Taro T

The slump is one thing. The thing that seals that he should be the captain is that the team has quit in exactly 2 games in the past 2 seasons. Both came 1 week apart while he was out of the lineup. And he just does all of the other little things right. When he became a Sabre, he took the entire team out to dinner. On RJ night, he was the one that went and grabbed him and brought him out onto the ice. Little things, but they add up and become the root of bigger things.

You seem to be splitting hairs there. They definitely are going to switch the goal to winning in October (if it isn't already the goal for the next 17 games). That said, they aren't trading Savoie away for a guy who's a UFA in a year to improve the chances of winning JUST next year.

Not so sure. He wanted to finally get a chance to start. Buffalo gave him the best opportunity at that. At least until Dahlin drove the forward onto him. (Pretty sure it was the time Dahlin did it to him that he got injured. It might've been the other one that broke him.)

Want a 5 brought in as well. But what the team needs is a 4. Maybe Jokiharju becomes that guy next year. Or even Lyubushkin. But rather than expect an internal candidate will advance (Joker by getting to his prime, Bousch by having another year in this significantly different system than he'd been in back in Arizona or even TO) would really like to have an external candidate brought in house. Doesn't just increase the chances of getting that 4 they need; it also makes it easier to handle injuries.

We're generally in agreement on the rookies. But the question was who might make the opening day roster. And Savoie, due to circumstances beyond his playing abilities, will have a real chance to play a handful of games starting opening night. But to stay, he's going to have to actually beat somebody out of a roster spot. They have 14 NHLers at F right now. 12 of them will be back next year, and wouldn't be surprised if another Hinostroza and Sheahan type get brought in too to play in Ra-cha-cha but also to be in Buffalo should a kid or 2 falter. Next year winning is the priority (but not at the sacrifice of LT winning). As for Levi, the expectation is though he gets some games this year, that he starts in Ra-cha-cha. But it isn't a given. If he outplays UPL and whomever else gets brought in to partner with UPL then he gets the net. It really is that simple, as next year winning becomes the focus. Heck, winning is the focus today (recall Granato's statement earlier this past week that lineups are being crafted to give the team the best opportunity to win now. They haven't moved on from development but at this point winning will breed development.

Savoie has a real chance to start the year in Buffalo, but would be mildly surprised if he plays beyond that 9th game. (And actually could see him sent packing after 6 or so games to get a look see at the end of the year without burning a year of the ELC.) If no goalie is brought in from the outside this summer, Levi has a small chance of starting the year in Buffalo. Those are the 2 rookies IMHO that have the best chance of starting the year in Buffalo. Would be surprised if Rousek doesn't get an injury callup next year. Kulich will likely get a short look too. (But expect they want that ELC to slide another year too. So, if he makes the team, he's going to be taking Olofsson's spot, not bumping Greenway for Okposo's slot.)

Comrie? Yes, he signed a 2 year deal last summer. No, Levi has not signed yet. Not expecting him to do so until it is official that NU won't make the dance. Hopefully he watches that selection show from the Anchor Bar or Duffs.

And if that's the case, then so be it. But the Sabres shouldn't have to give up Jokiharju to get a legit 4. That's pretty much shuffling deck chairs.

Agree they need more diversity on the roster; not sure how important that is for the pipeline if they can trade some of the surplus of what they seem to be good a drafting (scoring forwards with a very high pace of play) for someone a bit more established in an area that they aren't good (or at least don't seem to be good) at drafting. Scorers are harder to find. Sandpaper guys should be easier to get. And C's should be tradable for D if we really need more of those as prospects. (Again, given the top 3 on the team and the age of the 5, not sure that the D they REALLY need right now are of the prospect variety. They need 2 more NHLers today.

