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Pretty cheap for 60 point center.

If you want to rebuild on the same spot is that a 3 year job?

This is a good post. To clarify my take here: my premise is that NHL experience generally makes for better NHL players: most walk before they can run. Therefore, the 150ish games the actual Benson has played should make him better prepared for the coming season than a hypothetical Benson who played his last two years in junior.

I think the 32nd is reflective, nor am I outraged.. but in the end... if any team were to get a failing grade how could it not be the Buffalo Sabres after 14 seasons of abject failure on just about every front... so I could care less what the grade is as long as they are 32/32 but its almost like F doesnt exist... like what do you have to do to be considered a failure ...

As a qualifier, every player gets one path to the NHL (some more winding than others, but a single path nonetheless). The reality is that if a player fails to reach their potential, there is no way to know with certainty whether that failure relates to a poor development process or to the player simply not being good enough. So, I really don't think it is possible to say that Benson's offensive game has been, will be, or won't be stunted by being in the NHL; that is, unless he develops into an offensive star, in which case it can be said that being in the NHL from day-one, didn't hurt his offensive game. Benson never went back to junior and we will never know how going back to junior might have impacted his game. That said, I don't think there is any way to say that Benson being in the NHL for D1 and D2 means there is a better chance, let alone a "far better chance", of a breakout this year. There is, relatively speaking, a long list of forwards drafted between 11th and 15th overall (Benson was 13th), who did not fully make it to the NHL until D3, and who had rookie seasons that would qualify as a "breakout year" for Benson. Respectfully to my fellow Benson admirers, there is a tendency to see Benson as a different sort of Cat who was/is uniquely able to adapt to the pro-game as an 18 year old right out of junior, while also thinking that he somehow doesn't have traits that would have allowed him to develop in junior ("He's too good for junior and going back would have stunted his development"). Benson is a unique Cat. He would have developed fine either way and would, in my view, be a legit rookie of the year candidate if he was coming into the NHL this season.

D'oh! Twice. Boychuk and Bishop.

Benson for example, is going to do better playing with top 6 guys than Cozens, Krebs, or Lafferty. If he plays with Thompson and Norris it is going to click for him fairly quickly.

If my AHL coach is skating my 19 year-old #1 prospect forward 25+ min/game in regular season action against 30 year-olds and AHL/ECHL-level scrubs, I'm firing that coach into the nearest exogorth. All situations, key shifts at game's end? Absolutely. But I'm not running them into the ground. I'm emphasizing NHL-length shifts and quality over quantity. Give me a prospect with 17-18 targeted minutes a night vs. overextending.

My theory is balanced lines don't work. When you take really good players and put them together, they'll score more in total than if you separate them and put them with JAGs. The reason is you usually need to string together multiple good plays to score. If you have just one guy making great plays, they'll usually die on a JAGs stick before they get in the net. My daughter's hockey team last year was a great proof of this concept (yes, obviously not the NHL 😀). They had 3 good forwards that could see the ice and make good plays and 6 that were defensively responsible, but didn't have any offensive instincts (3 lines total). The coach initially ran 3 balanced lines but the team couldn't barely score on any of the lines because the 3 girls with offensive skills weren't getting the puck or had no one in the right spots to pass to. Eventually the coach put the 3 offense minded girls together and they started scoring a LOT and became a pretty good team. Again, it's not the NHL, but it proves the concept that multiple good plays are usually needed to score goals.

Where is Daddy Danny Wegman?

The team sucks, nobody goes. I don't believe the attendance reports. The place looks 25% full for any game not against a Canadian team. Just move the games to the Harbor Center until the thing is knocked down and rebuilt. But seriously, maybe play at BCA in Rochester temporarily?

I was at the infamous Colorado game they were up by 4 in and then lost. We were in the car and exiting the deck when Colorado won... you could tell what was coming. I spent most of the last few years getting 200 level tickets, anytime I went to the 300 level it was awful. Cramped, no food options, dark and dingy. The 100 concourse was fine other than the terrible signs and paint but Keybank looks like a guy who would rather focus on his NFL team owns it.

Marco Rossi signs for 3yrs, 15million. He had 24g and 60pts last season.

No it hasn't.

There’s a far better chance Benson will have a breakout year this year than he would had he played junior last year, due to the amount of NHL learning he’s already absorbed.

I've been to like 15 games over 3 seasons and they have lost all but 1 i think. I was late to a sabres lightning game and i think they were down 4-0 before i sat down. The one win was cool because i brought my swedish exchange student and her 2 friends from sweden, and dahlin had a good game. I think that was skinners 1000th game too because we got some free swag.

Your system is a measure of 2-way play, not defensive play. It’s usual, but not inevitable that young players struggle with defensive play. Benson is proof of that. Look where Benson ranks at goals against, shot attempts against and xGoals against.

Tuch is a long shot to make the team. Tage's golden goal and the worlds locked up his spot.

Is that a good thing? IMO he would've been better off continuing to develop in junior playing +25min/gm. Instead he's been pigeon holed in Buffalo during his critical developmental years, stunting his growth as an offensive contributor.

