Porous Five Hole

If he fully develops (which is always the plan for every guy, but it doesn’t work that way), he can be a shiftier/more creative Jason Pominville. Not a 1RW on a good team, but counted on for offense and won’t hurt you defensively. If his growth stunts, he could still be a 3RW a la Tyler Ennis. Ten goals a year and hangs around in the league for a while as a low cost third liner. He has the skill to be an NHL player. Hopefully he can continue to put on weight without losing his jump.

To me, 50 points in 67 games as an underweight 20 year old in the AHL is not sub-NHL pace. He needs time to learn the North American game. Is he likely to be a first line winger? Probably not. But his AHL production is in line with most of the other forwards drafted around him. I watch a lot of Amerks games and I am not down on him.

He went unsigned in free agency. He will be 32 by opening night and his foot speed fell off a cliff last season. He is/was a good guy and good leader, but it was probably time for the next phase of his life. He was a good captain for us and will be remembered fondly.

Go home Mother Nature, you’re drunk.

To me, this is more about the convenience of timing in that his contract was up. I would not have fired him for this, but Marek, being a Sportsnet employee, turned Sportsnet into the source of leaked info. It makes sense that Sportsnet wouldn’t be ok with him sharing it. But that has nothing to do with gambling and to associate the leaks under the guise of a gambling matter seems like a load of poop. Given that 1) a new contract was not in place when it expired in a matter of days, and 2) Marek had to sign a confidentiality agreement on the info surrounding his separation, there’s definitely more to the story. And I would be guessing there’s more to it than just draft day.

I don’t like this deal. Too long of a contract for one season of A) finally staying healthy for a full season, and B) finally getting a save percentage above league average (AHL & NHL combined for each season). He seems like a good dude and I want the Sabres to win, but I would not have done this deal. I would have gone to arbitration for a one year deal this offseason & re-evaluate in 25-26 (while UPL is an RFA again and Levi has another season of experience). Hope I’m wrong I guess.

In.

He’s more trusted to be a 3C than Peyton Krebs and has Stanley Cup Final experience, so trading one of your four/five other similar prospects (Kulich, Rosan, Östlund, Helenius, beaten out by Benson) makes sense to improve your 2024-25 Sabres. I like it.

Folks here predicted a long term deal with Henri for over 4MM AAV. This deal hits just right. They’ll use him for his handedness, and move on when it is time to pay better players. Time for Byrum to step up. Nice signing to lead into that.

UPL to arbitration made my month. The Sabres need to know if UPL is the .910+ guy he played to be last season (or not). This is a short-term cost-controlled way to find out. He gets paid in a year where the cap is not of any importance to this team’s cap max. I hope he rakes the Sabres over the coals and earns his long term deal. And if not and he returns to his .898 or injured form that he was displayed to be every year prior to 23-24, then the Sabres are protected and Levi gets the keys to the kingdom. It’s a perfect scenario for the Sabres.

I think this is the best move for all involved. The Sabres get more runway to see if UPL is “him.” UPL gets a raise and if he runs it back, will have a nice long term contract waiting for him (here or somewhere else). Swayman elected for arbitration last year and it has gone well for him. He’s about to get PAID.

Konsta doing Konsta things

I’m not sure of the new folks being brought in, but the guys being brought back aren’t built that way in the traditional sense. ROC got bounced out of the playoffs by a stronger and more mature Syracuse team (all one goal games until the goalie was pulled late in the last one). But, they won four playoff series the two previous years combined before that (including beating that same Cuse team the year before). They have had a strong team vibe in that they stuck up for each other. But no police or enforcers.

Benson’s total goes up and Tarasanko/Zucker do the rest. I have zero evidence that Tarasanko is coming here, but it would do the trick.

The Sabres also re-signed Mason Jobst, which is welcome news

Appert loved Murray. Good character guy and hard worker.

Welp, today sealed it for me. UFA day is the most depressing.

Serg makes 8.5MM. Do you really want to take that on? That would make the Sabres have the highest D payroll in NHL history. And Marino isn’t good. I get what you’re saying, but I haven’t seen a top six forward get traded that I’m jealous of (so far).

Agree with you on you cannot keep everyone. But Buffalo better not be promoting any of these guys to a top six role next year. Let them fight it out in ROC.

You quoted Ostland. He just got to North America during the AHL playoffs and was all tourney at the Worlds shortly before that. How about we wait and see on him?

Similar size to Power. Hope he isn’t allergic to contact like OP.

So we got the guy KA would have drafted 11th at 14, and got a bottom six NHLer for the move down. All I can assume is that no move clauses are murdering the Sabres right now.

A chart from RMNB shows every NHL forward from the last decade and how often they started in the defensive zone versus the offensive zone. Malenstyn ranked 7th for most defensive-zone starts (behind this season’s Dowd and 2018’s Jay Beagle). Out of 3046 player-seasons, Malenstyn ranked 3045th in offensive-zone starts (ahead of only this season’s Nicolas Aube-Kubel). That ratio is simply the most extreme defensive deployment for a forward since the NHL started tracking zone starts. That’s wild. https://russianmachineneverbreaks.com/2024/05/17/beck-malenstyn-2023-24-season-review/