mjd1001

I can't even find any credible rumors. I mean, most rumors don't happen, but some make sense. The more days that go by, the more 'reporting' is saying don't expect much from the Sabres and many of the lists of players 'on the block' that are Sabres...well, the Sabres are getting lower and lower. I think it was NHL.com that had a list earlier today, it listed the top players likely to be moved...something like 10 or 15 of them. No Sabres on it....Dylan Cozens and Brym were mentioned at the bottom of the article with about 10-15 additional players beyond the top guys as 'keep an eye on" or something like that. No one really cares about this franchise, even the national experts and guys who make up the rumors are moving on.

And that is exactly why the team is in the spot it is in.

Or he could trade Cozens for the best offer, even it is futures. This team is not making the playoffs, Cozens has been so bad this year that sometimes the team is better with him not playing. Either way, Cozens on the team or off the team, there won't be a postive end result if he is here. So why futures? If you get a good offere for him, you take the prospect/draft pick...and then whether its Adams, or someone else, that prospect/draft pick can be used to make that move in the offseason. The question is this....is Cozens worth more now? Or in the offseason. If he is worth more, you take what you can get and then use that 'chip' to make more moves in the offseason. Not worth letting him continue to hurt the team on the ice just to wait til the offseason.

If they do make a change, I think staying in house is a big mistake. Sure its a different voice. Yes, Granato was in 'in house' hire than ended up being better than who he replaced. But I think/fear it will just be more of the same. Not much will really change.

The couple times I saw him play, he doesn't look good. No thanks, not even for free if they waived him.

Oh, I do agree with you. He wasn't great. I just think overall, he has been 'decent' as a backup. Not great, but he hasn't cost you games any more than most other backups could have/might. For me, this team would be in a playoff spot if only 3 things changed, and goaltending is one of them. They have overall (Reimer and UPL and Levi) gotten slightly below average goaltending. I truly, 100% think this team would be in a playoff spot, or fighting for one really closely with 1. Average to slightly above average goaltending (if UPL had last year's peformance this year). 2. and 3.) Cozens and Quinn were not on this team at all this year, or they played just like 'average' middle 6 guys. So can you have a better guy than Reimer in the spot? yep but he is way down the list of issues of what can be done to make the team better.

I'm not saying you play conservative. I'm saying you don't put 2 guys on the ice that are both guys that will go deep into the corner. Well, the advanced stats don't look all that good either. His high danger save percentage is WAY lower than it was last year.

He has played pretty well in every stint he had in Rochester, even the short ones before this season, hasn't he? The issue is, every time he plays in Buffalo, he's just not at NHL level. Yeah, he's still young, but he has yet to show that he is a capable NHL goalie. Maybe he just needs more experience at the pro level. Hopefully that is it...and not he's a guy who is that AAAA guy who can dominate at the minor level but just can't be 'the guy' at the top level

Yeah, but Power did misplay both goals he was out there for in front of the net...the save would not have to be made if he had a little more situational awareness. And the SH goal would have never been a 2-on-1 if Cozens didn't fumble and lose the puck on the boards causing the 2 on one.

Well, they started out OT with Tuch AND Cozens on the ice? I'd question that. You have 2 guys who are guys who want to go deep into the corner and chase the puck. When you have 3-on-3, that is exactly NOT want you want to do. When you don't have the puck with that much open ice, you want to play zone defense, not aggressive man to man. So how do you put BOTH of those guys out there at the same time?

Its having already accepted they are making the playoff and watching each game without thinking of the big picture. "they are playing tonight (I know it doesn't mean the playoffs" "I want them to win" "Darn it, they lost!"

If I'm not mistaken, the Sabres have 2 shootout wins. But in Overtime 3-on-3, they are now 0 wins and 6 losses.

No. He has played like a decent backup goalie. UPL is not having a great year though.

Sabres are credited with 7 goals (and 18 allowed) when they are 6 on 5. All might not be end of the game, some might be where there was a penalty called and they pulled the goalie for the extra attacker then. Either way, its been a while.

They are now a -16 on special teams. I think that makes them a +7 on the year even strength. Usually the difference between being a playoff team is being postive on goal differential. So yeah, +7 even strenght..without special teams they probably would be in a playoff spot, or very close to it.

Yeah, but I think conventional wisdom is that any team that is trading for Tuch is doing so because they are pushing for a playoff/cup run. They are unlikely to give you back a 'better' piece. It takes us back to the whole who-is-a-buyer vs who-is-a-seller. To get better plays back, Sabres have to act like buyers. If you are a buyer, you likely aren't trading Tuch unless something crazy happens.

For a while McLeod was getting 2C ice time. Even when they were losing games. Not tonight. Barely 10 minutes so far for McLeod, Cozens with almost 15 and Thompson closing in on 17.

Even strength the Sabres are winning 2-0. And other than a few minutes in the first, they are the better team even strength. Special teams....not so much.

Really no one should be untouchable. McDavid isn't untouchable if you are offered McKinnon AND Makar. The reason untouchable is probably practical with Tuch is that he isn't a problem, he is net positive player for you. And since you aren't a 'seller' trying to break down the team and start over, you only trade a player IF you are getting a better one in return. Show me an offer where Tuch is traded and you get a BETTER player back and yeah, make that deal. That isn't happening though.

He just came off the bench seconds before. No thought was involved. He came off the bench, skated 2-3 seconds to the blue line and Gilbert game him the stretch pass when the Montreal D-men were looking up ice. The play was made by a pretty darn good stretch pass by Gilbert. It was a reaction type play. Cozens was on the ice for a total of about 10 seconds. There was no need to analyze the play no need to know where the opposition was, it was hit the ice, get the pass drive to the net. He's good at that. It is the other 90% of the game where he has to think a little bit where he has a problem.

I'm not sure what happened to Tuch on the PP. He has been cold for almost the entire year. He still has his shot and looks like the same player even strength, but for some reason he want from a decent-to-pretty good PP winger the last 2 years to just totally non-productive this year.

How does the opposing GOALIE make a stretch pass through your entire team leading to a great scoring chance when you have a full 5 guys on the ice?

He is a pretty fast skater. He puts the effort in.....how many times do we say players don't care or are lazy...but not him. Most of the time he tries hard. His shot is not accurate but his release LOOKS good. Its just like the first period tonight. I'm not looking at analytics, I don't know what is expected goal percentage is or anything like that. Simple eye test..lost a key faceoff in the offensive zone, had a pass right to him that he fumbled and lost in his skates. On the SH goal he had all day and blasted the puck right into the shinpads of the defender and the puck went to the boards where he misplayed it leading to the 2on1 for the SH goal. A penalty early in the game. He got spun around by the blue line and almost fell, scooped up a loose puck and proceeded to pass it 2 feet behind the stick of a wide open teammate. No statistics required. That was just his first period witnessed on TV.

I like Lindy. I liked Don. Its the players.

On the replay of the SH goal....Power could have played that one better. Its still on Cozens for losing the puck that led to the SH goal, but Power could have shaded over to the near boards more because he didn't have a guy coming in deep to the other side, yet he played int in the middle. PP goal he played right in front of the net when he should have shaded to the near boards. Exact same issue on the SH goal. I know its tough when you are in the moment and the game is moving fast, but he needs to have better awareness of what is going on with the other team and his own teammates. Duds of the first period....Power and Cozens for sure. And I normally defend Power but he had a bad 1st.