GASabresIUFAN

I want LV to lose as well, but the 16th pick isn’t exactly going to change the fortunes of our franchise. Whomever we draft will be a Rosen quality player who may not arrive for 2-3 more years. Happy to have the player and we need the pipeline depth, but when I look at the projections, I don’t see a true difference maker at that point in this draft.

Leafs sign Hobey winner Dryden McKay.

Agree much to soon to move on from any of Mitts, Krebs, Cozens, or Jokiharju. They have made so much progress this season.

I would trade UPL in a minute.

This is contrary to what I’ve seen elsewhere. The consensus seems to be management looks at Mitts as their No. 2 center. They think he’d have had a huge year if he hadn’t gotten hurt and look for him to be the next breakout player. I understand the logic of trading a good asset to get another good asset back, but KA isn’t moving on from a developing player for a veteran with a big contract. He has stated that over and over again. Also we don’t need to move anyone to fit Quinn into the lineup. He’ll have a top 6 role next season. He’ll either be Mitts or TNT’s RW. Center depth: TNT, Mitts, Girgensons, Cozens (all under contract) RW depth: Tuch, Quinn, KO, Open ((Vinnie (UFA) or JJP)) LW depth: Skinner, VO (RFA), Asplund, Krebs I’ve made the argument earlier this season to trade VO, but I’ve come around to the idea of re-signing him. We are simply a better team when he is on the ice and healthy. My guess is KA’s offseason game-plan is pretty simple and straight forward. 1) Re-sign VO. 2) Acquire a proven goalie. 3) Get a veteran D to match with Power. After those the rest is gravy. Does he try to upgrade Girgensons as KO’s center? Does he sign Vinnie? How much does he pay to re-sign UPL and Bryson? Does he extend TNT and or Okposo before the season.

I would love to try to steal Vanecek.

We have, but it's unclear if the NYI want to trade him and he has a M-NTC and there is speculation that we are on the NT list. I actually mentioned Varlomov very early in the goaltending thread and said I thought he'd like a chance to be a starter again. I thought then that he'd be traded at the deadline but it didn't happen leading to the speculation that the NYI aren't interesting in trade him. I don't mind LanceI don't mind Lance's suggestion in the TBN to give Holtby a 2 year 10 mil deal to be the bridge goalie here.

What? Samuelsson/Dahlin is the No.1 pair. KA said he is looking for a partner for Power and DG is already playing the kid 20+ a night. That leaves Bryson and Joki as the third pairing. This isn’t a shot a Joki, but an observation based on how PT is currently allocated and the stated intentions of management. It’s certainly possible KA doesn’t get the D he is looking for in the off-season. If that happens Joki jumps back into the Power pairing.

None of that changes his rebound control issues, the getting beat on long-range shot attempts or the other issues Biron has pointed out time and again. That doesn’t mean he won’t eventually become a capable NHL goalie. It just means there is a ton to work on and I doubt he’ll be ready for NHL duty next year. KA better be ready if he fails because I think his forward group is already playoff caliber. He cannot let next season fail because of inadequate goaltending. The Sabres lost 19 games this season is OT/SO (11 games) or by just 1 goal (8 games). With better goaltending we might have won 1/2 of those games giving us another 14 points and upping our season totals to 87 with 2 games left.

I don’t know if Appert is a good coach or not. I do know the Taylor was a good coach and RK had it in for him, probably because Taylor wasn’t a yes man and RK knew if he failed Taylor was an easy replacement. What he didn’t realize is that a better replacement in DG was already on his staff. What I do know is that once Samuelsson and Fitz graduated the NHL and all the goaltending issues ensued, Appert and the Amerks were behind the 8 ball. Quinn’s injury also didn’t help. What Appert needed was defensive reinforcements to help the goaltenders and really didn’t receive any. Oh well.

The Sabres offense is only 10 goals behind Van and now stands 21st in the NHL at 229. Up from 28th last year. DG has made it clear in recent press conferences that he expects the vast majority of his squad back next year. As to the UFA skaters, I’m thinking only Vinnie will be back if DG’s player utilization down the stretch is any indication of who he wants in his lineup. Here is the breakdown: (The Sabres have played 16 games since the trade deadline). Vinnie - 16/16 Eakin -10/16, but none since 4/14 Hayden - 1 Miller - 3 Butcher - 5 Pysyk - 5, although I think there is still a slim chance he returns. Bjork has only played in 5 since the deadline, but 4 recently replacing Eakin in the lineup. This smells like a tryout to see if he is worth bringing back as the 14th forward. My answer is no thanks. It also tells me the Eakin is thankfully gone as well. Also Bryson played in all 16 games and Fitz 14. This indicated to me when combined with with DG and KA’s comments that 6/7 of next year’s D is set with Power, Dahlin, Samuelsson, Jokiharju and Bryson in the top 6 and Fitz as the 7th D leaving room for a partner for Power. Samuelsson Dahlin Power UFA/Trade Bryson Jokiharju

