dudacek

The best thing I can say about Zucker and Greenway is that they are useful if overpaid vets who can contribute middle-six minutes. Probably better they did this than casting around the free agent market for replacements in July and overpaying more, or, worse, missing altogether. Bernard-docker in, Jokiharju out is…interesting? Jokiharju wore out his welcome here 2 years ago and was horribly miscast in this year’s lineup. But he is a better NHL defenceman than he generally gets credit for, and will probably do fine as the puckmover on a good team’s 3rd pair. I know little about Bernard-Docker, except that he’s an RFA and it won’t cost much to keep him. Similar age, size and draft pedigree - I guess the hope is he will be a bit steadier and defensively sound than Joki and a better fit roster-wise? The key thing is obviously Norris for Cozens, who are very similar on paper. Cozens at 2C was the team’s weakest link this year, IMO: a failure at a key role. The question becomes will Norris be any different? He’s slightly smaller and slightly faster (well, NHL edge has him as one of the league’s fastest players) and hits a similar amount. He’s a better finisher and a worse set-up guy. He’s produced more offence on a per-82, but is much less durable. Stylistically though, they are much different. One thing notably different in his profile is how he’s had better success defensively than Dylan in harder minutes. Whereas Cozens likes to carry the puck and wants it on his stick as much as possible, Norris is about fewer touches and quicker decisions. I hope this is good news as poor puck decisions were Cozens biggest issue. Will his more opportunistic, more patient game prove a better fit with some of Buffalo’s wingers? He’s a finisher, not a set-up guy, but the Sabres best playmakers seem to come from the back and their wingers can move the puck pretty well. So maybe his game works better than a more traditional centre/distributor with this mix? He’s also a good faceoff man who produces on the power play and kills penalties - 3 things we couldn’t really say about Cozens. 2C had become the most important fix for the franchise so I am glad Adams recognized it and moved to correct it, even if I’m not sure that Norris is the right move, or if he can stay healthy. And I am also sure that a piece of Adams core needed to be sacrificed. I think he sold low on Cozens, but that stock could still drop lower and the same could be said for the other candidates for trade. And the Senators may have sold low as well (a 30-goal centre for the player Cozens was this year is a steal) so there’s that. Bottom line: something needed to break. As far as I’m concerned Adams has forfeited the right to fix this, but if it’s going to continue to be his job, today was better than doing nothing at all.

I worry about Cozens’ upside and Norris’ injuries coming back to haunt us. I don’t think Docker is worth a 2nd any more than Malenstyn was. This seems like an iffy trade from an asset value point of view. In terms of on-ice play this year, no player has hurt us as much as Cozens. I will be very sad if Norris isn’t an immediate improvement in the 2C role. Bernard-Docker appears to fill a need. In terms of getting better now, I see it. What am I missing here ^^^? Im not surprised I guess, and I love Benson, but people seem to ignore how little offence he generates. Traffic isn’t his issue at all. It’s open ice and his inability to utilize it to create and finish.

Yes, I'd like to subtract some losses by adding some players Yes, line 1, thanks for catching that. Tuch and Thompson just works. ??? Thompson Tuch ??? Norris ??? ??? McLeod ??? Greenway and Zucker fill two of the ??? Ride with two of Peterka, Quinn, Benson and Kulich, swap the other two out for veterans who make plays, battle and defend.

It's weird to me that we went so quickly from: 3 emerging top 6 centres (Thompson, Cozens, Mitts) and maybe 4 more guys coming (Savoie, Östlund, Kulich, Krebs) To: 1 oft-injured top 6 centre (Norris) and maybe 2 guys coming (Kulich, Östlund) I hate Tage as a winger and I hate how they've moved away from him with Tuch on Line One and as the focus of the PP. Maybe Norris can run a 2nd line, and allow us to bring back the Tuch/Thompson combo on line 1?

Looks to me like he's what Clifton never materialized as. Pretty much the textbook concept of what a stay-at-home #5 RHD should be

Am I correct in reading this that the Sabres had decided they needed to move on from Cozens and were shopping him? Even though both the eye test and the analytics were crying for it, that seems unusually bold for Adams.

Also, Cozens departure makes Byram here long-term less likely.

Deck chairs. At least it busts up the "core".

I would have choked on 3x$6. This goes down better, but we're still getting fooled by an outlier year amplified by the mess around him. My hot take is he will not live up to this contract: 30-something points next year and an afterthought the year after.

Just for perspective: Jiri Kulich the season he turns 21: 47/12/7/19 Dylan Cozens the season he turned 21: 79 13/25/38

Can you list other wingers the Sabres have who have the capability of returning a player or players in trade who can fix this mess? I'm not advocating trading Peterka. I answered the question of why they might consider it. But I certainly would trade him for the right return and I think he's one of the few Sabres who may actually be capable of generating one.

The best reason for trading Peterka would be the return. Unlike most Sabres his value is at its apex. Unlike most Sabres the return for him might actually help. Also, he’s the best of the bunch, but JJ is also the type of player - smallish quick, skilled, defensively poor winger - we have too many of. So yes, culture change. Now if only I trusted Adams to get the proper return

Greenway playing like a bag of feces against the Sharks knowing he’s about to sign a big deal, then going down with an injury the day after he signs it would be very on brand Sabres.

