All Activity

Stumbled on an interesting fact while looking up my above post. Remembering the much-vaunted Malenstyn-Lafferty-Aube-Kubel 4th line that got so much hype last summer and busted? Apparently it never actually went bust. In the 7 games it played together it had a 68.4% expected goals. Apparently that wasn’t working for Lindy.

+/- captures even strength goals for and against 0 would be 50% gf/ga and so positive is above and negative below.

Curious how much of that included Benson on the line? In terms of Corsi, Benson was part of 5 of the Sabres top 7 lines, and 7 of the top 10. None of those included Kulich, but a lot of them were very small sample sizes. Benson also seems to do well in terms of expected goals with most linemates and the other guy that does that is Thompson. So I’m wondering how much of the Kulich/Thompson success is about Kulich.

Great observation! I was not aware of this.

Too bad there's no roll back to Hasek in the cards.

With larger sample sizes, I feel like actual GF% is a better metric to measure a player's skill as some of the randomness of shooting (and other intangibles not accurately factored into the model) usually work themselves out over time.

I don't know if Kulich would be ready for a 1C or 2C role. But if he could genuinely earn either role, that would be such a bonus in assembling the lines. The next issue is whether Norris can stay healthy and assume one of the two top center roles. Any way one looks at the prospective two top lines it is evident that another forward from the outside needs to be added. Just maybe KA is counting on Byram trade bringing back such a player if he is dealt? It seems that the GM is counting on Quinn, Benson and Kulich taking some major leaps forward. To understate our roster situation, the GM has a lot of "ifs" attached to it.

I wonder if Lindy is going to roll the clock back to 1999 and deploy: Byram Dahlin like he did Zhitnik Smehlik Samuelsson Kesselring like Warrener McKee Power Timmins like Woolley Shannon Keep in mind they behave as if they like Timmins and Samuelsson more than we do. Adams mentioned putting Byram with Dahlin and “you can have a different pair of bigger shutdown guys”. Adams also talked earlier about wanting a guy for Power who was “safe with a lot of clean puck touches”. To me that sounds a lot more like Timmins than it does Kesselring. Probably guilty of overthinking things, but it’s something that crossed my mind.

Kadri would be a huge add to the team and to the top . He is originally from the Toronto so he actually may think of waiving. its a good idea

I added him... he's bad. They would be better off dumping him and keeping Docker or probably even bringing up Ryan Johnson Bryson and Samuelsson aren't playing above replacement level. Both of them need to be replaced and we can only hope that Novikov, Johnson, and Komarov develop quicker because Adams won't be rid of his favorites and bring in better players.

What about Bryson? When you play 40-50 games, he matters…despite some(not you) who say he is a #7 and spends most of his time in the press box so who cares.

I brought this up in the previous thread but I'm going to say it here again.. Kuluich and Tage together... In about 20 games, were one of the most dangerous combinations in the league. They scored more goals per minute, played than anybody with Matthews up in Toronto, and even slightly more than the McDavid- Draisatl combination in Edmonton. 20 games isn't a lot, but it's not a two to three game sample size either. Maybe it's not going to work long-term, but I want to stick with that pair and see what they can do together again... Until it doesn't work.

I take it the answer to my question is no.

JBD: 144 games, 24pts, -1, 241 blocks, 122 hits, -5.9relcf%, -7.6xgf and he just turned 25 Timmins: 159 games, 46pts, +21, 167 blocks, 137 hits, 2.2relcf%, +16.5xgf and he will be 27 when the season starts Power: 242 games, 111pts, +8, 319 blocks, 99 hits, 0.5relcf%, -21.4xgf and is 22 turning 23 in November Kesselring: 156 games, 53pts, +14, 133 blocks, 205 hits, 3.6relcf%, +8.4xgf and is 25 They're certainly looking at xgf% and relative cf% when making decisions. Looking at this, I think they believe timmins has more upside than JBD did. Hard to say but none of these guys have deep NHL resumes. Outside of Power, they've basically played 2 seasons worth of games. Will be curious to see Timmins salary. And for fun... Byram: 246 games, 110pts, +26, 313 blocks, 337 hits, -1.7relcf%, -5.9xgf and just turned 24 Bryson: 254 games, 43pts, -38, 276 blocks, 153 hits, -4.7relcf%, -31.6xgf and will be 28 in November Samuelsson: 212 games, 43pts, +3, 341 blocks, 438 hits, -10.8relcf%, -26xgf and he's 25 Rasmus Dahlin: 509 games, 360pts, -58, 637 blocks, 771 hits, +11.4relcf%, +17.9xgf and is 25

For all of his career he has been on competitive teams that usually make the playoffs. Now that he is at the tail end of his career I doubt that he would find it appealing to join a franchise that hasn't been in the playoffs in a generation and is recognized by most people in the business to be a third-rate operation. If he has a no-trade clause in his contract I'm sure he would say absolutely not going to that junk yard.

Absolutely. His contract is fine. I might actually watch next season if he were on the team..

Generally I agree, but Kadri wants to come back East (based on articles I've read) and I believe he makes his offseason home in Toronto. So if you were Kadri, do you want to play with a possible bad team close to home with less travel or play on a possible bad team 2000 miles from home?

I would need more than Kadri for sure, that contract is brutal and I would definitely be throwing in Samuelsson as well to unload 1 of our abomination contracts. Maybe Kadri, a D prospect on the verge of coming up and a draft pick.

This is exactly the type of player we need! A gritty player with some talent that can play in the top 6 in any situation!!! It would slot the other forwards into the correct spots as well and give them some protection. To make a move the Sabres will need to take on some extra money. Go Sabres.

Cool, can't wait to see him fight on skates.

It’s pretty much something along those lines. Both sides are very new to each other. Quite honestly, I think it’s a smart approach for a guy just acquired in a trade. They haven’t had much time to talk yet and this move establishes a very defined timeline and makes it more of a priority for both sides. It is interesting though to see how much the number of players filing for arbitration has shrunk in the last couple years. I’d imagine that the increasing cap plays a big role in that. More money is available but arbitration results are going to be based off of the older less expensive contracts.

I was just thinking this.... How bout that Chad? ... Sometimes the rumor mill gets to be just too much after the cup is won.

I’m excited to see what happens with Byram, but I’m actually ok with Kevyn taking his time with this as long as he gets the best return as possible. Let the other teams battle it out until one finally offers the right deal.