dudacek

I know this thread is about trades, but as @Thorny does a good job reminding us, it not really about winning trades and making great picks, as much as it's about the roster. This is what Adams has done in terms of transforming the roster Kept: Thompson, Skinner, Cozens, Dahlin, Jokiharju (Bryson?) Out: Eichel, Reinhart, Mittelstadt, Hall, Staal, Eakin, Asplund, Lazar, Sheahan, Reider, McCabe, Montour, Ristolainen, Miller, Ullmark, Hutton (Okposo, Girgensons, Olofsson?) In: Tuch, Quinn, Peterka, Benson, Greenway, Krebs, Power, Byram, Samuelsson, Clifton, Johnson, Luukkonen, Levi (???) I don't think there's any question the five or six best players who left are better right now than the 5 or 6 best players he replaced them with.

All I was really getting at was that I don't know if publicly available numbers reflect my perceptions or not but I'm not sure they'd have to because I expect the Sabres to be using different (and better) resources to collect data. But I think your last sentence reflects my perception of Yakemchuk's game too. And I think likely the Sabres priorities. Entries and exits are a far more important part of an NHL defenceman's game than goals and hits.

Flash got the nut of it. I think NHL teams don’t use the same analytics that we see widely quoted, but Yakemchuk strikes me as a “charges at windmills” type whose flawed details wouldn’t stand up well under that lens.

The difference is Cozens had a track record leading up to his breakout, which happened the year he turned 22. Joshua has no track record and his breakout happened at 27.

Agreed. He’s where type and need might intersect for the Sabres. I just don’t know if he’s skilled enough to be in play at 11.

Yakemchuk seems a needs fit, doesn't seem a type fit. I'm not being all "he's big and gets PMs and the the Sabres only take small offensive guys" here. The Sabres "type" under Adams/Forton/Ventura is better described as "plays fast, self-starter, hockey IQ, growth curve" with a good analytics base. Measurables and tools matter, but they aren't the first thing this group looks at. I'm no expert on his game, but Yakemchuk comes across as more uneven than the type I'd expect this executive team to hone in on with such a high pick, given some of the others around him. Out of Sliayev, Levshunov, Yakemchuk, Buium, Parekh, Dickinson, Iginla, Lidstrom, Sennecke, Helenius, Catton, I'm betting our war room is praying Iginla or Buium drop as two guys they rate higher than the average team. I also think Sennecke's rapid rise has caught their eye and I wonder what their analytics team has to say about Eiserman, who I suspect has been the subject of a deep dive. Helenius and Catton scream Sabre picks to me.

Last year’s team had 84 points, the team prior to the Eichel trade-off had a prorated 54. Hope we’re slightly better next season too.

Again, they play very different styles, but I see the similarities; smallish, smart, hard-working Swedish centres. Asplund played the game the right way in my opinion. He didn’t make it simply because he wasn’t talented enough to carry his strengths over at the NHL level. Östlund has the same diligent approach, but appears to be more talented than Asplund: better skater, better passer, harder shot. If he doesn’t make it it will be because he isn’t strong enough to carry his strengths over. Asplund wasn’t tall, but he was solid. Östlund is thicker than he was when we drafted him but he’s still pretty slight.

To me, “absolutely disagree” means you think the Sabres can be fixed by just a couple of prime free agents, but that’s not what the rest of your post talks about. You clearly think the Sabres need to make additions, which I clearly think and wrote as well. What exactly are we disagreeing about?

They’re both quick, but Noah Östlund plays a considerably different game to Ennis. Ennis was a one-on-one player who made plays stickhandling. Östlund is a give-and-go player who generally moves the puck as quickly as he gets it.

Agree with this. Jordan Greenway is responsible, not shy and his physical game is very effective. The question is about “dog” though and Greenway isn’t that guy.

You’re just being stubborn now 😁 If Kulich puts up 30 goals next year and pushes Jeff Skinner to the press box, Adams did not fail.

Not to interrupt the jokes about team toughness, but after seeing Josh Allen tower over the Sabres on the Bills sideline last fall, I got a chuckle over how when he met Lindy, the 60-something coach looked like he actually belonged.

