GASabresIUFAN

Do we really want another player from Whitehorse, YT?

Which is why I wrote "as currently constructed." The only way we get "elite" goaltending the rest of the way is either Ellis or Levi take over the starting job and thrive. UPL is a 4+ Gaa guy each night; Lyon a 3+ a night. Unfortunately, we know that Adams isn't going to give the net over to the kids.

What is the nicest way to put this? The Sabres are toast as long as Adams remains as Pegula's yes man. As long as Terry has a say in the Sabres roster the team will never be good. Pegula already has his built in excuse for this season - injuries. Adams isn't going anywhere unless the team is one of the 3-4 worst teams in the NHL this season and maybe not even then. We have become the Florida Marlins of hockey, but without the two championships. So what about the OP question. There really isn't a question here, as this team cannot make the playoffs as currently constructed.

I hope Kulich recovers as quickly as possible and can resume his career. From a Sabres standpoint, time to play everyone and see what they have or don’t have. From an injury standpoint, the Sabres have already played 18 forwards, 9 defensemen (with a 10th if Jones plays) and 3 goalies. Currently, Dahlin, Benson, Norris, Kulich, Danforth and Zucker are on IR. Using last year’s stats, that’s 92goals and 144 assists out of the lineup. Hard to win this way. The Bills are just a bad. They have played 35 different players on defense, 3 punters and 65 players overall. They currently have 11 players on IR including 4 that never made it to the regular season, including starters like Rapp, Oliver and Hoecht and depth guys like Carter, Sanders, Strong and Hamlin. Hard to win this way.

Tank’in for Gavin?

He should have never been hired. It’s what I said then and nothing has changed. You mean besides JJP in 2020 and Poltapov and Kisakov in 2022. Plus he drafted 7 forwards in the 1st round. The real issue is how few of those picks are contributing. It doesn’t help that the idiot in charge traded away Peterka. Quinn looks a dud. Savoie was traded away. Kulich is injured. Östlund and Rosen still aren’t full time NHLers. Kisakov is a bust. Helenius is in the minors. Poltapov is in Russia and is unlikely to come over. Benson is the current NHLer who is a proven NHLer but he’s hurt. This litany of failure is just one of many reasons Howdy Doody should be fired.

Completely wrong. It's Beane who built the O line. It's Beane who drafted Cook, Kincaid, Shakir, Brown, Torrence, Hawes, Benford, Bernard, Rousseau, Bishop, Walker, Hairston among others. It's Beane who signed Bosa this season and added quality players like Ty Johnson, Shaq Thompson, and others over the years. Has he made mistakes? Sure, which GM hasn't, but Beane is an excellent GM who continues to keep this team on top.

Yes, but they are on the hook for his entire contract amount even if he is playing in the minors. That's 4.75 a year for this year and the next 3 years. Another master stroke by KA. They would receive a cap credit of about $1 mill per season. The best way to get rid of UPL is to find a team willing to take him and eat 50% of his deal. (I'm assuming he has zero trade value otherwise) The next best option is a buyout. The cap hit would be 1.583 per season for the next 6 years. Year Team League GP Min GA SO GAA W L OTL Saves Save % (BOLD = STARTER) 2020-21 Rochester Americans AHL 14 817 491 0 3.60 7 5 2 389 0.888 2020-21 Buffalo Sabres NHL 4 217 14 0 3.88 1 3 0 135 0.906 2021-22 Rochester Americans AHL 35 2032 111 1 3.28 15 14 6 997 0.900 2021-22 Buffalo Sabres NHL 9 503 23 0 2.74 2 5 2 254 0.917 2022-23 Buffalo Sabres NHL 33 1910 114 0 3.58 17 11 4 940 0.892 2022-23 Rochester Americans AHL 9 527 27 0 3.07 6 3 0 238 0.898 2023-24 Buffalo Sabres NHL 54 3081 132 5 2.57 27 22 4 1338 0.910 (CONTRACT YEAR) 2024-25 Buffalo Sabres NHL 55 3172 169 2 3.20 24 24 5 1321 0.887 2025-26 Rochester Americans AHL 1 60 2 0 2.01 1 0 0 21 0.913 2025-26 Buffalo Sabres NHL 3 186 9 0 2.91 1 1 1 64 0.877 This isn't the pedigree of a starting NHL goalie. Now compare this to Ellis' pedigree. https://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?encode=TRUE&pid=197251 I'd rather have Ellis.