I would normally be opposed to putting it in the suburbs but until I hear the where, the how, and the why, I will reserve judgement. I like it were it is, it brings revenue to downtown, and downtown Buffalo needs attractions to get people down there, especially in the long winter months.

The easiest single 'change' from last year would be to get better play from the goalie(s). In terms of 'saving' the team, the non-goalie that can have the greatest impace on improving the team would be Norris. Sure, he could get hurt and not play much. But he also has the ability to give you 10-20 more goals AND Better defensive play that you got from Cozens in a similar position/role.

Is he tho? I'd put McLeod and Tuch ahead of him if we're talking defensive forwards. ============================================================== BUF even strength goal differential through 82 games = -10 BUF even strength minutes played through 82 games = 4201.25 exp+/- is a function of %min played at ES and team ES goal diff TRpm(team relative +/-) is the diff btwn actual+/- and exp+/- %min is % of ES minutes played ============================================================== Team Player TRpm GP +/- exp+/- %min BUF Alex Tuch 18.88 82 16 -2.88 28.8 BUF Ryan McLeod 15.64 79 13 -2.64 26.4 BUF Bowen Byram 14.85 82 11 -3.85 38.5 BUF Rasmus Dahlin 14.54 73 11 -3.54 35.4 BUF Henri Jokiharju 7.55 42 6 -1.55 15.5 BUF Jason Zucker 6.28 73 4 -2.28 22.8 BUF Mattias Samuelsson 5.44 62 3 -2.44 24.4 BUF Jacob Bernard-Docker 3.51 15 3 -0.51 5.1 BUF Peyton Krebs 3.48 81 1 -2.48 24.8 BUF JJ Peterka 1.80 77 -1 -2.80 28.0 BUF Tage Thompson 0.85 76 -2 -2.85 28.5 BUF Zach Benson 0.23 75 -2 -2.23 22.3 BUF Tyson Kozak -1.49 21 -2 -0.51 5.1 BUF Jiri Kulich -2.03 62 -4 -1.97 19.7 BUF Dennis Gilbert -2.43 25 -3 -0.57 5.7 BUF Isak Rosen -2.82 8 -3 -0.18 1.8 BUF Jordan Greenway -3.00 34 -4 -1.00 10.0 BUF Connor Clifton -3.69 73 -6 -2.31 23.1 BUF Noah Östlund -5.81 8 -6 -0.19 1.9 BUF Jacob Bryson -7.47 48 -9 -1.53 15.3 BUF Owen Power -9.57 79 -13 -3.43 34.3 BUF Dylan Cozens -10.93 61 -13 -2.07 20.7 BUF Sam Lafferty -13.66 60 -15 -1.34 13.4 BUF Beck Malenstyn -14.36 76 -16 -1.64 16.4 BUF Jack Quinn -15.79 74 -18 -2.21 22.1 ============================================================== It's inevitable that young players (drafted for their offensive output) will struggle defensively early in their pro career's. That said, agree that Wilford needs to go as they haven't made any real progress on the defensive side of the game.

I agree with almost everything you said above. As for the last point...if they ever built a new Arena, where would it go? Let me say to start that I have always been a 'downtown guy'. On the surface I think the football stadium should have been downtown, I want money spent to develop downtown. HOWEVER, the reality is, a football stadium or a new arena isn't going to pull Downtown 'up' with it. You want the best atmosphere for the fans, AND ammenities that the players and their families will want? A suburban Arena i THINK is where things are going. If you have a very vibrant downtown area, VERY vibrant (Boston, NY City), a downtown Arena works. I have doubts whether or not this team ever gets a new Arena (at least in the forseeable future), but if It did...for the first time in my life I would start to consider the idea of something in a nice area in the Suburbs. Almost as the centerpiece of a 'lifestyle and sports' center.

Not really. I also didn't say that "argument against saying inexperienced player get better". I said I don't think all the players you used example actually work and I said that players like Byram, Power are not going to see a big point jump because they won't have the opportunity for it. I think Zach Benson will be much better. I think Kesselring and Quinn maybe. Again, your argument doesn't convince me and it isn't "because Buffalo" but because we've seen lots of players in that 200 range, not get better or get better marginally and then crash back down. I think this team has such a flawed coaching group that there's not going to be a big enough improvement in the players you list to drag them into the playoffs. They look like an 85pt team to me.

I'm still in the same spot I was 2-3 weeks ago with this topic, despite some thought to it. Instead of a #1 or #2 or #3 line(s), I want 3 balanced lines with my 9 best forwards, the remaining 3 on a 4th line that gets less ice time. In the first 3 lines, they can all 'average' about the same equal strength ice time, but on an individual game, one line may get more or less depending on matchups. Its about who plays best with who, not about putting together the 'best' #1 line. With that said, I still want to see: Doan-Kulich-Tage. Benson-Norris-Tuch. Quinn-McLeod-Zucker. Doan is the wildcard there. Maybe you can swap him and Benson...or maybe someone else steps up and takes that roll from him. I'd lalso have a quick hook to get Quinn out of there if he doesn't show signes of stepping up since last year. I think that gives you 3 fairly balanced top lines, the 4th line will get a lot less ice time and be used situationally.