Digger

Didn't we already do one on Asplund? Maybe that was when he signed. I think that he will show to be the best value contract signed in the off season. I think that he's a solid 3rd line player that is versatile to play center or wing. He's looked good in preseason so far and there's not many players that have. Play him with Ruotsalainen and have them share the center responsibilities (face offs, etc. to their strengths).

Yes it's too early...............but well done with the name. I like it. Could also work with Asplund, Ruotsalainen, Olofsson.

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/gary-bettman-speaks-robin-lehner-tweets-jack-eichel-situation/ My favorite quote from Bettman with regards to Lenher's tweets: "We take his comments seriously and we'd like in short order to be in a conversation with him so we can hear his concerns directly and we're going to follow up to see what merit there may be to his concerns," Bettman said. "You don't have to tweet to get our attention. We have an 800 number people can call. You can call us directly, we're an open book. But if he has concerns we want to hear them and see how they need to be addressed." But a tweet gets more satisfaction when all you want to do is complain. If he wants to see positive change then he needs to bring facts to the NHL and trust that changes will be made.

It's his year. I don't know what we will get with Tage. He didn't handle the expectations when he started with Eichel last year. I think he's another player that struggles mightily with confidence (along with Skinner and Mittelstadt). The Sabres need to have a good team of sports psychologists working for them (I image they have some resources on this but might want to double up this year). I like Granato's comments about Tage's potential. I believe at this point we can say he has potential and what may prevent him from reaching that potential is his hockey sense. If he can work really hard and respond to coaching and stay healthy we should know what he is "for sure" after this season.

Yes. Any player that was given permission to play in the AHL last season because of CHL team shut downs are allowed to play in the AHL again this year rather than go back to juniors.

He needs to go down to Rochester with a good attitude and play to the best of his ability. I said this in last nights game that I think he sometimes gives up too much of the net for a big goalie. He is still a work in progress. He shows some good flashes and then some real weaknesses. Go to Rochester and prove that you deserve a chance in the NHL.

I'm surprised that they didn't cut the defense down too. Perhaps it's a message to the regulars that they have played poorly so far and they need competition or maybe there's a better day to waive defense (although I'm not sure any are at risk for us to lose).

Rochester bound in my opinion....................but I have to admit I know nothing about him..............so impress me (when he gets a preseason game).

Yeah I'm surprised that they don't give Dell the whole game. UPL got two full games. Anderson still needs some time in preseason too though so perhaps that's why they are splitting the game. So far I have liked Tokarski better.

I don't know but I understand and agree with most of your points. It's easy to be worried about this season and lack of talent on the team. BUT, the biggest thing about this team is that there are opportunities for players to emerge and for chemistry to develop between players. We have not seen the best line combinations yet, we have not put out our best players yet because it's preseason. It's nice to see that we have cut down the squad again today including UPL. I am really wanting to see what our regular season lineup will be and who can develop some chemistry and can we have success on the PP and PK and even strength scoring for that matter. My point is that we will see some players emerge this year from JAG to good players that are establishing their role with the Sabres and in the NHL. This is a big year and a great opportunity for the JAG's (even the ones that get traded at the deadline).

Cool the highly anticipated fight for the Sabres backup goalie position this season. My money is on Tokarski right now. It's time for Dell to step up.

Not in the 3rd. It's Tarasov.

Mittelstadt shows us the light......................the red light.

Maybe but it may be best for their development to play on a winning team in Rochester (hopefully it's a winning team).

It's more than poor goal tending though. The power play looks pretty poor so far. I imagine that we may be giving up short handed goals or at least chances. The guys are not strong on the puck, easy to push off, Butcher bouncing off his guy (Jenner) in front of the goal was classic sad.

Mercy.

For a big goalie UPL can really give up a lot of the top of the net. On his knees and bending forward.

I like him and think he'll have a good year (maybe not a career year). I would try him on a different line away from Skinner. I would like to see him with R2 and/or Asplund for a few games to see if that can help with his 5 on 5 scoring. I understand the criticism of Olofsson being a power play specialist but he has shown the ability to score and power play goals count just as much as 5 on 5 goals. We will need his goals this season regardless.

I imagine the league reached out to Lenher regarding the comments he is making that drugs are being pushed without prescriptions (sorry I don't have his exact quote but @Weave captured it in his quote above) rather than Lenher's experience with the Sabres which is pretty dated at this point.

I don't really know what to expect from him. That's the problem. I don't understand what happened with him. I think that part of his problem might be in his head (not saying that to be a jerk). You have to be able to believe you are going to score and that if you work hard the puck will find you. I think his confidence was really shot last year. Can Granato get him going again? I hope so. I still wonder who is the best center for him to play with. I don't remember much chemistry with Mittelstadt in the past, Cozens? R2?. 20+ goals, 40 points should be expected as a minimum.

Hockey is an entertainment sport so the players are very important to the value of the franchise. If they wanted to sell the Sabres then in my opinion they would have done everything possible to repair the relationship with Eichel (and yes I agree that it's almost certainly too late now). Eichel is an asset for the team and a player that can be marketed as a top line center (set aside the injury for this argument). I suppose it could be suggested that drafting 1st overall in 2022 and getting Shane Wright would give them the future star so dumping Eichel's salary would make sense. That's a pretty weak argument and it's a scenario that has a low percentage of happening. Yes there are some other great options at the 2022 draft but still no guarantees. I can't see the logic in selling off your top talented players to sell the team. I can see it for a rebuild but we have been down this road a few times now. It's an interesting Sunday discussion.

Bad goal for sure but it didn't look like he had any support to make a pass. Maybe a bad shift change?

I hope the bolded text above is not the case for Skinner. That would indicate a real lack of character. I hear what you are saying but for me it would be hard to not play to the best of my ability. I would feel like crap if I didn't go 100%. I imagine that he does want to play well because his reputation has taken a real hit since the slump. We do see Okposo put in the effort (as another bad contract) so let's hope Skinner does the same. He needs to find some chemistry with some line mates though.

I chose the 2nd choice. I hope that he stays healthy this season and can handle the expected workload. As we know the Sabres have had issues in the past with goalies going down with injury so hopefully we can avoid that this season given how thin we are depth wise.

Yeah. I thought we had a much better lineup on paper last night compared to the Penguins and expected a good win. The score didn't reflect the full story. I was amazed at how many times we were on offense and our player was surrounded by three Penguins and had no option to pass. I think Granato really needs to focus on who he wants on the team and see if he can develop some chemistry in the lines. I know it's only preseason and they should improve but they sure look like they have a long way to go right now. I didn't look it up but it wouldn't surprise me if we have enough cap room to buy the entire Penguin squad we played last night.