DarthEbriate

I think it's still too soon for the kids to limit the 3rd pair that much. Their games are all still growing; their bodies are all still filling out -- the oldest of Power, Joker, Muel, and Rasmus is 23. If Rasmus and Joker were 28-29, then yeah, ride 'em for 28 minutes/night and ice the 3rd pair for 12 minutes. But these are all still kids, given to lapses and inconsistencies and being worn out. None of these guys is built like Pronger (and only Muel really comes close at the moment; Power can get there eventually). Balance the pairs and keep the minutes near 24, 20, 16 from 1st to 3rd pair if at all possible.

My answer is after he proves himself a playoff warrior and some team thinks he's the key to a deep run and worth a 2nd round pick. The earliest is 3-4 more years. Even better, he retires after lifting the Cup in Buffalo as the first guy to touch the Cup after the captain. (unless Okposo is still with on the roster and not wearing the C himself... because then he's 1st after the captain.) In the meantime, Girgensons is built for the playoffs. He's not called the Locomotive for nothing. He'll take the hits that free up VO and Quinn and Power and Thompson, he'll make the hits so they won't have to and wear themselves out when the second season takes over. Every playoff team needs 3 or 4 Girgensons. You trade them after they've made deep runs and you have the next wave of them (or can entice players like them on minimum contracts because you're true contenders).

Pilut + Dahlin? Showcase! Pilut plays 24+ min/game, unleashes a 10-35-45 in 70% o-zone starts, and then is traded for an unprotected 2023 1st at the deadline.

The oddity I'm catching in all of this is that Dahlin and Samuelsson are on different squads. Power-Dahlin? I think it's a skosh early to combine their strengths to rule the galaxy. The temptation would be too strong on HCDG to play them constantly. I know Power's got oodles of energy now, but an 82-game grind is nasty and whoever is paired with Dahlin will get massive minutes and have to be defense-first.

JJP is the final cut of the preseason simply because Quinn finds more open space and seams for quality scoring chances in the preseason games. Get him the PP/PK/1st line minutes, not 4th line action, especially during the initial western Canada road trip to start the season (where Sheahan's size and experience and faceoff potential are useful). JJP heads back to Rochester and dominates. He and Kozak score multiple shorties. He's the first injury callup at forward and never wears an Amerks uniform again. JJP appears in 64 Sabres games, going 9-16-25, with 4 goals appearing in a single hot week. His scoring appears streaky, but all around play gets better and better. One of the goals is a SHG.

++ The GM carousel will no longer be of any concern to us. I've just received word that the Emperor has hired himself permanently. The last remnants of the tanks have been swept away. --- That's impossible! How will the Emperor maintain control without the suffering? +++ The scouts, coach, and players pipeline now have direct control over the future. Wins will keep the fans in line. Wins by this new core.

Fewer games for UPL, because the final 2 weeks of the season, just after Florida eliminates the Sabres from playoff contention on 4/4, Levi and Portillo both sign ELCs. Comrie gets to rest as each college kid gets their taste. Levi goes 3-0, Portillo goes 2-0. There are shutouts involved. And Ottawa is eliminated from playoff contention in game 82. (5 Metro teams make it; no BOS, no OTT).

I'm definitely in the Batherson makes it 7 camp. He was over a point per game last season until the Dell cheapshot caused him to miss 2 months. Even after coming back and ramping back up he was almost 1pt/gm. Standings-wise: the top 4 will lose more games to the middle 3 this season and the whole division is going to squeeze together this year (except Montreal). TB - Another year older. All the kids locked up on long extensions. Still the team to beat and still Vasilevskiy. Still a minimum 108 point team. TOR - They get gruff about not being good defensively but they have gotten so much better the last couple years in that regard. Murray has been garbage for more than 3 years and Samsonov... could be good, but neither will play to Campbell's level. That won't keep the Leafs from breaking 108 points. FLA - Got career years from everyone last year. While they gain a Tkachuk, they're minus Huberdeau/Weegar and Duclair's Achilles injury --- that's losing a ton of offense. They'll make the playoffs and get 100 points, but they're not reaching 122. They'll also focus more on the playoffs than the regular season. BOS - Injuries (Marchand, McAvoy), age (Bergeron, Krejci), and less attention to defense with the new coach will cause some issues. They've got goaltending and they could be dynamite in the 2nd half, but it could be too late. 90 points minimum. OTT - Adding DeBrincat and (even an old) Giroux gives them the best top 6 among BUF/OTT/DET, and they have a legitimate pair of mid-starter level goalies that BUF/DET don't. They're also adding Sanderson. Ottawa's depth is... fine. Their goaltending wins though. 90 points minimum. BUF - 86 points minimum. DET - Lots of additions but those were filling holes. Around the league, UFA signings are sexy and getting Husso and his Vezina votes (instead of Comrie who was backing up Hellebuyck) are why they're trendy. DET fans will also say they're better than Buffalo because they swept us last year. But those games were all played against an injured Olofsson, Tokarski/Dell in net, and pre-March. They add Edvinsson to Seider on the D-line. They'll be better, but not good enough to get past us. Minimum 80 points. MTL - no Price, hello Bedard sweepstakes.

