dudacek

I see it as the current top 4 plus a veteran Jay McKee type added on the right side as the core. Bryson ahead of Fitz and a Pysyk type in the final 3 spots.

Because arguably the best “2C” in hockey is the same as arguably the best defenceman? Because a 95th ranked prospect is the same as a 26th? Or because a 1st and 2nd rounder is the same as “a pick”? The ROR trade was for 3 lottery tickets, not 3 raffle tickets for the fruit basket at the church bazaar. At the time it was more like trading Peca, Wilson and a 1st for Mogilny. It’s unlikely Thompson and Johnson become Peca and McKee, but it was also unlikely Peca and McKee became Peca and McKee.

The bitterness toward the ROR trade is much more fuelled by the relative fortunes of the franchise in its immediate wake than an actual weighing of the trade. It was always a futures deal and the futures are just starting to play out. It’s like people here still think we ripped off Nashville in the Paul Gaustad trade. You know, the one where we flipped a good bottom six forward, along with the pick they used to take Jusse Saros, along with a 2nd rounder Calgary used to take Patrick Sieloff in order to grab Zemgus Girgensons. You know, a good bottom six forward? Genius! If Thompson reels off another 4 or 5 years of 25 goal seasons for a good Sabres team, the Sabres made out fine in the trade, no matter Colin Miller or Ryan Johnson, or ROR’s Conn Smythe. There was no universe where he was winning a Conn Smythe here on Jason Botterill’s team. If Tage goes back to being an 8 goal man who’s out of hockey in a few years, they didn’t.

If the Blues offered Ryan O’Reilly today for Tage and the rights to Johnson, you would accept?

Do you mean why push one of that group out of the top 4? I wouldn't really get hung up on the pairing or the "top 4" label. I want at least one third-pairing guy who can play harder minutes. I want to add an experienced, defensively strong, right-handed shot who can kill penalties and add some physical strength and reliability to the overall unit. Those are factors our overall defence corps needs.

I also think the culture change started the second Donnie took over, and continued with Adams' purge. And the way Thompson, Dahlin, Jokiharju, Mitts and other key youngsters embraced it played a bigger role than has been aknowledged. I'm not diminishing what Tuch brought, but I don't think the transition started when he arrived, more like he cemented it.

No, I believe culture is a factor. I just think it would be silly to ignore the difference in results when the team has had a healthy Anderson, Joki, Tuch, Mitts and Olofsson in the lineup compared to without. For example, with Anderson, the team is 16/12/2 compared to 13/26/9 without. Anderson's health has also largely coincided with the health of the other 4 I listed.

I am not against signing Manson. I think its weird to be OK with giving Manson $5 over for and not being OK to buck up a similar amount to VO (No idea what @sweetlou thinks we should be paying Victor, I just remember people being adamantly opposed to giving him $5 million.) I'm OK with overpaying for a 2RD, just so long as we don't give him term. I thinking anyone giving Manson more than 3 years ends up regretting it.

You must have missed the reports that the Sabres were leading the league in games lost to injury prior to getting healthy a month or two ago. https://theathletic.com/3083587/2022/01/20/sabres-have-struggled-to-stay-healthy-during-the-first-half-of-the-season/ https://www.audacy.com/wgr550/sports/sabres/kevyn-adams-will-talk-to-brandon-beane-about-injuries They were without their top 2 goalies for 2 months or more, and the third stringer they traded for got hurt almost immediately. Their projected 1C going into camp missed almost the entire 1st half and took a long time to recover once he returned. Their best shooter couldn’t shoot for half a season because of his arm. Their best power forward was unavailable until Christmas time. Their best RHD and their co-captain and best checking forward missed more than 20 each. The goalie situation alone would have devastated any team, but you are also handwaving 1/2 of their top 6 up front, and their 2D, as well as a glue guy in their bottom 6. And expected depth guys behind them like Hinostroza, Miller, Butcher, Caggiula, Quinn and Samuelsson were all unavailable for significant chunks of time. Of the top of my head, the only good comparable was Montreal and look what happened to them. “All teams get injuries” is a gross misrepresentation of what happened in the first half of this year.

