nfreeman

Very nice win today, although as I posted in a different new thread I found Reino's demeanor concerning. Good for Toker. He's making a bid for another NHL backup gig somewhere. As @PASabreFan noted upthread, Bryson has been a revelation. I saw some Brian Campbell in him today. I thought Mattias looked green, but that he could develop into a good NHL defenseman. He's not there yet though. That Cozens-R2 goal was thrilling. It's nice to enjoy watching the Sabres again.

So, a number of posters in the GDT commented on Reino's postgame media session, which is here: https://www.nhl.com/sabres/video/sam-reinhart-postgame-41821/t-277437090/c-8113047 The view in the GDT was "Reino is blowing off Hamilton and Harrington as he views them as hostile bozos." It's a very plausible theory. However: watching the game, I was struck by how grim and joyless Reino seemed after his goals and when he congratulated Toker at the end. Then this presser really brought the point home. IMHO there are 2 likely explanations: either (1) he is PO'd about another lost season and showing it to his teammates because he wants them to understand that not making the playoffs and playing out the string like this is an unacceptable position to be in, or (2) he is counting the days until he gets TF out of town after next season. I hope it's the former.

Before we start sending away guys like Eichel, Reino and Risto, I’d like to see what a team led by them looks like with: - real goaltending - real coaching - a real #2 center - contributions from speedy youngsters who are ready to make those contributions It seems like the first 2 are eminently attainable and in fact all 4 might already be here (except for another good goalie, which if not brought in will be a firing offense IMHO).

Let the record reflect that so far @pi2000 was right about that trade, which seems stranger and more pointless by the day.

I generally agree and would just add that on a team starving for goals, it makes no sense to unload a guy who can score ‘em. I can see VO taking Asplund’s spot with Mitts and TT and Asplund centering Zemgus and KO.

The Islanders are not trading Pelech under any circumstances.

His shot is also much better than Zemgus’. But I agree that his handle is questionable at this point.

I thought the 1st season and the last season were just OK, but 2 through 5 were consistently very good.

Also, the PP in the 3rd was their best one in forever. Reino looked comfortable and in control in Jack’s spot on the half-wall. He, Dahlin and Mitts in the high slot had a nice triangle going.

I think it should also be noted that the Pens brought their A game, unlike the caps and a number of their other opponents. I hope it keeps happening. Let the kids see what it takes to beat a good team in this league.

I felt alive as a Sabres fan when Mittelstadt scored. Separately, Toker played very well, as did Bryson, Joki, Dahlin and TT. R2 was also pretty good, as was Cozens other than his crucial turnover for a GA, and Rieder played his role well. Bjork was in the right place often and put pressure on the D with his skating, but he left quite a few plays on the table with mis-handles. To beat solid playoff teams they need more from Reino, Skinner, Casey and VO. Also I thought Asplund was too much of a passenger on his line today. Do we really not have 2 better forwards anywhere than Eakin, who has been a major disappointment that goes on the debit side of KA's balance sheet, and Fogarty?

Dude. Separately, the Sabres got it together in the 2nd and played them pretty evenly after getting dominated in the 1st. If they can get something out of the top line in the 3rd they can get back into it.

Here comes Toker with a hamburglar type run to close out the season with 12 more wins...

Such a great movie. Ryan Miller? this seems impossible, not least because Miller wouldn’t leave his family in SC to play here I suppose it depends on your definition of con artist, but I don’t see how this is possible.

Yes. There was a sequence last night when the Sabres had control in the offensive zone and Dahlin got it, danced across the water with his galleons and guns, and Joki read Dahlin’s risky move, dropped back a bit out of the zone to cover in case Dahlin turned it over, and the whole thing flowed so naturally that the two of them seemed perfectly matched.

FWIW, Hall strikes me as a pretty sincere guy who wanted it to work here and was, last fall, legitimately excited at the possibility of regaining his peak form on Eichel's wing on an ascendant team for his all-time favorite coach. I don't think he dogged it here, at least not until the last couple of weeks before the deadline, at which point he knew he was going to be traded. I just think his game is in significant decline.

So not only do you not want to give him the job, you want to can him and hire his brother? That's cold, sir.

Holy mackerel there is a ton of good hockey talk in this thread, not just in these 2 posts. I didn't think for a minute that DG was the right guy, but how can I not at least start to think that he might be? It's a great story -- hockey lifer, tons of NHL and AHL experience, tons of experience developing young players, from a hockey family, almost died from the GD virus, finally gets his shot at the show at age 53 with a true doormat team made up of a ragtag group of kids, cynical vets and underperformers, plus The One from the territories... We need to be smart about this, as PA points out, but still. The hockey gods really might be offering us a lifeline here.

I can see the ATM line and the Bjork-Cozens-R2 line playing roughly equivalent minutes and swapping 2nd line/3rd line status next year depending on matchups and performance. Ideally, Cozens' line would seize the job and put the ATM line into a slot similar to the Vanek-Roy-Max line back in the day -- i.e. a nominal 3rd line that got advantageous matchups and was highly productive and exciting.

I agree with much of this, but not the bolded. I think any NHL team with the cap space would've given Hall the same deal the Sabres gave him. Yes, the NMC hinders your ability to trade him at the deadline, and thus reduces your return by some indeterminate amount, but you are still not committed to him for more than 1 season, you get the benefit of a putative star player in a contract year and you have the inside track on re-signing him should you want to do so at the end of the year. Certainly you would've preferred not to have the NMC, but that option wasn't available. It didn't work out, IMHO because Hall's game has significantly deteriorated, but I think the thought process was sound.

Toker is indeed better than Hutton. And Bjork is better than Hall.

Unforgettable. Not so fast there pardner. Darcy's 1st- and 2nd-round picks during that period: 1998 -- 1 - Kalinin; 2- Petey, Norm Milley and Jaroslav Kristek 1999 -- 1 - Barrett Heisten; 2 -- Milan Bartovic, Doug Janik and Michael Zigomanis 2000 -- 1 - Artem Kryukov; 2 -- Gerard Dicaire 2001 -- 1 - Jiri Novotny; 2 -- Derek Roy, Chris Thorburn and Pommer 2002 -- 1 - Keith Ballard and Paille; 2 -- none 2003 -- 1 - Vanek; 2 -- Branislav Fabry 2004 -- 1 - Stafford; 2 -- Michael Funk 2005 -- 1 - Marek Zagrapan; 2-- Philipp Gogulla 2006 -- 1 - Dennis Persson; 2 -- Enroth and Weber That is ONE good NHL forward out of 7 drafted in the first round (and there were a bunch of guys drafted after Vanek who were better than he was), plus a decent player in Stafford and a fringe guy in Paille, and 4 total washouts. I also think that if we're evaluating 1st- and 2nd-rounders, the video scouting period counts too, because those guys would've been scouted in person. In the 2007 - 2013 drafts, the best forwards he drafted in the first 2 rounds (in 16 picks total) were Ennis, Kassian, Armia and Zemgus -- not a top-sixer to be found. Darcy IMHO was good at drafting players who could play in the NHL, but terrible at drafting forwards.

I liked him. He seems pretty sharp, and not like the type of guy who would join a BS organization that isn't committed to winning. We'll see.

I thought Joki was excellent in the 3rd period last night -- cool as a cucumber under pressure, and beautiful skating and passing.