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Jfc we're excited about Geersten, really? Really?

stick tap for getting me a new account to follow on Twitter.

Context skews perception a bit. Brian CAMPBELL’s peak season as a Sabre was 48 points. He was a + player once. Byram last year was as good as all but CAMPBELLs peak season in Buffalo, it’s the team around them that creates most of the associated vibe.

Ruff and Adams showing their cards early. That’s an NHL group a prospects group and a looking for an NHL contract group.

agreed... it would be a great place to end up...a bigger version of Campbell... I hope that he can achieve the Campbell balance of Offense and Defense but also be more effective moving people based on his size... thats all I am thinking... but hell if we get to a BC level... I am perfectly happy.

Lindy weren’t kidding when he said camp is about getting the NHL team ready. And look where Geertsen is.

Hate it? It would be a revelation

This is shocking lol

at this point I believe it when I see it... if this continues on into the season and we are like most years out of it in Dec or so, I could see Tuch changing his mind.... So, It could be numbers, it could be Tuchs deisre to wait and see... it could be a little of both

We need that and Geertsen has played for Lindy before

This is a fair and balanced evaluation of both defensemen. Overall, Power is going to be a more balanced player than Byram. (As you point out.) On the other hand, when evaluating each of them you have to accept what their individual skill set is. Byram is more of an offensive player and less of a defender. And that offensive skillset defines his play. The key to each player is to find a partner that will allow each of them to accentuate their strengths and minimize their liabilities. From a broad overview of our defensive corps, I see a lot of our offense generated by the blueline. The key to get the most out of it is get the best match with each pair. It seems to me that right now Dahlin/Byram, Power/Kesserling and Samuelsson/Timmons are the most likely pairings when the season starts. This is a young group that has much more upside to tap into.

I'm not sure why. I'll give Adams credit on bringing in some good advanced stats guys in. Then there's this guy who I have no idea on what he was thinking. He does get a lot of defensive zone starts, but so did Malenstyn prior to us bringing him in and he didn't do jack last year.

I can hold out at least some hope of this in the next few years as long as Goalies dont count as Defense I dont hate this especially if he drops a Rensberger hit or 3

There’s SO much written about the guy here I had to double check his age to make sure he was still 22. After all this time we still seem to collectively undervalue the development time it takes for players to become the versions of themselves they are ultimately most closely associated with (see: Finkle and Einhorn, who we traded at older ages than Power and “aren’t the same guys elsewhere as they were here.”) I feel like this idea even works more strongly against top picks as not only are expectations higher out the gate, we forget sometimes they have a much higher potential runway for development, too. The best players are almost always the adaptable ones - the ones that can adjust over time while picking up new skills and learning to harness the ones they have against the best competition they’ve faced. It just takes time. The fact this is the case even more so with D-men only drives the point home further with regards to Owen.

I think Byram is going to settle in over his career as Brian Campbell.

I think I like Byram better than you do. That aside, I agree with much of this.

This is fair. I continue to think that Power will be a very good NHL player with a long career. Maybe Tyler Myers+? Nice player. But the calls and hopes for him to get mean and nasty are misplaced.

Sabres have lacked “against the odds” guys like him in the system. Over the years, they’ve loaded up on 1st-rounders, junior national team players and guys who have been touted as top players all their lives. Their entire offseason was about underdog guys who paid a lot of dues to make it: Kesselring was a 5th-rounder; Danforth, Lyon and Geertsen are long-time minor leaguers who never quit; Jones never got a fair shot in New York; even Doan was passed over his first draft year, played in an outpost college and was followed by whispers of “he’ll never be his old man.” Just like with big RHD, when Adams commits to a bit, he’s all in.

Add Geertsen to this mix as a potential 14th forward. I wondered about this back when he signed, but Lindy name-dropping him in the presser reinforced it. If they are serious about “culture” - and I think they are - he’s in the running to make the team in an Andrew Peters role.

@Taro T they are at Harbor Center for the first session

Ruff was really talking this guy up in the press conference

For all the talk about Power, I am more confident in Power than I am in Byram right now. To me it seems as if Bryam is closer to his ceiling, and that ceiling is a very skilled guy who underperforms that 'raw skill' and the end result is a slightly above average D-man at best. With Power, I still think, and expect, he will be better than that over time.

Pretty sure that’s Risto because I did a comparison of their first two full seasons a week or so ago.

For all the Power apologists Here are Power's stats in his 1st 3 full seasons vs another former D Sabres high draft pick. 108 pts (17g) in 234 games vs 106 pts (23g) in 239 games. Who is Power and who is the other former Sabres high draft pick D? By the way these were the 19, 20 and 21 year old seasons for both players. Once you figure it out, ask yourself how did that work our for the Sabres?