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apuszczalowski

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Posts posted by apuszczalowski

  4. Annual expectations thread 2022/23: #1 Ukko-Pekka Lukkonnen

    in The Aud Club

    Posted

    If he is 100% healthy from his injury, I think he will be very good. He has excelled before and has been o e of the top goalies in his development before the injury which I don't think was healed fully last year and affected his play. He was the top goalie in the OHL when he was drafted, but the injury has prevented him from getting much time to develop.

    Best option for him is to ha e him in camp with the team, and then let him play in Rochester as the starter for most of the season to get regular playing time. If the Sabres need a backup for a short stint, bring up Subban to backup the other goalie and let UPL get as much time in Rochester to get himself back. If he appears back from the injury ND looks good, bring him up near the end of the season and give him aying time in the NHL so he can compete for the #1 job in Buffalo next year while one of the college goalies (if they sign) can be given the shot in Rochester next year.

    It's never going to hurt a player to have to have to stay in the minors a little longer then it would to rush them up too early. Especially when it comes to goalies who's play can really be affected by their mental state/preparedness 

    • Like (+1) 1

  5. Ben Bishop has returned to the Dallas Stars as a coach

    in The Aud Club

    Posted

    8 hours ago, Doohickie said:

    I was wondering about that...  It does sound like a conflict of interest, not to mention "double dipping."

    I agree

    If he wants to join another teams front office, he should have to sign his retirement papers first if he's under contract with another team. Until then, he is still a player under contract and should be allowed to work for another team while on LTIR. If the Stars wanted him to work with their front office, then they shouldn't have been able to trade him (or essentially his contract) away.

    When his contract is over at the end of the league year in summer of 2023, he will be a FA and can take a coaching/front office/playing job anywhere he wants since he isn't signed to a team anymore. Or officially retire from the league as a player, but I believe that would affect the Stars Cap. 

    If they really want him in the front office, maybe the Sabres, Stars and the league can allow a deal to be worked out that the Sabres send Bishop back to Dallas to work, keep his player contract, and they send us Robertson as a thank you.......

    • Haha (+1) 1

  6. So how will the goaltending shake out this year?

    in The Aud Club

    Posted

    Personally, I think that Anderson is going to look done this season, and last years decent performance is it. He is 40+ coming off a season with injuries again where he was talked out of retirement to play

    Comrie I think will look alright, but not the savior the team needs I  net to make a jump. I see him having a good start and people's hopes will be up because of it, but then finish average/mediocre.

    If UPL can stay healthy, he will impress but probably spend most of the 1st 1/2 to 2/3s of the season in Rochester. The big if is if he is fully 100% healed from his injury. I think k his injury was still affecting him last year and affecting his play last year.

    Subbing will spe d the entire year in Rochester except for an occasional call up to fill in for a game or 2 when injuries hit the goaltenders.

    This year will probably be a similar year to last year standings wise with a few spans of good play to give hope, and a bunch of bad spans to keep them from gaining ground. Most of the young breakout stars from last year will take a step back as the expectations on them are risen (then they bounce back next year) and they don't meet those expectations this year. This team doesn't have the high level star power yet to make a huge jump in the standings, they are still relying on  youth to reach their star potentials and veterans to fill in the roster until they see the youth is ready to carry the team which is probably a couple years out....

    • Like (+1) 1

  7. Sabres Sign UFA Goalie Eric Comrie 2 Years 1.8 Million AAV

    in The Aud Club

    Posted

    3 hours ago, Curt said:

    I think that goalies take so long to develop because the position demands highly technical precision movements and positioning.  And these need to be fine tuned and adjusted as higher levels of competition are faced.

    Compare that to skaters where a lot more of it is pure athletic ability.

    And I think that the number of good goalies out there seems to be reducing because the shooters and team strategists are starting to catch up.  Goalies were working individually with goalie coaches on position specific techniques long before shooters started working one on one with shooting and skills coaches.  Also teams are getting better at implementing strategies that increase high danger scoring chances.

    So, I think the goalies have mostly stayed the same.  It’s the shots they are facing that are getting better.

    I think they also take longer to develop because there are less options/positions for them to get a chance.

    Compared to Forward or defence where you have 8-12 spots for players on the team, goalie you have 1 starter and a backup spot so its harder to give a player a chance at playing time in real game situations.

  8. Around the NHL: 2022 Off-season

    in The Aud Club

    Posted

    12 hours ago, Curt said:

    Yes, but it’s not just that.  They have no stability.  They are churning top-6/top-4 players.  Guys are brought in for just 1-2 years and then shipped out in favor of someone different.  I don’t see how any of the guys there can feel valued or secure unless they have a NMC.

    They have squandered their depth through poor asset management and in favor of acquiring a couple extra star players. They are now heavily dependent upon several players on the wrong side of 30, with sketchy health track records and they have a weak prospect pool.

    I think that team’s window for contention is closed.

    Considering the success that Vegas has had with their franchise so far, they get a bit of a pass.

