thewookie1

Unlikely but if they keep playing at this pace they certainly will and potentially would end up in 9th or 10th in the conference.

I 100% agree with the whole All-Star point with Dahlin getting to go thanks to Eichel's departure. As for Dahlin getting better due to Eichel leaving is much less easy to parse through. 1. Dahlin always had high-end talent and a physical edge to his game based on his time in Sweden 2. Dahlin was likely going to eventually become a solid dman regardless due to that 3. Eichel's departure and Dahlin's subsequent All-Star appearance seems to have given him the kick in the butt he needed to get out of the rut he had found him self in with Krueger. Granato also plays a huge role in this. If anything I think Eichel's departure did far more for the locker room and its dynamics. I definitely get the sense that due to Eichel's captaincy and Krueger's preferential game plan to Eichel created a strange atmosphere for players of all ages to deal with. Additionally once Bogo was waived I think we started to see cracks form. Bogo may have felt "safe" due to his friendship with Eichel and as such Eichel likely felt he held that power. The more curious relationship was Eichel and Okposo. What was their dynamic as a young captain and an often tragically injured vet who always gave his all regardless and was a solid Top 6 player prior to Buffalo? I know for a fact, Okposo is the team "Dad" along with Anderson. For instance, Okposo handled the Bills tickets for most of the young players when they all went to the game this past September or October. He had them on his phone and waved them in as it was scanned. (I worked at that gate) We know that Eichel ran with the "wrong crowd" (Bogo, Kane, etc.) and wrapped Reinhart into it as well in not "respecting" Gionta and Gorges' leadership group. Okposo was the de-facto leader prior to Tuch joining us in November; so knowing that most of the newer young core are good friends but also seem very willing to follow their elders you get a far better atmosphere overall. As they say, a team will typically reflect their leadership group. This team plays like Okposo when at their best; tenacious, never quits, physical, and takes no #### from other teams. Tuch is a less physical but far better skater than Okposo but plays in a similar manner. All of this rambling brings me back to Dahlin; he's now a young leader under the tutelage of a seasoned veteran in Okposo and an experienced playoff performer in Tuch. His friends on the team, like him, respect the experience and help push each other to do their best to absorb anything they can learn. Combine that with Granato's coaching style that heavily looks to expose their younger players to as much experience as possible and you get a team that is growing and players whom embraced their roles and have ran with them. No longer is this Eichel's team with 21 other dudes; this is now Dahlin, Thompson, Mitts, Cozens, Tuch, etc's team. They all feel valued and involved in pushing us forward; no longer are you just hoping to end your shift so Eichel can save the day. Instead it is up to all of them to support everyone else. Dahlin is a big cog, but still a cog; he knows and wants to help his teammates because he knows they'll do the same. Even if his 100% is far better than anyone else on the team; that doesn't matter. What matters is that all of them give their 100%. Dahlin now believes he can give 100% and not only help the team but carry it in ways so that others are freer to contribute in their own ways.

They are definitely a different team; there's an internal drive to succeed we have rarely seen over the past 10 years. They are embodying Okposo and Tuch's "never say die" attitude. Even when the team seems deflated, they seem far more able to bounce back even within a game. Dahlin's play has been great, truly worthy of a 1st overall

Kane has grown up a ton over the past few years and was the C for Team USA in the World Championship recently. After his contract comes up, I’d give him an offer but I wouldn’t trade for him

I can certainly understand the idea but I would of waited until our guys had won the draw and had cycled it a bit before adding the extra attacker. By going EN before the draw, Michigan's players saw a ticket out of this chaos and rallied to it. Had Q pulled the goalie after Michigan already had been trapped, again, in their zone again 20+ seconds; you gain the advantage of winded Michigan players being less capable of deciding as a group whether to go at the EN or just turtle. That would be my opinion on it.

4 apples for Power in the 2nd game. Definitely looks like the coach took off his speed governors and ankle weights.

