GDT: Winnipeg Jets at Buffalo Sabres, 12/1/25, 7:30pm EST on MSG & ESPN+ 📺

[JohnC]

Just now, PerreaultForever said:

Well I've seen Winnipeg play this year and this version was slow and not really up to their usual standard. I do think they came in not ready to play. 

I'm not taking anything away from the Sabres though let's be clear. They were fast and they chased the puck in numbers. That is the core essence of what they have built and how they have to play. If they continue that and slowly add more physicality they eventually could be quite good. Lastingly good even, but I'm not shifting from cautious optimism just yet. 

When the Sabres pace is quick and they are swarming, they do well. (As you point out.) When they get sloppy with the puck and don't play with energy, they become a mediocre team. In a long season, you will have some flat games. But the key for success is skating with pace and effort on the defensive end. In the last few games, even in the Minnesota loss, I thought the energy and skating pace was good. 

[PerreaultForever]

2 minutes ago, JohnC said:

When the Sabres pace is quick and they are swarming, they do well. (As you point out.) When they get sloppy with the puck and don't play with energy, they become a mediocre team. In a long season, you will have some flat games. But the key for success is skating with pace and effort on the defensive end. In the last few games, even in the Minnesota loss, I thought the energy and skating pace was good. 

Minnesota loss? I think I watched a different game 😉

Yup, speed and pace, that's their forte. They have to not get sloppy or carried away doing it though absolutely. Maintain structure. What veteran leaders we have have to keep them in check if and when they swerve away from that. I hope there's enough of that now but I don't think there actually is. 

[JohnC]

4 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

Minnesota loss? I think I watched a different game 😉

Yup, speed and pace, that's their forte. They have to not get sloppy or carried away doing it though absolutely. Maintain structure. What veteran leaders we have have to keep them in check if and when they swerve away from that. I hope there's enough of that now but I don't think there actually is. 

I thought that Buffalo kept up with Minnesota. They had scoring chances but couldn't capitalize. At the end of the game, the Sabres forced it on offense that made them vulnerable on defense. From a skating and pace perspective, I thought they played the way they needed to. 

[Slack_in_MA]

57 minutes ago, JohnC said:

I thought that Buffalo kept up with Minnesota. They had scoring chances but couldn't capitalize. At the end of the game, the Sabres forced it on offense that made them vulnerable on defense. From a skating and pace perspective, I thought they played the way they needed to. 

They won 3-2...?

[Doohickie]

7 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

I remember 2 good and 1 bad play from him. The first good was he won a battle and cut into the middle of the ice and made a nice outlet pass. The second was on the point for the PP, I thought he had good movement and deception. The one bad play he went in stick first and lost the battle in his own zone, felt like a really weak attempt at puck retrieval. 

I thought a few times last night that he made some good plays but didn't post about it. Offensively he was very good and defensively he didn't make glaring errors.

[Doohickie]

4 hours ago, Taro T said:

Would expect him to be on the trip, but not activated unless there is an injury/illness.  Would have to relook at the rules, but believe he could be activated on an emergency basis should a D go out due to illness or injury in warmups, as they'd be below 6 healthy D on the roster.  (Haven't looked at the details on that in a long time, so that might not be allowable, but pretty sure it would be.)

But that would only help with the roster crunch for a day or 2.

No, I think they'd have to fill from the active roster. I wonder if Kozak has ever played D.

[JohnC]

1 hour ago, Slack_in_MA said:

They won 3-2...?

I mixed up the games. It was 5-0 home loss to Jersey I should have referred to. I thought the Sabres actually played well in the loss.

[Taro T]

40 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

No, I think they'd have to fill from the active roster. I wonder if Kozak has ever played D.

No, the CBA actually isn't clear on what happens when a player would be eligible to be returned to the active lineup from IR and another player goes out sick at the same time.  The situation isn't particularly addressed there.

The team WOULD be allowed to bring up an AHLer under emergency conditions should 1 of the 6 D-men on the active roster be unable to play on a particular night.  (Teams with less than 2 healthy goalies, 6 healthy D-men, and 12 healthy F's can make emergency substitutions of them provided the move keeps them cap compliant; they can also replace them if it makes them cap uncompliant but there are extra hoops they have to jump through.)  They would not have to send a player down to Ra-cha-cha to get back under the 23 man limit while they only have 5 healthy D available (even if the 6th one has a 24 hour bug, or a very minor injury that would only keep him out of the lineup briefly).

Again, the situation isn't directly addressed, but just like the AHLer called up in the emergency would have to be returned when the emergency is over, should they be able to activate Kesselring to fill the emergency, once that other player were able to play again, the Sabres would have to waive someone else to get to the 23 man limit.

And it seems that the rule of thumb for whether something is possible that hasn't been specifically addressed by the CBA is yes, it is possible because it isn't specifically prohibitied.