GASabresIUFAN

Stafford?

I'm going to amend by previous post and add the following. If a team (such as the NYR or Wash today), have two kids/younger goaltenders, one will be traded to acquire depth elsewhere. That's how Hasek ended up in Buffalo once Belfour was established as the starter. Now Wash will choose between Vanacek (winning the battel) and Samsonov and the Rags between Georgiev and Shesterkin (obviously the choice). Back in 2003-04 The Sabres had 3 young goalies in the system; Biron 26 (1st rd pick in 1995), Noronen 24 (1st rd pick in 1997) and Miller 23 (5 rd pick in 1999). Biron was the established starter. Within 2 years, Miller had taken the starting job, Biron became the backup and then was traded to Philly for a 2007 2nd. Noronen served as Biron backup in 2003/4 and then was traded in 2005/6 to Van for a 2nd in 2006 who became Jhonas Enroth. I see something happening similarly now. KA gets a vet for the next year or two. Signs Levi this off-season and Portillo next off-season. UPL becomes the Vets backup next season. Within a year or two, Levi and/or Portillo start pressuring UPL from behind.

A goaltender with even a 5 year deal wouldn’t block a single prospect. First there are two jobs. If the kid is better he plays. It’s why Varlomov, Quick, Talbot and others are available. Also we have seen over the last two years how important it is to have at least 2 good goalies at all times. Quality goaltending is very thin in todays expanded NHL. If by some miracle two prospects emerge and force KA to move on from the vet, there is a strong trade market for veteran goaltenders with term. Right now the Sabres don’t have any viable goaltenders. Anderson and Tokarski are UFAs (and aren’t worth retaining). UPL is still struggling at times in the AHL (he gave up 6 goals on 32 shots last night). He is also an RFA. Levi and Portillo remain unsigned and in college. KA needs to acquire two goaltenders from outside the organization at a minimum.

I’m going to respectfully somewhat disagree. I think in the cap era all top teams have a solid core of 4-5 guys that define an era of that team. Crosby, Malkin, Letang in Pit. Toews, Kane, Keith and Seabrook in Chicago. Doughty, Brown, Kopitar and Quick in LA.

Hecht? Seiling?

UPL gives up 6 goals on 32 shots.

The only place Bjork is going is to the AHL for the last year of his pro hockey career. No one is taking him and his contract.

How about getting a friggin’ goalie? Go get Varlomov. How about upgrading Pysyk and Hagg? Honestly I’m not really all that interested in adding a forward.

Does it matter, all the goalies we have faced are better then goalies we have.

How can anyone defend any of the 3? They are all c-r-a-p. None should be in the NHL. As soon as they are able we should be playing Vinnie, Z and Jankowski as the energy line and send the turd line packing. Hayden has one goal for the season. Eakin goal against Dallas was his first in like 30 games. Bjork has gone goal less since December. Why these guys play at all is beyond me. They also only thing we are displaying by playing them is how bad they are.

Winning tonight jumped the Sabres from 29th to 26th. I'm sure we'll be seeing more of Tokar and the turd line. Can't blow a solid tank strategy now.

Amerks win 3-2 in OT. R2 the star. He scores the game tying goal and the winner in OT. Also had an assist on the 1st goal. Amerks dominate the 3rd and OT to steal the win.

1-1 after 2. Amerks being out shot 26-7. Interesting Amerks lineup featuring 11 undrafted players, including 8 Americans.

“Accomplishing nothing” : The Sabres sit 29th in the NHL this season. This team continues to spin its wheels. The purpose of a pro hockey team is to entertain people as through playing winning hockey and occasionally competing for a championship. This franchise isn’t entertaining, isn’t winning and certainly isn’t competing for championships and hasn’t for over a decade. That’s accomplishing nothing.

Why stay away from the two Russians. They ain’t going home this summer.

Kim, that’s a statement worthy of Kamala Harris. Of course there is crossover. Sadly it’s hard to cross reference between season tickets bases when you killed the Sabres base.

Are you saying that my description was in error?

That would be great. I also wouldn’t mind them barely missing the playoffs and having the 15th or 16th pick. Given our luck, their pick will be 29th and the Florida pick 30th. KA also better not pull a TM and trade away two of these picks.

He isn’t here and he really doesn’t have an easy road to PT in Buffalo. Dahlin, Power and Samuelsson are all standing in his way. On right, Jokiharju is locked up, Bryson seems to be finding his way on his off side and Fitz adds a feistiness that this team needs and DG likes. Johnson’s best bet is to move to his offside in Rochester and try to beat out Fitz or Bryson in a season or two.

Who are the Sabres? A bunch of well paid young men skating around on ice accomplishing nothing in a nearly empty arena.

Unlike the Blues trade, the 1st here is secondary to the assets already playing in Buffalo. Tuch has become a fan favorite and Krebs has the potential to be our best playmaker. Thompson’s ascension to top 6 center is going a long way to rescuing the ROR trade from complete disaster to only a partial one.

I've seen KO's name pop-up on trade rumors sites lately. Teams need leadership and depth scoring for a playoff run and KO would be perfect. My guess is that because of his big contract most teams would have a hard time fitting him under their cap. That said it's still something that KA would probably listen to. So, if would If you were KA, if someone offers us a 2nd rd pick for KO at the deadline would you take it? Would it take more to convince you? I wouldn't for 3 reasons. 1. He has found his game under DG. 2. He is a leader in the clubhouse; something we lack. 3. We need his cap hit just to get to cap floor.

2 goalies were moved yesterday. Montreal sent Michael McNiven to Calg for future considerations. McNiven made his NHL debut this year, but this is simply a depth move for Calg. Edmonton sent Alex Stalock to San Jose also for future considerations. Also a depth move for SJ as the 34 year old Stalock has been in the AHL all season, but has played 151 NHL games over his career.

I wonder what the Russian sanctions are going to do to the access and development of Russian players. Will Putin let them leave? Will the NHL bar teams from signing Russian players? Will the sanctions bankrupt the KHL and/or the development leagues? Are we going to go back to the days of Alex Mogilny cloak and dagger to get players out? How will this affect the Russian prospect in the draft next summer? With 3 key prospects in Russia from his last draft, these are questions KA and his team have to wrestle with right now.

I thought about Skinner as a core piece. Jbot certainly thought that, but now he is 29 and odds are against him keeping at top 6 role beyond the next few seasons. To me that says veteran depth despite the size of this contract.