dudacek

Got nothing to add to the above. At best, he’s another Clague or Bryson. Bloom may or not ever be an NHLer, but Riley Stillmans can usually be signed for free every summer. Maybe the front office has spotted something they can work with? Or maybe there’s another move coming where Clague or Bryson is headed out? Guess we’ll see, but right now I’m not sure how this improves the Sabres now, or long-term.

I wonder when Chychrun gets sick of this bull spit and pulls an Eichel. He’s been into this over a year and has even been allowed to play for the past 2 weeks. I am sure there were promises made that this gets done by Friday and the Armstrong is under a tremendous amount of pressure.

There’s no roster reason I can think of to have Houser on an NHL contract when you already have 4 healthy goalies on an NHL contract. Particularly when you are about to add a 5th NHL contract in net with Levi, and possibly even a 6th with Portillo. You can make this move at any time an emergency situation arises, in fact, they have in the past It might be a reward, but it sure seems to suggest that one of our 4 is being moved. Or just a big middle finger to Portillo,

While I agree with your point, it has to be pointed out that 12 of those minuses were put up in those few weeks when Mule and Joki were out. That number shows he’s a terrible top 4 defenceman. As a 6/7 he’s certainly upgradable. But bringing in a better 6/7 isn’t going to make a huge difference in our goals against.

I think I counted 8 starts where his sv % was above .920. Anderson has had 10. Comrie has 2, Edmonton and Calgary in his second and 3rd starts of the year way back in October. In his 12 starts since, he’s had 9 games with a save % under .880. He’s “giving the team a chance to win” only once every 4 starts and has yet to “win” a game for them. I get why people want to sit UPL, but Comrie has been clearly and demonstrably worse.

One thing that doesn't get a ton of play around here is that the 3.4 GAA is as much by design as it is roster construction. Don Granato's Sabres are built to win games 5-4, not 2-1. I'm not absolving the team of its need to improve, just pointing out that any cracks on the blueline are magnified by mediocre goaltending, inexperience throughout the roster and a coaching staff that is always urging the players to attack. One of the cures will hopefully be experience, but that will take time. I'm not sure if you can "fix" the goals against short-term without a corresponding drop in scoring, shy of making a significant upgrade in goal.

I agree it’s unlikely, which kinda where I started in this latest run of posts. But Arizona says something around Olofsson for Crouse, for example, I think that very much meets the mandate of addressing a need through a position of strength while also meeting our desire for contract certainty and players who match our window, If we need to throw in a pick or prospect to make something similar happen, why not? We’ve got more than we will be able to use. But that’s really a secondary point. My primary issue with trading for a forward is our forwards are really good and deep and we’ve 3 or 4 more good ones coming. We’ve got 5 everyday NHL defencemen with maybe one coming, and huge question marks in goal. If we’re spending, let’s spend on what we need most. Do you think can make the playoffs without making a trade, yes or no?

Sure, but only if that player still makes next year and beyond. Looking at your trade board, do we want to pay Pat Kane prices? Is JVR actually better than JJP? Enough to rob JJP of what a playoff race will teach him? Is Puljujarvi? Is Sam Lafferty better than Tyson Jost? Do we want Nick Schmaltz or Brock Boeser’s contracts moving forward? If we could have upgraded Jeff Skinner or JJ Peterka into Timo Meier, sure why not? If we could flip Mitts or VO for better, harder middle-six forwards, I’d look at that. But I have no interest in sitting JJ and trading a 3rd rounder to watch Evgeny Dadanov play 20 games in blue and gold. I’d rather use those 20 games to let JJ experience an NHL stretch drive. We’ve got 14 NHL forwards. Depth isn’t a big issue up front.

I want them to make a move to add another D. But I believe they can make the playoffs without one. And, shy of a starting goalie, I doubt any other move they would be interested in would make much of a difference.

Amerk watchers should remember the two Russian kids and Zetterlund from last year. Zetterlund was real noticeable against the Amerks, fast and dangerous, and Ohotiuk caught my eye as mean son-of-of-a-bitch. I think he gave Fitzy a bit of a beating if I remember correctly.

