mjd1001

He has 9 points on the season (Pilut has 22). The other day he had an awful night...I don't know Guhle's actual plus-minus for the game, but it seemed like he was on the ice for 3 or 4 goals against.

I'm not sure how you get it....it is conditional on what the trade is of course but...USUALLY buyers at the deadline give up youth and/or prospects for older veterans, many times rentals. I am NOT interested in that at all. Most buyers are looking for that and looking to give that up. not for me.

I hope the Sabres aren't buyers. Even if they are in playoff position, I'd rather have them 'stand pat' than to buy.

I have no idea what the deal was with O'Reilly. From all accounts, he is a good player, and the coaches he had (has) trust him in every aspect of the game. BUT...Colorado seemed pretty eager to get rid of him to the Sabres...after a few years with the Sabres they were OK with letting him go....and shortly after he left both teams he left got better (took a year with Colorado), and the teams he has played on have not done well. I'd like someone to speak up (ex teamate, front office person) and let us know if there was anything a 'little different' about him behind closed doors.

I'm not rooting against Reiinhart, I want him to do well, but I'm a bit surprised so many people are defending him to the degree they are. All I was saying is, I need more from him..at some point that 'buzzing all over the ice' has to lead to more production, and that includes even strength production. I also agree with the 'fancy stats stuff', I find analytics interesting, but they have to support results. Why do I need more from Reinhart? He is the 2nd overall pick, and in his 4th full year (5th year from being drafted). This isn't Baptiste or Bailey we are talking about, he is the 2nd overall pick. So where do I want to see improvement? 1.) Defensively -He is not good. He ins't trusted for much ice time to protect a lead late in the game. He basically never kills penalties. He is awful at faceoffs. While a lot of people don't like +/-...I'd rather somoene be a plus rather than a minus...and he is a minus. Finally, with my own eyes ignoring all the 'fancy stats' and production, I see someone who doesn't win many battles in the D-zone and doesn't contribute much defensively. 2.) Even strength -Average at best...he just doesn't produce even strength well. 35% of his points come on the PowerPlay (this season he is SLIGHTLY better but still close to 30%) More worrisome is almost 45% of all his goals come on the Powerplay. What does that mean for even strength? He scores about 12 goals even strength per 82 games. Awful? No. Do I expect Eichel or McDavid numbers? No, but I need more than 12 even strength goals per year from that high of a draft pick and someone that gets so much even strength ice time. 3.) Power play -Well, if he doesn't contribute a lot even strength, then he must be a good power play specialist, right? Not really. 9 PP goals and 8 PP assists per 82 games. Pretty good? Well, not bad, but nothing special for someone who gets regular PP time. Since he has come into the league, that puts him about 92nd in the league in PP production. Since he came into the league, he is 67th in Power play time among forwards, but 92nd in points. Basically, while he does get you points...he is 'below average' among NHL forwards who get regular PP time. So is he playing better this year? The last few games? Maybe. I don't go TOO deep into analytics as much as some others on this site...but if the analytics say he is playing better...great, I WANT that, but I need to see it lead to production soon. I'm not rooting against him...once again, I want to see more from him.

I agree its too early to be looking at any numbers that fluctuate as the season goes on. If his lower shooting percentage was a continuation of a trend that included all of last year..then maybe. I'd start to be concerned about the number if it stays this low another 20+ games into the season, but even then I'd evaluate it in terms of his overall game.

I see the opposite...when Sam is on the ice...UNLESS he is with Jack and Skinner, I see the puck with less time in the offensive zone than it is in the Neutral zone or the Sabres end. When the puck is in the Sabres own zone..I don't see him as someone who helps the D get the puck out as well as some of the other forwards. Stats aren't everything, but the reason I bring them up is I SEE him not being a player that does well in a lot of areas, and the stats back up what I see with my own eyes. And as far as facilitating zone entires? That is one thing I think is one of his major areas where is is NOT good.

Scandella I think it OK. A top pairing D-man on a cup winning team? No, but I don't think he is a weakness. I am beginning to agree with you on Reinhart. He HAS to put up goals and points to be productive..he doesn't add much else. He's not a good penalty killer....not a faceoff specialist (you can't even rely on him to take draws...his career percentage is just above 30%). He lacks the speed to help the transition game through the neutral zone...doesn't drive possession...not physical. Even his scoring is usually on the powerplay, he doesn't give you much even strength. (for his career, he averages only 12 even strength goals per 82 games.) Basically, if he isn't scoring...he isn't of much use at all. Right now through the middle of November, he is on pace for 9 goals and 50 assists. Not enough goals. The 50 assist pace is nice, but almost half of them are on the Power Play. The kid has offensive talent, but that is the only way he helps you. I need to see him on a 20-25 goal pace to see his value to this team.

Maybe Housley want to see more combinations...and it is best to try things out early in the season. Move things around...so he can get an idea as to what he thinks will work or won't work...for later in the year especially if injuries hit.

With Rasmus Dahlin coming into the NHL, and with the Sabres playing Elias Petterson today, I got to thinking about how strong of a hockey nation Sweden usually is, and it may be getting stronger in the next few years..with that said, does anyone think they may unseat Canada as having the best national/Olympic/world cup program in the near future? With Karlson, Hedmund, Ekman-Larson, Klingberg, Ekholm, and eventually Dahlin on the D-unit, anyone might have a tough time matching that. No matter what, I am looking forward to the next round of international competition tournaments.

