DarthEbriate

Mom never gave me bourbon with my PB&J. Parents just don't understand.

Oh! Splendid. How has he looked? Who've been his most common linemates? Still looking smooth and always around the puck? Or does he look like a kid? (I'm not worried about point production just yet.)

Peanut butter is good. Bread is good. Put them together? Nope. It's a roof-of-mouth clinginess issue. It's a Sabres team where the sum is less than the parts.

It's good to see them still chugging along without Wahlberg or Helenius. From the boxscore, Östlund was back in the lineup tonight, so it's good he's back to health.

No new GM is coming unless Adams quits or upsets the owner personally. Professionally, this is the status quo. If the owner's speech to the players in Montreal is to be taken at face value, then no big shakeup or outside help is coming. The only salvation for their careers is to demand a trade. At least for 2 more seasons until they're all grown-ups.

He's great this season. But we must all remember that after being drafted he had myocarditis from COVID and might've never played at the highest level again, and until last season he was a young scuffling kid and Wild fans were worried he wouldn't pan out as more than a 3C.

As GM Sheevyn said, he could've re-signed Craig Anderson again. No relation to any NHLer, per Eliteprospects.

And that takes us back to the longstanding discussion of: they had Eichel to be that 1C. Instead of Adams blowing up the core and rebuilding with the youthful assets and no blockers, he says: "we're committing to the core" (except Risto. Move him anyway) and get Reinhart a long-term deal and add veteran Zucker-like assets to the roster 5 years ago. Get a proven NHL coach who has been in conference finals (the McClellan, or heck, even Ruff after the Stars fired him, or equivalent) and you go from there. Eichel-TNT-Mitts is an OK offensive center spine. You get a 4C to win late D-zone faceoffs exclusively, get the veteran D-man for Dahlin. Probably don't finish last to even draft Power. Skinner could be a top-6 but wouldn't have the money available to pay him that much and it'd be up to him "Do I sign for less to play with Eichel/TNT?" If not, no biggie. And you have a roster of blockers so that only one of Cozens, JJP, or Quinn can be under 100 NHL GP at a time. (And if you love Tuch, then you trade for him because he's top-6 on TNT's wing, but only a 3RW in Vegas.)

On VO, it's true. He needs a competent distributor and a defensive structure around him. There's a place for his type. What is really odd to me is that Vegas is able to ice both him and Holtz in the same lineup (different lines). Though, it appears Holtz is gamely attempting to redefine himself as a 4th liner with a 1st-round shot (coincidently, like a VO). For the Okposo-NAK, though, I have to call out deployment. Okposo skated 13:37 min/game and was often middle 6 and had 78 minutes of powerplay time, even if his preferred spot was alongside Girgensons. A more accurate comparison to NAK's 9:51 TOI in 2023-24 are Rousek/Jost (10:30) who combined for 58 games to get 8 points and 49 hits. Okposo's comparable this season is Krebs. 13:30 ATOI, 38 GP 4-8-12 and 69 hits. nice. Which, could end up being an improvement.

"If you strike me down, I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine." The words ring in Jackikin Eichwalker's ears as he steps onto the collapsed and empty robes of Oky-Lan "Dad" Kposobi. The retired ghost of Kposobi rises up, carrying the Concept of the Cup. "See, I can do it!" he says. Eichwalker smiles. "I'm happy for you, my Master. And for Reino Samidala. And Rodrigster (Kitster, look him up). And even Kulikov (unnamed, probably a Bravo Pilot. Bravo 77." A shadow appears, growing, behind Eichwalker. "I sense something. A presence I haven't felt since..." Eichwalker turns slowly. Before him stands the Son of Ben. Benson reaches up and rubs his glove in Eichwalker's face, saying, "Hello there."

