking up against a bad team. Tuch! S-foils in attack position.

He’s not McDavid or Eichel. He’s a maybe ROR type 200’ guy or 2C, but likely a 3C for at least a couple seasons. Nothing wrong with getting bottom 6 EV and PP2 time (where he practiced).

Clinched a playoff spot. No Östlund. No Levi. No…. Wait. Panic! Panic!!!

Lafferty hat trick inbound with a three-apple Östlund.

Have him and Kulich rotate. Some minutes with TNT/Benson; some minutes with Malenstyn/Lafferty/Kozak whoever is in the lineup. Heck, build an Amerks line for a few shifts of Kulich-Östlund-Kozak. And after 2-3 games of NHL paychecks and speed, send him back down.

Reimer's play isn't really lightning in a bottle; the teamwide scoring bump/shot percentage explosion is why they're winning recently. Reimer has played consistently -- as you'd expect from a veteran goalie, but since supplanting UPL, Reimer's poorer games have been wins (.828 v. WSH was 8-5 W; .880 v. PIT was 7-3 W). And he has been fantastic in the two games versus Ottawa. Otherwise, he's giving up 2-3 goals and .900-ish per game, just like his season/career numbers.

Levi: Now we'll find out if that Öst is worth the price we paid. Quinn Solo: It'll work. It'll work. ---- More to the point of the thread: He's earned the look. But, did a center get injured?

He's always been an effective 5-on-5 player [edit: scorer, not defender, obviously]. Not so great on the powerplay. I'm guessing that his numbers were also good with the Sabres (if you remove the games he played while Krueger was coach and trying to make Skinner into a non-scoring bottom 6 grinder). The question that arises is out of this: what if Skinner hadn't been bought out and one of NAK or Lafferty isn't signed as a UFA. And then Quinn's slow start leads him to be the 13th forward instead of a PP1 and top-6 minutes regular. Does it make a difference?

Maybe a team uses an extra 1st on him if they have one. For the Sabres, I'd steer clear.

Definitely provide experiences for your children -- just hope that the good and energized Sabres decide to show up that day. Don't do the following with your children: blow up their adoptive home planets and families; cut off their limbs (except in certain medical situations, consult with your doctor); or threaten to turn them (or their fellow siblings if absent) to the Dark Side of the Cup. I'm good at parenting!

(Lately, Philly is only known for Gritty.) But on the ice, since the Lindros days ended, I think Philly is best known for poor goaltending. For that, Pegula's been spot on. He had a team that was set up to transition from Miller to Ullmark with maybe a 2-year backup contract like Chad Johnson was signed for.

I think it'd go a little something like this: GM Sheevyn (GMKA): Oh, sir! I've figured it all out! We'll tell the fans that there might be a little suffering, but that it's OK because this is the only way to get top talent, and we think we know a little more about palm trees than them. So. Remember when you wanted to tank for McJesus? Right. So, hear me out... tank for McKenna! We convince all our RFAs to sign offer sheets -- and then we take the picks. We'll have a couple more firsts, seconds, and thirds. We'll make an infographic about it. Then, we sign Irwin to $4M to get to the floor -- I call it "The Meszaros Maneuver". We finish last: Boom, McKenna." Darth Pegulas the Wise (DPW): Is it... Economical? GMKA: Oh, very much so. DPW: Tanking twice... is it... legal? GMKA: I'll make it legal. DPW: I like it. It's like poetry. It rhymes. Do it. GMKA: And don't worry. There's no chance Pittsburgh would win a draft lottery over us. DPW: What was that? GMKA: Nothing! Nothing.

The issue of not spending money (saving it for this offseason) is that now the winners can come along and do some shopping on your players that are ready. Throw in Armstrong’s success with the Blues offer sheets last season, and be prepared for either high overpays, or forced trades because “they don’t want to be here”.