GASabresIUFAN

Have never posted there.

You wonder how long he sticks to his NHL dream. I’d love to see him get a chance, but the odds are so stacked against him in Buffalo.

Some of my favorites; the incoming Hasek trade, the Breire and Drury trades, and the Lydman trade.

His best chance may come next year as Mitts, Krebs, KO, VO, Z and Jost play out expiring contracts. (Krebs and Mitts are RFAs).

I think we are a long way from that conclusion. If it's 12 forwards, I'd take that as a sign management has a great deal of faith in Kulich or Rousek stepping in if necessary. In addition, Murray has NHL experience and they like Biro as well. We'll also be getting Quinn back at some point. I do agree 8 D will be on the roster. Last year's disaster with D injuries taught KA a valuable lesson; can't have enough capable D. I hope, like you do, that the 3 headed goalie monster is gone by the end of camp. I still have a faint hope that a capable goalie is on the way at some point this off-season.

I honestly don’t remember what I wrote about the trade, so I looked it up. I think my assessment from then has held up pretty well. Tuch has been way better than advertised. His personality and game has really come to define this group of Sabres for me. He is the definition of “want to be here”

The trading away of Eichel. It was the day the Sabres turned the corner and began to head in the right direction. This is not a shot at Jack, but a recognition that sometimes change can be a good thing.

Eichel.

The Calle Johansson trade is one I’ll never understand. Another is the McNabb and 2 2nds for Delo and Fasching. I’d sit well the day it was made and it’s worse now.

Is a guy who scored 21 EV goals and only 7 PP goals last season really only a PP specialist? VO will start the season on 2nd PP and the wing of the 2nd or 3rd line depending on what works in camp, with the 3rd line the most likely outcome. He’ll play 14 to 17 minutes a game depending on PP time and if he is better defensively. The real question regarding VO is what will his role be once Quinn gets healthy? The answer is up to VO. If he succeeds at becoming a better two way player, I can see Mitts returning to center the 3rd line, sending Krebs to 4th line center and Jost to the bench assuming everyone is healthy. If forwards are injured, VO likely keeps his role.

Well you project him at 44 pts. Is it really such a leap that if he plays better 2 way hockey this season he’ll hit 50 pts? By the way my claim was he was our best forward in the second half that season. That may have been somewhat hyperbole, but he had 26 pts (13g) with a +1, in his last 34 games, including 14 pts in the last 13 games at +4. He looked like he had turned the corner. This past season, he struggled defensively, but still managed a career high 28 goals. There aren’t many teams who can say that possibly their 9th best forward is capable of scoring 28 goal without 1st pp time.

I see you are upgrading him from hot garbage to a spotty 3rd line player. I expect to see a player giving everything on every shift this year as he knows he is working to earn a FA contract by year's end. I expect a player who makes hay on the 2nd PP and fills in on the 1st PP when needed. I also expect a better 2-way game this season. I expect to top 50 points this season.

I don't think so, but anything is possible.

Me? Never. Although admittedly, I do take the other side of some discussions because some notions shouldn't go unchallenged.

So say-ith the man who wanted to toss Mitts under the bus and now wants Vo burned at the stake. The point is we have seen good hockey from Vo in the recent past and he is perfectly capable of playing good hockey again.

VO is just this month's forward scapegoat. Mitts was the scapegoat last year and VO is his replacement. Some of the criticism leveled at Mitts was warranted, but the majority was off the deep end. This time it's VO. Again some of the criticism is warranted and he has acknowledged that himself and said he is going to work on it. in the second half of the season before last, VO was probably our best forward. I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. How many 28-goal scorers are lying around anyway? (He was tied for 56th in goals last year and his 21 Even goals were tied for 48th.) That production is top-line goal-scoring and he is likely on the Sabres 3rd line.

What kind of wookie are you if you don't think Vladar moves the needle?

Lack of a classical education.

That is what I meant when is wrote "true D stars"

VO isn’t garbage, but it’s a little hard to gauge Markstrom’s value given his age, NMC, salary, and disappointing play last year. How much is someone worth who is viewed as a cap dump and can choose his destination?

We don’t need Hanifin, but Vladar is certainly of interest. Markstrom is the player Calgary is more willing to part with.

@DarthEbriate would have kittens if we got Vlader.

I'll amend my previous post with this question. If Calgary, who has Vlader and Wolf waiting in the wings, is willing to move on from Markstrom, would you be interested? Would KA be interested? Would Markstrom waive his NMC to come to Buffalo? Markstrom has 3 years left at $6 mill per season in cap ($20 mill in real $). He has been solid up until last season when his Gaa jumped to 2.92 with a .892 save % in 59 games. He was excellent the year prior with a 2.22 and a .922 in 63 games. If interested, what would it cost? The Flames have a full roster and 2.4 mill in cap space. Markstrom is 33.

I have posted this previously, but there are only 5 goalies to start 40+ games as a 21-year-old since 2000. Only Steven Mason (58 games in 09/20), Price (52 games in 08/09), MAF (50 games in 05/06), Luongo (47 games in 00/01), and Hart (43 games in 19/20). Hart was the best by a wide margin with a 2.42 Gaa and a .914 Save%. https://www.quanthockey.com/nhl/player-age/21-year-old-nhl-goalies.html I agree that not upgrading UPL and Comrie is a huge mistake on KA's part, but I'm not sure what can be done about it at this point without an offer sheet to an RFA goalie or trading for Hellebuyck.

Was Kevyn even really looking for a "top" D? He was looking to make his roster harder to play against and get Power a legit partner. He is taking a risk that Clifton can play up, but I don't think it's a huge risk because Clifton is at worst an upgrade on both ends of the ice over Joki. KA is playing moneypuck. From his perspective why pay a Dumba $6 mill a year when you can pay Clifton 3, probably get similar results, and leave cap space to sign the true D stars. Excepting Comrie, here are KA's last 5 significant moves. He signed Lyubushkin, traded for Stillman and Greenway, signed Johnson and signed Clifton. All these moves have been about upgrading the defense beyond the top 3 and or making us bigger, more physical, and harder to play against. PS: I still hold out a faint hope for a goaltending upgrade. As is I think we are a playoff team. With additional goaltending help, I'd say we have top 3 Atlantic potential.