Jorcus

Poturalski had a tough break in Calder cup finals getting hurt the first game and was not able to play after. I was kind of hoping he would get to the Amerks. Got to love his team photo for the Firebirds. If that face does not say I play in the AHL I don't know what does. He also lead the AHL in scoring 2 years in a row although the first year was covid shortened. Tip of the hat to him. https://cvfirebirds.com/team-roster/

Nashville was an older team last year, now they are a very old team. Lots of great players, the big question is will they be able to stay on the ice. Only one skater under age of 25 right now.

I can see it now, We get Trouba and 3 weeks in he gets a 20 game suspension.

On the other hand if the Sabres don't find a use for the money they would save and keep him he might find himself in a misery box if he does not play the way Ruff want's him to. Adams has a stubborn streak, ask Jack Eichel.

Rangers looking for better draft pick may move on from Kaapo Kakko. Any interest? If it were straight 11th pick for Kakko baring other trade would seem worth it.

If Lindy is worried about goal songs we got the wrong coach.

I went looking though the December thread about what Casey's next contract would be. Most were wildly high. A few were low and a few were close but no one came closer than Berg who on December 13'th 2023 predicted 3 x 5.7. Nice!

Here is a crazy question. If a player has a no trade clause to the Coyote's does that exclude a trade to Utah?

Given Adams I only want players that want to be here speeches, does anyone think it is Skinner that wants out more than management wants him to go? There is an assumption that Ruff does not want him but maybe it's Skinner that does not want to deal with Ruff. If that's the case hopefully Skinner's agent can find a deal that gets him out without the Sabres going the full buy out route. I keep thinking about the last Toronto home game when a TO fan threw a Skinner jersey on the ice mocking the Sabres. Who did that affect the most Skinner or the management. Maybe it was both.

My concern about ejecting Skinner is who will replace him on left wing. Peterka is listed as a right winger who is playing left wing. Then you have Benson, Greenway and the unsigned Girgensons. I still have no idea why Kane would sign in Buffalo given past issues but would he play any more defense than Skinner would? Also he is listed as a right winger. Maybe left and right are more interchangeable than I think they are but it seems like it could be an issue. If you tell me they are clearing space with Skinner to get Gentzel or Debrusk I wouldn't argue with that but that seems like a very long shot. Skinners contract is like owning a timeshare you can't get out of it without losing big so maybe the best thing to do is just use it until it goes away.

We need more than 2. I don't want Krebs as my 3rd line center. If Stamkos or other high end center pushed Cozens down to third line we will be better off. It's nothing against the Tage and Cozens this is more of an issue with Krebs. I don't think Stamkos is coming here but if he did I would be happy. We can't go into the season with what we have now.

A lot depends on what they look like when they come to camp but what I would like to see is the open spot be is the end of the bench. My vision for Juri at this point would be to get him up and on the practice ice working on his defense. Then getting him in and out of the line up with limited minutes until he works his way up to a bigger role. Maybe he is not ready for that yet but my hope is that he will be.

Is this an opinion on Stamkos or all NHL players of his age and class? I think that would eliminate a lot of UFA's. There are pluses and minus to bringing in Stamkos. The big one is what it would prevent you from doing otherwise. Also he had a pretty bad plus minus last year I don't know if his ability is degrading or not. That aside he would fill a giant hole on this team at center. My concerns about him would be physical in nature not that he would be a quitter.

I am not sure why Kane would ever come here. This is the city where he almost lost his career or even his freedom. Too much attention, too many expectations and too many questions that would never go away. Stamkos on the other hand seems to be motivated by money which to him means respect. I don't know how he would feel about playing here but he has felt insulted buy Tampa's offers before. I doubt he has anything against the Sabre's but he would come at a very high price. I don't think I would worry about his motivation.

Monsters almost finished the epic comeback. Game 6 when the bears scored with less than 1 min to go in regulation to go up by a goal the monsters tie it back up to send it to overtime then win it to go to game 7. Last night it was a back and forth affair Bears up by 1 in the 3rd which is almost automatic win for them. Monsters got a goal with about 7min left and ended up going to overtime. They had had some good looks but got the dreaded delay of game penalty which is about the only thing that a ref can not overlook. The Monsters fought that off but the Bears kept the pressure on right after and put in the winner.

I think Kulich was negatively affected by his trip to the world Juniors this year. He was hurt after the return and the coach explained about how much hockey the kid had played in the past year was wearing him down. I think he is a much better player than what he showed at the end of the year. I think he should be with the Sabres next fall. There is an extra spot on the roster with the loss of the third goalie and unless you think Rousek is better to have in that position It could be Juri. He does have over 100 AHL games which is a lot for a guy his age. Lets see how he comes to camp this year.