The plan should be to add 2 more bodies (ideally a 4 and another 5/6) so the team has 8 REAL defensemen (or minimum 7 with either Clague or Bryson as the 8) and the other the 9/10 while Johnson cooks in Ra-cha-cha. Ideally Clague and Bryson both are back and in Ra-cha-cha ready to come up if we see another injury plague like from November. The forward ranks are in pretty good shape. Those additions would put the D onto that same footing. Find a 1 for the net and they're cooking with gas. And, don't really see jettisoning Jokiharju as being a thing just on an "if" and a "may." They have no true 4 on the roster (unless you're counting Samuelsson who currently is a 4 and might be (and likely will grow into) a 3 which is good enough when his partner is a Norris caliber guy.) Getting that AND adding depth should be the priority, not going for incremental improvement by upgrading the 5 to a 4. The goal should be to make Henri a 5 and pair him with either Lyubushkin or Stillman depending upon opponent. Bousch has looked good (except for the 1 game that nobody but Peterka showed up in) with getting to play 3rd line and not with Bryson or Clague weighing him down. He can play on the left side, so either of the current 3rd pairing guys could play with Joker or the 2nd new guy could play with him. They're still high on Joker and expect gettting to play 3rd pairing would make him appear to be a stud. They have plenty of cap space at present and have no need to jettison a good/reasonable D-man at this time. Especially considering what the learning curve likely is for learning what Granato wants the D to be doing, really don't see a reason to get rid of him.

10. So teams slotted 1-11 have an opportunity to draft 1st overall.

You seem to be forgetting the 2nd adage. You don't deplete what you're weak in to shore that area up. Trade what you have a surplus of to shore up weaknesses.

So Greenway to the Jost line or is he the 2nd F rotating through the lines with Hinostroza?

That's convenient. He has to be looking back at that day he signed with the Sabres and wonder wtf he was thinking. Durn near nothing has gone right for him this year.

So we can only have all the forwards together when the top D pair is out? March stinks.

Pretty sure we're referring to the same moment. Maybe it was shoulder. Thought it got him in the helmet.

Hoping the slowness is in part due to not necessarily knowing where to be. Skinner and Thompson have been playing together for nearly 2 full sesons. They KNOW what the other one will do. But yeah, he's most likely pencilled in as Okposo's replacement and the only reason right now that he's Tuch's replacement is that by trying him there the other 3 lines can get back to what was working prior to Tuch's injury.

Did Samuelsson get a concussion off that shot that hit him in the ear?

Umm, you hurt your argument by including Turgeon and especially Housley as examples of players that weren't soft. Turgeon was soft as butter and Housley still hasn't figured out that Stephane Richer didn't wear blue and gold. Pretty sure he still gets Christmas cards from Richer. There's a reason the team finally got past the 1st round of the playoffs once both those 2 had been removed.

And there's the conundrum. They played great team defense in the Ryan Miller game, they were boxing guys out in front of the net and F's were being responsible as well. They didn't score much, but that was more a function of Sorokin than their being defensively responsible. Tonight, they played soundly in their own end. Yes, they only scored once, but that was due in large part to a horribly unfortunately timed attempt at a line change and it also was a function of Shesterkin. It wasn't due to their being defensively responsible. REALLY thought they were going to start being defensively responsible (or at least adequately defensively responsible after that 1st Aisles game. It's only happened on occassion. And am very confused as to why that is. They CAN do that and when they've done it, they've still generated chances. If they didn't get chances when they play responsibly it would be understandable why they abandon it after only a single game. But they DO generate chances. And as long as guys that can shoot like these ones can can get chances, eventually they'll start burying them again. Would LOVE to hear Granato's thoughts on this particular item.

Oh yeah, the task has become Herculean. But, win Monday, and then worry about the next one. Play like they did tonight and they have a very good chance to get that 1st W in the last 5.

They won't announce the NCAA bids until next Sunday. Even though they won't get in, could see him holding off on signing until then, unfortunately. His team, literally, is going to be the highest ranked team missing the dance.

It ends in Loaf Land. F those guys.

Wish he would have ANY confidence in his shot. His absolute unwillingness to shoot unless he has absolutely no other options is maddening. We get it, he's young and not man strong yet. But the simple fact he NEVER shoots should give him an edge should he actually shoot. It also will open up those passing lanes he's always looking for. And, if you had the success he's had stepping into new environments that he's had, you'd be a very confident MoFo too. His confidence is very much a product of the success he's had stepping up. Again, just wish he'd actually shoot on more than a rare occassion.

Actually there is. The C's are a really tall lanky guy that hadn't taken faceoffs on a regular basis since college, a 22 yo, a 20 yo, and a journeyman. When those 2nd 2 get older and stronger they'll get better. When Thompson works on them more hopefully he'll be better, though with his length, he simply might never get good at them. It is extremely rare for a young guy to be even adequate at FO's early in their career.