GASabresIUFAN

The Sabres went 17-12-2 behind an over the hill 40 year old goaltender last season. How would have done with just league average goaltending or even better, Ullmark level goaltending? Playoffs. You pointed out previously that we played at a playoff level when Ullmark was in net and last season when any of our goaltenders stopped 9/10 of the shots they faced we won consistently. How is it then disingenuous to say had management invested in real goaltending then may have been a playoff contender already when the stats support that assertion?

Do you honestly believe that KA is going to tell either of these top overall picks walk ever? Dahlin was just granted an "A" and is the only member of the young core so honored. DG was already skating 23 minutes a night in his debut last year and he was arguably the best D in camp. Furthermore both are still RFAs after next season. Can things change? Of course they can and will. However, those changes likely won't include either Dahlin or Power.

Since we now speculating on Cozens' and Asplund's next deals, here is the cap situation for 23-24. 8 Forwards - 30,725,356 - Quinn, JJP, VO, Mitts, Skinner, TnT, Tuch & Krebs - RFA: Cozens, Asplund. UFAs: KO, Z, Vinnie and Sheahan 6 Defenders - 18,302,381 - Dahlin, Power, Samuelsson, Bryson, Lyubushkin, and Jokiharju - RFA: Fitzgerald 1 Goalie - 1,800,000 - Comrie TOTAL: 50,827,737 Likely additions: Savoie (950K) and UPL (837.5K) Total with additions 52,615,237 for 9F, 6D & 2 G

From Johnson's point of view, with 6 D locked up for next year, he's got to be asking himself if he'll get a legit shot at making the Sabres next year. Personally, I think he could beat out Bryson right now. Also with long-term commitments to Mule, Power and Dahlin, he's got to be asking himself if 3rd pairing LHD is his long-term ceiling even if he makes the Sabres. So yes, I believe the long-term deal for Mule might reflect KA's knowledge that Johnson is thinking about moving on after this season.

KA and DG are now joined at the hip like McBeane. Stability is the watch word. However Don Adams now have to win like McBeane.

A couple of quick cap thoughts on this contract. KA now has the same top 6 defenders under contract for next season. He has preached stability and here is another example. One less worry for next off-season. Does this deal reflect anything on KA's knowledge on Johnson's situation? Does KA feel Johnson is going to walk after this college season or with Bryson only on a one year deal entering next season, does KA believe Johnson might beat him out in camp, demoting Bryson to the 7th D or the trade market? Joki and Bryson better step up this season or we might need to make changes here despite their both being under contract.

Whatever. Again this is like extending KA, Mule, TnT, etc... Now he has to win.

The Sabres are doing what the Atlanta Braves are doing and have been doing; locking up key players when they are young to insure continuity and at least for the Braves, the winning culture. This is a smart practice if the team becomes a winner.

Because had management committed to real goaltending over the last 2 off-seasons maybe we’d already be a playoff team.

If management felt that we were ready to compete for a playoff spot they wouldn’t have a tandem of Comrie/Anderson in net and JJP would have been sent down given the mediocre camp he had. The sad truth is this season is just another hopefully positive stepping stone toward building a long-term competitive team. So yes, individual development is more important this season and from KA’s point of view hopefully that development equates to more wins.

What would have the Sabres done if Sheahan had been healthy? Would Bjork have gotten waived? I understand that Pilut was exempt from Waivers, but does anyone really believe the someone else would have claimed Fitz?

From your lips to G-d’s ears. Like i’ve said before I like Comrie, but I would have upgraded Anderson as well.

That’s always the question isn’t it. Other organizations in the last 3 years, including dumpster fires like Det and Ott, seemed to find ways to acquire goaltending. Forsberg in Ott was a waiver pick up. I have said for years that this wait and see approach hoping one of the prospects emerges is a mistake. Devon “Goalie of the future” Levi is still 2 years away. UPL may never make the NHL and Portillo is likely to go elsewhere. I thought in April that KA should have brought in someone to challenge UPL.

This is another developmental year and JJP showed last year that he really doesn’t have much to learn anymore in the AHL. My guess is he and Vinnie will rotate at points depending on matchups and as JJP’s understanding of the NHL games improves. I suspect by mid-season JJP will be established in this lineup

…. Or are they circling the drain?

