Buffalo Sabres

The Instigator Podcast 12.11 – Calling for Kulich

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Alarm bells are going off in Edmonton and we start this week’s show talking about everything that seems to be ailing the Oilers. We also tie in our Oilers discussion, and their need to stay competitive with the push the Sabres will start to feel when it comes to making a big trade of their own.

We also talk about Buffalo’s young stars, namely Matthew Savoie and Jiri Kulich. Savoie has arrived after his two week conditioning assignment and will likely slot into the lineup this week. But even though Kulich has been scoring at a torrid pace, he hasn’t earned a call up just yet. We talk about where in the lineup he could fit and how much longer the Sabres can realistically wait before bringing him up.

The Instigator Podcast 12.10 – Neck Guard Adoption and Listener Questions

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We took listener questions and ran through topics like the Shane Wright plan, expectations for Devon Levi, how Peyton Krebs and Casey Mittelstadt should be handled and line juggling as the team finds the right fit for their forwards. We open the show with a discussion on the adoption of neck guards, what might be preventing early adoption for NHL players and how a grandfathered requirement could come into play.

Don’t Forget the Summer Goalie Market When Questioning the Sabres Moves

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The season may only be four games old, but the Sabres’ 1-3 start has put some of the fans’ biggest offseason concerns in the spotlight.

Buffalo’s decision to leave the roster largely untouched and lean on their unproven trio of goaltenders was chief among the offseason debate in Sabres circles. Leaning on a roster that made the Sabres the third highest scoring team in the NHL wasn’t a terrible choice when you dig into the data. Kevyn Adams has continued to lock up the core of his roster and it was those players – most notably Tage Thompson (47 goals), Dylan Cozens (31 goals) and Rasmus Dahlin (73 points) – who pushed the Sabres to the top of the league’s scoring race. The choices in goal were a greater gamble. 

Eric Comrie and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen’s struggles last season underscored the position that likely kept the Sabres out of the playoffs. While Devon Levi has shown promise (and was stout in Tuesday’s win over Tampa), handing the keys to a 21-year old with seven games of NHL experience is unprecedented. If there was one position where fans would have agreed with more tangible reinforcement, it would have been in net. The league’s goalie market from the summer made that proposition much harder to accomplish than maybe some assume. 

Connor Hellebuyck was far and away the best goaltender available over the summer. There were widespread reports that the Jets were shopping the former Vezina winner, though a deal never materialized. Hellebuyck’s contract status almost certainly played a role in the lack of a trade. While Hellebuyck was a goaltender I felt could push the Sabres to a playoff berth, I would not have pursued him with a lengthy contract extension attached. Now that he’s signed a seven-year, $59.5 million extension, it would be hard to see the logic in acquiring that sort of player given the faith the organization has in Levi. 

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Sabres Trade Tiers

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Going back to the spring, many Sabres fans have been waiting on a trade that hasn’t come. 

As Buffalo morphed into a playoff contender, there was a growing expectation that Kevyn Adams would make some deals to round out his roster. But his action at the deadline was more measured than some may have guessed, and he completed the offseason without any notable deals being made (save for dealing Ilya Lyubushkin to alleviate a numbers crunch on the blueline). Victor Olofsson is on record saying he was prepared to be moved, but no deal materialized for him, a goaltender or any other position which could have helped the Sabres take the next step to the playoffs. 

It’s understandable that Adams hasn’t been in a rush to shake up his group. The forward group is brimming with young talent while a pair of first overall picks anchor the blueline. Buffalo boasts a core many teams can only dream of. The need to materially alter this group is reserved to maybe two or three spots across the entire roster. Unlike previous years during this decade-long rebuild, the team isn’t in a position where they’re lacking depth on the NHL roster or in their pipeline. It’s a luxury which will put them in a position of strength when the time comes to take a big swing. 

And that time is approaching. 

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The Instigator Podcast 12.7 – Start of Season Mailbag

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Let’s kick off the opening week of the NHL season with a listener mailbag. On this episode we’ll tackle Owen Power’s contract, how the Sabres should handle Matt Savoie, what a successful start to the year looks like for Zach Benson and more.

