dudacek

I respect this view too, but you can't really compare what the Sabres are trying to do with the majority of playoff teams This is not a contender looking to add a missing piece, or an established team trying to hold on to a playoff spot, or climb back into one. This is a downtrodden franchise attempting to rebuild from within with youth. Who has had success with that method and what did they look like? When Toronto took its step from doormat to perennial contender, these were the ages of its 6 highest-scoring forwards Matthews 18 Van Reimsdyk 27 Kadri 25 Nylander 20 Marner 19 Bozak 30 When Carolina switched from 9 consecutive playoff misses to 6 consecutive playoff appearances, these were theirs Aho 21 Teravainen 23 Williams 36 Ferland 26 Svechnikov 18 Neiderreiter 25 Colorado MacKinnon 22 Rantanen 20 Landeskog 24 Kerfoot 23 Soderberg 31 Comeau 31 New Jersey's leap 2 years ago Hughes 21 Hischier 23 Bratt 24 Mercer 20 Tatar 31 Haula 31 This is how the Sabres compare Tuch 28 Thompson 26 Peterka 22 Cozens 23 Quinn 22 Benson 19 If you want to follow in the footsteps of those teams, age should not be an excuse anymore. If our guys are going to be good enough, they're old enough to show it.

I’ve been waiting to see where Lindy was going to go with this. Basically, sub Dahlin in for Jokiharju and that’s a very likely PP1. Wondering if she’s got Quinn and JJ reversed because Quinn’s a RH shot, and the right half-wall is where JJ has excelled in Rochester and with the German national team. i wanted Byram there but thought Appert would go with JJ. Also Quinn down low fits with what Lindy and Appert were saying in terms of what they want to do. And PP2 looks like it could be a PP1. I wonder if that could be Kulich’s ticket to making the team, because having Byram, Power and Benson breaking down the box for his shot sure puts him in a position to succeed. No clue who else would go there if he gets sent down. Granato never used Cozens in that low spot, but I’ve seen him succeed there with Team Canada. Not expecting magic right away, but I like the way they’ve constructed things.

Good post. 23ish, 3rd or 4th season-ish, 200 games-ish: those are typical signposts where players transition from developing to regular. Kevyn Adams is right about one thing: youth is no longer an excuse. There are a lot of Sabres at the point of their careers where they need to become who they will be.

This post is the Sabres and Sabrespace right now in a nutshell: ”I know these players are talented but they’ve given me no reason to have faith they’ll be GOOD THIS YEAR.” It applies to Cozens, Benson and Quinn. But is also applies to Thompson and Tuch, and Luukkonen and Peterka, and Byram and Power and Levi and Samuelsson. It even applies to Dahlin, (except with him it’s not about how good, it’s about how great.) That’s half the team and its entire core. The flip side of that is they’re young, but they’re not rookies any more. Most of them are at the point where they need to show us what they’re made of. We’re pushing the chicks out of the nest and they’re going to fly or fall. And if they fall, we’re probably on to another rebuild. It’s ***** terrifying.

Setting aside the top 15 arguments, I will be very surprised if Tage isn’t more productive this year. I think @mjd1001 put together a pretty compelling statistical argument about how the hand injury affected his shooting percentage and the resulting dip in production. His scoring trend over the year - putting up a point per game over the final third of the season - supported that as well. Not sure if it’s chicken or egg, (probably both), but a good chunk of any statistical improvement will be tied to the success of the Sabres power play. He had 18 fewer points (11 of them goals) on the PP last year than the year before.

Incredibly unscientific, small sample size, but I’m pretty sure this is the line that finished the season playing together. Over the month of April (7 games), they went Quinn 4/3/7 +3 52.2% Corsi Benson 2/5/7 +1 55.2% Cozens 3/2/5 +3 53.8% They were 3 of the team’s top 6 scorers and 3 of its top 5 possession players. In short, they were pretty good. The team beat Washington twice, Philly and TAmpa, lost to Dallas, Detroit and Florida in OT

It’s weird given their relative physical stature and style, but I think Briere and Thompson are very good comparables: Not only in terms of how each kinda slow-cooked their way to excellence, but also in terms of production relative to age, and how they impact the game.

To me the question about Benson has nothing to do with size or skating, it’s how talented this kid actually is. If he can skate, battle and process against NHL players at 18, he’s not going to stop doing those things at 19. If he’s like 95% of rookies, he’s only going to get better at those things. The question is how much better. The Corey Pronmans of the world don’t see a huge amount of room for growth in his game because they think he can only go so far with his size/speed combination. I disagree. I’m really curious how far his hands, compete and IQ can take him.

Did you listen to what Lindy had to say about Benson?

