BFHS 3/27/26: Nitpicking
Kris Baker and The Athletic’s Matthew Fairburn discuss everything Buffalo Sabres. Hit those like and subscribe buttons and be sure to read Matthew’s latest at The Athletic: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7149954/2026/03/26/sabres-zach-metsa-noah-ostlund-jordan-greenway/
21 Comments
Last 2 games really sloppy defensively-tuch was lazy and bad last 2. Sometimes it seems he gets lazy
But morning boys
Timmons was our best hitting D-man before he was injured. Only makes sense to put him back in the line-up.
ok screw that size/weight excuse when they run benson(who btw gets manhandled almost every shift and falls a ton, still ove him but cmon) on the PK at times(bryson also got reps out there when he was in at times too, while being nowhere near and solidly built and steady on his skate than Metsa), there is no world where Metsa couldn't cook on the PK. Metsa is better than everyone outside maybe of the top 4 hands down. and he is doing it WITHOUT their height and weight lol. Lindy for whatever reason never gave this guy a chance on the PK, limited his minutes in general while running the top 4 ragged all while Metsa has been the most solid dman on the ice. Lindy is baffling with that, let his dude play ffs. underrated and underappreciated is what goes under Metsa's name.
Metsa has done very well when the Sabres needed, for a good number of games. Says something when you have the luxury to send him back to Rochester. How many series were lost in playoffs when team kept losing D to injury? Feel better about depth at D now then near start of season.
The Sabres had a top 5 penalty kill with Connor Timmons out for months. The penalty kill is an absolute fake excuse to send Metsa down.
This is like the beginning of the season when "analytics" said Tage Thompson was a winger and not a center. No one has ever seen those so called analytics. Imagine where this team would be if Tage was still on the wing.
As per greenway i like the player
These last games vs division opponents and teams fighting for wild cards will be telling to see how this team can handle the body and slowing their game down. Hopefully they are fast learners.
Any news on Kulich? Will he be back this season ? Question for Metsa to be eligible for the playoffs does he have to be called back up to the Sabres before the playoffs start or can he stay in Rochester and be an emergency call up in the playoffs if they God forbid run into injury problems like they did in the 2006 playoffs against Carolina.
lol. Next coming of Bobby Orr. lol. I’m gonna give you a like for that one. People definitely over reacting on this one. Dude averaged under 10 mins and when he was on the ice he rarely played with the 6th Dman
9 points gets us the x
I get why they had to send down Metsa and understand why they are trying to get Greenway back in. But I cannot think of two moves that I disagree with more than this. Especially Greenway I had hoped first of all he gets healthy, but that we had seen his last game as a saber. $4 million for a guy who can’t even play every other game is such garbage.
Day Traders!
Haven't seen a defenseman's last name misspelled this much since Jason Woolley.
Greenway fought Tom Wilson defending his teammate. He’s also considered one of the leadership group, he was in the meeting on the West road trip where they turned around the season. He needs to be in the lineup 4/6 vs Tampa Bay for sure. Bring all the trees
noah ostlund is a critical component to the machinery of this team without standing out
Can Greenway go on a conditioning assignment to get into games?
Oh, I WANT to play Ottawa. Not afraid of that soft team. Give me Dylan Cozens all day, every day! Their d core is decimated with injuries, I hear. Their goalie has a case of the crazies. Sign me up. I'll knock them out in the first round, every time.
Columbus, that's a different story. Don't want any part of them. They're the last team to absolutely throttle the Sabres. It happened MANY months ago, but they destroyed us. And they did it, when they were playing poorly. New coach, on a roll. I'll pass on them. Play them in the East finals, sure. Gotta beat em at some point, but not the first round. I'd rather play Carolina than Columbus, at this point.
And there's no world where I'm giving Bo Byram over 9 mill a year. In fact, I don't even want him on the team long term! Bo is having a great year, exceeding my expectations. However, he still has defensive issues and his offensive game isn't good enough to compensate for it. When I think of Metsa, I think he's a poor man's Bo Byram. Maybe better defensively, but under sized too. I'm not thrilled about EITHER being on the team long term.
My long term top 4 has Dahlin and Samuelsson on it. Power is question mark, but I think he probably makes it. I'm trading either Byram or Power, preferably Byram. Maybe both though. We DO have Kesselring who I think can be in the top 4. We also are STACKED with prospects. Mrtka being the newest, but we have 3 other blue chips defensive prospects that have been in the system for multiple years. ONE of them is going to become a NHL defenseman. And right now, that's bottom pair to get their feet wet. And if they show they got the chops, they can jump in to the second pair. The cupboards are NOT bare when it comes to our D core. Tough decisions will need to be made. Improvement is possible, despite everyone knowing it's the current STRENGTH of the roster.
You want Thomas? It's gonna cost a defenseman. And as Kris pointed out, might even cost McLeod to be thrown in there. I do like McLeod as my 3c, but he's not untouchable. Shorthanded he's incredible. He and Tuch give me Hyde and Poyer vibes from the Bills. When they're out there on the PK, you feel like everything is going to be fine.
I also don't blame McLeod for not being "physical". He's one of the fastest skaters in the league. If you can move like he can, do you want to run in to the big tree trunks? Hell no. I want to skate around him, use my speed. Look for open ice. It's always going to be his style. He has the speed, so I don't care. I look for physicality elsewhere. We also have potential replacements. Ostlund is going to be a center, where is he playing long term? If you go after Thomas, that's a lot of centers on the roster. I'm happy to move Thompson back to wing. Sorry Tage, defensively you're not as good as I'd like for a 1c. Offensively, great. Defensively, better THIS year but still not good enough.
Fun times, plenty to speculate on. Jarmo, good luck figuring it out. It's not going to be easy. Won't shock me, if in 3 years more than half of these guys are gone. New goaltender, top 4 different, centers different. Krebs and Quinn should be gone. Greenway will be gone for sure. And our chances of winning it all, will likely be better then, than now.
Sending Metsa down is a good problem to have regarding their depth.
For the playoffs and sneaking Greenway on the playoff roster – could the Sabres have Ellis backup for a Lyon start? Would a UPL for Greenway swap be enough?
If Ottawa is still without Chabot and Sanderson, then I would want to face them.
Montreal isn't nearly a team to invoke when discussing physical hockey. Agree with the general point but Montreal isn't an overly physical or tough team