Taro T

You really think guys would rather retire or play in Russia rather than play for the Sabres? Yes, they have no choice.

Without being in the room speaking with Linus & Kevyn, yes, am positive that Adams didn't make the offer to Ullmark that he signed when he was in position to have that be the offer to match. And, pretty darn sure that the stealth tank is the plan. Which is why people are so irate in this thread.

Yes, he put a value on Ullmark. And we expect that he refused to exceed it. Except the reports are that after Boston offered their deal to Ullmark, he upped his offer to Ullmark. So, he either didn't offer him what he believed he was worth (and remember, he was designated to be their starter this coming season) or was was willing to exceed that value. And, realizing that he does want a "stealth tank" this year, so maybe he could/can identify good goaltending without that constraint of not doing TOO well. (He did trade for Levi & that is looking ridiculously promising.) But with the exception of trading for Levi and having Tokarski as his AHL guy, he hasn't come close to finding an answer for today & neither is an answer for today. And until he finds an answer, won't know he can w/out lucking into it. And the goaltending situation is what had yours truly so ticked about the off-season. Did not agree w/ the reset, but that die was cast. It was possible to have an entertaining product without the "tank fruit" core. But without goaltending, entertainment is hard to provide without something else truly special. And, after dismantling what they had, we were told Ullmark was going to be the piece that would keep the kids from getting blown up. Except they low balled him without an actual Plan B. Guess all that was a long winded way of saying agree with the bolded. 😉

Expect him to do? Not a God blessed thing. Expected him to do? Give Ullmark the contract offer before FA opened that he received after it opened. Hoped he'd've done? Taken a flier on Nedelkovic when it would only have cost a $500 waiver claim. Or better yet, pulled the trigger on at least 1 of the 3 deals he was "close" on back coming out of the leaguewide COVID shutdown. This lack of capable goaltending IS affecting their play. Dahlin was a mess last night. Back in October & most of the 1st half of November he was arguably their best D-man and wasn't a disaster in his own zone. They weren't getting hemmed in every single night when Anderson was still available. They are now. Yes, the competition is tougher, but not THAT much every night. That poor goaltending would affect their play was predicted by several of us here and Adams is bright enough that he should have & likely did realize that as well. And that's why it's so darn frustrating. It was obvious that this was a very likely development.

9 different goalies in less than 1 normal season's worth of games. (79 games) ~2-1/2 wins per goalie. (23) Awesome. 😒

Realize this is Subban's thread, but this is 2x that Dell has come in cold & played well. Wonder how long it would take for him & the other goalies to figure out what Bales was up to if the other guy started every game but Dell came in the take over the next period whenever they were behind heading into intermission. 😄

Khudobin's the big guy that can't move laterally, right? Can't say he'd help much, but if they bring him in, they get 3 things: 1. the Amerks goaltending is quite good by AHL standards & Cincy could have downright Hasek-esqe goaltending by comparison to the rest of the ECHL; 2. the Sabres could go through 6 goalies this year just like they did last year; and 3. Adams will have used more different goaltenders in 2 seasons (1 of which was shortened) than Regier used in over a decade. So, sure, why not give him a shot. 😉

Still believe that as long as the skate stays on the ice, like w/ that play, the goal should count. Scoring is low enough in this league that on a play where there is no safety risk to the other players, they shouldn't cut down on scoring even more.

Is Hagg hurt or benched?

One thing getting forgotten in this is that except for the TB game, in the games that Anderson played, the team didn't get hemmed in their zone much at all. Having faith in the goaltending goes a long way to playing the right way inside their own zone. Fix the goaltending & the in-zone play will improve appreciably. "Fix" the D & Tokarski looks serviceable again. Dell would still be costing them games. The easier & quicker fix is to get a guy in the lineup that can bump Tokarski or Subban to backup & should he ever play again Anderson to that role. It'd take at least 2 other D & possibly 2-3 forwards to cover for the current goaltending. (And this post wasn't specifically directed at you. Just your post seemed a reasonable spot for this reply.)

You kidding? The "snow globe" game vs the Fish was awesome. Ricky Williams ran roughshod in the 1st half. Then it started snowing, hard. And the Fishies quit. Truly awesome. "Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!"

Not positive what the offer was, thought it was $4x3, but might be misremembering the rumored deal. But, yes, the Sabres should've offered him $5 (or close to it) for 4 years.

