DarthEbriate

Are Kozak/Benson PK3? I saw Lafferty on the kill earlier, but didn't see who he was skating with. Tuch/McLeod are PK1 with Greenway out. ---- Dang, the Kraken clear the puck about as forcefully as the Sabres normally do.

Kozak moving quickly, but doesn't look to be running around at all on the PK with Benson. They made it look clean. Good kill.

Thanks, Luukk. I owe you one.

I don't know that Wahlberg is playing center yet, either. At least, not before the WJC. But they have some veteran centers in Jobst and Dunne (and Kulich/Kozak when they're there).

I thought the Kraken might look at it.

Laffer! Tormenting his former division mates... by fortuitous bounce.

Tuned into the Kraken pregame show and noticed a few things... they're on a losing skid and based on some of the highlights they're Struggling on the PK Could really use a defensive defenseman on the right side HCDB is their coach. For point 2, I did a look at their recent Borgen for Kakko trade. They weren't great with Borgen and he never set the world on fire, but they were 15-16-2. Since the trade, they're 2-6-1.

Really. I'm not too worried about a 20 year-old not playing in the NHL, especially if he's smaller-framed and needs to fill out just for the AHL/NA ice surface, or could still be acclimatizing to living in the States. Specifically for Östlund, he has missed 20 games this season and I don't know if he was playing through anythingbefore it or if he's had a consistent line and role on the team as a result of the injury. I also wouldn't have picked Östlund; I had him behind Kulich, Ohgren, Miroshnichenko, probably even Yurov, especially since they had just drafted another small-framed guy in Savoie. Rosén, I agree, but for him it's more that he's shown me nothing in the NHL, not even a glimmer. (Now, Kulich also didn't show much in his first handful of NHL games, either, but he did have a great shot as his calling card and he really did look solid in camp when he couldn't be taken off the puck.) Armia is a good comp, and honestly, getting a bottom 6 forward after the 15th pick is fine (though, I'd rather have Kucherov from that draft). And I do agree, Helenius has a future in the NHL. Will either of them be with the Sabres? Too soon to say.

The loser of today's game is in sole possession of 4th overall in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft.

To be fair, my biggest gripe with Leinonen is his name. It's right there spelled out for us! Don't draft him. Wallstedt was looking just fine in each of his first 2 AHL seasons and fully on future NHLer track with .908 and .910 (age 20 and 21 seasons as a goalie). This year he had an awful start to the season and it was in his head: https://www.startribune.com/minnesota-wild-jesper-wallstedt-goalie-called-up-john-hynes/601195310 , which accounts for the stats. Then, he got his game back together and earned a callup. However, he is now out with an "undisclosed" injury, which... could be alarming.

I think it's too soon to judge the Adams picks. Admittedly, some are big swings at the same skinny guy (Kisakov, Sardarian, Neuchev). It is not too soon the dump on Adams for all manner of other things, including no blockers. We've gotten accustomed to seeing the Sabres picks have immediate (good/ill) impacts in the NHL. And that is Adams' fault. Right back to Cozens. COVID provided a reason, but Cozens shouldn't have been on the opening night roster at age 19 (he wouldn't have been in non-COVID circumstances on a real team). He also got no AHL time. Benson likewise. Savoie, Östlund, and Kulich are on proper NHL dev timelines. They should each get a little taste this season to show them the speed. Edmonton has a contending lineup, they'll probably still give Savoie 4-5 games down the stretch once they've got a playoff berth wrapped up to see what he's got.

Which is absolutely fair. Power needs time to grow and he needs a 2-year (maybe even 3) veteran defensive D partner to guide him through his learning and development curve. The answer is likely right in the middle. He's capable of 100 points, but is going to average 82. Through his 7-year career his 82-game average is: 33-48-82 +10, exactly 1 point/game. He is a 1C, just not that elite tier.

Is there some local logic/conflict why this game isn't at 1 PM ET/10 AM PT or its usual 7 PM ET/4 PT time slot? Right in the middle of the day is going to throw a little bit of a wrench in my day's planning. C'mon, schedulers!

This is more to my thinking. Pettersson is very good, but his ceiling is not Power's ceiling. Personally, I don't trade for EP from the Sabres perspective because he's yet another easier-than-average-to-play-against forward, if capable of 1 point/game on a top line and PP1 time. So are Skinner/TNT/Tuch. But, if it were to happen, I think it requires a 3-team trade, because moving Power or Byram to Vancouver puts them in the same spot they are with the Sabres, which is behind Hugues who is going to play every waking moment on the powerplay. EP to Sabres, Power to team #3, and another center from #3 to VAN. Then, do the add-ins for cap and balancing.

Alas, 40. My math is off, just like the NHL's point system.

It's a palindrome! They're going to win the 3rd today, lose 3 in a row, win 31 in a row, then lose 3.

12-2-1 is good.

No, not yet. But! Rosen should have been Wallstedt (or Cossa, but I'd have taken Wallstedt); Östlund should've been Kulich (according to my silly rankings), which would've allowed Kulich to be anyone, and Leinonen to be Del Bel Belluz.

It's so wonderfully catchy; downright infectious. Extremely well-crafted pop song. Extraordinarily produced thrash metal so everything fits into its proper EQ. Those "fu, fu" callouts cut through the roaring beam and are magical. Give in to the Babymetal side! It's just kids having fun. Playing music loud. Allow them the joy. It's only rock 'n' roll.

It all depends on when this proposed trade takes place. Is it pre-Skinner? Is it with Hall and Skinner -- before Eichel demands his trade or gets injured? Is Montour already on the team? Is Krueger still the coach or have they moved on to Granato? On the d-corps, moving Ristolainen is fine, but then you need to bring in a veteran for still-very-young Dahlin -- which -- if Adams the GM, when has he been able to manage that for Power? Östlund maybe, although he has more offensive chops. Helenius I think has a legitimate NHL career ahead of him. Asplund was 21 (or late 20 and turned 21) in his first season in Rochester. Helenius is 18 and won't be 19 until during the playoffs. Helenius'll have that shield down. We gotta give him more time.

When we get to next summer's thread on goal songs, this won't be my choice. But it is related.

If Ruff keeps the top 6 the same for a few weeks, it'll be curious to see how this looks at the 4 Nations break. Whichever line Zucker has been on has been the best line all season, and Tuch and JJP have the chemistry that McLeod can chaos for by driving to the net (as he has these past two games).

So, how long into the third until Tkachuk takes another cheap shot to get his team going?

I saw a fortuitous carom in McLeods!

Two odd-man rushes, two goals. But otherwise I was not impressed. Ottawa carried play. Bad penalties taken, and then worse penalties taken to negate their own power play time. No attempt at a shot 4-on-4 with a minute of possession. No stand-up response to a cheap shot. That was not a Ruff-led team.