dudacek

Johnson's upside has never been offence. His strengths are defending the rush, breaking the forecheck and exiting the defensive zone. He rarely causes trouble, and is good at getting you out of it.

From John Vogl’s piece today in The Athletic: In 2003-04, the Sabres were a paltry 25th in the league from October to mid-January with a .438 points percentage. But they began jelling around the midpoint and became the sixth-best team from mid-January to April with a .632 points percentage. They started to feel they could win every game and proved it. When the 2005-06 season finally began, a whopping 19 players returned from the 2003-04 team. They still had the same belief in themselves and rode the speed-enhancing rule changes all the way to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference final. These Sabres are scheduled to have at least 16 of their 18 skaters back next season.

It’s also worth mentioning how infrequently Dan has called games from inside the building the past few years.

It's really what you do with it, isn't it? 2017 was a meh draft. We need to go Suzuki/Thomas/Jokiharju/Comtois instead of Rasmussen/Foote/Bowers/Westerlund

I think the twin burdens of voicing the worst era of Sabres hockey ever and replacing the best PBP announcer ever have conspired against Dan and magnified his flaws. I don't love him, but compare him to the field. If you aren't listening on the radio he's fine.

😞 IMO, he is the Amerks' single most important skater.

I would be very surprised if Johnson does not become a Jokiharju-level defenceman who leans to the defensive side of the game. From the very limited information we have, I think Johnson entered the year fully intending to sign with the Sabres when the Minnesota season was over. I suspect that the end of Minnesota's season now has him reconsidering whether he should go back and give a national title another try. I don't think his current status has anything at all to do with a desire to get to free agency. I suspect as things stand right now he still intends to sign with the Sabres. Things could evolve over the next year to change that. Bottom line is I know very little about where his head is and why, and it doesn't seem like anyone else does either.

Quoted here because it’s relevant to free agency. Peyton Krebs always pictured himself putting down his roots in a big yard surrounded with trees in a community where winter looks like winter and he could build a backyard rink for his kids. This is a 21-year-old kid. People tend to think UFAs all want the big bucks in the bright lights of the big city. That’s not where a lot of hockey players come from, nor where they want to stay.

Right. That's why so many make a career out of it. Maybe not, but it let's people process his point based on the facts. $70,000 is a helluvalot different than $500,000

Poturalski made 200,000 this year, 350,000 the 2 previous years and 70,000 each of the 3 years before that.

I wonder what contender will be looking to add Fleury and what kind of money or environment they might they offer. I mean it’s impossible for us to know what factors a player is weighing and what his priorities are. 2 years $15 million to play in Buffalo or 1 year $2 million to play in Toronto or Edmonton?

This struck me as impossible even a few months ago; there’s no way the cheap, rebuilding Sabres would be interested, and if they were, why the hell would Fleury want to come. A few factors have changed my mind, especially after watching the pressers yesterday. Fleury is easily the best available candidate for what we believe Adams is looking for under the cap: a guy who can step in for a year or two and supply some stability and mentorship without blocking Lukkonnen or the prospects coming behind him. He can do everything Anderson did, but better. It would be foolish not to kick those tires. Anderson’s presser could be used as a recruiting tape for Fleury who was treated like dogshit in Vegas. Come here and hang out with a bunch of great guys who love hockey working for people who treat you the way you want to be treated. In addition to Anderson’s sell, Fleury can pick the brains of a large group who remembers the way it used to be in Vegas and speak first-hand to the way it is in Buffalo: Eakin, Miller, Subban and Tuch. The latter spoke yesterday of Fleury being a mentor. Which brings us back to Kevyn Adams the high priest of culture and rebuilding connections with the fans. Fleury embodies everything that Adams wants his organization to be. And his right hand, Jason Karmanos, must have a relationship with Fleury over their long stints in PIttsburgh. Maybe it’s a good one. Finally, there’s the man at the top of the Buffalo food chain, who I suspect has a lot of love for a PIttsburgh Penguin star and lots of money available to send his way. Not sure if there’s any truth to the rumour the Pegula family cat was named Flower. So I see the potential of a highly motivated owner and GM offering Fleury more money than anyone else to play hockey on an emerging team in a great hockey environment, accompanied by the testimony of a number of people he can trust. I think there may actually be a possibility there.

I don’t think it’s out the realm of possibility. There’s an opportunity here to both make a statement that those who want to be here and perform get rewarded, while it the same time setting a Boston/Tampa situation up in terms of a contract structure where people are getting maybe a little less than they might because the guys up top did. Tage this summer and Ras next summer will be important.

He’s really caught my eye as the type of player our group needs. Guess you could say I’m fully on board with the Concept of Cutter Gauthier. 😜

Given the Sabres love for the USNDP and the added insight of Nightingale’s brother I’m prepping myself for the Sabres “reaching” for someone from the program, which won’t bother me at all.

So much respect for what Adams did for the culture this year. He made good people treating each other properly the focus above all else and in just one season totally transformed the way I feel about my team. So much was said about his lack of experience when he was hired. But he’s the anti-Tim Murray. So much of management has nothing to do with analytics, or negotiations, or evaluating talent. It’s about creating an environment where people are empowered to succeed. If Johnson, Portillo and Levi don’t want to be part of this (for the record, I’ve seen no sign that’s the case) we probably don’t want them anyway.

To me he’s looked more “fearless” since Power arrived, particularly pinching and defending the rush. Hasn’t always worked, but he’s made more plays as a result

They asked him about that Said it won’t change a thing about his approach. If it happens he’s honoured. If it’s someone else he’ll be that guysbiggest supporter. I think there might be a run on those jerseys

Quinn looked more like Quinn last night than he has lately. Just the way he constantly demands the puck. Sucks they couldn’t do it on their own, but I hope he gets a shot at the post-season. Really enjoyed watching Krebs Jack JJ and Mule back in December as Amerks. Would like to see it again with more on the line.

What excites me is what we saw down the stretch has been done almost entirely without any help from Adams drafting. We are about to open chapter 2 of a 3-year period of 6 1sts and 6 2nds. Odds are decent that over this period we will be adding a half-dozen more good pieces to a pipeline that began with Quinn and Peterka 2 years ago. More importantly, these guys will be asked to help the franchise, not save it.

This is going to be one of the great debates of the summer. Harrington asked Okposo about it this morning. Kyle called it a tricky question because ordinarily he’d say these wins don’t really matter. What he thinks might be different is that the Sabres didn’t win because they were loose and had nothing on the line, they won because they prepared and played as though they were in the race and those habits can carry over. Thoughtful stuff, like we typically get from Dad. Ill post the video later.

It’s interesting that almost unanimously this board believed Adams had assembled a terrible collection of goalies this year, and we were right. Yet also almost unanimously we believed that goaltending was going to crush the development of this team and we were wrong.

I’m inclined to view it though the Dan Dunleavy effect: where the circumstances amplify the warts. But no, they’ve really been night-and-day better.

One year ago today, by the hockey calendar, we got McCabe, Risto, Reinhart, and of course Jack, all saying in different ways “goodbye” and officially lighting the torches for a burn-it-down off-season. Wont be nearly as incendiary this year. Hope to see a united message of “can’t wait until next year, we’re going to make it worth your while.”

They certainly were part of the leadership group this year. I wonder if they make everyone available? I’m probably over-estimating but it feels like most years we get most, if not all the team.