DarthEbriate

If this minimum limit is truly a rule, then Carolina must be punished for it -- whether they thought COVID would prevent games or not. Just compare this to the NFL. Goddell and the owners/players would be upset if one team had a) the opportunity to generate additional revenue and DIDN'T and b) had their players subjected to additional risk of injury while Carolina did not. If you want to circumvent the injury risk, just ice an AHL squad all preseason (see half the NFL teams). But to purposefully play fewer the mandated games? That's absurd and should never happen. Take their 2022 1st round pick. They'll schedule their preseasons out a decade in advance.

And competing GMs are doing their jobs. I hope Sheevyn doesn't cave too much. But as another GM I wouldn't meet the 4-firsts equivalent asking price for an injured and disconnected/discontent player who makes a boatload of cash and will soon be more difficult to move. If I get this trade wrong as a GM, I might find myself fired.

ESPN+ is fun. Watching 10/6's CSKA vs. Dynamo game. Sergei Fedorov is coaching CSKA and one Mikhail Grigorenko. Pertinent to our prospects: Novikov is skating as the 7th D for the big Dynamo club. Per the stats page he had 7 shifts. The only time I noticed him was late in the 2nd period. It could have been his first shift of the game. Unfortunately, when he got the puck he turned into a big ol' deer frozen in the headlights. Finally passed back around the boards to where his partner had been 2 seconds ago. Then he overskated to overcompensate on his turnover and left his goalie alone for a walk-in... the goalie made a great save. Sometimes a shift just doesn't work out.

^This. Two alternate ways to spin this: 1. Good on GM Sheevyn to sign Dell to a deal commensurate with his value. Prior GMs would've brought in Dell on $1.5M/2 year deal because they liked him from when drafted or was in their system, etc. 2. Dell showed by his play that he didn't want to be here in Hockey Heaven.

Listening to Kraken hockey for the first time. I like the radio announcer Fitzhugh. He's got an inflection that might take a little getting used to -- he accents the last syllable often "VancouVER". Like always building to a crescendo. But he does a good job describing the game thus far. I also like that he had to explain the double minor penalty to the hockey newbies. Fitzhugh was technically in our system as the voice of the ECHL Cincinnati Cyclones... could've recognized the talent and had him groomed to be a Sabres guy.

Preseason almost wrapped up... almost time to invest in ESPN+ and... well, join the fun that this season will bring.

It wasn't so much a trade as a Butcher giveaway. NJ sent a 5th with Butcher just to unload his salary (and NJ retained too). It's fine to get a 5th when the plan is to be slight for Wright. Yup. It's fine to have a Joker with the right partner. And on the third pairing: It's fine to have a Butcher, a Bryson, or a Pysyk. You absolutely cannot dress all 3. All another team needs to do is go to the front of the net and hunt for rebounds. The goalies will provide the pucks and the Sabres D will fold under the pressure and be unable to box or push anyone clear.

It is one of the best synth film songs of the '80s. And it had better play when he scores a goal. Execute Order 67!

There's an appearance of the Thompson drag.

This level of talent is easily negated by the aggressive defense. There isn't anyone who slows the game down and backs the defenders off, that's for sure.

You're saying Eakin's shot is in midseason form? 🍺 (But I don't think he'll make the big squad. Other players can win faceoffs and kill penalties.)

Laaksonen needs to get stronger on his passes/wraps around the boards in his own zone. J-JP and Quinn are going to be dynamite this year if Appert keeps them on a line together. No one looked great, no line was dominant. Lots of first period first scrimmage jitters. Everyone should settle down.

Nifty o-zone work for Dahlin, then helps slow down a 3-on-1 and only a weak shot.

Well, yes. But it just shows that the Sabres didn't do a weight on Marjala for the dev camp since it was 154. And they didn't look at the Quebec Remparts 2020 roster because it had Marjala at 6-0 179. So what was our staff doing giving him #154? It's just my amusement for the dev camp and training camp rosters and their differences over the years.

Shane Wright. The Pegulas don't like to learn from the past. 🍺

I know it's not really a signing/transaction, but it is GM Sheevyn giving the order, and it's right in sequence so here goes: "Execute Order 66." The TankCaptain Purge has begun. The last 20 years and this franchise and its Captains... Maybe just stick to As in the future, eh?

