Author: Chris Ostrander

Overthought – A Missed Opportunity on the 4 Nations Rosters

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Overthought is a semi-regular series that takes a look at some of the more interesting and notable tidbits shared by Elliotte Friedman in his weekly 32 Thoughts column. Each edition will feature some unique thoughts on the state of the Sabres or league as a whole before digging in on some of the notes from Freidman’s weekly column.

The initial rosters for the 4 Nations Face-Off have been set and barring injury replacements, the Sabres will only be sending two players to the event. Rasmus Dahlin with Sweden and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen with Finland. 

Tage Thompson’s omission from the American roster drew criticism from Buffalo and beyond, as the US brain trust opted for forwards with a more defensive bent over the likes of Thompson or Cole Caufield. The Canadians followed a somewhat similar strategy, adding Sam Bennett, Anthony Cirelli, Colton Parayko and Travis Sanheim as opposed to players with a more dynamic offensive skill set. Both Cirelli and Bennett have been more than adequate producers this season, with each scoring at roughly a point-per-game clip, so their inclusion certainly isn’t without merit. But both the Canada and US, the two teams with the deepest pool of players to choose from, made a conscious decision to include more well-rounded players on their roster, instead of loading up with upper echelon talent. 

The direction both groups took isn’t a surprise. These are NHL decision makers and it’s no secret what they value in their own team building, so it’s no upset that they chose to include players they feel can offer support in their own end. What is curious is the decision to treat this bonus best-on-best tournament so seriously. The 4 Nations event is an appetizer for next year’s Olympics. It’s a little tease, a thank you to the fans after nearly a decade without NHL players appearing in any notable international events. In a way, it’s a bit of a freebie. The slightly more casual nature of the event could have been embraced. The brain trusts of the participating nations were presented an opportunity to explore roster choices they may have otherwise shied away from at the Olympics. Instead, we saw both the US and Canada treat this Very Seriously and make a number of high-floor choices instead. 

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The Instigator Podcast 13.12 – Execution, Coaching or Construction?

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Buffalo’s losing skid hit four games after a dreadful loss to the Colorado Avalanche, erasing the club’s playoff advantage and leaving many questions about the current state of the team. We devote the first portion of this episode to breaking down the root causes of their issues, landing on roster construction as the primary issue with what could be another stalled season. 

We close the episode with a breakdown of the rosters for the 4 Nations Face-Off, specifically the US and Canadian rosters. We talk about the decision to bring more role players than overall talent on the US side and whether or not that will hurt them in this short event. 

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Revisiting My 4 Nations Face Off Projections

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Back in February I tried my hand at projecting the rosters for each country participating in the 4 Nations Face Off. With just a day until the rosters are officially unveiled, it’s time to revisit those projections and adjust for the first two months of the season and other factors.. 

Plenty has changed since February and today as players have gotten healthy, started the season hot or played their way off their respective rosters. We’ve also learned more about how each country plans to shape their roster. Bill Guerin has been quoted expressing his desire to have a balanced team as opposed to a star laden group. That was likely to be the case for all four teams as accounting for roles and better fits will almost always win out over selecting 20 players based purely on talent. Finland and Sweden, whose options aren’t as plentiful as the US or Canadian outfits, could potentially lean more towards current year production and players who have trended up to start this season. But overall I would expect them to try and craft rosters that are as well rounded as possible. I’m also curious to see if any of the teams sneak in a young player or two as they look ahead to the 2026 Olympics. 

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Sabres Showdown Episode 1 – 1979-80 vs. 1992-93

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Sabres Showdown, a limited series presented by The Instigator Podcast and Straight Up Sabres, will break down and debate the best teams in Sabres franchise history. In the first episode of Sabres Showdown, we debate the merits of the first matchup of our bracket, the 1979-80 vs. 1992-93 Buffalo Sabres. This episode breaks down the pros and cons of both the 79-80 and 92-93 Sabres teams and we make a determination which of the two were the better side when reflecting on franchise history. 

We begin the show with a fun discussion about some of the teams that just missed the cut for our bracket. The 1997-98, 2009-10 and 1978-79 teams were the trio of honorable mention teams that we didn’t include in the bracket, but deserved some recognition in this exercise. 

