dudacek

This is not correct. Adams confirmed his interest on the record to Pierre Lebrun last week at the GM meetings. “Yeah we are a team that checked in on him once he became a free agent, and we asked them to keep us posted and that’s what they’ve done,” Sabres GM Kevyn Adams said. “We’ll see where it goes from there.” @tom webster is 100% correct the Sabres tried and failed to get him. The need, the hole in the roster and the space under the cap would have made the intent obvious even if we didn’t have that report. He may not be 100% correct on the conclusions of his post, but his track record pretty clearly shows he’s got a contact and a brain, and his conclusions are fair comment based on what he’s seen and what he’s been told. Kane could have come here. He chose not to do so.

The Sabres sit at 9/9/2, 3 points out of a playoff spot and 19th overall. They are 25th in goals for and 15th in goals against They are 5/5 at home and 4/4/2 on the road and have won back-to-back games just once. Good developments: Secondary scorers Casey Mittelstadt and JJ Peterka have stepped up Jordan Greenway has been effective adding strength and good defence to the middle six Erik Johnson, Ryan Johnson and Connor Clifton have been a notable upgrade over Bryson, Clague and Lyubushkin EJ, Greenway and Tage Thompson have keyed a much improved PK Ukko Pekka Lukkonnen (5/3/1 2.71 .914) has provided competent NHL goaltending Bad developments: 30-goal scorers Thompson, Alex Tuch and Dylan Cozens have 16 goals combined. The bottom 6 of Olofsson, Greenway, Krebs, Okposo, Girgensons and Benson has 8 goals combined. They've been outscored in first periods and scored 1st just 8 times (6/1/1) The power play is at 13.5% - roughly half last year’s pace. Devon Levi has just 2 starts over .900 and 5 under .890 It’s simplistic, but one could make a case that the Sabres record can almost entirely be chalked up to their bad power play. Seven of their losses have been in tight games where a key PP score would have made a difference. Turn 2 of those into wins and they’re in the playoffs. Consensus around here seemed to have been that if this team added some depth on defence and got average goaltending this was a playoff team. The first two things have happened but the 3rd hasn’t followed. I think that by and large, that’s because too many players handpicked by management to be central pieces of this team - Thompson, Tuch, Cozens, Okposo, Krebs, Power, Samuelsson Levi - have not been nearly as good as they have previously shown or as the team wants and needs them to be. Is it that because they’re still transitioning to a more defensively responsible style? Coaching? Self-imposed pressure? They aren’t that good to begin with? A mix of all of the above? I think this team can and should be better. But those identity games they were building last year - the games where they just keep coming regardless of the score - have been lacking, as has the fearlessness that fed them. There’s still time.

In what way? Jost has 2 points to Krebs 1, a 43% Corsi to Krebs 52%, 35% on faceoffs to Krebs 49%. Their hits, blocks, giveaway and takeaway numbers are similar, as is their usage. Neither are helping the team right now.

Am I wrong to think a healthy Benson has generally been more useful to the Sabres this year than Okposo, Krebs, Rousek, Jost, Biro, Olofsson and, for the most part, unfortunately even Cozens? Unless there are reinforcements coming sooner than we expect (Quinn, Thompson, outside the org), I’m keeping him. Dont give a ***** about 9 games. He can go down if and when he’s not one of our 9 best forwards.

Krebs and something for pending UFA Elias Lindholm might make sense. Peyton’s a Calgary boy. Lindholm’s responsible and can win draws. Calgary needs to sell. Lindholm’s value would be similar to Sam Reinhart’s, so Krebs and Savoie sounds a bit much to me for a rental, but maybe other pieces could be involved. Olofsson has a similar salary to Lindholm.

So Savoie and Krebs for a significant player (that package screams Calgary) and Kane signs. Let the mad speculation commence! 😁

Otherwise known as the Bryson Effect

Here’s some food for thought: arbitration-eligible RFAs between 23 and 26 who signed extensions that bought UFA years. https://www.capfriendly.com/browse/active/2024/caphit/all/forwards/ufa?signing-status=rfa&extension=yes&stats-season=2024&limits=signingage-23-26

Is he in a significantly different position than Tage was when he signed his deal? Tage was 24 and coming off 68 points in his previous 78 games and trending up after not having shown much before. Casey is 24 and has scored 60 points in his past 78 games and trending up after not having shown much before.

Probably weren’t the better team but we made enough stops and scored enough goals. Mitts Peterka and Levi were really good, Krebs, Savoie and Jost barely played, Cozens was really bad, the refs were worse and the rest were various degrees of adequate to fine.

I think a healthy Benson gets another shot to play out his 9 unless the Krebs Jost Rousek Olofsson group steps up, and/or they sign Kane.

Not surprised about the move, I am surprised it happened now. Thought they’d stretch it out a few more weeks until it had to happen. But maybe we’re getting healthy and the numbers are such that it does. He’s been skating and learning in the pros for 2 months now, learned he can play in the AHL and got to skate with and against Dahlin and Tuch and Thompson. Gives him perspective and something to shoot for.

