Jorcus

Believe it or not Quinn was actually a bit more active than the last time he played. That is not saying much, he is just a high ice drifter waiting for someone to give him the puck. At one point last night, I'm not sure who it was but they were streaking down the wing Quinn was at center ice doing his tap tap tap on the ice for a pass and the skater just kept going into the zone because he had a clear path. I have seen this before where Quinn raps his stick on the ice and players ignore him. The only thing we would miss if he goes is that he is really good in shootouts. I think we all expect growth in players when they come back from off season. What bothers me is that sometimes players are who they are and if they don't improve you just have to unload them for something different. For the most part our returning players are exactly the same as they were when they skated off the ice last year.

The thing about the third line is I don't know who the leader is. Kulich and Doan are still too inexperienced and I just don't trust Quinn to be giving instructions pre faceoff to the other 2. I would feel a lot better swapping Zucker for Quinn on the lines for that reason.

That is probably true but no one should expect them to play behind the opposing net. Most of the times I have watched Novikov play he is anchored just inside the blue line. He is the definition of the stay at home D man. Take care of your net first worry about the rest later. Isn't he the guy you want protecting a 3 to 2 lead in the third period? I honestly am not sure if the Sabres see it that way. For all of Lindy grumbling about being harder to play against why is most of the blue line based on speed and skill? Sure get your top 4 to skate circles in the offensive zone but the third pair should be shut down types that are physical in their own end. The Sabres seem to have a lot of hope invested in Johnson. The whole Org. last year pointed to him as the the guy who would be in the NHL from the prospect pool. He might be fine but he just seems like a lesser version of Byrum. I am not sure that is what this team needs right now.

That is a boat load of money to pay a guy who has trouble staying on the ice. The first 4 years are the maximum contract they could pay him due to the 20% of cap rule at 19.1M per year. It may be a floor but it is also close to the ceiling of what someone can gat paid this year. Next year term length goes down and bonus money is limited to 60% of your contract. I don't know how this affects 2nd tier players other than there is less salary cap to go around for teams that are issuing a max contract. Right place right time for Kirill.

I know your looking at it from the Sabres point of view as to playing a wait and see how things go with Tuch before the contract extension or trade. If I were Tuch I would probably wait and see how things are going before being tied down to the Sabres. Thing thing about the Sabres you pretty much know what is going to happen by mid January if not sooner. If it's the same old wait till next year I think he would want out even if it ment less money overall. I think I am less concerned about Tuch's decline than you might be. He is a very dedicated player who plays all aspects of the game. Good to great players seem to last longer than the middle of the road types. Of players in his birth year class he has played fewer games than many of them at 536. Not sure if that matters but I think I would expect a player of his level to get 900 to 1000 games. That fact he can play any situation would seem to shelter issues as age catches up. Then there is Florida. Age seems to be of no concern to Bill Zito. I know different team in a different place but it's interesting to look. Player age years left AAV Barkove 30 5 10M Tkachuck 30 5 9.5M Reinhart 29 7 8.6M Bennet 29 8 8M Verhaeghe 30 8 7M Marchand 37 5 5.25M Jones 30 5 7M Ekblad 30 5 6.1 M Maybe the writings on the wall with this group, Barkove is out. Tkachuk is out out and to be honest it's pretty much his physical game that makes him a good player because he is not a fast skater. The Verhaghe and Marchand contracts don't look that great on paper. The point is that they have 7 aging contracts and we have none, well one if you count Skinner. An aging Tuch contract should not break us. I suspect it gets done in a bit less than the 9M dollar range. AFP has it at 7x8.5M. We will see.

No matter how good you are you just can't replace Bryson.

I think Mrtka should be in Rochester over Seattle. I can't see what good sending him back to Juniors is. I always keep in mind young AHL players can often come up and give you 10 good games, then day in day out NHL game wears them down. It's hard to be consistently good.

Lecyshyn, Kozak, Dunn, and Geertsen all have to clear waivers so it would be normal to drop them at the last minute as all the other teams are trying to do the same thing. Less chance of a claim. I think Östlund was just in line for another game. Only claim I worry about is Kozak.

Chicago has the pick in the Seth Jones deal.

This true if they know Barkov is not coming back for the playoffs If he is they may not have any free space or very little. I don't think they are going to do anything right away. It will take half the season to make a move when the picture becomes more clear.

Girgensons scores 2 goals in the first for Tampa. That equals his season total for last year.

I noticed on a major betting site the Sabres have climbed to 87.5 points for an over under. I was thinking we might get a bump from an expected tail off from Florida. On the other hand we have also climbed over CBJ, Detroit, and Philly.

