DarthEbriate

Fun stat of the day: Corey Perry is a -25 on the TBL. The next closest is -9 by D Hadyn Fleury. The team has a +31 goal differential. I'm guessing he'll probably hang 'em up after this season and pretty darn good (if ratty) career.

And Ullmark put up a +.913sv% every single season except for one while with the Sabres (and his poorest 2018-2019 season was basically Anderson's numbers this year). It didn't matter if it was Housley, Krueger, or Granato, Ullmark was consistent and improving overall year-to-year. But the other guys were always garbage except for 1 month of Hutton and... Houser!

The late '90s going down into the dead puck era were a magical time. Also, those late '90s Red Wings were an amazing defensive team for many reasons (namely a Hall of Fame studded roster), but one of the biggest reasons is they possessed the puck all the time. They were as fun to watch as Buffalo for the opposite reason... they had the puck and were threatening to score, whereas the Sabres didn't have the puck and were being threatened to be scored upon... and then would get a rush goal after Hasek made yet another routine amazing save.

Like Michigan the year before (with Power, Beniers, Kent Johnson, Portillo, etc.) they wanted to have their shot at the title. Ryan Johnson knew this season's Gophers squad was stacked and acted accordingly. And emphasis on the second line... he's not the glamourous one, but he's on the top pair, leads the team in blocked shots, and is a mainstay of their team. He'll be fine. Joki was an NHL regular at age 20 (D+2) and Pysyk at age 24 (stewed a bit in the WHL) -- though it's a bit confusing with him because he'd played 44 games at age 22 and then his age 23 season was a fun mix of a) he and McCabe both starting the season injured, b) the front office being more excited by rookies Ristolainen and Zadorov, and c) the front office being really really more excited in McEichel and icing Benoit and Meszaros as tank commanders. It could easily be argued the team would have been out of the guarantee of Eichel with a D corps of Myers/Bogo, Gorges, Weber, McCabe, Pysyk, and weave in games from Risto/Zad/Balls/Mesz and Strachan instead of leaving McCabe and Pysyk in Rochester almost all season (9 combined NHL gp). Still a tanking team, but more in the top-5 than in dead last. tl;dr If he signs, Johnson will get his 2-3 games this year, do a season in the AHL with some callups (during which he could stick), and then should be in the NHL in 2024-25.

You'll start getting worried when the crowd starts chanting "... we want 7!" after Skinner nabs #6 to start the 3rd period.

Game of Battleship? (Miss!)

No. No we shall not. ESPN+/Hulu and NHLNetwork do not play together. And Ray's got his shirt off.

To clarify, UPL is waivers exempt this season (barring an extremely successful playoff run where he's playing). Next season, he'll have to clear waivers based on the number of seasons played. https://www.capfriendly.com/waivers-calculator/ukko-pekka-luukkonen#results

That's a good comparable. Late 1st, <200#, known as a defensive defenseman with wheels. If Johnson can be a Pysyk --- and early-ish in his career --- that's a great addition. Pysyk was very calming for the kids last season. And had Pysyk re-signed (and not torn his Achilles), he's the #6 this season over Bryson and the defense probably holds together enough to scrape out 2-3 more wins over the course of the season when the D injuries struck because you've got a cagey vet instead of some combination of Bryson/Clague/Fitz/Stillman all in the game at the same time. Another hopeful comp would be a Ryan Lindgren.

Who? Tampa?

Fedun's an odd comparable as an undrafted player against 2 first-round picks. The question is: What is Jokiharju's ceiling? I still see an inconsistent 23 year-old who occasionally looks solid, occasionally gets feisty after the whistle (more last season than this season), occasionally makes beautiful stretch passes, and also gets overpowered, caught looking in his own zone, and flat-footed on the opposition's blue line. But then, Brian Campbell was inconsistent (and sometimes an outright hot mess) until he was 26. Joker has been pushed into a top-4 role because the lack of depth around him forced him to be, but I see a player who can become a top-4 still. And all the better if he only needs to be a 5 because he's got a bunch of stars above him.

