dudacek

I’m not afraid to say this team gets 10 more points playing exactly the same way with good (not great, good) goaltending. It’s the problem from the season that just past that hasn’t got enough attention.

Oh me too. Some risk in that one from Buffalo's perspective, but so much reward. I have no idea if the Bruin/Swayman relationship is beyond repair, but it certainly is in rough shape.

UPL was the NHL’s 5th worst goalie in terms of goals above expected this year. Jeremy Swayman was the 2nd worst. Swayman certainly has a far more onerous contract, and almost certainly has far more talent. Would either team make that trade?

🤣 Me too. Not kidding.

Leone said he probably would have played if it was a must-win game. Speaking of injury, I don't think Rochester missed a beat without Komarov. Brannstrom is probably better, and Brannstrom was probably the 6th-best blueliner last night. Metsa, Rathbone and Clague look very good to me at this level. Prow is longer-term, but from what I've seen he shouldn't be a starter even if he was healthy. From what I understand, Neuchev is not going to be available.

I want to add that a very similar Syracuse team completely neutralized Kulich in last year's series by pounding the crap out him. It didn't work this year. You gotta like the progress.

Watching Östlund these past 3 games, I’m starting to wonder if his future is Ryan McLeod. Hasn’t produced but he’s fast and very responsible and you notice him every shift. Had a really impressive partial breakaway chance snuffed by what looked to me like a penalty, that was all hustle. Kulich hasn’t outright dominated, but he has been the most dangerous guy on the ice. His speed has flashed more than I’m used to and he’s had his chances. Wahlberg looked kinda sluggish last night in his first game. Hope it was just shaking off the bug. Novikov played to his rep. The Crunch were trying to get to the net, but the Amerks were holding up against it and Novikov was a big part. Johnson was quietly very good. You don’t notice him outright, then you realize shift after shift goes by without any chances given up. He’s in the right spots and preventing. Komorov was most noticeable to me for his awkward skating style. He competes. Rosen always leaves me wanting more. He was better in games 2 and 3 after a rough game 1. He’s usually in the right places both ends and has very obvious skill. I just wish he completed more plays and engaged more. Kozak is responsible fearless and he battles. Prototype checking centre at that level. And if this seems overly positive, I just watched them play 8 periods in a row without allowing a goal. Their structure as a group was excellent.

He’s playing wing on a 3rd line with Kozak. Playing well, but not standing out skill-wise? He’s producing and he’s engaged, seems to be buying into the system and playing smart hockey. You can tell he’s got a competitive streak in him and I like how he reacts to the rough stuff. I’ve liked what I’ve seen.

Levi just has a habit of shutouts. 8 in 37 junior games 16 in 66 college games 3 in 7 World Junior games 9 in 45 AHL games this year. That's insane.

How do you know what he wants to get paid and why do you think someone will pay him that? His numbers away from Dahlin are similar to awful young players like Jake Sanderson and Moritz Seider. And if you really believe defencemen never get better after 246 NHL games, or after they turn 23 — or that NHL professionals don't thoroughly scout the players they acquire before pulling the trigger — I don't know what to tell you.

Yep, especially when you’re paying $7M to Samuelsson and Clifton. That’s where the roster construction flaw is, not with Byram. That’s what I hope they can target.

Yes, we should judge every player solely by their most difficult 7-game stretch. And the Buffalo Sabres need to get rid of every player who is incapable of replacing Rasmus Dahlin and add a bunch who are. It’s really that simple.

Cleveland had to win a play-in series first for the right to play the division winners.

Montreal and Ottawa aren’t proven pieces and I am not prepared to say they are on the verge of jumping up a tier yet. Apparently New Jersey is not much different. Neither are Columbus or Detroit Boston broke. PIttsburgh broke. The Islanders might be preparing a reset. Philly is in one. Tampa and the Rangers are declining. I have a feeling Washington just had one of those years. I think you’ve got three good teams in the East: Toronto, Florida and Carolina. It’s not about them, it’s about us. Stop making excuses. Make the right moves. Seize the opportunity.

Full disclosure: I've only watched him a handful of times this year. But isn't invisible kinda the point? You're not expecting hits and you're not expecting offence. If he succeeds, it will be as a Bill Hajt kinda player: calmly break up a play and move out the puck. Leone seems happy with him on that level and that's kinda what he showed the first 2 playoff games.

They’ve got Josh Anderson and Arber Xhekaj, I’ll give you that. Not really seeing Gallagher and Armia as upgrades on Okposo and Girgensons, or Laine and Dvorak as the type of vets that Sabres team was lacking. Savard’s retiring. I will say Nick Suzuki looks to be head and shoulders over Dylan Cozens and they are better coached. Their progress will be determined by how good guys like Slavkovsky, Demidov and Guhle can be, just like the Sabres has been by the progress or lack thereof of guys like Power, Peterka and Quinn

I wonder what a Rosen/Clifton or Quinn/Clifton pairing could get, in terms of an upgrade on Clifton. I've also wondered what overpaid but still useful veteran RHD a futures/Samuelsson pairing might fetch from a team looking to dump salary.

Montreal just had pretty much the same season the Sabres had 2 years ago, with a late surge to 91 points, young veterans having career years, a very promising crop of rookies and some holes to fill. It will be very interesting where they go from here.

Yes, but I think that still fits, despite the fact Ruff is clearly more qualified than Krueger. A big part of Dahlin's struggle was Krueger trying to change the way he played and all the mistakes were a factor of Ras trying to do things that didn't come naturally to him. I think there was definitely some of that going on with Power, who had never had an NHL coach besides Granato. Remember how much Byram struggled in his own zone when he first arrived? And then how he talked about being much more comfortable in Ruff's system, and it showed? Power went from +8 to -13 on a team that generally improved at 5-on-5 and was noticeably more mistake prone

When I look at ways to improve next year’s team, can’t think of a better bang for my buck than Owen replicating what Rasmus did in year 4 after a bad year 3. I still see the high-end potential and think the coaching staff/system change/contract got in his head this year.

I agree with both points. With the cap rising the way it is though, he’s going to want more. I think $5.5 this coming year equals $6.8 in year three. If he’s going to play hardball, I’d be tempted to let him go to arbitration, although the threat of an offer sheet looms over that. But it will buy us a year to make a decision on him and Power and leave us room to dump Samuelsson and slide in a $5-6M real RHD like a Pulock into his spot.

I believe the number GA quoted was something like that over 7 years. I want to say $7.3M maybe?

Honest question because I have yet to do any homework on Byram’s comparables: How many D 2 years away from UFA, with a career high of 38 points and stats that crater away from a stud like Dahlin have signed for anywhere near $8M? I mean besides Owen Power 😁? The Sabres don’t have to give him term. I can’t see him getting that kind of coin in arbitration with his numbers. I regards to your bigger question, the first thing I would do is dump Samuelsson, a much inferior player on a far worse contract. The second thing I would do is fix or trade Power, preferably fix, because the idea of those 3 D at their peak on the same team excites me. Like you, I’m not a GM either. That’s all I got.

Bottom line is you’ve avoided my central point. It’s not that Byram is great, or that he shouldn’t be traded, it’s that if you trade him, how are you replacing his minutes and making the defence better? Byram and Dahlin was THE MOST EFFECTIVE DEFENCE PAIRING IN THE NHL (sorry for the yelling, but it’s a fact that everyone chooses to ignore) Why not keep that and concentrate on the real problem: improving the 2nd and 3rd pairs?