That Aud Smell

Having a game plan card pictured like that is ... not great?

Wasn't sure where to put this, but this seems as good a spot as any. RIP to a true Sabres fan.

#DeLuca500 Let’s go, Buffalo!!

I think there’s something to @darksabre‘s theory.

Eesh. Maybe is at that point in time? Hopefully.

Agreed on your first point. With regard to Risto, I'm basically back to seeing him as the player I saw him as (huh?) before his role in the magical (and I mean *magical*, as in unusual and not sustainable) run. Gun to the head, forced to choose right now, I'm taking Dahlin over Risto as a d-man the team can't do without. Do you follow Sean Tierney? I don't rely on him as some sort of gospel truth, but I do find it interesting when his charts match what I'm seeing (or what I think I see). Here's one:

Well-turned. Skinner and Reinhart are obvious candidates to come before Dahlin. But I think a fair argument can be made that the order is as you suggest.

This is all good stuff. I'll ask again, though, in response to "nowhere near": All told and taking everything in balance, who on the team is a better hockey player than Dahlin right now? I can name a few off the top of my head, and then the process grinds to a halt.

Well, it's by now clear that Lehner was having some serious problems in his days here. I do not lay that at the feet of "because Buffalo." OTOH ... This is interesting. And more than a little sad. Not for nothing: If we could swap Hutton's .909 for Lehner's .932, is this team still in a playoff spot?

Jimminy Christmas - I just got oriented to the fact that the guy's faced a decent amount of rubber so far and has a SV% of .932. So, FGMTM wasn't out of his tree giving away a 1st for the guy?

I did engage in some hyperbole. But nowhere near? He's arguably our best d-man, his mistakes notwithstanding. Travis Yost did a solid piece for TBN elucidating that earlier this week.

Fair enough. I don't follow the NBA, so I mostly get my information from Pardon My Take. It's a different league and dynamic for several reasons - not the least of which is that you start 5 (and really only need 3) and only roster ... however many those teams roster. It does seem like there is something afoot with the NHL, though -- in terms of how player contracts are coming together.

An exception that proves the rule? Also, he was butt. I've heard that it's very uncertain whether the Knicks can land Durant and/or Irving because the ownership there is so inept.

That is interesting. And I'd agree for sure on McDavid.

I might be missing the tone here (snark radar is on the fritz), but I'll say that this over-simplifies matters. YMMV, of course, but it seems an absolute certainty that players balance a variety of factors when negotiating a deal and deciding where to play. I'm in agreement that guaranteed money is the leading factor that gets weighed. But it's not as dominant as suggested above.

Well, there was that turnover late in the third that was apparently just horrendous. I actually didn't see the entire play. I did see him block the shot with his foot (ow). I'll say, though: If you're posting one thing about Dahlin in a GDTand it's a criticism, you come off as missing the bigger picture. Is he already the best player on the team? If he's not, he's getting there - rapidly.

So help me God. Better get it right, HC PH.

Meant to chime in with a “let’s not bicker and argue about who killed who ... this is supposed to be a happy occasion!”

Not an unfair point. Maybe he drives goalward hoping to influence the puck in.

It looked worse in slow mo. In real time, it seemed like a normal, hard play.

/chest tap My bad.

PTL. Feel better, Linus.

Feckin' well right. And why on earth not? Is it still a thing that fans smirk and disapprove of players for being largely motivated by money and their own financial self interest when it comes to negotiating a contract? FWIW: I'm so over that.

Sorry. I just saw the super majority being paid as bonus and recalled, generally, how this was something that flush franchises would do in order to further entice players. Pegula has done it several times, IIRC. The idea being: Salary can be clawed back by a newly negotiated CBA. In the past, the same could not happen with regard to bonus money.