dudacek

I don’t think Adams is at “well, it’s feasible” I think Adams believes this group is a playoff team, not a bubble team. I think he’s bet his job on it. I wish I shared his confidence.

If there isn’t enough room to pay Byram, how are they going to afford that impact forward you’re calling for?

Adams Never disagreed that Byram wasn’t bad at defence over his last 10 or so games in Buffalo. Prior to this year, he’s never given me any reason to question his ability to play defence. And he’s never given me any reason to question his commitment. The kid is a stud talent and a competitor. I’m going to bet ability + commitment + coaching produces a player who makes you happy to be wrong.

I will. That team is so close, but it has moved in the wrong direction this summer. If they take the final step, it will be because of McDavid and Draisaitl, not what they’ve changed around them.

Can’t recall Lindy ever playing power games with his GM. From would I’ve observed from both men, I’d be shocked if their relationship is anything other than collaborative. I’d also be shocked if the bold isn’t the case. Tying this in to my conversation with @GASabresIUFAN, Byram strikes me as very much a Lindy guy: plays fast, attacks the game at both ends, competes hard, pushes back: he’s a Western Leaguer to the core. Real curious about what kind of summer he’s had. He’s better talent than the player he was traded for. If he finds his game the way Casey did at his age, he’s going to be a real asset.

No wonder you are so down on the guy.

Cozens has played 27 games for Hockey Canada over the past 5 years and scored 24 goals and 16 assists. He’s a longshot as things stand right now, but he’s big and fast and versatile and competitive and plays in all situations. He’s definitely on their radar.

You think Adams views Byram as basically a stopgap? Like basically he took him because he was determined to move on from Mittelstadt and Byram was the best piece offered? But in terms of any long-term planning, Adams thinks he’s at-best a Gostisbehere or a DeAngelo or a Tyson Barrie - a flawed second-tier offensive defenceman you use until someone better comes along?

So when Adams says this team has enough offence he’s blowing smoke, and deep down inside he doesn’t think they can contend without a Necas-level player? There’s a difference between improving the roster and adding to your core. And just so we’re on the same page when we’re talking “core”, how would you fill in the blank in this sentence with a number: “if he was traded to Buffalo, Martin Necas would be the Sabres —— most important forward.”

I read Adams moves as him making the statement "Tage, Tuch, Cozens, Quinn, Peterka, Dahlin, Power, Byram is the core of a contender, you'll see." And I read your post as you saying "in no ***** way is that correct" Fair?

I liked what Armstrong said about offer sheets: “There’s a perception that offer sheets are taboo by managers. Offer sheets that don’t work are taboo by managers. That’s the assessment we all make. I think teams are more than willing to at least explore that now. The cap has gone up, but a lot of that money has already been spent by the teams. If you have an RFA that is in an uncomfortable spot, it’s at least my job responsibility to assess: Is that an option that we should explore?” Basically, it's the counter-poaching GMs have to worry about: will your offer sheet make you vulnerable to losing one of your own players to a subsequent offer sheet, and is it worth the risk? A GM like Adams should be hesitant with Peterka, Quinn, Byram and Levi all pending RFAs. Armstrong has no one like that on his roster, he saw the Oilers squeezing themselves up against their cap with Skinner and Arvidsson, and he pounced.

I think Tage's coming season will have a lot to say about his chances. Over the past 3 years, he's the 4th-best US-born goal-scorer. Points-wise he's outproduced Eichel, Larkin, Boeser and Boldy and he's right there with Brady Tkachuk, Guentzel, Keller, and Conner. He's fast, really big and can play centre and wing. He's definitely in the mix.

Fun.

As I spread my hockey cards across the bedroom floor in what I now call a depth chart, Gare/Luce/Ramsay was always the 2nd line 😁

I guess this is just another example of how the same hockey terms have different meanings to different people. The Luce line may have been the matchup line, but by no measure where they bottom-sixers in terms of ice time, scoring or value to the team. The Luce of the French Connection era scored more than 56 points for 6 straight seasons and was pretty clearly the team's 2nd-best centre.

The top 10 games played by a Sabres bottom-sixer Rob Ray 889 Girgensons 688 Ruff 608 Mair 498 Gaustad 479 May 425 Larsson 392 Varada 376 Kaleta 365 Barnaby 317 HM: Ellis 286 (the Matt Ellis of top 10 bottom-sixers

Guy played 16 years in the KHL. Scored 42 career goals. What the hell were they thinking? I’d love to hear his story.

And speaking of Rousek, he’s the Sabres 14th forward at the moment and will have to clear waivers, but there’s a very good chance he will spend significant time with the Amerks this year.

