Robviously

Miller is on fire and I think they're going to try to re-sign him. And there's more than half a season left. Plenty of time to move up the standings. People forget that we were dead last in the NHL on January 1st, 2011 too. We drafted 16th that summer.

We aren't finishing last this year and we sure as hell aren't finishing last next year. Maybe the Islanders pick will turn into gold for us in 2015 but I think we can shelve the daydreaming about first overall picks for now.

My main complaints with EJ are his accuracy and the fact that he was injured three times this year. Unfortunately, those are two things that don't improve all that much with age.

Here's the video courtesy of Kris Baker at Sabresprospects.com: Awesome goal by Compher *and* a great job by Michigan in showing how cool a gold (maize?) sweater can look if you do it right.

I'll actually be surprised if they draft in the top 3 now. The heroic march away from the top pick is well underway again. We've seen this movie before.

Awesome. Problem solved. The NHL really takes brain injuries seriously. :rolleyes:

I'd rather take a 2015 1st than a definite late 1st in 2014. It's more fun rooting for other teams to tank. I also just want the best asset we can get, and I don't care how long it takes to develop. I'd rather have a very talented 18 year old that we draft next Summer than some other team's mediocre 22 year old.

That was awesome.

Don't care about the Olympics, but I hope he's back for the playoffs.

Probably going to have to print this post and have it framed.

Good news, guys. There's a magic potion you can drink that makes all the pain of being a Bills fan go away. It's called Bleach.

Drafting second doesn't seem like a disaster either year. There's no big drop-off after Reinhart in 2014 and Eichel is available right after McDavid in 2015. Of course, to be assured at least the no.2 pick, you need to finish with the worst record in the league and that's pretty hard to do.

You can't suspend Chara. He has no history of suspensions so we know he's not a dirty player. Sincerely, The NHL

There's a big difference between attempting a reverse jinx and predicting exactly what ended up happening two years in a row. The odds say we probably don't draft first in EITHER of the next two drafts. And I don't think we're destined to finish last in the league this year or next either. The Sabres are playing better and still have good goaltending.

In that case, thanks for getting people's hopes up for something more 18 months away that almost certainly won't happen anyway. Reminds me of getting excited about the "Buffalo Tower" artist renderings back in 2007:

Thanks for jinxing this.

Even the Amerks can't score. They managed one goal again tonight and lost 3-1. http://theahl.com/stats/game-summary.php?game_id=1011442 I'm officially getting nervous about Armia. He's not exactly off to a blazing start in North America.

I'm guessing 10 games. Yay. Basically nothing for skating behind a guy, tripping him, knocking him out, and then continuing to hit him. A real league would give both him and Neal a year off. They can come back to the league on December 7th, 2014. But the NHL isn't a real league. 5 games for Neal. 10 games for Thornton. Brain trauma for everyone.

Elliotte Friedman ‏@FriedgeHNIC8m NHL announces Neal to have a phone hearing Monday. Cannot be suspended longer than five games Nice to see the NHL is already handling this horribly.

Thornton has never been suspended before. Therefore, there is no reason to suspend him this time. Sincerely, The NHL

I think everyone here would have been thrilled with Jim Nill last Summer. I said it a couple days after it happened, the worst thing about the LaFontaine - Nolan move is that it made it abundantly clear that Pegula and Black are just flailing away when it comes to running this team. Cleaning house after last season would have given them a lot more options -- including Jim Nill.

Four point game (1+3) for Nichushkin today in Dallas. *sigh*

He'd be an evil genius if he hadn't given them the chance to defer that pick. Unless he was so smart that he gave them that option knowing that they would AND that they would suck even worse next season, thereby landing us the no.1 pick for the team with the worst record in hockey. And if that's true, we'd need to bring him back. (It's not true. Calm down.)

Define "solid." Being the worst team in the league only assures you a 25% chance of winning the first overall pick. Chances of drafting first overall both years: Even if we have the worst record in hockey both this year and next year, our chances of drafting first overall in both years is 0.25 * 0.25 = 0.0625, or 6.25%. And we are FAR from a lock to finish with the worst record in either year. That's larger than 0.00% but not by enough for me to care. Chances of drafting first overall in exactly ONE of the next two years: Again, assuming we somehow have the worst record in hockey both this year and next year, we're looking at 0.25(0.75) + 0.75(0.25) = 0.375, or 37.5%. But only *IF* we're the worst team in hockey this year AND next year. So even if we suck worse than the Sabres ever have and finish worst in the league two years in a row, our chances of getting AT LEAST one first overall pick are.....43.75%. In other words, not even a coin flip. And are we really, really going to suck when Miller leaves? Maybe, maybe not. I still believe in Enroth. I don't think there will be a huge drop off if/when he takes over as the no.1. Who knows?

This scenario is far too awesome to even worry about. 0.000% chance of happening. The Sabres are as close to a lock to take a forward as you can be. Not only are we loaded with young defensemen, the cupboard is looking bare for top offensive talent. Basically just Armia and Grigorenko and neither seems like a future superstar at this point (I wouldn't rule it out but I'm not counting on it either). Ekblad would make a lot more sense if we'd taken Nichushkin at 8th last year.