    They have really made 2 bad moves that cost their team/franchise with one being coaching moves and the other in throwing away Fleury

  9. Sabres vs Red Wings vs Sens (vs CBJ) - Who is a better team right now?

    in The Aud Club

    Posted

    Having a 'Young Core' means F***-All really, It means you have 'Hope' and 'Potential'.

    The Sabres had a great 'Young Core' not too long ago with a few really high draft choices, and one of the being a 'close consolation prize' in the McDavid Sweepstakes and it got them no where.

    So far, the other teams around the Sabres added proven talent to their rosters to go along with their own 'Young Cores'

    Buffalo added one potentially solid defencemen, more 'Potential'/lottery ticket in Comrie, and a bunch of filler.

    On paper, those other teams have taken strides ahead of the Sabres while they appear to be treading water, but thats why games are played

    Theres a chance that something clicks and some of the 'Young Core' in Buffalo make huge leaps this season, but theres just as likely a chance that they struggle or take a step back too.

    • Agree 2

  14. 2022 NHL Free Agency Frenzy (Non-Sabres)

    in The Aud Club

    Posted

    2 minutes ago, GoPuckYourself said:

    I don't want to bitch about the cap anymore as TB Lightning sign Sergachev, Cirelli and Cernak to 8 year deals.

    Top tier teams continue to find ways to make the Cap work while staying competitive

    Its the lower to mid tier teams Fans that worry and make excuses to not do things because they are afraid of the Cap.

    Sure you may have to risk losing some of your top picks to shed some salary later on, and maybe the prospect pool is thinned out and there may be some bleak years but usually those are accepted because you have a championship or 2 compared to decades of mediocrity but a healthy cap situation.....

  16. Ben Bishop has returned to the Dallas Stars as a coach

    in The Aud Club

    Posted

    4 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

    I love ppl who say stuff like this. Adams has told you repeatedly what he is doing and yet you still say stuff like this.

    Go look at the Sabres RFAs in 2023 and then come back.

    Why do you care? Not our money, not our league. I don't give a crap what Ben Bishop does because he was a transaction on paper only.

    Exactly, why do any of us care that they trade for a contract so they can get closer to the salary floor so they can continue to field a bottom tier NHL team while we wait for prospects to develop and (hopefully) one day become a dynasty instead of using that money/cap space to maybe improve the team now. But atleast they will have a ton of cap room to re-sign the RFAs that maybe will have the team poised to possibly be a playoff contending team in 2025......

  18. Sabres Sign UFA Goalie Eric Comrie 2 Years 1.8 Million AAV

    in The Aud Club

    Posted

    4 minutes ago, ExWNYer said:

    We needed a goalie and we got one. May not be everyone's choice but they could have done much worse.

    Could have also done much better, but that would involve leaving the dumpster/blue light special area of FA.....

    Everyone knows KA wants to build from within only from within and doesn't want to disrupt that by signing guys to help speed up the process but maybe block some guys from coming up sooner.

     

    It is what it is, a backup caliber goalie with some upside who will fill a roster spot until some of the guys in the system are hopefully ready to take over.

    • Agree 1

  19. Ben Bishop has returned to the Dallas Stars as a coach

    in The Aud Club

    Posted

    14 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

     

    This has been spoken too multiple times by tons of posters. Bishop is on LTIR, he will never play again in the NHL. All we did was trade for a caphit on paper, Bishop was never going to set foot in Buffalo unless he had to to verify the LTIR part of it. It was and will always be a transaction on paper only in which we get to add 4.9 million to our cap. Now we never need to think about Bishop again, he's simply a piece of paper that says we have 4.9mil added to the cap.

    I think everyone understands this, just seems odd that the league allows a team to trade away a retired players rights just for the salary cap hit, and then that player can still go an take another job with a different team in the league

  21. Patrick Kane

    in The Aud Club

    Posted

    According to something I saw this morning, Kane (from Buffalo), may be putting in a trade request tomorrow (Wednesday) at the start of free agency with the Rangers being the prefered spot for where he wants to go

    He may not even want to come to play for Buffalo

    • Like (+1) 2

  24. The Goalie Carousel in the NHL

    in The Aud Club

    Posted

    3 hours ago, Thorny said:

    Are the Leafs making the move w/the intention of Matt being the starter? 

    Pretty much, I don't think they can afford anyone else unless they move one of the forwards for a goalie to free cap space.

    Their front office appear to be high on Murray and believe his flaws can be fixed easily because many in their coaching staff and front office were with the Soo greyhounds in the OHL when Murray was there and know him well

    • Like (+1) 1

  25. The Goalie Carousel in the NHL

    in The Aud Club

    Posted

    22 hours ago, Digger said:

    Agree on Comrie.  It's getting pretty thin.

    Any chance on getting a younger goalie like Carter Hart who's coming off a couple of poor seasons?  Dan Vladar in Calgary?

    Overall the league really needs some of these goalie prospects to break in and establish themselves.

    https://thehockeywriters.com/who-is-the-nhls-top-goaltending-prospect/

    Not sure if Philly gives up on Hart yet, but the Devils appeared to be interested in dealing Blackwood

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