Supposedly they were. So, they WERE willing to go to that. BUT that's not the deal they offered prior to FA opening. Ullmark agreed that he would sign the Sabres offer IF it weren't beaten. With that being the case, and w/ the Sabres being light years from the cap ceiling, and knowing in hindsight that the Sabres apparently were willing to go to the Bruins offer, THEN the Sabres should have made the Bruins offer prior to FA opening. Then, presuming Ullmark makes the same offer to Adams for that deal that he made for the Sabres actual deal, the Bruins would have to beat that deal, & not the other way around. Could they have & would they have? Remember Swayman played fairly well for them & they still hope to somehow eventually get Rask back. Maybe they still do, and it is what it is, but there's a very real chance nobody would've beat that offer. (We know that, because that was the offer he signed. If there were a better offer, he takes that instead.) We can agree to disagree about whether he should've been signed at all; but considering they did want him & he was willing to come back & money shouldn't be an issue w/ the capspace they have & the way ownerships other assets have recently appreciated, they should've made a legit offer when they were in the driver's seat; not when they were put in the position of reacting to other offers.

That's a good guess.

So, you believe he lied to Adams when he said that he'd stay in Buffalo unless the deal they'd worked out was beaten? Or, do you believe he wouldn't have agreed (w/ the same stipulation that he'd see if it would get topped) to the deal he made w/ the Bruins had Adams made that offer prior to FA opening? Adams wanted him back. Ullmark didn't pull a McCabe and say he was gone regardless. So, while it might not have been his absolute 1st choice, he was absolutely willing to stay (again, unless he was lying) and having him stay would've definitely helped this year.

It is. But the Ullmark fiasco (lower case, not upper case 😉 ) was another straw on that overladen camel. It certainly kept many away. And, if they were getting good the level of goaltending they got from Ullmark last year, then this team would have 6-12 more points in the standings. That would go a long way to getting more bodies in the building THIS year. But there was either a miscalculation or the stealth tank was a bigger goal that we believed it to be. Either way, a mistake was made.

Yep. And it's why, with more cap room than the actual cap range courtesy of Boychuk's contract & nearly that much for at least the 2 following years, that the offer to Ullmark should've been what he signed for in Beantown. THEY should've had to truly overpay, not the Sabres. Pennywise, pound foolish. Unless they really think a top 5 pick vs a top 12 pick will affect the franchise's future that much. And if that's the case, the stealth tank is goal 1 & development is goal 2. Which would stink if true.

They're having ~12,000 tickets go unsold & unused each game. Even conservatively saying those seats would average $50/seat, that's ~$600k over $300k per game of free money ownership, the league, & the NHLPA is missing out on. If the purchasers of those seats dropped on average $25 in concessions & merchandise, that's ~$900k over $500k per game gross that's being pissed away. You expect them to be OK with walking away from that much money for 3 more years hoping that one of the 3 can get it done at that point? Fix the goaltending & get butts back in the seats. Too late to get sellouts this year, but showing they'll fix this mess can garner a lot of good will & ticket sales next year. It also would help to ensure none of the kids lose their "love of the game."

Because Adams has no intention of dropping a few slots in the 7th round this year or next. "Future considerations" is what it is. The Sabres needed a goalie, the Hawks didn't want to keep paying Subban. The GMs will remember that on what in the grand scheme of things was a nothing deal they each worked together and made their own situation a smidge better. Maybe that will give them each good will towards the other that they can get a deal done for something that might actually affect their fortunes. Besides, who's to say the "future considerations" will necessarily go Chicago's way? Maybe Adams' initial offer was he'd take Subban off Chicago's hands if a 7th 2 years from now came with him. And it worked down to Subban for future considerations.

As soon as they have a team that can go NHL 0.600. 😉 If they get top tier goaltending, it could be as soon as next year. Continuing w/ the same quality of goaltending, maybe never. Get mid-tier goaltending and the critical mass of quality skaters is probably 3 years away.

Ekblad is 4 draft years older & went through his own growing pains. He's actually a great example as to why people shouldn't give up on THIS 1OA D-man.

It is bad at times. Playing on your heels because you don't trust the goaltending makes having less talented guys facing bad matchups look even worse.

Yeah. Expect next season's forwards to come from w/in the system. But Adams has to bring an experienced partner in for Dahlin (Pysyk is probably the best choice in house, but he's not a top pairing guy & can only help mentor Dahlin so much) & hopefully 1 other 1 as well so that both top pairings has an experienced vet. Realize that they'll have at least 6 kids that are ready for the NHL, but Jokiharju can't be the elder statesman. He also needs to bring in a real goalie from outside as well. Even if UPL turns the corner.

But most likely won't be better than Tokarski. But most likely won't be better than Tokarski.

He can't go to Ra-cha-cha. If friggin' Christian Wolanin can't clear waivers, no way in heck that Dahlin clears.