dudacek

There’s a lot of upward mobility potential on the forward ranks. Krebs is not near the top of that list and I would be very surprised if he took a step. But I am probably in the minority here in that haven’t given up on the likelihood of a handful of the youngsters being better.

I think the team is still going to be in the top half of the league for goals for. The more pertinent question is can they be in the top half for goals against?

I’m going to throw an unlikely bone into the centre ice stew. McLeod entered last year coming off a career-high 30 points in 81 games at 25 in his 3rd full NHL season. Nobody expected what he did. Peyton Krebs is coming off a career-high 28 points in 81 games at 24 in his 3rd full NHL season. 😘

Thanks for posting. Goaltending is far and away the number one question mark for me although I believe it is tied to reducing the excess of Grade A chances. We’ve hashed the JJP numbers pretty thoroughly; not seeing ES scoring as an issue with this roster and the PP already sucked with him. The McLeod thing is an interesting take. Most of us agree Norris and Kulich come with question marks. We’ve kinda accepted McLeod might slip but he’s still a good 3. The idea that he could take another step is not one that I’ve seen get any traction. But really, is a 60-point McLeod any harder to foresee than a 60-point Norris or Kulich?

Probably the trade off for the one-way deal.

Guelli told Marty that there are auto extensions built in that can be activated this fall and that is likely their path

In the case of Kulich, players do not typically take a big jump after 60ish games. Its a big reason why I’ve been preaching caution with him. Not saying it can’t happen, but it’s not typical

Just in terms of how NHL trends generally work, one would expect. McLeod and Zucker to take a step back after surprising seasons. Power, Quinn and Benson to take a step up as rising talents who have been around a bit. Timmins, Greenway and Norris to miss a lot of games. And who the ***** knows with UPL? The rest of them are probably too new or too established to pick much of a shift one way or the other although I think Byrams going to have a good year and I wonder how Kesselring handles the new system and increased role.

I think this is a good read on the game today. I just think that the Sabres actually do agree with you and tried to go exactly in that direction. Analytically, Danforth and Doan are two of the best forecheckers to move teams this summer. They’ve got Tuch and McLeod, they drafted Benson abd molded Krebs to play that style. Norris can fly. Greenway’s not fast, but he’s a load. they walked away from Skinner and Olofsson and Mittelstadt and Peterka. They also tried it with Lafferty Malenstyn and Aubé-Kubel and failed miserably. All of them fast, each with a forechecking reputation. Maybe the problem was not identifying the right for checkers? Maybe its coaching- either Lindy or the transition to Lindy? It hasn’t worked yet, but I don’t think they’re completely blind to the issues they perpetuated under Granato.

1- or 2-way deal is about contracted salary only. This means nothing in terms of where he will play. As @shrader says he remains waiver eligible and the team is behaving like the plan is to start him in Rochester.

Marty Biron saying it’s a 1-way deal

I don’t think this is how the deal went down; Adams didn’t identify JJ as the bait he should use to get what he needed and flush what was wrong. But maybe happy accidents? Given what last year’s team showed I trade Peterka for the concept of Doan and Kesselring every day. I just hope those two can actually match their concept. @Taro T where did you hear the JJ/Dahlin stuff? It gives me hope.

Anyone hear what numbers we are looking at for the new guys? Doan will probably keep his 91 and Lyon his 34. But Kesselring 7, Timmins 25 and 20, and Danforth 17 will be looking for new ones. Id like to see Timmins in 3 and Kesselring in 5. Love those old school low numbers for my D

Thats the calm, rational way of looking at things 😁

There is nothing inherently negative about selling naming rights to the stadium and fixing the roof. Its just a case of “don’t bring me flowers you lying sack of *****.”

Now just get Tuch done. I really think so much depends on him showing a commitment.

Things are going to get so much better when he takes his step.

Yeah, I think if things don’t work down the middle, Tage is the obvious solution. I just think the lynchpin argument ignores the fact that Jiri is still the 3rd option for 1C minutes. As it stands right now, Norris is the first option and McLeod the 2nd. If Kulich is on that role things have either gone horribly wrong, or incredibly right.

I have no idea. I’ve kinda given up on predicting bubble teams. Too much randomness in hockey. Utah seems to be much better coached and analytics liked them more than their record. Composition wise both teams look very similar up front after the Peterka trade. The Sabres have a far more talented D corps with the only franchise player on either team, but the Utes have more veterans back there. Also give them the edge in goal, although each is at a level there that seems impossible to predict. Both teams are relying on young players to improve to get into the playoff picture. Ten points difference in the standings is a pretty marginal gap for me. I’d say whichever team gets the better goaltending so probably Utah?

It’s weird how much it transforms the on-paper perception of the lineup. I think the years condition us to look at that spot first when judging a roster.

So by this you mean he’s the guy most likely to make or break the forward corps? I can see this argument: Centre is the most important position and the Sabres weakest. Norris is an unreliable 2nd, McLeod a good three and Krebs just a guy So if Kulich can’t be a reasonable top 6 player, they’re hooped. I don’t agree with it, but I can see the reasoning.

And to be clear, Kulich doesn’t belong there ahead of McLeod

No one doubts that. Kind of curious what you think Utah has done differently in terms of development choices.

You read the site and you see plenty of references to him as the 1st line centre. I don’t recall the Sabre brass ever referring to him that way. He did play with Tage Thompson down the stretch when the guy they actually referred to as a possible 1C was hurt, but he was playing 4 minutes a game less than McLeod and 30 seconds more than Krebs.

How many full-time NHL players entering their 3rd years can you name whose lineup spots aren’t guaranteed? How many NHL teams will enter training camps this year with more then a couple bottom-tier roster spots up for grabs?