dudacek

You might be right, but it won’t be because they are keying on him more. They’ve been keying on him for a while now and it hasn’t slowed him down. To me, that is what is most impressive about Tage’s season, his consistency; he’s been running at roughly a point per game basically for 4 months now. He has gone longer than 1 game without a point just once - a 3-game stretch in early March - since the calendar turned. He has points in 15 of his past 19 games seeing the top players of the other teams, 31 of his past 42. He has 24 goals and 43 points over that span. Personally, I think he’s for real. What we are seeing is a similar breakthrough to what we saw with Sam Reinhart on the back half of his 4th year.

Under the CBA, they cannot be offered more money. Their decision will be based on comfort and opportunity. I haven’t done the homework, and I am sure there will be competition, but the opportunity in Buffalo is huge. There is no one on a long-term contract standing in your way at any organizational level. Jobs are there for the taking. Comfort is much harder to read. All we know is that the Sabres have preached an attractive culture and appear to be developing it, but there also exists that “Sabre stink” built from a decade of losing. Personally, I think the relationships being built by Adams and his development team will be crucial when it comes time for these players to pick between Buffalo and a mystery box.

I’m not really disagreeing with you - Eichel is more gifted, clearly has a better overall body of work and has hit much higher highs - but I think there’s also some hyperbole there based on the concept of Jack Eichel versus the reality. Jack Eichel in the 1st Krueger year was a top 10 player in the NHL. And the year previous he was very close. But what about his 1st 3 seasons, and his most recent 2? I think there is a conversation to be had that what Tage is doing this year is close enough to what Eichel has done in 5 of his 7 seasons that this thread isn’t the laugher you are making it out to be. Your post is based on a certainty that Jack is going to come all the way back from his injury and be a player we haven’t seen in over 2 years. Is Tage Thompson in the conversation for the top 50 players in the NHL this year? Top 75? Is Jack Eichel? I think that’s the question this thread is posing. And the fact that the answer isn’t immediately obvious makes it an interesting conversation. (I miss @Thorny)

I think the three kids in Buffalo right now want to be in Buffalo and deserve to be in Buffalo and the Sabres benefit more from them being there than in Rochester. Rochester exists to serve Buffalo, not the other way around.

Is Tage becoming a leader on this team? My answer is yes.

Popular perception around here is that Johnson should see Power Dahlin and Samuelsson as blocking his way to an NHL job. Maybe he sees them 3/4s of a perfect top 4 where he slides in as the missing piece? Maybe as Taro says he's fallen in love with playing college hockey in a place where hockey is valued. Maybe as Archie says he'd rather not make his way under Dad's shadow? I'm not questioning your factors, just pointing out that they paint a very narrow picture. There are a lot of things we do not know.

I think the point is that people make deductions based on assumptions about what individuals might value.

The most logical place for Johnson remains the Sabres: the team that picked him, nurtured him, treated him first-class and offers him an opportunity to be part of an exciting young group on the rise in a community where hockey actually matters.

Not eligible for AHL next year

Or at least that’s what he told Kevyn Adams. https://www.audacy.com/wgr550/sports/sabres/sabres-adams-still-waiting-on-decision-from-ryan-johnson Has insight on both Portillo and Johnson.situations.

I think Adams is handling this one correctly.

There was a play yesterday where he came out of nowhere to strip the puck and snuff a good Flyer rush that was elite hustle. He’s been backchecking like a beast. Some people are noticing. Not disagreeing with this at all. You have to acknowledge that his play last night was why young defencemen get benched by most coaches, though, right? If Joki had that game this board would be all over him.

NHL.com. I ran each month individually Dec. 1 to Jan. 1.

Correct. Not going to give hints yet.

Outstanding, thank you. My “type” has always been highly competitive, highly intelligent, team-first. Explains why I am in tune with where Adams appears to be steering us.

Not Ramsey or Schoeny, yes to Lindy, Krupp and Smehlik. And yes to the rest. Van Boxmeer’s 18 is the best by a player not named Housley or Ruff. I certainly wouldn’t count Ruff because many of those goals were scored as a forward, but he is the only one on the list other than Housley to hit 20. Little surprised Bodger only did it twice (11 and 12). Looks like 2 more.

The chart is kinda interesting: October .688 November .286 December .318 January .385 February .250 March .700 April .444 They would seem to indicate slow improvement from a bad team, with unexpected blips in February and March.

It’s been hit by a defenceman 37 times in Buffalo Sabres history, 8 times by Phil Housley. Good trivia question: name the Sabres blueliners other than Housley, Dahlin and Leopold to reach 10 goals. I think there have been 15 of them.

I honestly think we haven’t made enough of Tage. He’s well-past the hot streak/puck-luck stage. He creates his own chances and legitimately snipes. He can dangle and protect the puck. He’s fearless and he plays with swagger. To my eyes he’s been very much a leader on the ice. When things are tight, he’s the guy I look for to make a play. I know he hasn’t had much competition in the past decade, but 34 goals in the same ballpark as the best Sabres seasons by the likes of Hawerchuk, Drury, Pominville and Eichel. It’s a number reached by (rough count) only 16 other Sabres. Other than Eichel, he’s become the most dangerous offensive weapon we’ve had up-front since Danny Briere. And it has literally come out of nowhere. Im sure I’m forgetting people, but the only Sabres I can recall making this sort of jump from spare part to legit top-6er are Robert and Satan.

This should make me excited, but it actually makes me question the validity of the stat.

I am troubled that Montreal, Ottawa, Detroit and Philadelphia are very much going to have a shot at this kid.

I don’t think this thread is asking an unnecessary question, just one that’s a little premature. We’re still in the process of taking the step from bad team to competitive one; which is is about adding talent and developing culture. Once we are competitive, there will be an increased focus on composition, filling the holes necessary to push from competitor to contender. And that may involve needing to add more brute strength or bite. in terms of identity, Adams talked early on about wanting to be fast and relentless; I think that is where we are trending. if there is a signature player who best represents that identity, I’m going to say Dylan Cozens, both in approach and in development.

Mitts has 15 points in 22 games since March 1, which also coincides with when he seemed to get past his injury in terms of the eye test. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the team started playing better around the same time. I don’t think he quite trusts his shot yet, but he’s got a good wrister. He may only end up as a Derek Plante level player, but on this team he has been the critical mass that seems to have jumpstarted us from being a 2-line team to a 4-line team.

They’ve been dealt a rough hand with injuries, but the real blow was the Fits/Mule call ups. Without those two the back end just hasn’t been able to defend. Losing Mule for them was like the ‘80s Sabres losing Mike Ramsey.

Hope we’re mature enough that it doesn’t bite us on the ass tomorrow, but we played the first like we thought it would be easy and the the 3rd like we wanted to give it away; we won despite playing just one period the way we’re capable of. I guess it’s a milestone when we aren’t the team on the wrong end of that equation. Philly is bad.