Marvin

What pisses me off is that in 2006-7, the Sabres had Afinogenov, Connolly, and at least 1 other player all slated to come off the IR during Round 1 of the playoffs. Suddenly, a month before the TDL, the league announced that any player on IR for the Sabres who did not return by the end of the season had to miss Round 1 and could not skate in a team organised session, let alone practise, at all until the off day before Round 2. What makes Trampa Bray and Lost Vagus so damn special? 😡

I remember the Sabres' first win at Maple Leaf Gardens. No Sabres scored a hat trick, but Dodo threw Punch's hat on the ice anyway.

With Power in Buffalo, this looks like an argument to send Bryson and Fitzgerald down.

Some outside-the-box musings for stop-gaps: Any goalie in Europe worth looking at? Any back-ups whom you think could be 1B in Buffalo? Any cap-strapped teams who might make a solid goaltender available? Any seniors in college or CHA over-agers we might get for Rochester or Cincinnati? Should we consider Rochester and Buffalo as having a pool of 4 guys who could play up here and shuffle around? Who needs to be resigned and when -- and how does that affect ability to sign someone for short term to a sky-high price? Could someone provide save percentage, xGA, and other stats for the UFAs mentioned earlier?

We need @Ducky to help out. Is Winnipeg looking to make a partial rebuild? That is the only way I can see when they would make Hellebuck available. We would have make it worth their while in any event.

Ready for all the "Power play" puns?

Fair enough. My whole life has been one of incremental improvements and doing the best with what I have. If I am in an unacceptable position and I can get to "meh", I take it. Then I look to get to "eh, OK" to "sure, fine" etc. When I can jump to "good", like trading up to get Josh Allen, I grab it. Because I find "meh" preferable to "bad", I am willing to improve to "meh", but never delude myself that I have better than "meh" -- I still need to improve. Using Marty's example of himself, the Sabres could have been a solid team with him as #1 and Mika as #2. But they could be a great team with Ryan Miller as #1 instead. Just because the Sabres had Biron and Noronen does not mean that they should not go after Miller. If you ever have to fight endemic and/or systemic problems in society, you see how much incremental improvements help. Maybe it's a bad mindset for building and NHL team.

Clarification: UPL's play in Buffalo last season was often Ullmark-like. My hope is that he can be Ullmark-like more consistently and grow from there. But UPL has not been as consistently so-so as Ullmark at the NHL level for a significant stretch yet, so I am very leery of expecting him to become even that next season for, say, 35 games. Honestly, I think UPL's ceiling is about Ullmark's play now, but he is currently well short of that. Thus, at best, UPL would be a short-term solution until, hopefully, one of Levi or Portillo grabs the top role. Just as I think Ullmark would have been in Buffalo. And if Ullmark were here, we would be better, but still marking time. If you are a Bills fan, think Tyrod Taylor as Bills QB until we got Josh Allen. I had Ullmark pegged as Tyrod and UPL as E.J. Manuel and then Nathan Peterman. I am waiting for UPL to get to Tyrod Taylor level and we don't have a young Tyrod Taylor in the system.

Ullmark probably was not the solution over the long haul in Buffalo. But, like Marty Biron and Mika Noronen in 2003-4, he would have helped tide us over until someone better emerges. Had he been signed to a 4 year deal after the stoppage at probably $4M, he'd have 2 years left after this season. IMHO, that is preferable to what we have now. YMMV. It would give UPL more time to grow and tide us over until, we hope, one of Portillo or Levi emerges in Buffalo. Question: do you think Ukka Pekka-Lukkonen is even a short term answer in net as part of a 1A-1B scenario? Because until he's clearly one of the top 2, I don't. Currently, he's clearly inferior to Anderson and he could not beat a AAAA goalie like Tokarski coming out of camp. That is very concerning. And Marty Biron being even more pessimistic than I am gives me pause. For those who think UPL can be the short term answer starting next season, please give me your reasons. My reason to have hope for UPL is that he was Ullmark-like in the NHL and he still has room to grow, so he might get better than that. But until he's out-playing Dell in Rochester, I don't have enough evidence to expect that.

Hockey Stars Magazine #46, 1995-6 season. The Sabres and Sharks were at the bottom of the league while Pittsburgh and Philadelphia were near the top of the league. The article is "The BEST of Hockey." These guys are not Buffalonians, expats, or Sabres fans. ========================= La-La-La-La-La-FONTAINE DOES IT AGAIN. ------------------------------ Sabres TV play-by-play man Rick Jeanneret looks like Rodney Dangefield and sounds like ... well, put it this way: if there's ever a choice between watching Penguins vs. Flyers on ESPN or Sabres vs. Sharks on the Empire Network with Jeanneret doing the play-by-play, we'll take Sabres vs. Sharks. Hands down, Jeanneret is the best TV play-by-play man in the NHL -- and he's so far ahead of the rest that there's no second best. Although Jeanneret is best known for his goal calls ("May Day! May Day!" Jeanneret yelped after Brad May scored his series-clinching game-winner against the Bruins on April 24, 1993), there's far more to Jeanneret than, "La-La-La-La-La-Fontaine does it again!" Jeanneret can make a boring game sound exciting and an exciting game sound like a life-or-death struggle. It's as if there's an opera being staged; the game is the orchestra, and Jeanneret is the singer. He is completely tuned in to what's going on on the ice. Not that Jeanneret is always in tune; his voice screeches, and he sometimes sounds as if he's ready to jump on the ice and join the action. Jeanneret is so popular in Buffalo that when the Sabres score a goal, his call is replayed for the Auditorium crowd. Smart move. Why would anyone go to a game when they can listen to Jeanneret?

