Skibum

Remember when getting this guy on the team seemed like it was the most important thing of the entire off-season?

The most important statistic: NHL 94 Player Rankings: Alexander Mogilny: 96 Guy Carbonneau: 62 Sergei Zubov: 60 It's a travesty!

OK, nothing against Sergei Zubov, but in the Hall before Mogilny??? I guess the voters really must be fond of those '94 Rangers.

Looks pretty good! I like that he's got size, and he seems pretty smart and quick-thinking. I know virtually nothing about this year's draft class, but this seems like a great pick. Hopefully it makes up for the tough luck in the lottery.

All I can say is Go Blues! If the Sabres can’t be in the mix, I would love to see St Louis take it. Consummate sports town with decades of good hockey. Blues have paid their Dues!!!

It's a toss up between NFL and NHL for me. Both leagues have teams that go from rags to riches and vice-versa in one season, pretty regularly. The only problem with parity in the NFL is the Patriots.

I can see the DJ at KeyBank Center having lots of fun with the 'Balls' quote. 'Balls to the Wall' for penalties, "Big Balls" for faceoffs, and so on. Sabres 2019-2020: Balls Out!

Go Blues!!!

No. It's been too hopeless for too long, and the prospect pool is not compelling enough to provide excitement for the future. Years and years of poor drafting have put us in a terrible place, and it's going to take a while to dig out of it. They will have to rely on the current roster to develop and show a glimmer of hope before anyone would want to come to Buffalo. I hope they can move the needle this year, otherwise we are going to be looking at a trade Eichel, blow it up and start over kind of scenario next year.

Everything looks like it's moving in the right direction, until they actually play the games. The Pegulas seem to be doing a great job with the Bills, so I believe they can do it. I don't really think the Sabres woes are are their fault. Anyway, what other choice do we have? Trump?

I don't have a candidate in mind, but I would prefer a young up-and-comer to an old re-tread.

One has to wonder how much of his twilight years he will devote to a team that can't even get a whiff of the playoffs.

TBN says 3 shutouts in a row is "The definition of inconsistent". I disagree - I think it's the exact opposite. They consistently stink.

After three shutouts in a row, there is nothing left to do but tank the rest of the season. All confidence is gone at this point - I don't think going on a late season win streak would make any difference in team morale. I also don't think it's possible for this group to pull it off. A better draft pick would certainly be nice, but there is also the issue with the head coach. It has come to pass that Phil Housley doesn't have the answers, and it would be great if they could just move on from him with no ambiguity.

Congrats.

Depth helps, too. If bringing in one or two guys with legitimate NHL experience means one or two fewer AHL call-ups in critical playoff games, it's probably worth it.

Nice kneauwing yieu.

This season is a lost cause, but the FO seems to think things are on the right track for the future. If anything, I would see the Sabres as buyers rather than sellers, but I doubt they land anyone good. They certainly should not be trading assets for rentals at this point. Contenders would be interested in Pominville and some might try to make a move on Skinner, but I hope the FO doesn't do that. I could also see interest in Bogosian and maybe Sheary, since he's got a lot of deep playoff experience for a young guy. Otherwise, there's not much to see here.

Look at last year's record and that should tell you what you want to know.

The reality is that none of the underperforming players are going anywhere until the season's over. Teams that are buying at the deadline aren't shopping for dead weight, they want impact players. Now, if the Sabres somehow find themselves in a position to buy, they will probably ship out packages of solid prospects and younger Sabres who show flashes but aren't putting up big numbers yet - like Thompson, Rodrigues, Mittlestadt, Pilut, and McCabe - guys that give losing teams' GMs hope for the future in exchange for their stars of today. We all want to believe those guys will blossom into the Sabres core of the future, but today they are merely the most realistic bargaining chips. Aside from them, there are guys who are either too important to the franchise, or have no market value. There are not a lot of players in between. And if the Sabres are out of contention at the deadline, it's likely that nothing happens at all. It's not like they are going to dive back into rebuild mode.

I think he's earned a shot at playing on Eichel's line. They were linemates in college, so why not try it out for a game and see what happens? Things need shaking up, and this could free up Reinhart or Skinner to help beef up line #2.

Sorry it didn't work out. It's possible that you were in the lead, then some rock star candidate came in late and really blew their hair back. It happens.

Can someone with NHL contract knowledge explain how the Sabres were able to simply void Berglund's contract, and why they were not able to do the same with Moulson, Leino, or any of the other overpaid players they have been saddled with recently?

Don't know what happened here, don't really care. It's a big win for the front office, a roster spot for some hungry young guy, and now there's no excuse not to make every effort to extend Skinner.

That's almost as unreal as Thomas Vanek to Edmonton for four 1st round picks.