Ctaeth

dahlin #3

UPL demotion because the other 3 are doing their brick wall impersonation? sign me up

if they look good again tonight, i might start to get excited about the season. despite all rational thoughts telling me i'm just getting sucked in again. what can I say, I have a sabres problem

Mrtka sounds too much like peterka

Hamilton says skillwise geertsen wouldn't even be playing in the east coast league 😄

Except not half as much of a difference maker

It is neuchev's first game back since march, I think he should maybe get a pass in this particular instance

How did rosen/Östlund look?

Trying to avoid the initial reimer situation from last year I would imagine

Yikes https://x.com/SeanMickey7/status/1966204129497460747?t=n2GPfwk1zsgmHcucbNDhyg&s=19

Went to bed thinking they had lost. What a happy surprise!

and unfortunately, i don't think middle of the lineup players are what is going to ultimately move the needle. It is worth noting that Levi isn't accounted for on his list.. based on the age criterion. He misses out on being considered by 1 year. Regardless, I don't remember pronman being high on Levi anyways

He has pretty much everyone but Power/Mrtka as a middle of the lineup player. I don't think I disagree with that... aside from potentially Benson

McD almost always gets the most out of the secondary. Not worried yet

If you really want the Sabres to make a run at the playoffs, I feel like you would have to hang your hat on UPL having a much better season this year... regardless of what the rest of the team does. (or levi stepping in)

The players that players that could get the sabres back to the playoffs are players that are high variance types. The type that you honestly dont know what you're going to get season to season. To me, the three that could massively out perform expectations are quinn, upl, and norris (for injury reason). You get a good to great season from any or all of these guys... we should be talking about playoffs. Honorable mention to doan and levi

Trades are fun and the nhl can always use more fun. Get rid of the nmc & increase parity

I don't think it's hope in this case. I'd classify it as "expectation", not hope. In the case of older players repeating career years, yeah that's hope. You hope they can reach that level again. But for younger players, it's just expectation and the reality of how players progress. They usually don't peak with less than two seasons total played. I don't take issue with Adams expecting ("hoping") that these young players will improve.... because they should improve. You expect them to; they don't come in as a finished product. Where I do take issues with Adams and his attitude towards the younger players is him continuing to have such a large young core AND not sufficiently supplementing it with enough of the right veterans to show the kids how it's done. It's semantics, but I think it's an important distinction to make. Also, I'd prefer to never be put in a position of defending KA ever again 🤢

Don't forget Doan & Kesselring. They don't have a ton of time in the NHL yet either and could certainly improve their scoring this year.

Tischke previously played for the amerks and was playing for the icemen last year. I would be surprised if he didnt play a handful with the amerks next year

underrated, for sure. he's got all the tools. fast, good shot, decent passer, alright on the powerplay. if i remember correctly, i think the amerks were even using him on the penalty kill as well. played well in the playoffs and seems to do pretty good when it matters the most. he's had a lot of game winning goals over the last 2 years. bunch of injury prone forwards, maybe he gets a real shot this year? him and/or Östlund will definitely be the first forward call ups

i think this is when the younger crowd would say "fafo"

A lot of ranger fans seemed to like the guy 🤷‍♂️

Couple of the defenders i could see with the Sabres. Johnson, Novikov, and potentially Metsa. However, the glut of last pairing defenseman the sabres have will probably prevent any of them from getting a real look this year. As far as the forwards go, I dont think anyone is ready to be promoted (aside from occasional injury callups). Closest are rosen and Östlund. Edit: forgot kozak. Hes ready for a full time 4th line spot probably Goalie... levi