I also got the sense Kisakov was up to something. He took an elbow. He was run at once or twice. I recall he had a collision and maybe drew a penalty by the benches during a line change? He did something(s) to rile up some folks.

The Athletic normally does a decent job with their analytical pieces, but this Sabres preview reeks of halfassery and dianoga poopoo. Using Krueger-season data on players like Tage, Mitts, and especially Skinner seems like a horrible, horrible way to prognosticate anything (unless they're all silently putting lots of money on the Sabres). Including Levi (unsigned) as an option? Nope, that's lazy journalism. These lines about VO: "[Olofsson's] stock has dropped off in recent seasons. At five-on-five his game has fallen off and he’s turned into a bit of a power play specialist thanks to his efficient shot." Every word that they just said is wrong. It's pretty much the opposite of his career trajectory. And no mention that for half of last season VO had a busted wrist/whatever and couldn't shoot. In the 3 months where he was able to shoot his stats line read: 36 GP, 18-16-34 +9. Extrapolate it to an entire season and VO is Ottawa's new toy: DeBrincat. This will all come down to goaltending though. Ottawa (in addition to sexy UFA forward names) jettisoned their crap goalie (Murray), kept a guy who had a 1B-level season last year, and added a consistent 1B-level goalie in Talbot. They theoretically have two 1Bs... and that's healthy (good SW reference, me) goaltending. Buffalo kept a 2 (Anderson) and added a potential 1B in Comrie. That's the difference in the rosters as I see it.

Rasmus, but angrier. Angry Asps. Very dangerous.

You rush a miracle rebuild man you get rotten miracles rebuilds. Chocolate coating makes it go down easier. It's been extra long because it's been reset with 3 GMs and each one gets a chance to enact the vision they want. (The drafting this time around looks better thus far, though it's still way too early to say.)

Great feed to the drifting Savoie left alllll alone in front.

Nice shot by Kisakov.

Kulich isn't going to get much better of a look then that. This is a fun line for Rochester. Jiri, Isak, Lukas.

Not to make anything of a prospect challenge, but the powerplay unit changes from Thursday tell me: 1) The coaches liked the Weissbach-Savoie-Kisakov line in game 1 and have united them on PP2 in practice. 2) Kulich ready to wire one from the right circle. 3) Kozak to the front of the net/below the goal line, replacing Bloom... nice. Selfishly, I'm good with him in Portland so I have more reasons to catch Portland/T-Bird games this year and I can track his progress. But... from a franchise standpoint: get the kid in Rochester.

Oh my flippin' goodness. The Twins bullpen has blown 8 games against Cleveland this season (including tonight). 8 flippin' games! Cleveland now has 5-game lead, but if the bullpen had held onto even half of those leads, this race would be neck and neck. Stupid bullpen.

^ That's pretty cool. Soon we shall be able to watch any and all Swedish prospects on ESPN+ to our hearts' content.

Liking Kozak a bunch. Kisakov looks sharp. Savoie is just plain quick.

Kozak with a nice tip-in from fellow WHLer Lindgren for the lead. But will Kozak make the Amerks? TBD

No! More D-zone faceoff prowess. Block all the shots. Maintain positive Corsi. And if you're a minus at the end of the night, you're clearly a draft bust.

Weissbach looks like an AHLer among juniors. Game is slower for him.

Yup, Slafkovsky looks like a top pick. Smooth, deceptively big.

Woot. Nice deflection!

Weissbach also is pretty. He just slams on the brakes and then feeds Passolt. The backchecker should've killed Weissbach there....