Doohickie

I need the Sabres to win Sunday so that they are still in it to win it when I go to the game in Dallas Tuesday.

Caps LOSE IN REGULATION

Red Wings LOSE IN REGULATION

...and falling.

Story of the game is the Flyers goalie is making his first NHL start. .800 sv%

I loved the way Benson made a play at the blue line, knew his shift was up and sprinted to the bench. Kid never coasts.

Sorry, fans, I was waylayed by the wife. We just got back from dinner. Looks like I owe a couple of these:

NS gets my vote for Poster of the Year.

I guess I'm all in for this since the Texas Rangers are on Apple TV+ tonight.

Agree; just commenting on how things have gone up until now.

Possibly not. I know everyone wants a guaranteed solution, but there are no guarantees. If Luuk is a good starter this year and will be no worse next year, and Levi a below-average backup this year but is likely to improve year-over-year, the Sabres could be in a pretty good spot; possibly an Ullmark/Swayman type combination that by mid-next season will just be hitting their stride as a duo. On the other hand, what depth is there? They Sabres used 3 goalies this year, a fairly normal occurrence. Who's out No. 3 if someone gets dinged up? Last season the Sabres used 4 goalies; the prior two seasons they used 6! If no major injuries occur and Levi is even a little better, the Sabres are okay. But if Levi doesn't improve, or UPL or Levi regresses, or one suffers a longish-term injury, the Sabres need depth. They're finally getting to the point of acceptable depth on D and the forwards have at least a couple lines of top talent and forwards in the pipeline. Both those situations support making the playoffs next year. But goalie depth doesn't look good without bringing in a vet for depth, the way I see it.

I'm not arguing that. I'm just saying that the fact that Kevyn and Donny are talking about next year does not imply that Kevyn won't fire Donny. Donny is still part of Kevyn's senior staff; why wouldn't he consult with him on future planning? My point is that while yes, Donny in all likelihood is back next year, this quote is not an indicator of that. It's an indicator of normal GM-HC interaction.

Funny thing is, that's kind of what happened with Sammy Watkins.

"Donny said 'The plan next year is...' So this means ...This means Donny is 100% back next year? Clearly him and GMKA have talked about this?" All it implies about Donny's return is that he hasn't been notified of his dismissal yet.

I don't see them moving both of these guys, nor do I think they should. Based on career trajectories I think they would move Joki who's an established roster player. Bryson, on the other hand, has become a depth defenseman you're not afraid to put out there. I'd try to keep him as a 7/8 D and he'd probably be okay with that. I don't think you want to count on callups of prospects in Rochester to be your defensive depth; you want a mature player. Bryson is the second oldest Dman on the team and seems to have come of age this season.

I was more upset about the Mitts trade, tbh.

The only counterpoint I have is that the best ability is availability. Quinn is a gritty player and so far his body hasn't backed that up. JJP is perhaps a notch down from Quinn but he hasn't spent time on IR like Quinn has.

And it seems like JJP jumps in and out of that group. Sometimes he's right up with them, sometimes not so much. I hope with the experience he's getting he can be more consistently in that group.

I hope monkeys fly outta my ass.

It's definitely better when Jeff is the host, but that was a'right.