GASabresIUFAN

Still getting manhandled by Fla, TB and Car shows how far we still have to go to be an elite team. The gap has definitely closed, but to be a top level team we needed to find away to win the Car and Fla games when we had a lead. Those are tough lessons for a young team.

I think the opposite is true. Clearing the D zone faster will drive puck possession and more offense. Yes the maturing D should help just like up front. However that isn’t enough. I have zero confidence in UPL at this point. I also wonder how much of an upgrade over Anderson is actually available. To me the key is finding a top 4 RHD in trade or free agency who plays a strong D zone game. Last I looked we were near the bottom of the league in high danger chances against (6th most allowed) and odd man rushes allowed. Until this changes, our goalies will struggle.

The Sabres are a net -58 this season. We score about 2.75 gf and allow 3.5 ga. To be a playoff team, we need to improve both numbers by .5. Like y’all I’m pretty bullish on the offense. I can easily see us getting the 40 goals we need to get to 3.25. If Mitts and VO stay healthy we should get half as of that number. The issue for me remains the goaltending and defense. How do we eliminate 40 goals against?

He was a RFA, his choices, if the Sabres didn’t trade him, were to playout a one year deal with the Sabres, sign an extension with the Sabres or sit out the season.

How good would this team have been if we had kept Reinhart and Ullmark?

Career hi in goals with 10 (9 his rookie year) and tied his career hi in assist (36). Hopefully he’ll bust through 50 points this season. Last Sabres D to get to 50 was…….. Not Myers. He topped out at 48 his rookie year. No not Soupy either. He also topped out at 48 with the Sabres. Also not getting there were Risto (45), Wooley (43), Zhitnik (45), Leopold (35) or Teppo (36). No the winner is Gary Galley in 1995-96 with 54 (10g 44a). Leopold’s 13g in 2010-11 is the recent high there.

Lehner gets beat in OT. Van wins. So sad to bad

I don’t think you can assume Matthews was stoned, but his mustache is certainly worthy of an 80’s porn star.

Went to the Braves game tonight. Braves just squashed the Nats. Just finished watching the game. Lol. I just love beating the Leafs. They are the most over-rated team in hockey. The Sabres literally blew them off the ice for the 3rd straight game. Congrats to Dahlin for 45 pts and 10 goals. Good job by Power not bring overwhelmed in his first game. Liked the Dahlin Samuelsson pairing. Thompson is playing like a man among boys. Great job by the DG, his staff and the team getting their crap together after 3 hard loses including a failure to show up against TB. Great pass by VO. Earning his new deal.

Jbot didn’t lack for a real starter. He had Ullmark. He also tried (but failed) to get a solid backup in Hutton. What’s KA truly done to help the goaltending situation? Nothing! From a broader perspective, my support for Jbot was his improved drafting and attempts to correct the mess created by TM. I thought he deserved a 4th year to see if his plan would bare fruit. TP/KP disagreed. KA’s rebuild sits on a Jbot foundation - Cozens, Mitts, Thompson, Bryson, Skinner, Dahlin, Samuelsson and UPL.

I’ve been saying where was plan B in case Ullmark walked from the expansion draft forward. We heard a ton of excuses, from we thought we made a good offer, it takes two to tango in the trade market, I didn’t want to block a prospect, I think Anderson and Dell can handle the job etc…. Honestly he has had 2+ years to fix this issue and hasn’t. The time for excuses is over. If he comes back with a tandem of Anderson and UPL he has failed the franchise, the players and the fans.

Could be worse. At least he can still play. What about poor Ottawa and their contract with Matt Murray. FYI Holtby seemed to be on a serious decline for 4 years going from .925, to .907 to .911 to .897 to .889 but rebounded this year to .913. I’m not saying acquire Gibson or that he’ll rebound here. However rebounds for goaltenders are possible. That said I wouldn’t risk his contract. I’m also not acquiring Martin Jones. However, I am interested in bringing back Ullmark. His career save % is only .912 and that is his % this season. However we know he can put up that kind of number here behind a pour defense and we had a playoff winning % with him in goal. I thought last year and still believe that he would be a perfect bridge until the kids are ready. Just think how much better he’d do with a better team in from of him.

Had I chosen another team, many here would think I was serious.

My mistake. 😎. Or is it? We all know Devon is now going to stay until he graduates and then join the Leafs.

This Gibson discussion clearly illustrates the problems facing KA this summer. Who is the right guy, how much do you pay in terms of $ and assets if a trade? I don’t think KA is looking for a long-term solution. He needs to bridge the gap for 2-4 years depending on whether UPL develops into someone better then Ullmark (I doubt it) or Levi/Portillo develop into the starter. It’s in all fairness a nearly impossible ask. To many variables. I don’t think we are signing Campbell or Kuemper. I do wonder if we can get Holtby on a 3 year deal.

I’d have ranked JJP higher. His output as a 19 year old in the AHL compares very favorable to the CHL forwards ahead of him in the rankings, especially when he has 20 year old Rossi who hasn’t been as productive as JJP in the A ahead of these same players. Still nice to see 3 Sabres in his top 31.

Then why do you believe that the lack of faith in him is surprising? His career so far in the pros has been marked by injury and mediocre performance and the educated fans here know it. I’d be more surprised if they weren’t skeptical of UPL so far. Imho to best develop UPL build a defense in Rochester and let UPL play behind the improved and earn his way up.

Marty seems to agree with me. He said UPL gets beat way to often on "clean shots" and "long range shots" and "that isn't going to change at the NHL level." That doesn't bode well. Marty was very clear that if we had a real starter we could bring UPL up and let him play 25 games and learn how to be an NHL goalie.

