Porous Five Hole

I feel like Tampa took the Aves “A game” pretty well. Got knocked down and fought back. It’s all going to come down to Vasy and his ability to be the difference. The elevation aspect will be less impactful on Tampa for game two, and the warm temperatures slowing the ice will help them in this series. They’re the bigger team and they play better team defense. The Aves talent edge is pretty undeniable, especially with how their D skates. I don’t have a feel for who will win the series, but I love this matchup.

If any/all of your above was accurate, then GMTM wouldn’t have made the decision to trade for Lehner in the first place. The only way flipping Lehner and assets for Bishop was plausible is if GMTM realized he erred in the the original Lehner trade. There’s nothing to substantiate that. Also, Bishop was Vezina level at the time of your proposed scenario, and there just no way Tampa was moving on in your timeline of events.

If the Bolts win again in the cap era, it is going to put Yzerman in the hall of fame twice, and Brisebois in the hall of fame too. A three-peat in the Cap era exceeds a four-peat by the Isles in the non-Cap era. Simply incredible.

It was an interesting rabbit hole for me to dive into. The timing of the trade of Bishop at the 16-17 trade deadline to the Kings didn’t align all that well with the Sabres timeline. Buffalo traded for Lehner prior to the 15-16 season (traded for in June 2015). Bishop had a career year during the 13-14 season and an outstanding year during the 14-15 season. Tampa wasn’t going to move on. In the 15-16 season, Bishop was also outstanding. His 16-17 season was his worst in three years (2.55 GAA, .911 save percentage), and was battling injuries. The emergence of Vasy was undeniable (his baseline stats of 2.61 GAA, .917 save percentage that year) made Bishop expendable given Vasy’s future outlook. So the timeline didn’t mesh well. But I wish it did!

The headlines were a little misleading. The updated report was that he hit a car while bicycling to work, and not that he was hit by a car.

I realize it isn’t any of my business, but the vagueness of the statement has me worried for the Pegula family.

The ESPN link on their headlines stated “Bills, Sabres owner facing health issues.” I was shocked when it stated Kim just because Terry is so much older. But either way, my heart sank when I read it.

Again, I agree with you. Please tell me who you think is going to give Jack Campbell, a veteran of 70 NHL games, 6M AAV?

Yes I agree with what you’re saying. I’m just commenting that Campbell should not get the same percentage of cap as Helle. UFA or not.

I would love to know how evolving hockey has projected these goalie contracts. Contract projections is subscriber only content. The Campbell projection is a few hundred grand from Hellebuyck AAV money. What the what?? Also, Husso has 61 NHL games played over three seasons. That’s now a 5 million AAV player? Not asking you, but asking out loud. I am very skeptical of both projections.

Freddy started that year 12-3-2 and then got hurt. I don’t think his previous seasons were rough. He was a solid #1 for a playoff team. https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/andersen-playing-injury-leafs-wasnt-best-idea/sn-amp/

Frederik Andersen signed for 2/4.5mil AAV last offseason. Andersen’s body of work is more complete (209 games played at that time) than Campbell’s (71 games played as of today). Campbell made 1.8m last year. No one in the league is giving Campbell a five year deal, and no one is giving him 5 million AAV. I would offer 2 years at 4 mil AAV, or 3 years at 3.6 mil AAV.

I wanted to vote for Jack Campbell, but there’s simply no way he gets a four year deal from anyone. Andersen was in the same situation last year, and signed a two year deal for 4.5 mil AAV with Carolina. I expect something similar.

I think it just comes down to projected roster spots available. There just aren’t too many that aren’t already written in pen (especially if you assume JJ/Quinn are on the big club). You don’t want to blow up the salary slotting of your roster because you had to overpay for a couple of UFA’s due to sheer necessity.

I’ll bite. Please tell me. I get that the rafters are an arbitrary standard and opinions are certainly going to differ. My take is Miller was the voice/heartbeat of the team for a long time (his Captains included Pommer/Rivet for the majority of his most fulfilling seasons—Oof), he spent twelve years in the organization, is second to Dom in all major goaltending categories that span 50+ years, and he really seems to be a genuine human who represented the organization beautifully. If you want to point to a guy in the last generation or two who did things the right way, it’s him. He’s the standard to strive for in what it means to be a Buffalo Sabre. That’s what the team is trying to re-establish. I’m not trying to challenge any of the respected posters and fans here who don’t agree. But the more I think about it, the more I’m happy to see it.

Brilliant!

What is this joke in reference to? I’m lost…

I’ve gotten high sticked twice in ball hockey with no helmet/visor. I wasn’t cut either time…just welts. But whether it was a learned behavior from watching pros, or just the panic, I did the exact same thing. However, goalies and their equipment coverage are a totally different story.

This right here! Five years is far too long. Too many previous injuries. Too much Sabres stink on him. To me, his decent year is largely attributed to the Bruins outstanding defensive team game. He was only able to start 41 games this past season. That’s not worth 5M at all.

-8th in NHL in Regulation Wins -Goals Against per Game 4th best (with Swayman & Ullmark!) -Penalty Kill 9th/PP 15th best -Shots per Game 2nd highest -Shots Against per Game 3rd lowest So let’s fire the coach? ??

This is the second game in a row Shesterkin reacted like he was shot in the face. There certainly was contact, but, no worse for wear at the next face off. He’s a Grade A soccer diver. I wondered aloud during game two that if he reacts like that to a glance to the head, then he should have to go to the quiet room (concussion observation). That overreaction stuff would dwindle if that were the case.

I agree that there isn’t a good comparison. @dudacek covered the key Rangers above. Also note that none of them were drafted by NYR. Maybe because the Rangers picked high in back to back years that it may have been thought of as a rebuild? Comparing those drafts: In 2019, the Rangers drafted Kakko second overall. He is 21 years old, has 26 goals/58 pts in 157 games so far, and isn’t a liability out there. He plays wing. Sabres took Cozens at seventh overall. He is 21 years old, and has 17 goals/51 pts in 120 games. He plays center. I would rather have Cozens because he plays center and will be harder to play against. in 2020, the Rangers drafted Lafreniere first overall. He will turn 21 around the start of next season, has 31 goals in 135 games so far, and also isn’t a liability out there. He plays wing. Sabres took Quinn eighth overall. The winger had a huge year in the A, 61 pts in 45 games. I guess I’ll take Alex if I had to choose today, but that isn’t #1 overall production so far. We shall see how they both look in 2022-23. The Sabres high picks in their most recent rebuild are Dahlin/Power and not two wingers. Even if you tried to compare the GM’s since they’re newish, Drury inherited a much more talented/veteran team to add to. He’s been on the job for almost one year. GMKA was tearing down as soon as the acquisitions of Hall/Staal flopped. So really nothing to compare there either.

The plot thickens for tonight