Cozens and particularly Krebs got a lot of time on the PK late last year, which was the main reason I was thinking Peyton was being groomed for a traditional 3C role. Krebs was bad to start last year too, but I quite liked how he played down the stretch and Donnie agreed, feeding him a ton of ice. Not sure if it’s chicken or egg but I think Peyton was kinda expected that to continue and it hasn’t really materialized. He’s kinda been a misfit toy in terms of lineup fit and I think it’s probably played a role in his poor start. Kid works his ass off, but he’s really in his own head.

This is a deliberate shift and the main reason why the PK is better. Last year, we’d chase and open a clear lane to the back door on a regular basis. Last night may have been the first back door PK goals we’ve allowed this year, and at least one of them was at least partly because of Okposo and Girgs pursuing hard up high. I think people notice the occasional botched breakouts and blueline keep-ins and take for granted the successful ones and don’t realize how often they happen. He does 10 good ones for every bad one. And he also 10 good ones for every good one a guy like EJ does. Anyone paying attention knew from the day he was drafted he’d frustrate some for his lack of mean. They see the size and want Pronger, but his style is a lot more Lidstrom than Pronger. He’s 20 and only played 100 NHL games. He’s got a lot to learn, but his competence at this level already is amazing. He played in the 3rd while Savoie, Jost, Krebs and even Cozens didn’t, which is all you need to know about what Donnie thought. First game I saw what I’d been hoping to see from Lukas. Think he’s earned another. Related, there hasn’t been much chatter about how Donnie’s game day tactics have changed this year, but “coaching to win” for him clearly involves riding his top forwards any given night hard in a way we haven’t seen before.

Yep, he got stapled to the bench after a promising offensive rush turned into a chance the other way thanks to his bad pass. Its not usually skill and size that kids struggle with, it’s how fast the holes open and close.

Cozens definitely came off in the 2nd half last night and it looked like Skinner as well, although I’m not sure if Skinner was more of a shift-related thing. Greenway was on for Dylan and Peterka for Jeff. Quite curious to see where they go with it tonight.

His play in that run made me realize that he could be more than a middle-sixer in the NHL if the cards fall right. It was flat out dominance. Nice to see him taking an NHL step this year and Donnie recognizing and rewarding it.

I realize your post is mostly about his all-around game, but it made me think about how underrated JJ’s physique is for hockey. 5’10 to 6’0” 190-200 with burst and a strong lower body for leverage is often the ideal forward build. Crosby is the prototype, but you seem to see it most with Euro wingers: Kucherov, Pastrnak, Bure, Mogilny… They don’t win the standing still battles against the Bogosians, but not much of the game is played standing still and they excel at getting around, under and in between.

The bold, I can certainly agree with. i think the Sabres have accumulated a nice amount of talent and a good mix of personalities. But there is still one more bridge they need to cross.

This is the most interesting post I've read here in a long time. I've posted on here before that it was hard not to notice that the Sabres building process this summer left a very Patrick Kane-sized hole on both the salary cap and the roster. A battle-tested middle-six winger who can unlock their desired 3-line attack and "knows how to win" is exactly what the doctor ordered even before the power play went AWOL. The question was always about how closely the 2023/24 version of Patrick Kane matched any of the many narratives around him. Is Kane a selfish me-first player, or can he slide comfortably into a middle-six role on the ice? How will his undeniable presence work in the room and affect the vibes? Is he still a viable 2nd-line NHL player? Were his pedestrian numbers last year a product of his hip and his situation or a sign of serious decline? Has he fully recovered from his surgery? At this portion of his career, how focused is he on winning hockey games? How badly does he want to be in Buffalo and why? I haven't weighed in on this one much because I don't have the answers to any of the above. There are so many variables and so many ways this could go. But, as @nfreeman said, Kevyn is not an idiot. Both he and Donnie have pre-existing relationships with Kane. I have been expecting him and his team to be working hard behind the scenes to formulate their own answers. Apparently, we have their conclusions. Their interest is real. We'll see if it's mutual

KA’s boss on the other hand…

You guys know that Quinn and Peterka were 30-something-point 3rd-liners last year and that Cozens got half his points playing with other people? Is “Granato doesn’t know how to use him” code for “he’s had to play some games with Olofsson”? Because in terms of when and how he’s being deployed, not much has changed.

He played really well in one game. It's both a small sample size and a meaningless commentary on the quality of our regulars.

Thorny will speak for himself, but i read his post as talking about NHL depth, as opposed to replacement depth Jokiharju, Johnson Clifton Johnson, (the bottom half of the D) are better NHLers than Olofsson, Jost, Krebs, Okposo, Girgensons, Benson, Rousek) (or whoever he sees as F7-13)

I’m going to swim against the tide here and suggest that the defence corps - now that Clifton is starting to smooth out the bounces and find his stride - is a group we can win with. Jokiharju is looking pretty good at 17 minutes a night and off the PK. Erik Johnson has delivered exactly what we’d hoped. Samuelsson is doing his part and Dahlin is great. I need more assertiveness from Power as a #2, but I still find him a net positive. I’m no longer terrified when any of the 6 are in the lineup. And the fact that Ryan Johnson might be good enough to force one of them into the press box is amazing to me.