dudacek

We’ve had 6 young players commit to signing here long-term in less than 2 years. For some reason people don’t seem to count that, but for me it’s a sign that this has already started to happen.

Goaltending has been a talking point for Adams' entire tenure and really since Tim Murray shipped Ryan Miller to the Blues. According the Athletic, the Sabres have the NHL's 3rd best group of goaltenders, combining the cap, the present, and the future: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5646654/2024/07/26/ranking-each-nhl-teams-current-and-future-goaltending-outlook-part-3-the-top-10/ 3. Buffalo Sabres Current: 11 Granger: I absolutely love the current trajectory of Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. He took major strides in his second full NHL season, stopping 22.46 GSAx (sixth in the league, just behind Swayman) despite playing behind a porous Buffalo defense. Luukkonen’s biggest asset is his mind, reading the ice to stay ahead of plays and make saves look easier than they should. He recently began working with respected Finnish goalie coach Hannu Nykvist (who famously worked with Bobrovsky). At 25, the future is bright for UPL and the Sabres, who also have high-upside prospect Devon Levi. Future: 2 Wheeler: Luukkonen’s no longer a prospect but Levi, Scott Ratzlaff, Ryerson Leenders and Topias Leinonen are, and each has varying degrees of potential. I still believe Levi’s one of the best young goalies in the sport and the heir apparent (over UPL) for the Sabres net long term, and I’ve got a lot of time for both Ratzlaff and Leenders, even if though don’t have the size teams covet. Leinonen does have the size but I worry about his feet/mobility/fitness. Still, in Levi, I think they have a potential 1A and between the other three, you hope that one becomes a backup/No. 3 down the line. Cap: 10 McIndoe: The Luukkonen extension dropped this week, and if Jesse is right about where he ranks, it’s decent value at $4.75 million, although at five years it’s certainly not without some risk. With Levi and veteran James Reimer both on cheap deals, the Sabres’ spending here is reasonable. Bottom line: Did we … did we just dump a bunch of optimism on the Buffalo Sabres? This is so confusing. Thoughts?

I think Lindy has a clear influence, just like I think Granato has a clear influence: Adams strikes me as collaborative. I also think Terry has a clear influence and has done more harm than good. But I see clear differences between Murray, Botterill and Adams. I see the change in the roster this year is primarily the result of 2 things: 1) the natural evolution from a development focus to a winning focus, which started last year and was always going to part of a draft and development plan 2) Adams realizing the mistakes he made with last year's roster and moving to fix them.

Are Thompson and Tuch the most-skilled duo of big players in the league?

Last year wasn't fun, but these guys were: Looking forward to seeing them in Prague to start the year.

Of course you do, you're a Sabres fan. History makes it difficult to trust the good things you see, not just with UPL, but with the franchise in general. This board probably didn't really give UPL's season last year the attention it deserved as it happened because of context, but it was the best season we'd seen by a goalie since prime Ryan Miller. He was really good, like legit top starter good. Just like Tage Thompson was freaking amazing the year before —best season by a Sabres forward since 16 and 89 were tearing it up — and we didn't go all-in on that either. We're (and I'm very much counting myself in this) conditioned to expect good things to disappear.

So guys like Power and Tuch and Thompson do count in this discussion? Im so confused.

Haven’t quite figured puckpedia’s interface yet, but as best as I can figure UPL will be the 17th-highest paid goalie in the league this year. Interesting contracts over the past few years given to players in comparable situations include: Demko 5x$5M Saros 4x$5M Petersen 3x$5M Husso 3x$4.75 Couple home run for teams on the 1st 2, Husso looks like a bad deal and Petersen was horrible bust

Isn’t the point of any long term deal to a young player to overpay early in the contract and reap the benefits later on? Are we seriously saying the Sabres aren’t getting their money’s worth on these long-term deals before half of them have even began?

You know that is 6th long-term deal signed by a Sabre in less than 2 years. Nobody ever talks about this when they say no one wants to be here. Besides Eichel, who was the last homegrown Sabre to sign for 5 years or more with the Sabres? (Prior to this Adams run) Vanek signed his big deal with Edmonton. Did Miller sign a big one?

