nfreeman

My game notes: - That was the kind of win a team produces when it has a lot of heart. - Ullmark has had a few so-so games this year, but he's also had quite a few very-good-to-great ones. - Hunwick looked pretty decent. Guhle a bit over his head but not a disaster or a Tennyson. - Howie needs to reshuffle the middle 6. - WTF is wrong with Bergy for not wanting to be a part of this? - Zemgus and Larsson are both making strong bids for another NHL contract, either from the Sabres or elsewhere. Good for them. - It's happening with Eichel. Amazing.

I will also admit that I have been watching Reino's D-zone exits and he is indeed pretty good at them. (He did blow one today though vs Boston that led to Guhle's penalty in the 3rd, which resulted in the late GTG.)

Full Eichel is starting to look like a freaking force of nature.

What a great win that was.

NFW would I break them up while they're going like this. Holy mackerel. As for a nickname, I've been wondering the same thing. Maybe the creative types can come up with something good in this thread and we can make it an official thing.

Skinner has 3 OT winners this year! Separately: what a great game that was. I sure hope Bogo didn’t get hurt blocking OV’s shot at the end of regulation — it looked like he limped off.

Interesting. Did Friedman say he thought Bergy didn’t want to be traded?

Do you think this is the end of his contract with the Sabres? I do not.

The two of them definitely mix it up vigorously and frequently. Looking forward to seeing that. Very likely. Separately: AO, at age 33, has 28 freaking goals in 31 freaking games!

well done sir. I don't think anyone is opposed to adjusting a theory as new facts come in. Certainly the facts we have are not negligible and not favorable to Bergy. Interesting. The point about this being a fully deliberated act is debatable at least. But the bolded -- I hadn't gotten that far but since you mentioned it, I think it's probably more than 50/50 that you're right.

I think the bolded is likely the case. I don't think the Sabres would suspend him if they knew it to be depression-related. Well, if he gets TF over it and reports and promises to be a good citizen, I doubt they can just keep him on suspension indefinitely and get the cap relief. That seems like the right way to go about it. And what he's doing seems like the absolute worst way to go about it. Who is going to want to trade for him now? I have a hard time believing that either of them would walk away from their contracts. Berglund isn't going to make anywhere near $14MM over the next 4 years (and likely not the rest of his life) playing anywhere else or doing anything else. Same goes for Sobotka and his $3.5MM next year.

I've been meaning to say this for a couple of days: Zemgus' goal vs AZ is a dark-horse contender IMHO: https://www.nhl.com/sabres/video/girgensons-roofs-wrist-shot/t-277437090/c-63854103

This is not good. It seems highly unlikely that the outcome will be that the Sabres are allowed to terminate his contract. So they'll either be stuck with him and his crappy attitude or have to pay someone in trade to take him off their hands. And the checking line, which was really quite effective, is probably history. FFS. Does he think he should be playing with Eichel?

Didn’t you just take issue with my assertion in another thread that the 2 lowest of those picks probably won’t turn into good NHL players? Hmmmmmmm?

OK, but I said a "good NHL player." The chance of that is much less than 50%. And Tarasenko is not "an older player on the edge of his prime." As I posted upthread, he's 26 and has 4 years on his contract after this one. My willingness to trade those young assets is due to the huge upgrade the Sabres would be getting from KO to VT. The price is different if they don't take KO.

Perhaps, but I don't think JB will make any decisions this summer in reliance on Guhle and Borgen unless one or both of them somehow gets extended time in Buffalo and looks good. After next season, each of Bogo, Scandy, Nelson and Hunwick is a UFA. The more immediate decision is whether to re-sign Beaulieu and McCabe, who are both RFAs this summer. So I guess I don't think they will decide to let Beaulieu go this summer based on Guhle and/or Borgen. I can see them giving Beaulieu another 2-year bridge deal at $2MM per year or so. I agree that McCabe will get a long-term deal. That would mean essentially bringing back the same D group next year, and figuring out what to do thereafter based on the health and effectiveness of Bogo, Scandy and Nelson next season. Bogo is certainly an interesting question. If we knew that he would stay healthy and play at this level, I would definitely want to keep him. He and Dahlin make a very good pair, and I like the big grizzly bear out there protecting Dahlin. In fact, this whole situation is new-thread-worthy, if anyone is so inclined...

Scandy is under contract though.

I will predict that Beaulieu gets re-signed. He's developing into a reasonably good 3rd-pairing guy, which is a useful NHL player, and he won't cost much to keep.

Well, this is pretty generous. And while Reino makes lots of nice plays, I don't see how anyone could prefer watching him to watching the great Swedish gift.

I think the Sabres are much more likely to send Hunwick down and healthy-scratch Beaulieu and Nelson than they are to trade Beaulieu to free up roster space. But I think @dudacek is probably right that Pilut will get sent down for the short (and possibly nonexistent depending on injuries) period between the time that everyone is healthy and the no-roster-limits date. Unless, of course, Pilut is head and shoulders above Beaulieu and Nelson at that point -- which could very likely be the case.

I remember being exasperated at that play too. However, any player that handles the puck a lot in the O-zone as much as the Sabres' top line is doing is going to have some bad cough-ups. I don't think it was out of laziness, either. And Reino and the rest of the top line was very effective last night. OK, but pi's point is still valid -- the overall production isn't there at the level that some here are claiming for Sam. OTOH, his first few years occurred in a highly dysfunctional situation. I'll predict he finishes much higher in assists this year -- he's currently 41st.

When he had the puck and just ran over someone like Earl Campbell? That was a thing of beauty. KO was overall very engaged last night. If his hands could catch up to his legs and heart, it would be great for the Sabres.

Dinner out tonight with friends at a good NYC restaurant. Xmas party tomorrow night with old friends. Son coming home on Sunday from his 1st semester of college and staying for 5 weeks. Fantastic.

A couple of nights ago I was thinking that Pilut is the runner-up for Sabres rookie of the year, behind Dahlin and ahead of Mitts and Tommer. Then I started thinking that that wasn't really fair to Mitts, who has had to carry perhaps a bigger burden than was fair to expect him to carry, and certainly bigger than Pilut's burden. Still: Pilut has pretty seamlessly stepped into a pretty significant role, is playing a top-4 role and top-4 minutes on a decent-to-good NHL team, has played the role of Risto's partner pretty well and generally looks like he belongs. At this point, he's contributing more than Mitts. Thoughts?

That would be interesting, but not alliterative. (And my post, to continue your theme, is kinda...pedantic!)