Didn’t feel like writing after 24 hours, so the One Week Rule is Plan B. I’m not writing with any goal other than to get my final thoughts out there before closing the book on 2025-26. So bear with me because I’m going to be asking a lot of rhetorical questions and probably ramble a bit, so feel free to just look at the pretty pictures if that doesn’t interest you (but thanks for clicking anyways :)).

Overtime

It just had to end like that, huh? First time out of the first round in 20 years and it, once again, ends in overtime. How have all 3 at home gone to overtime now? But as we posted from the main account, this is why we stuck around.

And that’s probably why Better Days resonates still all these years later and why it did need to be remade. The theme of the remake was the final line of the song, Tonight’s the night the world begins again, and that restart was the privilege for another line of the song: A Chance That Maybe.

In 2010, the league’s best goaltender brought them back into a place for That Chance before Thomas Vanek’s injury. In 2011, even with a weaker run, Tyler Ennis’s overtime goal in Game 5 gave the feelings once more of That Chance. Low seeds made a run there in the past. After the way they finished, it was more than just a dream. But then for another 14 years, the closest the team came to A Chance was 2023, and even that was a chance to have A Chance. But this? This was right back into the real thing. A spot atop their top-heavy division. A first round of lessons of what playoff hockey is like. Even after a start to their first elimination game going as bad as it did, the rally brought them home to have A Chance once again, and then the same after their rally in the third period of Game 7.

The loss stings because it mattered. The grief stages took place because it mattered. And that’s what we wanted all this time: we cared, but we wanted that care to matter towards something more than lottery balls for once. It’s exactly what Lindy told the team:

“It hurts. I told the team it hurts,” Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said. “That pain will go away, but I won’t let this one game define the season we had. I told the players how proud I was of them. The battle that we took into Game 6 in Montreal, and then we came back here and gave ourselves every chance to win. So, this one game doesn’t define our season for us.”

NHL.com

Of the 11:22 of play in the extra frame itself, it’s tough to muster anything but “it’s hockey.” Maybe Tage read the eventual defender crouching earlier than he actually went down to block the pass and that’s why he didn’t pass to Benson on the 2-on-1. Maybe Ras and Tage got into each other’s spaces at the blue line to cause the transition the other way. Maybe the shot was soft, maybe Newhook put the puck exactly where it needed to be after it knuckled its way to the net. I don’t know. But Lindy’s right: this season was more than how it ended. That’s how we remember the President’s Trophy year and of course the year prior. While this iteration of the Sabres didn’t have the thrill for the dramatic with a ton of overtime and late third period magic to get their points, they dominated for long, non-fluky stretches that left no doubt that they would bounce back in a couple nights. That’s what I’m going to remember when that banner gets unveiled on opening night in October. Only once (late-March into early April) did they lose 4 of 7 games once their streak began. That’s a good hockey team. And heck, with next year being 84 games, why not treat it like 12 7-game series (and maybe return The Chart???)

The Deadline

Anders Lee should’ve been given at minimum a 10 minute misconduct for that hit on Norris. That’s my opinion on the trade deadline. I’m excited for Sam Carrick to be back next season.

I’m not choosing to call the trade deadline bad for that matter even with the optics of none of the players acquired being in the lineup for Game 7. I think the logic after the Parayko trade fell through was that Stanley could bring something different than Jacob Bryson, regardless of how much longer the Metsa Heater continued. I also don’t think the picks they gave to Winnipeg or Isak Rosen had that much value to feel like they’re missing out on the draft.

And frankly, with Stanley specifically, the regular season ended up being very good compared to the sample they had from the Jets to compare with:

The playoffs were obviously a different story, but I think that the state outside of the Top 4 on the blue line remains in need of an overhaul in general, not just Stanley, who I do think they shouldn’t re-sign and don’t expect them to. Maybe they circle back on Parayko this summer (More on my thoughts on that later). There’s probably an analytical darling or two they seek out to ensure the Top 4 can keep playing together.

But the indifference to Stanley and Schenn comes down to two things: First, if the top line has a pulse in the Montreal series, they overcome the third pair, and second,

It was still Kevyn’s roster

Catch-22 in play: did the Sabres overcome the roster build to win the division or was it that roster build that got them there?

I think splitting the tenure into two “eras” helps to explain the acceptance stage of grieving more easily.

In the end, the Eichel/Reinhart recovery years got them to the top of the division. The staff has drafted very well in the first round, and each of the Eichel trade pieces specifically were critical pieces this season and into the playoffs.

But in the end, the “over the top” moves killed them, specifically the disappointing seasons from Michael Kesselring and Connor Timmins. The guy who Adams brought in during his lone buyer trade deadline was even given 2x$4M years later. I’m happy that Greenway became healthy enough to return to hockey without pain towards the end of the season, but it did not translate well in the playoffs.

AND YET, they were still right there at the end of that series.

So it’s not that I’m giving Jarmo a long leash or “defending” him that hard, but I do think there is still some mess he’s going to have to clean up outside of making whatever Big Move that drew Terry Pegula to him getting full autonomy once he became the new General Manager.

Greenway, Zucker, Quinn, Danforth, and Timmins are all still under contract next season following 2 year contracts they signed in 2025. In an already crowded roster, there’s a lot more to figure out before even considering the next move to keep getting better.

Thank goodness for Josh Doan.