It's the Sabres who are in a difficult spot. If they can't come to terms with Tuch before the trade deadline they will have to give up one of the best players on the team for whatever they can get. No one want's to do that again. Tuch is going to double his salary but you have that pesky Skinner buyout to work around next year. After that it gets better, but can they structure a Tuch Contract that works around that? No way Tuch does not go for a 7 or 8 year deal somewhere. Sure players decline but good players last longer than not so good ones. If Bennett could sign 8x8. A year later I would think Tuch is closer to 9 x8. The long term does not bother me with Tuch because he will find a way to make him self useful until the end of his career. Some how some way I think this gets done. If not it is going to be worse than it is now at Key Bank center.

One issue is that Norris wins about twice as many faceoffs as Tage does. I do understand the point that in some ways they are both finishers. It's Lindy though, the lines will change all the time. Zucker was talking about that on the radio postgame last night. It sounded like it's one of the things players had to buy into with Ruff as coach. He said now they expect lines to get shuffled during the game.

I thought Norris looked good. He missed a few good chances. I think Thompson and Norris were still looking for each other rather than knowing where the other guy will be. That will come with time. Norris speed was noticeable. Say what you want about the Sabres but the center spine of Norris, McLeod, Kulich, and Krebs is faster than most. I expect a lot of breakaway chances.

10 hits in 2 games and I saw one late that did not make the count. Quinn better get the load out of his pants.

Why is Thompson on th PK? Do they want him to break his hand before the season starts?

Only forward not to record a hit last night. The usual drifting around waiting for someone to feed him a puck or the play to come to him. Helenius recorded 7 hits last night.

It was the first time I saw Novikov and Komarov paired together. Novikov worked hard clearing the front of the net. He put at least two Cbus guys on the ice and stayed on top of them. They got a lot of time on ice and held up well. Komarov did get turned inside out on a rush. Novikov is getting closer and closer to the NHL.

Is Bedard MVP material? Or destined for the top 10? I don't watch him that much but just does not seem to be heading that way. I was at the prospect challenge this afternoon and was hoping for more from the top forwards. I did think the passing and puck movement was not bad but they just do not seem to be able to capitalize on their chances. It's funny that Peyton Krebs name came up because I was thinking are any of these guys ready to replace him? He is probably the minimum they would have to be to crack the lineup full time without being an injury replacement. I don't see anyone that is clearly better than him at the moment but Östlund might not be that far away. For what it's worth I thought Belliveau had a nice game. The goal he scored was a ripper but it was more than that, he seemed like a decent skater and made some good passes. As far as prospect ratings go in general it seems like the younger they are the hype is still fresh and those are the types that can be overrated. The new shinny thing is always great until proven otherwise.

Another big betting site has the over/under at 80.5. Then again they have the rangers at 95.5. Of course these lines are being driven by early season betting odds and could change quickly. I don't think they reflect realistic chances at this point.

I think this is going to be a very interesting year in the Eastern Division of the NHL. There seems to be a lot of parity in the teams. It could be a year where 3 points in the standings might be the difference between 2nd and out of the playoffs. This is a good thing/ bad thing for the Sabres. The bad thing is they are facing tough teams almost every night when playing in the East. The good thing is that these teams are going to beat on each other so it's not likely anyone is going to run off and hide a top the standings. The current betting lines have the Sabres near the bottom only ahead of Boston and Pittsburgh. There is enough talent on the Sabres to be much better. In the 2021-2022 season no team in the East finished with 90-99 points. Either you had 100 or more, (in the playoffs) or you were out with less than 90. Last year 5 teams were in the 90's and it looks to be even tighter this year. I think the Sabres can get in with what they have. They are getting little older a little tougher and would seem to have some AHL depth to plug holes as long as the injuries don't get out of hand. A lot will depend on how good the competition has become.

I think $80 million by 8 years is the minimum we could sign him for. Look at Sam Bennet of Florida. He is no better than Tuch that I can see. Not only did he get 8x8 he got 56 Million of it in a signing bonus with Florida Taxes. That contract will not be allowed in the new CBA. They limit the bonus to 60% of the contract. Then you look at Marchand's contract and wonder how that is going end? His contract is also front loaded. 5.25x6 at 37 years old. It's a mad world.

Yep, I know this much Florida would do it in a heartbeat.

I think it's Dallas for me. I watch games where people in the front rows are standing up. People walking up and down the stairs during the game (Try doing that in New York). Posers behind the bench so they can get on TV. Vegas has some of that too but Dallas is old enough to know better.