Doohickie

I think Marty loves interviewing another Québécois. Man, I like Crevier's attitude.

He sounds confident but humble. I like it.

I don't think that deal is dead yet. I think the ball is in WPG's court and we'll see if Chevy blinks. If he doesn't, if he still wants the pieces he wanted before the draft, then that's too much for Helly.

I decided to watch my first World Cup game yesterday. I didn't catch the beginning and it was 1-0 Belgium when I turned it on. I watched the game on and off while I did some other things and decided that no, I'm not jumping on any soccer bandwagon this year. I'm over it.

I basically feel the same.

Same. He just couldn't pass up a chance to play with Alex Tuch.

fify Healthy competition.

I may try that. I can work out the details with my daughter-in-law.

Oh man that sucks.

I wonder if AI is training us to write like AI? 🤪 Marty Biron needs to ask him: DIS OR DAT?

I don't use AI. Except for those stupid images I used during the playoff chase, and that was just trying it out to see how it worked.

Has it? I mean, moving assets to flesh out your roster for the playoffs, a short term move, is different from offseason moves to shape a team for the coming year and beyond.

I think the lack of playoffs in recent years was more about the team psyche and work ethic than it was about talent. The breakthrough this past season was more about achieving their potential rather than falling short as they had in recent past seasons. I think the attitude and culture has been durably changed simply by Jarmo's presence at GM and the expectations he set for the team. We lost Tuch. Jarmo's plan thus far seems to be to replace his production by internal growth... but Patrick Kane is still a consideration. If he signs he'll fill the hole offensively and may prove to be a cure for the power play. On defense, he brought in two very different players in Crevier and Zellweger. If Zellweger snags the 4D spot, our top four will likely function like it did last year. The big difference between Byram and Zellweger is Byram has more experience, but Zellweger shows the same promise. The other option, Crevier, would be more like a Logan Stanley type player, but better in every respect. He could turn out to be to Power what Muel is to Dahlin- the physical defensive stalwart who may also chip in some offense. That would be Zellweger on the third pairing with... Timmins most likely, repeating the same pattern of an offensive oriented Dman paired with a defensive oriented partner. Every player in the NHL is like an escalator: early in their careers they show promise but are often inconsistent. Then they improve each season to a point. Their salaries rise with them, but not bit by bit. They rise in discrete multi-year chunks as they get older, until they don't live up to their contract, and then they become a down escalator. The secret is is to pay just enough for the potential that you're buying up front, but not pay for bad years at the end of the contract. Then you have to pay to get rid of them, either in a trade or by buying them out, and we're seeing this season how that can hurt the team with the Skinner buyout. From that analogy, I think it was the right move to trade and not sign Tuch. I kind of feel he topped out during his time with the Sabres, or will do so in the near future. I don't want to pay beaucoup bucks for declining performance for the majority of that contract. Byram is a different story- he's still on the rise. But he's clearly not the best defenseman in the league and paying him like he is would have been a mistake for the Sabres, especially with the cap space already locked up on D. So the right move for the Sabres in Byram's case was to jump off his escalator and jump on another that's still ascending but whose cost hasn't caught up to them yet which brings us to Zellweger and Crevier. Players are always in flux and the best GMs take than into account. You want a young team with team salary control, and lock up the good ones on long term contracts before they actually grow into them. You want enough veterans to stabilize the team, but accept that those vets are on the down escalator and instead of mainstays, use them as role players, role models, and steadying influences in the locker room. I think it's a reasonable approach.

Before you me, maybe just wait and see what the team looks like on opening night.

It's not as black and white as that. Goalies are voodoo. Is UPL finally reaching his potential and Helly showing with last year's NHL performance that he's washed? Or will both "return to the mean" and Helly will clearly be better? It's all opinion and conjecture. In the worst case the Sabres are throwing trade chips at WPG for no improvement at goalie. Goalie is an area of concern, but there are other areas to improve too. It would foolish to throw too much into the deal if it hurts the team in other areas, both this year and in future years. This will not be the only opportunity to improve the team. Other opportunities will present themselves to improve goalie and skaters, before and during the season. It isn't so much about making WPG squirm, it's about getting the maximum return for the minimum cost. Jarmo had a history with Columbus of taking "big swings" and paying too much for not enough return. I for one am encouraged that he's playing it more conservatively.

This may be Jarmo's move: No move. Let Chevy sweat it out and see if he blinks first and proposes a more attractive (from Jarmo's perspective) return. Maybe UPL + Norris + a future pick and keeping Mrtka in the Sabres org.

I think that's the point. They have the cap space, more or less, but they don't have a roster spot for him. I mentioned in another thread that in a trade for Hellebuyck, one might consider Patrick Kane as a part of the return, since moving one or more forwards in the trade would make a roster spot for him.

We had a very low key 4th. Didn't see any fireworks but I can hear them around the neighborhood. It always sounds like a war zone on the Fourth. Had a cookout at our house with family. My grandson is very concerned about my burger flipping style. It was a good visit but I always feel uncomfortable around my daughter-in-law's father. He's Chinese and speaks almost no English so it's difficult to extend hospitality.

You can buy an EZPass at the first rest area when coming in on the 90 from PA. I suspect you can at any of the first rest stops, and probably an any rest stop.

We got an EZ Pass for my wife's car years ago even though we live in Texas. She drives up to New York in the summer so it just made sense. The crazy thing is she'll get back in July and I'll notice new chargers as late as November. Their accounting system must really suck.

Do you think UPL will play worse because he was part of a rumored trade? Well... maybe I would based on that perspective...

Well you're just a whippersnapper to me, but I wouldn't call you a kid.

True, but it's not why I have an Yzerman jersey. It's because I was a Red Wings fan at that point in time.

Every time I tell the story, @PASabreFan rolls his eyes. I grew up in Cheektowaga. I went away to college - RPI - and was more into the college thing than following my home town teams, especially since the Bills and Sabres weren't exactly at high points in the 1980s. First job was in Los Angeles, couldn't really follow Buffalo sports at all from out there. Then we moved to Fort Worth (Dallas sports market). This was before the Stars had moved so didn't follow hockey at all. In 1991 I got laid off and took a job in Detroit. The Red Wings were a mediocre, usually-made-the-playoffs-but-lost-in-the-early-rounds kind of team. I started following the NHL again through the Red Wings and just before we moved back to Fort Worth in 1997 the Wings won their first Cup in 42 years. They won our fandom honestly, climbing up through the ranks. And for those teams, Stevie Y was HIM. So I got his jersey. It was only when we moved back to Fort Worth in '97 that we finally sprung for NHL Center Ice, mostly because we both wanted to follow the Red Wings. But along the way, the Sabres got better too. There was a period of time when I was pretty equally a Red Wings and Sabres fan. But eventually the hometown Sabres took hold again and I've following them since. My wife is not from Buffalo and has remained a Red Wings fan. Those early years, we didn't have cable, didn't have Center Ice, so it was hard to be a fan of a city you didn't live in.

Backfill for Levi, nothing more.