BillsFan4

https://thehockeynews.com/news/article/jason-botterill-has-buffalo-on-the-right-track I sure hope so!

It'll likely all depend on what type of AAV all 3 are willing to sign for. All 3 are eligible to sign extensions now, but Nylander is the only one who needs an extension before next season. If Matthews and Marner truly aren't interested in signing an extension this year, as rumored, then I would guess that's because they are hoping to get as much $$ as they possibly can. Toronto has that Brandon Pridham though. He was the NHL's salary cap expert before he was hired by Shanahan. There's not many people more knowledgeable when it comes to the salary cap system. Like you said, Itll be interesting to see how this plays out.

I don't know exactly when. There were rumors it could come come out (or be announced) as soon as august, as a mid-season model. But I'm kinda planning on it coming out later this year or most likely early next year (when most new tv models come out - march/April/may). I dont know how much cheaper they will get, though. If I remember correctly, a 65" Z9D was originally about $6000 when they came out (which is why I'm most likely planning on the old Z9D model. I can't justify $6k for a TV! lol) Just guessing, but Id be surprised if they went much under $2500. They're $2999 currently at Best Buy. Maybe they get down to about $2000 if we are really lucky... You have to keep your eyes peeled though. The old models go pretty quick when the new one comes out.

Well, it's actually a 2016 model TV. That's how far ahead of it time it was. It will still be a top top of the line TV for many years to come. It has 4K HD and HDR 10 (as well as Dolby vision, if the update came out yet). So it'll be compatible as more 4k and HDR stuff starts coming out (and hopefully we start seeing broadcasts in 4k eventually...). I actually still have my top of the line Sony 1080p TV from 2007/08 and personally, I think it looks as good as any of the 1080p TVs on the market now. Itll be a while before anyone is even broadcasting in 4k, and even though it came out in 2016, the Z9D is still so far ahead of most of the other TVs on the market. Sony is just starting to put some of the z9's technology in its lesser TVs (like the 900f and 930e) that just came out. It'll be many years until the average 4k TV is anywhere near as good as the Z9D I am not trying to talk you out of a Z9D, but since you asked, I am pretty sure that Sony is coming out with a new model of the Z9D later this year or early next year. That is why you are seeing the price of the Z9D dropping. They teased it earlier this year, showing off their new processing chip at CES 2018. It will have a new processing chip called the X1 Ultimate, which will have 2 times the processing power of the current X1 extreme and be able to handle 5x the brightness (10,000nits!). It can handle up to 8k or 10k broadcasts. It should also be quite a step up in 4k upscaling. I was just just getting ready to buy a TV earlier this year, when all the new 2018 models came out (and you can get a 2017 model dirt cheap). But then I learned about this new X1 ultimate chip and decided to wait. I will either buy buy one of these new models with the X1 ultimate chip when they come out, or just grab a Z9D on clearance, depending on the difference in picture quality. I wtill think youd be more more than happy with a Z9D though. Plua, the new one is going to be ridiculously expensive, I'm sure. I would easily guess at least $3500-$4000 for the 65".

Yeah, It kind of seems like they're going into full rebuild mode. But, they don't have their 1st round pick next year! They sent it to Colorado in that Matt Duchene trade. And there's no top 0 protection. Colorado could damn well end up with the #1 overall pick... Poor Senators fans. lol Lou Lamoriello says "Because I'm Lou Lamoriello, I will get the NYI their 2015 1st round pick back that they traded 3yrs ago in the Vanek deal!" Buffalo traded the NYI #21 overall pick for Robin Lehner, and now the NYI have Lehner... lol.

Wow. I still cant believe that, for the Senators, it has actually come to trading Erik Karlsson. I don't really see how you can win that trade... Heard they may have actually offered him $10M per year, which is kind of surprising if true (you know, Melnyk and all...). I guess EK wants $11M (Doughty deal). They said neither party is at all interested in budging from their number. if EK would truly stay for $1M more per year, why wouldn't you do it?!! By this point there's probably a lot more to it though.

