dudacek

Dahlin versus Power is an interesting discussion given the mystery box elements of both players. But they are easily 1/2.

Sounds like he might return to the practice right after the break according to Granato on WGR this morning. He was imprecise, but made it sound like that's also the case for Zemgus and the hoped-for case for Mitts. Caggiula and Hinostroza probably not, but maybe not too much later. Butcher and Miller still a ways off. Donnie very happy to be getting some stability in goal again and very much itching to get a mostly full roster.

People who make fun of curling and enjoy baseball have no sense of perspective.

I’ve only watched him play one game. (WJC) I was surprised that he did not look noticeably small out there; height-wise he looked average, and his gear must have hidden the skinniness. He also did not shy away at all from contact. Elias Peterson in his draft year was 6’2” 161. He put up 41 in 43 in Allsvensken.

I am considering 2 possibilities for the Rosen pick: The Sabres did a ton of work on Rosen and saw him as a Jack Quinn: a highly skilled, self-motivated kid behind some of his peers in terms of his development curve, but with an enormous ceiling and huge potential for growth. The Sabres fell in love with Rosen's explosive U18 tourney in a year where scouting opportunities were slim, and invested heavy on a small sample size when picking him out a large tier of players. Either way, I'm not going to pass judgement any time soon. He's a long-term project.

They need to win more, and to win fans back, agreed. It’s why I can’t see a bottom 5 finish next year as an intended tank, more like a misreading of what they have and what they added.

I think development and the future will still take precedence over right now next year in terms of the way the Sabres do business. As in they won’t be using significant assets or cap space to acquire much in the way of proven veterans. We are going to watch a lot of Mitts-Tage-Tuch-Asplund-Cozens-Krebs-Quinn-Peterka-Dahlin-Jokiharju-Power-Samuelsson-Luukkonnen, in pretty significant roles, supplemented by a handful of vets. I doubt any of those vets will be as good as Tuch, hopefully most will be more Okposo than Hayden. Whether that is tanking or not I guess is in the eye of the beholder. To my mind they want to and expect to improve, but are planning for much of the improvement to come from within.

I doubt Rasmus and Henri are this team's future number one pairing. But I think it's best for Dahlin to be playing tough minutes against tough opponents. And I think it's best for Jokiharju to be playing tough minutes against tough opponents. I think the most important thing about this season is development. So while I'm not entirely against the premise of this thread I'm watching the situation with a bit of a different lens.

I have hopes this is part of the plan, just not yet. Reinvestment is coming after the year of austerity has passed. That stuff falls flat in an empty arena.

It was almost more about what he represented than who he actually was.

Donnie said Tage and Asplund back in for Casey and a player-to-be-determined. The latter will be Sunday’s 7th D, most likely Fitzgerald.

+1 to the list. I see a team capable of entertaining me, that looks like it can actually manufacture enough offence that I haven’t given up hope when the other team scores 2. It’s always crest on the front before name on the back, but I like cheering for Kyle-Tuch-Dahlin-Cozens-Krebs and a few others more than I have than most players who have passed through here over the past decade. And I particularly like the coach. I think Donnie Granato gets it. And the organization is practicing what they’ve preached. They’ve picked a path and they are following it, noise be damned. I see whining, and complaining and entitlement being replaced by a nose-to-the-grindstone, stick-together, we’re-gonna-overcome attitude. When they get better - it seems inevitable to me that it’s when, not if - they will have earned it. This season does not feel like more of the same, it feels like the start of a change. Hopefully this time they get it right.

You think that a goalie automatically has a bad game if he gives up 5?

His first bad game in 3 years. #notexagerrating

yet Seattle came in under the exact same rules. #gmsmatter

Whether we support it or not, we know Adams had no interest in investing term in a goalie last year and I assume that's in large part because he felt pretty strongly that his guy was already in house. I doubt anything has happened this year to change his mind; Luukkonen looked like he might be ready in his brief look, Levi and Portillo still look promising. If nothing else changes in the next few months, Adams is going to sign/acquire a goalie on a short-term deal to platoon with UPL next year. I want to see enough of UPL to show Adams whether or not UPL justifies that projection. Anderson's ability to stay healthy to finish the year is likely to influence whether he is in the running to be the other half of that projection. Where Levi fits is another element. There's definitely still lots of runway here as to where he decides to go.

We aren't disagreeing except maybe in degrees.

The play and the availability of Anderson and UPL down the stretch is really important to this summer's decision-making process.

I hope people aren't using the bold to handwave away what really here. A large segment of the internet thought they had unlocked a magic formula where they could calculate how good a quarterback would be. Josh Allen levelled the playing field, proving that traditional scouting practices have value and spreadsheet scouting is not infallible.

Yeah, but it's me driving that bus, and who listens to me? 😁

It's crazy this kid doesn't get more hype. 34-2-1 with a .941 save percentage and a 1.47 GAA in his last junior season 6-1-0 with a .964 save percentage and a 0.75 GAA in the world juniors 16-7-1 with a .948 save percentage and a 1.55 GAA in his 1st college season 20 shutouts in his last 68 games. Numbers aren't everything and it is often easy to look past them, especially with goalies. But look at those numbers. At three different levels. Nobody does that. At any level

I think this is as close as we’re going to get to you taking the L on this one. 😁

Did we know that Dylan, at 20, is the 9th-highest-scoring U22 player in the NHL right now, 3rd in goals? Did we know that Rasmus Dahlin is the 5th-highest, with numbers - goals, assists, plus-minus - that are very similar to Zegras despite the fact he is a defenceman? It’s so easy to forget how young these guys are and who their peers are. Isn’t it weird that the internet is talking about how Zegras is just scratching the surface and Dahlin is disappointing? Dahlin is 11 months older than Zegras, playing a tougher position.

Funny thing is, Granato said this almost verbatim. Cant remember the context. Might have been Mitts, but I think it was Quinn.

Every time I start to worry about Cozens turning pucks over, or skating into checks, he has a game like that one, or a period like the second versus the Avs last night. He plays a power/speed game against men in a boys body. He is 20 years old. Ryan Kesler is a guy I like to compare Cozens to. He didn’t put up the type of numbers Cozens is putting up right now until he was 23. Remember how much better Eichel and Reinhart were at 23 than 20? When Dylan’s strength and experience match his skill and his motor he is going to be so good.