Toronto lost 3 of 4 to us, maybe there is more to it then that. They missed the playoffs because they started the season 6–14-2 with losing streaks of 3, 4 & 5 games. Maybe if they start 9-11-2 they’re in the playoffs. They also just went 0-2-1 in games that would have kept them in the race. The truth is they weren’t good enough. Maybe they should look inward for the solution. Getting a better coach was a positive first step. Improving the offense should be their next step. 18th in GF usually won’t get it done.

3 pts down with 3 games to go.

SJS 5 - Jack's LV Kin-nig-its 4 in a SO. To bad so sad.

Seriously Jack? That was terrible.

Rasputin strikes again.

He is listed on both Northeastern's and Hockey Canada's website at 6'0" 183 CM https://www.hockeycanada.ca/en-ca/team-canada/men/olympics/2022/stats/team-rosters?teamid=355

It’s interesting that you mention his defense. The Athletic has these “hockey card” for each team. Their cards for the Sabres are very interesting. They show how poor both Tage and Skins are defensively. They place Skins at a market value of only $5.7 mill. I doubt someone is taking him off our hands.

I hope your friend isn’t a Sabres scout. Petersen and Portillo are very similar players and prospects. Petersen plays at a backup level, so I’ll agree with your friend. However he and his colleagues looked at Levi’s height and that is why he went in the 7th round, but he is wrong about Levi’s height preventing him from being a legit NHL prospect. Levi is 6’ tall. One of the best goalies in the NHL is 5-11 Jusse Saros. Casey DeSmith and Nedjelkovic are two other fine goalies that are 6’ or under. There are a bunch, like Quick, a 6’1”. With the speed of the game increasing we may actually be going back the other way again with smaller more athletic goalies. The GOAT named Hasek was only 6’1” This doesn’t mean Levi will make it or become a star, but to dismiss him out of hand because of his height is an error in judgement. Ask Nashville if Saros’ height is an issue.

Yeah pretty much with a couple of notable exceptions like the goaltending pivot and the failure to get assets at the deadline. Some of that is on him and some on others

Karlsson is actually diminishing year by year - Shooting percentages annually - 23.4, 14.2, 10.9, 12.6, 8.8 (This season). Not exactly a great trend. Taylor Hall-esque. No it's actually not. It's a number put up by elite of the elite scorers. Crosby's career number is 14.6, Ovechkin 12.9, Matthews 16.4, Stamkos 16.9, McDavid 15. Skinner's best season was also 14.9, but his average for his career is 10.9. He has had some stellar years of 14.9, 14.4 13.2, 13.0 (this year). However he has stunk in others with cold seasons of 9.5, 8.2, 7.7, 8.7, 7.7, and 6.3. Skinner alone illustrates the danger of overpaying a sniper. His shot reminds me of Jack and so far in Jack's career he has only hit that high note once. Jack's career shooting by season is 10.1, 9.6, 10.2, 9.2, 15.9, 3.3, 10.3. One of the these seasons is not like the others. Olofsson is another comparable. In his 3 seasons he has varied at 15.7, 10.1 and 12.5 this season. Taylor Hall is similar to Jack. In the last decade his percentages are 10.4, 10.8, 8.9, 9.1, 8.4, 14.0, 9.7, 6.9, 7.4 (Buf/Bos), 9.0. Again his MVP year was another outlier. Thompson's career so far: 5.5, 6.5, 8.3, 14.9. It's certainly possible he repeats this performance, but caution is warranted.

Maybe Skinners doesn't cross the line, but his antics do get under the other team's skin and disrupt their concentration on the game. We have waited for years for a pest who drives the other team crazy both with his play and attitude. Maybe Skinner is the player finally cast in that role. So he isn't the cheap punk that Marchand is, but maybe he is the Indiana Jones to Marchand's Dr. Rene Belloq.

Mitts said in his post game press conference that Skinner “ is one of his best friends but he’d hate his guts if he was on the other side.” I’ve always noticed Skinner liked to chirp at refs and opponents, but with his game returning he is throwing opponents off theirs with his play and mouth. Thoughts?

I think they didn’t care anymore after being eliminated from the playoffs. They are 1-3-1 in their last 5 games.

“32nd in 5-on-5 save percentage (.873).” and that is with Anderson starting most nights. Please KA hear our plea and move on.