I am the most long-standing Jack Quinn fan on this website. I’ve been in his corner since before we drafted him. Love his head, his hands and his heart and think he can still become a legitimate star. In terms of physical strength, he might be the weakest guy on the roster.

I would love to pick up a hardass player or two at the appropriate slot in the draft, and to play in our bottom 6. I have much higher hopes for #11. If we can't leverage it as part of a package for a better asset, I'm very happy adding any one of really good players likely to slide down to that spot.

Dog as defined "willingness and desire to engage" is clearly lacking overall. We've got little guys (Benson, Clifton, Quinn and Krebs) who have the dog but no teeth. And massive human beings (Tuch, Thompson, Greenway and Samuelsson) who too often leave their big dogs sleeping on the couch. Dahlin is the only big guy who consistently engages (16th in hits, 26 in PMs for NHL D). We've got two guy who are negative: Power (whose lack of engagement has been thoroughly discussed here) and Skinner (whose engagement outside a scoring chance usually consists of inconsequential sideshows behind the play) The rest (Cozens, Byram, Peterka, Jokiharju) are basically neutral. Adding two or three guys who are really good in this area will not only fill a need, it could also drag a few of the guys on the fence, like Cozens and Mule, more frequently into the battle.

Once again Dahlin immediately overlooked. No one on the team And wins as much as he does.

Past 3 years combined Steven Stamkos 242 games, 116 goals, 39 goals per 82 GP Tage Thompson 234 games, 114 goals, 40 goals per 82 GP I think a lot of Sabrespace is choosing to look at Tage (and Cozens) like 2022/23 never happened.

To the fans, sure, but it seems like a good business move. Sounds like 2/3rds of the league was using it and the Caps took that tool away from them. Now those teams will have to invest time and resources building their own.

This isnt the final uniform, logo, or name. It’s just what the will wear in the coming season while the above are developed and finalized. The colours however are what they will use for final product. I think the powder blue is distinct and unique, and separates them from any other NHL team since the original Penguins back in the early ‘70s. (Maybe the Caps Eagle in the ‘90s? I think Utah is a couple shades lighter). Hope they ultimately use that, not the black as the main colour at home.

I’ve seen 2 Peyton Krebs posts on social media in the past month. The first was him lacing up his skates in the Sabres dressing room, with an emoji indicating “it’s time” The second was him on the ice, in June, getting after it. This isn’t really about Krebs. It’s about Lindy saying how he’s talked to every single player, and how it’s his job to set a new standard. And it’s about Lindy in events like yesterday’s reminding me about his charisma, his smarts, his passion and his focus. I don’t know how much coaching was at fault for last year’s results, but if things aren’t better next season, I dont think I’ll be blaming the coach.

Thompson’s leadership qualities are consistently overlooked around here. He seems to have a stone-cold, no-excuses personality and the respect of room.

A small, complete, competitive and fearless winger who outsmarts and outworks the opposition, while getting under their skins. An above-average but not elite talent who wins because he is always working, always on the right side of the puck, always goes and moves pucks to the right spaces, and always plays the game the right way. I’m actually describing Brad Marchand, but there’s nothing in there that wouldn’t describe peak Benson as well. A lot of people disagree with me - primarily it seems because they see Marchand first as a dirty player and a villain and that doesn’t fit with Benson. But I think if you shave off the dark moustache and cape and look at the actual skill set and what each player does well, I think there are a ton of similarities. We can only hope Zach can reach the same heights.

I have seen many moments like this that support my view that Dahlin as the next C was decided last summer and the organization has been preparing for it since then. It’s been suggested that I’m reading things through my own biases, and that is entirely possible. I also see many things that Dahlin does, or qualities that he has, that also lead me to be believe he is the obvious choice, regardless of what the organization thinks. LGR listed a bunch of them. I’m not sure why others don’t see his work ethic, his commitment to the city and the franchise, and the respect from his teammates the same way I do, but these areas, coupled with ability, are the qualities that I see typically see adding up to a C. He’s grown into the position very well. I don’t really care if they give it someone else, but I will be shocked.

Based solely on last year, you can make that case. I think it’s overstated, but the bones are there. Based on the ages and track records of the players, as well as historical NHL trends, I disagree (at least on Stamkos and the Sabre players - we do need 4 new bottom-sixers). The good thing for you is that even if you’re wrong, you still win 😁