Archie Lee

Nothing about Adams and Granato suggests they are the type to figuratively slap anyone in the face.

You are likely to be very disappointed.

Here's what I think happened over the last 12 games. - The Sabres played, on balance, their best hockey of the year. They needed to in order to have any chance to get in and they full committed and played good hockey regardless of who was in net - This corresponded with circumstances that required the organization to make certain commitments to Levi and, also, to the organization's legitimate desire to see Levi in NHL action - When Levi got into a game he played well and showed he had the ability and that he could handle the pressure of the moment - Given the situation the Sabres were in, Levi was the best candidate to help them do the improbable. He was the "lightning in a bottle" goalie and his maturity made the Sabres comfortable that they could roll with him without fear that there would be negative consequences - When they were eliminated in game 80, a reasonably healthy Anderson was the logical option for the last home game against Ottawa - That then left game 82. Going with Levi was not a slight against UPL or Comrie; it was the opposite. Levi had been playing and was game ready. Comrie last played March 27. UPL last played April 1. Levi had written a good story for himself. Nothing could realistically happen in game 82 against Columbus that would ruin Levi's end to the season. Comrie and UPL, on the other-hand had up and down years. Their last games were good though (UPL beat NJ and Phi; Comrie shut-out the Islanders and was arguably the Sabres best player in the shoot-out loss to Montreal). Going with Levi allowed all 4 goalies to end their seasons on high notes.

It would be unorthodox to be sure. But outside of the Hall signing (very different circumstances) and trading for Tuch (again, very unique circumstances), Adams has not made a major acquisition of a veteran player via trade or free agency. Until Adams makes such a move at least once, it is difficult for me to conclude that him making such a move is now imminent. Under the circumstances (Levi pencilled in as #1, the Sabres being unlikely to commit to a veteran goalie on a longer term or larger AAV, the Sabres likely being unwilling to move higher end assets for a goalie), I honestly don't see a realistic goalie acquisition this off-season where it could be said definitively that the acquired goalie is a rock-solid better option than Comrie/UPL.

The Sabres were 9-2-1 over their last 12 games. Levi started 7, went 5-2 with a .905 save %. Comrie, UPL and Anderson started the other 5 and went a combined 4-0-1 with a .924 save %. Levi was great. I think the evidence might support though, that the team fully committed to taking a serious run over the home stretch and, on balance, they played their best overall hockey of the season, regardless of who was in net. Like everyone, I'm very excited about Levi. His track record is incredible. Coming in as he did late in the year and showing his ability and confidence was impressive. His focus and presence seem elite. I do think he is the guy going forward. Discarding UPL though, unless he is part of a package for something significant, would be a big mistake I think. UPL was a 2nd round pick. In his last year of junior he was OHL goalie of the year and led Finland to World Junior gold where he was the 1st team all star. In his first 13 NHL games, played prior to this season, he had a .913 save %. He struggled with consistency this year to be sure, but won 17 games and was NHL rookie of the month for January when he went 6-2-1 with a .907 save % (wins in January are as important as wins in March and April). Tossing him aside now might be as foolish as it would have been to toss aside Thompson or Mittelstadt a couple of years ago, as many fans would have gladly done. I could not be more excited about Levi. Ideally we would have a true #1 goalie who is clearly part of the long-term core and who stabilizes the position for 7-8 years. Of the goalies we have, like most people I think Levi is the top candidate for that role. As excited as I am about Levi though, I'm not sure it would be wise to conclude he is unquestionably that guy based on 7 NHL games with a .905 save %. From an age perspective, we have two goalies who fit in with the current long-term core and who have a track-record of strong amateur accomplishments with some short-term NHL success. I think it would be premature to get rid of one of those goalies because he was inconsistent at age 23.

I've seen/heard this sentiment expressed a few times. Why does starting Levi in game 82 mean we are moving on from both Comrie and UPL?

No team makes a goalie look better than the Canes (maybe the Bruins). I would be wary of giving more than a year to Andersen or Raanta. I would bet more on Comrie and UPL looking good on the Canes than I would on Andersen or Raanta fixing our goalie issues.