Wow! A little surprised, but if he's legit, that's a wonderful contract. And he certainly looked legit last year.

puckpedia tweeted that UPL’s hearing is on July 29.

He'll be 28, so unless there is a weird clause I'm unaware of, he should be. It's 7 years NHL experience, or 27 years year old, which ever comes first.

I’ve shifted a bit on that one, from two directions. First of all they’ve got nobody who can make plays like Zegras can. He’s going to set up Thompson and/or Cozens in a way the other top 6 forwards can’t, particularly on the PP. 2ndly: Jost, Mitts, Skinner and Olofsson don’t play for this team anymore and the new forwards come hard; the identity up front has changed. I wouldn’t have wanted to add him to last year’s group, but I think there’s room for him in this year’s.

Ah, so it's because the arbitration had already been filed for. Makes sense. Love the breadth of knowledge on this board.

I find the internet chatter on Malenstyn gratifying. There's a lot of "who?" and "a 2nd-rounder for him?" and discussions around his charts. But whenever you come across a poster that has actually watched a lot of him play, the verdict is almost universally "fast, physical and honest, Sabres fans are going to love him."

Thanks. Am I wrong that settlement was a weird choice of words? I'm used to signed, or agreed or some other more active/positive term. More importantly, can Malenstyn be a better player than Girgensons was last year at half the price?

Elliotte called it a settlement? Does that mean he's not sure if it was the result of a hearing, or a negotiation?

So you thought I was disagreeing with you? I agree with the bold. Never said otherwise. Things like that don’t mean you are mature, they challenge you to mature. And they affect your choices in other areas of your life.

. I’m agreeing with you that being a veteran is more about experience than age. But if it’s your contention that it’s solely about the number of games played, I think that’s equally as narrow Being a veteran is really about a state of mind. External factors, especially ones like these have everything to do with one’s approach to life and career

Exactly. I think there are 2 streams and they’re both important The first is on-ice experience: having enough games under your belt at NHL speed that you know what you can and cannot get away with during a game The 2nd is off-ice experience knowing the kinds of off-ice routines and behaviours that can help maximize on-ice performance. I think the Sabres can benefit from more experience, but I also strongly believe most of them have been around long enough that lack of experience is no longer a flaw, its a crutch. They’re beyond having a Gionta hold their hand. 24 and 200 games and you should be ready to stand on your own skates. Zack Benson is a boy. Cozens, Dahlin, Samuelson, UPL, Thompson…? Young men who need to approach their vocation as such,

Agreed, but you can’t dismiss age entirely either. It’s maturity and arrives at different times and different ways. Power got engaged. Krebs has a kid due soon.

And there’s the whole thing about what makes a veteran. Dahlin is 24 and has played more than 400 games but never played a playoff game. Byram has been around 4 seasons and played a key role on a Stanley Cup winner. He’s also 23 and has only 160ish regular season games played. Whatever their age and experience, most of them need to show some maturity.

Kids (18-23) Benson, Power, Peterka, Levi, Quinn, Byram, Cozens, Krebs, Prime (24-29) Dahlin, Samuelsson, McLeod, Jokiharju, Luukkonen, Malenstyn, Bryson, Thompson, Greenway, Gilbert, Tuch, Aube-Kubel, Clifton, Lafferty, Veteran (30+) Zucker, Reimer A little deeper look shows that by January, that the 11 italicized players — about half the team — will be 23, 24, or 25.

Good post, but I disagree with the bold. He's saying the other two caught a break sometimes that inflated their numbers whereas Malenstyn did not. All three were mostly charged with holding up a wall, and all three were good at it. But Malenstyn was always charged with holding up the wall and sometimes he had to do it without the help of the other two. The other two got breaks from wall-holding and rarely had to wall-hold without Malenstyn. You're saying that the deployment doesn't prove Malenstyn was always wall-holding, and you may be right, but it suggests he was a lot more than it doesn't. And it is coming not from 'just' a number-cruncher, but a number-cruncher who regularly watches the Capitals and should have a good sense of how those guys were being deployed away from each other. I may be underestimating Aube-Kubel. He's a guy a haven't seen much and Malenstyn not really at all. Lafferty, at least, I've watched my share of with the Canucks. I need summer to be over so we can get a look at how Lindy plans to utilize his tools.