LGR4GM

Here was Detroit's lineup from Thursday: Debrincat-Larken-Raymond Tarasenko-kasper-kane Rasmussen-copp-fischer Veleno-berggren (compher was injured and idk if he'll be back) Edvinsson-seider Chiarot-petry Gustafson-Holl Lyon

I'd like the NHL to add a rookie spot on nhl rosters where a player with less than 20 nhl games can be kept as the 24th roster player, as long as cap compliant

They have a 3rd line problem. McLeod, Zucker, Greenway is the 2nd line. I think Cozens breaks through today and I think Kulich will help him. Quinn though, looks like butt and needs a slap upside his head. Benson returning next week at full health is going to change that line though. Edit: if I were Buffalo, I'd be looking to find a team that I can package Rosen and a 2nd to for a middle 6 guy they want out to clear space. Issue is those deals don't happen until the new year. Maybe a team like San Jose or Montreal gets twitchy. You could also grab Yamamoto off waivers and try that for a hot second.

Posted this yesterday:

CHL agreement needs to be a priority. I think 19yrs old or 1 year post draft for 1st and 2nd rounders is needed. Preseason needs shortened to 3 games and we would start in the reg season sooner. I like the 3 goalie thing. Would like a process where the 3rd goalie can agree not to pass through waivers or at least gets some power there. I'd like all teams without a state income tax to have a 5% reduction in their cap to assist in league parity. Still gives them a benefit but evens stuff slightly.

Sabres take on a Detroit team that is on a 3 game win streak in which they've been out shot by 53%. They have allowed only 1 5v5 goal in that time. Their pp is clicking but their penalty stinks. Will this be the game Buffalo finally gets a pp goal? Can Cozens break out of his slump? Find out all that and more in this afternoon battle of heavy weight bubble teams. Edit:

He's injured

I would guess Kulich will be staying in the lineup for a bit as it appears they finally shut Benson down. Considering their schedule, this would be the time to do it.

I don't think a guy who put up 68pts at 22yrs old should be labeled a late bloomer honestly. Sam Bennett is a late bloomer. We might be able to apply that to McLeod depending on how this year goes.

I don't. Why should Dahlin or Allen do this without fanfare? Part of the way they help these people is by using their name/celebrity to generate interest.

Detroit is on a 3 game win streak where they have been massively outshot every game. Outshot 39 to 22 against Nashville (won 5-2) Outshot 30 to 11 against the NYI (won 1-0) Outshot 40 to 19 against the NJD (won 5-3) That is 109 to 52 or they are being outshot by 53%. That is all shocking considering they are tied for 22nd in the league in sh% at 9.9% and for reference, Buffalo is 11th with 11.7%. I only bring all of this up because we see the Red Wings tomorrow and honestly if we can get good goaltending, we should really end their streak because we should be able to play better than them. Of course we also know how streaky this team was last year so would be really nice to see them actually build off the Dallas win. Edit: Also, I was reading a piece on Detroit and they haven't given up an even strength goal since the first period of the preds game. Considering Buffalo is good 5v5, will be interesting to see if they can breakthrough. Detroit sucks on the PK so maybe Buffalo's PP finally gets a goal.

I really liked Gaucher at the draft and Ohgren over Östlund. I would have taken Filip Bystedt as well there as he is a 6'2" center and was quite good last year in the short time he got AHL games. I don't disagree about taking Östlund versus some others, Looking back at my rankings, Östlund ended up 24th for me with guys like Kulich, Yurov, Beck, Trikozov, and Ohgren above him. Actually I was really high on Ohgren and ranked him 8th above Savoie at 9. I would have gone: Mintyukov, Ohgren, and Kulich/Trikozov for my draft based on the list I have. It is fine looking back at this actually. Have some really good hits and a bunch of wtf was I thinking.

I found this story not only interesting but terrifying. It includes a request by Putin to Elon, to not allow Starlink coverage over Taiwan at the request of Chinese President Xi Jinping. I will be curious to see if the story gets scrubbed from twitter.

I think having two good goalies really helped them stave off the decline last year.

I've stayed mostly out of this thread because honestly except for a couple of examples, I've liked his play thus far.

If I see anything else I'll post it.

This was from Östlund's draft profile, and I think it still applies today.

Didn't twist anything. I directly quoted what you said and made an additional point. It was merely not to conflate the two. We do not usually draft small guys OR guys without character. Analytics accounts for the numbers and then the Sabres dig into the players behind them. It is how they drafted Benson and Ziemer and clearly a product of maybe having some buyers remorse after Rosen and perhaps Östlund although I think the org and league are fairly happy with how Östlund is coming along. I have detailed many times how the small thing is overblown and the character is impo not applicable. You shouldn't draft anyone who doesn't produce points in the first round. Always a bad idea.

Good news is we don't have to worry about Östlund being good or bad for a long bit here. Lots of players above him right now so he can sit and develop.

I think Cozens being a 60/65pt top 6 forward is very much within his reach and reasonable for what we have seen from him.

Dylan Cozens... big year at 21 after 120 games up to game 200 (the 68pt year) and then a massive regression last year. for games 202-281. I am not saying he is the regression year or the top year, I just think after this year ends, we will know what he is. Right now his sh% indicates he's a sub 10% shooter, so unless he works on that skill a lot, he might hover right there. He brings other things besides his shot though.

Almost like it isn't linear. Or in Reinhart's case, like he left the Sabres and went to a better situation. As though context also matters here. Also Reinhart scored either 25 or 22 goals in the 4 years prior to what you are calling his 33g breakout... so idk if that is a great example. You think it is tied to age, I think it is tied to games played with a healthy dose of opportunity. Tage Thompson, broke out between game 145 and 223 and then upped it again after game 223 in his 94 pt season. He was 24. Brady Tkachuk, broke out at game 198-277 and was 22. Alex Tuch, breaks the trend as he broke out at 26 after being traded although we saw some regression. That was game 305-379 JJ Peterka, broke out technically at only 161 games although maybe this year is his true breakout, he is 23.

Yea but you flip him and Kulich and it's not. Kulich slid but should have been the Östlund pick. Also, I'd urge patience with Östlund.

A majority stake in the TB Lightning has been sold