mjd1001

Take out this year with the bad numbers and annualize the previous 3 seasons over 82 games and you get: 82games, 10 goals, 28 assists, 76 Pms, 14:47 minutes per game Obviously with his lack of production this year, if you averaged that in the production numbers would be a bit lower.

Not sure if it has been posted yet, but for anyone interested, the videos of all the fights he has been in: https://www.hockeyfights.com/players/22528 He sure is big and is willing to go at it, but he doesn't seem to do that well all the time.

Big guy with a slightly below average shot and 'decent' straight line speed but not a good 'overall' skater (acceleration, footwork). Can play physical. Eventual replacement for the role Okposo plays on the team right now (skill on the ice, not in the locker room)? At best his potential 'skill' level might be a blend of someone like if you could average out the good and the bad of 'current' Okposo with Marcus Foligno? Someone correct me if I'm way off base here.

Next year. Besides not only do I think there is a much better chance of getting better players/better value (as per my prior post) in the offseason, I also don't beleive making a move now would guarantee the playoffs. As the way things stand, maybe they have a 25% chance of making it now. Even with a move, with Tuch out and Dahlin missing a few games, what would a trade do, move the needle to 35%? I don't know, but its not like if they don't make a move they are out for sure, and if they did make a move they would be in for sure.

As I said in another thread, I'm ok with that. Does that suck for the next 20 games, yes, but you may have a lot more/better options in the offseason, with a full training camp to integrate whatever you trade for. Right now you are bidding against other team who are desperate to keep up in the 2022-2023 season arms race. They are making deals with the bottom teams to retain salary just to make things work. In the offseason, its possible those teams that are squeezing things in now will be looking to dump players (useful players) at that time, and the costs could be a lot lower and you will have more of a selection. The playoffs are looking like a long(er) shot now, but with Dahlin coming back, 1 or 2 unexpected wins in the next week or so puts them right back into it. Personally, I understand that some fans just want to get in the playoffs at all cost. Thats not me. I'm Ok with a longer rebuild....I actually enjoy the roster building, the discussion about it...almost as much as I like the games. I just think potentially more can be done at a lesser cost in the offseason than you can do right now.

I kinda agree. I didn't expect anything big at the trade deadline, and I almost didn't want anything big now. If a great deal presented itself, sure. But for the long term success of this team, I'd rather have them not spend any assets (prospects or picks) now when they are in a bidding war with teams 'going for it now', and rather save them for the offseason. Not only can you fill the holes with free agency, but Trades. In the offseason, you won't have 4-8 teams desperate to make a deal, you will have Assets those teams traded away at the deadline that you won't compete with, and teams will be taking a longer/harder look at getting under the cap so if you have room (and the Sabres do), well....overall I think they can get better players for a LOT less of a cost, even through trades. Does suck for the next 20 games? Yes, but I think it makes next year and beyond a lot better.

