shrader

This new found hatred for the refs from Ray is pretty funny. That was always the only thing of value he added to a broadcast, his random one liners. Originally it was all of the old guy comments at RJ/Neale, then it was jabs at Marty or the Peters/Rivet show. Now it’s ref day hate.

But he was hungry. You should try skipping a few meals while gathering around the trade table.

They have 4 games left after the frozen four final. I wonder if they'd actually place him in the lineup if they're still fighting for a playoff spot at that point.

But do you spread out the player styles a bit? I can't picture the two physical guys in Bush and Stillman being paired up.

If mom has one of those ugly half and half jerseys, Calgary on the left and Arizona on the right... Does she have to switch the sides now, Arizona/left, Calgary/right?

Capfriendly has added a logo now for the three signed draftees (Savoie/Östlund/Nadeau) that marks them as exempt from the 50 contract roster limit. That's a nice addition. https://www.capfriendly.com/teams/sabres

And Levi, of course. I think we talked about this before though. Capfriendly has them at 44 contracts, so you're number probably includes the signed guys in juniors like Savoie. I believe Bloom was one of them previously, so there's one less of those guys who could impact the roster count with late call up.

First round pick just like Gaustad, right?

Maybe... except for a certain 3-headed monster.

I'd say they have a pretty clear goal to add some physical play. I can't complain about that.

You don't see that often from these sources.

Neutral site conference final.😁

Of course it's not. You just need to take care of yourself and build how you think is best. There's an unending list of what ifs, but you can't control what those other teams do. Just go out and do what you think is best for your own team.

The filler stuff in the TSN broadcast is pretty painful. Did they really need to simulate an entire draft lottery broadcast?

They need to continue to build in order for that to happen. The thought is that it's better to build for that over the summer than it is right now.

If, and that's a big if, this move is in response to Dahlin and Tuch being out, isn't that exactly what it is? We're getting into semantics at this point, panic or no panic, it's a response to two of your best players being out. You're not replacing that. But regardless, I shouldn't have thrown that word in there. No matter what the fans want, the organization is not playing for this year and they've been very clear about it. That's not saying there is no move coming, but if there is, it will be for someone with term or an impending RFA. That's a pricey market, so it gets a hell of a lot more tricky to pull that off.

Sorry, I don't have the numbers. But if a major junior player doesn't sign after 2 years, he goes back into the draft and then gets a new 2 year window. After that it is free agency. So if a major junior is drafted by a team he does not want to play for, he's stuck for only 2 years if there's no trade. The college kid would be stuck for 4. Sometimes those time windows can be a year shorter depending on their age. And yeah, the goalies do tend to have a much more crazy developmental curve, but there's no fix for that. The idea constantly thrown around is to add an extra year window on rights. That's great and all, but where is the player playing during that time? They want them within the AHL/NHL system as soon as possible. They do not want them heading to europe and they're too old for juniors at that point. Also, there's no chance the union would ever agree to adding that year for a small subset of players. Quite honestly, the only thing that may ever going to change this is the NIL stuff going on in the NCAA right now. If they ever loosen their rules and allow players to remain in college after signing, problem solved. But that's not an NHL thing. There's nothing the league can do.

I'm not sure it is the best way to grow, that's all. Of course, that's ignoring what may happen over the next couple weeks if they do get there. When you've waited 2-3 generations worth of players to finally see another playoff game, I have no issue waiting one more year. I think they can make a much stronger run next year if they don't give away too many pieces right now during an inflation-heavy trade market. But hey, I hope that passes your criteria for reasons to be here.

Did he mention which of his movies is his favorite? My money is on Rear Window.

That's assuming he signs. I can't imagine anyone in his camp had any influence on this deal. Has there been anything out there suggesting that?

He could sign today if he wanted to.

I think it's a perfect example though of why they're not going to go crazy right now and load up. They've been very open about their plan of developing this group for a while now. Do a pair of horribly timed injuries make you panic and break that plan when the payoff is getting curb stomped by Boston or Carolina? I do expect one or two more minor moves, but they're riding these kids to that potential curb stomping. And I also think they're beyond that point of critical mass with forward prospects at this point. We'll be seeing more of that moved to bulk up the blue line depth. It's a neverending cycle. They need to find a way to break into that top 6 group. I think they're two pieces away but unfortunately they won't be finding them until the offseason.

Thanks folks, now I'm thinking about trying to find the best beef on weck in NC. There's actually a pretty good food truck but they're not scheduled anywhere until 3/14.

I know the playoffs are important and all, but do you really want to watch 4 of last night's game? Waiting for the playoffs for 85 years and then not even wanting to watch the games, it's a weird place to be.

This is not a loop hole. It's by design and explicitly written into the CBA.