I like the Joel Savage reference. 1988. 35 years ago. Where does time go? I make old references like that all of the time. I wonder if in 1988 their were hockey fans cautioning against getting excited about a prospect because there was a 19 year old kid in 1953 who didn't pan out. Your opinion on Johnson is as valid as anyones. If you have seen Johnson play more than twice then your opinion holds more value than mine. Another opinion is Corey Pronman's, from the Athletic. In October 2022 he did a 2019 re-draft and had Johnson going at #35 and in the tier of "middle of the line-up NHL players". Another is Scott Wheeler's, also from the Athletic. In Feb 2023 Wheeler ranked the Sabres as having the league's 6th best prospect pool and Johnson as our 6th best prospect. He wrote a couple of paragraphs on Johnson's game. His closing sentence was: "[Johnson is] not likely to be a big special-teams guy in the NHL, which could limit his upside, but I like him as a possession-driving No. 4-6 who is quietly effective at both ends at even strength. He has also played both sides in college, which gives him some flexibility." I will be disappointed if we don't get him signed. He seems like a high floor but low ceiling prospect. The combination of the lower ceiling and the compensatory draft pick do somewhat mitigate the potential loss.

A factor in keeping players in the AHL (or Junior or Europe) is the availability of positions on the NHL roster. Sometimes there just isn't a suitable spot available. As the Sabres get better and deeper there will not be 2-4 spots available for rookies every year. Every player gets one development path. There is simply no way to know if a player would have ended up better or worse had a different path been followed. All you have is where the player is trending and where they end up. People spent years lamenting how Thompson and Mittelstadt were rushed and poorly developed and now one is a star and the other is making a strong case to be a long-term middle-six contributor. Would they have arrived earlier or be better players today if they had spent more time in the AHL? Or would they have been better staying in the NHL and being healthy scratched 1/2 of the time? It is impossible to know.

There are a few factors that make Savoie going back to Winnipeg a far less than terrible option: - The Ice are coached by James Patrick. Adams had gone out of his way to express how comfortable they are with a prospect playing under Patrick. - The Ice are likely to have Benson and Geekie back next year, along with a lot of other good players including their starting goalie. They will be a strong team again and Savoie might be in line to be their captain. It is not unrealistic that they could be looking at a rare opportunity for a repeat championship season. - Savoie will be a top player on Team Canada's World Junior team if he is made available. The other factor is that there are a limited # of spaces available in Buffalo. Let's assume that Okposo and Girgs are not re-signed and that Olofsson is traded (which is far from certain). That still leaves Thompson, Skinner, Tuch, Cozens, Quinn, Peterka, Mittelstadt, Krebs, Greenway and Jost taking 10 spots with probably at least 8 of those players being on the top 3 lines. Factor in the possibilities that they want to make a spot or two available to the secondary Rochester prospects who have earned opportunities (Rousek and Biro as examples) and that they may want to add a veteran presence through trade or free agency and there are just not many spots available. I think Savoie and Kulich are either middle six regulars or they are back in Rochester and Winnipeg. I'm ok with that. It is a sign that we are getting better that there is not an obvious spot available to a prospect.

I’m not saying that Levi would not benefit from AHL time. But, the fact that Miller, Oettinger and Hellebuyck all got AHL time does not mean they needed AHL time.

I hope the team is not too disheartened and still takes a “one game, one period, one shift at a time” approach. The 2 games in hand make it at least interesting as if we win those we are only 2 pts back with all the teams having 4 remaining. Just beat Detroit.

There is likely no direct comparable. To me he is a smaller, less physical but better skating Samuelsson. If it works out he will be to Power what Sammy is to Dahlin. The stable defender who lets the more dynamic player do his thing. The Sabres don’t seem overly concerned with left/right when it comes to Power and Dahlin.

Would have liked to see him play in Granato’s system. Just another example of how directionless the prior GM was. Use the 1st o/a pick on Dahlin, one of the most dynamic young d-men to come along in a generation. Trade a first for Montour, a strong skating high event d-men. Add these two to a base of forwards that includes Eichel, Reinhart, Mittelstadt, Thompson, Skinner. Then hire Ralph Krueger to implement the low event system used to get the talent-starved Swiss men’s hockey team into the medal round of international tournaments.

