DarthEbriate

I thought Malone probably should've been given a shot as 4C when... JBott?... came in? Or? Whenever. Not that he makes it, but he could've at least fought for a job and then gone back down to ROC, rather than just letting him walk. The competition wasn't fierce.

We're... band... together... mission... God.

Who has more upside as our 3rd-pairing LD: Butcher or Bryson? Does Bryson go down to Rochester? I do like having sufficient folks in place to keep Samuelsson in Rochester and Power in Michigan so they can grow, win, and hopefully be dominant against lesser competition, rather than just getting demoralized.

It was I who allowed the Davidson to rejoin the roster of the Buffalo Sabres. With him, our goal is quite safe from your pitiful little shots. An entire Legion of my best left-handed defensemen awaits them. Execute Order 47!

Oh! And I need to qualify that as: 2021-22 Butcher > 2014-15 Meszaros. Obviously, in their primes (Butcher now, Meszaros in like...2008,2010?), then Meszaros was the better player.

Butcher > Meszaros So that's good.

Good choice and move by Ullmark. I'm upset we're losing him, his joyful attitude, his shootout prowess, and his fantastic masks. And his theme music. But it was clear that Boston was a good landing spot for him once Rask wasn't extended in-season (and the whole leaving-the-bubble thing). He's not Rask, but he's solid. And he can go play on a great team. Good on you, Linus.

Aunt Karmanos: Look, it's only one more season... Five seasons. Six seasons. Tops. Jack Eichwalker: Yeah, that's what you said when Risto, and Reino, and Jake left. Aunt Karmanos: Where are you going? Jack Eichwalker: It looks like I'm going nowhere. I have to finish cleaning the T-16 Tank. <Jack walks out of the Millennium LockerRoom> Aunt Karmanos: Owen, he can't stay here forever. Most of his friends have gone. You need to come over and play more. Uncle Owen Unlimited Power: I'll make it up to the big team next year. I promise. Aunt Karmanos: Jack's just not a Sabre, Owen. He has too much of the Tank in him. Uncle Owen Unlimited Power: That's what I'm afraid of. <GM Sheevyn plays with his puppets off-screen> GM Sheevyn: Did you see anything?! Aunt Karmanos: No, Sheev, I didn't see you playing with your dolls again. GM Sheevyn: They're NHL action figures!

Drake Caggiula. Players on ELCs. ... that's... about it. 🍺😇

Fire Confirm at will, Commander!

Execute Order 44. Everything is proceeding as I have foreseen.

We didn't draft the other Mittelstadt with one of late, late picks?

Exactly. JBott in summation: willing to give up mid-range picks for anyone (preferably if they played with Pittsburgh (say, Scott Wilson) and to draft puck-moving D. Preferably in NCAA or Europe for the extra years. JBott in detail - because it's fun! 1st move: Antipin. Followed by: Beaulieu, Laaksonen, Bryson, Fedun, Pilut, Paquette-Bisson, Redmond, (Dahlin-obviously), Samuelsson, Kronholm, Kukkonen, Worge Kreu, Johnson, Miller, Jokiharju. Final move: signing Laaksonen's ELC.

Markstrom, Binnington, Hellebuyck, Quick, and Gibson. That's the company around 6. Lehner, Varlamov, Demko are at 5.... and that's where Ullmark fits in. I would, too. Especially trading Risto and Reino and with Eichel's name on the market forever. Buffalo will have the money and the next 2 seasons at minimum the team is going to need the goalie to stand on his head to have a chance.

Absolutely, we cannot. Which means we would have Eichel to start this season. Which is good for our scoring (and it nicely slots Mitts and Cozens where they belong). Then do a trade sometime in November if he's doing well. But if Eichel gets hurt again, it will all go seriously off the rails. His trade value won't regain its high point (before the draft last week) until next offseason if he stays healthy, plays like he is capable of playing, and says the right things. Then, teams can bid to grab his services for 5 locked-in years. And maybe the cap goes up in, say 2023-24, and the contract looks really good in its final couple seasons.

This. Amongst Wyshynski's insights are such diverse elements as fear and surprise humor, Star Wars, and hockey. For those I have to support him. However, on the hockey side, he's definitely listening to GMs/front offices around the league. [edit: He's at the macro level, not looking at the analytics/stats of each player/prospect. So you have to look at that sort of post as level of return, i.e., top-end prospects are absent.] Something like this may now be what we're looking at. Eichel's highest trade value was pre-draft where he could have netted a top pick. Now... it's some players. Once free agency starts, then the cap balancing really comes into play and we start looking at garbage contracts in. At least, that's what I'd be doing as a non-Sabres GM. Eichel's a top center, but he's never done anything of note leaguewide, not even threatening for a scoring title beyond the first half of the season. If we don't move him today, the best bet for trade value is let him play the beginning of the season, show he's healthy, and then try a move. But really, we're getting to the point low return, and the GMs around the league know it.

Our starting goalie, whoever he is, has a .921+ save percentage, but his backup takes over at midseason with a startling .935% and carries us all into the playoffs. Let's say it's re-tread Bernier and UPL.

Is this with Minnesota? Okposo for the cap (plus hometown warm fuzzies); then the actual 4 pieces: Mitts for the plug-and-play center to replace his minutes (and hometown warm fuzzies); Quinn for the future; Johnson for the sweetener (plus college warm fuzzies); 2022 lottery-protected 1st (becomes 2023 if we win the lottery); plus a 2023 3rd because I'm feeling generous. In exchange, Eichel & a 2023 2nd. And yes, Darths always talk about warm fuzzies.

Sometimes, it's OK to let the hate flow through you.

We'll know for sure if the team is challenging for a playoff spot (I know, I know... but maybe they get two scrub goalies and both just play out of their minds all season) and instead of going for it, they sell off the goalies. Obviously, I don't think for a second that this roster without Eichel can compete in the Atlantic. But I hope the kids at least give us the thrill of knowing that the Pegulas don't want to win.

I call him the GM Sheevyn for a reason. For me, it's just an idiom. But he was hired in place of JBot to go Great Jedi Purge the personnel department on behest of leadership (including RaKru). Now, he's gotten rid of the Count RaKru and is continuing the Purge of the Jedi players of the Old Republic. It's his new Empire. Will it succeed? Maybe, maybe not. The key now is to let him run with it for more time than any GM has had previously to work under the Pegulas. Because if they change him out in under 3 years, the next GM will do a reset for his/her style of players and coaches and philosophies. Sheevyn will have that shield down team win, we've just gotta give him more time!

I really hope this kid makes it and becomes a mainstay. The joy we will have with the Baron von Barnekow-Lofberg.

We clearly had this trade in the works for awhile, because otherwise 13(14) could have been Wallstedt or Cossa. So our scouts loved the Levi. Now we've got Portillo and Levi in the pipeline. Hopefully, UPL gets to play in Rochester and play a lot at the level he should be. If one of the three hits as a true #1, great. All the better if another becomes a 1A/B split type or a steady backup. But we've got a goalie pipeline and that's a good thing. Still need 2 NHL goalies for this season, though.

It's rough. The problem is compounded if we don't get better than Meszaros to reach the salary floor and keep the kids in Rochester where they belong so they don't get crushed into a constant losing cycle in Buffalo... which would lead us right back where we are now in a few years, just swapping out Dahlin for Risto and Cozens/Mitts for Jack/Sam.

It was a long time ago, but I think he mentioned needing grit and veteran leadership for our... playoff... push. Which was well before the play-in group was established and expanded to 24 teams.