GASabresIUFAN

Since this is a goaltending next year thread, does KA re-sign Subban for Rochester?

Levi and Janric have signed already. We are still waiting on Johnson. Are any other NCAA or CHL UFA’s on the way? The Quinnipiac coach was on the NHL Network saying his goaltender is about to sign with an NHL team among others from his team. Are we in the Market for another goalie? What about another college D? We certainly need more D in the pipeline. Are there any rumors out there?

UPL likely still has trade value, I doubt Comrie does.

When we beat NJ tonight, we'll have beaten the top 3 Metro teams in successive games.

Mitts in an interview confirmed pretty much what I wrote above after the Canes game. He went on to say that moving to the wing gave him a better perspective on what he needed to do as a center. I think it gave him a better feel of where wingers were to receive passes and where the center needed to be to support the forecheck. He is playing with so much more confidence. It's also much easier to score goals when you can find open areas on the ice to receive passes from your linemates. Did the SO goal put to rest any questions about his hands?

He played in lower levels 44 games in 2018-19 and 43 in 2019-20 between the regular season, playoffs, and Team Canada. https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/276555/devon-levi

His next game will be his 40th this season.

We put a little Levi in every win we make.

What’s the holdup? Sign him or don’t. Knies signed and is playing. Faber signed and is playing. Why is this so hard?

Right up there with UPL prowess.

That was the best I can remember a goalie playing in the shoot out. Kane, Panarin and Mika all foiled. Mitts was excellent again. Hands looked pretty good in the SO. Nice of Toronto and Wash to help us out.

no pressure kid

It's possibly elimination day. Much scoreboard watching to come. The Sabres trail FLA and the NYI by 6 points, but with two games in hand. We cannot catch either team on regulation wins, so we must beat them on points. Our max is 93 and theirs are 95. Pitt has 90 points and we have two games in hand on them. We can catch them in regulation wins. Step 1 - The Sabres need to win, preferably in regulation. The Rags will be in full playoff mode. They still have an outside chance to win the Division thanks to your victory over Carolina. Step 2 - Fla and or the NYI must lose tonight. Of course, both losing would be better, but if both win in any way we are eliminated. The NYI plays at the disintegrating Ovie-less Caps, while Toronto travels to Sunrise to play Florida. I'm not sure Toronto has anything to play for at this point. Step 3- Beat the Devils tomorrow night as well, preferably in regulation.

I’ve been stewing on this question for a few days and I’m honestly not sure how this will play out. We know Casey has developed to the point where he is productive on any of the top 3 lines playing either center or wing. His forechecking and physical play along the boards has been the fuel of this development, but as we have seen lately, he is also now comfortable creating as a top line center. We also have seen TNT work well lately as a winger again. It seems both guys have matured into flexible and affective team players. This is something Donnie wants really of all his forwards. Donnie said the other night moving TNT to the wing has given him more opportunity away from opponents top D pairs. Still, if healthy, TNT is back to the top line center. What Donnie really needs is 2nd and 3rd lines that will punish opponents if they focus too heavily on Tage’s line. That where Cozens, Quinn, Mitts and soon Savoie come in. It’s also why we need Krebs/Jost/Someone else to step up as the 3rd line center so that we have 3 effective scoring lines. The simplistic view of next season is Skinner TNT Tuch, JJP Cozens Quinn, Mitts Krebs Savoie/Greenway, and then some 4th line possibly even Z Jost and Greenway/Rousek That said, I’m not sure that’s how this will play out. I think DG likes Mitts back at center and Greenway in the top 9 Skinner TNT Tuch, JJP Cozens Quinn, Greenway Mitts Savoie with a 4th line of Z Krebs Rousek and Jost as the 13th D. This alignment seems to make the pieces fit together better if the goal is to get Savoie and Greenway into the top 9.

Why do you keep leaving out the games played? I've documented in another thread Mitts' progress with each 40 or so games he has played in the NHL, and every forward deserves a pass for their time with RK. I've wondered for a few years now if Mitts would have ever needed to be sent down if he had played for a better coach than RK. However, here are the numbers Year 1 - 1st half - 40 games 11 pts (.28 pts/gp) Year 1 - 2nd half - 37 games 14 pts (.38 pts/gp) - .33 pts/gp for the season Year 2 - 31 games 9 pts (.29 pts/gp) - the RK effect Year 3 - 41 games 22 pts (.54 pts/gp) Year 4 - 40 games 19 pts (.48 pts/gp) Year 5 - Ist half 41 games 25 pts (.61 pts/gp) Year 5 - 2nd half 37 games 28 pts (.76 pts/gp) - .68 pts/gp for the season ytd. I don't mind that you are giving Krebs the benefit of the doubt. He is 2nd in hits by forwards, his FO% has improved 7%, but is still only 44 %. Because he was placed with KO/Z early much of the year, I get the argument that his offense may not improve, but the production decrease is very disappointing. Also most of his metrics like Fenwick and Corsi are about the same year over year. Here are his stats. Year 1 - 57 games 22 pts (.39 pts/gp) Year 2 - 48 games 22 pts (.46 pts/gp) Year 3 - 70 games 25 pts (.36 pts/gp) and only 3 pts in his last 10 games.

