GASabresIUFAN

Maybe it’s the start of a positive trend.

It’s better than never arriving at all. Seriously, I think Jost gave them a boost. They were much more physical and were driving the middle. Excellent passing by Casey on the first 2 goals.

Defense was better with the new pairings. Anderson should have stopped that 3rd goal. Jarry and the post kept Pit in the game early.

Best game in months by Casey’s line.

Skinner needs to stay after the game and skate 100 laps.

Casey arrives. 3 assists tonight so far.

That would tank them for sure. That would still leave 3 goalies in Buffalo once Comrie gets healthy.

I’m curious what their charts look like from last season. I think they are substantially better and wonder where the problem is. I also wonder how many of their goals against happened with at least one of Bush, Pilut, Fitz, Clague and Bryson on the ice. All 4 goals against CBJ came with Pilut and/or Bryson on the ice. They brought down everyone. No question Casey & VO aren’t adding anything 5 on 5, but there has to be more to the story.

https://theathletic.com/3986705/2022/12/09/tage-thompson-five-goal-game-sabres-dave-andreychuk/ Matt Fairburn’s excellent article talking with Andreychuk about Thompson. He said loves Tage’s skill and still considers himself a Buffaloian. He mentioned that after watching his 5 goal night that he looked like he was in slow motion. The article also mentions that Bowman was also watching. Andreychuk said Bowman sat him most of the 3rd like DG did to Thompson. Article worth a read if you can.

Nailed it. Sorry!

They are tanking even with the goalie. I’m not sure they’ll be able to replace him next season if they move him. After all we are still searching after losing Ullmark. Johnson’s value right now is at least the 2nd rd pick we’d get if he walks.

Lets talk this trade through. Chychrun and Vejmalka (G) for Mitts, VO, Ryan Johnson and a top 10 protected 1st. 1) With the depth of this draft, I sincerely doubt KA would trade the 1st without some protection. 2) Vejmalka would be a nice addition, but he is the AZ started and he was recently extended for 3 years. I doubt he'd be included in the deal. If he was included what happens to Comrie or Anderson this season? 3) Including Mitts and VO diminishes our forward depth significantly despite their difficult play of late. It would certainly give them more opportunity higher in the lineup and AZ would probably flip VO at the deadline for more assets. However for us, it would mean Asplund and Vinnie would be fixtures in the lineup and the first call ups would be Bjork, Rousek and Weissbach. It would opens opportunities from Savoie and a few others next season. I can see AZ insisting on Mitts in the deal and he is expendable because of the growth of Cozens and having Jost and Krebs here and Savoie and Kulich coming. 4) On defense adding Chychrun would be a huge help. It would push Bryson (once Bush is healthy) to the bench. I suspect AZ would want a D from us to replace Chychrun in the lineup. I think some of the principals in the deal are good. Chychrun, plus for Mitts, plus another roster player, plus a protected 1st and.... I think I'd structure the deal Chychrun, Boyd (or Bjugstad), and a D prospect for Mitts, Bryson, Ryan Johnson & a conditional protected 1st in 2023 and Bishop's contract. The condition is if we are draft 1-10, we keep the 2023 1st and AZ gets our 3rd in 2023 and our 1st in 2024.

Time to move on from all 3.

I think Levi is the starter in Rochester next season. I think he’ll need to adjust to the speed of pro hockey. What I’m hoping is someone like Adin Hill to compete with Comrie next year.

Like all questions, the answer is it depends. Off-season is the most likely answer. Hopefully Levi will be signed, UPL will be moved. I don’t see Comrie going anywhere. I’d say the deadline is possible if we have more injuries and are in contention

Goaltending is much harder in season to get a deal done before the deadline. I just don't see KA giving up on Comrie after 11 games and Anderson has been very good. UPL still isn't good however.

I agree generally that it's hard to get deals done at this time of year but not impossible. However it is different this year because of the top 3 kids in the draft are game changers. I fully believe teams will tank early and often this year to try to get into contention for these kids. There are 4 teams that are already done in CBJ, Chi, AZ and Ana and another three close to oblivion in Ott, Philly, & SJS. Even team on the bubble like us are floating trades like Van on Boeser and Demko. I would think there is a deal to be had with one of the 7 bad teams that could help our depth on D without breaking the bank, especially cap spending but failing teams like CBJ and Philly. I mentioned McCabe in Chicago. We know Chychrun is on the market. Maybe CBJ would trade us the 6'3 Gavrikov to partner with Bush? Maybe it's time to get Reilly from Boston. Doing nothing to support this team IMHO is verging on criminal and making a deal at the deadline is 3 months to late.

So did I. We give them UPL and Comrie as part of the deal for Demko.

I don’t know how the model works, but teams that give up 300 goals don’t make the playoffs.

The trade should have happened when Mule went down. It’s time for KA to get off his behind and fix the D.

Comrie and UPL Throw in Schenn with Demko and I’m very interested in the deal. Question as always is how much.

Maybe this opportunity will make Greg Rousseau into a star.

They said last night during the post game show that Tage has the hardest shot in the NHL. What is more impressive has been his ability to use his wing span to maneuver the puck to deek goalies and create space. Focusing only on his hard shot also diminishes how good his wrist shot is and his ability to make plays in tight. Now if he could win a draw or two we’d really have something.

All with at least one of the two and the first two with both.

To get to the playoffs the Sabres will need at least 96 pts. We have 25 pts in 26 games. To earn 71 points, the team will need to go 33-18-5 in the remaining 56 games.