dudacek

I think the most likely scenario is that Comrie is adequate but not “good” and the Sabres eventually make the switch in a bid to jumpstart their season and get a real look at what they have in UPL. I also would not be surprised if at least one of these things will happen within the first 2 months to accelerate the process: Anderson gets hurt, UPL is outstanding in Rochester, or Comrie crumbles under the weight of his opportunity. The switch might be good bad or indifferent depending on the circumstances. I just don’t think Comrie will be good enough or UPL bad enough to prevent it from happening. Whether UPL is good enough to hang on to the crease once he gets it is another story. If pressed, I guess I find it easier to picture him as a “starter” than I do Comrie, but not in any substantive way.

Nope, not gonna. I've foreseen it and it's a hill I've decided to die on. 😜

One of the reasons I think Krebs and Mittelstadt are where they are is in order to give the PP another distribution focal point. And I think @LGR4GM would probably agree there are worse things to do than giving Dahlin and Power a big share of the playmaking responsibility. I thought the PP numbers on the back half of the season were interesting: Krebs was 2nd and Mitts 4th in PP points, despite only combining for 1 goal. The other 3 players in the top 5 were Dahlin, VO and Okposo - only 2 of the top 5 were on the current PP1. KO and VO combined for 11 of our 24 PP goals.

I think Krebs has a chance to pass his way to a permanent spot there, or to shoot his way off the spot. I think Okposo is the one who will be replaced eventually, although Skinner is the one who probably should be.

What is really intriguing is that Power and VO are legit PP1 talents on any team, and the guys around them aren't overmatched. Having a viable PP2 - particularly one that loads up the opposite side - is a weapon not many have.

I think it’s inevitable that UPL becomes the starter. The only real questions for me is under what circumstances (injury, poor play by one or both of the others, or his own good play), and whether we are still within striking distance when it happens. I disagree with the notion other teams in the division are in better shape. Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Detroit all have as many questions as we do and Florida’s duo is no sure thing either. Now someone will emerge from the pack as better than we think, but I think it’s hard to say who.

I think Krebs Olofsson Cozens showed the kind of chemistry down the stretch that you’d want to keep rolling with. Power is and will be better than fans think. They really are mirror images, aren’t they? Really curious to see how Mitts and Krebs function as set-up men. Could be pivotal to their futures. Hot take: Quinn can better than anyone currently ahead of him in the playmaker, bumper and down-low roles. If either PP stalls, he will be the first one injected.

Not necessarily, but sure. I basically listed all my regular SAbres info stops that aren’t already on the page.

A coach’s lines are never firmly set, but the groups he’s been running with for the past week are going to be a base and will be given a chance to gel. Hino will be subbed in for any injured winger, Krebs shifted for any injured centre. I liked Cozens Krebs Hino as a line last year, I expect Cozens Krebs Peterka to be better this year, once JJ gets settled. Cozens’ growth is going to elevate it on its own and they have the speed to embarrass people. Your perception should change once you realize they are essentially our weakest line and will usually be out there against the opponents weakest players.

Not a big deal, but curious as to why Athletic articles aren’t linked. Not sure how the articles are curated, but they seem to be one of the better sources of info out there. I know they’re paywalled but the Buffalo News is as well after you hit a limit. I also think the Adams and Granato presser videos on the Sabres site would be great additions to the feed. Maybe some of the podcasts as well, like Maintenance Day and Expected Buffalo. Basically would make the news page a one-stop shop for regular Sabres sources of info.

