NHL

Winning Picks Abound With the Lululemon x Fanatics NHL Collection

Chris OstranderLeave a comment

Last month, I got a look at some of the newest items in Lululemon’s NHL apparel line. The Lululemon and NHL collaboration, in partnership with Fanatics has dropped a range of apparel for all 32 NHL teams in both men’s and women’s styles. 

Both myself and Mrs. 2ITB picked up a few items, including the Everywhere Belt Bag, the College Cobalt Soft Jersey Half Zip Pullover, the Vapor License to Train Hoodie, the Heathered Core Ultralight Hoodie and the Heathered Core Ultra Light Long Scuba Oversized Half Zip. (Would it kill Lululemon to shorten the names of some of these items?) We’ve had the pleasure of wearing them for a couple of weeks and here are the pros and cons of the NHL x Lululemon line. 

Continue reading →

Double Minors: Draft Day Musings

Chris OstranderLeave a comment

Bowen Byram may have been the favorite to be the first player moved by Kevyn Adams but the defender is still a Sabre as we creep up on the first round of the NHL Draft. 

The available information still suggests that Byram will be moved, even with Elliotte Friedman’s report on Friday’s 32 Thoughts that the market may have softened. Acquiring Michael Kesselring in the JJ Peterka trade provides a capable partner for Owen Power, something fans and the team have been desperate to see for some time. The way the season ended, with Byram playing mostly third pair minutes while Mattias Samuelsson slotted in next to Rasmus Dahlin, pointed to a divorce between the Sabres and Byram. Especially after his blazing start to the year as Dahlin’s partner. 

Bringing in a (likely) top four defenseman for Peterka creates opportunity for Adams as he shops Byram. I think there was probably some expectation that Byram could be flipped for a right handed defenseman, and that’s probably still on the table if the Sabres feel they need to find someone more reliable (on the ice and in the training room) than Samuelsson to play with Dahlin. However, the current defense corps is structured in a way that I would lean towards expecting to see a forward as the primary return for Byram as opposed to another defenseman.

Continue reading →

Roster Building Lessons from Florida’s Second Cup Win

Chris OstranderLeave a comment

The Florida Panthers are back-to-back Stanley Cup Champions and have played in the Finals for each of the last three years. They have become the NHL’s gold standard in practically every aspect of their operations and dismantled the Eastern Conference before dispatching the Edmonton Oilers for the second-straight season. 

But how did they get here and what can be learned about this three-year run of dominance? 

Drafting and developing is regularly referenced as the clearest path to success for rebuilding NHL teams. If done right, constructing a strong pipeline of talent at key positions (read: center and defense) through the draft will set up a team for long term success. Florida’s success runs counter to that a bit, as only four players who appeared in the playoffs this year were drafted by the Panthers. One of whom, Mackie Samoskevich, only appeared in four games. Of course, two of the players who the Panthers drafted are Alexsander Barkov and Aaron Ekblad, picked second and first respectively in their drafts, but 19 of the 24 players rostered in the playoffs were acquired via free agency or trades. 

Continue reading →

The Instigator Podcast – Quick Hit Trade Deadline Recap

Chris OstranderLeave a comment

Josh Norris was the big addition for the Sabres on deadline day and Kevyn Adams did a fair bit of work moving out Dylan Cozens and Henri Jokiharju and extending Jason Zucker. This episode is a quick rundown of Friday’s work by Adams, offering a brief breakdown of the Norris acquisition. In addition, this episode takes a look at a busy deadline around the league, highlighting the most notable deals made at the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline.

You can find The Instigator Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts:

iTunes
Spotify
Stitcher
iHeartRadio
TuneIn
Google Play

Continue reading →

4 Nations Notes

Chris Ostrander2 Comments

There’s bound to be some whiplash switching from the 4 Nations Face Off back to regular season NHL action. The in-season tournament exceeded any and all expectations fans, media and probably even the players had for it, and there is a newfound level of interest in hockey as a result. 

Big television viewership and a pair of thrilling games between the US and Canada made the event appointment viewing and served as an ideal reset for NHL participation in international play. There were a few additional thoughts I wanted to share looking back at the event that didn’t fit into the recap of the tournament that already ran on the blog. 

Continue reading →

Reflecting on the Wild Success of the 4 Nations Face Off

Chris OstranderLeave a comment

I’m not sure if you gave Gary Bettman a genie and some wishes he could have come up with a better outcome for the 4 Nations Face Off. The midseason tournament was a smash hit for the NHL, thrusting the sport’s stars into the spotlight and bringing a level of attention to the league that hasn’t been seen in years. 

A week and a half of thrilling hockey was headlined by a pair of excellent matchups between the U.S. and Canada. It was an ideal result for the NHL as their brightest star scored the tournament clinching goal less than a week after a raucous, fight-filled affair on Saturday night in Montreal. The preliminary match drew a big TV audience in the States and Thursday’s championship nearly hit 10 million U.S. viewers, unheard of numbers for the NHL. Every player has commented about how special it was to play for their country in this format. At every turn, the 4 Nations Face Off was a win.