That sucks. I am hoping to send him to a rebuilding team with another prospect or pick for an experienced top 4 RHD whom they are willing to move.

What do we do then? Do we have to move him this summer?

Wow. Marty is less sanguine about the Sabres getting goaltending than I am. If I am St. Louis, I don't let Husso go. How they handle the roster after more-or-less duplicating Binnington's contract for Husso would be very interesting. It would be a terrible allocation of salary, but I can't justify them losing Husso. And did I hear Marty giving a thin justification for considering Carey Price? I played that part three times and I still think that's a potentially valid interpretation.

I think people are missing my point. Trading Josh Allen for what the opposing GM thinks is fair value is NOT what I would trade him for. Ditto for consistent, higher-end, long term goaltending. So take an acceptable trade for Josh Allen from a random team which is a QB short of the Super Bowl and make a trade with them for Josh Allen that you would find acceptable. Now take the corresponding goaltender in the NHL, be the OTHER TEAM'S GM, and decide what a comparable price is from the Sabres. No, it is anchored in how I value that kind of goaltending. For instance, would you trade Josh Allen for a top-20 CB, a top-20 DE, and a top 20 WR, and find a mediocre QB to replace Allen? As would be his prerogative.

Thank you for stating this in a way I could translate it better. For Bills fans, what would an acceptable trade for Josh Allen look like? That's how I view trading consistent, game-in-game-out, year-in-year-out, top-level goaltending.

Clarification: from above, 2 of (Buffalo 2022 1st, Dahlin, Power) plus Quinn for Shesterkin. And if I am the Strangers, that's not enough. I had imagined Ullmark as either growing or tiding me over. This would be year 2 of a 4-5 year contract at about $4M if I had had my druthers. A bit high, but workable.

And overtook the Anaheim Jersey as the most popular in the league. That was why I don't think it was an accident that the colours of the jerseys for the antagonists in the third Mighty Ducks movie were the same as these.

Should we send Fitzgerald and/or Bryson to Rochester to help them?

To be fair to everyone else, I did it deliberately. That is how much I value good goaltending, how I read the market, and how angry I have been at the goaltending for the last few years. My obnoxious extortion price for a goaltender is how I would handle that situation relative to Buffalo because I expect GMKA to be getting heat for how the Sabres have been in goal for a while now, plus other teams feeling their window starting to close, with still more teams hoping to take the next step. P.S. thank you, @nfreeman, for the compliment. P.P.S. confirming: yes, I acknowledge my price for a goaltender for Buffalo is outrageous. If I were a GM, I normally would not trade a goalie with potential and/or term as good as everyone would want, myself included.

No. I am saying that deliberately putting himself into this situation is a firable offence. The time to start fixing this was 2020-1. Letting this fester for 3 years and the failing to solve it is absolutely firable. I have to see incontrovertible progress this season. Period. Sure. In 2020-1, start negotiations with Ullmark so that you can sign him before 2021-2. Make that trade for the goaltender which looked expensive at the time (we know he backed out of 1 on the table when the NHL announced the 3rd G policy; there should have been a back-up which did not include keeping Carter Hutton); it will be far more expensive now. This year, for a goaltender with minimal term like Helleybuck, it will probably take our later firsts and Levi to get him. Or pay through the nose on price and term for one of the good FAs. IMHO, the Sabres' goaltending problem is 100% his doing. His inability to solve it is his fault. Period.

I have one word for this: tough. It is absolutely a fireable offence. No: 2 of (Buffalo 2022 1st, Dahlin, Power) plus Quinn. So, outrageous extortion level.

If I were that GM, you laughing and hanging up would be fine with me. In real life, I would not trade my top goaltender or potential top guy behind my current #1 unless I get a ridiculous offer or he wants out; only in the latter case would I consider a "reasonable price" -- otherwise, I want a trade that is beyond verging on extortion. Instead, I would hope to be shrewd enough to raid some cap strapped teams, get some character depth, and hope to be next year's LA. Besides, I saw how the Jack Eichel trade worked for Buffalo and where Buffalo would be with even mediocre goaltending all season. Why would I trade the ultimate strength for a bunch of crapshoots and non-top-flight players? Who will ask for goaltending? Cup contenders with weak starters and cap problems, like LVGK, Edmonton, and Toronto. I would ask for top-flight players at a 50% discount (Stone, Draisaitl, Matthews), top flight established defenceman at a good price, and my pick of top prospects. From teams trying to take the next step with good youth and draft position, you saw. Supply and demand says that asking for the Moon instead of the Oort Cloud is foolish -- I expect to settle for the Kuiper Belt.

My wife prefers hot barbecue to normal hot wings. I personally would prefer he get his first game at home.

FYI: Quick wants to stay in LA. The Sabres are certainly on Varlamov's NTL. I would prefer Dell AND Houser as our goaltending tandem over having Georgiev as our #1. Samsonov is Tokarski behind a good team. I can't imagine Fleury coming to Buffalo. You would need double the salary and term that Ullmark has now in Boston to get the UFA's you listed. Given the situations in Toronto, Edmonton, Las Vegas, etc., if I were a GM with a good goaltender to trade, Buffalo has to start with 2 of Buffalo's 1st in 2022, Power, and Dahlin plus a very good sweetener (Quinn or better) before I even consider a counter-offer.

LVGK are 8-3 in their last 11. They are getting in. The only question is whom they pass.