So now that I've had a chance to look through The Athletic's sports coverage (after having signed up earlier today) I have to say I am beyond impressed. If you love reading about sports, I can't recommend the athletic highly enough. Their coverage is excellent. They have great break downs and analysis. They are delivering behind the scenes inside access and player interviews. Definitely worth the price so far, and it looks like their coverage will only get better with the lineup of writers they have covering Buffalo sports exclusively.

Very true about Marner. I heard he was going to be asking for Eichel money... I found it interesting that both Matthews and Marner wanted to wait until next offseason to sign extensions, instead of signing now (since they are eligible for a new deal as of July 1st). That tells me that they are both looking to get Paid. I don't know if signing JT changes anything... Maybe his contract will serve as a "cap" for the team, where no one will want to ask for more than $11M now? Hope not, though. I want to see Matthews/Marner sign for as much as possible! lol (or get offer-sheeted...)

Personally,I think/hope Ristolainen just needs a better defensive partner and reduced minutes (as well as a better overall team surrounding him, obviously). You already seen his underlying analytics get better this season, when he finally got to play with a competent D partner (Scandella). Risto has just been in over his head in his time in Buffalo. Such a young kid shouldn't be playing close to 30mins a night (which was like top 3, or close to it, in the entire NHL iirc). Especially with no help. And his QoC is damn tough too. He plays some of the toughest minutes/match ups in the NHL. I am very anxious to see what a reduced role and a bit of sheltering (like every other young defenseman gets the benefit of) will do for Risto's game. As well as a better team around him. It's hard to put up good underlying numbers on such a bad, low scoring team (especially when you're on the ice for 1/2 the game). I am hopeful you will see a much better version of Rasmus Ristolainen once Dahlin gets himself established. As far as Matthews/Marner, I doubt you'll be able to pry either out of Toronto. But if the goal of an offer sheet is to screw the Leafs salary cap and maybe shake loose other good players, or as revenge in the case of Lou Lamoriello, I actually think Matthews might be more susceptible to an offer sheet than Marner. Mitch Marner is a hometown Toronto boy. Grew up a leafs fan and is living his dream, just like Tavares. Who knows, He may not even be willing to sign an offer sheet (unless TO is really low-balling him or something). Matthews though, he's an Arizona boy and he could be a malcontent by then. There's already rumors of a rift already. I can see why... Matthews plays about 15mins ES per game. And about 2mins of PP time. Most young stars, and top line players, play about 20+ ES per game, and about 4mins on the PP (or at least 3+). If Bozak was taking away ES and PP time from Matthews, I don't see it getting any better with John Tavares there. You know Babcock is playing him as #1C. Most likely they get both locked up before July 1st next year. It will be interesting to follow, though. A free agent like JT basically never hit the market, so we've never seen a team who has such a good, young #1C already, go out into free agency and sign a #1C to one of the biggest contracts in the NHL. Looks like it's for $1.5M https://www.capfriendly.com/players/robin-lehner

He was born in CA, but he moved to Arizona when he was just an infant. That is where he was raised and considers home. But i I still hope SJ offer-sheets him! That would be amazing. lol

If you can get a Z9D for $700 more than the 930e/900f, I,would probably go that route. The Z9D is Sony's flagship model TV. It has the best of everything. All 3 have the same processing chip (X1 extreme) so they 4k upscaling should be pretty close. But the Z9D has way more local dimming zones (each LED backlight is controlled individually). It has 640 dimming zones compared to less than 100 on the 900f & 930e. I am not sure but I think it might have a bit brighter backlight, too IIRC (although not by that much). The Z9D is also supposed to have comparable black levels to an OLED, but with the brightness of an LED. I havent seen the new x900f yet, but I have seen the 930e and Z9D at Best Buy, and I felt the Z9D definitely had the better picture.