This is well worth a listen. Tage comes across as focused, self-aware, self-assured and fully bought in to what this team is trying to build. He sounds like a leader.

Samson Good to see Sam getting the credit he didn't get enough of while he was here. Too bad people still aren't seeing how good a healthy Victor can be.

Full agreement with the bolded change

Agreed. There is no world where I want to hand UPL the number one slot. If he steals the job because he outplayed a real NHL goalie, fine. But anointing him the starter would be folly.

Hope people get the nuance here, but I don't think this is a career year as much as it is a breakthrough year. I see it as similar to Eichel, Dahlin and Reinhart's 4th year: a season which sets the baseline for what we can generally expect from him going forward; even if he never matches it, he should be in the ballpark. It not like he's an established 40-point guy who suddenly put up 60 in his 7th season. He lost a year to injury and has played less than 150 games before this season.

I want UPL in the NHL next year. It's time. If he doesn't make the jump, we probably shouldn't count on him to ever make it. But we need to see what he's got.

It's like this board believes that no hockey player ever went to college to win a national championship or (gasp!) get an education.

According to Marty and Duffer, that’s the simplest path.

William Karlsson went from a 75-point guy to a 55-point guy, so if that’s what’s meant by fluke, then I can follow the logic. My point was that it’s hard to watch what Tage does and how he does it and think that he’s not a legitimate top-6 player. If you can sign him to a long-term deal befitting a 55-point scorer this summer I’d do it in a second because he is going to be at least that player and he could be more. If he wants to be paid like a 75-point scorer, yes make him do this again first.

UPL doesn’t fail the eye test like Dell and Tokarski do with the lunging and the odd stances and the getting turned around. He presents a big solid front, is extremely good down low and in tight and is athletic post-to-post. He looks like a modern NHL goalie. And then shots from well out that he is ready for just go through him. It’s strange. He’s certainly good enough to play in the NHL, but until he fixes that flaw, I’m not sure he can be the guy.

So much about goaltending is personal taste and belief. Holtby makes sense on paper, but I don’t see him as a culture guy and I’m not a believer in his game. I think Anderson could make the “3-headed monster” work. He’s essentially there as a safety net and/or assistant coach if the other 2 guys are playing well, and to share the load if one of them doesn’t. UPL can still be sent down if he’s not earning his job. Anderson can be waived and kept in Buffalo, with a poison pill contract to protect him if we need a roster spot. I dont trust any of the 3 to be a number 1, but I’m OK with 1 of the 3 emerging.

Quinn had a quiet game but he was money in the shootout. Springfield played a very stifling game. UPL looked very good for most of his 65 minutes, but long shots continue to plague him.

I don’t know how anyone has watched Tage play this year can consider it a fluke.

Offer Fleury one year at $10 million, be sad when he turns it down. Kuemper and Freddie Anderson are also guys I’d overpay for a year, maybe 2, but they’ll want term. I’d definitely do the same for Husso and heks a guy I’d consider signing to term. Doubt Adams will. Braden Holtby is probably more durable than Anderson but otherwise I prefer Craig. I have no interest in signing a Strauss Mann type unless it’s on a 1-year deal. I’m not replacing or blocking Levi and Portillo until I know I have to. I’m slowly coming around to Marty Biron’s idea of Casey DeSmith as being the guy who best fits within Adams’ parameters. I’m not high on DeSmith, but I can buy into Karmanos and Ventura having some insight there. Can we run with Anderson UPL and DeSmith in an open competition?

I would expect the pair of them to share the crease in Rochester and may the best man win. That is if one of them (Levi) doesn’t beat out UPL or whatever bridge goalie is sharing the crease in Buffalo.

It’s even beyond that though. Since Christmas-ish, the Sabres have effectively added: Tuch Krebs Mittelstadt Samuelsson Power Anderson Plus a healthy Olofsson They’ve made a real difference.