Curt

Nice. He might get another one or two this season. How many do we think he nets next season?

Price and Fleury never went through anything like what Gibson is. They had singular down seasons where they were average instead of excellent. Gibson has a several year track record of decreased performance. Maybe he can turn it around, but I’m not sure how likely it is.

I agree with and endorse this take. I like Fitzgerald as a 6/7/8 defenseman. He is home grown. He can sit sometimes, play in the bottom pair and play a little PK at other times, as well as be a team unifying personality. I think I’d be comfortable with him in that type of role for the next few years. I doubt he forces his way into a higher spot in the lineup, but I think there is value in not only his skill set, but also keeping around home grown players. I feel the same way about Bryson right now. Different skill set though.

I don’t think I’m understanding your last paragraph. If Mittelstadt becomes Roy, we should all be doing backflips in joy.

And of Vegas’ remaining 9 games: -6 are on the road -5 are vs playoff teams, and another vs Canucks who are tailing them in the wild card chase

Yes, could have left all goalies exposed, maybe, I guess. But that doesn’t give you a slot to protect an extra D. You still only get to protect 3 D.

That wasn’t a choice available. The rules are that you could protect 1 goalie and 3 defensemen. So, it was never a choice between Ullmark and Borgen.

Rossi is/was regarded as a 200-ft, very defensively strong C. Quinn is/was also generally regarded as good defensively though, but from the wing. Quinn was generally ranked around 12-18ish on lists, Rossi was ranked higher and he was honed in on by many here as a great target because he was a C who was undervalued because of his smaller height. So it was a big shock when Sabres took Quinn at #8. Looks like a good move so far though.

Just call him OP! OP as a child was an annoying leafs fan invading Sabres home games! OP had trouble thinking of his greatest accomplishment off the ice. The hockey is strong in this one! OP’s flow is all natural baby!

Rossi is producing about as well as Peterka, but is probably better defensively. Quinn’s offensive production is blowing Rossi out of the water.

I mean, if you want grab ahold of one word that I used in a common phrase and consternate over that, then go ahead. Like I said: I’m guessing that when the Sabres feel that it’s best for both JJ and the team for him to be in the NHL, he will be. Maybe that’s opening game of 2022-23, but maybe it’s not. I get that you feel extremely confident that he should be in the NHL, but lots of players do things in the AHL that they can’t do in the NHL.

Same breath as Quinn? Quinn has been 50% more productive. I get it, he has been very good in the AHL, but he is a 20 year old in his first NA season. I’m sure he will get NHL time next season, but he doesn’t need to be gifted a spot.

This is kind of a bummer, but it’s really difficult to evaluate the situation from the outside. Has Portillo sincerely expressed his desire to sign with the Sabres but just really wants another year in college? Has Portillo been kind of lukewarm and noncommittal about signing with Buffalo? How much do the Sabres like Portillo? Are they considering him as a likely future starter or do they see him as a trade chip? There is a lot that we don’t know. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Portillo traded as part of a package to fill a roster hole.

On YouTube, I saw Power state that he was a leafs fan growing up in an interview he had when with Chicago in the USHL. Maybe I’ll try to find it when I have time.

No. He was a Maple Leafs fan growing up. I’ll take him anyway, no one is perfect.

He has covered NCAA hockey pretty much full time? If so, then I retract my statement. I don’t watch ESPN. Sorry Johnny.

I find it doubtful that John Buccigross has his finger on the pulse of the NCAA hockey environment, but I could be wrong.

I finally watched Dune. Never read the books. It was very good. I could see where some might find it a little slow paced, but it didn’t bother me, I thought the story flowed nicely. The fight scenes are pretty good and overall the film is visually stunning. Can’t wait for the next one to come out. Also watched The Last Duel with Matt Damon and Adam Driver. It was also good, though unconventional. The story is told 3 separate times, once from the perspective of each main character. You get a distinctly different feel for what happened from each character. The jousting and sword fighting scenes were great. I’m a big fan of medieval stuff, and I enjoyed it a lot.

Yeah, it’s a close thing that I’m not really prepared to debate. Doughty’s offensive production was not really what you would expect from a superstar, but the team also played a system that stifled offense. I guess YMMV.

I think, in this case, it’s automatic as soon as he plays a game. The Sabres are ok with this because it allows them to get him into the team and start integrating into the organization earlier than if they waited until the offseason to sign him.

I highly doubt it. I don’t believe that Bryson is waiver exempt any longer. Another team could claim him if he was waived. Samuelsson and Fitzgerald are waiver exempt so probably Fitzgerald goes down.

The only thing about this incident that drew attention was the skill it up comments from the broadcast. Everything else was pretty normal and would not have gotten any league wide attention. It was the end of a lopsided game and the team up big was digging at a puck under the goalie. The losing team took exception to that and got mad. Some fighting followed. This happens sometimes. The comments from the broadcast about skilling it up were strange, out of place, and probably say more about the guy talking than about the actual game. The fighting didn’t break out because Zegras scored a fancy goal in the 1st period.

Absolutely true. I would not say that Kopitar is/was a “superstar” the way we are defining it here. Doughty and Quick probably also falls just short of that label. If you look through the list of cup winners, it’s the exception, but it can occasionally be done.

A team that wins the cup generally has both.