Amerks8796

.892 save percentage for UPL. I know everyone was hyping him up, but I’m not seeing it. When is he going to show that he’s not consistently a below average goalie in the AHL?

Yes. Capfriendly tracks this quite accurately. If you click on his player profile, there’s a breakdown.

He does if he plays 4 more games.

I don’t think they’ll have a choice. Carrying 8 D is pretty common. They won’t waive Pilut or Fitzgerald. I think they’d waive Sheahan first.

No official announcement from the team, but the AHL transaction page has Brandon Davidson being signed. Hopefully he’s more of a permanent replacement for Pilut, and I can’t see him coming back.

I don’t see that as the issue. They struggled last year even when they had Samuelsson and Fitzgerald. I think it’s just a poor PK philosophy, in my opinion. Personal preference is a very aggressive PK.

22nd last year, 25th the year before. It’s a trend, and even going by the eye test, I just hate their PK. The philosophy seems to be a wedge plus one type kill that gives the opponent ample room at the point. The collapse down low and basically never pressure the puck. It’s a very passive PK and hasn’t worked for years.

The PK is so bad it’s almost hard to believe. I get that it’s a small sample size, but I think it’s at about 62% right now. You could not even try and do better.

I think this is good for everyone. Bjork needs to get his game back, and he should be productive in the AHL.

They’ve been hyping up UPL all preseason with being in better shape, and sometimes it’s just lip service, but he did look better last night. In general, the team is very fast. Fun team.

You could convince me that any of these lines are 1 through 4. I think these guys will get smoked against Toronto, who I think have a lot of veteran talent. But I think by Thanksgiving this team could be real good.

Whenever you read this stuff, it makes you realize how much more interesting players and coaches were back in the day. All the personality has been driven out over the years.

Kevin O shared another great story of Crozier on Facebook: The Amerks and Sabres lost an icon. Joe Crozier died today at 93. My favorite memory of The Crow: In 1987, after Game 5 of the Calder Cup finals, Leo Roth and I were flying back to Rochester from Sherbrooke on the team’s rickety prop charter plane. Sherbrooke thumped the Amerks 6-1. Absolutely schooled them. Somewhere above Lake Ontario, Joe sits down next to Leo and I, explains how important this championship would be, and then, as only Joe could do, strongly suggests that whatever we write, it can’t be anything but intensely critical. “Son, Joe said, “you gotta rip these guys.” The master motivator was simply doing what he did so well. Not that we needed any encouragement after the Amerks made Steven Fletcher look like Guy Lafleur that afternoon. RIP, Joe.

An Amerk legend, that’s for sure. Kevin O has a nice article on him. https://pickinsplinters.com/2022/10/11/amerks-mourn-passing-of-franchise-legend-joe-crozier/?fbclid=IwAR11XyA85M5Q90KGpBR3EOaozcmxmOOlrrYL1SRpr730mPWecAgA8HJXR6Q

So with no one on waivers today, the only move they’ll realistically make to get to 23 is Pilut and UPL down, Sheahan on IR.

There’s nothing to wait for. He’s a classic AHL veteran, and the reason he doesn’t have more games is partially his injury history. But anyway, Priskie has 3 NHL contracts, 4 NHL games. Close enough. Last year, Schuldt signed his 4th NHL contract with Buffalo. 0 NHL games. There’s likely many more throughout the league. It’s a weird line to draw. What’s the difference if he has 3 NHL games or 20? The Sabres view him as depth, and someone they can call up if injuries hit.

No. In fact, there are dozens of players who get 2 way contracts every summer to play in the AHL who rarely ever play in the NHL. It’s about as common as can be. Many of the AHL vets are making upwards of a 300-400K. The AHL is not the grind it used to be, and they make a good living.

I’m not really sure what’s so unusual about this. He left for another organization for a year, then returned to be one of the veterans. I guess it’s slightly odd that he re-signed with the Sabres as a FA, but he’s local, and the Sabres love his leadership.

This is exactly what I’ve been getting at. At first I thought Peterka would make the team with Pilut being sent down. But Pilut has earned a spot. People are projecting what they want to believe with Bjork, versus what probably will happen.

I would disagree. Tischke may have become their steadiest defenseman by the end of last season.

Contracts matter, whether people like it or not. They might waive him, maybe even 40 minutes from now. But they made a big thing about not paying big salary players in Rochester. And Lance seems the most in tune with the team, and he’s said a few times he doesn’t think they’ll waive hIm.

Every year there’s a player Sabres fans attach to in obsessing about getting waived or moved out of the organization. And it almost never happens. Bjork makes almost 2 million, and I don’t see them waiving him, or anyone taking him off their hands.

Davidson just returned from Russia, and is a FA. So is Mark Alt. I’d like to see them bring back either one as depth ideally.

Because I don’t think they’ll waive Bjork with his salary. And he’s a perfect player to park in the press box.

I expect some struggles out of the gate. The AHL is a very good league, and Kisakov, Rosen, Kulich etc will need time to adjust. But eventually I think they’ll end up very good. I’m general, the divisions seems to have weakened. Utica certainly got worse, Syracuse did very little in the offseason. And I think Rochester got better.