I asked back in April what KA was going to do about the team’s clean slate in goal. Instead of bringing in proven new blood he chose the path of least resistance. He re-signed Anderson, UPL, Subban and Houser. The new blood is 27 year old Eric Comrie and 23 year old Beck Warm. Comrie has 28 games of NHL experience, including 19 solid starts last year and Warm has a total of 33 games of professional experience split between the AHL and ECHL. While I like Comrie, I still wish he had gone for more proven help for the 3rd straight season. KA’s failure to properly address this area has remained a huge problem with rebuild 3.0 and IMHO has kept the team from improving faster. I hate to be Johnny Rain Cloud heading into the season, but our goaltending remains highly suspect. The best goalie in camp was UPL and he is back in Rochester. DG “challenged” Comrie in two preseason games by playing him behind AHL rosters and he faired poorly. Anderson was fine, but at 41, how much can we really expect from him. If he duplicates his 3.12 with a .897 save% in 31 games, we should consider ourselves lucky. Oh yeah, 4th string goalie, Subban, is already on the IR. To make matters worse, all the teams in our division have better goaltending on paper. That doesn’t mean we’ll end up with the worst goaltending this season, but it points out how small is our margin for error in this department. While I like Comrie’s potential, if the goaltending fails again this year, KA will have no one to blame but himself. The best case scenario is that Comrie duplicates his results from last season with WPG over 45-50 games in Buffalo, Anderson remains healthy and plays solidly for 25 games and UPL proves that camp wasn’t a fluke and gives us .915% over the other 12 games. If this happens, KA’s value approach will be hail high and low on this board and elsewhere. Worst case, Anderson is worse than last year, UPL reverts to the AHL UPL of last season and Comrie can’t handle the extra work load. If happens, we could be back in the Bedard sweepstakes. Most likely scenario? Comrie is exceedingly average in 40-42 games with a 2.85 gaa and a .908 save %, Anderson gets hurt and only plays 17-20 games at similar numbers to last year. UPL plays the most of the balance and gives us similar numbers to Comrie. Somehow Houser sneaks in a couple of starts and outplays the guys ahead of him on the depth chart making people here again wonder why he doesn’t get more of an opportunity. This gives us slightly below average goaltending but we score enough to be above NHL 500 by year’s end. I think fans will be screaming for better goaltending long before the trade deadline.

Goaltending is the obvious Achilles heel potentially. Is Comrie/Anderson better than Anderson/Tokarski ? It’s impossible to answer at this point other than to say it’s not worse. Here is some food for thought. With Mitts, VO and Anderson all healthy and with Tuch and Krebs in the lineup for the final 33 games, including 21 against playoff teams and Anderson as the primary netminder, the team played at an 87 point pace. I think that is the best evidence that this team can succeed with just mediocre goaltending. Get even NHL average goaltending and this team could surprise.

He maybe better than Bryson, but KA is going to take on that $4 mill second year when he has so many kids to retain. I understand your pessimism, but I actually think this team is about to turn the corner if the goaltending holds up.

Out with JAGS - Butcher, Hagg, Pysyk, Bjork, Eakin, Hayden, Dell, and Tokarski In with Quinn, JJP, Power, Lyubushkin, Comrie and full seasons of Samuelsson, Tuch and Krebs. This is a younger, deeper and more talented team. They will score more than they did last year and if they can stop of puck, they should jump in the standings. Goaltending is still a big a question mark and the 3rd D pairing is suspect. Those factors could keep this team from playoff contention.

... and his $3 mill cap hit. He also has another year left at $4 mill in salary. KA isn't going to spend money on a player like this unless he can get Boston or whomever to eat most of the deal.

He doesn't play center and no he isn't as good as Sheahan. I'll give you Bjork, but why would KA take on another JAG, when he has Malone, Murray, Rousek, Biro and others waiting in the wings for an opportunity? It's time to move past the JAG stage of the rebuild.

Less on the ice (maybe), but more in the locker room? They did bring him back after all.

Big shout out to Beane, McDermott, and the Bills depth. We are down 4 Pro Bowl players on defense including 3 of the 5 starters in the defensive back field and only give up 3 points. Impressive. Admittedly Pitt isn’t very good, but this is the NFL and any team can win given the right circumstances. Hamlin, Elam, Shakir, Dodson, Morris, and others really stepped up. That said hopefully more starters are back next week against KC. Also what crock of crap that the Bills are traveling to KC fir the 3rd straight year.

I want Cam Allen. We need depth at RHD and it wouldn’t be such a bad thing to have a star “Allen” on both the Sabres and the Bills.

I’m ok with KO as the Captain. He has seems to have done a very good job of mentoring the kids. Dahlin as an assist I also agree with. He has matured and he is the most proven of the young home grown talent. Not that it really matters, but with Z on the final year of his deal and playing on a line KO, why not give an A to someone in core that organization is committed to long-term like Thompson or Tuch? Admittedly KO is also on his last year, but I expect him to be re-signed at some point this season.