Vibes, ladies and gentleman, vibes. The poll for this thread should make clearer what your expectations are for the team as a whole, but as far as your expectations for individual players go: to paraphrase Dennis Hopper, good things man, good things. The best word to describe the way you voted was optimistic. 1. Nobody expects any of the players who broke out last year to backslide: This, perhaps more than anything explains the conflict between how Sabresfans view the Sabres and how others do. 59 per cent of you expect Jeff Skinner to repeat his career year. Tage Thompson improves his career-best numbers by 54 points and 78 percent of you say he will do as good, or better this year. 95 per cent of you feel Alex Tuch will hit totals he has reached just once in his career. 85 per cent of you think Rasmus Dahlin will finish the year recognized as one of the NHL's top defencemen. Even Kyle Okposo's jump from 2 goals to 21 goals at the age of 34 seems sustainable for nearly half of you. 2. The supporting cast is going to improve It's probably not a surprise that the polls reveal great faith in improvement from Dylan Cozens and Casey Mittelstadt, given the development curve of the former and the misfortunes of the latter, combined with the draft pedigree and the opportunity in front of each. What's probably more surprising is the fact that nearly 59 per cent of you believe that after only 54 NHL games Mattias Samuelsson will be effective as the team's top shutdown defenceman. 3. You aren't pinning your hopes on rookies One of the more intriguing trends of the polls was the reluctance of people to expect "too much" from the kids. Fully 1/3 of you expect Peterka to spend time in Rochester while only 10 per cent see him in the rookie of the year conversation. Quinn fared a little better with just 4 per cent predicting more time with the Amerks and 23 per cent seeing him being a Calder contender. Even Power — whom everyone expects to play and play a lot — had 3/4s of the voters expecting less than 40 points. 4. Goaltending will be better, but it's still a concern Sabrespace has invested a fair amount of hope in Comrie (62 per cent) to emerge to carry the load better than last year's collection of keepers, even though only 27 per cent of you feel he will do that to the level of a legit NHL #1. You don't think Craig Anderson can perform at a level beyond "reliable backup", and almost no one expects Luukkonen to be a significant factor on the big club this year. A sizable portion don't see that ever happening for UPL. Do you agree with the consensus? Why or why not? Individual polls here: 1 Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen 8 Riley Sheahan 10 Henri Jokiharju 15 Anders Bjork 19 Peyton Krebs 20 Lawrence Pilut 21 Kyle Okposo 22 Jack Quinn 23 Mattias Samuelsson 24 Dylan Cozens 25 Owen Power 26 Rasmus Dahlin 28 Zemgus Girgensons 29 Vinnie Hinostroza 31 Eric Comrie 37 Casey Mittelstadt 41 Craig Anderson 45 Casey Fitzgerald 46 Ilya Lyubushkin 53 Jeff Skinner 71 Victor Olofsson 72 Tage Thompson 74 Rasmus Asplund 77 JJ Peterka 78 Jacob Bryson 89 Alex Tuch

Pretty much the entire team was with him. Rough count from photos on the Sabres Twitter account there were at least 15 guys I saw.

Yes.

And this is what i was referring to in my initial post: Tuch was one of the few Sabres in the past number of years to spend more time in the opponents end than his own: his game lends itself to exiting the Sabres zone, entering the opponents zone and keeping the puck there. To my mind a "play driver" is someone who someone who tilts the ice in a positive direction while also producing offence.

In what way would Cozens be better had he had a stint with Rochester? A 50-point rookie season last year if he had spent the previous year in Rochester? 40 points in 60 games had he spent the first 20 last year in Rochester?

In off-ice news, the Sabrespace News page has a new look and is looking sharp @SDS

In what way, shape or form was Dylan Cozens rushed? Kid got sent down and dominated his D+1 year in junior - 38 goals and 85 points in just 51 games. Top 10 picks with that kind of production generally go to the NHL in their D+2 seasons. COVID loaded up the WJC in his D+2 year - everyone eligible played because there was no NHL. Despite the tougher competition, he put up 8/8/16 in just 7 games - one of the most productive tourney’s ever by a Canadian. He finished that year with 41 games in Buffalo and struggled a bit but survived. His junior team didn’t play. The Amerks didn’t play much. That set him up for his first full season last year, where he finished 83rd among NHL centres in points - in the same range as players like Toews, Cirelli, Necas, Domi and Wild Bill Karlsson. He clearly belonged in the NHL. Is it really your position that Dylan would be farther ahead right now if he had played 25 games in Rochester in 20/21 rather than 41 in the NHL? Or that he should have been in the AHL last year? How was he rushed?