Except Krebs has his 25 pts in D+4 in 70 games (.36 pts/gp) and Mitts had 22 in 41 games (.54 pts/gp). They aren't even close to the same. Mitts is and has been the vastly superior player. Don't forget that Mitts suffered through a season plus of RK and still put up more points. I'm with @SDS on this one. Until Krebs steps forward, I feel he is very replaceable. Don't forget he has regressed significantly this season offensively from .46 to .36 pts/gp. Casey, even under RK didn't have that kind of regression.

So you're saying the Krebs isn't as good as Mitts.

He is actually 2nd on the team in hits by a forward. He needs to take a major leap in his development next season or he'll be moved to make room for the Rosen's and Kulich's of this world. He is a talented passer, but as we have seen with Mitts, that doesn't mean much if your not doing the little things correctly to merit the PT.

Sabres Prospects season ending rankings. Bloom and Portillo traded. Power, JJP, UPL and Quinn have graduated. Biro, Murray, Weissbach have aged out. 1. Devon Levi - After seeing him in the NHL, the kid is the real deal. Back to back Ritcher Awards is a major accomplishment. I'd say that puts him on a level with Miller, Hellebuyck and Oettinger as top college goalie prospects and see how well they turned out. 2. Savoie - 9 pts in 4 playoffs games so far. 95 pts in 62 games. Dominate 2nd half of the season. Will almost certainly be in Buffalo next fall 3. Kulich - 45 pts in 60 AHL games at 18. Likely back in Rochester next season, but should be top call up next year. 4. Östlund - 26 pts in 37 games. Very solid for a 19 year old. Out-performed Ohgren and Lekkerimaki. 4 pts in 4 playoffs games so far. Likely back in Sweden next year if team is promoted back to the SHL. 5. Rosen - Solid first NA season with 35 pts in 63 AHL games. Back to the A to get stronger next year 6. Johnson - Minn lost in Frozen Four. Will our top D prospect finally sign? AHL/NHL next season 7. Rousek - 2 pts in one and only NHL game. 55 pts in 68 AHL games. Can see him fighting for a slot in the bottom six next year. There is a gap here for guys that need more development time. 8. Neuchev - 12 pts in 57 games in the KHL. Solid production at 19. Hopefully he joins the Amerks in the fall. 9. Nadeau - 46 pts in 34 games in the Q. 8 pts in 5 playoff games. 20 year old in the A next year. 10. Novikov - Stay at home D has played 94 games for the KHL's Dynamo at 18 & 19 over the last 2 seasons. Hopefully in the A next year 11. Poltapov - 10 pts in 56 KHL games. 12. Kisakov - 8 pts in 46 AHL games. Needs to step it up next season. 13. Lindgren - 34 pts in 63 WHL. Better 2nd half and 8 pts in 5 playoff games. Sadly, back to the WHL next season. 14. Komarov - Big D added O to his game this year with 39 pts in 62 Q games. Russian maybe eligible for the A next year. 15. Marjala - 51 pts in 32 U20 games and 9 pts in 15 SM-Liiga games in Finland. Could be a prospect on the rise 16. Kozak - 10 pts in 55 AHL games. Needs to provide more O to make the next level, but toughness not a issue. 17. Leinonen - Top goalie prospect for now. .860 Save% in 2 Finnish leagues is not exactly impressive. 18. Cedarqvist - 16 pts in 52 A games. Solid first NA season. Already 22. 19. Jandric - 24 year old offensive D, put up 33 pts in 39 games for UND. We'll have to see how he does in the A next season. 20. Richard - Solid season in the USHL. Now off to college Others: Huglen, Sardarian, Costantini, Karlsson, Berndtsson, Sjodin, Barnekow, Lyckasen, Konecny. I doubt anyone on this list gets a contract, except maybe Huglen and Sardarian.

Which player has a higher pts/gp average than Connor McDavid? The answer is Buffalo’s Lukas Rousek at 2 pts/gp. McDavid is second with 1.89.

You mean defense wins championships. Amazing.

If Fla and the NYI win one of their last 2 games, the Sabres will be eliminated.

Honestly, even if they bring back one of Comrie or UPL, KA has to bring in a veteran goalie that is a proven commodity. Varlamov, Hill, Demko, Hart, Talbot, Jake Allen, someone!

Casey isn’t getting traded this summer. 1. His development as a player has continued it’s annual progress and has accelerated in the second half of the season. 2. He has become the best utility player on the team. 3. He is a glue player in the locker-room. 4. How does he get replaced if traded? The only replacements in the organization are potential rookies like Kulich.