dudacek

Do you think so? I don't think there's any chance he's going to make or break the Sabres this year as a middle-six winger with a ceiling of about 25 goals and a floor of about half that. i think basically the Sabres overpaid on a one-year so they didn't have to commit on a two-year, and Zucker's role is to be a security blanket for Quinn and Benson, and a bridge to Rosen and Kulich. He's here because — in addition to making considerably more than he would this season elsewhere — he sees a decent opportunity to pad his stats and set himself up for another contract next year. If Lindy goes with the top 6/bottom 6 alignment, I think he and Benson will battle it out for 4th wing spot in the top 6. And if Lindy tries to balance the lines, he probably gets a middle-six role there as well. He's a versatile player, who can add scoring to a checking line, or keep up with more talented players on a scoring line. He gets to the net and forechecks and backchecks with some zip.

So from 2 years ago to last year's team, it wasn't quite a clean sweep: 11 of 12 finishers got worse Skinner's 46 last year for 7th topped Olofson's 40 in that slot from the year before. Every other slot dropped. Obviously just one example, but we didn't have to look far to find another example where such a dramatic, widespread change happened.

Apparently WAY too many overs.

Noted that too. I've seen every game of their NHL careers and a fair number of their Amerk and junior games as well. I wouldn't laugh at someone who disagreed — JJ is a talent — but I have no problem picking Quinn over Peterka.

One would think they'd have to be a train wreck in their own zone for that not to be a playoff team. If it was just some guy's opinion, I'd say he was being too optimistic. None of the numbers are way out of line in and of themselves, there's just too many overs. i have no idea how good the model's track record is.

The Athletic dropped its fantasy hockey projections this morning. For those unfamiliar with it, it's done on a formula: a three-year weighted average of a players production including numbers beyond goals and assists, adjusted for age and any expected changes in roles and deployment. Sabres numbers: Thompson 80 Dahlin 72 Tuch 70 Cozens 67 Peterka 63 Quinn 48 Benson 42 Power 37 Byram 32 Zucker 32 McLeod 29 Greenway 24 That looks like a pretty high scoring team.

Pronman just dropped his pipeline list of the top U23 players in hockey. Sabres have a lot of names on the list, but not at the top. Bubble all star/top of lineup 19 Owen Power Top of lineup 36 Jack Quinn Bubble mid/top of lineup 57 JJ Peterka 58 Konsta Helenius 62 Zach Benson MIddle of the lineup 102 Jiri Kulich 104 Noah Östlund 117 Anton Wahlberg 141 Adam Kleber Of much interest to me: Rutger McGroarty at 147, Matt Savoie at 143. Goalies were included. Devon Levi did not make the list. Going to be a lot of fanbases grumbling about where their personal faves are.

You don’t have to hit guys to play good defence. Nick Lidstrom never threw more than 56 hits in a season. Adam Fox has never thrown more than 44. Hank Tallinder maxed out at 64. These are the guys Power should be emulating in his own zone. Don’t try to be something you’re not, just use your brains and your feet and your reach to get in the way.

I think the safest bet is Tage. Over the past three years combined among NHL centres he ranks: 17 in total points (if you consider Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Steven Stamkos centres) 18 in points/game (again if Stamkos and Nugent Hopkins are centres) 7th in goals (2 behind that pesky Stamkos) He also finished the year with 27 points in his final 28 games which pretty much matches his pace over the past three years, so I am pretty comfortable chalking his overall numbers last year up to his hand injury. He does have to start the year better though. He was 1 point in 6 games out of the gate last year after going 3 in 7 and 4 in 8 to start each of the previous years

This is correct, UPL was never exposed to waivers because all of his Rochester time happened before he became waiver-eligible. He would have been exposed if he had been sent down last year, which was one of the reasons the Sabres kept 3 goalies.

Power’s draft year was a much more pedestrian 0.63 p/g, behind Luke’s .95, Quinn’s .78 and Fox’s amazing 1.14 (it was against easier competition in Harvard, but how the heck did that guy last until the 3rd round?) Power’s 17-year-old season is the 3rd best p/g over a full season by a defenceman in USHL history.

“Elite” is a vague term. Owen Power’s production in his 19-year-old NCAA season was 32 points in 33 games, or 0.97 points/game. Some of his peers in comparison at 19: Adam Fox 0.97 Luke Hughes 1.23 Quinn Hughes 1.03 Jake Sanderson 1.13 Charlie McAvoy 0.68 Brock Faber 0.44 Cale Makar 0.62 Lane Hutson’s 1.29 is the best of the past 25 years. Power ranks 11th.

This is a great point. I added a "none of the above" option for those who feel like you do.