65... 65... You know that means tomorrow's press conference is going to be especially fun when GM Sheevyn steps up to the lecturn, pulls a dark hood up over his head, cackles, sends a visible electrical shock from his fingertips to a microphone as he adjusts it, cackles a bit more, and then announces: "The journey to GM has left me scarred and deformed, but I assure you my resolve has never been stronger. The disconnect is over. <applause> The JBotts and RaKrus have been defeated, <more polite applause> and the Tank-a-thon has been foiled. We stand on the threshold of a new beginning! As part of Order 66, Jackikin Eichwalker will renounce his captaincy of the Tank Order and take his place at my side as my new apprentice!" <visible confusion (of the press)> In the first preseason game, Eichwalker skates onto the ice warmups sporting a cape, a new dark-tinted visor, and a red-bladed stick. During the anthems, he doffs the cape to show his new nameplate "DarthSabre". In the postgame presser, DarthSabre talks of "his new Empire" and only his newfound Power can help save the Padme Cup. Oki-pos-obi talks from his own locker about how DarthSabre was a pupil of his until he turned to evil and that DarthSabre betrayed and murdered Jackikin Eichwalker, so what was disconnected was true, from a certain point of view.

Execute Order Sixty-Five! Good deal for Dahlin. Gets decent money during the flat cap, can still negotiate a big new deal on a rising cap if needed, or can sign an RFA offer sheet, or only sign a one-year deal to become an UFA if we're spinning our skates under yet another GM/coach combo in 2024 where we've elected to start drafting big, heavy guys because the Rangers win a Cup after their offseason of "only add grit."

He'll dominate faceoffs for the Amerks.

I love these camp roster sheets the Sabres put together. Each year I take a look to see if any of our top prospects are filling out with muscle to see if they're going to be stable for the 82-game schedule. And also for the joy of "where did they find the data?". Highlight of the day: Viljami Marjala at the 2021 Sabres prospects camp: 5-11, 154. Now at the 2021 training camp: 6-0, 178. He put on 28 pounds in about 3 weeks. Tager needs to drink what Viljami's drinking.

Jar Jar No. Don't you dare. Abrams. Nope. Not that either. J-J looked fun on the forecheck, the turnover, the tap-in, and on the power play. We will watch your career with great interest. Hard to tell with the camera angle and no replays, but UPL K^6 apparently looked so big and in solid enough position that he forced the Devils tried to make the hardest shots possible and they missed the cage entirely on several occasions.

Here's one that might fulfill the truest version of pinnacle (closest to the top we've ever been) as well as the most Sabre-est. Beware... it's not the happiest memory. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNZn6sIusjU&t=179m45s

My follow-up question would be: how does this compare to other bottom-feeding American-based franchises? Detroit would also figure to have several national games. But what about Arizona? Anaheim? I figure every team should get their NFL-equivalent of a Thursday night division game... maybe 4 national games over the course of the season. Then, every team should get a "rivalry" (NFL Monday night game equivalent). And if you're a playoff franchise, you get the coveted Sunday-night equivalents: playoff rematches from last season, or elite talent head-to-head (McDavid v. Crosby), or possible Cup previews (Tampa and Colorado). And... this is where we come in... the mid-week ratings booster. Call it the Packers/Cowboys/Steelers NFL equivalent, where they're good for at least 1 national game a year where the matchup makes no sense, but the league knows the TV ratings will be good. That's where the Sabres can get a San Jose spot, or a Wild game. We should be in that 6-8 game range. So... more national Dahlin!

He tried. Do? He did not.

UPL is a good goalie prospect, a top-ranked European goalie at the time of the draft. But he needs games, lots of games, before he's ready for the NHL. Last year essentially wiped more than half a season from his development, plus they only played what --- three other teams all year? It was a stagnant mess and he didn't crush it. He's not even to Mika Noronen level yet. Don't force him into a role, let him earn/win the role, or the outcome could be unfortunate. UPL-K6: Unfortunate that I made the team? Bales: No! Unfortunate that UPL were rushed to the team... that incomplete was your training. Not ready for the burden were you.