GM Sheevyn said he was going to add speed to the 4th line and... he did. What's odd is that Ruff hasn't added that speed to the lineup. I really believed Ruff would have had more willingness (power?) to mix the new, grown-adult, fast skaters, throughout the lineup. Veteran presence on each line, forechecking chops, some willingness to hit, etc. But instead, all the new mature forward acquisitions were separated from the existing roster on the 3rd-4th line by ice time, then were the first guys (NAK, Lafferty) to get healthy scratches while the Quinns and Krebs and later JJPs, went through their struggles/inconsistencies. I understood the JJP-TNT-Tuch continuation, but you don't need a kid line (2nd line, no less) if you can split them up and integrate them with veterans. --- Zucker - has been fantastic. Re-sign for 2 years or trade him (with retention) and get a legitimate package in return. A McLeod - Just don't understand his usage since Greenway got injured. They were the defensive line (plus Zucker or Krebs). And he was able to step up when TNT was injured because he can play center and can carry the puck. But since then, it just doesn't look like he has a role, and that's on the coach. The goalless streak is bad, though, no bones about it. He needs a goal and he needs a role, and the 4th line is not the place for either. C- Aube-Kubel and Malenstyn - They're there. I was hoping for a couple more goals between them, and more effective cycling and hanging onto the puck. C- Lafferty - This is the only one I'm really disappointed in. I haven't seen wheels. I haven't seen the "what, this guy? Laffery has 1G, 1A, and 3 hits tonight? We're letting Lafferty beat us?" -- and he had a few of those for Vancouver last year. He hasn't been noticeable on the forecheck. His one goal this year was really pretty vs. the Rangers, but that's only one goal. I thought he'd be more of a Swiss Army bottom 6, and even jump up for a game or two at need. And he's been deflating instead. F Reimer - 1 win was good. Since then, he's been below average. So has Luukkonen. D Gilbert - Is what he is. Tough, but a liability when the other team puts its top line out against a 7/8. Meets expectations. C Ruff - See above. Throw in the fact that he has to use Granato's staff and it doesn't make sense. I also don't see the fire. F Appert - Zucker is on PP1 now and it has shown signs of life. Zone entries are still silly, but at least they're moving around away from the puck and it's rarely just a TNT slapshot or bust. It was a F, but now it's firmly in the C- range.

Once Bryson walks in UFA. Metsa can play, but you probably don’t want two 5’9” #7/8 guys on the ice at the same time.

Because I glibly mentioned Dakota Joshua's brother being in the 1/3/25 Amerks trade, I'll now glibly note that it'd be just like Adams to trade for Elias Pettersson and add in D.Joshua after he'd gotten his big (relatively) payday and term and reverted back into an AHL tweener and is producing like Lafferty for the Sabres this season. I'll also idly speculate that Cozens' start as 1C with Zucker/TNT vs. Colorado was a showcase game for moving Cozens.

Dakota Joshua's brother, and... an ECHLer who is neither related to Sam Bennett or Clarke MacArthur. Had to get his brother to get Dakota Joshua to waive his NTC for inclusion in a deal with Vancouver (Dakota Joshua + Elias Pettersson). It all makes sense! Not Firkus.

The One might be luck. But you don't need to draft and develop a QB to make it to the playoffs. A cheap re-tread that got developed elsewhere is just as good for a wild card. Look no further than Tyrod Taylor break the Bills' own long playoff drought. Tampa, Minnesota, Detroit, the Rams. One of them paid a ton of draft capital for their QB (LA), but otherwise it's good-to-great rosters and coaching. The elite QB on a rookie deal can be the goal for anyone, but it's not the only way. I don't know. I can imagine quite a bit.

97% of the centers in the league would be 2C in Florida and Colorado, thanks to Barkov and McKinnon.

People said the same thing about the Bills until Josh Allen got to his second season and showed he was more than just hurdling linebackers. It only takes one.

It will feel worse if the Jets (the football one) takes its medicine this offseason and cuts the decrepit QB and finds a QB who can run a modern offense, resuscitates its defense, and emphasizes its young offensive line... and ekes out 9 wins to get a wild card berth in the 2025 or 2026 season. Meanwhile, the Sabres will extend Quinn and JJP as their guys rather than finding elite centers. Sabres fans will simply have to wait until Power is 26 years old and the core is age-appropriate for playoffs. Break the drought. Follow that up with a season of regression and a miss. Then, 2 more seasons to "learn how to win" in the playoffs, by which time the Power and Dahlin contracts are over and the team needs to trade them because they are NOT resigning with this sad-sack and then rebuild once more. This is the Way of Pegula.

Pegula would never pay the expansion fee for the re-entry/expansion draft rights. He needs to make money from this venture and the league isn't going to force him to sell the team unless they start playing in a 5,000-seat arena or have no season ticket holders. Otherwise, the other teams are happy to have one hapless sack amongst them to feed them talents like Eichel and Reinhart for picks.

Zucker should be extended with a 2-year deal, but that money is already allocated for Quinn and Peterka. Therefore, trade Zucker now. His value will never be higher because he's not yet given into the Sabres malaise.

I think Thompson being moved to wing was a bit of a calling out. And he responded with multiple assists. Just absolutely ate it in OT.

They spoiled an otherwise very entertaining and festive game. And a Zucker hat. It’s not always effort, but in this case you can see that one team wanted it more. And had the wiles and skill to make it so.

It’s been that kind of… series (vs. Avs). Season. Decade. Ownership.

TNT loses a board battle and that was that.