Taro T

Possible. But doubtful. Expect we would've heard about that move by now if he was recalled.

Pretty sure he is attempting to teach him, give him crystal clear examples for why when he finally does take him off that line in crunch time that he had to take him off, or more than a little of both but mainly the latter. Could even be a reward for having come back hard on the backcheck causing the Rag to miss the wide open net a bit earlier. All the coaches at this level are egotistical enough to believe they can make their players better. Considering in the big picture they don't really care whether they win individual games this year, AND they're stuck w/ him for at least 3 more years and likely all 5 remaining contract years after this season, it makes sense to let Granato indulge in that arrogance. IF Skinner can get to be adequate in his own end (he'll never be good there) it'll help a lot when they actually start to care again whether they win.

Yes.

Being at home which gives them the matchups they want, having a rested Tokarski, & Olofsson having a game under his belt all should help. Will be interesting to see if Hagg gets paired w/ Wolanin or Butcher after Butcher got benched in the 3rd. Should be winnable.

To the bolded, only a couple of these guys are slow. That's 1 thing Adams has been good at doing - increasing team speed.

Well, people were ticked off when Miller didn't try to tie the puck up for 16 seconds; this is why you don't try to tie it up for 15-20 seconds. The darn thing is going to pop out eventually.

And if that's the case, it's disingenuous for him to say he believed he had a deal worked out. Either that, or he completely misjudged the GT market for the 2nd time in 2 years.

To the bolded, no. Not if Ullmark wasn't lying to Adams when he'd said he'd sign if nobody beat the Sabres offer. And if Adams really wanted him, he should've made the offer the Bruins made which would've forced the B's to overpay.

But again, Adams reported he expected he had a deal worked out with Ullmark BEFORE he hit FA. (He knew Linus was going to check out other offers, but he also had been told his offer was acceptable if it wasn't beaten. If he really wanted Ullmark, he needed to make an offer that was unlikely to be beaten. The offer he made was not legit for a guy you expected to be a starter.) So, IF rather than making the 3 year offer for less money, he offers Ullmark the same 4 year deal that the Bruins did again BEFORE Ullmark hit FA, then the BRUNS have to beat that offer, not Buffalo. Adams forked up by not making that offer when he could. And, if the lesser deal was acceptable provided it wasn't beaten which is what Linus apparently told Kevyn, then why wouldn't the better offer also be acceptable? Or was Linus playing 4D chess?

So, are you of the opinion that Ullmark lied to Adams? Because the way it was presented, Adams had a deal acceptable to both sides but Linus wanted to see what was out there that might be better as was his right per the CBA. That Ullmark had said he'd take what Adams offered should it not get beaten says that he didn't require a premium to stay w/ Buffalo. It also implies that had Adams been the 1st to make the Bruins offer, it would've been acceptable and then it's up to the Bruins to top it. Would they? Doubt it but maybe. But THEY should've been the ones needing to go over and above, not the Sabres, and the Sabres were in position to force the B's to react to the "real" offer and not just the bargain basement deal Adams offered.

Cool. Giving the home fans Tokarski tomorrow night!

Would be our luck. Only day this week besides Thanksgiving that the Sabres don't play. 😉

Those kids will give the Sabres a bottom 6 that MIGHT create issues for opponents, but only if the guys penciled in for the top 6 can keep teams honest. The Sabres need to be better across the board & with the removal of the guys that left in the off-season (& later) nearly everybody is playing a line higher than they should be when the roster is healthy. It isn't, and pretty much everybody is 2 lines over their heads. Don't expect Mittelstadt is a true 1 next year nor that Cozens or Thompson will be a true #2 next year. But if they all can be good to adequate 2's and Krebs or somebody else can be a 3, then it could be a bubble team w/ a real goalie & the kids. (Just getting tired of the if this & if that, & if that other thing all happen, then they might be relevant game. Eventually they will be relevant again, but until they are, they aren't & it's getting old.)

And, as @Thorny states, he DID pursue him to the point he believed he had a deal.

Possibly. But Miller looked like dog doo doo on the Blues, but was pretty good on his next stops. Ullmark not being an ideal fit in Beantown doesn't mean he wouldn't have been better here nor elsewhere.

He shouldn't have put himself in a place where he'd need to beat a reasonable offer. Make the Bruins offer while you still have the exclusive negotiating rights & make the Bruins either beat it or make a liar of Ullmark. Really don't believe Ullmark would've gone back on his word, so your question becomes & should've been from the start: can & will the B's go to the higher $ amount. Everybody standing up for Adams on this negotiation are neglecting 2 items: 1 he claimed his 1st choice was to have Ullmark as his #1 until one of his prospects could take the job away from him & 2 he knew he was going to have a cap floor roster and that a lot of teams that might be interested in Linus wouldn't have much, if any, spare capspace. If 1 was true, and have no reason to not believe Adams so take him at his word, then wtf didn't he consider 2? Because if he does, Ullmark is still a Sabre. We don't have to analyze the decision making only at the endpoint of the process; better decisions earlier in the process can lead to better results.

Beat the Simean led NO squad this Thursday, split w/ the Cheats & don't lose either of the 2 remaining "gimme's" and they take the division.

That doesn't help but Star being out is a bigger factor. Give the Bills him & Brown and the game looks significantly different.

Would agree w/ the bolded and a big part about what was so maddenly frustrating about this off-season. There's almost no possible way Adams expected any of the 5 guys (6 including whomever the guy still in Cincy is) he has to be reasonable answers to the quest for solid goaltending. But, if they cost the team 5-6 more games than they steal, it could boost their lottery odds from those of the ~8th worst team to those of the ~4th worst. And am REALLY tired of watching (on TV & in person) teams that are highly overmatched but getting good wasn't a goal this year so we get another year of being overmatched at least on the road. If it happens that they do climb the standings, they aren't trading away Girgensons to further torpedo the season, but the topography already has enough potholes that no additional ones such as that are necessary in all likelihood. Gutting all the good players that are more than a year removed from ELC's wasn't enough. Effectively gutting the netminding also happened. When the goalies are on, these kids, has beens, & never were's are good enough to beat the defending champs, Crosby's squad in Pittsbugh, & McDavid's, & Matthews' teams as well. W/out goaltending, these kids will get to lose a lot. Really don't expect the better lottery odds are worth all the extra losing that not addressing GTing entails.

Except, should they split or better w/ the Cheats, unless they lose at home, they do hold the tiebreaker that matters- division record.

Yeah, not sold on Apert yet. Still would like to know the real reason for punting Taylor. He was good.

Hopefully Kuemper & Vanacek are both on their radar. Offer a ridiculous $/yr to keep the term reasonable. This team will be so far below the cap ceiling that there is no reason not to spend on a ST goaltending fix.

Everybody & their dog knew the Sabres needed a reliable guy to pair w/ Ullmark last year. Hutton was not that guy. Even Adams knew it & came close to working out some deals, but in the end couldn't pull the trigger on any. Going into last season w/ the goaltending they had was a recipe for a failure & that baked up beautifully. The lack of goaltending 2 years running is 100% on the GM.

Right after he gave up the 4th goal early in the 2nd.

If they want to be developing the skaters, they need Anderson back in Buffalo soon so Dell can go back to doing what he does well - stopping AHL shooters. If they're relying on UPL or Houser, expecting they're in trouble.