You can kind of tell Dahlin’s heart hasn’t been in it this season and that is perfectly understandable. He needs to be with his fiancé and given the issues with the Sabres, his absence will open opportunities for others to step up or prove they need to go (see Power).

...and i didn't even start this thread.

without the dinner and nice gifts

....and in the goat head uniforms.

Amen Brother!

Well at least they didn’t lose again in OT. Hard to believe that they just got shut out by the worst team in the NHL on the back-end of a road back to back with a goalie who had a 5.02 gaa. Truly a new low and that is saying something.

The Sabres are 16-10-2 with Kozak in the lineup the last two years.

they did. The good news is that they are finding ways to not lose in regulation, but for some reason don't seem to handle the pressure of OT very well.

I don't know why people are upset about this result. Utah is the better hockey team and the Sabres have no idea how to win in the NHL.

I’d suggest re-watching the games. He is supposed to be a driver of offense and in his 4 games he created nothing (12 games including last year). Ruff skated him 10:50 a game with zero to show for it.

Do we have any forwards left? The Sabres are down to 8 NHL forwards - Thompson, Tuch, Quinn, Doan, McLeod, Greenway, Krebs and Malenstyn. The next guys are AHL callup Rosen, 4th line roster filler in Dunne and Geertsen. Next men up are Östlund (who looked lost in his callup), Helenius, who hasn’t played in the NHL and maybe Jake Leschyshyn?

The Sabres don’t seem to be inclined to give Komarov or Novikov much of an opportunity in the NHL. Novikov has been the Amerks best defensive for the last 2 seasons plus and hasn’t sniffed the NHL. I know his skating is a concern, but to keep playing Bryson or Johnson or Jones or Metsa and not give this guy a chance doesn’t make much sense at this point. S As to Wahlberg, are we seeing any progress? 2 goals (and only 2 pts) in 8 AHL games ytd isn’t a great start to his sophomore NA prop campaign, but he is only 20. As to Poltapov, I doubted he’d come to NA when drafted and nothing has happened to alter that opinion. Richard and Neuchev are my sleepers. Both seem to be improving each season.

Now that we are into the season, which prospects do you consider future NHL players. I think this is a pretty good list of who in our system has a chance (some more than others) of becoming an everyday NHL player. That said, who do you think will actually make it. I'm feeling better about Rosen and Levi. Mrtka looks like a future star, and I like Kozak as a long-term depth NHLer. Anyone else? Goalies? Levi, Ratzlaff, Leenders, Leinonen Defense? Mrtka, Novikiov, Komarov, Strbak, Kleber, Osburn. McCarthy, Bedkowski? Forwards? Kozak, Rosen, Östlund, Helenius, Wahlberg, Zeimer, Neuchev. Richard

I think he is trying to say if the Sabres win 5 out of every 9 games they play, they'll have 45 wins. That should be more than enough to make the playoffs. The Sabres have won 5 of the last night, but only 5 of 12 for the season.

If you look at the last 3 games you see a team that is playing harder but is still finding ways to lose. Stupid penalties at in opportune times. Losing control of the puck leading to two of the three OT losses. Coughing up 2 3rd period leads. So until this team stops being stupid, they will remain on the outside looking in.

Have any of the Adams drafted Russians even come close to playing a shift in the NHL? Novikov, Komarov, Kisakov, Poltapov, Sardarian or Neuchev, none are even on the radar. Even the two big Russian D, seem to be behind Metsa, Jones and Johnson on the depth chart. Soon they’ll be passed by Mtrka. Good thing Adams spent 2 2nds and 2 3rds on the Russian forwards.

Actually they probably wouldn't. I have a few friends in the specialty insurance business and they said he is uninsurable.