DarthEbriate

Yeah, but we haven't had any center depth since Jack's rookie season when he was still learning to play any NHL defense (ROR, Eichel, Larsson, Legwand). And Angry Larry didn't take over for Girgs at center until the second half of the season. So this is nothing new.

It's time for the Krueger to end....

Precisely. I'm good with a new coach giving some vets the chance to prove themselves for a few games. But Asplund would take over for Okposo for me as soon as that window was pass, even if just to evaluate the youngster. And maybe Asplund can still play center, in which case he's in for Eakin. And I'd remove the captain. The remaining season is a trial for my new captain.

Well, no. But would KA have a job if JBot hadn't refused to cut folks/payroll including CT and the Rochester staff? It's a box we can only speculate so much upon opening.

If Bryson continues to play well, Borgen comes back and settles Dahlin into a second pair, and Ristolainen starts looking like pre-COVID Risto by the end of March... we'll feel better about the defense going into next season. That should put Davidson and Irwin back on the Taxi Squad where they belong. Sadly, McCabe may never don a Sabres sweater again. Joker is the wild card, as always. The problems remain no goalie until Ullmark returns, and a stagnant-by-design offense that relies on a power play but draws no penalties.

I think if it's a real tried-and-true, respected NHL hockey coach (not a Rolston or an Appert or Matt Ellis) that the players know is there to evaluate them through the end of the season, we'll get a vast improvement in effort level and goal-scoring 5 on 5. And by vast I mean trending back toward average/middle-of-the-pack. That'd be great. We won't see a dramatic change in the aggressiveness/hard-to-play/grit of this team. The players we've assembled are not those players. And the ones that are are either hurt, a 4C, or still recovering from the COVID virus. Also, what we won't see are a spike in victories UNLESS we also get an NHL-caliber goalie to hold down the fort until Ullmark returns. JJ has been destroyed by Ullmark's injuries and this season's taxi squad setup. He was coming around -- highly unlikely he was going to be an NHL starter, but an NHL backup potential. He got the AHL All-Star last year, then got called up when Ullmark was hurt. But the kid wasn't ready. He should've gone back down and had Hammond come up or gotten a rental goalie to close out the season because Hutton was so awful last year. Fast forward to this year, JJ wasn't ready, hasn't gotten additional playing time, languished on the practice squad, and still isn't ready. He and UPL should be battling in the AHL with Tokarski on the practice squad. Or Hutton in the AHL as a veteran for UPL. Regardless, Krueger is the main problem. But so is Hutton. A goalie must be part of the solution.

GH-7 Medical Droid: Medically, the players are completely healthy. For reasons we can't explain, we are losing games. Okiposo: We're losing... GH-7 Medical Droid: We don't know why. We've lost the will to play. We need to operate quickly if we are to save the babies franchise.

Honestly, not much different because we don't get enough PP opportunities to rely on it. In the last four games we've gotten 1 power play each game. We scored 0 PP goals, although Reinhart did get a PP deflection 7 seconds after one had expired and before the Ranger could fully return to defensive position. So -- we'll say we're 1 for 4 on the PP. That's good. But it's one goal across four games. There were also two instances of offsetting in the previous 4 games (Miller/Lee roughing; Cozens/Lindgren fighting). The game before that we did get 3 PP opportunities, but were shut out by Philly. And we don't do anything to draw penalties. Maybe if we drove the net. Or if we had a couple pests, or divers, or whatever. But we don't force the issue and therefore we don't get a chance to use our greatest asset. You have to earn penalties.

Likewise. My takes were simply references and that I, too, had once fired someone (Admiral Ozzel) via viewscreen, much as HCPH was fired by Skype. I didn't really know anything about Chancellor RaKru (come on, it's a great nickname, now). But I've since learned that I don't have any faith or trust in him as a hockey coach or master motivator. <Sabres season rolls along for a few meters... explodes> Jack Eichwalker: Uncle TPeg! Aunt Kim! This RaKrunit has a bad motivator. Look! TPeg <to NHL "hockey people">: Hey! What are you trying to push on us? Jawa/NHL: You just said, "Yeah, I'll take that one" without even stopping to look at it! What the hell do you want from us? We found it in the middle of the desert. It was rolling fine all these last few years. How were we going to know it's head was going to explode?

Mr. Hamilton's going to have to put on his investigative journalist hat and go back to the start of the 2019 season do a write up. A quick google search: He'd have just ended traveling with the team at that time (about 10/9 it was reported). So it's all in a couple months where the team starts well and then flounders, and has since sunk to the bottom of the sea.

Now we gotta figure out which win this Taylor of ours was in... here it is: Don Granato returned to practice 11/20/19. So the Sabres would've been 10-8-3 at the time, having just gone through a 6-game losing streak that included the two-game set in Sweden against the Lightning. So, Taylor helped with a hot start, but it had already fizzled out.

Now I've got to figure out a way to look up the Sabres' record with Chris Taylor filling in as a bench coach vs. RaKru's record as Buffalo's coach. Jinx!

Let's build a compelling package that works for both sides. Zegras. A 2021 1st round pick. And... it's gotta be Henrique (who was just waived, and cleared) at $5.825M through 2023-24. So that gives you the high-energy kid and a stopgap center and a pick. Anaheim has tons of other cap hits coming off the books this offseason so they can do it. But I think we need more here.... Do you think we could also get Lindholm for 1 year at 5.2M if we sweeten with a 3rd? Or forget Lindholm and ask for another couple picks... What works for both teams?

I'm with you, too.

It's the money. If you buy him out this June, he's got a cap hit of $5M next year, and then 3, then 1. If you buy him out after next season it's just 3 and 1. They'll tell you it's because he's a respected leader in the room. Which may be true... but ineffective loses respect quickly.

It's almost as bad as last year's Detroit Red Wings. In half of a season, Detroit would've had about 7 regulation wins at their rate. And the 2019-20 Red Wings did not have anything resembling Hall, Eichel, Skinner, Dahlin. Or even Cozens, Reinhart, Olofsson, or Ristolainen. Or Ullmark.

If I were a coach I'd play him the first 2 games, as a respected vet wearing the A. If he looked like this ... bench him immediately. GM Sheevyn's gotta do the waiving.

So... 9 regulation wins in our last 44 games? That's not gonna cut it unless every other game is going to OT.

RaKru: If you'll not be needing me, sir, I'll close down for awhile. Sure, go ahead.

I go back to the same comment I made yesterday and I'm sorry --- but if we offered Eichel for the Isle's 4th line, they'd turn us down.

Irwin needed a rest day? (McCabe would've been out there as Risto's partner)

Blergh, Davidson tripped.

Mitts finished a check, starts the transition, feeds the open shot... too bad we didn't bury that.

Do not be fooled, Sheevyn. Fire him and let this still be a good springboard into next week.

Obviously. He was under the puck at one point when he skated behind the net.