DarthEbriate

What a bizarrely wicked schedule. I kind of love it. Except no Vancouver road trip this year (not that I could get across the border legally anyway at this point). All we need to do is skate fast and overwhelm some teams, get a few stretches of hot Ullmark, and basically exhibit youthful exuberance and desperation for awhile. Can you imagine having to face angry Eichel in 2 games in 3 nights in Buffalo after you just came off a tough back-to-back in Boston?

But @Taro T, every site had him listed as an RFA: NHL.com, Sportsnet, Sportrac. I'm not saying offer sheet now on Xmas EveEve, I mean as soon as the window opened and the qualifying offers were extended. Mitts never went to arbitration. Just like Barzal. Any team could've extended an offer to Barzal. None did (or he didn't sign, which is ridiculous with the flat cap). "Hey Matt. There's a flat/reduced cap. Every day you remain unsigned you're going to make less money --- even as a higher stature player. Here's 6.5M/2 years. Is it slightly below your value? Absolutely. But sign it and get a paycheck rather than settling 4.5 once all the money is gone. It's a bridge. We're glad to trade a first and a third for you." Or any of a number of other guys, like Mitts. (Though of course, Mittestadt could've been offered what we signed Tage Thompson for or less.)

And that said, not a single GM was willing to offer sheet Mitts for $1.0M as a 13th forward for no compensation whatsoever (no picks required up to $1.4M). Hmm.

Welcome back to the Sabres, Casey! Go get 'em and make the world regret not believing in you.

Well sure we can't, but what's the fun in that? ;-] All I'm saying is Boston lost Krug and could've submitted an offer-sheet to Sergachev. Get a better, up and coming Krug at a cheaper price on a bridge (say $4.2M x 2) at the cost of a 2nd round pick, and then possibly sign him long-term --- OR --- have it get matched by Tampa, putting your main competition in even further financial constraints. And if Sergachev turns down 4.2x2 to sign 3.6x4 (which he did sign with TB) to be off the market longer after the cap goes back up, to play for an equally matched team, but be the top PP guy immediately, he and his agent are foolish. BOS signed Grzelcyk for an identical 4x3.6M deal that Sergachev signed with TB.... Grzelcyk is a good player, but I'll take Sergachev all day of the two. GMs just aren't using a tool available to them, and they aren't using the cap as a weapon. And they must use all the tools available, especially with a reduced/flat cap for 2 years.

The backup goalie. I have confidence Ullmark plays well and the team is better than last year. We need a backup goalie who doesn't fall apart. It can be Hutton. I hope it's Hutton for Hutton's sake. He doesn't need to be undefeated for the first month of the season like last year, but he needs to be consistent and solid and above a .910 sv% for the season. Do that, with the continued growth of the youngsters, the infusion of Hall and Staal, and the depth down the center.... But we need a 2nd goalie who isn't almost a guaranteed loss for 3/4 of the season.

So what's the point of having offer sheets if no other NHL GM was willing to compensate a single 2nd round pick to sign Cernak anywhere in the $3-3.5M range? (And all the way up to $4.3M.) Cowards.

TL;DR = Why, whatever do you mean it's holiday week and I have too much free time? With the mention of 4-team divisions above I decided to just do a buddy-up system with pre-existing rivalries from the NFL. I give you: the NFL/NHL division alignment. (NFL Equivalent in parentheses) In the American Hockey Conference AHC East: Sabres (Bills), Bruins (Patriots), Panthers (Dolphins), Islanders (Jets). This one was a 1:1 match. All too easy. AHC North: Penguins (Steelers), Leafs (Browns), Devils (Ravens), Senators (Bengals). I considered a Saints/Devils balance, but really, the Devils and Ravens have been defense-first for 30 years and are very close geographically. Plus, the Leafs get to be their historical NFL Equivalent: the Browns (or Bengals) -- doesn't matter. They don't matter. AHC South: Predators (Titans), Blue Jackets (Colts), Oilers (Texans), Canucks (Jaguars). The Edmonton Oilers replace the replacement of the Houston Oilers. Makes sense. The Canucks and the Jaguars -- opposite corners -- some good seasons but never the best... sure. That was one of the weakest matches. AHC West: Blues (Chiefs), Golden Knights (Raiders), Avalanche (Broncos), Ducks (Chargers). Another easy division with almost perfect matches. Chargers and Ducks match up because the Rams/Kings have been better more recently. In the National Hockey Conference NHC East: Capitals (Team); Stars (Cowboys); Rangers (Giants); Flyers (Eagles). Another 1:1 alignment. And a fun hockey division. NHC North: Here's where I caveat this as a Packers fan. This division has three teams that are pre-existing (NFL/NHL city crossover), so the final team needs to match the spirit of the Packers.... insufferable holier-than-thou fanbase, media darlings... Toronto? No. Also, they need the hardware of the most-decorated franchise in League history. Habs. This way, Toronto can be matched to the Browns or Bengals. Canadiens (Packers), Blackhawks (Bears), Wild (Vikings), Red Wings (Lions). NHC South: Flames (Saints), Lightning (Buccaneers), Jets (Falcons), Hurricanes (Panthers). The matches plus the former-Atlanta franchises. NHC West: Kraken (Seahawks), Coyotes (Cardinals), Kings (Rams), Sharks (49ers). Another 1:1 alignment, especially with the 49ers now playing in Santa Clara instead of Candlestick.

