dudacek

Apparently not 😁

How come in the steady stream of crying over spilt Mitts, nobody ever talks about the other shift that went with it? We upgraded Erik Johnson to Bowen Byram. In my view, we have downgraded our 3rd line, but in the process upgraded our 2nd and 3rd pairs. (We also upgraded that “harder, faster” team identity theme that has continued to play out this summer) I guess remembering that Byram exists has become my Sabrespace thing.

If there are no other additions should there be an open competition in training camp with Helenius, Savoie and Kulich to elbow aside Krebs? Or is it essential that Krebs get the job because of his experience? What will break first, @Thorny’s unbendable guideline that this team cannot, under any circumstances, put even more rookies in the lineup, or his unquenchable distaste for Krebs (and his tattoo) in the 3C role?

Adams said he expects him on the NHL roster. 🤷 I see him as splitting time with Bryson as the 7, but there’s no way anyone cracks the current top 6 without a trade.

I like how they followed through on the philosophical decisions of: faster, harder, more accountable. I struggle to see how the roster on paper is better because the talent level appears worse and the profiles of the new additions are low. That said Skinner, Girgensons, Olofsson and Okposo combined for 51 goals last year, Zucker, Lafferty, Malenstyn and Aube-Kubel had 39, so maybe it’s not as bad as it feels? I also fully expect more productive seasons from the vast majority of holdover players given the track records of some and the youth of most. Yet I struggle mightily to reconcile management’s inability to use the considerable resources still at their disposal to improve their roster. I believe another shoe should drop, it almost has to. Yet it’s hard shake the feeling that it won’t. Probably time to step out of armchair GM mode and just watch the next 2 months until prospects camp unfold.

Good find. Thanks for posting. It felt like that’s what was going on, but seeing it like that really drives it home.

Don't mistake my argument as saying Adams has to "win" or even "break even" value-wise on every deal. My argument in the post you quoted was twofold: That I perceive Chevy's situation and "market value" adding up to "we haven't seen his final offer" Adams needs to do his due diligence in maximizing any potential deal he is negotiating. Its impossible to have a good discussion about whether or not Adams should just pay the current price when we don't know what the price is.

I hope to god you aren’t repeating 3rd or 4th hand that AI-generated pap that was quoted elsewhere on the site? Or, I guess more accurately I hope you are. 😁

You sound like you’re selling me a limited-time offer on a time share. My goal is not making the playoffs at all costs and if it was, I don’t believe Ehlers is my only path to get there. Do you believe we should be acquiring Ehlers at all costs, or that Adams should pay whatever is asked without negotiation? Desperation is a bad look and a bad strategy.

If Ehlers is going to UFA regardless, Chevy is better off trading him this summer than having to make that call at the deadline while in the playoff race. If I’m Adams, I’m betting on that and not caving July 3 with a huge overpay. In that context, I’m thinking of what Adams said (paraphrase) about “If we’re not making a fair offer then why hasn’t the player been moved?” Sounds to me like he believes that right now his offer (on at least one trade) is the best offer. If it’s also a fair offer, and the player needs to be moved, he’s right to hold for now. It will be a long time before the season starts.

Conor Geekie, JJ Moser and a 2025 2nd got Utah Mikhael Sergachev. Matt Savoie, Ryan Johnson and a 2025 2nd should get the Sabres a similar level forward. Ehlers qualifies, but not without an extension. He’s a pending UFA. Sergachev has 6 prime years left. If Chevy is demanding more than the Sergachev price for an unsigned Ehlers, Adams is right to say no. There’s a difference between an overpay and getting bent over.

I'd give that to Quinn and Peterka right now, plus the tax difference.

I think I posted about it earlier, but McKenzie reported 4 scouts he surveyed had the kid in their top 7

Another roster note: The Sabres have 13 defencemen under contract. Just 2 — Clifton and Komarov — are right-handed Jokiharju would make it 3 of 14 Recent 2nd-rounders Maxim Strbak and Adam Kleber are both right-handed shots

Why would you send your 6th-highest scoring forward to the minors, especially when that forward was also one of your more responsible forwards defensively. Im not sure where Zach Benson’s offensive ceiling is, but he’s already proven he’s an effective NHL 3rd-line player. How does demoting help team or player?

