dudacek

Poltapov is better than Peterka 😜

Marty and Duff were talking about this on the Prospects broadcast. But it wasn't clear that it was permanent. They should be fine. Sounds like Rivet and Peters chose to move on and have other plans. Hope that includes Sabre talk on another platform.

"Bad" is relative term. Josh was "bad" only in the sense of the level necessary to dominate a good team in a playoff game.

I see him battling Eakin and MacInnis for the 12/13 role and more suited to that role than either, because he provides an element neither of those guys provide and is otherwise missing from the roster.

I saw this a lot when he was signed. Was surprised to discover he's only played 24 AHL games in his career and they were four years ago. He wasn't signed with Rochester in mind.

I think Pysyk is what he is at this point in his career. Any hope for him is coloured by his history here. His resume looks an awful lot like Jacob Josefson or Taylor Fedun or so many other veteran spare parts whose careers have come to Buffalo to die in recent years.

Hayden was drafted in the 3rd round in 2013 out of the USNDP, where he was coached by Donnie Granato. He spent four years at Yale, finishing up as team captain and scoring 21 goals in 33 games as a senior. He averaged more than 5 shots on goal a game. He's not enormous, but he is a big dude who earned his living getting to front of the net. Despite his low profile, he's spent the majority of his pro career on NHL rosters, with just 24 games in the minors, all in his rookie season. But he has been one of those guys who is always checking the lineup sheet to see if he's dressing. He's listed as a centre but lines up regularly on the wing. He hasn't taken a lot of NHL draws and loses more than he wins. He hits and he will fight. He's done it 16 times, with bouts against Nic Deslauriers and Marcus Foligno on his card. https://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=145478 Last year he started the season in Arizona with a regular 4th line shift, but became mostly an afterthought in February and March, where he often got less than 10 minutes a game, or was a healthy scratch. What do you expect from Hayden this season?

Adams has made a very public declaration of building around people who want to be here and are entirely focused on making the Sabres better. A captain who has very publicly expressed the opposite creates a very difficult situation for him, at least if you buy the premise that the captaincy is an important role that demands a certain standard of behaviour from the person holding it. I don’t think Jack would have much issue returning to the room as a teammate. But as a leader? How do you follow someone who neither shares your goal, nor believes in its possibility?

Mark Pysyk arrived in the Sabres organization as a 2010 1st round draft pick right around the time analytics were starting to get a foothold into the hockey consciousness. His analytics (as well as his calm presence and great feet) made him a bit of a darling among a certain segment of the fan base and there was great weeping and gnashing of teeth around these parts when Tim Murray shipped him off to Florida before he had a chance to cement himself as a regular on the Sabres blueline. He did become a regular in Florida, but in a depth role, even playing forward for them when they ran into roster difficulties. https://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=110238 After four seasons there, Pysyk was not resigned by the Panthers and inked a minimum wage deal with Dallas last October. He proved to be a spare part last season with the Stars, bouncing in and out of the lineup and between forward and defence. The fact that he signed for above minimum wage this summer seems to indicate there was some degree of interest around the league, but it also apparent that Pysyk needs to re-establish himself as a full-time NHLer or his career is on the line. What do you expect from Pysyk this season?

He got 5 points in 7 games in a checking line role at the WJC. Wasn’t on for a goal against in the entire tournament. He then got 9 points in 15 games as an underager in the AHL playing with a hernia. The player picked right in front of him, Alexander Holtz, got 3 points in 5 WJC games and 3 in 10 AHL games. The player picked right after him, Marco Rossi, had 0 points in 4 WJC games and didn’t play pro. The 4th overall pick, Lucas Raymond had 5 points in 5 WJC games and 18 in 34 SHL games. Even Mr too-good-to-be-traded-for-Jack-Eichel Quinton Byfield scored at nearly an identical pace to Quinn in the AHL - 20 points in 32 games. What were your expectations for Quinn last year?

I was talking about the Pegulas, not Adams. Adams comes across just fine in my opinion.

Buried that one. Peterka. Looked like Crosby there.

LOL How many is Bloom gonna miss?

Pekar and Bloom looking good there. Need more of that.

Peterka with a ridiculously long shift. Had two chances to get off and didn't. Coaches wont like that. Worst period so far. Looking ragged.

It will very interesting to see what kind of attitude Jack brings to camp if he's there. He'll certainly help his cause if he comes in all business.

He's been very effective. R2 taking charge out there. I'm positive Bloom was drafted as a winger but playing centre tonight. Interesting to me that Pekar was drafted as a centre but hasn't been shifted back despite the obvious lack of depth there in this camp.

This Bruin team does not look good, giving the puck away on the breakout regularly.

Wow. Even uglier group. Quinn and Samuelsson nicked up?

Jokiharju was a late 1st-round pick in 2017 who almost immediately outplayed his draft position. He is 8th overall in games played and 3rd in points among defencemen from his class. It hasn't translated to the NHL yet, but he was a big-time points producer as a junior, with 71 points in 63 games in his D+1 year in Portland. He also scored 9 points in 12 WJC games over two tournaments. He has a track record of winning. He won gold in the World U18s, he was named top defencemen for gold medal-winning Finland in WJC. And he followed that up with a men's World Championships gold later that spring. https://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=196298 Last season was a tale of two Jokiharjus, at least by the eyeball test. The first half he played 16-18 minutes a night and looked tentative. He finished the year with 18 straight games over 18 minutes — topping 20 in 12 of them — and flashed the puck-moving skills that impressed Sabrespace in his Sabre season. What do you expect from Jokiharju this season?

I don’t think I’ve seen them say anything more than “welcome to Buffalo” in these videos. The PR team is very cognizant of the “meddlers” reputation it seems. I wonder how different the reality is before the editors get ahold of the tape. The war room seemed packed to me and there were another half-dozen guys on zoom (including the “new” scout we just hired, so maybe that’s actually old news) I think it might be time to put to rest the memes of a skeleton hockey department.

Murray was interesting, maybe our most effective skater overall, and a man among boys. It will be interesting to see if his skating can hold up against men. Weissbach showed speed and confidence. He’s the oldest guy out there but he made me curious enough to see what he can do in Rochester. As a group, I liked the identity they showed. They worked. It was nice to watch competitive hockey.

I watched R2 more closely in the 2nd half of the game after not really noticing him the first. He was smart and assertive. I agree with the above take on Quinn. He was very responsible with his positioning but you could see the wheels turning. It’s going to take a while for him to adjust to centre ice, and to his wingers, and just play. The announcers talked about it, but Peterka looked physically stronger than I expected in that compact package. That speed/strength combo has NHL winger written all over it. He seems to have the hockey sense Justin Bailey lacks. Or at least I hope enough that it translates against better players. Matej Pekar looked a long way away. Love the attitude but he still plays pond hockey off-puck. He’s going to take a lot of coaching. I hope Peca takes him under this wing. Nadeau was the unsung guy that I noticed the most. Very direct, smart player. Feet need work. Samuelsson absolutely blew up a guy defending a rush up the near boards. It was a physical game and he was a man out there, but in a measured, controlled fashion.

I’ve not seen UPL play a ton as a pro. But yesterday was the 1st time I saw the presence analysts have talked about. He had that Carey Price thing going where he just looked calm, confident and tough to beat.

Laaksonen has skill, but he has to protect the puck better than he did tonight if he wants to succeed against NHL competition.