This isn’t the first time the NHL has enjoyed a bit of extra attention from an international event. Team USA’s run to the gold medal game in 2010 was a captivating story and you couldn’t turn on a daytime talk show without seeing TJ Oshie in 2014. The NHL wasn’t able to keep the positive momentum from those Olympic appearances rolling once games resumed, leaving a questionable track record when contrasted with the post 4 Nations glow. 

The big difference this time is that the league owned the tournament. The games were broadcast by the league’s broadcast partners (like NBC in ‘10 and ‘14) and the NHL organized and oversaw every aspect of the event. Social media is also a much different animal today than it was during either of those two events and the league’s star power has never been more impressive. There are certainly more factors playing to the NHL’s favor this time than at any point in the last three best-on-best tournaments NHL players have participated in. 

Continue reading →

How Will the Increasing Cap Affect the Sabres?

Chris OstranderLeave a comment

The salary cap is going up. Way up. 

The NHL has confirmed salary cap figures for the next three seasons, including a caveat that the numbers could be adjusted further (up or down) if necessary. But as it stands, the salary cap figures for the next three seasons will be as follows:

2025-26

Upper Limit: $95.5m

Lower Limit: $70.6m

2026-27

Upper: $104m

Lower: $76.9m

2027-28

Upper: $113.5m

Lower: $83.9m

That’s about $7 million in growth this summer and about $9 million in the following two years. Notably, the cap floor in 2027-28 will be just $5 million lower than this year’s cap. It’s also $2 million more than the Sabres have committed to the cap this season. 

The rapid cap growth will have implications throughout the league, especially for teams that typically operate on an internal budget. The possibility of a widening gulf between big and small spenders and what it could mean for the league’s competitive balance shouldn’t be overlooked. Whether or not Terry Pegula finds another oil well to drill, the increase to the cap creates new opportunities and flexibility for the Sabres. 

Continue reading →

Over Thought: The Miller Drama Endures

Chris OstranderLeave a comment

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.

This week’s 32 Thoughts was a bit shorter than usual, so it’s not overflowing with threads to pull on, but three are still a few good tidbits. Friedman starts the column with a deep dive on the potential growth in the salary cap. He points out that not all of the league’s teams may be willing to spend up to a cap that’s north of $100 million per year, raising the question of what the league would do if they reach a cap ceiling that only a handful of teams would be willing and capable of spending to. 

Assume for a moment that figure it $110 million as Freidman suggests. If only a few teams spend to that limit, the league could quickly be back in a situation akin to the days before the 2004-05 lockout. If the league’s parity was threatened by the ever increasing cap, I’d like to know if the league would need to take action to either depress the cap ceiling or create another function to adjust for smaller revenue clubs. It’s a lot easier to come up with plans that help clubs be more competitive in the cap landscape – the proposed tax adjustment comes to mind – so I’ll be interested to see how this all develops. 

Continue reading →

Escape the Sabres with a Hockey Road Trip

Chris Ostrander1 Comment

Judging by the yawning sections of seats throughout KeyBank Center these days, it’s no secret that the Sabres aren’t exactly a hot ticket. You can’t blame fans for staying away from 13 (going on 14) years without postseason action, especially when the Sabres have been so inconsistent on home ice. 

If you’re looking to scratch your hockey itch, a road trip may be just what you need. Western New York locals can always partake in Niagara and Canisius University home games without venturing too far from home. Not only are those games affordable, but both teams tend to have one or two good weekend visitors per year that are well worth the price of admission. But the real gems lie slightly further away, though many can be accomplished in a day trip. 

Niagara Ice Dogs

I can’t give a strong enough recommendation for an Ice Dogs title. It’s a quick trip over the border and not only is their arena gorgeous, but it’s located right in the center of St. Catharines, meaning you won’t need to venture far for food or drink before or after the game. It’s an extremely manageable trip and a great junior arena to boot. Scope out their schedule for a good matchup (Porter Martone and the Brampton Steelheads are in town in March) and find your way up for a game. They even have a few weekend matinees on the schedule that would be well worth taking advantage of. 

Continue reading →

Over Thought: Rumor Season is Upon Us

Chris OstranderLeave a comment

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.

One piece of the post mortem on Hockey Canada and the World Junior Championship that I found particularly interesting was the focus on their decision to lean into role players over skill. Canada has some of the deepest skill to draw from for the WJC but opted for a more well rounded roster. Many have pointed out that they would’ve been better off leaning into their skill for a short tournament. I believe something to the effect of “In a short tournament, skill can grit but grit can’t skill” was said with respect to their roster.

It made me think about the final choices made by the Team USA roster for the 4 Nations Face Off. While the players who rounded out the US roster are still proven producers at the NHL level, they do draw some parallels to what happened with the Canadian WJC team. Brock Nelson, Vincent Trocheck and Chris Kreider are more than capable NHLers, but will the Americans regret not having Clayton Keller or Cole Caufield once the tournament is rolling? It’s something I referred to when the rosters came out, but as this is a bit of fan service that will tease interest for next year’s Olympics, there was a perfect opportunity for the various decision makers to be more creative with their choices. It didn’t need to be a Very Serious tournament, yet the rosters were built as such. As we just saw in an event with actual stakes, trying to find a perfect fit for every role vs. finding the best possible players didn’t work out for the Canadians. Hopefully the US. doesn’t fall victim to the same issue.

Continue reading →