Randall Flagg

No Cozens or Joki tonight.

I wouldn't use "blazing speed" to describe Cozens' skating yesterday. It's very strong, with impressive edges, but he's not super fast. What I mean is, the things that looked good for Dylan in the game yesterday looked similarly good from Tage in the tournament last year. They were both tall, lanky, better skaters than those surrounding them, and interested in carrying the puck down the ice the same way, with displays of a hard wrist shot from each.

And I guess I'd agree, since my very own total in this thread was 238

Not all together, but I don't think any one of those players individually would have an unrealistic chance at hitting those goal totals.

Also John Gruden is such a clown and a joke

I think Sizzle is right in that Thompson's positives are of the same nature as Cozens, when they're in the appropriate setting for those things to show through (ie Tage in this thing, not Tage in NHL). I think duda/liger are right that Cozens is fundamentally different from Thompson in between the ears when it comes to hockey. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I thought of another way to phrase what I think Cozens needs to work at developing - does anyone remember Evgeny Artyukhin? That guy could skate faster than anyone in the NHL, practically. He has some end-to-end highlights that look like McJesus. But he was successful at that far less often than McJesus, because he had relatively stone hands, and his puck control was sorely lacking. It was usually a trivial matter to separate him from the puck, often with a simple attempted poke check or just getting a slight shoulder on him to nudge him a bit - he'd muff the stickhandle and the puck would skitter away. McDavid is impossible to separate from the puck - the speed at which he stickhandles, the control and forearm strength he has at all angles relative to his squared shoulders, all make it so hard to strip the puck from him. Cozens' rushes are more on the Artyukhin end of the scale right now because he kinda pokes the puck along with him, rather than maintaining full control. Sometimes he barely stickhandles at all while doing it. The differences between Cozens and Artyukhin - Cozens has more skill in general, being a top 10 pick. Cozens is in his teens with lots of prime development years left. And Cozens is playing hockey in an era hyper-focused on stickhandling skills. He'll get there.

Pats are signing brown and winning 15 games this year

Who is doing this?

I kinda see Mitts (souped up hands) and Cozens as yin and yang for each other as prospects. One is a safe bet to be a reliable NHLer for a long time even if his ceiling is lower, and the other has PPG+ potential with a lower floor

I don't think I've ever seen unfair criticism of Cozens on this site, where I've seen three posters criticize him in the 12 weeks since we've drafted him. That's what I'm referring to Not pass reception, but his stickhandling and puck control while on the move needs to get better for when there's less space and things are moving faster in the NHL. It was the very first thing I noticed when I watched the first highlight video of his in June, and it showed up in the form of fumbling pucks away while attempting those rushes a la Okposo last night. Again, this is something that's very easy to fix wit a little time and effort, so I think he will. I predict he never plays a second with Jack, because both of them will have that role locked down on their respective lines.

With Laine it's not about production. The production is why people would still trade things for him. The things we'd trade are just pretty limited compared to typical players of that production because he is a problematic hockey player for the bulk of the game when he's not scoring those goals, and in a season like last year, where TWENTY ONE of the thirty goals came in just one calendar month, and the other five months were simply brutal hockey with no production, well, the Sabres need first and foremost to stabilize the hockey they play and bring it to a level and consistency they haven't seen in years. After they can do that, the production will come. Laine simply doesn't help them do that even if he can help with the production problem. We just don't think he makes us a better hockey team in the ways we desperately need to get better, even if he helps us score more goals. So while we'd trade something for the more goals, we wouldn't trade what it would take to get Laine and pay him way too much money when he's so miserable at hockey otherwise and also not thrilled to buy into things like working hard

Nobody has that narrative. It's okay to raise eyebrows at the number of one-on-one rushes he attempted and lost the puck on. It's just acknowledging an area of his game that could see some growth. Same with his hands, which stuck out to me more than the rushing did. And he did a lot of good things too.

GA - I think it's more likely Sheary plays in that spot (and hits that many goals) than Thompson. The other numbers seem reasonable, it would be nice for Larry/Zemgus to hit that many - I think they can if their role gets eased up on a bit. Larry in particular actually has a shot when he gets to use it. Man, if Dahlin hits 15.....

I can see Pi's and Sizzle's reservations w.r.t. Cozens. I think he's going to get better in the areas he has them concerned but I can see where they're coming from. Also, I'd honestly rather sit Joki and Olofsson the last two games, and wrap them in bubble wrap until training camp this week

It appears that AB has recorded a private phone call between him and Gruden and included it in a youtube video he just uploaded

Pekar just beat up a guy that appears to be a fair bit larger than him

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Asplund

Pekar is gonna be a fan favorite

Did you catch the lunge on the PK to clear the zone? And then in front of the net, he was tied up and unavailable, until the second his teammate was ready to make the pass, then he peeled off, caught the puck, and got a shot right from the crease I'm drooling

Jesus Christ guys Just watch Olofsson off the puck His timing and spatial awareness are insane

Cozens with the Okposo shot on the PP!!!

I'm tellin ya, Olofsson's instincts are perfect

Don't think I've ever seen a player play quite like Hughes does. He's going to be a fun one to watch

Olofsson's crossbar there was nice, but even better was watching him watch that play develop, and position himself where he did at the right time. And okay, as annoying as that previous discussion among the broadcasters was, their knowledge of the Sabres is impressive.

The Devils announcers are so hard to listen to