Trading JJ Peterka now would be like trading Dylan Cozens 2 years ago. 😘

Further to the Benson bit, I am absolutely aware those videos show us what they want us to see, but there was a ton of tape of our Western scout, Lukas Sutter, slamming the table hard for Benson. I can absolutely accept the analytics department clinching the pick, but they weren't alone. Further to that, as much as I love Benson, do we know he was the right pick? (Yes, Jack Quinn has me really questioning my judgement 😁)

Thanks for the reply. I'm reasonably confident Forton ranked Leinonen as the best goalie in the draft. I haven't seen anything to support the idea that Forton pushed hard and convinced Adams to take him over the advice of the rest of the staff. My personal theory is that Adams was highly aware that the Sabres had taken just 2 goalies in the previous 7 drafts. Ullmark had just jilted him. Lukkonnen had bad hips, and Portillo was poised to walk. He had a gaping hole in his goalie pipeline and more high picks than he could use. He was the one who made up his mind he was using a high pick on a goalie. Forton just told him this guy's probably the best one available. I have no proof of this either. I have never seen or read anything on the Benson stuff. Would appreciate it if you could share the source material. Ventura appears in many of those videos. He rarely if ever talks. It's been highly noticeable to me. I've always chalked it up to the Sabres jealously guarding their analytics as proprietary. Can you expand on the McLeod stuff? Do you have more than "McLeod's public fancystats were good, so I'm giving the analytics department sole credit here." His acquisition also made sense from a contract standpoint, a traditional scouting standpoint and a development standpoint.

Did I come across as defending them? That wasn't my intent at all. The Sabres braintrust has clearly done a bad job as a whole. @LGR4GM offered some strong opinions on its individual components, positive and negative, and I am curious as to what fed those views.

Not saying you're wrong, but I always wonder how people develop strong opinions about the guys on the inside. We heard the analytics department was surprised by the Leinonen pick, but not who pushed the pick and why. We hear Karmanos is in charge of the Amerks and was a consideration for the Canucks GM job. We heard Forton wanted McAvoy over Nylander and watched him gush over how Adams makes sure everyone is heard. We've been told how well-respected Ventura was when he was hired, and noticed how his voice is never, ever heard in those proprietary behind-the-scenes videos. Such little information to go on. What specifically has Forton done to be fired? Or Ventura to be promoted? I have no idea what ideas either has been feeding Adams. Or what direction Adams may be giving leading either astray. Karmanos is the associate GM, so, by definition, he is the number 2 guy in the hockey department. Why have you come to these conclusions?

I like the good Greenway. And I am OK with the signing given the teams needs and reputation. But we’ve seen the good version what, 60 games over 2 years? It’s an expensive price for a player who hasn’t been very reliable. The Sabres problems are very much the forwards - specifically the fact that 1st-line winger JJ Peterka doesn’t provide 1st-line level 2-way play and 2nd-liners Jack Quinn and Dylan Cozens have been outright bad at their jobs. Neither Kulich nor Benson are anywhere near top 6 worthy as the final top 6 piece. So yeah, I’m content with Greenway as a 3rd-liner with McLeod, just like I’m content with Thompson and Tuch in the top six. The rest of the top 9 needs a drastic upgrade.

Seravalli tells Vancouver radio this morning the Sabres may flip a UFA or 2 but he'd be very surprised if they moved anyone else. Says they've received no offers they are even considering and the types of trades they are interested in for their other players aren't the types of trades that get usually made at the deadline.

Tonight was kinda the Sabres season in microcosm: They were the better team 5-on-5. The PK failed them when they needed it The PP failed them when they needed it Tuch, Thompson and Dahlin provided offence The rest of the team did not provide enough Dylan Cozens turned what should have been a routine play into a high-risk play that eventually ended up in our net Our goalie failed to make a save when he had to it was close but the Sabres found a way to lose Not really related, but I'm so disappointed in Lindy; he's brought nothing to this team.

Pettersson is to 1st-line centres right now as Dylan Cozens is to 2n-line centres.

Alex Tuch is better player than Elias Pettersson right now and has been all season. Anyone saying differently has not watched the Canucks play very often. Tuch’s counting stats are pretty much identical to Brady Tkachuk’s and his analytics are better. I think he’s the latest to fall victim to “Sam Reinhart syndrome” around here: the old “we don’t win so our top players aren’t good” thinking. I do think that Tuch is much more of a potential flight risk than Bowen Byram in terms of the potential for long-term signing: older guy more cognizant of the limited time he has left in pro hockey, with more leverage in terms of dictating where he goes and how much you’ll have to pay to keep him. So I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s moved in that context. And Jim Rutherford would take Tuch straight across for Petersson’s contract, play, and attitude in a heartbeat right now. I guarantee it.

Shh.. Lets pretend he’s not the 10th-highest scoring RW in the NHL over the past 3 seasons while being a consistent plus player over that span, unlike 5 of the nine guys ahead of him. He’s put up 184 points An above-average 2nd line RW has maybe cracked 100 points in that span. An average 3rd liner has about 50. https://www.nhl.com/stats/skaters?reportType=season&seasonFrom=20222023&seasonTo=20242025&gameType=2&position=R&sort=points,a_gamesPlayed&page=0&pageSize=50 Sabres suck. Alex Tuch is a very good hockey player, who as also been a good Sabre.