Taro T

2 separate grand juries did not indict. So 2 separate DAs couldn't present a case that he was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt without him getting to challenge the evidence against him nor present evidence to support his claims of innocence. The arbitrator was reviewing the evidence under the much less strict civil standard of a preponderance of the evidence (51%) indicating he is guilty.

Miami won't have a 1st rounder next year? Wonder what bust that wouldn't've gone until the 3rd round at best will now have to wait until the 2nd round to get picked.

My prediction is that Granato will end up putting Jokiharju with Power because he can't help himself. (He loves him some Joker.) But when Lyubushkin is with Power it'll work better. Dahlin gets the most ice time by far, with Samuelsson then Power close behind. Jokiharju will edge Lyubushkin in ice time for 4 v 5 total with Bryson a distant 6th. (That's all per game. Injuries will obviously effect total ice time.)

Umm, pretty sure a tall, skinny, cerebral, hipster known for his very own version of a scoreless outing would like to have a word with you. 😉

Really don't see it as an either or and expect the truth is somewhere in the middle. Ullmark said he was willing to stay and had worked out a deal he said he'd sign if it wasn't beaten. The Bruins beat it & it seems Adams offered to match that but Ullmark said 'no, beat this new deal.' Adams wouldn't and the rest is history. So, Linus probably was happy to be moving on, but he was willing to stay. If Adams really did offer to match the Bruins deal, he screwed up, because he should've put THAT on the table as his best offer rather than the one the Bruins topped. Yes, it would've been a bit of an overpay, but it wouldn't have affected a single other contact the Sabres had and it would've kept at least Dell off the roster; no data on whether it would've kept Anderson away. And the Sabres still might've been able to grab Comrie this year. It wouldn't be as obvious a chance to become the starter here, but it still would be a real possibility as he could be better than Linus (remains to be seen if he is better or not). But Linus being signed wouldn't affect Levi in the slightest and if it keeps UPL in Ra-cha-cha, so be it. It probably guarantees Portillo walks, but that seems likely now anyway. So, all signing him might have done in a negative sense is cost the team Portillo and likely Savoie as the Sabres probably finish 11th to 13th worst rather than 9th worst. Still would've liked to have seen Adams make the B's offer 1st. My 2 cents. And if not, as @dudacek said, at least have a real plan B.

And THAT is why Granato talks up Jokiharju. He's a player that has been improving but also one that does not play on his heels. IMHO, he's an ideal 5 that can improve (and likely will, though whether he gets to true 4 on a good team better is very much debatable) but the problems he has tend to be crimes of commission, not omission. And were Power 2 years older, he'd probably be a great partner for Henri. But the aspects of the game Henri needs to work on are not the ones a guy bringing a rookie that ideally will become a top pairing guy in fairly short order should be working on. Again, give Power Lyubushkin. And if it doesn't work, then put Joker there.

He's not. He's Biron minus the motor mouth. But last we checked, Biron was the 3rd best goalie the Sabres had this century. Until we have Miller (or better), Marty will do. 😉

Again, the biggest complaint about him is that he can not pick up the slack when his partner makes a mistake. He also still has issues against a good cycle and has a tendency to take himself out of the play. He has gotten way better at picking his spots on when to pinch in the other end this past year. It was rare to see Dahlin caught defending a 2 on 1 when the 2 were paired back up after the Butcher experiment ended. That was something we saw nightly prior to that. He's young & improving. But Power will learn better & the team will be more successful IMHO if his partner isn't creating those difficult situations that Henri's partner is expected to cover & his partner an cover for the inevitable rookie mistakes that Power will make. And, would really rather have Power paired up with the veteran who has complemented players like Riley rather than the one who may "learn to complement" Power's game. It really is that simple. And there is an expectation that the Joker could become that player. But, would prefer to see him w/ Bryson rather than Power when camp breaks in October.

Really hoping you're mistaken unless either Lyubushkin has difficulties fitting into Granato's system or Jokiharju cleans up as many mistakes from his own end that he cleaned up at the other end. (Expecting you aren't so really hoping Henri grows as much this year as he did last.)

At the ones I've gone back for, it isn't so much that the people that were jerks don't show, some of them do, but they've aged out of it. It's more the people that are happy with where they're at are the ones who show up. And that makes the whole thing more enjoyable. MHO. YMMV.

