Drag0nDan

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.

39 points across 89 games in the last 3 seasons, and he turns 37 this season. I'm not sure he's worth much more than league minimum, in which case he might as well just wait to see if he can latch onto a contender for league min.

I mean... part of me wonders if there's really much left that can improve the Sabres. Claude Lemieux represents Roslovic, so i think he's holding out for an anything but Buffalo deal. Wouldn't shock me if we called and Claude basically said "not interested". I remember when we drafted his kid and he basically outright said he wasn't ever going to play in Buffalo.

All the clauses really muck it up. On the oldest teams in the league, everyone has clauses or is like 25 and under and is viewed as part of the future.

Kesselring and Doan being good friends i think helps too. Like knowing you're moving across the country kinda sucks, but knowing you're going with your current roommate and buddy makes it a lot easier to adjust.

Some time on the PP would probably balance it out. Win draws, screen the goalie, fetch the puck.

Other than the needs in the top 6 vs. LHD - is he more or less valuable a year from now? If the offers were bad, hold ur cards until the deadline or next offseason, or next deadline.

Opposite tage would probably make sense as they need a lefty there. Byram and Dahlin are both pretty good shooters, and you can rotate them a bit easier. Maybe use mcleod as a net front guy with tuch in the middle. Unit 2 would be power at the top - Norris in tages spot and kulich on the other, and two of zucker/quinn/benson/maybe doan if you're looking for more net front prescence.

I mentioned it on another thread, or earlier on this thread but... Buffalo gave up 289 goals last year, and only 1 playoff team allowed more than 239. I think the team rightfully is putting their eggs in the basket of trying to give up fewer goals since that seems to be the road to the playoffs. That's going to require better goaltending, defensemen doing a better job in front of the net, and forwards putting more effort into backchecking. The PP needs to be better. The PK needs to be better.

I'd imagine its cashflow for the Bills stadium more than anything. They sold ownership stake for cash for overruns too. I think the sabres were in the red for a number of years, and he needs them to not be costing millions of dollars in extras until the new stadium is completed.

From what i remember they divide the offer sheet total by 5 to determine draft compensation, so i doubt there would be a team offering a ton of term. So like 6yr 48M would be - 9.6M AAV which bumps up the compensation to 2 1sts, 1 2nd, and 1 3rd.

Byram's a weird one - i truly don't know what his value *is*, *should be*, or what we as fans have for him.