Marvin

Caveat: the under-rating of Carolina is not just in Buffalo, but league wide. Having said that, they were exceptionally lucky not just with their lack of injuries, but critical injuries to their opponents -- not just Buffalo. Does anyone beat Ottawa if Hasek does not get injured in the Olympics? The Habs were up 2-0 on Carolina before Koivu got injured. And you have to ask if Edmonton wins the Cup if their #1G is not injured -- in game 1 of the Final. And most fans besides Buffalonians think the Sabres win that series handily with just 2 of the D back from injury; many make the argument that just 1 would have changed the outcome of Game 7. However, sure we can make a very educated guess as to what could have happened. Carolina was missing their #3C, which washes with the Sabres missing Connolly. The Sabres were missing their #4D, Kalinin, the entire series. Their #1D in Tallinder was injured in Game 3. After game 2, their #5D in Numminen only played 1 period of Game 6. And then the nail in the coffin was their #3D, McKee, getting the stapf infection after Game 6. The analogue of that defence in Game 7 is Dahlin, Power, Lyubushkin, Bryson, Pilut, and Fitzgerald -- and saying Lyubushkin is the equivalent of Fitzpatrick is being pretty generous to Rory. If Carolina had been so good that they would have beaten the Sabres with no injuries, why didn't they blow the Sabres out in any of games 4-7? The Sabres were leading game 7 heading into the 3rd period, for God's Sake. That should never happen if Carolina were as good as you claim; it should have been a shooting gallery in the Buffalo end with something like a 5-1 final with Carolina floating through the 3rd period. And that does not even count that game 7 should never have happened if they had been that good. I literally can not think of any reason that the Sabres don't win that series in 6 if they only had been missing Connolly, Kalinin, and Numminen after game 3. Heck, I can make the argument that if the had had Connolly for the series, they beat Carolina even with the D injuries because he made that power play lethal.

What is different is that when healthy, the team actually has all NHLers in the line-up.

Yup. And I did not eat at KFC until PepsiCo got it.

Great update. Thanks!

Especially since a large fraction of the Sabres scoring chances at even strength have come off the rush. Why change it for the PP?

I understand your point, but I am trying to be realistic. Maybe my standard is too high: At worst, I want my #7D to be at the level of Rory Fitzpatrick. Ideally, my #8D should be at that level too. I don't think Bryson, Fitzgerald, or Pilut are at that standard, let alone having Bryson in the top 6. We remember Fitzpatrick negatively because he was forced into #4 against Carolina in games 4 and 5 plus #3 in game 7 and was clearly overmatched. (How that team didn't get blown out in games 4-7 is still a marvel to me.) But, IMHO, he was a competent #7.

I agree with Reilly and Balcers instead of Jost. That last line is far too far for me to go to.

Much as I would like to add one, I am not worried as much about an FA forward. I believe that another goalkeeper is a necessity unless one of our prospects surprises after the NCAA Frozen Four. But we need to have 7-8 D who are better than Bryson and who force Jokiharu to the 3rd pairing. That is likely 3 D and 1 G from outside the organisation before we add the forward I want. That is a tall order.

Welcome to the board! What I try to do when I criticise The team is to try and offer realistic ideas. For instance, a #6D in lieu of Bryson at a reasonable price is not a big ask.

Maybe winnable.

Note that this is not Bob "Hound Dog" Kelly who was on the Flyers in the 1970's.

Where is Tuch?

There was 1 year in The Drought where the Bills were in 4th at 8-8 (0-6 in the division). That's pretty close.

I am confused. Scarlett who?

As a specific name whom we could have signed last off-season: I think our D would be better if Mark Pysyk were our #6D instead of Bryson. As a point of philosophy, I personally would slot Jokiharu on my 3rd D pair. I think a top 6 D of Samuelsson-Dahlin, Power-Lyubushkin, and Pysyk-Jokiharu would have fared better with the injuries and in complementary styles in each pairing.

It is clear that we need an improved defencive pipeline.

Welcome to the board. I wonder why Petersen stayed away and Portillo is likely to stay away.

No. I thought they were younger but were developing more slowly, like Thompson or Mittlestadt.

In and of himself, Samuelsson is not that valuable. However, he complements Dahlin and makes Dahlin a lot better, drops Power to the second pair, lessens Power's responsibilities, gets Power a more complementary defencive partner, and pushes Bryson to the 3rd pair. That is an enormous impact.

No. Based on the evidence, it looks like the plan was not only to develop Quinn, Krebs, Peterka, Power, and Cozens, but also Bryson and Fitzgerald. Otherwise, GMKA would have picked up another defenceman in FA and picked up someone on waivers.

Lyubushkin is playing hurt. Jokiharu is a 3rd pairing D-man on the second pair. None of Bryson, Fitzgerald, or Clague is a true NHL defencemen. The Dahlin-Power pairing has negative chemistry. Until that is fixed, they may not win.

They didn't change units.

He is reportedly spooked by how XGMTM handled the franchise.

Ray makes a very good case for Alex Mogilny getting into the HHoF for puncturing hockey's Berlin Wall for Eastern Bloc players.

Oh, look, guys. If you check someone in the slot, you don't get scored on. Whodathunkit?