Zamboni

Pinning hopes on one or two players in a team sport of 23, is at best desperate. And i’m not seeing anyone pinning hopes on one or two players for team sucesss. ?‍♂️

I stopped at the word offersheet. When that becomes semi-common place, then you may be on to something with projecting rosters. Until then, it’s just EA sports 2020 level of fantasy. i don’t have the info, but can anyone muster up when the last offersheet was offered to a player AND the team got the player and had to give up draft picks? and then can someone muster up when it was done before that?

Exit interviews are a hell of a drug.

When someone judges a player on only the goals he scores, And nothing else, it really says a lot about what they watch or don’t watch in a game. Therefore… Everybody must suck Except Jack Eichel. Unless you expected him to score over 50 goals this season, then he sucks too!

Meh ... I guess that passes for EPIC nowadays?

I would love to see an even 8 teams. 30-40 game seasons. And at least a best of 3 series in the playoffs

Nope. Not overvaluing players at all. Just placing most of the blame where I see is the biggest Achilles heel. agree to disagree

A better coach would get a lot more out of this group. To think changing the roster and having the same coach will yield better results is false hope. At the beginning of the season, If you replaced Jon Cooper, Bruce Cassidy, Mike Babcock, Todd Reirden, Barry Trotz, Mike Sullivan, Paul Maurice, Peter Laviolette, Bill Peters, or Peter DeBoer with Phil Housley ... those teams wouldn’t make the playoffs. And if the Sabres had any of those coaches all season, we would easily be 20-25 points better. State of the Sabres: I place the blame like this ... 50% Housley and staff 20% JB 15% Pegulas 15% Roster Fix the coaching and a 3-4 roster spots and this team looks soooo much better.

I like reasoned, logical, even tempered thoughts that aren’t knee-jerk... well done!

I would guess he knows most of the things you are spewing about.... he’s just not saying it in a freaking media scrum staffed by salivating “reporters” looking for a headline to run to twitter with.... predictable is predictable ...

Why fans think McCabe or any player is gonna throw the coach or another player under the bus, or cause drama and strife in the locker room is beyond me ...

T-minus 3 ...

I bet the new to the NHL young developing goaltender is here for at least 3-4 more years.

Hamilton is a boob. A dramatic sensational boob.

No option for “sometime after the last game but before the playoffs begin”. That’s my prediction.

Oh it’s bad. But when Marty is on, its much better than the clown show of Schoops

I would bet Ullmark will be the starter (he’s still developing he’s not a finished product), and UPL will be backing him up once Hutton’s contract is up.

The first smart move would be to not listen to his show. It just isn’t good radio for hockey discussion. The second smart move would be to listen to hockey central and spittin chicklets and a plethora of other hockey podcasts. hell, even The Instigators show is better than Schoop and the Bulldog show.

Yea, a lot of rookies/prospects do for a bunch of games. It’s rare if they don’t

You are of the mindset that it just isn’t coaching and system. That if the talent was better, the coaching ability and system he implements would magically make this team a near top of the conference contender? I’m of the mindset, this team has a lot of talent, but I’ll quickly point out the roster always needs improving. With good developing prospects in the pipeline (Sabres are rated top 10 or better in the league for quality of drafted prospects). With young developing players currently on the roster, and a top 10 center in the league along with a top 3 rookie defenseman in the league, we have most of the support around them to be a very good team. I stress again ... we still need to fill a few holes, but not as many as you seem to think considering you think the main reason is “talent”. How I see it. Speaking strictly roster: #1 upgrade... Skinner (if he doesn’t sign) #2 upgrade... replacing Pominville with an established sucessful (points) vet who has much much better leadership qualities than Jason “deadfish” Pominville. #3 upgrade... since I think we are stuck with Sobotka for another season because JB won’t be able to move him, we need to upgrade 3rd line LW. Or move Sobotka to LW and upgrade 3rd line center. #4 upgrade... move Girgensons. He’s spent. We need a more effective LW on the 4th line. We need more scoring from that line. Antiquated thinking is when fans think the 4th line in today’s NHL doesn’t need to contribute offensively. Durrrrr just possess the puck down low and run out the clock and help give the other three lines a breather durrrrr. No, the 4th line need to pot 20-30 goals between the three players. #5 upgrade... more addition by subtraction. Don’t bring back Elie, Wilson, Tennyson or Hunwick. If they want to play in Roch. cool...Let a couple prospects battle it out for spots. Nelson is an adequate bottom line fill in on D. You know what you’re getting. He’s simple and isn’t a defensive black hole when called upon when injuries or slumps strike. And no one will want Okposos contract/term and health issues. We are stuck with him. But not all is lost with him. I think he could improve with better linemates and coaching. With (most likely) Risto, Dahlin, Montour, Scandella, Bogo, McCabe, and Pilut on the team next season, that’s a solid D core. It’s not at a ZOMG upgrade level. I would love to see Bogo moved, but at his cap hit, it’s highly unlikely. Goaltending I feel is also not at a ZOMG upgrade needed level. Last year with Lehner and Johnson, it most certainly was! The number one reason this team is looking bad, game after game after game is coaching and the lack of an attacking, great gap control system. And his flaccid or non existent in game/intermission adjustments. He just flat out suuuuucks.