For big game fishing you are going to have a hard time beating lake Ontario. We don't even weigh kings unless they are getting close to 20 lbs anymore. My arm is killing me from yesterdays trip and I only fought with 3 king salmon yesterday. Chautauqua was the lake I learned to fish on with my Grandfather. Its pretty but shallow and busy in the summer. Keuka is a beautiful lake, Fishing is ok, but a very expensive place to stay these days. Best of the fingers. Skaneateles is 2nd for beauty. Another expensive lake though. Adirondack area has so many, Blue mountain is beautiful, and so is Placid, others worth going to Piseco. 4th lake, Indian lake, lake flower. That does not include ones that you hike into like cedar lake in the West Canada area. I think it's time for a road trip to the ADK!

If this were not a salary cap league I might agree but other than the IR loophole this is a pretty tightly restricted salary cap. The numbers are an important part of the puzzle. What can a team afford to pay now, what can they afford to pay later? Why did they keep this guy and not that guy. The importance of knowing came to be with free agency. It's the internet age we are going to find out what a play gets paid no mater how many websites get sold. Any fan who wants to think about a trade or getting a free agent has to think about the salary. I like to think about it. How can I blame a GM for not spending money unless I know what kind of position he is in?

I have not thought of Dan Dunleavy of being bad enough to bother me. The one good thing about combined radio TV broadcast is it forces him to call the game and not discuss stupid stuff like they do on the national broadcast networks. Rob Ray will lead him astray at times but he does try to get back to calling the game most of the time. I could live without Rob Ray. He is not the most insightful color man. I think it would be better if he or someone else was up in the press box next to Dan.

What are the chances of getting a functional NHL player in the draft? I did a little exercise with the thought that someone who plays 500 games in the NHL has found a way to serve a purpose on a team. I looked at skaters drafted in the top 10 from 2000 to 2015. Not including goalies you end up with 112/153 for 73%. A few more will make it from the 2015 class but the point is this. It is very hard to draft a player so if you can get someone decent for a pick go right ahead and do it. Beyond the top ten odds will drop fast.

I think you have to factor Peterka and Quinn contract upgrades in all of this.

If you are talking goal production it should not be too hard to replace Casey Mittelstadt. He only scored 18 goals this season. He does a lot of things well but producing goals very often has not been one of them. Tied for 148th place in the NHL with 80 games played. This has been his best year ever.

There were a number of issues for the slow start but to my eye Thompson was not right from the get go. It was more than his slow start issues. What I saw was that he was not skating very well. I wondered if this all went back to the back injury he took later in the year before. He seemed slow and stiff. For some reason he was overhandling the puck and giving it up often. I never heard a reporter ask why he was playing on the first PK unit. Then he gets his hand broke blocking a shot on the PK. Tuch was also having issues in the first part of the season and the Sabres schedule was a bit front end loaded. By December Tuch looked like he needed some time off. By the last third of the season those two players started coming around. Thompson was skating better, not great but better, Tuch found his rhythm. and they started to play a bit better. Not well enough but not as bad. You have to think KO was aware this was never going to go well in NOV/DEC without those two guys in top form. The Sabres waived the white flag on the playoffs when they traded KO. Not that he was that important but with no NHL return it was a give away. The Casey trade was more impactful in the short run against the Sabres but at least least there was a return for better or worse. There were a number of issues for the slow start but to my eye Thompson was not right from the get go. It was more than his slow start issues. What I saw was that he was not skating very well. I wondered if this all went back to the back injury he took later in the year before. He seemed slow and stiff. For some reason he was overhandling the puck and giving it up often. I never heard a reporter ask why he was playing on the first PK unit. Then he gets his hand broke blocking a shot on the PK. Tuch was also having issues in the first part of the season and the Sabres schedule was a bit front end loaded. By December Tuch looked like he needed some time off. By the last third of the season those two players started coming around. Thompson was skating better, not great but better, Tuch found his rhythm. and they started to play a bit better. Not well enough but not as bad. You have to think KO was aware this was never going to go well in NOV/DEC without those two guys in top form. The Sabres waived the white flag on the playoffs when they traded KO. Not that he was that important but with no NHL return it was a give away. The Casey trade was more impactful in the short run against the Sabres but at least least there was a return for better or worse.

Canucks are a unique team. Shots on goal for the playoffs shots goals 18 /4 19 /3 24 /5 29 /1 20 /1 21 /4 12 /2 18 /1 21 /1

The Amerks lost to a team with younger players on the ice and less high level draft picks. They lost because Syracuse played a better positional team game. They intercepted pass after pass clogged the blue line and gave the Amerks few high danger chances. Often during the series there were 2 or 3 Amerks in the places where one should be. They had trouble clearing the D zone. A lot of that was on the forwards who never seemed to have an exit structure. On the night you needed Levi the most he was not the better goalie. It's not to say that there are not solid players on this team that are going to be good NHL Players. I like most of them but the talent did not come through. It was very disappointing. The young guys schooled in this series.