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Because playoffs have 24 teams this year, the 8 lowest team in each conference are playing a qualifier round (best of five series). The losers from the qualifying round (eight teams, four from each conference) fill in the seven draft spots 9-15 in reverse order of their regular season points percentage (like they didn't make the playoffs). And because one of those "play-in slots" won the draft lottery a few weeks back, one of the teams that loses will pick 1st overall. The eight teams will have even odds (12.5%) to get the #1 overall pick when the lottery phase 2 is done on Monday; teams that don't win lottery phase 2 will fill the #9-#15 picks. https://nhl.nbcsports.com/2020/08/06/2020-nhl-playoffs-schedule-stanley-cup-qualifiers/ Team that have already lost the best-of-five qualifier round: New York Rangers Meanwhile, the top four teams of conference are playing a round robin tournament to seed those spots. This has no bearing on the draft lottery. https://nhl.nbcsports.com/2020/08/06/nhl-return-to-play-round-robin-standings-scenarios/ We're already locked in at #8, because the 1st overall pick has already been awarded to Mystery Team. Phase 2 lottery on Monday determines the mystery team.

One of the playoff teams, of the eight play-in losers that didn't win their playoff qualifiers, gets 1st overall via lottery. The rest are ordered 9-15 based on the inverse order of their regular season points percentages. My previous post was meta absurdism.

Must win.

BUFFALO BASEBALL BLUEJAYS STAMPEDE

A fine example of the rumor mill chewing fat.

Your lamentation game is weak, son. You gotta go all in. If you're that convinced about Risto, then you know he would be selected after Seattle favorably deals with Buffalo to take both the contract and an analytics-strong prospect. And then because self-loathing Buffalo, Risto would inevitably be better on the other team after the trade, making the deal look like a fleece. Fans will need to kneejerk denounce the GM and, and by falsely perceived causation, ownership decisions, ownership style, the owners themselves, the franchise, the PR twitter account, ticket prices, the arena, the donut shop next to the arena, the city, the county, NYS taxes, Bethlehem Steel, and Gary Bettman, with shoutouts to Leon Czolgosz and the Kensington Expressway. Get on our level.

I'm actually down with the concept of matching or substantially similar team colors from a single town. Pittsburgh did that right, Charlotte Hornets/Carolina Panthers aren't far off. Seattle Mariners/Seahawks/Kraken are all navy blue with different highlight colors. Indistinguishable logos are weak though.

Based on the VGK expansion deal? Even odds, although replicating VGK's meme-worthy historic run might be a stretch. They don't have George McPhee, but they do have some interesting hires in GM Ron Francis, Francis' longtime righthand man Ricky Olcyzk and an interesting cast of Pro Scouts in Cammi Granato (the first female full-time Pro Scout in the league), Ulf Samuellsson, Stu Barnes, Dave Hunter, and John Goodwin. The owners have also mandated analytics as the way of life, hiring former War-On-Ice analytics guru Alex Mandrycky initially as the Director of Hockey Administration (now as Director of Hockey Research and Strategy), giving her and analytics a say in the vetting of the GM hiring and all player personnel decisions. They also picked up award-winning analytics pro Dani Chu. This was all before November of last year, and they still haven't hired a coaching staff- that's how deep they're embedding analytics. It's a fascinating approach to have perhaps the most data-driven intelligence in the league.

Also the Sabres, with the upcoming unveiling of the royal blues, get an immediate redo on the social media whathaevyou. So there's opportunity there. I admittedly care more about what the jersey looks like than the twattersphere, though.

Sure, mistakes were made. BUT BEAUTIFUL HAIRY BUFFALO WITH GOLDEN FLOWING LOCKS AND IS THE MODERN DAY GOLDEN FLEECE

We got the objectively better jersey, and already had the better logo and name, though. And that counts for a lot.

Meh on non-plural names. Double meh on using a lettermark as a primary logo. Triple meh on doubling down on teal in the color combination, as it looks real roller hockey. But at least it's an original mix. Eh, ***** it. Let 'em run with it and have fun with it. If it sucks, their marketing department will pivot, it's fine. See, I think an octopus logo in this color scheme could be cool as hell, instead of just the 'S.' Jerseys could also use a tweak, but that's easy.

https://theahl.com/ahl-return-to-play-task-force-established Last I saw was: AHL cancelled remainder of 2019-20 season back in May. AHL formed task force to determine how to commence play in 2020-21 season. Recent indications are that beginning of 2020-21 season will be delayed (just as the NHL start has been delayed).

Agree. That lineup would be hot trash after line one and secondary scoring would be awful. We would fail to make the playoffs based on that alone, and it wouldn't matter what happens on D or in net. Cozens must be developed and not thrown to the wolves.

Freezer burn!

