DarthEbriate

He set the record for games played without a playoff appearance. Now, he's got to start a new streak. Can't be doing that on a team with McDavid and Draisaitl.

I thought the new scoreboard that doesn't show shot totals was how they win.

Reimer v. Lyon. Reimer is in the backup phase of his career and Lyon has never been in the 1A phase of his career. From 2020-2025, Reimer is 3.02 GAA and .903 % while Lyon is 2.98 and .903 %. They're a push. UPL is likely to still be an inconsistent goalie. Levi should start in the AHL but will likely force his way up again. If Lyon is playing slightly better than Luukkonen, can Ruff be smart and play the veteran a bit more -- while not burning out either? Reimer could easily have played more games last season overall, but then at the end was ridden into the dirt. Trust and balance: can Ruff find them? Can this goalie tandem provide both? Right now, on paper, I'd say goaltending is a push. Kesselring will fight and defend teammates: that's good. But, he's only ever been top-4 in a limited capacity because of injuries. Clifton would battle, but was small and a 6/7. Timmins is a 3rd pairing guy. Both new guys are bigger and stronger than Joker, which is good, but I'm not yet sure either is a better all-around player than Jokiharju was (remember, he went to Boston and played great with Zadorov in top-pair minutes and he helped Power look fine-for-a-newbie in 2 previous seasons). The d-corps may come down to coaching and strategy (yikes!), quickly gelling and finding consistency with new partners, and Dahlin's health. Bryson is currently the #7 which means he'll play about 40 games when he's not just happy to be in the press box. The coach needs to play Byram-Dahlin from the get-go (provided one is still on the roster) and try to get the most out of them while not relying on them for everything and killing them by midseason. On paper, now, the D is a little bit better -- with potential to be greatly improved. At forward, by line: Benson (at this age 20) is a downgrade from JJP overall. (For comparison, at 20, JJP got a 2-game looksee and was already physically big/mature. He's always had the build.) However, Benson's ceiling is much higher because of his defensive chops and his playmaking ability. At age 20, he probably still should only be counted on for a high of 50 points (which is very good! for a 20 year-old). Slafkovsky had 51 last year with loads of PP time and top-6 ice. Kulich should be better than Kulich (or he'll have a sophomore slump). TNT = TNT and should continue to carry the scoring load. Quinn is a slight upgrade from Benson (offensively -- he should easily score more goals than Benson did last season), but much worse defensively. Hopefully, that is countered by his new linemates... Norris should be a step up from Cozens in production and drastically improved defensively. Tuch = Tuch in a contract year, but probably a slight bit down in the actual goal-scoring department. 30-potential instead of pushing for 40. Zucker = Zucker, but probably not quite as many goals as last year. Depends on PP time. McLeod = due for regression, until Norris gets injured. Still, he's really solid and can play up the lineup and will be PK1. Doan = Should be able to beat out, and be an upgrade to, Greenway because of his forechecking and possession metrics. With Zucker/McLeod he'd be a very good 3rd line contributor. Offensively, he's not as good as Quinn and slightly better than Greenway -- the two 3rd liners he'd be replacing. Overall, he's a push in terms of averaged out scoring production and also the average of the prior players' extremes defensively. Malenstyn = Malenstyn = fine for a 4th line Krebs = Krebs Greenway is a massive upgrade than last year's version of Lafferty. Penalty killing, grinding in corners, and the occasional brawn. He provides more to the team than we give credit. That said... he's good for 40 games given his shoulder(s), so... Danforth is also a massive upgrade over last year's version of Lafferty. The fourth line is overpaid, but will be solid. Overall, the forwards should be a bit better at a 200' game -- until Norris and Greenway are both injured. Then, it will open up opportunities to those who can take advantage, but it could also swiftly sink the season, especially if other teams are playing their starting goalies and not coasting to season's end already. Finally, how has the PP strategy improved this offseason? On paper, the Sabres should be 4-8 points better in the standings -- so still about 4-8 points short of the playoffs depending on the pace while teams tank for McKenna. And I hope they have a Devils-like Ruff-led 112-point breakout season. That'd be excellent. Then they should still fire Adams into the nearest asteroid field.

Botterill definitely started them down a path. His reluctance to sign numerous folks (Ullmark, Reinhart) to longer bridges and instead just giving them 1-year prove-it deals, was a mistake. Then, Adams came in with the EEE verdict, only to blow all the funds on a 1-year with NTC rental in Hall instead of preaching to his boss "no shortcuts! Lock up the #1 goalie and top-6 fixture who does everything well. And we'll add another mid-level vet forward and d-man with that 8 million instead." Because JBott signed Ullmark to a 1-year deal after Ullmark had a "down" year -- his worst season in his career at .905 sv% --- what the Sabres wouldn't give for that to be a down year. The next season, Ullmark was great. He proved it. He also got injured, but he proved he was an up-and-coming legitimate #1 goalie. And Adams signed him to 1-year walking him right to UFA. 3x3.5 would have been there. 5x4.5-5 (at the time) would have been there. Having the team commit to him (and winning, Reinhart/Eichel), might have gone a long way to helping him through the family trauma that would later occur.