I just signed up for a year. They are putting out fons tons of great stuff. Lots of behind the scenes stuff, which is my favorite stuff to read (I miss when the Buffalo News used to put out stuff like that). I felt like I was missing out not having a sub. to the athletic. Had to do it! Now, if only the Buffalo News would up their game, as well as offer a subscription for their sports section (Bills AND Sabres, not just Bills. It pissed me off paying for Bills coverage and still getting locked out of Sabres articles), I would subscribe to them too. No way I'm paying their digital monthly fee though, I only read the sports section. Not worth it until they offer a sports section subscription.

https://apnews.com/f4b8d724ec614d8fa2c61bc0daeaf785 This article leaves little doubt in my mind that he wanted/needed a trade. I take that as he doesn't regret saying what he did even though it led to a trade, which makes me think maybe that was part of his end goal? I take that as him Saying he basically wasn't equipped to handle the situation in Buffalo, and will be a much better fit on a veteran team, where he doesn't have the burden of being looked at as a leader. Sounds like he may have possibly mentioned something to Doug Armstrong about feeling that he needed a change of scenery to get that "boost" or passion back in his game. I don't know, maybe it's just me looking for reasons he had to be traded, but I am becoming more and more convinced that it had to happen.

That's what a lot of people don't seem to take into account. How TF do you bring him back after those comments? -He infers that he became ok with losing. -He says he is not mentally tough as a player - he talks about how on a lot of nights he was ok with just not making a mistake - he says he lost himself many times during the season - says he was "lost right from the get go" this year - he says he lost his love for the game many times during the season - says he used to hate losing. It used to drive him and now he has kind of become ok with it (at times) to cope with all the losing. - he talks about playing in the worlds and how he's excited, and how it's been a long time since he's felt that excitement to play hockey (and try to win something). He says howmitll be nice to get that excitement to play hockey back, and hopefully he can carry that into next year - after hearing his comments, a stunned reporter asked him if he needs to be moved and he says - "do I need to be moved? (pause) Umm... (pause) no." Mind you, he had days to think about these answers. It wasn't a heat of the moment thing. They seem like calculated answers to me. That is a whole whole lot of bomb shells to be dropping on a GM you know damn well is looking to change out some of the core. I feel like ROR knew what he was doing. Knowing the GMwas looking to make changes, ROR admits to the press that he basically embodies just about every problem that plagued the Sabres last year. It was almost like he was raising raising his hand and yelling "hey, pick me, pick me! I volunteer (to move on)"

https://mobile.twitter.com/Dan_Dunleavy/status/1012763290559107072 Dan Dunleavy @Dan_Dunleavy Can't be understated the attitude of the prospects at @BuffaloSabres development camp this year. Every player I ask telling me the coaches had a lot to do with that. This culture change is officially for real in Buffalo. I cant wait to watch this thing turn around. Edit - can someone help me. I cant embed tweets anymore. I used to just click on that arrow arrow at the top right of the tweet and select "copy link to tweet". But that option no longer longer pops up when I click on that little black arrow at the top of tweets. It only gives me the option to "embed tweet" or "cancel".

Sweet! This could turn out to be a really nice signing in the coming years. Definitely have no issue giving up Fasching for Hickey. I honestly didn't know what our chances were of signing him. Buffalo has such an over-abundance of LH defenseman right now. I thought maybe he would question his opportunity here. Although many of those LH D are scrubs, so if Hickey would have seen them as reason not to sign, I'd have really questioned his confidence in himself.

I am hoping a couple of the teams reeling from missing out on JT are panicked enough to start a bidding war for ROR... lol. Like, maybe the Isles feels desperate to land a good center to help shelter Barzal instead of forcing him into the #1C role after only 1 season. Or the Sharks feel the pressure to go for it with their aging core. I can hope, right? I am am perfectly happy keeping ROR though, if the offers aren't right.