Die wrote some potential ideas. Repairing The Sabres In Three Easy Steps (Trades): https://www.diebytheblade.com/2020/7/18/21330018/repairing-the-sabres-in-three-easy-steps-trades Short version to wet your whistle, go read the article: BUFFALO Sam Reinhart, Casey Mittelstadt -> CALGARY Elias Lindholm, 2021 4th BUFFALO Rasmus Ristolainen -> NEW JERSEY Miles Wood, Janne Kuokkanen BUFFALO Carter Hutton (50% retained), 2021 4th, 2022 5th -> St. LOUIS Jake Allen, Oskar Sundqvist, and Nikita Alexandrov CAP: $77.9M ($81.5M CAP CEILING) Skinner (9) – Eichel (10) – Wood (2.75) Olofsson (4.1)– Lindholm (4.85) – Kahun (2.4) MoJo (4.5) – Sundqvist (2.75) – Cozens (.925) Asplund (.85) – Lazar (.895) – Okposo (6) Simmonds (1.5) – ? Dahlin (.925) – Joker (.925) ? – Monty (4.5) McCabe (2.8) – Miller (3.9) Nelson (1) Ullmark (2.8) – Allen (4.35)

Makes sense. As the world starts to spin again, these will be fast growing and lucrative industries again. It's a good time to buy.

If JR sexually harsses anyone else, and that emplyee sues, the case is stronger based on this incident. It's not just a threat of litigation from Tappen, it's the liability NBC carries by remaining involved with JR with incident on record. The excuse that it's "locker room" talk is toxic and gross and can ***** right off. Don't make sexual comments about your coworkers and don't excuse those who do. That *****'s for ***** and losers.

From TBN: "The Blue Jays are still trying to determine if major systems work needed for Sahlen Field such as lighting and control rooms for instant replay could be taken care of in the short window remaining before the schedule begins. Sources say the Bisons' parent club also has concerns about areas that include social distancing in the clubhouses, workout rooms and batting cages, repairs needed to bullpen phones and the fact the pens are in foul territory down the lines and not behind the outfield fence." Because I believe a great stadium for a great day at the park has absolutely nothing to do with any of the Jays' functional concerns.

***** him. He publicly stated he wanted to ***** his coworkers. That's a firing. And if he's not fired, Tappen and Sharp could hold NBC liable for allowing sexual harassment and fostering a hostile work environment. If the comments Weir made were inappropriate, NBC should address them and act accordingly. If (and it's a big if) Roenick's assertion is truthful that "his supervisor responded that Weir 'is gay and can say whatever,'" then that is also inappropriate and NBC should adress that person and act accordingly. This lawsuit is a fine example of a Trumpist snowflake crying oppression when they're held accountable for saying horrible *****.

Which teams will benefit most from a flat salary cap in 2020-21. https://thehockeynews.com/news/article/which-teams-will-benefit-most-from-a-flat-salary-cap-in-2020-21 "6. BUFFALO SABRES – 10 players signed for 2020-21 – Projected cap space: $34.48 million – Projected LTIR players: none It should be an interesting off-season for Kevyn Adams, handed his first chance at being a GM after the Pegulas fired Jason Botterill. Buffalo has just four forwards signed for next season. Adams has a few important RFAs to sort out: Sam Reinhart has earned a long-term extension, Victor Olofsson has played his way into a bridge-deal raise, and 1A starting goalie Linus Ullmark needs a new contract. But if that trio combines to take up, say, $12 million in cap space, Adams will have plenty of cash left over. What to do with it? The Sabres, like so many of the rebuilding teams, could use their cap space to bail teams out and score picks. But captain Jack Eichel’s public exasperation after opening his career with five straight playoff misses likely puts the heat on Adams to make this team a winner ASAP. That means Buffalo might be sneaky-aggressive in trades and free agency this summer. Then again, with so few bodies signed, it could be risky to break the bank on one or two impact players. And with the bad PR surrounding the team in recent months (years?), the Sabres also might have to overpay to lure any top-end UFAs."

He hit a sophomore slump and never took the next steps to meet the high production expectations of 4th overall. And that could be due to tons of different factors: expectations were too high, coaching staff didn't give the right on-ice usage/linemates/quality of competition/total ice time, he didn't develop his own mental/physical/maturation game, coaches didn't develop him. By 2018/19, Bennett did mature and he modified his game from trying to be that 4th overall skilled offense generator to being better in the role he was put in- 3rd liner. He plays angrier with more edge, works harder in tough areas, and has been trying to a better two-way player and a PP/PK specialist. But even this past year hints at more decline for him, as others in Calgary eat up that big ice time (Gaudreau, Monhan, Lindholm, Tkachuk, Backlund) and other younger players start to develop and compete for bottom six roles (like Dube). Nonetheless, he still retains some offensive skill. I think if Calgary really looks at his performance this year objectively (8G, 4A, 52GP) and looks at who's coming up in the pipeline, they'll realize he's expendable, especially if they want to keep Jankowski, and they may try to use Bennett to secure a defenseman. (Side note: The Flames are an interesting trade partner for Buffalo, actually.) The question is... is Bennett still any good? He has some interesting rate stats from this past season... 0.8 EV G/60 (even strength goals per 60mins) - More than any Sabre except Skinner, Eichel, and Reinhart. 0.77 EV ixG/60 (expected even strength goals per 60) - More than any Sabre except Skinner. 13.26 EV iCF/60 (even strength Corsi For per 60mins) - More than any Sabres except Eichel and Skinner. More EV iHF/60 (hits for per 60mins) than any Sabre. But -0.7 EV iPEN+/-/60 (minor penalty taken/drawn differential per 60mins), also more than any Sabre - takes more penalties than he draws I think he could produce goals given ice time and linemates, but I don't think he's the proven talent who you'd want at 2C.