nfreeman

This is fair, but it's also fair IMHO to say that the Sabres #1 job is wide open, and that no NHL team is going to hand Portillo the #1 job -- he's going to have to beat out a credible competitor wherever he goes. And of course the financial considerations are heavily in favor of turning pro now.

FWIW, I thought Casey was up-and-down last night. He made some nice plays, and his line was pretty effective, but I also thought he made a number of poor passes that became turnovers. I also thought he was pretty ineffective on the PP, which is really in a rut, and that VO should reclaim that right faceoff circle spot from Casey.

That news about Portillo being UFA if he returns to Michigan for 1 more year is concerning. KA needs to close this deal.

Most lenders wouldn't, although some would make unsecured loans at higher interest rates based on the team's cash flow. My understanding, having seen some internal NHL documents, is that the league is pretty focused and has pretty strict rules regarding debt that the teams can take on.

A line of credit, sure, but I don’t think the NHL allows a situation in which a lender could become an owner if the loan goes into default.

Not really -- it's just that Vanek, whatever his flaws, was a really good NHL goal scorer. Given how rare of a commodity that is, the odds are always going to be against Quinn or anyone else developing into that good of a scorer, especially since we've only seen him for a moment in the NHL. Perhaps my use of "super-confident" gave the wrong impression. I'd say I'm optimistic, but I'm not counting his 30-goal seasons just yet.

Well, I'm pretty skeptical. I think they are going say the right things, but in every single new arena/stadium, the seats are always further away than in the old ones. I just don't want any more of that than is necessary, and accommodating soccer isn't necessary IMHO.

While I agree that VO's all-around game continues to improve (and as such do not want to trade him as many here have suggested), I do not think the slapper is back. Both of his goals against Chicago were great shots, but one was a snap shot and one was a wrister. I still haven't seen him blast the one-time slapper like he used to.

I've become semi-convinced that Zemgus' return is a low-key important factor in the Sabres' improved play. That 4th line with him, Eakin and KO is pretty effective, and Zemgus is substantially better with the puck and on the forecheck than Bjork or Hayden (or Eakin for that matter).

I am optimistic but not super-confident that Quinn will approach Vanek's scoring productivity. I am certain that Quinn's coaches will not detest him the way Vanek's coaches did. And I will let the continued Drury blasphemy slide.

But isn't the soccer field (or "pitch" if you must) bigger than the football field? Doesn't that mean the seats will be pushed further away?

The soccer thing concerns me. I think the inevitable result is that the seats will be further away from the football action. As someone who doesn't give a crap about soccer (and my kids played it all the way through HS -- and neither of them particularly likes it either), I don't want the football viewing experience in the new stadium to be impaired even a little bit in order to accommodate soccer.

I am pretty sure the NHL does not allow an owner to pledge an ownership interest in the team to a lender as collateral.

Good stuff. So will there be a state issuing authority and a separate county issuing authority? I'll be interested to see whether there will be state or county guarantees here, and how the principal repayment will be addressed. Also good stuff. If true, it's another reason to thank TP, as this will end up pumping probably an extra $300MM or so of his money into local pockets (most of which will be unearned graft and embezzlement, but still).

How will the taxpayers not bear the burden? The state and county will incur a huge amount of new debt. Even if the stadium generates enough income to pay the interest -- which is questionable -- it certainly won't generate enough to pay down the principal. And there is a limited amount of debt the state and county can incur -- at some point investors will decide they are over-leveraged and stop buying the muni bonds. I think it's also worth noting that the $1.4B is the total before overruns, which are certain to occur and to be substantial. I would bet that those are going to be funded primarily or entirely with public money too.

Well, regardless of how the county is raising the money, the fact remains that in selling the bonds they are taking out a huge amount of debt and using the proceeds of the debt to fund the stadium -- as opposed to funding other things, or even not borrowing and spending the money at all.

Does anyone really think he's not going to turn pro this year? It seems impossible.

Awesome.

Well, it's asking a lot for a young defenseman in his 2nd NHL season to be productive and consistently reliable the first time he (and almost all of his teammate) makes the playoffs. Especially since the Sabres will probably be a low seed and playing one of the best teams in the EC. So yeah, probably the Conn Smythe for Bryson.

Another LHD? Theodore is a good player but the Sabres are pretty loaded at LHD and pretty thin at C. Do you not think TT is a legit #2 C, if not a #1C? Also, Vegas isn't going to trade him.

I agree that he doesn't have 5 more peak years yet, but he's probably got a few left at an elite level, and he's one of the guys who is the heart and soul of the team. They need to keep him. I think they will probably give him a contract structured similarly to Von Miller's -- i.e. a ton of guaranteed money, but no real cap damage if they move on after 3 years. He turns 29 at the end of November -- so a 3-year commitment would be his age 29, 30 and 31 seasons.

He is skating and handling the puck with a ton of confidence right now. More credit to DM.

There were a number of shifts last night where TT’s line utterly dominated the Pens.

I think TT and Dahlin will both get long term deals this summer.

Does anyone know whether the TNT app lets you start watching the game late, including after it’s over? I kinda doubt it but may need a solution as I’m traveling tonight and probably can’t watch the game until late.