I’m guilty of underestimating the role Josh Dunne will play this year. He’s a 25-year-old 6’4” 210 pound 2-way centre who hits and plays both special teams. Had a terrible regular season last year - looked like he was injured - but bounced back with an outstanding playoff (7 goals in 14 games) for Cleveland as they went to game 7 of the eastern finals. Had 20 AHL goals 2 years ago and a cup of coffee with Columbus. He fits with the theme of the types of @PerreaultForever type players the Sabres targeted this summer and it wouldn’t be a shock to see him get NHL games this year as a 4th-line call-up. He got the Rousek 2-year deal, where year 2 is a 1-way deal, and will make $450K in Rochester this year, so you know they plan to lean on him. From his AHL bio: PRO CAREER: Posted ten penalty minutes and -7 rating in 14 appearances for Columbus (NHL) spanning parts of two seasons from 2020-21 and 2022-23…Tallied 34-24-58 with 124 penalty minutes and -15 rating in 109 appearances for Cleveland (AHL) spanning three seasons from 2020-23…AMATEUR CAREER: Registered 29-26-55 with 70 penalty minutes and +24 rating in 78 appearances for Clarkson (NCAA-ECAC) spanning three seasons from 2018-21…Wore captain’s “C” for Clarkson in 2020-21…Helped Clarkson claim 2018-19 ECAC Championship…Named ECAC’s best defensive forward and named to ECAC Third All-Star Team in 2019-10…Contributed 34-40-74 with 91 penalty minutes and +16 rating in 140 appearances for Green Bay (USHL) spanning parts of four seasons from 2014-18. https://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=178129

Two players played more than 60 last year for the Amerks, they dressed 43 different players. Of the 15 players who played at least 50, about 1/2 them won’t be back. And there’s a new coach. Player movement is a fact of life in the AHL and predicting the lines would be impossible. This would be my stab at a depth chart: Kulich Rosen Östlund Wahlberg Helenius Neuchev As top prospects likely getting top 9 minutes Murray, Jobst, Dunne, Tullio As key vets likely to get top 9 minutes Kozak, Kisakov, Nadeau As prospects looking to be regulars Slaggert, Warren, Chevaldayoff As depth veterans looking to be regulars I’d put Murray in the 1st line, Jobst line 2, and give Kisakov a shot on line 3 Tulio, Dunne, Kozak would be a PITA 4th line that in practice would probably be line 3. Helenius and Östlund battling for 2C ice time would be fun.

To be fair, there was surprisingly little meltdown around here over the Helenius pick itself. Not none, but it wasn’t intense, repeated, or from a large number of posters. The sweeping “the Sabres need to stop drafting smurfs” stuff remains alive and well.

It’s a list of fan frustration level with the current GM and relies heavily on where the franchise is relative to where the fan base expects it to be, flavoured by how long the GM has been around and his most recent moves. Montreal isn’t highly ranked because of Hughes’ results, they’re highly ranked because they are early in their rebuild, the team was slightly better than expected last year despite serious injury woes, and the fans are very excited about Slavkovsky, Demidov and Hutson becoming stars. Boston is mid-pack because they’ve been a contender for so long without breaking through, Sweeney hasn’t been able to put them over the top. Signs of regression last year are offset by Lindholm and Zadorov. Ottawa probably would have been last a few months ago but firing Dorion and the Ullmark trade started turning the tide. Buffalo was 8th last year because they’d just gone from dead last to 91 points in 2 years and they appeared loaded with breakthrough talent. They would have been right at the bottom in the spring because regression across the board in the wake of 13 years made fans feel absolutely betrayed. Their off-season, particularly Ruff, has helped Adams, but the fan base is very wary, but he’s on a short lease. Fans get that it’s a cycle, it’s where you are in the cycle and how well you can sell the hopium.

Interesting rumour out there that the Habs had the framework of a deal in place at the draft for Trevor Zegras. But they ended up backing out when the draft broke their way with Demidov and Hage and they decided they didn't want too many players of the same type. It's of particular interest to me because: a) it adds credence to the idea that the Ducks and Zegras might have decided it's time to break up (I can see Pat Verbeek not being a fan). b) the purported price tag was blueline prospect Logan Mailloux and the first they used to pick Hage (#21), which seems very much in line with the variations of Wahlberg and a 1st package we've seen from @tom webster and in other places. Trading Zegras without salary coming back would drop the Ducks under the floor. I wonder if the holdup is simply the Ducks figuring out how they're going to bridge the salary gap?

Taking out Greenway sure makes a difference in the hard-to-play-against quotient of that top 9. Adding Farabee feels like adding another Zucker and a step back in the direction of the types of players we've stepped away from this summer. Also, according to the NHLEdge stats, Farabee is not fast.

Agreed. I think the play of Power/Byram/Samuelsson is the key to the coming season. People talk about not making moves to improve the defence this summer. Byram played 18 games for us last year and Samuelsson 41. They can and should be significant upgrades to Johnson and Johnson. Power still has loads of unrealized potential. On the downside, I'm not sure if any of three is ready to deliver on his promise. Tuch is an interesting UFA case that I've been wondering about too. I expect he'll be in high demand if he goes to market and still an important part of this team. Two years is a long time in the NHL, particularly given the state of the Sabres roster. Will the Sabres be a contender? What kind of jumps will Benson, Peterka and Quinn have made, requiring what kind of contracts? How much contribution will Rosen, Wahlberg, Helenius, Östlund, Poltapov etc be capable of? Will Tuch be willing to give us a hometown discount? Too early to really make a call there yet.