I still think he is ultimately a Karmanos claim to provide Clague (and Prow/Brannstrom) replacement. The contract was simply to avoid claiming off waivers. That said, he's an RFA in 2026... which reeks of Adams and the need for team control. At least he didn't trade a 2nd for Jones' rights.

I think the "KA" really needs to be in the phrase. So as to best play up his powerless martyrdom in the operation.

Penn State funds would be a donation that would be a tax deduction. Some Sabres business expenses could be shuffled around and could angle for public funds for building construction and such, but the player salaries are just a cost. Unrelated note: Finished the latest Baker Fairburn Hockey Show podcast... Fairburn's never seen Star Wars. When he finally watches Revenge of the Sith and realizes that Adams has been Palpatine all along it's going to blow his mind.

Task 1 for the season: in first game with Flyers, run Michkov and see how they respond.

This is incorrect. I did the numbers probably the season before last -- everyone fit under their then-current contracts, even Skinner and Ullmark. Post ROR: If you chose to continue the patient build around Eichel, Reinhart, Tage, and Montour (and Dahlin, Ullmark) --- rather than rebuild around Dahlin and EEE --- you probably don't have Power (didn't re-tank and finish last -- or if you did still have that awful season, you'd have bridged him for cost because you were already paying Montour to be 2D/PP2 but at less than Power is making now). You could always have traded for Tuch in a separate deal if you loved him and Granato could've still convinced Adams to trade for Greenway when MIN was selling him with other assets (I'm including because he was acquired with a 2nd from the Eichel deal).

The inclusion of Joker and Clifton is an important summary for folks to stay mindful of. Kesselring is physical and he's big -- and he won't run around as much to make hits like Clifton did. But he's not some intimidating, bruising force who is going wreck everyone (fewer hits/game than Muel). Timmins is bigger, but he's less physical and throws fewer hits than Jokiharju did. And Joker was the guy Ruff publicly didn't like and wanted to be more physical (not Power). This doesn't prevent the defense from dramatically improving from last season -- but the defense more dependent on the forwards and goalies than the changes to the D-corps from last year to this. ---- And I like it: Everyone's a year older!

Although, I do want the GM to be using the folks around him to identify players they trust and who would fit the direction (if any) of the team. I want him listening to Ruff and Jarmo (Danforth) and Granato... Appert, meh. I'd rather he listen to the hockey guys than to Pegula. It's what Adams spends to acquire or retain them that gets him into real trouble. Just with Malenstyn as an example. A 2nd to attain a 4W is very high (unless he's a proven veteran and you're renting him for the playoffs because you're a contender). Now, Malenstyn was underwhelming last season, but got deployed as 4W instead of how WSH had used him as a 3W in terms of minutes. (And the Sabres revamped 4th + sloppy defense + goaltending meant he was pretty poor overall.)

Looks like McKenna is headed to Penn State. Pegula finally gets his #1 pick forward. It'd be nice if all Penn State upgrade money could get thrown at the Sabres cap the past five years.

That would be my hope, too, but if Byram isn't on the team, I can only believe we'll see a breakup of Samuelsson-Dahlin when I see it. I'm going by Timmins' career usage. He's been an O-zone start guy until his 17-game stint with PIT when he was at 46.2% O-zone starts, so there's a chance he can be a defensive-focused guy. But I don't put much stock in that small sample size with a Pittsburgh team that was like Buffalo at the end: facing backups, playing easy against disinterested teams, and had Crosby willing them to finish strong. Historically, he's a solid 3rd pair guy.

If Geertsen makes the Sabres roster for more than a handful of games as a callup this season*, then something is seriously wrong with the roster (beyond the other things that are wrong with the roster -- re: every other active thread on the 'Space). *Like Lyon gets run and Muel does nothing and then next game they have Geertsen called up in a pointless display "we're going to be tougher now" and Geertsen has a fight in his first game, skates 5:00 each night for a few more, and then disappears back to the AHL as the team toughness is forgotten. He's an AHL enforcer. The Amerks can use that. It's a good signing for them.

I'm glad that Adams understands the rules around arbitration and has blocked an offer sheet. Of course, no team was going to try to give Byram some 4 firsts mega-contract, so the whole "protecting against OS" isn't really an issue unless Byram was the last person to sign and JJP was the Sabres' RFA. The is plenty of cap space for all 3 remaining RFAs. It goes back to: If leadership didn't see Byram as part of the future, they should have traded him before the draft/UFA when more teams had cap space and lots of flexibility. Even if some of the return is futures (because the teams that might want him are playoff contenders), then you have the surplus futures assets to go get a now player. If leadership sees him as part of the future (even if only 2 years), then they should have bridged him months ago so you can plan more accurately. If Byram is on the roster, Timmins being yet another offense-first guy (very limited PK work until last season), even if he's big and strong, isn't a need. You could prioritize a different big RHD. And, if you believe in Timmins as a PK dynamo now that he's entering his prime, you can still get him, too. But you would already know he's a #6 because your top 4 is locked.