Broken Ankles

I'm firmly in the camp that he has done something, only that its mostly to the Defense. Look at all trades in the last 12+ Months. Joki, Miller, Montour, Beaulieu, and Fedun. The only trade on the Forward side is Vesey, and so far that is a fail. This is based on the fact it was only a 3rd. And in terms of Free agency, the Skinner signing fell in the category of Vanek - you had to do it. I don't give credit or blame. Marcus Johansson is a plus. Lazar is replacement level and came with no risk, only potential. Understanding it takes two to tango, I ask what is the real value of our Defense? Scandella, Bogo, McCabe, Risto, or Miller. I've heard rumors on all of these players as tradable assets, but maybe there are offers but JB fears getting swindled again, and this is giving him pause. Meanwhile, Winnipeg whom we all thought would be desperate for a defender and coming to the table with a top six forward in return is 15-9-1 and third in their division with only 2 of last years starting 6 on Defense. So I ask, seriously, after watching Risto play the last week or two, what is his value? It's like my stock in Uber. Over the summer I thought it was a great buy falling to $34. Not feeling that great in late November. I fear we are going to get 2nd and 3rd round picks (or equivalents in prospects) from a top tier team needing a 5-6 depth D for some of these players and how does that help this year or next? I think the only teams serious about trading are teams that have players they are trying to dump. The Preds healthy scratch Turris the last 5 games - and he is an anchor on their cap @ $6M for the next 4+years. Want to take a flier on that? Nope. Can Jason Zucker be had straight up for Risto? I don't think so. Chris Kreider? Another UFA? Pass on another LW Blue Shirt. So unless he is willing to trade a real asset I cannot see how we are going to be realize help in the top 6 this year.

If you factor in your Buffalo diet, drinking and the stress of dealing with this franchise an Actuary might say you have less than that. ?

Hutton's last 4. Over the next two weeks, how many games does Carter start? How many should he start? I see back to back this weekend and next, so I'm going with 2. Give Linus a load to see if he can carry it.

What are you implying here? "Buffalo, a drinking town, with a sports problem".

Some of Casey #'s according to Hockey Reference. Compared to last year - Giveaways down, Face-off win % up, & Defensive zone starts up. However P.P.G. down (including zero in November), TOI down, Corsi down, and Fenwick down. This was supposed to be his breakout year. He seems to be 'middling'....neither very good nor very bad. And certainly a disappointment at #8 overall.

Agreed. I was thinking what would Tampa do without Stamkos. He was obviously replaced, but the puck movement reflected that. It's not like they had his replacement on the wing waiting for a one-timer the whole time. The Risto PP goal gave me hope. Last nights PP while generating opportunities reflected a regression.

It also coincides with Marcus Johansson's departure from the line up too. I'd be hard pressed to think the Sabres are not better off without him in the line up, and equally not a fan of Vlad, but you know - causation - correlation. Hard when there are multiple variables.

Where is the happy face emoji? I actually like Bogo not playing on a back to back after injury. And I approve your healthy-scratch of McCabe.

I find joy in this development. I think they call it schadenfreude. Thanks for posting this!

McCabe has an A, and Risto is being shopped. Only reason that might prevent them from being scratched. I’m with @woods-racer on the experiment. See what happens. What’s the worst thing that happens? They lose?

Too modest. Should have been....

Dahlin & Bogo “We’re getting the band back together”. The metrics last year showed them as a good pairing. Ralph needs to try anything to get Rasmus going.

Load Management. Back to back games? Guessing.

+1 on Lazar. Sandpaper, grit and compete level are other descriptions of his play. At 1/6 the cost of Kyle, I’m sold. Agree also on Risto on net front presence. Why did it take so long? Seriously. After the Ducks game I would have thought teams have solved the power play. Why is Jeff playing 16 1/2 minutes total? I honestly didn’t mind mixing up the PP, but he needs to be back on FL#1 skating 21 minutes a night. Having the same TOI as VO and Ville Vesey (not on Twitter but someone needs to make this a thing) is just wrong. Glimmer - a faint sign of a feeling. Sounds right. Appreciate the effort but still lacking talent.

That save is the key to the period. This team gives way too many under 60 seconds. Mindset in the locker room is way different after going in tied vs down.

Is it wrong that I was disappointed he didn’t fall through the ice? Don’t answer.

They replaced the smelling salts with Chloroform.

It has been said that “adversity does not build character it reveals it.” It does not get any easier for this team. Only three winnable games in the next 15. If we see a collapse like last year, God help us. Massive changes like GM, Coach and most likely Jack for Tank 3.0.

Exactly. Myers WON the Calder, and Dahlin finished third. So he's close. ?

https://www.nhl.com/sabres/news/buffalo-sabres-recall-tage-thompson-amerks/c-311436640

I think that was said about Myers too.

Plus One on this sentiment. I know KO is injured but if either of these two continue to play like that, does he deserve his roster spot back? @inkman you have watched Asplund in Roch this year, what are your thoughts about his game tonight.

According to cap friendly they have $33.6m in projected space, and the Cap will mostly likely go up $3m next season. So $36-37 is close to 40. In addition Casey is a 10.2c RFA. Qualifying offer is all that is required, and is not offer sheet eligible. Montour is still an RFA so unless his deal is long term, his raise will not be that sizable. Ullmark is QO unless he somehow turns into Binnington. Sams’ deal could be big. Depends. After you bury KO in the AHL, you have $20m in space. Agree on bold. Next summer is huge.

Exactly. Is this a Left Right thing? B/c I can think of two LD needing a dose of ‘healthy scratch’.

It’s a little early here on the left, but ummm...ok.