nfreeman

Cozens also IMHO showed an instinct for getting to the net and creating traffic and an uncomfortable situation for the goalie -- a needed component on this team.

I would love Barkov or PLD, but 'm not trading Cozens or Eichel for either of those guys. Cozens is going to be the fiery Jim Kelly who finally, by force of will, lifts this franchise out of its post-idiotic-tank loserdom. As I've said before, I would trade Reino plus sweeteners for PLD in a heartbeat.

My 2 cents: - I can understand rustiness and lack of precision given the layoff, but the listlessness and lack of energy and passion was deeply disappointing, especially from their alleged best players, Eichel and Dahlin. - Dahlin got caught flatfooted in the neutral zone and just grabbed his guy more than once. - That was bottom-5 NHL goaltending they got last night. Who could have seen that coming? - Skinner was their best forward. I also liked Cozens, TT, Rieder and Sheahan. - Reino and Staal might be too slow to play together. - Hall looked pretty decent but the top line was nowhere near what we have been expecting/hoping for. - They did look more spirited and generally better in the 3rd period, but the Caps may have taken their foot off the gas. - Classic loser team move giving up that goal 27 seconds after getting it to 4-3 at the beginning of the 3rd. - They didn't lose last night because of line combos. They lost because they played like losers and got bad goaltending.

Well, Hutton has started each season pretty well since he's been in Buffalo before cruelly finding his (much lower) level. Still -- yeeeeeessshhh.

Yeah, baby! Yeah!

Every dog has its day. Eichel and Hall will have huge seasons, Reino and Staal will anchor a strong #2 line and TT and VO will hold up their ends and blast awesome slappers past shellshocked goalies. Ullmark is going to justify @MODO Hockey's love. Skinner will come around through a combination of peer pressure from team leaders and RK's motivational mumbo jumbo. He, Eakin and Cozens will provide much better down-lineup scoring than we had last year. Speaking of Cozens, he will start more slowly than we'd like, and some here will panic, but by midseason he will be a force and in the Calder conversation. Risto is going to continue to improve the structural soundness of his D-zone coverage and continue to knock heads. Montour will have a big year as he approaches UFA. Joker and Miller will be a very good 3rd pair. Oh, and Dahlin? Lookout, mama, there's a white boat coming up the river. We are going to make the playoffs.

There is a very substantial chance that Mitts will never be a decent NHL player, and that R2 is far from being ready for the NHL at this point. This isn't a "sacrifice the season and sink or swim with the untested rookies" season. It's a "we need to make the GD playoffs already" season. I'm 100% confident that RK will play Mitts, R2 and each other rookie once he's shown he can handle it.

Unbelievable. RK must detest Skinner.

This is pretty good: https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2021/1/13/22227659/buffalo-bills-pain-suffering-deliverance

I don't think it's remotely disputable that Eichel had his best season last year. He was a monster. I agree that RK should have gotten more out of Skinner last year and that he needs to do so this year.

So R2 made the taxi squad, yes?

FWIW, Lindy also spoke from time to time about forward pairs. I think when the dust settles, Skinner will be with Eakin and Cozens, leaving a 4th/checking line of Rieder-Lazar-KO. Probably not to start the season, but by the end of the 1st month.

That was quite a nail-biter. Reminiscent of their SB loss to the Giants. JA was up and down — better than last year’s playoff game but not as good as his better games this year. The D was pretty mediocre. They will need to play better than that to win next week.

Well, MoJo had 30 pts last year, Skinner had 23 and Vesey had 20. That's a pretty low bar to clear. FWIW, KO had 19 pts in 52 games (12 fewer games than Vesey, 7 fewer than Skinner and 8 fewer than Mojo). Eakin had 15 pts in 49 games -- again, substantially fewer games than the guys you noted, and the prior year he had 41 pts. I don't expect KO to recapture his prime and frankly I won't be surprised if he ends up getting healthy-scratched periodically as the season progresses -- but I think either he or his replacement will score at at 25-30 pt pace, and I think the same will be true of Eakin and TT. Beyond the numbers, I just think that the Sabres' forward group was a vast wasteland last year whenever Eichel's line wasn't on the ice, and I think the new centers plus the influx of talented youth at forward will generate a substantial improvement in scoring depth.

Well, I don't think it's unreasonable to have watched Mitts look completely lost and ineffective last year and as a result to be pessimistic about his NHL future. I agree though that he could still develop into a good player and that there is no reason to give up on him yet -- they should keep him until his contract/waiver situation requires them to make a decision on him, or until they trade for a good player and Mitts is needed as a piece in that deal.

That Skinner demotion makes me nervous. The odds of another lost year for him just increased.

Exactly -- I don't get all the anguish about the bottom 6. Eakin has enough game to center a 3rd line that contributes offense, and it will be up to Cozens, TT, R2 and Mitts to earn ice time on that line. I expect at least 1 of them will do so, yielding a 3rd line of, say, TT-Eakin-KO, and I think that line will produce much more offense than any line did last year other than Eichel's line. I also think Cozens will force his way into the lineup sooner rather than later and that he will produce more offense than any of the bottom 6 did last year. I kinda expect R2 and Mitts to be on the taxi squad and then Rochester, but anything is possible there too.

Fear not good sir. Either TT or Cozens or both is going to force his way onto Eakin's line, first in place of Rieder and then possibly in place of KO, and that line is going to produce quite a bit of offense, leaving Rieder-Lazar-Sheahan or Rieder-Sheahan-KO as a respectable checking line.

Apples and oranges. I would love to see this but I think RK likes vets too much to ice an all-rookie line.

FFS. Cozens is going to blow into town like the Night King and lay waste to everything in his way.

Better or worse for the Sabres if Team USA closes this out? Will Cozens come into his 1st NHL season PO'd and more determined than ever? Or will the inevitable tarring and feathering of Team Canada by 80% of the nation's population emotionally break him?

His time here sure smacked of of number 2.

That meddling TP and his meddling private jet!

Well, I'm trying to avoid losing Cozens. I don't think you're getting PLD without including either Cozens or Reino (since Eichel and Dahlin are off the table). OK, but I don't think CBJ will do the deal without another good asset, e.g. Quinn or next year's #1. You might be able to get them to take Borgen or Mitts instead, but I doubt it. There will be plenty of interested buyers. I like Reino too, and would only trade him for someone who is clearly better -- but PLD is clearly better for the reasons @dudacek points out.

Would you not trade him for PLD?