The Instigator Podcast 12.6 – Analyzing the Sabres Roster Choices

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The regular season is nearly here. With the Sabres wrapping up their preseason schedule, we try and determine what Don Granato and Kevyn Adams’ final decisions will be in forming Buffalo’s roster. We dicsuss the backup goaltending decision, how many defensemen the team will choose to keep and which forwards will earn the precious few spots which are available. We wrap up the show discussing where we see the Sabres finishing the season in a wide open Eastern Conference playoff picture.

The Instigator Podcast 12.5 – Benson’s Early Statement

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Zach Benson has been advertised and then some in the early stages of training camp and the preseason. He’s had two impressive games and has looked the part of a player who could threaten for a spot in the lineup. Of course, the Sabres tight pipeline makes that a much tougher feat and we talk about just how well Benson has played, and the opportunity he has to carve out a role on this roster. Our conversation leads us to discuss Jiri Kulich, Isak Rosen, Matt Savoie and several others. We wrap up this week’s show with a quick update on the Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power contract negotiations and remind you there’s no need for panic despite the lack of a deal.

Sabres Goaltenders and Custom Pads

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Custom goal pads have been revolutionized by the introduction of digitally printed graphics. CCM introduced their printed graphic technology a few short years after Bauer’s digiprint was released. Now, virtually every NHL team features at least one goalie whose equipment uses the technology.

The technology’s applications are practically limitless, Linus Ullmark had a few unique looks of his own, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen does as well (both Bauer wearers) and Devon Levi will be taking advantage of CCM’s feature this season.

One of the most popular utilizations of this technology has been to recreate graphics from years past. It’s a fun way to remember some guys gear, and one day I’d love to see Sabres goalies honor some of the best looks of the team’s past. Especially with the distinctly different looks of the goatheads and the team’s home and away uniforms.

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The Instigator Podcast 12.4 – Gone Campin’

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Somehow, Sabres training camp is upon us. While this year’s camp isn’t loaded with roster battles and opportunities for young players to grab spots, there is still the question of how the Sabres will fill the void left by Jack Quinn’s injury. We talk about who could be in contention for the spot, how the defense corps may shake out and sprinkle in a bit about the goaltenders.

We lead into our training camp discussion with a brief chat about this past weekend’s Prospect Challenge and the latest developments related to Mike Babcock and his departure from the Columbus Blue Jackets.

On the Wire: A Retrospective of Sabres Waiver Claims

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In 50-plus years of existence you might think the Sabres would have a litany of waiver acquisitions sprinkled throughout their history. As it turns out, the Sabres have made a tidy 18 claims in their history. 

That figure does need an asterisk due to the existence of the NHL’s Waiver Draft, which ran from 1977 to 2003. The Sabres selected nine players in various Waiver Drafts over the years, so depending on how you would categorize those acquisitions, you may feel the club has made 27 waiver claims. You may also wish to consider the Waiver Draft separate from the traditional waiver wire. 

The Waiver Draft is a curious entity itself. A relic of the 70s-era NHL, it was introduced when it was determined the Intra-League Draft was no longer viable. As detailed here, the Waiver Draft was meant to carry on the function of the Intra-League Draft; providing teams an avenue to acquire players who could improve the rosters of the league’s worst teams. Each team would have the ability to protect a list of players and the rest of the league could select from each club’s unprotected list. In theory, the league’s worst teams would be able to supplement their roster with quality, but not star-level, talent from the more successful teams around the league. For example, the Sabres selected Tim Horton from the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 1972 Intra-League Draft. 

For a short time there was also an Inter-League Draft, but we don’t need to go down that road today. 

The various machinations of a growing league are interesting to examine. The post-expansion NHL was ripe with player movement. Trading players for cash wasn’t unusual and events like the Intra-League or Waiver Draft seem so foreign to today’s highly sanitized offseason. Even considering Buffalo’s selections in the Waiver Draft, the team doesn’t have a lengthy list of acquisitions. Of their true waiver claims, 10 of the 18 have come in the previous 10 years. That is thanks in large part to the rebuilding years of the tank. In fact, if you set aside the Waiver Draft, the Sabres went 12 seasons without making a single waiver claim. 

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