It’s too bad Mitts made that horrible drop pass because I thought he had a terrific game overall. Really, he’s on a run that should be winning some of the haters over. Since Jan. 1 he’s 6th on the team in shot share and 4th in goals for %. He’s also 6th in points, with 18 in 24 games. He's tied for 3rd on the team in takeaways and, despite his reputation, is just middle of the pack (10th) in giveaways. Past month he’s tied for 3rd on the team with 9 points in 11 games, with an on-ice goals for percentage of 67% and a shot attempt percentage of 51%. He’s probably going to finish the year with more than 50 points. In short, he’ making a positive contribution and has been for a while now. I don’t recall him and Cozens playing together much before today, but they showed some chemistry and their skill sets kinda fit. Donnie appears to regard them as his 4th and 5th forward. Maybe they can come together as 2/3rds of a real second line?

Sure, 2nd line is fine if you mean winger. I’m all about chemistry, not heirarchy. I just mean Quinn has it in him to be a first-line level winger.

Makhamadullin is a recent 1st, Ohutiuk is like will Borgen was as a Sabre, Zetterlund is an older rookie who projects as a 3rd-liner. The extra Sharks are long shots.

13-piece trades don’t come around very often. San Jose didn’t get a blue chipper, but they got a lot of red chippers from a deep New Jersey pipeline to add to their own shallow one. Devils pool more D-heavy than ours, but in terms of raw value, we’d have been looking at something like ~ Rosen, Johnson, Bloom, Hinostroza, a 1st and a 2nd maybe?

Over the past month or 2, Peyton Krebs really started to evolve into a useful player, creating a version of himself where we’ve started to see the pace of the NHL game starting to come into focus for him. Over the past week or 2, we’re now starting to see the same from Jack Quinn - moments when we realize why he was so dominant last year in Rochester. Those hard drives toward the slot followed with the abrupt 1/4 turn to open a shooting lane; those precise passes to the hard areas to create good scoring chances - they're starting to work. I really liked the way he played today. It would be fantastic if a stint on the 1st line kickstarted his journey to belonging there, because I really think 1st line winger is something that can be in his future.

By the numbers in January Anderson 1/2/0 2.97 .906 Luukkonen 6/2/0 3.06 .907 Comrie 1/1/0 3.07 .860 And February Anderson 1/1/0 2.53 .930 Luukkonen 2/3/0 5.03 .858 Comrie 2/0/0 3.95 .873 You can’t really cut off one of the heads if none of them can string together any kind of consistency. Comrie has not played a “good” game since he returned. He had an OK start against Winnipeg. Luukkonen has had 2 stellar .943 games in his past six. And 4 games where he let in at least 4. Anderson has two stinkers in his past 7, but also has had 4 excellent starts in that stretch. He is also the only one to play effective back-to-backs this year and has had the best numbers all season. I think it’s time to push him a little harder.

Zetterlund is better than Rousek. Or at least he’s bigger and faster and proven much more at the same age. That said, if those are the 2 best pieces, Devils made out like bandits

It’s happened 4 times this year now. Sabres have supported him with 4 or more goals 14 times in 24 games.

Lundell. Unbelievable what gets called when that doesn’t.

How soon they forget Wayne Simmonds. (And the 6-game losing streak that followed.)

Hard to say what he’s interested in given all he’s had to say is they aren’t interested in short-term gain for long-term pain. But he should be. He does say he is interested in improving the team and Chychrun certainly does that. He’s not a rental and he’s only 24. Adams does say that he’s interested if the price is right.

This so weird because I know that feeling too well, and I don’t feel that way, even though I don’t think he’s been particularly good. I don’t even feel that way with Comrie, who I think has been clearly worse. I think it’s because even though I expect them to let in goals that would normally be backbreakers, I also expect our skaters to get them back. It’s just what this team, at least right now, is. Can’t wait until we get a goalie who is going to give on a regular basis the vibe Anderson supplied versus Florida

It beats their ask of the equivalent of 2 1sts and a lesser prospect Yes. Jack McBain was traded to Arizona for a high 2nd-rounder last year under exactly the same circumstances. A team bereft of goalies in their system who offers the type of opportunity Portillo is looking for will offer up a pick, although I doubt it will be that high. I think is more likely to move as a sweetener in a larger trade. The Sabres save face, the other team gets a free asset.

No. And Arizona will not be getting a Quinn-level prospect when they trade him. He’s not that good. Something around Rosen, a protected 1st, Portillo and a 2nd would be higher than most teams will be willing to go.

I’m all on board with Chychrun. Disagree pretty strongly with the “not the right type argument”. What we need more than a stay-at-home guy is an all-situations guy who is net positive and can play Donnie’s system. That is Chychrun. He’s a very good player in a position of need for 2 years on a good salary. Watching today it was very easy to see him replacing any of our top 3 capably in exactly their roles. If we’re healthy, he gives us 3 strong pairs. Im in.