Drag0nDan

I wasn't shocked that the team looked better with him out of the lineup, hows that 🙂

There are definitely bats in the keycenter now, lets get some more in there. Home ice advantage!

Only way i see him approaching that 30 goal season is on a PP where they just shoot pucks at him and he gets better at deflections. So in that regard, maybe putting on some functional strength would do him well. When he was in the middle of our power play i feel like he didn't do that and just shot weak shots from the high slot in a panic.

Seemed to have lost his game a bit. Indecision all over the place - Where am i supposed to be, where is everyone else supposed to be, should i pass, should i skate, where should i go? Infuriating to watch. It's in the defensive zone too, do i cover this guy or that guy, do i pressure or play more passive to block the shot? Do i follow-through on this check or get up ice? He never seemed to develop a confidence. I think the bigger issue is he is just not a good shooter for being as sloppy a passer as he is. He can't create a shot, and when he does its almost always right into the goalie. I'm not sure how to fix some of these things, or if they're fixable. In any case, he's not Buffalo's problem anymore.

The amount of coverage of training camp and preseason games shows just how dead this part of the season is in sports. No news coming from anywhere about really anything to me would say that yes - this is probably the part of the year when little to nothing happens.

That the LTIR rules mean there is no risk to adding a NMC to a player contract.

Good - the place is in massive need of major overhaul. The physical seats are garbage, there are 0 sightlines from any concourses outside the 200s. The TV's around the stadium are probably 10-15 year old pieces of junk. The pre-game on ice production is terrible. The circle around the stadium is small and difficult to see. It feels like it's basement lighting. Peeling paint. Dust. Just an absolutely soul-less place that reflects about as much care as the team they put on the ice. I sat in the front row behind the goalie - there's a gap between the bleachers and the boards, a hole in the wall so they can run an extension cord for the goal light, and the seat bottom dips forward. My back shouldn't hurt from going to a hockey game. Also no freaking cups fit in the cup holders! Not a 20 oz soda, not a beer can, not a draft beer. Nothing. It's insanity! The other major overhaul I'd like to see is with the MSG production - it has gotta be the worst TV produced hockey in the league. Terrible angles. Dark. Sound is consistently off, and quiet. Like i hear the annoucers more than the action. And nothing takes me out of a game more than hearing a post clang like a second after it happened on the ice. Ok, rant over :-). I feel better.

There's like no risk anymore with them, if they get hurt you get the space back from LTIR. Who cares if the guy can't play the last 2 years of his deal? I'll just get another guy. The only risk is if they play poorly, and that your roster is largely locked.

I think you should be limited in the number of NMCs and NTCs you can have on your team. I also think if a player waives it to be traded, they no longer should have it on their new team.

Kinda how i felt about araiza with the bills tbh. People feel like getting acquitted means you did nothing wrong, or didn't display poor judgement.

Blindly passing it up the boards to no one in particular leads to turnovers? Who knew?!

Yes - but Hischier played 21 games in 20-21, and hughes was 19 and had 31 points. In 21-22 they used 7 different goaltenders.

Yeah, and now everyones reaching for roslovic who's agent is Claude Lemieux, who's son basically said "i'm not playing for buffalo". He was Olofssons agent when they signed him to those deals, but that was restricted free agency so you have a lot less control - and he still seemed to stress short-term deals to get out of buffalo.

When Ruff got to Jersey, the team was insanely young up-front (Bratt, Hughes, Hischier all under 23 - and a few others) and the blue line was pretty poor. Sabres this year tried to improve the blue line, and they need growth from the young forwards in Quinn, Benson, Kulich.

I feel like the only way they'll try and spend to the cap is approaching the deadline if they're in contention. It's also probably the only time that a player might waive a NTC/NMC to come here so it increases the talent pool, but also usually has increased trade costs. Unrestricted free agency was terrible this year after the majority of players opted to re-up prior, so it was almost like striking out without ever even going up to bat.

I can't name a single defenseman who played for those dallas teams - and i know they had lehtonen the entire time and while he played a lot of games, at his best he was not a top 10 or probably even 15 goalie in the league. The best season in jersey was when they had a healthy and motivated Dougie Hamilton. The season after that he missed time, and Ruff was fired.

I think they bungled it last year pretty badly. Levi making the team and then being a backup was just such a weird decision. If Levi makes the roster, i would assume it is to start because you believe he is going to give you the best chance to win. I also feel like... i don't want to say quick to hook - but you can't just have another completely lost season by january. This is (should be anyway) a season where likely the entire coaching staff and management are potentially let go if they can't get the team over the hump.

So many "if's" on this roster If they can get the PP into the top half of the league, that would probably = another 10ish goals. If they do the same with the PK, that's probably another 10ish saved. They were -20 in goal differential, so that alone is very important. If UPL/Lyon/Levi can go from bottom 2 or 3 in the league to league average - that'd probably be 30 or so goals fewer ( i used .902 as the team SV% vs. .888) If all those things happen, i think they're playoff bound regardless of the loss of some of the 5on5 scoring. Doing better than 6-13-3 against your own division (other than ottawa), would probably help jump a bit up the standings.

I stand corrected - he's a "media personality". Which i guess is just a famous fan at this point.

When did this become the standard for reporting?

I feel like Krebs doesn't shoot often or effective enough to be a tremendously high upside player. But putting some wings on his line that can actually occasionally score might unlike some more goals for him and the team down the lineup.

Fair statements, and my thoughts were probably oversimplified. There's been a strike and 3 lockouts since then so players have a lot more rights than they might have in the past.

This was pre-NMC's though. Lafontaine today would have a full NMC and would either pick a destination, or force you to keep him. The only move here is for players that don't have clauses and are in their early 20's. And most of the superstars in that age group are... i suppose no one is "untradeable", but the caliber player you're probably looking for has already been extended and isn't someone a team is looking to move.

The market's ice cold right now. But later on people will be hurt, contenders will be looking for help, and other teams will fire their GM's and the new guy might want to ship stuff out. If you have only like two teams calling about a player, its probably not a good time to trade the player.

Injuries definitely make a big difference. Florida's depth and coaching will help them weather any storm. Toronto still has a ton of great players, and a solid goalie tandem. Only thing i'd see that would cause tampa to fall is if vasilevsky misses time. Teams I think buffalo could potentially finish ahead of: Montreal's young, anything could happen. Ottawa gets a full season of cozens to contend with. Detroit I'm not sure they have enough goals, nor am i sure gibsons still a good goalie.