Yuck, a leaf. Puke. and for only $11M per year? Damn. JT left at least $11M on the table (if the Isles were offering $88M over 8yrs like the rumors state). Eichel has a damn long way to go to live up to his $10M... on a positive note - it may be tougher to keep Matthews + Nylander + Marner now too. Both Marner and Matthews said they want to wait to sign until next year. Marner was rumored to be asking for Eichel money. I'd guess Matthews wants even more. Can't pay everyone... Plus, there is already a supposed rift between Matthews and Babcock. Rumor is it's over Matthews usage. He wants to be used as a #1C, and get the PP time and even strength mins to go with that. With KT there now, I can't imagine Matthews icetime will go up... if Baba was giving Matthews icetime to Bozak, imagine what it'll be like with JT. I have to believe JT will be their #1C for the foreseeable future. Babcock loves his vets and has a long history with JT. Everything will probably work out fine and Toronto will be a juggernaut. But it'll be an interesting story to follow, at least.

You can really see why everyone says Hutton is such a great guy for the locker room. Like night and day different personality from Lehner...

Link to 3v3 prospect tournament live stream - https://www.nhl.com/sabres/video/2018-french-connection-tournament/t-277437090/c-40474303 Should be starting in about 10mins.

I read (can't remember who said it, but I know it was a pretty credible media source) that if he leaves the Isles, it's Sharks #1 and Toronto #2. Ive always read/heard that JT isn't a guy who likes tons of attention or spotlight. That he's more of a private guy. That's one of the reasons why I mentioned San Jose as a team I could see him going to long before any of this started. They just made tons of sense for Tavares. I wasn't at all surprised to see their name on his short list of teams to get mettings. I still think they make the most sense if he leaves The NYI.

That was a good read. Wish Kane all the best in San Jose. They em could be a scary good team if they get Tavares (figures, since we have their 1st next year... lol. Better than JT in Toronto, though!)

I mean, you can never have enough centers... and it's much easier to move a C to the wing than vise versa. Plus, Thomas is a top 10 prospect in all of hockey. So I wouldn't turn him down. But it I was just going off all the rumors. I agree, Thomas wouldn't be my #1 target from St. Louis. Parayko would be, for sure. He fills a real need - top 4 right hand D. Heck, he'd most likely be our #1 RD. Id try to expand the deal and include something else from Buffalo to get either Kyrou or Kostin (Kostin is more likely, as he's a notch lower than Kyrou IMO. I can't see St. Louis including both Parayko and Kyrou. Plus Kostin is a left wing, a much bigger need than RW (Kyrou)). I cant really see St. Louis including Parayko either, though. And it doesn't really match the "picks and a top prospect" ask we keep hearing from everyone (LeBrun, McKenzie, Dreger). If it's not Parayko or Thomas, It had damn well better be at least Kyrou + + if we trade ROR to the Blues. Kostin or Thompson aren't enough as a centerpiece to a ROR deal IMO. And I'm not sure Dunn makes a lot of sense, since we are loaded with Left handed defenseman right now (Dahlin, Scandella, Guhle, Pilut, McCabe, Beaulieu, Hunwick, and Hickey if he signs). Not sure Kyrou makes a ton of sense as the centerpiece either. We have quite a few right wing prospects, some of which are no longer eligible for waiver exemption (Baptiste, Bailey). But I don't know what else there is from St. Louis if it's not Thomas, Parayko or Dunn. I am starting to feel like I am most likely going to be disappointed in what ROR returns (assuming he's traded, which feels very likely right now (IMO anyway)).

Yeah, I trust Jeremy Rutherford a whole lot more than Dan Buffa. According to St. Louis fans, I guess that Dan Buffa isn't even a radio show host. He contributes once in a while to the radio show. They said he's a film critic, unpaid blogger and Uber driver. Basically just a knowledgeable fan with no snide sources according to them.

I have no idea what to even make of this. Came across it randomly browsing YouTube. This guy's got some wild commercials. Here's the link to all of them - https://m.youtube.com/results?search_query=all+holes+filled+landscaping This one just seems a bit dirty for a Christmas commercial -