Taro T

Expect it would come down to how well he plays in that 9 game tryout, should he get it. Each of the 3 waiver exempt rookie/2nd year players that the Sabres have sat on occasion either had a fair amount of NHL games played previously or blew the AHL out of the water. They gain nothing by being in the AHL. While Savoie likely won't gain anything by playing as a 20 yo in junior, if he isn't ready for the NHL but would be an ideal fit for the AHL not sure that they'd have him ride in the pressbox for nearly an entire year. If they think playing 30-30 games would benefit him, then sure they might make him next year's Krebs. But if they expect him to be Mitts in D+2 or Thompson his 1st year in Buffalo at best, could see him going back. As both players seemed to regress from where they'd been and both would've been better served in the AHL and both improved their play in the AHL. The other thing to consider is, his ELC can slide 1 more year. With all the big contracts anticipated to be getting earned in the next 2-3 seasons, having what should be a solid contributor on a 3 year ELC starting in '24-'25 wouldn't be a bad thing. And IMHO that was part of the reason they didn't give Frick & Frack a 2nd look down the stretch last year. It kept them each from burning an ELC year. All that said, especially if Okposo decides to move on, expect him to get his 9 game try out & unless he looks like Reinhart did in his tryout that he'll stay up w/ the Sabres & Kulich will be the 1st injury call up. If Savoie falters in his tryout, then Kulich grabs his spot. (Can't see Asplund happy w/ this season's turn of events as he needs some guys getting hurt to get into the lineup now & there are at least 4 kids that could be better than him next year pushing for a job.)

Doesn't matter how many games he plays or sits for in Buffalo in '23-'24, if he's playing in NA he's either in the NHL or the CHL. Those are the 2 options. Snd, to @dudacek's thoughts on him going to Europe. Have never seen the CHL-NHL agreement, so not 100% positive that a player can't be loaned to a European club if he has signed a contract there, but pretty sure that's not possible until the CHL player is 20. Under the CBA, an NHL club is required to offer 18 & 19 yo players to their CHL club before loaning them anywhere else. So, really doubt that Europe is an option either. Matthews went to Europe on his own prior to being drafted. He wasn't under contract to the Loafs.

He was born a few hours too late to be AHL eligible next year. Which is why he likely gets 9 games to start the year presuming there's an opening. Whether he gets a 10th game is on him.

Dom was only a Sabre for 9 years.

Cozens needs to occasionally shoot the puck or dish it to whomever is the guy to his right whether it be Tuch or Skinner. None have as good of a shot as Thompson nor Olofsson, but if the D & goalie are focused on stopping Tage, a shot from any of those 3 can be just as deadly. Realize it won't happen, but would like Skinner off the top PP unit w/ either Mittelstadt or Quinn replacing him. It would get quicker puck movement from that spot & a better passer that can still have a reasonable shot. Would also open up give & goes w/ Cozens where Cozens could either shot or give another pass to Thompson (w/ a mix of 60/40 being preferred).

Having Meier w/ Cozens is intriguing, but really like having Frick & Frack as his wingers for the LT.

None of those 3 have to go anywhere (other than Ra-cha-cha) if a better D-man is brought in. & by that mean, if a D is brought in then they waive Bryson and his overly large 2 year deal and watch 31 teams pass on picking him up. Clague likely would get nabbed. Jokiharju ain't going anywhere. Nobody is overpaying for Bryson's potential next season.

Well '99 was 24 years ago, so ...

Not saying they are, because they aren't. But, there's a better chance that 1st is top 5 next year than this year. But there's a real possibility that pick is 11 or 12 this year. Could be the long play on that piece of the deal.

Again, maybe it happens. But really don't see Granato doing that. Said what this kid's expectation is for Wednesday.

On the MF'n PP. On the PP, how often do you see Ovie loop around the zone while waiting for the 1 timer feed? Thompson, Eichel, Olofsson? Not very often. Even on the play where you show VO getting the 1 timer off the rush, how many strides did he take in his last 40' of movement? (Hint, it rhymes w/ Miro.) The concern w/ having VO & Tage on the same PP unit is you have 2 guys barely moving around waiting to get fed for a 1 timer. It worked once when the other team likely wasn't expecting that configuration. The next game, the unit didn't even get a single shot off. Stuff like that, & putting a big D-man down low works occasionally when you can get a mismatch & is unexpected, but there's a reason the Bruins didn't set Chara up on front of the other team's goalie every game. When you're ready for a gimmick, you can shut it down pretty easily.

