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Haven't watched a lick of pre season, decent stats on paper. The question is and will remain.... Can he stay healthy enough for those numbers to matter. Time will tell.

Mrtka's preseason stats with the Sabres: Games: 4 Goals: 1 Assists: 1 Hits: 11 Shots blocked: 3 Penalties: 0 Penalties drawn: 2 SAF%: 40.51 GF%: 60 xGF%: 44.5 ATOI: 17:45

Mrtka is minimum 2 years from playing on the Sabres and 5 to 7 years from getting meaningful power play time with the Sabres. There are a lot of chances to kill penalties in the AHL. I think the Sabres would rather keep him close by. Better to play 16-20 harder minutes and work your way up the ladder.

Curious what people's impressions are so far of the man tapped to be our 1C this year. His pre-season stat line in 4 games played: 3/4/7/+2, averaging more than 19 minutes a game TOI 1 giveaway, 2 takeaways, 3 hits, 4 shot blocks 1 minor penalty taken, 3 penalties drawn 55.91 SAF%, 71.43 GF%, 51.59 xGF% 59.68% on faceoffs

Korpisalo was the first that came to my mind. There might be other and better options. However, he has looked good lately and seems to be healthy. I would definitely take him over Luukkonen in current situation, but we would still need to pay Luukkonen if we get another goalie, I can't see anyone take that contract.

Never heard that term before. Love it.

I like this line of thought when it comes to Helenius types - players who have been the stars of their teams all through their formative years. That’s not Mrtka. He’s a late-blooming poor kid, with not a lot of history as the bell cow. He needs time being leaned on as “the guy” if we want him to develop into “the guy”.

Fully agree on Lyon. You got him to be the steady veteran backup. Use him. Don’t do him like they did Reimer last year. Waive Georgiev and let Levi play until Luukkonen is back. Regarding Korpisalo, with the exception of his brief time in LA (and their good defensive game) I don’t see anything inspiring more confidence than I’ve seen with Luukkonen.

This, but also the pool of defensively responsible 25-point wingers who are also 6’5” 230 and kill penalties isn’t big. As brittle as he may be, there are a lot of teams looking for a Greenway.

In terms of development, is it better to get more minutes against inferior competition or less minutes against superior competition? I would prefer less minutes against superior competition as imo that is what helps players improve the most. Mrtka needs to get knocked on his a$$ and learn from it.

Really?? That much? Why does it feel like the same then?

If he’s on Seattle (and so is Cootes) then they’re a playoff contender and Mrtka is a team leader skating 27+ each night. If he’s on the Amerks, just pair him with waived and cleared NHL veteran Bryson and let the kid shine in second pair work.

seems like board play has never been more important in the NHL than it is today.

If it’s Geertsen, it is significant . Greenway can give you PK time and experienced defensive play against the league’s top lines. Geertsen can give you 5 minutes of 2 hits, a fight if anyone is willing that night, and otherwise you try to hide from the opponent’s top 9. His next NHL point will be his first.

Lyon will definitely get the starters job. Levi should be backup until Luukkonen is ready. I really hope they are looking for goaltender upgrades. Georgiev is bad. Luukkonen has history with injuries. Levi has not proved anything in nhl yet. And Lyon is a backup, a reliable one, but still a backup. I don't know if either team would do a in division trade, but Korpisalo in Boston would do the job better than our current goalies.

I know what you said,… and I disagree. I think he was overwhelmed and didn’t belong. Luckily, he’s only 18.

I didn't say that he should be on the team now. What I did say is that when watching him I didn't get the sense that he was overwhelmed like a lot of young players would be with their first exposure to the highest level of play.

He should not be getting 16 in roster.

He gets 30min in Seattle. Idc that much is they give him pk and pp time in Rochester. He needs about 22-25min a night

If you zoom way out to look at his record overall in sports, Pegula isn’t cheap, he just over-reacted to COVID and draws lines over arbitrary things. I also think his reputation for interference is over-wrought. It’s more about capriciousness again, combined with hiring poor managers, who have also been unskilled at managing their boss. In 14 years he’s yet to fire someone for failing to ice a good team, despite never icing a good team. His biggest flaw is he’s never been about winning.

I disagree with this. He made some nice plays that give me hope for the future with him. But he lost way too many 50/50 board battles for me to say he belonged in the NHL now.

This issue is a judgment call. However, I see it differently. What happens if he plays well in the AHL? From the little that I have seen playing with a higher level of talent, it doesn't appear to have hurt him. In fact, I would argue otherwise, that it has and will accelerate his development. Is he an exception to the rule regarding the handling young prospects? I think so yet understand why others don't in this particular case.

The question is, would he be better served getting 20 minutes in Seattle? Or 16 in Rochester?

No, not retired.