Montour did for the back half of that season. It just wasn't sufficient for him to stay with the overall switchup/rebuild that was ongoing again. And as a UFA, I can't blame him for going to a team higher up the standings and with a similar run-and-gun style. But he'd have been a top-4 (and PP2 guy) with the Sabres last season for sure. Hard to say about this year with Boushh and Joker on the team. Maybe Dahlin would've stayed on the left side at all times. C'est la vie.

Reino with the GTG, Montour with the OT GW. Blergh.

Levi peeks out from behind the screen... and makes the save!

Nah. Granato learned how to pull a goalie recently. 5 at most. This is muddled from the age-old battle of Time. Miller did give up 15 goals (6 vs. NYI and 7 vs. DET) in his 3 games in the 2003-04. This left the long-lasting memory in people's minds that he got shelled in a debut because the next season was the lockout and he was in the AHL. It was the bad taste left in the mouth. But Miller had made his debut the season prior in 2002-03. He had 15 games and went 6-8-1 (a tie vs SJ) with a .902% and 2.63 GAA. His NHL debut was an OT loss to NJ (4 goals allowed).

Johnson is busy as he helped the #1 ranked Gophers reach the Frozen Four. He could sign and join with the Sabres next weekend as soon as the semi and final are played. 2 or 3 NHL games to get a look.

I can't see Calgary blowing it up/rebuilding this year. It was a down year for sure without Tkachuk. But the Huberdeau and Weegar extensions are about to kick in and they just need to pare some salary, not reset. They'll be happy to move their pending UFAs, but Andersson is a guy you build around (particularly a lovely contract through '25-26). Hanifin, Tanev, and Zadorov are the 3 pending-UFA D to keep an eye on there. Tanev and Hanifin have M-NTCs to contend with but they could be excited to join the surging Sabres.

At least in terms of the draft, it's the age-old discussion of drafting kids scattered across the world in different-style leagues at age 18 vs. what the NFL does which is essentially one self-contained feeder program and drafting a few players at 20 or 21 but mostly at 22-23 with 3 years of "minor league" play under them in NFL-style systems and coaching (with maybe a few draftees each season from overseas football or Australian Rules football for punters, or the 1 guy every few years who is a monster and was playing rugby.) If the NFL drafted 18 year-olds out of high schools they would need 20-round drafts to make up for the mess and attrition.

Rasmus Larsson, D, 6'3", 198 currently playing for the Västerås IK J20 team. Angry Larry + Rasmus the 4th.

Pilfering either of them from Boston would be a good win-win. You'll get pushback from some folks with Clifton on account of his size.

Dad Kposobi tells Jackikin Eichwalker that he can't win, and if Jackikin strikes him down he will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine... Followed by Tuch Icewalker, Jeff Solo, and Tagebacca teaming up with a snarky Princess Levi and a bunch of rebellious pilots to blow up a space station Stanley Cup?

Next season the core of the defense will be aged 29 Boushh, 24 Joker, 23 Dahlin and Muel, and 21 Power. That core 5 (yes, including Boushh for next season) is about to become very good. And the current 6-8 guys (with only Clague RFA this offseason): 26 Stillman and Bryson, 25 Clague. And the only realistic AHL callup: 22 Johnson (if signed). They need one more top-4 capable 19-21 minute capable UFA signee (or trade acquisition) who is a savvy vet that has been-there done-that to provide some steadiness and clear people from bowling over Levi/Comrie.

This was my assessment as well. If Comrie is hurt and Anderson is getting maintenance days, then you can reasonably assume that UPL is making a lot of the shooters look better at the end of practice than they are. Levi will set them right for future shootouts. Or break their spirits completely.

I liked Rousek last night and feel good about him as the 13F Hino role next season that I've kind of been slotting for him. Hopefully, he's also a competent PKer.

It is possible, however unlikely, that the Sabres might find a Pens weakness... and exploit it. The issue is that the Panthers (even free-falling at the moment) are still between them and that final spot. And the games-in-hand are gone but only relate to the NYI who are now 8 points up. And that's impossible, even for a computer!