GASabresIUFAN

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.

@sweetlou, if you don't mind, I'm going to transition this thread a little. While asking who the core is is an important question for our GM, I'm curious how people here think about all the Sabres and key prospect fit into the picture. I divide the guys into 6 categories. 1 - the Real Core. These are the 4 or 5 guys that management commits to long term. To me right now only Dahlin and now maybe Thompson fit that description. 2 - Potential Core - Mitts, Cozens, Power, Krebs, Quinn, and Levi could all earn promotion to the 1st category, but we are in wait and see for a variety of reasons such as injuries or youth. Depending on how things go, some of these guys will move up to Category 1 while others will transition to Category 3 or 4. I don't see anyone slipping to category 5. 3. Quality Veteran Depth - Tuch, Skinner, and Okposo are the guys in this category. Tuch has 4 years left and isn't going anywhere and could be next year's Captain, but I don't see him as a guy extended long-term at 29. Skinner is 29 with 800 games and is rejuvenated this season with another 5 years on his deal. KO is 33, wears an A and has one year left. He is also reborn under DG. I would have said he's gone after next season, but I can also see him extended to continue to mentor the kids. 4. Good transitional depth - This category is guys who will a fill need for a period of time, but won't be core players. Samuelsson, JJP Jokiharju, VO, and UPL are the current guys that fit this description. This doesn't mean they aren't good players and in some cases force their way into long-term consideration, but ultimately they'll be replaced by prospects pushing up from below or outside vets because they get to expensive to re-sign. For example, I really really like Samuelsson and Jokiharju, but once we commit to long-term deals for Power and Dahlin, it's doubtful we'll be able to afford to keep these guys forever. Levi and Portillo will eventually take over from UPL. 5. Expendable young players - I see these guys as players who could play here awhile in a depth role but will be replaced relatively quickly and could also be used to enhance trades. I see Fitzgerald, Johnson, Bryson, Asplund, Murray, Weissbach, Laakosonen and Portillo as these type of guys. Portillo was the hardest to place. He could end up being the best of our three goalie prospects or guy we trade for depth elsewhere. 6. JAGs (Garbage?) - On the good side of this category are guys like Girgensons, Pysyk, Anderson and Hinostroza and on the bad, Bjork, Hayden, Caggiula, Dell, Eakin, Subban, and Butcher. Hagg and Jankowski are somewhere in the middle. The more we can shrink this category the better. I only see Girgensons and Bjork returning because they are under contract, but none will missed when they are gone.

There is one thing that I don't think is debatable. Losing Jack has left the Sabres with only one truly dynamic player and that is Dahlin. As much as I like, Tuch, Thompson, Mitts, Cozens and even Krebs, none of them truly drives offense individually. The line of Skinner, Tuch and Thompson are playing as an excellent collective and driving offense. This lack of a dynamic player shows itself on the PP and in OT more than any other place, but it is felt. Team efforts like last night are how this team needs to succeed without a true No 1. center.

I was thinking more replacing Hayden, but either or is fine. The only games Bjork should play for us next season is as a short term injury fill in. Truthfully he needs to be waived if we can't find a trade partner and sent to Rochester.

Has this trade changed the fortunes of either club? Obviously it's early days and both teams have other issues. LV record with Jack: 2-3-1. Jack is now playing 19 minutes a night and getting his shots but has only 1 goal in 18 shots (5.6%), and 3 assists. LV record without Jack 28-17-3. They are still third in the Pacific, but could easily miss the playoffs. Edm and Ana are within 3 points. Sabres with Tuch: 7-13-3. Tuch is playing almost 20 minutes a night and has 7 goals and 16 assists for 23 points in 23 games. He hasn't scored a goal in 7 games. The Sabres without Tuch are 10-17-5. Pts per game have fallen slightly since Tuch was added to the lineup (.78 vs .74), but scoring is up slightly (2.74 vvs 2.65 for the season). Krebs has 3 goals and 7 assists for 10 points in his 21 games. Granted this debate will ebb and flow over time. Right now the I'd argue Tuch has improved the Sabres forward group, but that the team's other issues (goaltending and defense) are to overwhelming for that impact to influence the standing to much. As to LV, 6 games is to small a sample size given Jack's injury and missing a year of game action. However, I'm going to keep an eye on that shooting %. That needs to improve for Jack to have the impact LV purchased. I am glad Jack in back on the ice, but they need him to be a star for this to ultimately work for them.

Can someone update the title of this thread? How about something like "How much more upside does Dahlin have?"