GoPuckYourself

Great win for us out of the gate. Anderson was our saving grace in this 1, he was unbelievable. I feel the same about Middlestadt as I've felt last season, gives the puck away too much, not fast, not tough imo. But it's only game 1 so hears to hope. Jokiharju Is terrible at everything. I'm almost to the point where I think we should sit him that's how bad he is. Power was definitely shaky at best but he's still young and he might have that I need to do everything mentality right now. Samuelsson, Tuch, Cozens and Lybushkin are our only tough players, most others seemed to get knocked around fairly easy, I didn't notice Thompson out there most of the time, that's never a good thing but again way too early. Congrats to Peterka, hopefully that's 1 of many goals he gets. All in all I thought we were rusty at first and took us the period to get our legs back, that Peterka line was on fire and if Anderson can give us this type of play throughout the year then we're golden but at 42? that's alot to ask.

I like this signing alot, 4.28M for a wrecking ball and shutdown defensemen. I'm all for it!

I just saw what you had to say on it now, it's all very realistic questions that we'll have answered. I agreed with all but I think Power is going to be unbelievable in a great way. Just watching a small sample size he looked like a player who can be a driving force for us. The only game that i saw him really struggle was against the Blues, Tarasenko put a clinic on him but he does that to even the best players so I wont fault him there.

I'm trying to be realistic, I see around the same record as last year. I don't think Goaltending is strong enough yet, if we have any key injuries on defense then we'll be in trouble as we're pretty thin imo as far as depth. Plus a bunch of unknowns like Jeff Skinner (can he sustain what he did last season?), Tage Thompson (Had a career year by a mile), Kyle Okposo (Had his best year in a very long time, does he have anything left?). Of course I hope I'm wrong and we make the playoffs and I think we're definitely headed in the right direction but there are too many question marks this season.

You should say in Buffalo leadership does not equal hockey skills, I look around the league and I see otherwise..... Pitt- Crosby, TOR- Tavares, EDM-McDavid, WAS-Crosby, BOS-Bergeron, OTT- Tkachuk, TAM- Stamkos, SJ- Couture, FLR- Barkov, COL- Landeskog and the list goes on.

It is what it is I guess, hopefully we can finally make a playoff run! I just wonder what it will look like if were already out of the playoff picture halfway through the season again.

I'm baffled as to why Tuch wasn't even given the "A", Girgensons over Tuch? I don't mind Okposo, I understand that but not giving Tuch anything at all doesn't sit well for me since Girgensons isn't a ra ra leader type and doesn't lead by example on the score sheet so I don't really understand the logic there.

I view it differently, many of these players are fighting for roster spots, I don't see it as a glorified scrimmage at all, we had fighting, some decent hits... none of the players looked like they were coasting on either side of the puck. I think these games are what tells you if a guy like Pilut could be a bottom pairing defensemen, is Savoie ready for the big leagues yet along with countless others? We have a very young group about ready to come join the roster, it's crucial for us to bring up the right guys and I believe these games tells us who should and who still needs time just my 2 pennies.

Skinner looks like the best player on the ice so far imo. Bad goal by Anderson, Tuch did a great job only allowing the shooter to shoot on Anderson's glove side and they still scored. Like a few have posted... Samuelsson isn't playing well, I really don't like how Jokiharju is playing at all and Dahlin is having another solid outing, same with Power, Tuch is playing an all around good game, Thompson is noticeable as well. Middlestadt continues to unimpress me.

I'd really love for the Sabres to not pick the safe choice here to be honest, Alex Tuch is most likely the captain after Okposo's contract is up next year, I think he is the do everything Shane Doan type of leader we need here. I like Okposo, he seems like a great guy but I don't see him being here after this season so why go through this all again next year?

What are you possibly going to get of value for him? I think he's more important to this roster as a bottom tier hard working forward who is a grinder, we don't have many of those left imo.

As another poster stated, Fortin was all I needed to see that we are moving in the right direction. Losing has to weigh heavily on those who are super competitive and it looks like we're finally steering this ship in the right direction.

I sure hope so.

For me they’re a season away, maybe a bit longer if Thompson is a 1 hit wonder. Unfortunately our magical run was when the season was lost and there was nothing to lose but having Power, Peterka, Quinn and Tuch should definitely help. Comrie is probably a huge X factor in all this but there is such a small sample size. Of course if I’m wrong I’d be ecstatic.

Vegas sure knows what they're doing. I think right at this mark or below is where I'm at. There will be a lot of young players in the lineup and a brand new goalie. I'll say below by 1 point but next year is the year we finally make playoffs.

Hey at least you got a conversation, I get an eye roll emoji.

I get that he's played with grown men but the Czech league and AHL are 2 different animals. Besides that this will be his first taste of north american hockey if I read that right? I know he has to learn at some time but this seems like quite a leap for him right off the bat. I'm sure he's capable I just don't recall such a leap in a short period of time for a guy selected 28th overall but I'm also excited to see what he can bring to Rochester as well.

Hopefully not rushing him into the lineup.

I would hate to extend all these players when we don't even know who our true core players are yet besides Dahlin.

I liked the way Thompson played last season, he was dominant at times. I just don't understand why they couldn't wait and see as I doubt the price would have went up much higher for him but it matters not since he's a Buffalo Sabre now for 7 years, let's go..... I'm really looking forward to this season.

I'd say if he doesn't play like he did the 2nd half of the season all year long then it's a huge disappointment. He was not just looking like a star but a franchise type of player. I was waiting for him to start leveling people and it was a thing of beauty when he was laying out guys like Austin Matthews. He was solid defensively and offensively and you could tell guys were looking up to him, he and Samuelsson look like a solid duo for many years to come.

I went with the go big or go home approach and to be honest I was never a fan of Reinhart, he had the hockey IQ but never had the wheels that Quinn has. I know I'm not the majority who believes that but we all have different opinions. I think Quinn is a difference maker if he isn't buried on a 3rd/4th line but that's just me.

20 G 25 A, anything more than that will be a bonus imo. I don't think he'll be playing on the first 2 lines so he'll probably have some nice ups but also some duds.

Levi is top 3 in my mind but I'm sure you can ask 20 people and come up with 20 entirely different lists.

2 pages for Johan freaking Larrson? Man I can't wait for the season to start.