IKnowPhysics

...Not really though. https://www.espn.com/nhl/injuries 🙁

https://www.espn.com/nhl/game/_/gameId/401357703 OH MUH GAWD THAT'S JACK EICHEL'S MUSIC

Heads up that if you have a Verizon "Get More" or "Play More" unlimited plan, you get the Disney Bundle, which includes ESPN+. https://www.verizon.com/support/disney-bundle-faqs/

W

Nice.

More like JJ Berzerka.

For real though, just like previous tank years, when we inevitably win some games, the opposing fans, coaches, and media are going to be absolutely livid. "Leafs Blanked by Eichel-less Sabres"

I think we would have had it not been for Krueger. Under Meatballs, he's shown he can thrive. Just about the entire rest of the team is a bag of question marks, however, which is... not good.

Somewhat interesting scenario. It's possible that: Sabres' medical staff are more open minded about the potential for surgery as the best path forward because of Jack's developing medical progress and/or New information about the procedure being brought to them. The Sabres brass are more open minded about incorporating information from doctors not in their employ and incorporate it in their decision making. I gotta believe that Pat Brisson (and his resources), who was retained 3.5 weeks ago, had a hand in making progress in these bolded areas. Or perhaps the NHLPA/NHL meeting shortly thereafter put the league pressure on the team or team doctors to be more open minded. And if I were to put on a tin foil hat, I would say this is cover for a west coast team doing due medical diligence on Jack's back before a trade. And if I were to put on a suit of tin foil armor, I would say that Gary Bettman instructed the Buffalo Sabres to use a third party medical staff to mediate the issue, up to and including a secret binding arbitration that might force the Sabres to "allow" Jack to get the surgery. And if I were to go full tin foil space aliens, Gary Bettman keeps a collection of the removed discs of star players from franchises he doesn't like on a chain around his neck like the Predator and has been licking his lips at the Captain of the Buffalo Sabres.

Yo this audio check is hilarious.

Once the losing streak ended, Sabres finished the seson 9-11-3 under Granato, which would be a 75 point pace on an 82 game season or a 51 point pace on last year's 56 game season. Six other teams finished with less than 51 points last year. I think options two and three are simultaneously possible. Sabres had 67GF and 77GA in that stretch. That's the good news. The bad news is that loss of Reinhart is going to make it difficult to approach the same numbers, unless other players step up. In that 23 game stretch with 67 goals for, a Jack-less Sam scored 13 goals, which is a 46 goal pace over 82 games. We've also reconfigured the defense, from what settled in November as Dahlin-Miller//Ristolainen-Montour//McCabe-Jokiharju evolved into Samuelsson-Ristolainen//Dahlin-Jokiharju//Bryson-Miller under Granato, but now looks like Dahlin-Jokiharju//Butcher-Miller//Hagg-Pysyk + Bryson? It's unknown if this is better. And then the goalies. It's a mess. Ullmark pitched 0.920SV% and 2.72GAA in six games in that span. All others (Tokarski, Houser, UPL) were <0.910SV% and >3.30GAA. Dell, Andersen, and Tokarski don't have two-way contracts. UPL is on the last year of his ELC. Devon Levi's playing at Northeastern. And without knowing what's up with Jack, it's hard to say what this team will look like. If Jack plays, he'll have an even bigger role on this team than he did before. If he gets traded for futures, this season might be sold with him. Lots of large, looming question marks. We'll likely be pleasantly surprised by at least one or two elements, but in all likelihood, one or two elements may fail, and that's all it would take to cost us 10 points off that 75 point pace and put us in TANKCON 1.

Agreed. If I'm dreaming and/or spending large dollars, I'll be exactingly particular if possible. Being detail-oriented is part of my work, and I tend to carry that through to other aspects of my life, including hobbies.

1970 Dodge Challenger 426 4-Speed Convertible. One of five. Approximate valuation $1.4M, maybe more. 440's are a little more attainable at $265k for concours and 65 produced. Might have to settle with a T/A 340 SixPak 4-Speed Hardtop in Go Mango (~$140k for concours, ~$84k for good condition). I'll be happy with my 09 6.1L 6-Speed for a while.

Continuing to build the analytics staff. Pasting the Data Scientist job req because I thought it was interesting. Most of the skills and experience they look for make sense, but some of them reveal where the Sabres expect the science is headed in the future (bolded). Think stats based on puck tracking and also machine learning/AI for predictive models.

However:

The article I link explores this (not for the Sabres specifically, however). Regarding sliding the year of ELC: Pros: You get nine games to watch/develop the player in the zeroth year. You get three full seasons of that player at the ELC salary and salary cap hit. Cons: You only get nine games to watch the player in the zeroth year. The player could theoretically have more opportunity to develop, put up great stats, and make a case for a bigger salary/cap hit on their next contract. If you want the lower cap hit in year three, at the risk of the player demanding more money for the post-ELC years, you slide it. D-men typically take longer to develop, so you'd typically want to slide it. Also worth mentioning, if, like Eichel and presumably Dahlin, Power is really good, Sabres will simply give him an eight year contract extension after the three years of ELC, and will want to a) wait to pay him that salary/cap hit and b) want that 11th year (3 + 8 ) under contract. instead of (2 + 8 ). They won't abide another Reinhart by dicking around with shorter prove-it bridge deals. Right. Portillo and Johnson are 20, so no sliding their ELCs.

Good in-depth read that goes far deeper than your question: https://businessofhockey.wordpress.com/2017/04/03/burning-the-first-year-of-a-rookies-entry-level-contract/ There's two separate issues: Eligibility NCAA players lose NCAA eligibility the moment they sign a professional contract. Junior players do not lose any eligibility even after they sign their ELC. Sliding the first year of the ELC may occur once an NHL ELC is signed provided: Players are age 18 and 19 (see above). Players have no more than nine NHL games played. Functionally, once an ELC is signed, NCAA players can't go back to NCAA, they would go to the AHL (they could also theoretically go to the ECHL, but this doesn't happen often). CHL players can go back to CHL (and for some cases, based on the CHL-AHL transfer agreement, they must remain in the CHL).

This is what will happen, barring serious injury. Nine pro games late in the 2021-22 season, after the NCAA (Michigan) season is over. Year one of his ELC will slide to 2022-23.

His QoC was abyssmal last season, meaning his good corsi rates were potentially a product of playing very sheltered minutes. This doesn't mean he's bad, but it doesn't demonstrate that he'd be good against better competition either.

Before RFA signings.

The between-the-lines implication from KA's Sam Reinhart/draft presser was that McCabe getting injured before his UFA period hampered the Sabres' ability to trade McCabe at the deadline last season. This served as a lesson for KA regarding Sam's situation. As Sam indicated that he wouldn't resign with Buffalo, KA had to determine whether to trade him before the season or at the deadline. KA wanted to avoid a) Sam having a bad year (esp with no Eichel...?) and/or b) Sam getting injured and it zeroing his rental value like McCabe. He also wanted the higher value before the season. KA indicated be liked McCabe and implied he would have wanted to resign him. I think if KA had known before last season that McCabe wanted to go UFA, he would have faced the same decision then. Maybe he did... and maybe he decided on a deadline trade... that never panned out. Unlucky situation that likely cost us some decent rental return (maybe a 2nd in the currently hot D market, maybe more).

Another Well

A forward that can't score, even with sheltered minutes. Recorded 14P total in 126GP over the last three seasons with NJD, ARI, and CHI. Again, like so many other signings, was coached by Granato in CHI in 2017.