dudacek

When Tage beat Chicago with the busted-stick bounce off the boards was he credited with a missed shot, a shot on goal, or both? Under that criteria, if a clearing attempt went in the net before a real shot was taken, shouldn't scoreboard say 1 goal, zero shots?

Ryan Johnson is a defensively sound puckmoving defenceman with average size and elite feet who projects as a good 4/5. He would be far more foolish than Erik Portillo to go to free agency. Sure there's burning off a year of ELC advantage. And there's also plenty of evidence that the Sabres are the type of team that not only gives young players a fair chance, they actually do a good job of developing them. They've treated him well and they play a style that suits his game. But unlike Portillo — who would be battling with 2 other "goalies of the future", at best would start next season in a 50/50 battle for the crease in Rochester, and could just as easily be in the ECHL — Johnson would have a 50/50 chance of walking right into the #5 spot on the Sabres blueline this spring and may never have to play a period in the AHL. Think about it. There's a pretty good chance he's as good or better than Bryson and Clague right now. Maybe he has other "life"priorities, but from a "hockey" perspective, I'm not sure a better situation exists for him in terms of a path to NHL success.

So the centre is only partially responsible, but gets all the blame or all the credit?

The issue is he can’t be Tage or Cozens and he’s not nearly as talented as Krebs, Mitts or even Jost. He might have an Asplund ceiling, but I doubt it. He’s also just 6 months younger than Thompson, 3 months younger than Asplund and almost exactly the same age as Jost. Maybe he gets look if 2 of the above get traded, but he’s also got Kulich, Östlund and Savoie coming up behind him. It’s not that he isn’t worthy of respect, there’s just not much of a window there.

Too bad. Liked his character and what he brought to the overall team package. Not going to miss him much on ice, but definitely wishing him the best.

This is a great roll you are on @PASabreFan, in line with the tracking of zone entries and exits. Much more useful to me and indicative of a player's individual utility than things like shot attempts and high-danger chances which can strongly influenced by linemates, opposition situations and tactics. I wonder how much these things are tracked by individual teams as part of their proprietary analytics.

My eyes tell me otherwise. Tanev is an agitator. Dahlin took a number and made him pay when the opportunity presented itself, without taking himself out of the play or taking a penalty. You know, textbook tough but disciplined hockey, like coaches have preached since the first freeze and exactly what a segment of this board cries for at the slightest opportunity? The Sabres didn’t lose that game because the Kraken are tougher, or better. They lost it because the Kraken converted their chances and the Sabres didn’t.

I hope we see a Cozens Mitts VO. Dylan might be the driver the other two are missing.

Krebs is also waiver-free, although he's been outplaying the other two recently. Cozens and Power as well, even though neither are actual options. You know somebody's going to get sick or hurt.

So this has worked out better than expected. He’s been OK with both Mitts and Vic, and with Kyle and Zemgus. People were comparing him to Lazar, but I see more skill and vision there. He’s also far more engaged than the reputation he brought with him from Colorado. He’s been a frequent puck hound in the offensive zone and seems responsible in ours. Has been part of a mildly improved PK and has points in 7 of his past 11 games. Much better than Sheahan or Eakin in a similar roster slot and probably an overall upgrade on Asplund and Vinnie too - more skill than the former and better details than the latter, plus he’s a centre. Seemed to be a “why” move at the time, but an underrated pickup by Adams and his team. Fits that mantra of trying to get a bit better every day.

Not disagreeing with this at all. But I do think around here we tend to glom on to details more than big picture. We’re 13/4/2 since we picked up Jost. On a good team, the top players are dangerous most nights, the middle six takes turns supporting them, and the 4th line chips in enough to be useful. That seems to describe the Sabres over the past 6 weeks. Donnie has tweaked the lineup, but I think the big picture success largely outweighs what might be the best thing for some individual players.

Raises the question of the Sabres are required to take him off IR, and, if so, when?

I believe the Granato quote was something like “we will not trade away winning long-term for a win tonight.” That is a far cry from “not ready to compete for a playoff spot”. They will make trades when the right trade becomes available. Don’t get me wrong, I think they need to add another defenceman too. The right defenceman. At the right price. In the meantime, they continue to climb back into the playoff race without a trade, and they will be adding a top-4 defenceman without one in about a week

Really enjoying Dan’s excitement level with an exciting team.