Yeah, if Adams was done on the goalie front with Murray in the fold, expect we dodged a bullet when he nixed the deal. Am happier w/ Savoie and Comrie than Kasper and Murray.

Yep. Playing Shea's in October. Have nearly the same seats from having seen Gilmour there many years ago.

Good Q. And if Savoie is gone, do the Sabres still take Östlund or was somebody that went before him higher on their list?

Considering the rich got richer during the lockdown, NFL franchises are selling for close to double what Terry paid, & hydrocarbons are selling for twice what they were 2 years ago, it seems reasonable he's gone from ~5B to $7.7B since buying the Bills.

Umm, the Sabres thought they'd traded up to 7 (from 16). If they were hoping for Kasper and Savoie, why would they've traded with Detroit to only land 1 and lose another asset to do so?

Who does he bump out of the lineup? Dahlin - Samuelsson was the best pairing in at least 4 years & likely 14. Don't see that breaking up. Which bumps either Lyubushkin or Jokiharju out of the lineup. Bryson's the obvious guy to bump, but which of those 3 bottom 4 RHD slide to their off side to are that happen?

Found out my son is going to see Nick Mason with me. And just finished my 1st week of vacation in at least 3 years & got a ton of stuff done around the house. Fantastic Friday indeed.

Preference would be Ra-cha-cha w/ a deal worked out w/ his Czechia team that he'll be loaned there after (US) Thanksgiving if he isn't adjusting. (Doubt it'd be needed, but having a fallback of the sort it sounds like they're planning for Rosen would be a nice safety net.)

Pretty sure the answer is 'yes.' The contract is still at least $2MM/ yr too much though it isn't constraining anything & is actually beneficial in getting them to the cap floor, so though it's excessive it really doesn't matter at present. But there's no way a player putting up 4 year older Skinner style numbers will be anywhere close to earning $9MM/ year. And any player getting $9MM/yr then will be joining Jeff on that list Dom compiles annually.

Yeah, don't believe we are arguing here. Just stating/highlighting different parts of the overall picture. Yes, Skinner's contract might be constraining in 3 years. But doubt it'll be a reason that one or 2 of those guys get moved. A greater likelihood is that Savoie & Kisakov &/or somebody else is pushing for minutes and the Sabres will just not have a role for everybody at a value they've earned and a player or 2 will want to leave like Jordan Staal wanted to leave the Pens getting buried behind Crosby & Malkin or how Vancouver thought trading Hodgson for Kassian was a good move because they had other guys that brought what Cody brought but nobody that brought the concept of Kassian. The cool thing about ALL (literally, everybody that'll be here in '24-'25 w/ the exception of Skinner & possibly Lyubushkin is 25 or younger now & most everybody in that category is well younger than that) the Sabres assets being young right now is they can get good fairly cheaply with a few kids coming close to their ceilings and they can keep the pipeline stocked for a long while by converting some of their guys that are coming into their primes but don't have a lead role into prospects & picks while still actually improving should any of this highly ranked prospect pool develop and reach close to their potentials.

Too easy. 😉

It WAS relevant. It isn't at present. It will be again around the time you predict. But, by then Hodgson is off the books and so is the current Okposo contract. The cap will be going up again by then & provided the Sabres don't have any other albatross contracts it won't really prevent them from making any moves they want (with the possible exception of consumption a trade sending Skinner out of town). Nearly everybody has at least 1 bad contract / wasted money from a buyout or 2; the key is keeping it to only Skinner's bad deal. But worrying about it now seems as productive as worrying about whether Dahlin will want to pull a Tkachuk. Right now he's happy being a part of this team and he's never given indication he wants to leave. There's no reason to expect that to change at present, so no reason for people to drive themselves to distraction over it.

Can't wait to hear who Tyler Bass is the equivalent of. 😉

Pretty sure it was necessary if the final 3 episodes revolve around Gene. And it'll likely take that much to get the story to closure. Considering Walt's state when we last saw him, would expect there's a better chance of an Aaron Paul cameo.

Thought there'd only be 5 teams. Cool that they've got 6 total. Will be a nice little bump for downtown (or at least the portions the Pegulas have a stake in 😉 ).