The Instigator Podcast 13.11 – A Cornucopia of Listener Questions

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On Thanksgiving Eve we fired up the mailbag to field a few questions from our listeners and run through some hot topics in Sabres nation. We hit on Jiri Kulich, Kevyn Adams trade activity, playoff positioning and more in this holiday special. 

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Overthought: Development is the Key to Levi’s Demotion

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Overthought is a semi-regular series that takes a look at some of the more interesting and notable tidbits shared by Elliotte Friedman in his weekly 32 Thoughts column. Each edition will feature some unique thoughts on the state of the Sabres or league as a whole before digging in on some of the notes from Freidman’s weekly column.

History repeated itself, as Devon Levi was sent to Rochester earlier this week, not far off from his initial demotion last season after a similarly rocky start to the season. 

Like last year, the choice to send Levi down is sound. His play wasn’t up to an NHL standard and the Sabres risked bleeding points with every game Levi started. This isn’t a sign of defeat for Levi, however. At 22 years old, he has a lot of runway before any definitive proclamation about his career can be made. He has only played 63 professional games and he will benefit from an increased workload in Rochester; another benefit he enjoyed last year as well. 

If the Sabres have made any error with Levi, it has been expecting too much of him too soon. He was steady in his initial seven-game cameo in 2022-23 after signing his entry level contract, but his consistency has waned since. Few, if any, goaltenders are capable of stepping into a full time NHL job from NCAA or junior. Those that have are either developmental exceptions or have had to work their way through regression in their play as teams and shooters have adjusted. Levi appears to be more the rule than exception when it comes to his development track. 

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The Instigator Podcast 13.10 – The Sabres Head West and Devon Levi Heads to Rochester

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It’s time for Sabres After Dark but Devon Levi will have to participate like the rest of us as the goaltender was sent to Rochester. James Reimer will be taking over backup duties while Levi gets to take over as the starter for the Amerks. We talk about how this move is the best option for Levi’s development while also reflecting on how his play led the Sabres to this decision. 

We also touch on the need for the Sabres to perform well on this California swing if they hope to make any headway in the standings. Additionally, we discuss Jim Montgomery’s firing in Boston and how Alex Ovechkin’s injury will affect his chase of the goal scoring record. 

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The Instigator Podcast 13.9 – Good News on the Injury Front

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The Sabres exited their disappointing loss against the Canadiens with some concerning injury potential but they enter the end of the week with a bit of good news on that front. Both Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Tage Thompson couldn’t finish the game but are considered day-to-day, a huge victory as the pair are among the players the Sabres can’t afford to lose. News wasn’t as strong for Mattias Samuelsson as he will be out long term. We talk through the injury news and dig in on the injury-prone nature of Samuelsson and if it’s time for the Sabres to consider a buyout. 

We also touch on Buffalo’s continued efforts to make a splash trade, as Pierre LeBrun was the latest insider to report Kevyn Adams has been burning up the phone lines. 

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The Instigator Podcast 13.8 – Who is Kevyn Adams Shopping For?

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Elliotte Friedman reported last week that Kevyn Adams is among the busiest GMs in this young season as he likely shops around for a forward who can supplement Buffalo’s offensive attack. We talk about the many challenges Adams will be facing in trying to make a deal at this stage of the season and the (very) short list of players available to him to acquire given how few teams would be willing to shop a higher end piece of their roster. 

We talk through some potential scenarios, in terms of players who could theoretically be targted while acknowledging the many struggles Adams faces in trying to fill such a notable hole on his roster. 

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The Instigator Podcast 13.7 – Buffalo’s Spooky Second Line

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The Sabres are getting scary play from their second line and it isn’t scary good either. We talk about the struggles of Dylan Cozens and Jack Quinn and Buffalo’s limited options to solve the issue. We also talk about the performance of Buffalo’s goaltenders and how a bit more consistency from the pair could pay dividends through a friendly upcoming schedule. 

The show kicks off with a conversation about the recent Sportico team valuations and the Sabres 26% increase to a reported $1.13 billion. 

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