JohnC

I agree with every thing that you stated. Will any of the teams that have been ahead of us for the past number of years take a step back? I hope so. As you point out we will have a better opportunity to qualify if one of the teams with a history of being above us falters. And as you point out improved scoring is going to be a key issue for us to make to the post season. What I'm counting on is both Hall and Skinner regaining their scoring form. If they do our chances dramatically improve.

As you and most of the cohorts here point out the big question mark is the goaltending. I agree with that point to a large extent. But I also believe that if Ullmark can play at the same level that he did before getting hurt and with the added scoring upgrades this team should be in contention for a playoff spot. Last year, Hutton was a disaster. Was his precipitous decline due to his eye problems? I'm not sure how much it was a factor. Marty Biron who is a good evaluator of goalies has repeatedly stated that he is comfortable having Hutton as a backup as long as his games are limited. When Ullmark got hurt and his load was increased he faltered as Biron predicted he would with the added workload. And as Biron has stated in his evaluation of last year's team he felt that the biggest deficiency of the team was its lack of scoring. I'm hoping with the offseason additions that problem will be ameliorated. I'm not foolish enough to make a declarative statement that this team will be a playoff team. But I do believe that this team will be in contention for a playoff spot up to the end of the season.

The difference between good enough and not good enough is not significant. Adding a few players like Hall and Staal not only are good individual additions but they also elevate the players they are playing with. I'm hoping that with Staal as a 2C it will make Skinner a much more productive player. When you are a thinly talented team like the Sabres were last year the margin of error is very slim. A few inevitable injuries can have a major plummeting effect compared to a team with more depth that can better absorb the setbacks. I don't think it is unfair that this team will have more all around depth. In general, this year's team will be faster, more potent and the players who underperformed with their new coach last year, like Miller and Montour, should have a better grasp of his system. Our PK last year was near the bottom in rankings. That was a focus this offseason with some additions. So hopefully there will be an upgrade with this specialty unit. As it has often been stated one of the biggest question marks entering this season is its goaltending. However, I thought Ullmark played adequately as a #1 goalie for us. When he got hurt it was very damaging. If he can again play at the same level as he did last year with a better team in front of him his upward trajectory should continue. I'm not trying to be a blinded homer who overestimates his team. I certainly don't consider the Sabres to be an upper tier team. But I also think it is a fair-minded to believe that this team as it is currently constituted should be able to compete, if not qualify, for a playoff spot.

We'll see. I'm not as fixated on Hutton as being a major drag as most. If used sparingly such as once every three games or so he is acceptable. If a deal can be had for another goaltender I'm open to it. Without having any special inside information I think the front office is going to stand pat with what its got. My early attention is going to be watching to see if Hall and Skinner can get back to their standard scoring form.

I'm not sure about that. I think what he has now is what he is going to start the season with. This is a brief training camp where the lines and rotations will need to be quickly established. And after that due to injuries there will be plenty of lineup changes and experimenting. Because of the tight cluster of games will probably be more injuries and less opportunity to heal and recover. The ability to maintain a modicum of health is going to be an important factor for all teams. This is going to be a very unusual hockey year.

If you consider what the contract expectations would be for an improbable Cirelli signing the Staal trade was a good fallback deal for us. We got a player who can play 2C and it left us with room to sign Hall on a one year deal. If Cozens is expected to be our 2C in a year or two a Cirelli deal, which would have been a long term deal for us, would not have made sense. Our GM smartly maneuvered in this offseason market. He didn't overreach and maintained flexibility for the future. Well done!

I'm not rooting for him to fail. Quite the opposite. I want to see him succeed. Two players you cited in KO and Girgs are different style of players who are more suited for grittier and more rugged roles i.e. lower line roles. As a player he is more of a finesse type player whose style of play is more suitable for the top two lines. As of now I don't see him coming close to earning a top two line assignment. This is a make or break year for Mitts. I acknowledge that he is still very young and there is time for him to grow. But the problem with the youth defense is that even as a young player I haven't seen enough progression to his game. I'm not requiring him to make a giant leap forward but I do expect some steady growth to his game. My sense about Mitts is that he is similar to Alex Nylander in that he can show flashes of sparkling play that deludes one from the reality of his more often pedestrian and uninspiring play. I want your assessment of Mitts to be more right than my assessment of him. But my head (my eyes) are not matching my heart. I'm rooting for him. But odds are a player like Arttu moves ahead of him and his slide will continue to the point where he becomes a non-factor. I want to be wrong about him and I will be rooting for him.

Why do you project mid-season for him to grab a permanent spot in this lineup? If he doesn't earn a regular third line role when the team begins the season after the abbreviated training camp then that is a testament where he stands in the organization. Mitts has been an easy target for the bulk of the fandom to dismiss as an irretrievable prospect. I'm not in that discordant chorus. But it is apparent to me that if he doesn't beat out the other mostly young players he is vying for playing time his ranking in the organization will be on a downward trajectory when it will become obvious to all that he is a player no longer in this front office's plans. Cozens will inevitably move ahead of him as a player. Will Arttu? Quinn is in the pipeline and the projection for him is a first or second line forward in a couple to three years. So if he doesn't show very soon that he can contribute then I don't see Mitts moving up the ranks as I do see him sliding down the ranks. There is a window of opportunity for him this season. But that window is starting to close in this organization. It's up to him to show what he can do. If he can play at this level it will become obvious. If he can't play at this level it will also become obvious.