Just need to add my appreciation for Dahlin’s game last night. Not just for the production and the skill, but for the way he left every inch of himself out on the ice. So easy to root for.

I think that rather than wear this group down, it has built them up and given them reason to believe they can overcome any adversity.

Counterpoint: he will not be one of the Sabres 10 best forwards, will not be getting prime ice time ahead of Quinn, Krebs and Peterka and won’t be a good fit in a Girgensons/Jost slot. Are you saying he is the replacement for Hinostroza and that will be best for his development? Or for Mittelstadt or Olofsson and that will make the Sabres a better team? When we picked Savoie I was on board with your train of thought, but it seems to me circumstances have changed. Im skeptical a very young team that will be expecting playoffs is going to add a developmental rookie to shelter. And I’ve not seen enough from Savoie this year to think he’s going to force his way into an unsheltered role.

Randy Sexton recently said in the athletic that Botterill insisted on Tage, which is something Doug Armstrong said at the time of the trade as well. Revisionist history? Sure he did because he was told Kyrou and Thomas were unavailable? I have no idea, but I do know that I never heard the “settled for the 3rd or 5th best prospect” from any source other than pissed off Sabre fans or gloating Blues fans.

I’m a little surprised how quickly the light dimmed for Peyton around here as a prospect, especially given his work ethic and this organization’s recent success developing players. His numbers as a prospect were very much in line with Kulich and Savoie and he’s put up 31 points in 79 Sabres games as a 21-year-old rookie. He’s going to get better and we’re watching it happen.

I watched Krebs some in junior and a lot in Rochester. His recent style of play is not out of character for him at all. He was always a pass-first low-goals player who played with more pace than virtually anyone else around him. The winner last night was right in his wheelhouse as far as the type of offence he’s going to be able to supply: exploding into space to create a lane, then laying the puck perfectly into that lane for a linemate.

Donnie started out his tenure talking about how talented these kids were and how much they cared about each other when there wasn’t a lot of evidence to support it. We found out he was right. Donnie talked about how he wasn’t going to teach these guys how to play safe, he was going to teach these guys offence. We are now the most explosive team in hockey. Donnie has more recently been talking a lot about not focusing on what could or has gone wrong and fighting to not lose, but focusing on what you can do right in order to help the team win. Three blown leads tied up late and won in overtime, against 3 of the hottest teams in the NHL. The guy walks the talk more than any coach I can remember. This team is reflection of its leader.

Guys, I meant 3C as in the 3rd-best centre, who usually gets the 3rd-most ice-time. Its not a commentary on linemates or situations. I sometimes forget this board consistently referred to Okposo last season as a 4RW despite the fact he was top 6 in ice time and among the NHL’s top 30 highest scoring RWs.

Not sure exactly when the switch happened, but Peyton Krebs has looked good since he got moved in between KO and Z. Over the past month he’s got 3 goals and 3 assists in 12 games and leads the team with a 58% Corsi and an on-ice ES goal% of 78%! He’s only been on the ice for 2 ES goals against total. He’s cut the giveaways to 3 over that span and matched that with 3 takeaways. He’s playing 13 minutes a game, is starting to kill penalties and even leads all forwards with 19 hits. He’s passing the eye test as well, looking like a real hound on the forecheck and the back check. He’s still only 21 and just 92 games into his NHL career. Will Thompson/Cozens/Krebs emerge as a 1-2-3 centre spine of a contender?

I think his better play (and the drop in play of Quinn and Peterka) has roughly coincided with when Donnie started giving the harder matchups to the Cozens line instead of the Mitts line. Not sure when the switch happened, but Casey has 10 points in his past 12 games, 8 of them at even strength. He’s also a +2 and sporting a 55.2 % Corsi. Maybe he’s not a good 2nd liner, but he is a good 3rd liner.

Moved into 18th overall in points tonight, 15th in points percentage. 12/4/2 since Mule returned. 16/5/2 overall with 23 in the lineup. That’s a .739 win percentage, which would be good for #2 in the league.