The Okposo as a 4th-liner meme is pretty much the creation of Ralph Krueger. If you want to put your faith in that guy’s judgement…🤷 Ice time and rank over his 6 years in Buffalo 16:47 2nd liner 13:53 3rd liner 12:51 4th liner 13:47 3rd liner 17:02 2nd liner 18:58 2nd liner If the Sabres get to the point Okposo is being benched, that means the team is healthy, and all of Krebs, Peterka, Quinn have taken a big jump, or Kyle’s game has fallen off a Cliff. I wonder how many questioning Kyle’s C also slammed the Sabres for “forcing” the C on Eichel. They stripped the room of the failed core and gave it a season for the new leadership to evolve. This is what evolved. Any one who doesn’t understand that Kyle is the leader of this group just hasn’t been paying attention.

Hockey Canada is publicly funded

Straight out of Donnie’s mouth: Comrie requested the away games, knowing full well what that meant.

Pilut has clearly outperformed Bryson and should start ahead of him, IMO. I will understand JJ ahead of Hinostroza if it happens, or UPL over Comrie - short-term pain, long-term gain and all that. IMO, that doesn’t apply to Bryson over Pilut

I’ve always been a IQ/compete before tools guy, but Tuch’s tools are fascinating. His size/speed combo is top-shelf, as in other than Eichel, who have we ever had to match? He’s a train through the neutral zone and a big cat along the offensive boards. I don’t see a natural goal scorer, but he sees the ice well and moves the puck and himself into the right spots. What I see, and what I think the coaching staff sees, is a nice guy who perceives himself as a complementary piece rather than someone who can and should impose his will on the game. I don’t generally buy the idea of a guy taking a step in his mid-20s, but I look at Thompson, another guy who was not the sum of his tools, see what this staff unlocked there, and can hope. Tuch is, and should continue to be, a good player regardless. *** Ive always been on the Dahlin train because he’s always had the compete and the IQ to match his elite tools once the confidence and the experience caught up. He’s arrived even if his reputation has yet to catch up. Power looks to tick all those boxes as well, is starting later and better prepared in terms of comfort and maturity, and is coming into what appears to be a much better environment. So I think he will arrive more quickly than Ras did as a legit 1st pairing guy. If he even matches, let alone surpasses Dahlin we will be a contender for a long time. Their games are so different: Dahlin is lava, Power is ice.

I believe Donnie started camp with this pencilled intending to roll over these 4 lines at ES: Skinner Thompson Olofsson Quinn Mittelstadt Tuch Girgensons Asplund Okposo Krebs Cozens Peterka Lean heavily on the top 4 of this 6: Samuelsson Dahlin Power Jokiharju Bryson Lyubushkin Rotate these 2 in net until their play changes that situation: Anderson Comrie And lean on these guys a lot as spares: Hinostroza Fitzpatrick Which left one spot potentially open on a healthy roster. Don’t think anything has happened in camp to upset that apple cart, despite what I may think of UPL and Pilut outplaying some of the chosen few, or a lacklustre showing from Bryson, or spotty play from maybe Krebs or Peterka. The money quote from Donnie was when he referenced the body of work prior to camp. He’s going to give this group some time. Bjork, Sheahan and Pilut are the only players on the bubble right now and those decisions certainly aren’t going to make or break our start.

Said differently, but pretty much lines up with what I said in the playoff thread. We make the playoffs if: We get .915 goaltending from whoever emerges as the starter Someone puts up 60ish points driving a 2nd line. Owen Power has an immediate impact carrying a 2nd pair on D I don’t think you’re wrong to isolate on Mitts and Cozens, but it looks to me like Donnie is focused on making Tuch the driver on line 2 - not necessarily a bad choice given that he was our 2nd-best forward last year. I hope his linemates can help him. Im curious if/how soon they turn to UPL. I’ve got a feeling it becomes his crease at some point this year. Power has looked fantastic IMO. You can see him testing and processing; he is the poster child for all of Donnie’s internalizing and learn by doing blab. I think he will be that guy this year, just not sure how soon.

UPL Sheahan and Okposo bring the roster to 26. Three more cuts/moves to IR to complete the final roster. Not looking good for Bjork.