There is more than one way to get there. It doesn't really matter to me if we get there through development or through trades/free agency. You do probably need to start with a core though. The Bruins don't have much of a prospect base and have recently gone all in by trading their top picks, but they have an obvious core that they developed first. My concern is for the psyche of certain players who have seen little but losing over multiple seasons. I think that the organization does owe something to players like Dahlin, Thompson, Skinner, Mittelstadt, Jokiharju, Tuch, Cozens and Tuch (who has fully bought in), who have spent 2-5 years with the team and have yet to play in a playoff game. During the most recent tailspin, we started to see some frustration from Dahlin that was not present late last year and through the first months of this season. Fair or not, my sense is that this group of players is more personally invested in the organization than Eichel and Reinhart were, but there are likely limits to this. At some point I think you probably need to commit to winning being a clear expectation and priority. We clearly have many players who are ready to win now. I don't want Adams to do anything rash, but the acquisition of the right veteran player or two can certainly make a significant difference to a team as it ascends from rebuilding to contending. Of course, there are still meaningful games to play this season...

Again, what do people mean when they reference the LGBTQ+ lifestyle? I have close family and friends who are part of the LGBTQ+ community and their lifestyle is the same as mine. They get up, go to work or school, love and respect their friends and family, play sports, go to movies, share intimate moments with their partners, raise their children best they can, watch the Sabres, volunteer when they can, look out for neighbors, have regrets and hopes, sometimes make mistakes. What is it about their "lifestyle" that is different?

So long as you have a chance to get in the playoffs, I think you are doing your fans a disservice to not play to win. I grew up with a 16-21 team NHL. In those days 12-16 teams (75%) made the playoffs but in any given year there were probably 2-4 teams that had a legitimate shot and most years there was a clear favourite (MTL, NYI, EDM). Making the playoffs and winning a round, or even two rounds in the old Norris Division, was not that great an accomplishment. Today, with 32 teams and 50% making the playoffs and 8-10 teams with a legit chance to win, I think making the playoffs is an accomplishment and winning a round is a significant accomplishment. Pittsburgh is not likely to beat Boston or Carolina (though the Canes are a little vulnerable, in my view), but upsets do happen. I look forward to the Sabres having a 6-7 year run as a legit top 5 contender followed by a 3-4 year period where we wonder if it is time to start it over again. I say ride the pony as long as it will run. Rebuilds can always be started tomorrow.

What lifestyle?

I wasn't making any predictions, but fair enough. I was probably overly exuberant in using the words "would likely get us in" and should have used "could possibly get us in".

You are right that it makes no sense because my math was wrong. It will take a 9-2 finish, not 8-3. Not sure what the "apples to apples" reference is getting at.

NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said in the last day or two that the NHL has "no information that would suggest there is any material threat that would exist related to a Russian player participating in a club's Pride activities".

Pittsburgh is in WC2 by points and points %. The Penguins are on pace for 91 points. Incredibly, if the Sabres win tonight in regulation they would be in a position where a 7-3 finish over the final 10 would project them into a tie for WC1. Put another way, an 8-3 finish from here would likely get us in. EDIT: Also, incredibly, my math was wrong. It would take a 9-2 finish from here.

Fair enough. I’m not defending how Adams has handled the goaltending situation. My position 2 years ago was that the Demko deal (5x5) was what it would take to get Ullmark signed and I still think that was true and what should have happened long before Ullmark got to free agency. I just think that, right or wrong, the timeline that the organization is on is not the same as the timeline most of us fans would like to see them commit to. I don’t see though that they consider top-level goaltending as non-essential to our future success.

This does not really align though, with the fact that Levi has been a clear centrepiece of Adams’ rebuild. It remains to be seen what Levi will do for the team in either the near or distant future, but Adams clearly thinks he has a special player. If you could get Adams in a candid moment and ask him to reveal the most important and vital player acquisition he has made, I would guess he would say it is Levi.

We have won lots of games this year where our goalies were the difference on the positive side. We do not have goalies though who will allow you to consistently just trade chances with the opposition. Nashville’s 3rd goal last night was a great example of what we have been seeing since the break. We score to get back in it and immediately lose all patience; Joker makes an ill-advised pinch, Okposo fails to properly cover and Stillman gives up the centre of the ice and its 3-1 and really the game is over. Sure, Anderson could make the save (and we should expect our goalies to) but this team gives up way too many uncontested opportunities. I don’t care what the analytics say, there is a difference between a slot shot where the shooter is hurried by a defender and one where the shooter has time to pick his spot. We give up more of the latter than any of the teams we play and until that’s fixed we will need Hasek level goaltending to be a winning team.