IKnowPhysics

Taro Tsujimoto was selected in the 1974 NHL Amateur Draft... what round was he selected? Bonus question: There have been three "invalid claims" in the NHL drafts over the years. Two of them belong to the Buffalo Sabres. The first was Taro Tsujimoto in '74. Attempted in the 9th round of the 1984 NHL Entry Draft, who was the Sabres' other invalid claim?

I miss living in the distribution area of Great Lakes.

No tag out on the controls with the hydraulics unhooked?

Gracias. Reinhart is among the best four players in points per game from that draft class so far (with Draisaitl, Nylander, and Ehlers), and that's with wonky usage. We sacrificed a lot to draft him, he's been performing well, he's young and only getting better, and he's under good contract terms.

Glad you're still walking around. What was the tonnage and height of the deceased?

We tanked an entire year and ate a sandwich for 82 games for Sam Reinhart. He's on his ELC and will be a RFA. He's not a buffoon off the ice. He's 3rd on the team in points this year. He was 3rd on the team in points last year (his rookie year). If you call Myers for Bogosian and Kasdorf even up, we traded a house -Stafford, Armia, Lemieux, and 25th overall pick (Jack Roslovic), three former first rounders and an actual first rounder- for Evander Kane. What did that buy you? Bar time shenanigans. Oh, and a top line winger who's on pace for 32 goals on an 82 game season, hypothetically good enough to finish in the league's top 20 in scoring. He led the team in goals per game last season too, on pace for 25 goals in 82 games. And these goals don't come easy. Despite the fact we have the #1 powerplay, 24 of 27 of Kane's goals this season have come at even strength. The next highest even strength scorer on the team is Eichel with 14 goals. If you take away Kane's 27 goals, the Sabres drop to 29th in the league in goals for. If you take away Kane's 24 even strength goals, the Sabres drop to dead last in even strength goals for, and it's not even close. By the way, those four other guys: Stafford has scored 8 goals this season; Armia 10; Lemieux is dicking around in Manitoba with 19 points in 61 AHL games; and the jury's still out on Roslovic, who's shown some young promise. People think we need another Danny Briere trade in order to catapult the team. This was that trade. Don't trade either. But asset management is asset management. If Kane doesn't resign this offseason, he gets moved.

I was sure we'd finish with more points than last year (this is still technically possible, however). I definitely didn't think we'd allow the most shots of any team by a country mile. I didn't think we'd have the #1 powerplay. Also didn't think we'd have a bottom-5 penalty kill. We had a top ten PK last year, and our defense and goaltending was only supposed to get better. I didn't think that Evander Kane would be top ten in PIM. I knew RIsto was going to play great, but I didn't think he'd be herculean, which he has been. He's top five in the league in TOI/GP; I did not expect that.

I like it. Kind of reminds me of a young Curt Smith from Tears for Fears.

You had the answer all along.

Kids are funny sometimes, so the good "adult ideas" don't always resonate. I would ask him who his favorite player is. If he doesn't have a favorite, go with your pick and take a minute to explain to him why you like that player.

The GM wants a strict, no-nonsense culture for a young team. He devises new enforcement of team rules with the coach, one that makes all players (first line through fourth line) accountable. The very next day, Reinhart shows up to a meeting late. Because they're on the road and Okposo is a late illness scratch with no time for a callup, they're forced to dress Reinhart per CBA rules. He dresses, sits. Coach says he broke the rules. The 21 year old huffs at the punishment. A 20 year old teammate says it isn't a big deal. There is nothing unreasonable, or even unexpected, about this. Zadorov was benched by Murray/Nolan a total of five games for two punctuality infractions.

Resign Gio to reasonable one year contracts from here on out. Let him keep the C for as long as he's around (<3 years)... then give it to Eichel, who will have earned it by the time Gio retires.

Better goon it up in beer league. It's the only way the scouts will find you.

Can I Skype into this drinkathon?

I thought it interesting that we called up Hudson Fasching for this game.

Going to both BUF@LAK and BUF@ANA. Bonus: Mom emailed me today and pointed out Harrington's article that mentioned the Sabres are "practicing in suburban El Segundo" today. That's the Kings' practice facility around the corner from work where I play pickup once in a while. I called them up, Sabres are on the ice at 1pm. It has a restaurant/bar upstairs overlooking the ice, and will make for a nice lunch.

NHL Equivalency for the KHL is 0.80(!). Antipin currently has 24 points in 59 KHL games, making his NHLe ~27 points on 82 games. That would be third among defensemen for most teams. 2nd pairing guy sounds right. He also shoots left. He's Kulikov insurance.

Well don't be such a chum guzzler.

Been like that for years, man. I only put up with you when I consciously and deliberately opt into your nonsense.

Qualifying offer would be $3.15M for one year. Bridge contract would be 2 years. It's possible that Lehner attracts an offer sheet, but in order for us to not match, based on compensatory picks, he'd probably have to be offered >$5.5M (1st, 2nd and 3rd rounders, instead of just 1st and 3rd); it's unlikely a team would do that. If GMTM is in on him for the long haul, I'd expect something like $4-5M AAV for 4-5 years; that'd rank Lehner 26th-18th in goalie cap hit. If GMTM's wants to do a wait and see, he may just get a bridge contract, maybe $3.5-4M for two years, but this risks a bigger caphit on a longterm contract two years from now - especially if our defense improves and he really starts to shine. I don't feel that we're pressed for cap space, so going beyond a bridge now to keep costs down later is reasonable. I think Lehner's been a very underrated goalie hidden behind a defense -maybe the league's worst defense- and he shows signs of being a very capable starting goaltender. I'd like to see 4 years at $4.5M. I think that's fair to all involved and could potentially be very good value in those UFA years.

Viagra. I've heard.

1) Meh. It was a move that time showed to be bad. 2) Agreed. 3) Disagree, at least regarding player valuation. He -and GMs never do this- said in a press conference that he offered outgoing players for what other GMs called a fair price and still couldn't get them out the door. I don't think he's to blame for that. What's he gonna do? Make them an offer so low they can't refuse? The market got by the expansion draft. The one deal that was primed and ready, he implied that Gio wanted to stay (read: didn't want to waive his mNTC). Also not his fault.

Lehner will be fine. It's the defense that's terrible.