Thompson: Two years ago Tage was a flat-out game-breaking offensive star, embarrassing NHL defensemen with his moves and blowing pucks past goalies from 40 feet. His offensive peers were Jack Hughes, Brayden Point and Sidney Crosby. Last year, his offensive peers were William Karlsson, Sean Monahan and Pavel Zacha. Will he be the point-per-game first-line centre every contender needs? Cozens: The draft pedigree is stellar and the development path has been exactly what you’d expect from a young top-six centre. Until last year. The speed/size/skill/compete combo remains what every scout looks for in a good 2C. Last year the game didn’t match up. Will Cozens get his act together and rebound and bring high-end 2C production and the confidence that was often missing last year? Quinn: No one argues about Quinn being good. The question is how good and how often? Can he stay healthy? And if he stays healthy, will he be a complementary 2nd-line Joel Farabee-type player? Or will he step up to the Alex Tuch/Matt Boldy/Pavel Buchnevich level of top-six difference-maker who drives play from the wing? Power: This is not the first time Sabres fans have been disappointed with the progress of a young, highly touted defenceman. (This thread from less than three years ago is interesting reading). But it is safe to say that last year Owen Power played more to his age than his talent. The question is less about how good he will be eventually, and more about how good he will be this year. Will he consistently tilt the ice in Buffalo’s favour as a 22-minutes-a-night all-situations D2? Samuelsson: Lots of Sabrespacers talk about the need for a big, defensively sound defenceman who can be relied on to play big minutes against the opponent’s top players. It wasn’t that long ago that Mule was being pretty much universally touted around here as that player. Three consecutive seasons of spending nearly as much time on IR as on the ice have softened his support considerably. Will he succeed as this team’s Jay McKee? Luukkonen: It was ironic that last summer’s weakest link actually turned out to be the most reliable part of the team. UPL was good, and once the crease became fully his, he was very good, as in one of the NHL’s best goalies. So unlike the rest of the list, the question is not about whether he can grow or rebound, it is about whether or not he can maintain. There were many, many posters around here adamant that he would never be an NHL goalie. Yet here he is with a 5-year deal and the job of carrying the Sabres back into the playoffs. Will he continue to be the legitimate NHL starter he appeared to be throughout this calendar year?

It’s not unusual to have question marks going into any season about certain players. But I can’t recall a Sabres team with as many unknowns as this one: I don’t mean roster holes, I mean roster slots — key roles — filled with players who may or may not be able to fill them. Teams usually succeed when they have players being properly slotted in the lineup and utilized in roles where they can excel. I am comfortable with Rasmus Dahlin as the Sabres cornerstone defenceman and Alex Tuch as their power forward. I am less comfortable about the other 6 crucial spots in the lineup: 1C, 2C, scoring winger, 2D, shutdown D and 1G. We have guys that could do very well in those roles, but no reason to be confident that they will. If all these guys play to Kevyn Adams expectations, this can be more than a playoff bubble team, it should actually be a good team. If none of them do, prepare for another rebuild as Adams scans the help-wanted sites for local arenas looking for managers. How many of these guys do you see excelling this year? (Pick as many as you think will succeed. Thread loosely inspired by an Athletic Bills article)

This is probably the most talented group of defencemen the Sabres have ever had. I'm not sure there is a more mobile group in the league, and I expect them to be very good in transition — offensively and defensively — and in the offensive end. Overall, they aren't nasty or disciplined enough without the puck in their own zone. Dahlin is a stud, Jokiharju and Clifton match up well with any team's 5th and 6th defencemen, and there are capable fill-in bodies behind them. The unit will sink or swim on what they get from Power, Byram and Samuelsson — a trio that did not play a single game together last year, and has each played 164 or less NHL career games.

That poor family. And under those circumstances and against that backdrop. And Columbus, again.

Pronman appears to have a tendency to scout from a checklist. What I mean is that he has his view of what an ideal NHL player looks like and should be able to do, and he subtracts points from prospects based on what they lack from that archetype. I don’t think it’s a surprise that Dylan Cozens is (or was) his favourite Sabres prospect because that archetype would be Eric Lindros or Mark Messier.

Curious where you got those numbers. Stuff I've seen showed Power ranking highly on his possession numbers offensively, not so good on the defending side, and overall slightly positive. NHL.com had Power at 51.5% Corsi, if i remember correctly. The need for Power to take a leap for the Sabres to do the same is certainly spot on, as far as I'm concerned. Brian Duff has been pushing it a lot this summer.

It really comes down to the bold doesn't it? Are Tage/Tuch/Cozens/Quinn/Peterka/Benson Dahlin/Power/Byram/Samuelsson Levi/Luukkonen the players Adams seems to think they are? Or are they the players we watched last year?

Not being snarky, I wonder how often Pronman sees these guys? He rates literally hundreds of them on his own.

I looked past being told my opinion is rank. And puke emojis being posted beside my posts. But I’m done with this particular discussion. You don’t have to argue with me about an internal cap; I’ve not argued otherwise, and you should know that. Just like you know I’m not a Pegula apologist. I’m not here to be a backstop for your anger at the way he’s destroyed our team. Happy to talk Sabres with you any time. It’s one of the things that keeps me coming back here. But if you just want to vent, find somebody else to indulge you.

I’ve never really been into Sith philosophy. Bad for the complexion. 😜

I’m struggling to reply to this. It feels like you’re ripping me a new one for suggesting that an opinion that I don’t agree with might be plausibly held by the Sabres brass. I think there’s a pretty wide gap on the value you and I ascribe to Skinner that underlies this discussion. Beyond that, I mostly agree with you. My opinion on the move hasn’t changed and neither have my goal posts. Win and they were right.

Oh I agree money is a factor, actually edited it in to my post, but not before you quoted it, apparently. If I’m willingly blind - and I’m not discounting that - the glare coming off Skinner’s game is certainly feeding that.