For realignment, I really like @Let's Go B-Lo's approach of 4 division winners x 4 wild cards. It makes division battles extremely important (see the NFL) which generates rivalries if they play each other a sufficient number of times. And you still have a wild card to get the other contenders in. Wild cards also prevent a crap division (see NFL NFC East this year) from sending two sub-.500 (not including loser points, of course!) to the playoffs. The alternative would be the top 2 from each division making the playoffs -- and then they face each other to advance. (You hate your division rival and they're really, really good? Well, you've gotta get past them in the opening round every year. And hate leads to Suffering!) Either way, smaller divisions increase the rivalries... aka... give in to the hate.

No, and yes. McAvoy is great. Pastrnak is excellent. And then it's reliant on an aged core group (Bergeron, Marchand, Krejci - and Chara if he plays) playing a condensed season. Chara may have only skated 20/game but it was an ice-tilting in the regular season because folks don't really run and pressure him and beat him up until you're into a series. Losing Krug is huge for their PP. From a recent Boston board meeting: Cassidy Tagge: Until this Boston Station is fully operational, we are vulnerable. The Eichel Alliance is too well equipped. They're more dangerous than you realize. Gen. Managio Sweeney: Dangerous to your skaters, Coach, not to this Boston Station. Tagge: They're the same thing! Sweeney: <nervously tugging at collar as though choking> (And we all know how that turned out.)

I don't like our division. I was hoping for a Great Lakes Division of: Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Columbus, Detroit, Chicago, and Minnesota, and throw in Boston for good measure. You know... so we could win our division. But. This one is going to be all the sweeter when we qualify on the strength of a renewed Skinner, a reborn Staal, a Cozens-for-Calder-push, a Dahlin-gets-a-few-Norris-votes eyebrow raise, and the Hall-Eichel-Reino onslaught on terrified goalies. Start fast again (third year in a row) and this time the secondary scoring keeps it going. Let's go, Buffalo! (Expectation: 4th place in the new division... squeaking into the playoffs)

Adding a 2C (and a good one at that in Staal) to this roster, plus Hall, and another year of experience from Ullmark --- we're on the cusp of the playoffs depending on the alignment (and able to compete in all permutations). I look at all the teams we could be grouped with for 48-56 games and... Better than us: Toronto, NY Islanders, NY Rangers, Philadelphia, Tampa, Carolina, Washington Let's go play hockey!: Columbus, Boston, Florida, Pittsburgh Worse than us: Ottawa, Montreal, Detroit, Chicago, New Jersey, Minnesota, Nashville

Our prospect is the top-line center for Team Canada. Our other prospect is the top-line winger (albeit the "other guy" on the line) for Team Canada. This is so wizard, Ani --- in the parlance of our times.

@GASabresIUFAN It's so good to see you (nearly) fully functional again! Arttu expresses his relief also. Keep up the rest and mending. We'll need you on the 'Space ice for this season.

Very much so! Think back to us trading for Evander Kane while he was injured, and therefore not a threat to help us win games down the stretch in our quest for McDavid. But he'd be there for McDavid or Eichel the following season. It'll be especially amplified in a shortened season where one "good" stretch by the players could take a team whose front office is actively tanking and propel them down the draft order.

This is getting out of hand. Now there are two of them (who have documented their travel back to Buffalo)!

My pairings aren't so much Risto-hate as who is on the left side. RaKru skated McCabe-Risto together quite a bit last year, so I kept them together. Then, if Montour is on the left, it became a question of who do I play more? Dahlin, then Montour, then McCabe. With Dahlin and Miller trending toward offensive zone draws and McCabe more in the d-zone. I think the 3 pairings I listed are the most balanced, but could as easily see Dahlin-Joker, Montour-Risto and then McCabe-Miller is a much less-used 3rd pair than the top pairs.