I agree on this. Also, I have defended Reinhart on these boards for most of the last 2-3 years. I'm starting to turn on him. From what we see of him, at best he is a 'streaky' scorer that you can rely on for 25 goals per year. If I am going to pay a 'streaky' scorer, he better be putting up 30+ and have a lot more game than just basically a power play specialist.

I think we know what he is now.....he is a guy who is going to give you about 10 goals and 30 assists in a full season...playing 3rd and 4th line minutes...with the OCCASIONAL bump up to a higher line when the coach wants to shake things up or when a bunch of injuries hit. Good Skater, hard worker. I just would like to see him get a little better (or get used more) penalty killing.

I'm happy so far this year obviously. I want to see him take another step though. So far in his career, I see Eichel as an all-star caliber player..not an elite player. He needs to take a step up for me to consider him Elite. If he continues at this pace and finishes in the top 5 or 6 in the league in scoring, then I'll start to entertain that 'elite' status again. I do like that he has shown the ability to be able to seemingly "switch on-off" between a scorer and a playmaker.

In that case, the poll would probably be 7 years at $58 or 8 at $66.

You are right, I forgot the Sabres were able to offer 8 years now..I still thought 7 was the max.

I'm OK with Dunleavy. Is he great? No. Is he good, Yep, I've come around to liking him doing a game. Is Dunleavy as good to listen to as RJ was a decade ago? No...but to be honest, I'd rather have Dunleavy doing all the games at this point.

How much will it take to get him signed, or are the Sabres not interested in what it will cost?

Maybe he has some kind of very minor, but lingering injury? Something that you COULD play thought but it would have a small impact on the quality of play. The fact he is not one of your top 6 forwards, you aren't going to have him play though it, but just give it time to 100% heal? I don't know...you would think they would say he had an injury if that was the case...but I can't come up with any other reasons as to why they are handling him like they are. Maybe its a numbers thing in Rochester? If they send him down...either he won't get quality minutes down there on a top line..., or he would push someone else off of a top line and they don't want that to happen either?

Well, hes from Vancouver, he lives in the offseason in Vancouver....and in the past there were some rumors (nothing too credible, but I know I read stuff online) about a trade to Vancouver....so that might be something to watch for.

Better than last year, but I don't know if I'd say good...YET. Right now, they are middle of the pack. Entertaining? More than last year..but still not exciting to watch on a regular basis. I'd say average at best there. The important thing is they are better and more entertaining than last year..and hopefully further trending upward.

He's really not looking that good. His shooting percentage is only 3.7% now...even if you think he will get closer to his career average (11%), that would still only give him 3 goals in 13 games. Not only does he only have 6 points...but only 2 of his points are at even strength, in 13 games. And he is getting the ice time...ice time per game so far this season is at a career high for him. Among forwards, only Eichel has more ice time than Reinhart..he is second on the team. He just doesn't look good and isn't producing...I'm not sure what needs to be done to change that.

I think a lot of it has to do with someone expectations for what they are getting and what they pay for it. When we go to a game..or a concert....or basically anything where prices are very high and quality is questionable, my wife and I look at it in opposite ways. She won't say a thing about dropping $4 or $5 on a tiny bottle of water...$7 on a small pizza slice, $6 or $7 on a pretzel, or over $10 for a sandwich. She just decides that is what she wants and gets it. On the other hand, no matter how thirsty I am, I have a full blown mental crisis on whether I want to pay those prices for a small soda, and on the rare occasions where I do, it bothers me the rest of the night. Our solution....I let her buy everything, don't ask how much it cost..and just eat and drink off of what she buys.

I agree. I like Pominville, but by next year I'm wanting his slot to be filled by a young guy. Nylander, CJ Smith, Olofson, among others are who I want to see there. Last year Pominville got off to an "OK" start but faded as the season went on. ANY money that would be spent on Pominville (even if just $1.5 -$2.5 million) is money I want thrown at Skinner.

Because of how the road trip ended, Thursday nights game against Montreal is huge. Not so much for the long-term success of the team, but for the fanbase and Sabres marketing dept: -This is the first time in a LONG time the team has been over .500 even a few weeks into the season. -A lot of fans know they won the last couple games, but many did not see all of the games on the west coast -This will be the first home game in a while...the first game in a LONG time (years) where fans are going into it thinking this team is truly different, BETTER than what they have seen in the past few years. If the Sabres come out and play well and win, you are going to see some momentum with the fanbase finally unlike anything during the season in years. If they play poorly and lose...it'll be "same old Sabres" to many fans.

It is REALLY early in the NHL season to be making strong opinions about teams, but for now..I think we can settle down on the 'Leafs are the clear favorite for the cup" stuff that I have been hearing out of Toronto for the last 2-4 weeks. They are good. Are they great? I'm not sure. They went to OT to beat the Habs and Black hawks...and they won pretty convincingly against a bad Kings team. They had a good come from behind win against the caps...and beat what looks like an average Stars team. Lost to a good Pittsburgh team and what looks like a Blues team still trying to find itself. So right now..the Leafs look to me like they are just the same as they were last year. Fun to watch, high scoring...good but not great. Their next 8 games in the next 3 weeks look like a GREAT test to see how they come out of it. By then, we should have a great idea for sure if they are good or great.