Texas was very cavalier about the virus until it started spiraling out of control. So the hard core resistant governor and his political cohorts out of fear had to change course. So even Texas has mask mandates. So if one doesn't want to be a Texas scofflaw just follow the protocol. ☠️ Mask Laws - COVID-19 & Texas Law - Guides at Texas State Law Library

That means that you are not abiding by the Covid stay at home protocols. You are a scofflaw. 😛

There are a number of players that I will be following. One of them is Skinner and another is Tage. The most important player could be Ullmark.

Has anyone ever said to you that you look like George Clooney when he was on the TV show ER?

Did you just wake up? Your hair needs to be combed, your shirt is wrinkled and your mask needs to be washed. Are you aware that your left arm lacks muscle. 🤡

What's bad about it? What's the harm? More than half of what is posted relates to opinions as opposed to facts. And without a doubt some of the opinions are bat shiiit crazy. Being introduced to crazy shiiit doesn't hurt you unless you allow it. And if that is the case then you got bigger issues to contend with.

My primary point is if the basic recommendations of wearing a mask, social distancing and washing hands the virus would be less pervasive. General undiscriminating lockdowns aren't effective. But selectively done where appropriate is one of the standard methods to done to contain the virus. There are no perfect solutions and there are no easy solutions. But when the basic tools to handling this virus spread become more of a political commentary than a public health and science commentary then you end up where we are. And that ain't good!

The Tampa organization is one of the best run hockey operations in the business. One way or the other their front office was going to figure out a way to adroitly handle their cap and roster situation. Their record over the years is a testament to their savviness.

I'm not intending a political tinge to my response but for someone who is involved in the medical profession you are way out of step with the mainstream medical profession on Covid. You seem to be making the point that a complete lockdown that would have had devastating economic consequences was the only alternative to arresting this virus. That is a false narrative. If more people would have simply followed the basic guidance such as wearing a mask, social distancing, washing hands etc. the situation would now be less dire although still fraught with danger. It's surprising and troubling that someone involved in the health business has allowed political influences to permeate the science associated with public health issues. With respect to your comment about your head in the sand compared to figurative sand it is puzzling and makes no sense. Do you know what petty nonsense isn't? More than 300,000 people dying and still counting and the losses to their families.

The Diggs acquisition goes beyond a transaction for a terrific player. It represents a front office and organization that has from the start laid out a play and then has systematically implemented it. If the front office would have acquired Diggs a couple to a few years ago when our qb situation wasn't stable the receiver's talents wouldn't have been as maximized as they are now. By getting him this offseason entering Josh's third year when he was more prepared and the team was more complete demonstrated a wisdom where this team was and ready to go. Let's hope that the hockey organization can exhibit the same level of astuteness that the football side of the Pegula business has demonstrated.

Your comments on where Ullmark was as a player last year are fair. But as you noted he has improved every year, and it is his progression that I am counting on. There is also the context that our goalies played in. The soft goal that is let in is greatly magnified when the team struggles to score. On the other hand when a soft goal is allowed on a team that has a better ability to score can more easily overcome the soft goal. So the goalie limitations aren't so apparent and consequential. Or to put it in arithmetic terms the plusses elsewhere compensate for the minus at the backstop.

You've identified two players who will be key players this season. I thought that last year Ullmark made the jump up and looked like a # 1 goalie. When he got hurt this team wasn't the same. He needs to continue on with his progression. Playing on a line with a genuine 2C should put Skinner in a position to succeed. Having a quality second line isn't something we had last year. The Sabres have had a recent history of starting off strong and then taking a plunge and not being able to regain its footing. I'm sure that was due to a lack of depth. It appears that we have added some depth that will give us a greater margin for error.

Glad you are feeling better. This had to be a tough and frightening experience to go through. Just curious but does being infected a factor in if or when you should receive the shot when it becomes available?

I'm a bit confused with your response. Assuming our goaltenders remain the current tandem do you believe the Sabres are a playoff team? I'm not disputing your position because I'm not sure what it is? I acknowledge there is reasonable justification to each side of the issue. I believe the Sabres will qualify for the playoffs with our current goalie tandem. As like you I believe with the added forwards and with internal improvement I consider this team good enough to be a playoff team. They are not in my mind a Cup contender but they do have enough talent to be in the playoffs even with the more challenging alignment.

The fun part about talking about a highly speculative trade is that you are placing a value on the player you are offering and also the player you are trading for. How many different values have been assigned to Risto over the years in a speculative trade and to the targeted player in the receiving side? On this site there were numerous values place on Reinhart for an imaginary deal. That in itself is interesting. This is good bar talk at the keyboard without the imbibing and slurring of speech.

I'm responding to your post with respect and no antagonism. I appreciated the private exchange we had on this issue outside of the public board. My position is that the Covid issue is a health and also a political issue. They are inescapably intertwined. It's not impossible but extremely difficult to discuss this issue of how it has been handled and where we are with it without the tinge of politics. My recommendation then and now is to move it out of the hockey site and put it on the political site. In that way there isn't a necessity to police comments on this turbo charged topic.

What's shifting is that the virus contamination is everywhere and getting worse. No location is sufficiently clean. I'm aware that the players don't like the idea of playing in a hub but for the short term it might be the best option. If you look at the college and even the pro ranks few teams have been able to avoid the plague. What do you do if a player/s in the very abbreviated training camp becomes infected. Then what do you do? If there is a quarantine then the roster is sidelined. If a team is sidelined how do you rework an already tight schedule? This is a challenging situation with no easy answers.