dudacek

Correct, sorry for the confusing post. It is the other teams who have games in hand and have to cash them in.

Barring an utter collapse by Nashville, LA or Minnesota, they are effectively in 2 races: with Edmonton for the 3rd seed in the Pacific with Winnipeg and Dallas for 2nd wild card. Edmonton is pacing for 96 points, Dallas 92 and Winnipeg 89. Vegas is pacing for 90, so as of right now, they’d be out. But they have a ton of games in hand with points already in the bank. Its going to be tight, but they are losing ground and need to stop the slide now.

3 guys playing in the middle 6 of playoff teams, each making well over $3 million per and averaging 13 goals apiece right now? Who has guys like that on their 4th line?

You misread the Pysyk reference; they will sign a Pysyk type to be the 7/8, in addition to acquiring Power’s partner. Signing Power, the new top 4 D, a starting goalie and 3 or 4 forwards missing from that group should get them over the cap floor. What I posted isnt my plan for the Sabres, it’s what I am almost certain what Adams is going to do. He’s got about a half-dozen roster spots yet to fill. I hope they are used wisely. In my world he gets a Jay McKee, a Chris Drury, a Marty Biron, along with a Pysyk, a Hinostroza and a Deslauriers.

Because he's the partner Power deserves, but not the one he needs right now

You're reading me wrong. The bold is exactly my concern as well. What I'm not getting across well enough is that I need to see more from UPL before I am willing to commit to him even as half of a 1B combo. Based on what I've seen of him so far, we need to acquire a goalie who clearly better than him, not a Korpisalo or some such he can compete with. I'd like to see him get 15 or 20 games down the stretch to prove he's capable of even 25-30 NHL games next year.

I believe the team is planning to go into the season next year with Thompson Tuch Skinner Mitts Okposo Cozens Krebs Quinn Girgensons Asplund up front, leaving 3-4 slots open. Olofsson and Peterka might take 2 of them. I also believe the team plans to go with Dahlin Jokiharju Power New Guy* Samuelsson Bryson Fitzgerald which pretty much settles the D, except probably adding a Pysyk type for depth UPL will be one of the goalies, along with a vet to be named later. That vet better be a good one. We will have the cap space.

If you are intending to acquire a legitimate proven NHL starter you are absolutely going to have to invest significant assets. If you are intending to acquire a 1B type then you definitely need to see evidence beyond what we've seen so far in order to project UPL as his battery mate, or it will be this year all over again.

We absolutely need to see what UPL has to offer down the stretch in order to inform our off-season decision-making process.

Flagged PA because he’s been vocal about results not mattering once the team is out of it, but it was really an open question. For me, it’s been a development year, so I want to see development. The more games Krebs, Cozens and Mule have like the last 2, the more comfortable I am about the direction of the team. If any success comes only on the backs of Anderson and Skinner that is less significant to me.

@PASabreFan? What difference (if any?) do you see in a Sabres team ending a bad season 8-5-1 instead of 2-10-2?

And according to WGR 3 of the 4 wins the previous 3 Marches were in extra time.

So they’ve already matched their March win total of the last 3 years combined?

This is reasonable, but you’ve got to remember that you’re likely to substitute Power for Hagg, UPL for Anderson, Girgensons for Eakin, Quinn for Hinostroza and Fitzpatrick for Pysyk. It’s not really a talent drop off and should not presumably equate to worse hockey. And as far as chemistry goes, the “new” guys except Power are already integrated into the room.

This team is going to have to turn over at least a 1/4 of its players if it wants to improve next year any way. Why wait?

Latest After the Whistle had Harrington, Rivet and Hamilton speculating hard that the Sabres have Power partner targeted from outside the organization and they haven’t caught a whiff of who it might be. And they wouldn’t be surprised if that player is brought in now.

The Sabres braintrust has spoken about Jokiharju/Dahlin as a pair moving forward and the need to acquire Power's partner.

Lineup decisions are never permanent. But Granato has sung the praises of the Dahlin/Jokiharju pairing in multiple occasions, including recently.

Yes. Botterill confirmed this in the same interview when he said he did not know him prior to the process of hiring him.

I don't think it was a tangent at all. But it was very awesome.

Wouldn't do it for less than a 3rd. However, if we plan to sign both Levi and Portillo now — as seems to be board consensus — we will need to clear space if we want them to play. My ideal deadline would involve trading most of Anderson, Miller, Butcher, Hagg, Eakin, Pysyk and Hinostroza for picks taking on some (hopefully useful) cap dumps for picks and/or prospects. signing Johnson, Power, Levi and a college FA dman acquiring a veteran RHD to partner with Power and an undervalued/blocked abrasive middle six forward for picks or players Not much time left for the non-college moves. Adams doesn't need to make big moves, but he needs to be active. My opinion of him is definitely going to be significantly shaped by what he does. He can't let his cap space go to waste.

Botterill pursued Ralph on the advice of Jim Rutherford. He did not know him prior to hiring him,

Was Dahlin dumb to punish the crap out of the Leafs most dangerous player to the point he snaps and gets suspended? Was Dahlin dumb to inspire Cozens to level Mathews with a clean centre ice check? Was Dahlin dumb to say "(shrug) that's hockey" when prodded by reporters about the cross-checking? I don't think this kid is what some people thought he was.

If we are going to talk about Joki’s “bad” defence, can we talk about what he is “bad” at? Reads? Closing the gap on the rush? Puck battles? Outlet passes? To my eye, he’s pretty smart, pretty safe, pretty mobile and pretty weak physically.

I think everyone in the room is aware of what is happening and what their place is in it. The guys that know they are staying, like Krebs, talk about building something that is going to last for 20 years. Guys who know they are going, like Anderson, talk about helping them get there. It’s possible Asplund/Olofsson/Krebs/Cozens/Mitts/Tage/Skinner/Okposo/Girgensons/Tuch/ Dahlin/Samuelsson/Jokiharju/Bryson/Fitzgerald will crumble without the “glue” of Hayden/Hino/Eakin/Pysyk/Hagg/Anderson. But if they do, they aren’t the players and people Adams thinks they are, or the ones we want.