Felt bad for Dahlin in OT, seemed to be the only guy with an idea of what he wanted to do. Got another point, 7-3-2 in March for 16 pts; not half bad when playing almost only playoff teams/racers.

Disappointed to lose but we certainly played well and earned another point. So our point streak lives still!

Do you think we could pull off Olofsson for Matt Roy of LA? He’s a 27 year old with solid defensive analytics last I saw

I said yes but it’s more of a hopeful sentiment than a logical facts based one. If the team we’ve seen in March played 82 games with solid goaltending and all; then we’d likely force our way into the playoffs.

I could see Olofsson and/or Johnson being dealt for an RHD during the off-season depending on what type of experienced RHD Adams wants. Until Pittsburgh signs him I’ll keep banging the Letang drum for the fact he’s seasoned and has 3 cup rings. Mayfield might be handy but his only issue is he’s 29-30 at this time and a UFA next year. His value is high while also being potentially a complete waste of resources. Gudas would be a salary dump in a way so he would cost an arm and a leg but I’ve heard bad things about him in regards to behavior. Erik Johnson would be an interesting option if he comes available in the off-season. I wish Myers had learned defense more over the years because I’d be more interested in him then. At this time he’s akin to Letang in skill set but lacks any of the clout. I have zero interest in Klingberg due to his future contract being absurd for his actual value.

Technically Knight is the backup for Bob in Florida Can't do worse than DeLuca .500

Just so you know PA Krueger wouldn't of done well with this roster either. Tage would of never been moved to center, Skinner would still be in the dog house, and Dahlin would look like a bust due to his confidence being almost non-existent. Krueger's system works in tournaments for two reasons: 1. Tournaments are usually at most 2 or 3 weeks and thus opponents can't make whole scale adjustments to counter it since they may only play them once. 2. Tournament teams tend to be the Top Talent of a country/group. Krueger's defensive strategy is meant to handle a team of multiple high end scorers but a dearth of defensive stalwarts. For a Sabres team lacking Top end talent, the defensive structure eliminated Skinner's purpose and kept all the middling players from getting anywhere since their skill didn't leave enough left over to play offense. Imagine if you would, all players have 100 skill points like that of a video game. Everyone has different affinities and thus the cost varies player to player in rather their offense or defense is more effective. Krueger's system demanded 50 skill minimum in defense no matter what. Skinner has 1 for 1 on Offense and 1.9 pts per 1 skill in defense let's say. So to reach the minimum of 50 defense, Skinner uses 95/100 skill points to reach 50 defense and a mere 5 remains for offensive play. Eichel being a star player has a far more efficient point to skill ratio; but additionally, Krueger made exemptions for Eichel because he was our best player and Krueger liked him.

I believe it’s 12-9 now 🙂

Lacks a vet RHD that’s better than Pysyk and relies way to much on Rochester guys to immediately take off at the season’s start

Even a hard wrister Goes off the post and as it’s swallowed in It won’t go in!

Just screening the goalie, I see nothing wrong…….

He's still a great player overall so age is of little concern there. No, Letang would be with Power on PP2. My primary concern with Gudas is that I have no way of knowing how he is in the locker room

I'm curious what will happen. Perhaps the Sabres can swoop in to save the day with Boychuck's contract

The two main UFAs are Letang and Kuemper which I'm overpaying rather nicely. I'd likely try to get Hornqvist first and use him to help Letang come here. If you can't get Letang, go get Gudas(cheaply) or even pay up for Mayfield perhaps?

Here’s my ideal team next year https://www.capfriendly.com/armchair-gm/team/3148022 Hinostroza isn’t on there but he’s be another potential depth piece

I’d throw money at Kuemper and Letang to come here on 2 year deals. Kuemper, want 2x6.5, come to Buffalo. Letang, we’d be honored if you’d mentor Power for a couple years; how does 18.5mil over 2 years sound to you? Acquire on the cheap, Hornqvist Suddenly your roster looks like a threat for a playoff spot

Give Hinostroza a 1x1.5 mil deal and have Peterka chase him for his roster spot

No, and stop trying to manifest negativity