rewatched some of the goals from last night: 1st goal allowed: down 2 guys, its going to happen. 2nd goal allowed: Defense over-rotated following the puck. Jokiharju vacates his entire zone down low, but after watching it over and over I can't put it 100% on him. Samuelsson went to the boards after the puck and a guy came into the spot he vacated so Joki covered him. Eventual goal scorer could have been picked up by Cozens but he just was a half step behind. This goal on over-rotation, a tad bit on Jokijarju (but he didn't have a good option), also on Cozens for not picking up the goal scorer entering the vacated zone and maybe the winger who should have dropped down low instead of chasing the puck. 3rd goal allowed: lots of bad mistakes. Skinner with a terrible pass across the ice in his own zone that has Bruins players all around. Samuelsson can't control the pass and loses the puck battle. The Skinner/Thompson line just isn't good at picking up the pieces after that. Skinner with a really bad pass though. Stillman, however, actually did what he should have. He couldn't stop the goal, but he stayed back, didn't vacate his spot, and was the ONE player in front of the net to contest the goal. The last few goals, well, we all know the empty net/end of game issues. So look at the goals allowed, and yes, they were chasing the puck in their own zone against a good, puck rotating team. It tells me this Sabres team is clumsy and just not good enough 'yet' as they play like a young, inexperienced team in their own end. Other than that awful Skinner pass, there really weren't any huge mistakes on the goals allowed. I really can't blame Jokiharju for moving over the ice on the 2nd goal, and I would have liked Cozens to cover his guy a bit better, but its a split second decision that is hard to make. The Sabres don't win this game or a game against great, veteran, balanced teams like this until 1 of 2 things (or both) happen: 1.) They press so hard offensively that the opposing team is on their heals all game long. That is hard enough as it is, but even harder with everything Dahlin does and Tuch's forecheck. 2.) They become better overall in their own end...become better at knowing their linemates and where they should be and are able to KNOW how their linemates react and where they will be. That comes with experience. I also noticed that Power didn't make any big mistakes, he really do anything to cause any goals against. He played a pretty good game. BUT it seems to be becoming a trend that in big games, against the best-of-the-best opponents, he plays more tenative. Nothing wrong with that, he is very young, and maybe he is instructed to play that way. Its just Power seems quicker to get rid of the puck, less likely to look for a play and more likely to just chip the puck forward when playing agains top teams than against others. I saw very little on the goals allowed that a stay-at-home, sound D-man that you could have traded for would have solved. The way you win this game is to become better offenseively so you are pressuring the other team a lot more, and you simply have more awareness in your own end and hours and hours more with your teamates/linemates/d-partner so you are chasing less.

https://nflpa.com/nfl-player-team-report-cards players Rate their own facilities. Bills were 9th on the list, when looking at the grades if their nutrition was higher (food quality) they might have been #1.

on a related note that came out today: https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/espn-wants-to-be-the-hub-of-all-live-sports-streaming-even-if-it-helps-its-competition/ar-AA1897WC DIsney's ESPN wants to be the hub for all live sports streaming — even for its competition. The sports network has held conversations with major sports leagues and media partners about launching a feature on ESPN.com and its free ESPN app that will link users directly to where a live sporting event is streaming, according to people familiar with the matter. That could include national or global streaming services, such as Apple TV+ and Amazon Prime Video, or a regional sports service such as Sinclair's Bally Sports+ or Madison Square Garden Entertainment's MSG+.

I don't know for sure, but I am confident that the majority of trades involving NHL players has occured, and I would bet quite a bit that the trades involving the 'big names' have almost all been completed. Seeing this is a message board with a lot of opinions are stated, and they aren't all parsed out as to what is fact at the moment vs what is opinion...I have no idea why you think its an odd thing to say? Don't get it.

He is good, really good, I don't think its a bad deal for them at all, But to me it just makes the Tage deal look that much better. Pastrnak 26 years old, Tage 25 This year: Pastrnak 42 goals and 80 points. Tage 41 goals and 80 points. The last 2 seasons: Pastrnak 82 goals, 157 points, Tage 79 goals, 148 points. Does Pastrnak bring more to the team than Tage...intangibles? Defensive end play? Maybe, I'm not sure, but possibly. But is that worth $4.1M / 57% more? To me that is a big no.

Just like the title says. How would you rank the top 4 teams in each conference...the ones most likely to get out of the conference in the playoffs? East: 1.) Boston 2.) Tie Rangers and Devils, (I can't pick between them) 4.) Toronto Even though Carolina got hot since the beginning of the year, I think the other 4 are ahead of them. Tampa I just think this isn't their year and the Leafs do beat them this year. West: 1.) Colorado 2.) Edmonton 3.) Winnipeg 4.) Kings. I do not have confidence at all in Dallas or Vegas. If Dal or Veg gets manage to get out of the first round, I think they are gone quick in round 2.