Doubly so! I look forward to round 4. Thanks, @Zamboni! I'm of two minds on this round. The positive: Hey, Cal Petersen still has a good shot to be a regular NHL-level goalie, whether starter or backup, and make a career of it. So --- we hit on one pick (not the development/retention, but the pick). I don't know if we'd have had to protect him in the Vegas expansion, but an Ullmark/Petersen tandem last year would've been nice. The negative is across an entire decade --- almost nothing! We had one player (the first, 2008's Lagace) even make a minor impact in the minor leagues. None of the others even made a contribution in Rochester. They're all longshots, sure, but looking through the list: Griffith, O'Regan, Varone all are top-6 AHL-caliber players. Tokarski will be a fine AHL player for Rochester this season. That's what I'd expect to see in this round over 10 years: an AHL veteran-type player here or there. It's not like we had the talent to hold them off the Pirates/Amerks roster. That's Bantha fodder-level drafting.

On defense, next season (once again) hinges on Risto. Whatever the 20-21 season looks like, it'll be Risto's 8th in the league. He hasn't made exponential improvements in his own zone or in his overall game . He's still an offensive-minded defenseman who occasionally agitates and elevates himself against top-flight players, although his elevation doesn't really change their stats against us. (Meaning Ovechkin, which others folks have crunched all the numbers.) Because of the financial situations league-wide, I don't think Risto gets moved via trade. So -- Risto was much better this past season vs. previous years. He went down to just 22 minutes/game and finished a -2 instead of his typical negative double digits. He wandered less in the D zone. He looked OK. But again, he's 8 years in. He's no longer a young defenseman given up on too soon. He's now a minimum $4.5M/year player on his next COVID-impacted contract as a 2nd pair and 2nd PP unit guy who remains a liability in his own zone. He's not the reliable top-pair 2-way D we wanted him to become when drafted. So this is the conundrum: Does this shortened season lead us to protect and extend Risto or not? If not... then protect Dahlin and Joker and... I guess Borgen. And if Seattle wants UFAs in Montour or McCabe, so be it. But I wager no UFA is signing for a ton of cash next year. Otherwise, Seattle can take Miller or Ristolainen for a single season if they want to take the salary. Our D this season will benefit greatly from Hall and Staal. It's a solid set of NHL-caliber D guys that will look just fine with the improved forwards and middle-of-the-pack goaltending. But overall Risto's skills are duplicated by Miller (they're 2/3 pairing, 2nd PP guys who plays physical but aren't capable of shutting the opposition down). I see 2020 (whatever it is): Dahlin - Joker | Montour - Miller | McCabe - Ristolainen (Irwin, Borgen). And then 2021-22: Dahlin - Joker | Montour - either Miller/Risto | TBD - Borgen

Arttu! Where are you? At the top of the Liiga leaderboard. Ruotsalainen's pace is is an outlier for scoring in Liiga. Over the past 5 seasons, the scoring leader has been right at 1 pt/game. This season, a handful of players are playing above that, but too far over it. And then there's R2 up over 1.4 pts/game. For an entire Liiga season that'd pace to 85 points, which would shock the typical 55-60 points that are sufficient to be in the scoring title race. That said --- R2 has 9 PPG to double the closest contender, so he's no 5 on 5 dynamo. That said, said, his 3 SHG also are key considerations for making a Sabres squad in the bottom 6.

RIP original Vader: Mr. Prowse. Who by all accounts was a problematic gabber as he spoiled the whole "father" twist while promoting the film. Also --- my submission for best of the 80s is Purple Rain. Kick off with Let's Go Crazy and then the rest of Side A goes through the gambit/range of Prince in pop, big soapy ballad, random, and dirty sexy fun. Then, Side B is a tour-de-force of When Doves Cry - I Would Die 4 U - Baby I'm a Star - Purple Rain. And of course --- The Empire Strikes Back soundtrack ranks highly as well.

Would this be the best of the worst-selling albums of the 1980s? Or just an overall best album by decade?

That's cheap for Sergachev. 4.8 is a great deal for Tampa. Without covid, I'd have bet on Sergachev at nearly 6 if not over. ... and.... Dahlin will make more. But given the economic state this year and next, maybe that keeps Dahlin under $6M/year. It shouldn't in normal times. But it could. Maybe something like $5.75 x 4. That would be pretty sweet.

I'm picturing a Red Dawn letter jacket. As to Casey's RFA deal, there's no rush until some concrete plans are announced for the season.

Rye is the bread to use when you want to punch a sandwich up or make it unique. Reubens and patty melts are built on good ryes. The beef on weck relies on caraway seeds. Rye isn't overrated. As Bogart once said, "I got a pretty good bottle of rye in my pocket" and... well. Agreed that any ##/multi-grain is overrated. How many "healthy" and "old-world" grains can we fit into this loaf? I don't care. A bread shouldn't crumble when used in a sandwich. The other contender I want to mention because of its current trendiness is sourdough. Because a lot of wannabe home-baker/chef types have are exploring their quarantine time, everyone and their mother is chirping about their "starter" and making their own amazing sourdough. And while sourdough is a delicious bread, it's not the end-all/be-all of bread (no bread is; they all have their place). But people championing in it in the short-term makes it overrated.