Thorny

WHERE WAS GONDOR WHEN THE EASTROCH FELL?!

Rasmus Dahlin is the best defenseman in the NHL. He’s 22. Power is 20. Will Power be the best defenseman in the NHL in 2 years? Can’t imagine Dahlin’s high mark, at the top, given he’s only 22 and lost 2 years under Krueger, is close to set, either. It’s a fun question to ponder considering “better than the guy who’s already the best and getting better all the time” is far from a necessary expectation. Im all but certain we’ll have the best 1-2 combo in the near future wherever they settle.

There were whispers from the fans sitting around me that they “didn’t even get to test” their old goalie, complete with a ton of grumbling about it. When he gave up the first goal I didn’t get that upset because it didn’t feel like a deserved-shutout being lost for our goalie. Like you said - it was a team defensive effort all night and that’s much more promising than a goalie standing on his head any day of the week

He certainly was

Help us control the line of scrimmage, ya

Oh 100%. And “hope” need not apply, either: there’s no “QB” in hockey but these guys actively “QB” the 5 man unit when out there - because it’s (Soon to be) 2 pillars who occupy, combined, the majority of the 60 mins, (QB doesn’t play 60, either), I’d say between the 2 of them we have tantamount to a Franchise quarterback - we should be “in it” every year barring complete ineptitude / bad luck ^

Aight, I’m home now. This bong rip is for a good effort, a better Sabres team, and the best fans out there, those that frequent this great board. L'Chaim!

Wasn’t tested really. Kudos to the overall team effort. He had a few nice saves but add in the 2 he gave up and then total shots against..he didn’t do anything I wouldn’t have expected of a reasonable NHL goalie. Regardless, psyched to see him get a W against his former team. He was good enough for what he faced and it should be a nice confidence building block for him

Matches my eye test, those 2 were so good . One after the other all game. Power Dahlin

3rd in 4 for us, but Jets with the typical tired legs for 1st game back after a long trip. I knew we’d both be tired, but with the advantage of young legs, they’d wear out first. So we took it to ‘em in the second. Comrie was good enough, didn’t have to make many saves or even many spectacular ones. Wasn’t tested an average amount. Team was good overall defensively. The early season “can’t defend or win w/o Samuelsson” thing was overblown - it was as much an anomaly as the rest of that streak. Skinner got first star but I wouldn’t have had him in the top 3, he was ok but had a rough first. It was Dahlin, it’s always Dahlin. Honourable mention to Power tonight though he was excellent Tuch next for me. Great 2 way today

This is the best period of Sabres hockey I’ve ever seen in person

😊

Samuelsson who?

Great goal by Power. Dancing out there. Dahlin is, easily, the best player in this game. The entire play is flowing through him He’s a wonder to watch live

Not a bad period.

Super freak

What a sweet saved goal by Alex Tuch

Sabres were going to be in for a high scoring game anyways. W/o Samuelsson they’ll just need to push the pace even harder. Get hard

Oh ya, for sure. That’s what I assumed

Llllllllets get rrreeady to rumble! Comrie a tad shaky in warm ups. Hellebuyck..not so

Agree in full, very salient, especially the last sentence. It’s the glorious time where “winning” trades based on a pure talent perspective becomes, somehow, secondary, to what a trade accomplishes through the prism and context of achieving a goal. When overall talent level has reached such a degree (can’t even believe I’m typing that) that it allows for greater consideration, prioritization of things like timeline, and fit. When you know you have time to replenish the system because you don’t intend on needing key pieces from prospects any time soon due to a good young current core. The Blues probably (see: did) miraculously lose the ROR / Tage deal based on talent. But boy, did they ever win. Any no one can take that away. To your point, we won’t need to lament the loss of the prized prospect talent we’ve fallen in love with when in truth that aspect has always been only valuable as a means to an end - and to achieve that end there comes a time, if lucky, when some can, and should, and necessarily, becomes currency.

BPA (salary, term, age, inclusive within)

Yes my dude because you took the conversation down that road. I’m always willing to engage. Savoie is indeed the superior prospect imo who is putting up significantly better numbers with both less experience and doing so at half a year younger. But truly, making some sort of detailed Savoie/Bloom comparison wasn’t my original intention. Can you accept that in good faith? I truly assumed everyone just considered Savoie on another level to him. If you do, or don’t, have at it: the beauty of opinions. As for the second bold, are you doing some sort of bit, here? Can we get a neutral arbitrator in here, please? Haha (“haha”, but like, I’m not joking). You must be willfully ignoring what I’m writing because I’ve gone out of my way to state no fewer than 4 times now, that I wasn’t saying it’s a case of Bloom’s competition being weak relative to Savoie. It’s weak relative to Bloom’s status as a prospective NHLer. I’m glad to hear you see Bloom as much closer to the Savoie tier than I do. I see a lot of Savoie due to where I live but less of Bloom, just the stats. I could easily be way off base, a frequent occurrence, and Bloom turns out to be the superior NHL player down the road.

I’m not really like this with prospects or young players but.. I don’t think I’d move Quinn in this deal. Something special about that kid.