Some owners fall into the 'grumpy old man' category. If you want to watch my product, you are going to pay for it, no free-loaders. Doesn't matter to them that if they made entry to their product free or at least more affordable, they would make a LOT more revenue down the road through other sources, they don't care. They sell tickets. They get cash NOW from viewership, They want to make sure you pay up, or you don't get their product.

I'm not disagreeing with you saying they see it as nothing but growth. What I am thinking is that is the problem. They see nothing but growth compared to where they are. What they should be doing is talking a half step back today in order to take 3 steps forward tomorrow by making their games available and affordable. The NFL is different, but they make sure that EVERY game in the home market is available no matter what. They do the opposite of the NHL where the NHL makes sure that if you want to see your local team you are going to pay one way or the other (buy a tick, or pay for a cable package, or pay for a package like this.). Fans of the NFL, they may never pay for a cable package or never go to a game, but many of those same people talk about the game, buy t-shirts, buy merchandiser, and many of them become fans when they are younger because they were exposed to the game and then later in life they spend MORE and go to more games. The NHL is so backwards just to make that $buck today. Bettman and the old school owners are dinosaurs. Their league exists and grows (MARGINALLY) because of the product and despite their managment of it. Bettman is condescending and will do ANYTHING to avoid admitting a mistake. The NHL and Bettman/the owners basically run the league in large part like it is 40 years ago and present it and themselves in a very unappealing way to fans or people who WANT to like what they are doing. They do not present their product the way their fans want to consume it, they instead present it the way they want to present it and then try to convince the fans that is the best way. Most of your existing fans, especially the hard-core fans aren't going away. As the #4 league out of the 4 major North American leagues, they should be thinking about growth, how to get more casual fans and turn them into more than casual fans. The NHL needs to do this more than the other 3 leagues. They continue to not do so.

For the past month or so, the 'pace' required for that last playoff spot in the east has been about 92 points. As of this morning, it is still around that same 92 points. Sabres have a tough schedule coming up of course, but as long as they maintain a 90-92 point pace, they are still going to be in the running. 12-9-2 for the rest of the season? Thats what you have to shoot for. its going to be tough the longer Dahlin is out for, and with the upcoming schedule and Tuch out. And yes, many of us just want them to make the playoffs no matter what happens when you get there. But if they can't go 2-3 games above .500 the rest of the year, they probably don't deserve the playoffs yet and if they made it wouldn't fare all that well. This team has a history this year of appearing to be falling out of the race and just then going on a winning streak or winning a big game you don't think they will. Then when you think they are the favorite for a spot they start a losing streak or play an awful game. Thats just the way this team is. It is almost futile to project or predict how they will do on a week to week or game to game basis.

Seems a bit pricey. Maybe not for a lot of consumers, but if you go by the fact that a large portion of 'cord cutters' are younger people or people who can't afford a full cable package, then $10 a game or $30 a month doesn't help much. The NHL is so afraid of giving their fans/consumers 'too good of a deal' today where they might lose that $1 right now, they are losing out on $10 in the future. The NFL gets it, and the NFL already has the fan base so they really don't need to make their games as available as the NHL. The NHL, with a much smaller fanbase, should be falling all over themselves to make as many of their games free or at a very, VERY low cost for fans. Let them watch your game, let them love your game, let them want to buy tickets, buy jerseys, T-shirts etc. I posted in another thread about this. I have 2 nieces, a nephew, and our daughter and her boyfriend all in their 20's and no longer 'living at home'. They all are/were big Sabres fans, but none of them watch the games anymore as they won't buy a full cable package. $10 a game, $30 a month or $300+ dollars per year will do ZERO to get them to sign up so they can watch games again. Does the NHL want to grown their fanbase today? Or would they rather not grow the fanbase but squeeze every dollar they can out of their current fanbase? they are doing the latter.

I think the truth is some version of what you said. Things are more structured on the road, with more oversite. Many of us did see that sabres video where the guys do hang out on the couch and play video games alot. Nothing against video games, but again, on the road there is a lot more structure that a young team may benefit from.

