GASabresIUFAN

No but it will be close if they get good goaltending and stay healthy.

Who said he was trash? He had some rough games earlier this year and was benched, but if you read the article above he learned a great deal from watching the game from pressbox. Since he has returned he has played excellently. He showed flashes of this last year. His metrics last year if I remember correctly were very good.

ok so, 5-2 against backups and 2-1 against starters.

I'll respectfully disagree. Jacob is much more mobile and is better offensively. He is definitely ahead of Fitz on the depth chart now that he is showing he can be very effective on his off-side. Bryson is going to be the utility D, who plays both side depending on injury. Fitzgerald is going to end up in the Rory Fitzpatrick role of 7th D who ends up playing 55-60 games as an injury fill in.

He looked fine with Dahlin also. https://www.buffalohockeybeat.com/sabres-jacob-bryson-elevating-game-to-new-level/

How many backup goalies have we faced? 6? We are 5-1 against the backups and 2-2 against the starters. Backups Mrazek (2) both wins (then he was waived), Kahkonen W and then he was traded, Brossoit W, M Smith L, and DeSmith W Starters Petersen, Knight both L's; Markstrom and Demko both W's

I thought it was backwards bay

He hasn't been here long enough

Mitts, Miller, Eakin, Bjork and Skinner

By the way Anderson should have stopped the first goal.

It was Carter Hutton, Ullmark and then Hutton. All 3 games 3-2.

It turns out not that long ago. 11-23-2018 (MON) - OT, 11-24-2018 (@DET) - SO, and 11-27-2018 (SJ) - OT.

Another nice hard working win. I love that they are showing they are no longer intimidated by good teams. I think the terrible Edm game embarrassed the guys and got them re-focused and I think they are enjoying playing the spoiler. I’m curious when was the last time the Sabres won 3 straight in OT/SO?

How about lets wait a little while until he comes back next season and produces well again.

Ask the Falcons if the cap is real or not.

The same number that were traded at the deadline. Thompson, Tuch, Mitts are on great contracts Krebs, Quinn and Cozens are on ELCs (and JJP if he makes the team) Skinner and KO aren’t going anywhere. I’d agree that VO is not a long-term core piece, but he fits in with the group and can be retained for a reasonable cost. He has 19 games to prove he’s healthy. I understand the feeling to find an upgrade in this group. There is no one you’d label as a dynamic player and we still don’t score enough (we are tied for 25th in GF, one goal behind Seattle.) A healthy Mitts plus maturing kids Cozens, Quinn and Krebs coupled with a balanced attack should significantly improve the goal scoring. Where I can see the biggest changes in the forward group coming are with the energy line. Asplund and Girgensons are under contract. Vinnie should be reasonable to retain if KA wants him back. However Eakin should be upgraded and although under contract, Bjork should never play for us again. I think with some good cap casualties KA could utilize our cap space to make a much more lethal “energy” populated with guys that can play up the lineup, but who come from winning organizations to also help our culture. Guys like Compher and Lars Eller come to mind, but there are others. Don’t forget that with all of our young returning players we are about 15 mill under next year’s cap floor. KA is going to have to spend somewhere.

Is this becoming like the Cub Factor? Thus whichever Cup finalist has the most ex-Sabres will lose the Cup? Maybe that’s why KA couldn’t get a deal done at the deadline.

I hate to be the grammar or spelling police, especially because I have never quite figured out then vs than. However please use "re-sign" for a player retained. "Resign" has a completely opposite meaning. That is all. PS. We definitely need a veteran RHD to pair with Power and that player needs to be an upgrade over Pysyk.

They would as an emergency recall. Those players don't have to clear waivers.

small sample size in the NHL. Also his AHL number give me pause.

There is zero question that bad defensive play contributed to the goalie's problems. We started Miller (34 games), Hagg (48) and Butcher (32) for much of the season. We saw what the NHL thinks of them at the deadline; Hagg went for a 6th and Miller and Butcher had no trade value because they were awful defensively (granted the injuries also contributed to their lack of value) In addition, Dahlin, Jokiharju and Bryson have improved significantly during the season, while Matt and Fitz started the year on IR or the AHL. Once Fitz gets healthy, we'll be much closer to our best pairs with Dahlin, Bryson, Samuelsson, Fitz, Jokiharju and Miller. All that said, the goaltending is still lacking. Nearly all the playoff goaltenders have save % of 914 or better. We should be proud of our victory over Calg. Their 2 goalies have a 928 save % each. Anderson and Tokarski are at 906 and 904 respectively.

If Anderson wants to come back as the AHL mentor I'm good with that, but I doubt he'll do that. I think's more likely the Sabres would make him the roving goalie coach to help develop the kids.

The Sabres need 30 points in 19 games to get to 82 pts. Not impossible, but highly unlikely. They are 6-3 in the last 9. I think we'd all be thrilled if the can play at a playoff level pace for the rest of the season with a 10-7-2 mark (22 pts in 19 games is a 95 pt pace for the season).

It will be (or should be kind of a flow chart Decision 1: Sign Portillo and Levi and then let camp decide who starts in the AHL and who starts in the ECHL. If Portillo wants another year in college let him stay. Decision 2: Sign or trade for a proven starter -trade for Varlomov, sign a Kuemper etc... Decision 3: Decide if UPL is ready for NHL backup duty. If the answer is yes, then KA's done at the NHL level. If the answer is no, then.... 3a: If not UPL, then sign or acquire a veteran backup goalie. My preference here is actually to try to get a youngish backup like Georgiev or Samsonov who might possibly earn the starting job and also as insurance if the kids aren't ready for a few years. Decision 4: What to do with UPL is he isn't NHL ready? Assuming Levi and Portillo are in the fold, do you send UPL back to the AHL to split the net with Levi/Portillo or do you trade him for other assets? If Portillo remains in school, I'd assume UPL starts in the AHL and Levi starts in the ECHL. Decision 5: Me I'd trade UPL if he isn't ready. I'd like to get vets to partner with the kids in the minors like Houser and Tokarski. I'd love to bring back Tokar as Levi/Portillo's AHL partner. It would also give us insurance in case of injury to one of the 2 NHL goalies. Scenario one example Varlomov UPL Tokarski Levi Houser Portillo Scenario 2 example (UPL not ready and Portillo signed) Varlomov Georgiev Levi Tokarski Portillo Houser Scenario 3 example (UPL not ready and Portillo stays in school) Varlomov Georgiev UPL Tokarski Levi Houser

Is it because the top 8 teams are that good or the bottom 6 are just that bad? At least those 8 teams are still jockeying for postions.