Around the NHL 2026-27

[Brawndo]

Final rosters are due at 5pm today, and the puck drops tomorrow night. Let’s get this season started 

[ska-T Chitown]

FWIW, ESPN predicting Sabres at 86.2 points ... good, keeping underestimating them.

[Wyldnwoody44]

I know it's hard to gather a lot from preseason, but I'm not so sure this team is going to be the 109 pt team with last year's excitement. 

I think we gulp, miss the playoffs. 

[SabresBaltimore]

I think we may be a bubble team that keeps it close but finds a way to make it. Not expecting another division win, especially since I think ours is probably the toughest in hockey. Although Central is right up there, but not as deep.

[Jorcus]

I think Sabres will still be effective at scoring. We have a lot of speed, skill and flex ability on the ice. The thing I worry about most is closing out games. Tuch and Byram played big rolls late in games. Waiting to see if we are still able to close out 1 goal leads. If we can I think things will be ok. If not it's back to where we were 2 years ago. 

[mjd1001]

2 hours ago, Jorcus said:

I think Sabres will still be effective at scoring. We have a lot of speed, skill and flex ability on the ice. The thing I worry about most is closing out games. Tuch and Byram played big rolls late in games. Waiting to see if we are still able to close out 1 goal leads. If we can I think things will be ok. If not it's back to where we were 2 years ago. 

Tuch has usually been a good 2 way player, but last year, the team did much better when he wasn't on the ice (or Byram for that matter) VERY late in games.

Both of them were trusted to be out there in the last 2-3 minutes when the other team pulled their goalie to come back from a 1-2 goal deficit.

When Tuch was out there the Sabres allowed a goal in those situations once ever 6.6 minutes

When Bryam was out there the Sabres allowed a goal once every 6.6 minutes.

When they were both out there together, the sabres allowed a goal in those situations once every 5.5 minutes

When NEITHER were out there, the Sabres allowed a goal once every 12.2 minutes.

(A side note, its pretty obvious to me from watching Tuch play, and the numbers back this up, that Shorthanded, with an empty net facing them, or even some even strength situations Tuch was 'goal hanging' a lot more than usual. It gave him a few more goals last year, but his numbers ACROSS THE BOARD were much worse defensively in those situations last season than in previous seasons. Remember he got a lot of short handed chances/goals, but the Sabres PK was MUCH worse when he was out there than when he wasn't.)

This is not to say they aren't capable of playing that role, and if they were on the Sabres this year they wouldn't be better than they were last year. But last year, the combo of those 2 actually hurt the Sabres out there late in games compared to any other combination of the other 16 skaters.

https://www.naturalstattrick.com/linestats.php?fromseason=20252026&thruseason=20252026&stype=2&sit=ena&score=all&rate=n&team=BUF&vteam=ALL&view=wowy&loc=B&gpfilt=none&fd=2025-09-20&td=2025-10-04&tgp=2000&strict=incl&p1=8481524&p2=8477949&p3=0&p4=0&p5=0

 

Edited September 28 by mjd1001

[That Aud Smell]

at long last.

AROUND THE NHL.

@LGR4GM you should do the honourable thing and delete that premature Around the NHL thread that i called into being.

MODS PLEASE PIN THIS.

[French Collection]

3 hours ago, That Aud Smell said:

at long last.

AROUND THE NHL.

@LGR4GM you should do the honourable thing and delete that premature Around the NHL thread that i called into being.

MODS PLEASE PIN THIS.

I see your location change to Rainy River. Small town on the Ontario-Minnesota border.

Interesting town in that a friend of mine was born and grew up there. We crossed the US border together in the pre passport era and he was just shuffled along while I had a few questions to answer. When we rejoined he explained that he was a dual citizen because Rainy River did not have a hospital, so he was born in Baudette, Minnesota. Turns out this was common during that time so there are many people from there with dual citizenships.

[R_Dudley]

Well here we are ready to go,

Are they a playoff team I don't know,

lots of predictions of yes or no, 

but one things for sure its time to show, 

Now let's Go Sabre's and make it so!

 

Happy hockey's back everyone!

I look forward to the coming threads and all the discussions. 

[That Aud Smell]

12 minutes ago, French Collection said:

I see your location change to Rainy River. Small town on the Ontario-Minnesota border.

aww, man. thanks for noticing.

and to be clear: i pay homage to canadian things with this account but, while i have some canadian heritage, i am not myself canadian (not officially anyway). we were traveling earlier this year west of the boundary waters in minnesota and i saw from google maps, i think, that the area directly across from us (to our south?!) was literally a region (??) called "unorganized ontario." i promptly updated my location on this site in honour (!!!) of that geographical designation.

16 minutes ago, French Collection said:

Interesting town in that a friend of mine was born and grew up there. We crossed the US border together in the pre passport era and he was just shuffled along while I had a few questions to answer. When we rejoined he explained that he was a dual citizen because Rainy River did not have a hospital, so he was born in Baudette, Minnesota. Turns out this was common during that time so there are many people from there with dual citizenships.

that region of the u.s./canadian border is fascinating and beautiful.

also, walleye. so much walleye.

