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Having watched my son play minor hockey through U18, I’m comfortable saying that no player makes it to the NHL without having been exposed to multiple defensive systems and structures. So much of a team’s ability to play a consistent and repeatable and effective defensive system/structure at the highest level, comes down to the same things that it does at lower levels: the teaching and communication skills of the coaching staff and, above all, the head coach. I agree that our forwards were bad at defensive hockey. I don’t think it is because they are, as a collective, intellectually or temperamentally unsuited for playing a well-coached defensive structure.

I can make the case that in the Peterka trade that our roster/team got better. If Kesserling becomes a good pairing for Power and Doan adds an element of grit and responsible two-way play to a lineup that needs an improved defensive game, then those player changes will better round out our roster. And if you consider that both Quinn and Benson should be able to improve their offensive numbers to offset JJP’s offensive numbers, then the deal makes sense for us. In order to get something, you have to give up something. And that’s how I view this trade. On initial appearance it seems to have worked out for each of the trading partners. TBD.

Do you know who else does’t want to deal with an openly unhappy teammate? His teammates. Do you think the coaches will find a disgruntled player more receptive to their coaching? It was already reported that he had difficulty dealing with Ruff’s hard style of coaching. If Kesserling turns out to be a suitable partner for Power and Doan adds an element of grit to the lineup, then this trade will work out for both teams. I didn’t want him to be traded. However, he did. So goodbye to him and welcome to the new players who are happy to be here.

Can't agree with the depiction of these players as anchors. Lafferty and Gilbert were exactly what they were. Bottom players and extras. Expecting more was stupid. Clifton lost his game playing in an unstructured system. I said this might happen when we signed him. He always had the tendency to run around and try to over step and then get caught out of position. In this chaotic system he ended up floundering. We broke him. Cozens? An anchor? Let's see how Ottawa goes. Quinn's still an anchor until he isn't. Same for Samuelsson.

I don't agree. The forwards on this team by and large suck defensively. Positional play is poor, structure is weak, assignments are blown, and back checking at times is non existent. They lose puck battles (if they even enter into them) and they leave the D exposed and overwhelmed. Part of this is bad coaching but it's also inexperience. Team defense is a concept the Sabres are generally unfamiliar with.

Well, idk enough about Danforth to say he's better or worse than Lafferty but I don't think Timmins is better than Clifton. Maybe he is, we shall see, but I don't think so. Norris to Cozens??? That is an interesting one. Don't think Norris is known for his defense but we all felt let down by Cozens so again, we shall see. Kesselring and Doan better defensively but not offensively so how does that shake out? again, idk. The goalie. Now I find it interesting that one of our main competitors, Detroit, made a deal for a goalie (who is suspect in many ways) because they weren't happy with the goalie they had who we are lauding as some sort of improvement/answer. Does that not make you pause and wonder? It certainly doesn't give me optimism.

He was an RFA without a contract, he couldn't become an UFA for 4 more years (7 seasons or 27 years old). Who cares if he wanted to be here... give him a fair offer, he can sign or sit out, don't trade him at a loss just because he doesn't want to be here. The entire point of RFA status is to protect the team that drafted and developed the player.

Jones?

You have to use the language they understand to get them to listen. They are not able to understand anything else. Of course both sides suck but one clearly has a plan to destroy everything this country tried to build and turn themselves into a singular power. Destroying democracy should not be the answer yet it's the Rights plan.

He needs to be near perfect on angles to take away more net, and like most young goalies better rebound control to prevent multiple shots. If he gets deep into the crease he leaves a lot to shoot at. At 6 ft he is on the small side by todays NHL standards, 2 inches below average and the average is trending up not down. Still a very good prospect but sometimes size matters.

The man is downright crazy, which makes him dangerous. Please tell me how this decision is any good for the general health and welfare of our nation. https://apnews.com/article/kennedy-vaccines-mrna-pfizer-moderna-1fb5b9436f2957075064c18a6cbbe3c9

Be careful what you ask for. Just remember who is penciled in at #7.

Right, and the point to add is that the Democrats, being so highly principled, are threatening to do the same thing in other states. Perhaps it's time to stop all of this garbage about district lines and just move to a system that represents voting distribution? Where's the end game? Hard line red and blue states? Does it go beyond that to secession? Is it all a ploy to distract from even more ridiculous initiatives? Instead people just continue to worry about the other "side" because it's not as bad as their "side". Hooo boy.

Was it ever about efficiency or about obtaining access to sensitive data to further other initiatives elsewhere in the very, very private sector?

It's primarily goaltending and an inexperienced defense.

I don't know what case you're making. I think Buffalo will end up with a similar goals for or slightly lower this upcoming season. I'm more worried about goals against. I don't think Adams is a good team builder. You're focused on Peterka almost exclusively. I guess we'll see what happens.

Speaking only in terms of their play defensively, the Sabres seem to believe: Norris > Cozens Doan > Peterka Danforth > Lafferty Kesselring > Jokiharju Timmins > Clifton They also think Lyon is more capable of supporting/challenging UPL than Reimer was because age limited Reimer's workload. If you think that's basically boils down to Kesselring, I guess we'll see.

I agree. While I like the idea of a top line with Tage on the wing not having him at center puts too much onto Kulich at this stage. If Norris isn't healthy and contributing, I'm not sure this team will even match last year's numbers. Any drop off (or injury) to any of the top 5 or 6 makes this team fall apart fast. There's no one in Rochester ready to fill a hole either.

and to do that they what? Added Kesselring? A lot on those shoulders then.

Well, you could say it's both, and the goaltending too. It's the entire plan and the entire roster.

This is what Lindy has pinpointed as the Sabres biggest problem and you've heard many players talk around. As far as they coach is concerned it boils down to players not understanding how to manage games. it's not so much about structure and effort, its about making safe, boring decisions when you've got the lead: not cheating on offence, not turning pucks over at the bluelines, getting it deep and getting off. Not forcing your goalie to get into hero puck mode. Cozens, Quinn, Samuelsson and Clifton IMO were the worst offenders. Two of them are gone. Peterka and Power were good players that needed to improve in this area, Lafferty and Malenstyn bad players who needed the same. Two more gone. Will the changes be enough to reach critical mass for the team as a whole? Will the critical mass be enough to get the goalie back on track? To me, those are the questions that will make or break the season.

Thank you for sharing. 21 out of 30 is below average (which we all might have assumed and meets the eye test). But your larger point about medium and high danger being an even bigger struggle is validated by the 40 game filter. 26 and 29 is just plain unacceptable. Perhaps his percentages in medium/high danger areas improve slightly, but the only sure fire way to improve the numerator (high danger goals) seems to be to reduce the denominator ( HD chances). These underlying numbers you shared make me feel more and more like the season rests on a strong start by Six-K.

I know it's been touched on many times as part of other threads, but I wanted a full discussion on the addition by subtraction for next year's roster. We dropped quite a four boat anchors and by my math we picked up one. Clifton Lafferty Cozens Gilbert I feel like Danforth is the only new guy we got that will be drag on the team (I've got no idea what they were thinking with him). How much does losing these guys improve our goal differential?

Moneypuck however, allows you to do that if you want to play around. https://www.moneypuck.com/goalies.htm UPL ranks 21 out of the 30 goalies who played 40 games in low range shots, 26 on medium and 29th on high-danger The previous year he was 24, 5th and 19th out of 34 qualifiers.

I totally get what you're saying, but the stat isn't presented that way. They weigh the save percentage equally whether its over 20 games or 60 on NHLedge. You'd have to see if there's some way you could filter it to only include "starting" goalies.