Doohickie

Depends on the return though. If Norris is viewed as high-priced, damaged goods and we don't get much for him, versus giving up Quinn, Östlund or Kulich in a Hellebuyck (or other vital need) trade, I think a younger guy might be out the door, as much as I like them all. You gave to give value to get value.

Out of the young guns, Helenius may be the best. It seems wild that he will start in Rochester, but I understand the waiver exempt angle. Still.... kind of reminds me of the Östlund situation that supposedly contributed to the change at GM. When you look at Kulich, Östlund, and Helenius as a group, it seems that each of them has earned a spot on the NHL roster. I think the lack of a trade for Hellebuyck is creating a logjam at forward. Chances are one of those guys or maybe Quinn would (or still will) be moved in a trade. Kind of a shame really because I'd like to keep them all. Maybe they just start with Helenius in Roch and wait for the inevitable injury.

I'm not against bringing him in but I understand Jarmo's desire to avoid an overpay. Even if nothing happens in the offseason there's still potential for a trade during the season. But if goaltending is solid, maybe run with what we've got. There's a lot of dynamics going on for both teams.

Which, in the case of both Tuch and Byram, turned out to be

Totally agree. Maybe one team or the other will blink. I don't think Jarmo's going to make the richest trade for a goalie ever if it's going to kill the team and its chemistry. If they come out of the gate playing well this season, maybe he just stands pat. If they're losing games 6-5, maybe he ups his offer for Hellebuyck.

I wonder how a Belgian Malinois would do as a goalie?

The trading partner could come to his senses.

I dunno.... Cozens was not as effective as he needed to be either. It was basically an exchange of flawed players hoping a change of scenery would help. Last year Cozens did pretty good: 28G/31A, but he still fell short of his career year in 2022-23 when he had 68 points. And does he do that again this year, or does he fall back into the teens for goals like he has in his career so far? Norris's flaw is injury; Cozens's flaw is inconsistency.

UPL Hellebuyck What's more likely? That UPL is finding his game and will build off this past season, or that Hellebuyck had a hiccup this past season on a bad team and will return to form this coming season? I honestly don't know the answer to that question. If it turns out that this is the start of Helly's drop-off as his career wanes, trading for him, especially at a steep price, might be a terrible move. If last season was a hiccup and he comes back strong this season, it could be one of the greatest trades in team history. I really don't know.

I don't know. He's a concept wrapped in an injury.

The same can be said about Tage. I think Thompson tries to hard to make a good opportunity even better and in so doing, loses the puck. Keep it simple, guys.

To me the most obvious is goaltending. And I wonder how much of that had to do with experience. We went into the playoffs with 4 total games of playoff experience in the tandem. UPL popped his playoff cherry this season and has that behind him now. I'm not saying that playoff goaltending is automatically good, but it's bound to be better than last season, if only from the experience perspective.

We're not stuck with Hellebuyck or any of the other trades we made, but the potential to make the trades is still there. If the Sabres start strong, no reason to make moves. If they Sabres falter, they still can correct with a trade to improve the struggling area.

That's DFW in general. Ridgmar Mall in Ft Worth is going to be turned into a logistics center.

Sure, but 99% of the fans that go to the Sabres games from across the border are rooting for the visiting Leafs, Habs or Sens.

Oh, skip all that. The Stars have announced a new arena in Plano.

We here in Fort Worth proven we can't even begin to support an NLL team. No way we could prop up an NHL team. You want a cross-town rival for the Stars? Try Plano. Plano/McKinney has a bigger metro population than Buffalo/Niagara.

...in lifts. 😉

I wonder how much last year's "injury" problems were really just managing the three goalie situation. I suspect injured players were kept on the injured list longer than need be out of an abundance of caution, but really because they had too many roster players.

Did you find the source of the smell? If I smelled gas that strong I'm calling the gas company and not going anywhere near the house.

We've got about another week to go as far as the Dog Days go.