[LGR4GM]

The Red Wings are a mess

 

[Flashsabre]

Just now, LGR4GM said:

The Red Wings are a mess

 

Yikes Larkin and Edvinsson both not part of the team although for different reasons. Kane left too. Might be 11 years in Detroit with no playoffs

[shrader]

28 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

The Red Wings are a mess

 

Has he been practicing before today and did have a locker? He doesn’t have a contract. He shouldn’t have either. 

[LGR4GM]

37 minutes ago, shrader said:

Has he been practicing before today and did have a locker? He doesn’t have a contract. He shouldn’t have either. 

He was practicing and at camp. 

[apuszczalowski]

9 hours ago, Jorcus said:

I think Sabres will still be effective at scoring. We have a lot of speed, skill and flex ability on the ice. The thing I worry about most is closing out games. Tuch and Byram played big rolls late in games. Waiting to see if we are still able to close out 1 goal leads. If we can I think things will be ok. If not it's back to where we were 2 years ago. 

I think the big difference is that if they start out slow or struggle, how quickly do they make a move/change to try and fix it or do they just try and stick it out? Now that the playoff streak is over, do they still feel a desperate need to make it again or do they go back to just hoping everyone continues to improve and get better?

[shrader]

2 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

He was practicing and at camp. 

That’s kind of crazy from both sides. But as of today, without a contract, he’s not on the team.  No longer practicing or having a locker is standard. 

[Flashsabre]

24 minutes ago, shrader said:

That’s kind of crazy from both sides. But as of today, without a contract, he’s not on the team.  No longer practicing or having a locker is standard. 

Something is really messed up in Detroit. Edvinsson’s agent said over the summer he had no idea who to talk to about a contract.  This kid should be a core piece for them and the way he has been handled is eye opening.

[shrader]

24 minutes ago, Flashsabre said:

Something is really messed up in Detroit. Edvinsson’s agent said over the summer he had no idea who to talk to about a contract.  This kid should be a core piece for them and the way he has been handled is eye opening.

It’s definitely messed up there, but this offseason has been a bit more strange than usual. It seems more guys took it down to the wire than most other years. Hell, we may have what I think is the first contracted hold out of the entire cap era. The exploding cap has changed things fast. 

[...]

13 hours ago, mjd1001 said:

Tuch has usually been a good 2 way player, but last year, the team did much better when he wasn't on the ice (or Byram for that matter) VERY late in games.

Both of them were trusted to be out there in the last 2-3 minutes when the other team pulled their goalie to come back from a 1-2 goal deficit.

When Tuch was out there the Sabres allowed a goal in those situations once ever 6.6 minutes

When Bryam was out there the Sabres allowed a goal once every 6.6 minutes.

When they were both out there together, the sabres allowed a goal in those situations once every 5.5 minutes

When NEITHER were out there, the Sabres allowed a goal once every 12.2 minutes.

(A side note, its pretty obvious to me from watching Tuch play, and the numbers back this up, that Shorthanded, with an empty net facing them, or even some even strength situations Tuch was 'goal hanging' a lot more than usual. It gave him a few more goals last year, but his numbers ACROSS THE BOARD were much worse defensively in those situations last season than in previous seasons. Remember he got a lot of short handed chances/goals, but the Sabres PK was MUCH worse when he was out there than when he wasn't.)

This is not to say they aren't capable of playing that role, and if they were on the Sabres this year they wouldn't be better than they were last year. But last year, the combo of those 2 actually hurt the Sabres out there late in games compared to any other combination of the other 16 skaters.

https://www.naturalstattrick.com/linestats.php?fromseason=20252026&thruseason=20252026&stype=2&sit=ena&score=all&rate=n&team=BUF&vteam=ALL&view=wowy&loc=B&gpfilt=none&fd=2025-09-20&td=2025-10-04&tgp=2000&strict=incl&p1=8481524&p2=8477949&p3=0&p4=0&p5=0

 

Can't like this post enough.

[steveoath]

Have Detroit appointed a GM yet? 

[Porous Five Hole]

[Gatorman0519]

Envious watching the Hurricanes raise the banner. They did have a lot of years of playoff failures. It will be interesting to see the Panthers back to health with Brady added to the lineup. Seems like a nasty roster. 

[Wyldnwoody44]

Panthers and canes... Lets gooo

FLA added Brady T, Hathaway, Barkov is back and Gudas back. That's a Nasty team

[OverPowerYou]

Weird start time for a random Tuesday 

[PerreaultForever]

To my fellow Canadians is the "restart from beginning" option gone on Sportsnet this year? I just turned the Canes game on and it only let me "watch live". This would be awfully annoying for a west coaster who is often not home yet when games start .