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Zach Benson doesn't need the AHL.

This team has developed players poorly for so long people here have forgotten how it's actually done. and then they wonder why the ship sails in circles with no leadership. If Benson got to lead a team to a Calder Cup while working on his strength and muscle he'd return a far better player than he will be as is but whatever. I'm not going to keep arguing the failure of Sabres development. The results speak for themselves.

His analytics would say otherwise; plus you can add 10 to 15 pts to his total if guys would just bang in pucks he gets to the front after he digs them out of the boards.

If they keep him on the 1st line he'll be somewhere around 40-50 points. One the third line, where he belongs, maybe 30-40 points. He's not a scorer, he's an undersized forechecking puck hound. He's good at it, that's his role. There is absolutely nothing tangible to suggest he'll ever be anything more than that.

Yep. (Particularly to the stuff about Benny.) Would really like to see Ruff come up with a lineup that doesn't have both Benson and Kulich on the top line. Barring another move (and one HAS to be coming, right? it just makes so darn much sense (yeah, yeah, wishful thinking)) expect they won't both be there on day 1, but expect they will be before October is out. They could be great there a couple of seasons from now, but right now, would rather have more experienced players with Thompson letting the kids not face the same quality of opponents that Thompson will always get on the road and usually get at home. (AKA, either the other team's top offensive line or their top defensive line depending upon the makeup and philosophy of the opponent that night.)

At this point, Benson is going to get better by being challenged by NHL-caliber defenders. He doesn’t need to work on defense at the AHL level. He doesn’t need to create chances for AHL-level finishers. Should he be LW1? Nope. But that’s the franchise’s fault, not his. Let Benson cook. Every team in the playoffs last season would’ve taken Benson on their playoff roster in a heartbeat. Minnesota would’ve put him on their 4th line because he’s short and they don’t like short kids getting schooled by Eichel and Hertl. But they should’ve offered the farm for Cozens and watched a taller kid get schooled by Eichel and Hertl.

Pegula will insist on a publicly-funded multisport/concert venue with state of the art luxury boxes to “stay competitive” as though he didn’t shave $50M in Sabres player expenses since COVID hit. Woe is us, we need a new vEEEnue!

I did read (here on ‘Space) that it has been reported that Dahlin and Muel also vouched for Wilford. He may be a good communicator and they’re comfortable with him. That’s fine. I want my players to enjoy coming to work. But I want my players to be challenged, reach their potential, and show progress. And have good Xs and Os in game. And that’s where I don’t care what contract Wilford has, I need a better person in charge of a 1OA, 1OA, and 4OA. That coach needs to be getting the most out of my most important investments. Especially if I’m trading away 2OA forwards and never putting any money in a proven goalie.

I don’t think anyone expects Doan to replace JJP. Benson, Quinn and Kulich will be expected to replace the offense. Doan brings something completely different.

A few times. The new one has kinda the same 'vibe', just not as good. Not awful, just a step down imo from the original, a few too many cameos.

That's my point. They didn't see him as anything higher up the roster so why do we?

Well I believe that these younger players develop better if they have less pressure and can focus fully on aspects of their game and body that needs it. Both Tage and Mitts came back from Rochester better players than the ones that went down right? I don't want Benson to just be good for us, U want him to be great for us. If he's truly too dominant for Rochester he gets called back up later in the year. This is not complicated. If in camp he outperforms veterans by a lot then he also stays but that sort of internal competition is missing and these kids don't learn the right way to compete. There is always a lack of adequate veteran presence on this team and there still is.

Superman’s avoidance of collateral damage was a welcomed change from the Snyder movies.

Well, we know the county wants out of the business of owning the arena. So that's probably a good starting point.

Yet his assist to Drury set up the game winning OT goal in one of the greatest games ever played

Had the same take on Superman - just a good dude. Have you seen the first Happy Gilmore? It’s a childhood favourite, sort of reluctant to watch

God for once I just want Forton to prove me wrong, just once.

Yeah some have completely written him off because they wanted other players in the 2nd round. Goalies are complete voodoo and he could easily turn into something.

Aren't "we" at SS tired of this trope? I looked at the SC roster EDM and FLA ... here is the list of terrible franchises that let players go that ended up in the SC finals: ANA, ATL/WPG, FLA (yes, two players drafted by FLA played for EDM, lol), VAN, STL, TOR, NJD, NASH, PIT, CGY, DET, DAL, BOS, CAR, ARI, BUF (oops), COL Plus it appears that SIX undrafted FA's (5 for FLA, 1 for EDM) also played. Obviously we all know E-Rod got his start in Buffalo. It just doesn't shake out that only Buffalo trades away talent. All those franchises were either "dumb enough" to trade them or "terrible enough of a destination" that they could not resign them. In the modern NHL, players move around A LOT. Every team has a handful of home grown talent and a huge helping of "cast-offs" from other teams. 4 of FLA's top 5 scorers were from other teams. Including the almighty Sam Bennett. The loaves have made the playoffs for a long time (something we, the Sabres faithful, would kill for) ... they just traded away Marner. Shrug emoji sums it up for me.

Terrific analysis of the PP and predictable setups and lack of adjustments. How about the HC intervening and making the required changes?

Has anyone here actually seen him play?

Interesting to hear Marty Biron talking about how Topias Leinonen has caught his eye. He didn’t go as far as to say he’s high on him, but he was raving about his elite size and his ability to fill the net. Says he’s looking forward to to watching how he does in Rochester this year. Leinonen fascinates me because I have never seen a 2nd-round pick dismissed as quickly as he was. In terms of goalie development curves, Rochester backup is pretty much where he should be right now. Nobody is convinced yet however, that he belongs there. His progress this year will be one of the more fascinating prospect stories to follow.

He was only given fourth line minutes and he wasn’t producing.. with 4th line deployment. He went to the A and scored a plenty. Wouldn’t be concerned there

Tedeschi Trucks Band this Friday Aug 1st and Saturday Aug 2nd at Red Rocks. One of my favorite weekends of the year.

Pretty sure Pegula and Adams like him. Lindy probably likes him as a person too. But being a good guy and allegedly good at development coaching doesn't mean he's remotely competent to be an NHL assistant. And there was a report here from our usual breaker of all news Sabres that the Sabres did make an offer to a coach to take over Wilford's role but were rebuffed by the guy they made the offer to. Would like to have seen them then reach out to a plan B, plan C, or plan D guy at that point. But, again, somebody likes HIM, not necessarily the results he gets. And maybe this is the year he finally understands that being ok with 2 D going behind the net, leaving the C to try to cover 2 guys in the slot or having your D let a guy simply stand in front of your goalie without trying to move him away, or being OK with the D not recognizing that a player is by himself in the low slot a mere tick-tack pass away from toeing it into the open net are not good things and that he can actively teach against doing that and actually reduce guys ice time when they do those sorts of things. He also can get on the nuts of F's that stand around lost in their own end. (Whether they report to him in that end or not; doesn't matter, get their heads out of their bippies. He's in charge of the play in that zone. This is not Don Granato's Sabres team anymore. Somebody should let Marty know.)