Happy to hear Lindy singling out Byram as the best player on the ice during today’s scrimmage. Other interesting remarks to me: Praise for both Benson and Zucker that reinforced the early trend of Zach on the 2nd line and Jason on line 3. Basically said Zucker understands his role isn’t going to be as big and is bringing it in the role he’s been given; and said Benson just gets it, calls him a special player and said he’s already figuring out how to score in the NHL. Krebs’ role will ‘sort itself out’. Likes his work ethic but then started talking about puck decisions and Krebs being in a group that tries to do too much in areas where they shouldn’t. https://www.nhl.com/sabres/video/lindy-ruff-after-scrimmage-6362219642112

And in case any one is really interested, looks like Jack Rathbone is #11 on D 😁

You raised the the topic of defensive play. I wondered how he stacked up, looked it up and shared the info. 🤷

Quick scan and probably missed a player or two, but Tage's possession numbers last year compared to others on GA's list Barkov 57.8 McDavid 56.7 Aho 56.7 Matthews 55.8 MacKinnon 55.6 Hughes 55.4 Crosby 54.6 Draisaitl 52.7 Thompson 52.5 Stutzle 52.5 Tavares 52.1 Point 52.0 Barzal 51.6 Miller 51.4 Petterson 51.2 Larkin 50.0 Stamkos 49.8 Eichel 49.8 Zibanejad 49.6 Thomas 48.6

Like I said above, Reinhart is not a centre. Neither is Guentzel. HUberdeau is the other winger listed ahead of him on the points list. (I don't think Stamkos has played much centre over that period, but I'm not arguing that one)

I might not choose the exact same names, but generally this seems fair. He's 19th in points over the past 3 years (Sorry NHL, Guentzel and Reinhart are not centres) He's within 15 points of 13th and within 15 points of 32nd.

He has also scored more goals over the past 3 years than all but 6 other NHL centres. To answer the thread, he was two years ago and he wasn't last year. Personally, I expect him to flirt with 40 goals and 80 points this year, probably falling a bit short of each. So maybe?

Everyone can relax now. Krebs has already lost his spot at 3C. 😘

3C in Lindy’s first practice. 😜 Snark aside, all your points are good ones. I don’t know that playing 12 minutes a night for a month stapled to a pouting Jeff Skinner should be proof that he has blown his shot at 3C, but it certainly was a missed opportunity. But I also don’t know that Ryan McLeod - who has very similar career numbers - is some sort of insurmountable obstacle to Peyton’s life in the Sabrehood. Don Granato asked Krebs to be a 4C. 20 points, 100 hits and a 52% Corsi for are respectable numbers for an NHL 4C, especially one as young as Krebs. He did what he was asked to do. He worked hard, kept his mouth shut and he didn’t pout. For me that counts for something. Whatever offence he had to offer - and we know something was there, looking at what he did in Rochester and Buffalo during his U21 season - was nowhere to be found last year? Why? I see Kulich as different enough to Krebs as to almost be irrelevant, but Östlund and Helenius are different stories. So as we wait 2 years for the latter 2 to become NHLers, where Krebs fits is as a guy who - at minimum - gets an opportunity to cement himself into the 4C role he had last year. Or, better yet, carve himself a new, more important role under Ruff among an unproven forward group where no one should feel comfortable.

Lysowski said he was skating shifts with Cozens and Tage, So Benson and Peterka more likely.

I was talking about Thompson's 2nd contract. Coming off a year where he got hurt and played 1 game, and with 10 career NHL goals, he signed a 3-year deal for $1.4 per. He scored 93 goals over the 3 years of that contract. Still think it has to be the best 2nd contract in Sabres history. Faced with a similar situation that same off-season, Mitts signed his 1-year qualifier.

Adams made it sound like Krebs was the one who caved. I know many won’t buy this because they believe Krebs sucks, but I’m sticking with my theory that Adams played the same hand he did with Thompson and Mittlestadt: You can take your qualifying offer and bet on yourself playing well enough to earn a big raise next summer, or You can take term at a higher AAV for some security, but maybe cost yourself some money next year. He uses his leverage to steer Krebs into term because it thinks he will be better than a $1.4M player over the term of the contract, just like Thompson was over his. I think the fact Krebs started camp at 3C rather than as the 13th forward supports my theory, because it shows the Sabres think more highly of Krebs than you do.

Sounded like Kulich was subbing in with the top 6 a lot (and presumably Malenstyn with the bottom 6?)

Adams: 1st group will be pretty close to our team Paul Hamilton: This is what they rolled out Forwards Peterka Thompson Tuch Benson Cozens Quinn Zucker Krebs Greenway Lafferty McLeod Aube-Kubel Malenstyn, Kulich Defence Power Dahlin (before he got hurt) Mule Clifton Byram Jokiharju Bryson Gilbert Levi and UPL in the net.

It's not about Rousek or Kulich making the team You said there is one guy NHL-ready if there is injury trouble, implying there is no depth. I said that guy, going in to training camp, would probably be the 3rd choice if a forward gets injured. And I said the top defenceman from prospect camp would also be no better than the 3rd man up if there is an injury on D. Meaning there is depth that you aren't considering. Right now, most people have Krebs, Rousek, Kulich, Gilbert, Bryson, Clague and Reimer as the guys outside the starting 20 looking to get in. To start the season, they are the next men up, not Östlund or Komarov.

27 players will be making the trip