DarthEbriate

6'4" 205# shoots left Finished 2nd in scoring (points leader scored one more point and played in 9 fewer games) on a .500ish Brown team. A quick perusal of "top 2025 NCAA free agents available" lists... he's not on them.

True. And I love Benson. But maybe Chychrun's addition means they don't have to rely on Stillman, Bryson, and Clague down the stretch and get two more points that season and sneak into the playoffs. Then, last year's offseason looks quite a bit different. No Bryson. Probably don't need EJ and Clifton; just one of them. And you can roll Chychrun/Dahlin for 24 minutes a night all season.

That'd be fun. I would hope for Cozens' sake he got his goal and assist first before attempting the ol' Howe Hat. Maybe someone could get him to go at the opening faceoff Kotkaniemi-style? Then, just pummel him and incite the entire Sabres roster into a 9-1 run to picking 8th overall.

To the bolded: I don't see them wanting Byram at all. Their left side is set with Chychrun and Sandin (cheaper than Byram will be and been excellent for them), and Carlson still has a couple seasons of elite PP play left in him I'd imagine. When Kulich/Norris are in the lineup, lately TNT is RW1 and Tuch is RW2. I don't think that's a weakness.

Flashbacks to Savoie being too high a price to pay for Chychrun. But then, you don't pay Power as much because he's 3D (shorter term/prove it), and then you trade Mitts for a forward or a defensive D to pair with Power instead of the redundant Byrum move. Ripples in the pond.

Luukkonen has been overcommitting and sliding outside his posts too much this season; he has to clean that up. Reimer played great against WPG and earned another start.

Gilbert didn't dress in Ottawa's last game, but if you're Ottawa do you dress him in the manner of "playing the old team"? They certainly don't need him as intimidation/deterrent against the Sabres.

Tage has taken 10 or more faceoffs only five times in the last 30 games. Kulich/Norris have been 1C and McLeod has been the 2C since 12/31/24. Now, with a coaching change, maybe Tage shifts back to center, but Ruff has him skating on the wing this year.

At the moment, McLeod is the 1C for every game Norris doesn't play through 2030 (unless Norris is moved before his NTC kicks in and say... Helenius... hits as a 1C). ----- Re: the points discussion, what would we be thinking to offer McLeod if he and Cozens had had their PP roles reversed. McLeod likely has more points if he has 140 PP minutes this season, with the bulk of it on PP1. (Cozens only managed 2-2-4 in all those PP minutes.)

Sigh. Pegula: Good talk. Remember, the answer is in the room. This room. <makes a heart sign> I believe in you. Everybody feel better? Mmmkay. Buh-bye. <Pegula turns, exits room> Pegula: Bring my yacht. (alternate line if it's the Special Edition) Alert my yacht to prepare for my arrival.

There could be an agreement to the extension, but even if he says he wants out, he's still an RFA at the end of the 1-year deal with the new team. They can either trade him or bridge him to UFA. Of course they could match, but it's Adams. He traded for Byram, McLeod, and Levi. Those RFAs are his additions to the new core. Is a scoring winger the priority over a top-4 D, 2C, or 1B goalie next season?

Age 25 season with the Sabres: 5-on-5 only 11-14-25 Pts 36 blocks; 20 hits; 58.0 FO% ; 54.5 % D-Zone starts; 11-21-32 Pts 20 blocks; 14 hits; 53.1 FO% ; 57.5 % D-Zone starts One of these Ryans is McLeod and the other is O'Reilly. I'm purposely not including the PP numbers because ROR had 208 minutes of PP time that season while McLeod has had 26 minutes (so far.)

I had this in the Peterka to NY thread -- if JJP wants to go, all he has to do is sign a 1-year offer sheet (and tell the offering team he's willing to sign long-term with them). $6.8M for JJP for one year - a late 1st and a 3rd if you're a competitive team for a scorer who is about to be in his prime and will have the post-Buffalo bonus? That's pretty tempting for a playoff-bound squad.

Playing the point with his nimble feet.

Buffalo trails Winnipeg in the standings by... 40 points. At their points percentage, Buffalo would need to play 46 more games to reach 100 points.

I don't like doing it, but it is really helpful (if you go for a few weeks) to stop snoring, have your heartburn all but disappear except for spicy-spicy stuff, and even reduce the effects of pollen allergies.

The Wheel of Time tv show is very much hit or miss. The latest episode (season 3, episode #4) covers one of the passages of "peak fantasy". * I'll try to define what I mean below. Basically, one character gets to see critical moments in the history of his people through the eyes of his various ancestors (dad, great granddad, great x40 granddad, etc.) all the way back to the unleashing of evil into the world. Simultaneously, another character gets to see thousands and thousands of possible variations of the future of her life so she plan out how best to help save the world. And the tv show -- I won't say it was flawless, but it worked really well. They did it! And I'm happy for that. * I'll define a Peak Fantasy passage as "this is what fantasy can be" or "Aha! Only in fantasy can this happen". It's not a single moment or heroics. For Tolkien for example, it would be (spoilers!) the balrog entering, chasing, closing, thou-shall-not-passing, and falling, and lassoing. Or Bilbo/Gollum meeting, riddling, and then Bilbo putting the ring on and realizing he's invisible and then escaping.

Which was absolutely bonkers because the d-corps was 100%carried over from last season except for the addition of Gilbert who dressed in all of 25 games. And among the forwards, they rid of defensive liabilities like Skinner and Olofsson, and shed retiree Okposo and 4th liner Girgensons for younger versions. There is an alternate reality where Ruff is hired as an advisor, then Jim Montgomery is hired immediately after Boston lets him go and Granato is replaced that way. Or Ruff immediately recommends Montgomery and steps into an assistant coach role in-season. I think maybe they're better? St. Louis perked up since hiring JM (27-16-6 since; 9-12-1 before) and have clawed their way into the final wild card spot -- at the moment.

Sabres revenge special. Comrie with the Miler (Ryan) shutout and Miller (Colin) with the game-winning goal scored in the 1st period.

Watching Hinostroza play today reminded me... Remember when the Sabres traded Sheary and Rodrigues for Kahun? The guy who was planning on playing in Europe the next year? That was fun.

Good on Ruff for playing Samuelsson and Dahlin together since the trade deadline then.

That's good. Play out the string faster that way.

Well. Good game, Wild. Brodin and MoJo returning from injury. Rossi nursing a knee injury. No problem. After getting out of the first tied instead of trailing, it was never in doubt.