Back to the top line

I think you have to let Alex Tuch walk. As much as there is a case for him to accept a team-friendly term with his connection to the region and public support from the rest of the captaincy room, there is still way too much smoke around he and his agent being on the same page that Adrian Kempe’s 8x$10.625M is the target, which would bring Tuch into his age 38 season if he signed that term in Buffalo. I just don’t think they can sign up for that given the state of the roster, even with cap spikes the next couple of seasons helping from a percent of cap context.

And that Kempe-equivalent offer must be out there, even despite the Montreal series performance, if it’s still being talked around. If it doesn’t come to fruition and he comes to you willing to sign for 2-3 years, it’s a much different story, but there’s probably not many more years on the odometer for “highest paid forward” production.

I like Benson and Doan playing with Thompson, but I almost want to keep that second line together with Norris and fit in other pieces with Thompson on the top line at least to start this new season. I think Jiri Kulich on Thompson’s left wing to re-acclimate him to the lineup can make sense, and Konsta Helenius on his right wing could be intriguing as well. I also think about three of them playing the center position which could be helpful game-to-game with what seems to be stretches and matchups where Thompson is better on the wing. Either way, um, points or not, this can’t happen again.

Part of the incentive to make the all-in move for a stud forward, if one presents itself, is that it would make it harder for a team to focus as closely on shutting down Tage once the playoffs begin and game-planning becomes way more intricate. Next April and May, he needs to be better.

If there isn’t a move, without the UFAs in the lineup, this is where my head is at. Kulich and Ostlund could even be interchangeable too:

Kulich-Thompson-Helenius

Benson-Norris-Doan

Zucker/Ostlund-Ostlund/McLeod-Quinn/Zucker

Kozak/Greenway-Carrick-Danforth

Unless they can find moves for both Greenway and Danforth, I can’t see them bringing Krebs or Malenstyn back based on the contracts that they could receive elsewhere.

Josh Norris

There’s been some cap dump / buyout conversation around Norris for awhile because of the contract and durability combination, but I’m sorry: I have a hard time thinking this under-the-hood profile fits that.

A lot has changed since Norris was acquired last March (watch the Sabres Embedded about the move and hear what they expected internally). After his first full (calendar) season with the team, he’s left quite the enigma, as the underlyings haven’t turned into the point contributions one would expect, especially in the goal scoring category. If there’s a real move out there, I think for the contract alone you move him, but you can probably go forward and have it not be the worst case scenario. Maybe he and Thompson playing together on the top line in Games 6 and 7 is going to carry into the new season, who knows. Ostlund and Helenius played very well in their cups of playoff coffee, but with cup aspirations on the line, it’d be tough to justify a center spine of Age 23 Ostlund, Age 21 Helenius, and a return of Age 23 Kulich next season in a way that ignores any limitations their youth and durability may have when the roster was built for Thompson and Norris to be their top 2 centers until the end of the 2030 season when, again, now we’re talking playoffs runs, not appearances.

Of all the roster decisions to make, I have zero jealousy towards the Sabres organization for having to figure this one out and would rather personally just root for Norris to have the stars align and play, say, 60+ games next year.

Goalies

The only thing I’m confident enough in saying about the goaltending room next year is that I’m happy they are planning on going back to a 3 goalie room next year. Frankly, that should become the meta leaguewide.

I have a hard time seeing them moving Alex Lyon in his final year of term. I don’t think you could’ve asked for more from him this season. It really sucks how his Game 6 played out. I think if the Sabres did win Game 7, it would’ve made the most sense for Lindy to commit to alternating goalies every game against Carolina after that was how they operated most of the season once all three were healthy, and that system did work well.

Otherwise, I have no idea what to do with Luukkonen and also do not envy needing to figure that out. If he doesn’t give up the goal from center ice in the first round, we probably don’t think of his playoffs as poorly, but Games 5 and 7 against Montreal don’t get excused by that.

Of the goaltenders to face more than 500 shot attempts during the regular season, 20 of them had between a .900 and .910. 6 of them (Wedgewood, Wallstedt, Hildeby – granted only 20 GP, Thompson, Shesterkin, Vasilevskiy) had over .910. None of those were Jake Oettinger, Connor Hellebuyck, or Sergei Bobrovsky. I’m preaching to the choir, but it’s just such a hard position to analyze and predict. But one trend not in Luukkonen’s favor is that it’s an odd year coming up, and:

If you move him to get off of the final 3 seasons of term, who are you bringing in to play with Lyon and Ellis? If you are bringing in someone via a trade, are those assets better used getting another top 6 forward or a third pair defenseman who can float in the Top 4 in the case of an injury? How sure can you be that the UFA goalie class will be cheaper than 4.75M salary, and if they’re not, certain of them being better enough to not have to rely on Lyon or Ellis to have to fight above their weight class.

Maybe some day there will be someone who cracks the goalie code; I just don’t expect it in time to make this decision easier.

Wrap Up

I could talk about special teams, but I chose goalies instead. Seth, read some books this summer and we’ll see you in September.

One final thoguht before the offseason: Block the St. Louis Blues. Block their phone numbers, block their emails, block their social media accounts. Do the same to the Winnipeg Jets. For the last two summers, those two teams strung the last GM around and it didn’t amount to anything. There are 29 other teams you can call for a potential swing, no matter how big. I’m not at all convinced that Robert Thomas is available. Heck, I’m not convinced he was actually that available at the deadline either.

Anyways, let’s swing.

What a year. Thanks for sticking around.

(Photo Credit: Buffalo Sabres)