I agree they need D-men. I agree there is virtually no upcoming quality depth in the system. I agree this team would be better now if they trade for a good D-man. However, I'm still not all that upset if nothing gets done. Why? We can look at free agents lists, cap numbers...all that stuff.....but no matter what that says, I tend to think there are usually MORE quality players available from the Draft until the start of the season (offseason) than there are at the trade deadline when the contenders are bidding things up. Even this past offseason I wasn't upset at the lack of moves. I'm not uspset at the lack of moves now. I WILL be upset if there isn't more quality depth and quality roster players on the back end come the start of next season.

I don't mind that he didn't take a swing at this. For me its about the role on the team and the cost. First, what are you going to be paying him for the next 5-7 years. Next how much ice time will he be getting. I KNOW you can pair him with Power or Dahlin and they would be better than pairing either of those guys with a lesser player. But you CAN pair those guys with a lesser player (not an AWFUL player, but a lesser player). Pair Chychrun with Dahlin or Power (once power has a couple years more experinece) and you are going to be getting a better pair than having them with someone else, but likely not SO much better that the money will be worth it. To me the Key to this D-unit is to have Power and Dahline eventually be on the ice for 75-80% of the time between them, and find somone to pair with each of them that you can pay in the $3-$4 million dollar range....freeing up the rest of that money for use elsewhere. People who are all up in arms about not 'topping' the ottawa deal aren't putting much thought into who will be paired with who, will it be worth the ice time and the money you spend....oh, and by the way, exactly what will not equal, but TOP the ottawa offer to ensure you get him and then deal with the other things I mentioned above? Then, there is also the chance, not definite but the chance, where he didn't want to go to a team where he would be the #3 guy in the D-corp. I'm not saying he would refuse the Sabres, but he might prefer a team where he was going to be the #1 guy. The guy who gets top PP minutes, the guy who gets top ice time. The guy who is on the ice for all the critical situations. In Ottawa he has Chabot above him only, and in a year or so he just might take the #1 spot from him. Thats not going to happen in Buffalo. If Ottawa had 2 similar offers from buffalo and Ottaway, they may have gone to him and asked him where he wanted to go, and as much as he has a supposed relationship with the Pegulas, he might want to go the place where he will be "The Guy" and get "The Guy" money.

Medium to long term (beyond the current season), I'm OK with the goaltender situation. Anderson should be gone next year. Comrie I don't want to give up on yet (he had a moderate injury and hasn't been given a big time chance yet) and UPL is playing as well as most young goalies do (Is he that much different than what Ulmark was at his age? I don't think so). UPL will have ups and downs but you hope as he gets older/more experience those 'ups' will occur more than the 'downs'. Again with Comrie, I'm not 100% sure he is back 100% from his injury. The D-unit will get better, primarily as Power gets better. Is he playing good for a 19 year old? Yep, he is playing GREAT for a 19 year old, but we have to remember he still IS a 19 year old D-man. His fancy stat numbers are good, but he does make a lot of mistakes out there that cause goals allowed. Is he bad that way or worse than half of the NHL-Dmen out there? No, but he has room to get a lot better and I think he will over the next couple of years. Orginizational Dept on the D-unit is a big issue. They really could stand to find 1-2 guys in their mid-20s that are talented/capable enough to be at least 2nd pair D-men, I dont' think they even have 3rd pair potential young guys in Roch or juniors, let alone 2nd pair. D-man Depth to me is the #1 priority. Physical forward is something that was brought up by many? Eh...maybe. I mean if the forward is good overall I'm not against it, but I don't think you need a physical forward If the guys you do have are skilled enough. I guess give me a winger than can hit on the board and I'm good, but I'd be just as good with a guy who doesn't hit but has such good hands he can go into the corer and get the puck out by gaining control of it and moving it. I don't need my forwards to hit IF they win puck battles other ways. And as far as getting a big physical guy to stand in front of the net, like a Dave Andreychuk, Rick Vaive or Tim Kerr, who were just so big and they planted themself in front of the goalie and let the D-man cross check them over and over waiting for loose pucks? I don't think you need that either. Jeff Skinner doesn't do that, and couldn't do that, but he scores so many 'garbage goals' around the net from the same place those guys did. The difference is Skinner hangs around the net, skates around the net, takes runs at the net while he is moving instead of just planting himself there. Different body type, different 'style' but a guy like him can get the job done. So sure, get that huge physical guy if you can, but I don't NEED it if I can get the garbage goals a different way (like how Skinner does it). If they do NOTHING other than finding another good/very good D-man to play on this team right away AND restock the organizational depth with good quality NHL prospect D-mean I'll be happy.

