French Collection

Good shift by Benson.

They have often made opposing goalies look like Hasek but they can’t hit the net today.

Need to hit the net.

Generational.

This is a men’s league Power, a one handed wave at the puck is not enough to keep it in vs a man with two hands on his stick.

Mitts was with Nichushkin and Drouin last night. He was on PP2, he’ll get some points.

Got as much for him as KO.

They are on a back to back plus travel. Dig deep.

He might be around once the UFA’s are moved.

My two cents. I liked Mitts but I think that Thompson and Cozens are 1&2 C going forward. KA would have to pay all 3 C’s $7M each, which probably wouldn’t work. I have always liked Byram, he is definitely a top 4 guy, just the wrong hand. I think KA makes another move or two here so this is not how the D line up in October. I see this as a sell high on Mitts, he is pretty much at his max production in Buffalo. I like his chances to go deep into the playoffs and will watch closely. The Avs really need a 2C and he could find a nice spot there. Once the Sabres are eliminated, the Avs are who I will pull for. One of the LHD might get flipped or one of these guys becomes permanent on the right side. As others have said, the dressing room gets a wake up call, which I like. I hope the next moves are for a gritty forward or two.

Cozens and Byram were the only two on 2020 team. Krebs, Quinn and Levi played in 2021 with them.

I find it difficult to see Levi pushing the NHL or nothing issue. Every kid dreams of that but he has taken his time at every level to improve.

Yes, the Sabres will lose to the Leafs at some point but it’s fun to have their number over the years. Their fans reaction to losing to the “lowly” Sabres is priceless and allows me to tell them how far away they are from that Cup.

Sportsnet building up tomorrow’s game, advertising that the Leafs have not beaten the Sabres in over a year. I love to hear that, over and over.

I, like many was disappointed with UPL’s development. I had to remind myself of his MVP performance in the OHL, I watched a few of those games live. He was the #1 goalie on a gold medal winning World Junior team, a tournament I watch religiously. He was a second round pick. This is how someone with that background should perform. It’s just never linear with development, especially with goalies. I had almost given hope he could get to his current level, my next hope is that he can sustain it. Only the top goalies seem to bring it every year. My heart was set on Levi but a strong tandem would be a real asset.

I’d like to get Pronger’s kid, providing he was similar.

Laughton would be a solid 3C. I can see contenders getting him but KA could beat anyone’s offer if he really wants the guy.

Yeah, I like the kid’s game. But like we’ve seen, he wouldn’t come in immediately and change things. KA needs to find immediate help and draft this kid and develop him properly.

I am not defending KA here because I am disappointed with the job he has done, especially last summer. I am a little miffed at all of the support for the Yzerplan. He is getting praise for turning the Red Wings around and likely making the playoffs. He has been GM there for 5 years. If it takes a “great” GM 5 years then maybe it is harder than we think. As others have pointed out, other teams’ rebuilds or retools take a lot less time than KA has taken. I just take issue with praising another guy that took 5 years to make the playoffs. Stevie Y made some good moves. Debrincat, Kane, Compher, Wallman, Gostisbehere and Sprong were good signings and trades. He also made some poor moves, Chiarot, Mantha, Vrana, Holl, Reimer, Husso and his handling of Zadina were not stellar transactions.

I loved watching Nolan Ryan pitch, we’ll never see that type of career again.

Taking on a guy like Foegele from Edmonton would be a move I could get behind. Oilers could use the cap space to make a bigger move, he makes $2.75M AAV, and is UFA at the end of this year. A draft pick to the Sabres plus a chance to re-sign Foegele if he is a good fit.

Vsevolod Komarov is having a great season in the QMJHL. He has 62 points in 52 games for the division leading Drummondville Voltigeurs. He is 7 points ahead of the next highest scoring Dman in the league. He won a Memorial Cup with the Quebec Remparts last season as a top 4 Dman, but is a go to guy with another shot at a championship this time around.

He’s just a young man. Yeah, that ship has sailed, should of kept him, might’ve helped these guys over the hump.

I guess while they are mathematically possible I will hope for the playoffs. They have a tough schedule ahead of them. I think the important games are vs Detroit. They can reel them back by winning all of those. Detroit looked worse than the Sabres vs Florida yesterday. Tampa is faltering at the right time for Buffalo but they have to keep losing. Buffalo has a lot of teams ahead of them but they need to catch Detroit or Tampa because one of Philadelphia, Washington or the Islanders is getting in no matter how badly they all play.

Chychrun is a LHD.