Author: Chris Ostrander

Sabres Rewind: The Very Bad, No Good Second Period

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Things started pretty well for the Sabres in Toronto on Monday night. They carried play throughout the first period and were eventually rewarded with the game’s first goal.

Quick note for this edition. For portions of the play that aren’t ass backwards or super goofy I will keep using comic sans for max comedy. For general highlights or more serious aspects I won’t act like the owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers and use a normal font.

They didn’t carry that positive momentum into the second period, however. The Leafs scored three goals in just over two minutes and four total in the period to take a lead they wouldn’t surrender. A couple of the goals were fairly straightforward. John Tavares got a good tip on Jake Muzzin’s point shot – Matt Hunwick could’ve done a better job tying up Tavares on that one – and Auston Matthews cashed in an unfortunate bounce off Evan Rodrigues. The other two goals were tougher to watch.

The first was Freddie Gauthier’s backhand that chased Carter Hutton. This goal wasn’t so much a lapse by any one player on the ice. At the core, it was simply a bigger player utilizing good body position against a smaller one, but it highlights some of the oddities about Buffalo’s defensive zone coverage. Continue reading →

The Instigator Podcast 7.22 – NHL Trade Deadline Breakdown

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The bonus extension of the deadline podcast looks at some of the biggest trades that went down at the 2019 NHL Trade Deadline. We look into all of the moves made by the Columbus Blue Jackets and the arms race out West. Specifically the deals made by Nashville, Winnipeg and, of course, Vegas.

You can listen to The Instigator Podcast on most podcast streaming services, including large providers such as iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartRadio and TuneIn and most other third-party podcast streaming apps. You can find links to subscribe and rate the show below:

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The Instigator Podcast 7.21 – Trade Winds Blow Through Buffalo

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For the first time in a long time, the Sabres were working to add players at the NHL Trade Deadline. Jason Botterill brought Brandon Montour to Buffalo in an effort to upgrade his blueline. He also shipped Nathan Beaulieu to Winnipeg in order to clear space for his newest acquisition.

You can listen to The Instigator Podcast on most podcast streaming services, including large providers such as iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartRadio and TuneIn and most other third-party podcast streaming apps. You can find links to subscribe and rate the show below:

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Two in the Mailbox: Top-Six Wing Targets and Risto’s Return

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Two in the Mailbox, the (sometimes) weekly mailbag on the Sabres, goalie stuff, Buffalo and anything in between, is back. You can submit to the mailbag using #2ITBmailbag on Twitter or emailing 2intheboxbuffalo@gmail.com.

I was WAY overdue for this edition of the mailbox but my procrastinating is done. Hopefully it’s up long enough before any of the information gets dated by the trade deadline. If I was better at this I would’ve posted this at least a day or two ago.

With that said, here are the questions for this edition.

Tim Goodier – Rest of his tenure aside, how big of a misstep is a lack of moves from Botterill this season? Especially when you consider his wants (guys with term) are and have been available and even a deadline move may be too late after dropping six points to NYR, NJD, FLA and being six back? Continue reading →

What’s Left from the Sabres at the Deadline

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After Jason Botterill’s comments on Wednesday it seemed fair to assume he’d have a relatively quiet trade deadline. The holes in his team’s roster were showing and the playoffs were looking bleak as other Eastern Conference contenders added help while Botterill stayed patient.

It was hard to stomach for some, watching the Sabres slide from the literal league lead to a six-point deficit from the final wild card spot. For others it was just fine. Botterill was going to build through the draft and stockpile prospects. That got turned on its ear on Sunday when Botterill sent a first round pick and Brendan Guhle to Anaheim for Brandon Montour.

The deal was exactly what Botterill had said he was attempting to make all year. A deal for a young player who would offer help to the team now and in the future. I don’t expect him to take another big swing by Monday’s deadline, but I don’t think the Sabres are done. Continue reading →

Botterill Takes a Swing, Acquires Brandon Montour

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It was a busy Sunday if you’re a Sabres fan. Andy Strickland kicked things off with speculation that connected Rasmus Ristolainen with the Tampa Bay Lightning but that was quickly squashed by Darren Dreger.

But Strickland’s Tweet got the Sabres fanbase frothing and it was only a few hours later that Jason Botterill pulled the trigger on his biggest trade since acquiring Jeff Skinner, sending a first-round pick and Brendan Guhle to the Anaheim Ducks for Brandon Montour.