I did notice that when RJ was radio only years and years ago, he was better than he was when he took over TV. There was a time he did radio and Darling did TV, and RJ gave the score much more often then, once he took over TV and they just broadcast that on the radio, he got worse that way.

Looked at some of the goals last night: 1st goal allowed: PP goal, nothing major stands out as a huge mistake, just want anderson to make that save. 2nd goal allowed: Nice shot, but want Anderson to make that save. But a couple of other minor 'mistakes' that led to it. Power was caught up ice (probably the Sabres style of play not a mistake by him) but he was late getting back to take the winger to the boards. Jokiharju lost a puck battle behind the net. The ALL the forwards collapsed down low too far leaving the slot open. I'm putting that one 1/4 on Anderson, 1/4 on Jokiharju not getting the puck out, and 1/2 on the forwards not covering their slot and ALL being WAY out of position down low. 3rd goal allowed: Exact same crew on the ices as the above goal (Joki, power, thompson, skinner, quinn). Last one was on the forward group being down low too much but not this one. Forwards are in position, this time its on the D. Jokiharju whiffs on a puck on the boards, Power covers behind the net too aggressively instead of staying out front. Anderson didn't have a chance on that one. Joki with a bad game so far, minor issues leading to 2 goals. 4th goal allowed: The play started with the most of same guys on the ice as the 2 above goals, Thompson and the forwards attempted a line change. This one is on the D-unit, Joki not here, but this time Samuelson and Power..mostly Power. Samuelsson has a chance to knock the puck away at the last minute but it woudl have been hard. Power just got walked around/through here. Anderson got beat high yet again and I might want that save to be made, but Power looked bad here. Last goal was an empty netter. There were a few mistakes made all around on the goals allowed, The Skinner/Thompson line didn't make huge ones but they just aren't a lock-down-their-own-end line. The goals allowed though, well, this game could have had a different result without mistakes or with better play by Jokiharju, Power, and Anderson this time.

Of course I'm not happy with last nights game, but this is what this team is. They go on a winning streak and many fans think the playoffs are inevetible, BRING ON THE BRUINS! Then they lose a game like last night or go on a couple game losing streak, and there is NO WAY THEY ARE MAKING IT. Whether this team makes the playoffs or not may very well be determined on just which streak they are on the last week of the season. If Dahlin misses a few more games and Tuch is out most of the year, that MAY sink their chances early. But other than that, it is likely going to be the mindset/streak they happen to be on the last 2 weeks. This is what they are. This is what they have been all year.

I know the broadcast on the radio is secondary to the TV broadcast....but one thing I think they could do when calling the game that would NOT take away from the TV broadcast is every couple of minutes just say the score. On the radio, it is almost critical to listeners....when there is that 5 second gap where not much is going on just say "3-2 Sabres with 8 and a half minutes left in the second" It would take zero away from the TV broadcast and would make the radio call that much better. A lot of people listening on the radio are running errands or getting in and out of the car. Frustrating to get in the car, turn on the radio, listen to the game for sometimes 5 minute or more and STILL have no idea what the score is. It is such a simple, EASY thing to fix. Just say the score every few minutes, work in that 4-6 word phrase.

If that happens, great, you get some bargains. If it doesn't happen, no big deal. You have a team full of young guys that have worked well together so far.