This is insightful and fits why he’s not trading for Mangiapane or overpaying for Henrique, or picking up Radek Faksa for free.

Isn’t nearly everything in that chart save the last group a measure of offence? And isn’t the whole story of his deployment the fact that 90% of his shifts start in the Dzone against the Panarins and Crosbys of the world? Isnt this chart saying that under those circumstances he loses 1 more retrieval than he wins over 60 minutes of ice time?

Depth chart (not lines) as things stand Peterka Thompson Tuch Zucker Cozens Quinn Benson Krebs Greenway Malenstyn Lafferty Aube-Kubel Rousek Kulich Rosen Murray Östlund Savoie Wahlberg Dunne Jobst Kisakov Kozak Neuchev Nadeau Slaggert Warren Power Dahlin Byram Jokiharju Samuelsson Clifton Gilbert Bryson Johnson Clague Novikov Rathbone Poolman Komarov Prow Metsa Luukkonen Levi Reimer Sandstrom Houser I keep coming back to @Thorny’s post about how everything kinda makes sense if they add a good middle six forward. With the amount of cap space and prospect capital available, not to make a move - even if it’s just another Zucker, even if they lose the trade - would be a gross dereliction of duty.

This part I disagree with. Cozens has played in 280 NHL games and multiple junior and men’s world championships in a first-line role. He’s not a rookie any more and he’s been training for this his entire life. It’s time.

I don’t think you’re the only one wanting to see Cozens pushed down to 3C. I’ve never seen that as a reasonable scenario because the GM has made it very clear - through contract and the Mitts trade - that he sees Cozens as a very good 2C long-term And I couldn’t see him expending precious resources to bring in an expensive upgrade to a role he already sees as being filled. Personally, I’m OK with the characterization of Cozens as a long-term 2C as well. Last season definitely raised questions, but the season he put up at 22, along with his track record away from the Sabres and his competitive nature lead me to believe a 30-goal 70-point guy will be more his norm over the length of that contract.

I think some people on here forget that NHL teams draft 18-year-olds with a wide range of physical maturity levels, and NHLers aren’t typically fully formed until they are about 25. On average, NHL players arrive on the scene 3-5 years after being picked and take about 3 more years after arriving to become what they will be. It is unusual for anyone picked outside the top 10 to become an NHL regular 3 years after being picked. Six players from the 2021 first round played the entire season in the NHL last year.

Adam Mair gave a quick update on Poltapov at development camp. Said he communicates with him regularly through Zoom and WhatsApp and sends him clips with feedback about his game. Characterized him as gritty bull of a forechecker with excellent strength and superior puck protection. Said he’s a guy who can play up and down the lineup: enough talent to play with skill guys and enough grit to play further down the lineup. Won a KHL championship as a 20-year-old in a bottom six role. Sounds like the type of player people say we don’t draft. Didn’t sound like a guy they’ve given up on at all. No update on when he’s coming over, but last I heard he was under contract there until the end of this season.

One thing I have to admit about this off-season is how the Sabres have been accountable to their own cries for accountability. One thing each member of our new 4th line - and even Zucker in a less punishing manner - shares is the fact they bring it. No catered-to national team bonus babies here; these are guys who are in the NHL for one reason only: They come fast and they come hard, every night. And they are replacing guys like Jost, Skinner and Olofsson who didn’t. And I wonder what replacing 4 guys with questionable “accountability” with 4 guys with unquestioned “accountability” does to the other 8 guys on the roster? Won’t it mean more pressure on them to match that? As opposed to last season where they could be off and still say “well, I’m bringing more than that guy.” Can it create more of a critical mass where talented but uneven players like Tuch and Cozens are dragged into the fight more often? Particularly when the new coach will have no hesitation nailing your ass to the bench if it doesn’t?

Almost historically, like literally top 10 of all time. And Aube-Kubel was right there with him.

Right, another one. And now Poolman makes 8