dudacek

Fortunately the Sabres aren't making enough progress this year to follow that not-unusual trend. Unfortunately, if they take a jump next year it makes them a prime candidate for a falloff two years from now. 😁

It's interesting that in his extended absence a lot (most?) posters seem to be sliding back towards their established perceptions of Mittelstadt — good or bad — as if last April never happened. Me too. Personally, I think what we saw late last year is what I expected him to turn into and who he is. The injury may be a factor early.

Is there mid-aughts template forming here at all? It's pretty easy to draw parallels between: Mitts - Connolly Quinn - Vanek Asplund - Hecht Okposo - Grier Dahlin - Campbell Power - Tallinder Samuelsson - McKee Levi - Miller Squint a little harder and this might work: Thompson/Cozens/Krebs/Girgensons/Jankowski - Briere/Drury/Roy/Gaustad/Mair Tuch/Olofsson/Rosen/Peterka/Poltapov - Dumont/Pominville/Afinogenov/Kotalik//Pyatt Johnson/Bryson/Jokiharju - Lydman/Kalinin UPL/Portillo - Biron/Noronen Toss this year's three firsts into the mix to make up for some of today's unproven kids not developing? It's enough to make you wonder if it's at all conscious.

Do you think Dahlin's play this year is more of a net negative than that of most of the other defencemen?

Looks like the Sabres are auditioning their older prospects first. R2 didn’t cut it, Murray’s turn.

He’s no Jonsson-Fjallby, that’s for sure. (And damn, does Roch, need a DMan now)

UPL has more NHL raw material than Tokarski or Dell. I don’t think he’s near ready, but he has a better chance of catching lightning in a bottle than either. I think he’s highly likely to implode, but he can’t be worse than what we’ve got from Toker in half his recent games. And Dell every game.

Have you seen Cozens? Great kid, but the only difference between him and that kid bagging your groceries is a rare ability to skate and shoot. He is a boy. It’s a rare 20-year-old who has what it takes to command a winning NHL hockey team. It’s a rarer one who can do that while playing on the third line and trying to prove himself as something more. (And, for the record, Schoeny was 23 when he captained his team to the finals.)

Different personality, different concerns.

I've been wondering since he came back, and after last night, i think it's pretty obvious he is. The number of times he declined to take his one-timer on the PP was a little frightening. I admire him fighting through it, and I guess the team thinks he's not going to aggravate it, but not being able to shoot sure puts a hole in his game, and makes me wonder if he should remain on the PP.

Or just do what he's been doing and pushing him to play his game, attack, learn from his mistakes and have fun and grow into his role. Not being Krueger/Smith and handcuffing him and making him think too much or play away from his strengths. Donnie told you all what he was going to do and he's doing it. And Dahlin has been better for it. Last week, Rasmus was riding an 8-game streak streak of being a near-point-a-game plus player while getting the most minutes on the team, but no one was talking about it. He has an awful period and we get a thread about trading or benching or sending him to the minors. It's sad.

He's not a saviour and he will be resented for it until he is, or until the team gets good enough that it doesn't matter. Personally I think it is silly to sit a player like him in favour of Wolanin or Butcher (or Hagg, or Miller or Bryson or Jokiharju or Pysyk) — counterproductive to both his development and to the team's chances of winning. But to many he will be held to a different standard.

I think Sabres fans need a change of scenery more than Rasmus does. Terrible effort in the first period last night for sure, still our most talented player and our best defenceman so far this season.

Dustin Tokarski’s save percentages in November: The good: .927, .962, .960, .978, .943, The bad: .806, .667, .783, .833, .879, .892 The ugly: 3/4/2 3.72 .894 overall This is our “good” goalie.

Marchand has been suspended 7 times.

Cozens better not get a sniff of a letter prior to turning 23 or leading the team in scoring, whichever comes first. He's a great kid, but let's not force another kid into a formal leadership role, especially one who has to work on his own game first. The Sabres seem determined to let the position happen organically, yet another example of Adams/Granato not repeating the mistakes of their predecessors. i agree with @inkman, people seem to be missing the point of his thread.

I’d love to bring in Ullmark. He’s better than this thread thinks. Hard to believe KA would even consider it given what happened in free agency and his “wants to be here” schtick.

Eight game is too small, but the 18 games before that isn't? He's played just 26 AHL games over the past 2 seasons. During the same time period he was .908 over 14 games in Finland and .904 over 4 games in Buffalo. I agree he hasn't been good and you are right question his play. i just think the breadth of his struggles have been overstated.

Jankowski has played well from what I’ve seen in Rochester - he’s big and fast and a bit of a dick (in a good way). I don’t expect big things, but I do expect he can replace the Drake and be a better fit in the bottom 6 than R2. Hope R2 rediscovers his offence in Rochester. To my mind he’s looked overmatched this year in Buffalo.

New England has a power over Bills fans minds that will take a generation to remove. Fortunately, most of the players haven’t experienced the same degree of trauma and shouldn’t be affected the same way.

Modern day NHL goaltending is mostly about facing the shooter while blocking as much of the net as possible as a defender forces him to hurry his shot so he can't cleanly pick a spot. That is why NHL teams will always pick 6'4" 240-pound behemoths like Robin Lehner over normal sized humans like Dustin Tokarski. Tokarski may be able to track and move as good or better than Lehner, but he can't physically take up enough space when talented shooters like Raymond have time to pick their spots. He has no margin for error. That's why Devon Levi went in the 7th round and will always have doubters until he proves himself against the quick-release NHL guys who can pick their spots. Your tracking, positioning and athleticism has to out of this world to make up for lack of size.

Tim Thomas played 36 IHL games at .892 when he was 26. Probably the most extreme example. Jack Campbell 19 AHL games at .884 when he was 24 Binnington .907 in 41 games at 23 Jake Allen .904 in 35 games when he was 23 Blackwood .882 in 31 games when he was 22 That’s just a quick check, so not unheard of, but he certainly has a lot to overcome. Lets see where he’s at come March.

Noticed he didn’t play as they closed out the Bears game and didn’t see what happened either.

Tokarski can both have a pretty good game and let in a soft goal or two at the same time. It’s kinda why he’s in the NHL but has never been an NHL regular. The idea that Dahlin is being singled out on the winner is…interesting. His play there wasn’t “good” but it is one that every D on every team makes every game. Can we even say it should have been registered as a scoring chance? Goalies who let in that shot on a regular basis don’t stick around in the NHL.

His “badness” has largely consisted of his first 30 AHL games.