As someone whose been a fan of Montour’s for some time, I’m over the moon that he’s going to be wearing blue and gold for the foreseeable future. Botterill paid a fair price for the honor of acquiring Montour, but he also pulled from two areas he has additional assets so he isn’t stripping his cupboards bare with the package. Continue reading →

Sabres Rewind: Turnover Leads to Tampa’s Tying Goal

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After having a bit of fun on Twitter I felt that I might try out a new feature on the blog. Drawing inspiration from Justin Bourne’s System Analyst series, I’ll pick a play from a recent Sabres game and break it down frame-by-frame to see what exactly went wrong in that given moment.

Sometimes it will be a goal against, sometimes a goal for. Saves will be on the menu as well with my goal to add a little humor and a little clarity to various moments over the rest of Buffalo’s schedule.

The first edition covers Tampa Bay’s lone regulation goal from their 2-1 shootout win on February 21. The Sabres managed to take an advantageous offensive position and turn it into a goal against in roughly nine seconds. Here’s what happened. Continue reading →

The Instigator Podcast 7.20 – Botterill Speaks, Now What?

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Jason Botterill held court with the press and gave his head coach a vote of confidence. He also reinforced his previous claims of the deals he’s looking to make ahead of the deadline. We air some frustrations with Botterill’s apparent approach and break down some of the recent deals to break, including Charlie Coyle to Boston and Jakub Silfverberg’s extension in Anaheim. We also offer up a few thoughts on Jeff Skinner, trying to cool off any concerns people may have regarding whether or not he’ll be signing an extension in Buffalo.

You can listen to The Instigator Podcast on most podcast streaming services, including large providers such as iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartRadio and TuneIn and most other third-party podcast streaming apps. You can find links to subscribe and rate the show below:

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Over-Thought: Ready for some Deals

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We’re five days from the deadline and Jason Botterill is standing by his roster, maybe to a fault. Even if the Sabres aren’t active at the deadline, there are some signs pointing to this season being a busier trade deadline than it’s been in recent years.

Elliotte Friedman had plenty of trade fodder in his latest column, including one related to the Sabres. If you haven’t read it yet, you can find this week’s 31 Thoughts here.

  1. Columbus’s offer for Duchene screams Alexander Wennberg as part of it. Wennberg desperately needs a new start; he’s got zero even-strength goals. I just don’t know if Ottawa would be willing to gamble on the contract, at a $4.9-million AAV through June 2023.

I included Wennberg in the post I wrote a few weeks ago about centers I felt the Sabres could go shop for given the somewhat narrow scope they’re thought to be looking through when it comes to trade targets. Jeremy White mentioning him as a potential Sabres target ramped up the attention on Columbus’ 24-year old pivot.

The issue with Wennberg is his production has dipped since his big 16-17 season. Was that year a true outlier or is there more for him to show? I mentioned this in the post from last month and the point stands. At $4.9 million for three more years, he isn’t on a cheap cap hit but it’s not money that will completely hamstring you either, especially as the cap goes up. Continue reading →

Over-Thought: Sabres Need to Shop for College Free Agent Goalies

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The final weeks before the deadline always seem to drag. Probably because the same rumors keep getting recycled, debunked and then re-reported. This week’s edition as rumor-heavy as you might expect two weeks out from the deadline, but I suspect next week’s will be chock-full of rumors.

Check out this week’s edition of 31 Thoughts here.

  1. One GM who could change the market over the next few days? Minnesota’s Paul Fenton. His team is still clinging to a playoff spot, but Mikko Koivu is out for the year. Ownership always pushes for the playoffs, but what do the Wild honestly think about their situation?

The Wild are bobbing in and out of a wild card spot and they’ve spent the last number of seasons as a playoff club unable to get over the hump. Having to get through Chicago or Nashville or the Blues at the height of their powers certainly didn’t help.

But now Minnesota’s core is beginning to age. Ryan Suter and Zach Parise are both 34 and still have six years left on their deals, Jared Spurgeon is 29, Devan Dubnyk is 32 and Mikko Koivu is 35. They already parted ways with Nino Niederreiter and there have been rumors that Charlie Coyle may be on his way out. Both were already inching to their late-20s and both Jason Zucker and Mikael Granlund are in the same spot. Coyle, Granlund and Zucker are hardly long in the tooth, so don’t misinterpret this as all doom and gloom for the Wild, but they’re probably approaching a period of transition. They’re not completely cooked when it comes to prosepcts but they’re not flush with young talent either. They always feel close but unable to push the right button to bring it all together. If they miss the playoffs this year I would suspect they’d be in the market for some fairly significant change come the summer. Continue reading →