Hutton isn’t eligible for Seattle’s expansion draft. He’s only signed thru the 20-21 season. Unless we sign him to a one year deal for the 21-22 season. Seattle must choose a minimum of 20 players under contract for the 2021-22 regular season and those with an aggregate Expansion Draft value that is between 60-100 percent of the prior season's upper limit for the salary cap. Seattle cannot buy out players chosen in the Expansion Draft earlier than the summer following its first season. Current NHL teams can protect seven forwards, three defensemen and one goalie, or eight skaters (forwards/defensemen) and one goalie, under the following conditions. * All players with no movement clauses at the time of the draft, and who decline to waive those clauses, must be protected and will be counted toward their team's applicable protection limits. * All first- and second-year NHL players, and all unsigned draft choices, will be exempt from selection (and will not be counted toward protection limits. In addition, all NHL teams must meet the following minimum requirements regarding players exposed for selection in the draft: * One defenseman who is a) under contract in 2021-22 and b) played in at least 40 NHL games the prior season or played in at least 70 NHL games in the prior two seasons. * Two forwards who are a) under contract in 2021-22 and b) played at least 40 NHL games the prior season or played in at least 70 NHL games in the prior two seasons. * One goalie who is under contract in 2021-22 or will be a restricted free agent at the end of his current contract immediately prior to 2021-22. If a team elects to make a restricted free agent goalie available to meet this requirement, that goalie must have received his qualifying offer prior to the submission of the team's protected list. * Players with potential career-ending injuries who have missed more than the previous 60 consecutive games (or who otherwise have been confirmed to have a career-threatening injury) may not be used to satisfy a team's player exposure requirements unless approval is received from the NHL. Such players also may be deemed exempt from selection.

That sucks for them for sure. But wow if the NWHL can absorb most of the teams and make a bigger league with 30-40 game seasons and playoff series instead of one game eliminations. That would be phenomenal!

Since the playoffs begin on April 10th, I’ve been saying before the playoffs begin. So yea, after today he has 9 more days as an NHL head coach in 2019.

LAST GAME Saturday, March 30 Buffalo 1 at NY Islanders 5 Goals: Olofsson Goalie: Hutton (33 saves/38 shots) PP: 1/2; PK: 1/1; Shots: NY Islanders 38 – Buffalo 32 CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 234) Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed Jake McCabe (upper body, March 4) – 13 games Matt Hunwick (upper body, March 23) – 5 games Zach Bogosian (lower body, March 25) – 4 games Rasmus Ristolainen (illness, March 26) – 3 games Evan Rodrigues (upper body, March 28) – 2 games Vladimir Sobotka (upper body, March 30) – 1 game TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS 3/26: Signed D Casey Fitzgerald to a two-year, entry-level contract with an AAV of $925,000; Recalled D William Borgen from Rochester (AHL) 3/27: Recalled F Victor Olofsson from Rochester (AHL) 3/28: Recalled D Matt Tennyson from Rochester (AHL); Assigned F Tage Thompson to Rochester (AHL) REMAINING GAMES Tuesday, April 2: Nashville at Buffalo, 7 p.m. Thursday, April 4: Ottawa at Buffalo, 7 p.m. Saturday, April 6: Buffalo at Detroit, 7 p.m. TONIGHT’S GAME BLUE JACKETS at SABRES This is the third and final meeting between the Sabres and Blue Jackets this season. Last meeting: Buffalo defeated Columbus 5-4 in Columbus on Jan. 29 The Sabres are 4-5-1 in their last 10 games vs. Blue Jackets; 5-4-1 at home. This is the 32nd game all-time between Buffalo and Columbus; Buffalo has an 12-16-3 series record. The Sabres are 7-8-1 at home against the Blue Jackets all-time. THIS DATE IN SABRES HISTORY The Sabres are 12-10-0 all-time on March 31. March 31, 1971: Eddie Shack records his second hat trick in 10 days as the Sabres defeat the Penguins 6-4 in Pittsburgh. March 31, 1992: The Sabres and Minnesota North Stars combine for 360 penalty minutes, including 188 to the Sabres and 172 to the North Stars. All three totals (for, against and combined) still stand as Sabres franchise records.