You're going to send UPL down to Ra-cha-cha and run w/ 1 of the other 2 goalies against arguably the 2nd best team in the league to keep from playing your #13 forward & being able to instead play your #14? In what alternative reality does that make any sense?

You might be right, but expect there's a greater likelihood that Mittelstadt centers the Thompson line should he be unable to go but Cozens is available with Asplund taking Mitts spot on the Jost line than there is Cozens moving up. Mittelstadt was centering his line after things shuffled in Minny and he played pretty much at the same level he has since Christmas on the W. Don't see them moving Jost to the Kid Line, but maybe. Expect Granato tries to keep things as unchanged overall as possible & Asplund has played w/ Olofsson a lot since that 70's line started so hot last year. Asplund was also playing w/ Jost after things juggled on Saturday. The Kids have their best chemistry w/ Cozens & Mitts has bounced up to Skinner's place in the past. Am curious if the keep Olofsson on the top PP w/out Thompson or if they slide Quinn into that spot bring Krebs into Quinn's spot on PP2. And not that you were advocating VO to PP1 w/ Thompson, but am going to put this here. With the Wild anticipating Thompson & VO on the PP last game, it was really bad & didn't come close to getting even 1 shot off (on their only attempt) as there was very little movement from either side looking for 1 timers. Players are necessarily fairly stationary looking for 1 timers & stationary PPs don't generate shooting lanes.

And Cincy was called for 2 penalties the entire game the week before. They got away w/ stuff there. The refs are a factor, always are, but aren't the difference. As long as they're letting the same stuff go both ways, not much to complain about. And, though didn't watch last night's game closely, am fairly confident that Cincy got away w/ holds too based on the previous week's game.

The flip side of that is, the Bills only have 1 true receiving threat, so Diggs gets doubled basically every play he's on the field. But, take away Chase, & you have to deal w/ Higgins, take him away & Boyd runs roughshod over single coverage. Yes, Cincy has more weapons to look towards, but that also means Chase can't be completely blanketed. He's still the 1st look from Joe Rodent Home.

You'd have to IR Thompson to bring anybody up; or go through the charade of sending one of the kids down to bring Hinostroza back up. But if Thompson is on IR, he can't play in the ASG. They aren't IR'ing Tage. He only has to go through waivers again if he's in Buffalo 30 days cumulative since being waived or if he plays 10 games cumulative since being waived. But the issue is likely moot as don't see Thompson getting IR'd.

Well, 2 of them will have more than a week off. The other will be a little busy this weekend.

Even better, Foligno for the rights to Johnson. Make it happen, Kevyn. 😉

They had IIRC 2 practices in the prior 3 weeks. Wasn't surprised at all that Asplund, who had almost 0 game style work in weeks didn't get an opportunity on the PK. To put him into that situation would be setting him up to fail.

The '86 Habs wanted to say 'hi.' 😉

Does Casey Fitzgerald ring a bell? 😉

Can people please stop dreaming of Miles Wood becoming a Sabre? His dad was very unhappy w/ the way he was dealt from the Sabres and really expect the kid likes the Sabres as much as Randy does. Which is roughly as much as Josh Georges likes the Loafs.

Unfortunately, if the Sabres do sneak in, wouldn't be at all surprised if it was as the 1st WC. Which would put them against the Canes whom they haven't matched up well against rather than the B's who they have played tough. Hopefully that changes Wednesday. Back in '06, the Otters destroyed the Sabres in early season matchups but the script was flipped that spring. So, it could change, but not really expecting it.

Why would a backup linebacker be that broken up after the game? Now, might the guy who took any chance of getting to OT away from his teammates be inconsolable?

They might need to have him on suicide watch tonight after getting back to Cincy. He's still inconsolable on their bench 10 minutes later.