Why is it surprising? What has he done to merit excitement? His AHL numbers are terrible. He is getting outplayed in Rochester by Aaron Dell who couldn’t cut in the NHL any longer. Yes, he had solid moments in his 9 games in Buffalo, but even then he crashed and burned with an .857 save % against SJ and then giving up two goals in 9 shots against TB before getting sent down. I just don’t think he is ready of even for NHL backup duty. Hopefully for the Sabres I’m wrong. UPL vs Dell vs Houser in the AHL Dell 20gp 12-6-1 3.02 gaa . 907 save % Houser 11gp 5-4-0- 2.98 & .900 UPL 28gp 11-12-5. 3.52 & .895

There is no question that KA over played his hand here. We wouldn’t be having this discussion if KA had extended him when he first arrived. Longer contracts can be both a blessing or curse and often some of both. However a consistent goaltender like Ullmark has value regardless of how much term is on his deal. Had UPL developed like KA hoped, the worst that could of happened is one gets traded to bring assets back to the franchise. Had Ullmark been retained, we’d have probably won an additional 5+ games this year. Oh well! Time for KA to really come up with plan B. Unless he trades for someone, he is going to have to commit to someone for 3 or 4 years at a minimum. As to trade value, what in KA’s career so far has shown you that he’d throw that kind of assets for a goaltender fix? It’s not happening. KA believes in his pipeline of UPL, Portillo and Levi. He is not going to waste assets on a top of the league starter. What he will go is to the Macy’s sales rack approach and try to find a Polo shirt at a bargain price. I’m even wondering if he might actually go for a 3 headed monster in net by promoting UPL, re-signing Anderson and then signing DeSmith or someone like him.

Yes, absolutely, except in the faceoff circle.

Boy this got snarky fast. Anyway, I’d love to hear what Marty said if anyone has a link. The market for goaltending should be interesting. I would not assume we are or are not on anyone’s lost any longer. I think this team has garnered some respect with their recent play and because of our cap space, there will UFA inquiries. There aren’t many teams in the starter goalie market. 3 playoff teams have starters who are UFAs - Campbell (Tor), Koskinen (Edm) and Kuemper (Col) and my guess is Campbell and Kuemper will re-sign. Koskinen (age 33), could be allowed to walk. Chi, Buff and NJ really have nothing in net. Of the teams without a real goalie, I’d rather come to Buffalo then a declining Chi team or the void that is NJ. There are a couple of teams with big decisions to make. For example Stl. Do they re-sign Husso and move on from Binnington (and his NTC). Is Mon content with Allen as the starter? How does SJ resolve Hill, Reimer and Kahkonen(RFA). It’s funny to ask this, but will Boston trade Ullmark back to us? Would KA be interested? Also any interest in Casey DeSmith? Would you take Binnington and his long-term deal if Stl eats 1/3 of it? Despite negative comments elsewhere, I wouldn’t mind taking a RFA run at Georgiev or Samsonov. Both are better goalies then they have shown this year and we might get a real long-term bargain.

As of this writing, the Sabres have zero goaltenders under contract for next season. Zero!, Nada! College prospects Levi and Portillo are returning to school. Anderson, Tokarski, Houser, Subban and Dell are UFAs and UPL is an RFA. Talk about a clean slate. Our fearless leader, has stated that UPL’s play is better then his AHL numbers indicate. He has also indicated that UPL is slated for a role in Buffalo net season. There are also reports that he has discussed with Anderson returning next season. While a nice story, I don’t want Anderson or any of the UFA goalies back next season unless they are willing to play in minors. Step 1 - UPL’s status - AHL or NHL? I personally don’t think UPL is ready and he should start in Rochester hopefully behind a better group of D. That said, If KA think’s he’s NHL ready so be it, but he better get a legit NHL starter and get someone who can step up for the Amerks. Step 2 - NHL starter - UFA, RFA or Trade? From an availability point of view, there seem to be more UFA’s available then quality trade targets. Husso, MAF, Holtby, Kuemper, Koskinen, Jones, and Korpisalo lead the UFAs with Georgiev and Samaonov the RFAs. The veteran trade market is thin. Most that I am interested in have trade protection like Varlomov and Quick. Talbot is probably off the market. How KA solves this issue may be the key to the off-season. Step 3 - Young organizational depth. To put it bluntly, we need to sign two kids, one each for Rochester and Cinn. Hobey winner Dryden McKay and US Olympic starter Strauss Mann would two I’d certainly call. Step 4 - AAAA veteran. We need an AHL/NHL veteran willing to tutor in the AHL and who can give us reasonable NHL play if called upon. We got that from Tokarski. Would he be willing to reprise that role or will be have better options elsewhere? So how does KA get this done. We have cap space to take on any UFA and the trade assets (and cap space) to make a deal if KA can find another GM to dance with. Of course, after missing the playoffs an NHL record 11 years, can KA entice a UFA or A player with trade protection to come here? Hopefully the availability of an NHL starting job on an up and coming team should entice someone, but who? (Getting a proven top 4 RHD to shore up the defense would probably help in the goaltender sweepstakes).

We are connecting, but apparently our definition of a 13th forward is different. I look at the 13th forward as a utility guy who fills in for injuries or steps in when a starter needs or rest or there is a matchup a coach wants to exploit or protect against. However, if the team remains healthy, the 13th forward generally sits. This isn’t a role for a top prospect. If JJP makes this team, he is going to be playing on a scoring line and playing every night. If he isn’t ready, send him down to play every night and in every role.

If JJP makes the team, do you really see him riding the pine most nights as the 13th forward? If he makes the team it’s as a starter. I fully agree on upgrading Eakin. If KA upgrades Eakin and JJP makes the team, it seems to me Asplund is the 13th forward. Obviously injuries would change the calculus.