Randall Flagg

I got this idea from hfboards. We didn't have one for the quarter-pole, so we can do one now (well, technically the season will be 1/3 over after the first period Monday, but whatever). You can grade however you want, but I'll go through player by player and assign letter grades. I will be grading relative to my expectations for each player before the season. C is average, meeting expectations, and won't deserve the negative light it probably gets perceived with. B is a bit better than expected, A is much better than expected. D is a bit worse than expected, D- is way worse than expected, and F is ***** this guy should not be in the NHL WTF is up. There are no A+'s. First, starting up top. Jason Botterill: A-. He has every level of this organization winning games, prospects are developing, and the key reasons for the turnaround, Skinner, Hutton, and improved depth (albeit from the hot garbage he was fine with starting last year with), have his finger prints all over. An A will be rewarded if we hang on and make the playoffs. Phil Housley: B+. Phil has shown tremendous improvement in role deployment. Jack isn't all that much better at D, though his effort is through the roof back there, and Skinner is a defensive disaster, and yet those guys are tilting the ice and not allowing a lot of goals against while scoring many themselves, and the reason is that Phil did what I asked before the season: our two best offensive players are getting primo offensive minutes.The amount of set defense they have to play is a minimum, they can focus on attacking with the puck in the Sabres possession or in the o-zone already and don't have to worry about getting it back from a team that's already pitched a tent in their zone, and the result is that Jack is winning his on-ice ES matchups (in a huge way) for the first time in his career. The growth this represents over last year's "defensive 2C role" for offensive player #2 is exponential. His work with Tage paid off very quickly, and the players are ready to play and have shown immense improvement in their abilities to make and receive passes in fast game situations, something he's been working at with them since his first training camp. Needs to get his depth lines sorted out better. Now the players: Jack Eichel: A-. If three of his posts go in, and if he takes and makes that shot in OT last night, it's an A. Goals and the mental funk that is keeping him from shooting are something that needs to be sorted out, but his playmaking has been sublime, his effort is the best we've ever seen, along with his two-way play, and the man led the Buffalo Sabres through the best stretch of hockey we've seen in a decade. Not much more to say. He's showing he deserves the C. I expected 80-85 points, bad defense, and getting outscored, and he's pacing for 95+, playing reasonably well defensively, and has a plus minus that lets pi sleep easy. Jeff Skinner: A-. We just wanted ~30 goals and top-six NHL forward level play, with hopefully not too much disaster in his own end. Boy has he spoiled us. If only he could pass a teensy bit better. Get this man signed. Jason Pominville: A-. I know he's regressed a bit as the games have piled up, but since I expected him to be our 13th best forward this season and looking like this from the start, what we've gotten from him in the meantime has been awesome, and such a treat for the nostalgic. Hopefully 3 games in our next 10 days lets him rest up. Sam Reinhart: B+. He started off fairly slow again, though not nearly as bad as last year's start. He's turned it up about two months earlier than last year too. He's been one of our only sources of secondary scoring, and is doing very well in his trips up to the top line as well. And I think he'll keep getting better as the season goes on. That's how he works. Wouldn't be surprised at all to see him wind up with 65+ points, which will give him an A at the end. Kyle Okposo: A. Kyle is another benefit of Housley's role revelations. He has put his head down, churned his legs, and done very well as a mentor and on-ice pressure release valve for our rookie C, and has been able to safely put his game back together without the pressure of needing to be for Jack what Skinner is. I thought his career was sharply becoming that of a Matt Moulson, but Kyle says no effing way. Hope he can stay healthy and keep his legs for as long as possible. Conor Sheary: C. He has been no more and no less than what I expected: A source of ~15-25 goals from the middle six that looks great some nights and has stretches that Pens fans warned us about, where he can't stay on his feet and nothing seems to go right. A huge upgrade at depth wing over what we've seen the last few years, and still an absolute steal of a trade. Casey Mittelstadt: C. The rook took a while to get used to the size and speed of NHLers, as expected. He couldn't really do anything at ES for a few weeks, and has gotten slightly better each and every game since. The scoring is starting to come, and I envision his 27 point current pace will wind up finishing in the upper 30s, which is what I was hoping for in the beginning. His two-way play has been surprisingly good to balance out a bit worse of a time scoring than I expected. Mildly worried about the 2C position long-term and definitely worried short-term, but he'll probably wind up being very good in that role. Zemgus Girgensons: B. I was never as down on Zemgus as many, but he's showing us all that he can be a piece on a legitimately good fourth line. He brings solid defensive play and shot suppression, an effective cycle game, and is a key piece to a good penalty killing unit. Johan Larsson: A. I, like many, thought this guy was done and waived. He responded with playing like we thought he might one day play when he was running the FLG line in 15-16. His hands are back from that injury and he makes a wonderful pair with Zemgus on the 4th line and PK. Patrik Berglund: C. A useful depth piece that is a big upgrade on guys who had his role last year. His goal scoring has completely evaporated for some reason, I don't remember the last time he got a reasonably exciting scoring chance, but his shot suppression has been as good as ever and he is the final piece to the best fourth line we've seen in ages, nobody does it quite as well as him. Vladimir Sobotka: C. I've written essays about this guy so I won't say much, but those essays describe pretty much exactly what I expected to get from Vlad. Any negative he and Berglund bring are more from coaching decisions than themselves, because we should know what they do and don't bring to the team. I wouldn't be surprised to see him get good grades from some SSers and bad grades from others since he and Patrik's scoring numbers are far down from even last season's production, but IMO that was always going to happen. While useless offensively, Vlad is reasonably good defensively and another key piece to a different PK duo. Evan Rodrigues: C. Maintaining his career scoring rate, adding some events to an event-starved bottom six, and being effective on the PK with Vladdy. Inconsistency and dumb penalties are the negatives, that prevent him from escaping the press box merry-go-round. Tage Thompson: C+. Expectations are based on what i saw in TC and preseason, which is always a dangerous place to make them. Would be a B if this stretch had started earlier - was a D for 15 games, and B+/A- the last 5. Hopefully he keeps getting better and better and solves a depth scoring problem. Glad to see the confidence levels rising, and I expect a strong finish and a very good final grade. Remi Elie: C. We knew what we were getting and we got it, no more, no less. No forwards were below a C, which is a big reason why we're 17-7-3. Rasmus Ristolainen: B. Coupling his frustrating lobs to the NZ or to Nikita Kucherov with engaged physical play and offensive flair, Risto has done a good job, particularly recently, of minimizing the painful stuff that drive his bad underlying metrics far more than his extensive PP time, and maximizing the stuff that helps the Sabres win. Unfortunately, his TOI is still in the range that has caused deterioration around game 40-50 of every season he's played since we drafted Jack Eichel. I expect nothing different this year, and it's not his fault. For now he's doing a good job, in the words of Rayzor. Jake McCabe: A-. Jake has cemented himself as a legitimate 2nd pairing defenseman that we thought he could become when he was showing flashes 2/3 seasons ago. Hopefully he's just sick and can stay healthy, because this team needs him and he might be the most important player back there all things considered. He plays physical and is keeping the brainfarts to a minimum. Rasmus Dahlin: B-. He's everything we thought he would be. There have been no shortages of "woah." moments, and his metrics and play indicate that he's already, right now, the possession-driving transition defenseman we've been drooling about for years. He's had plenty of bad games in which the size and speed of the game overwhelms, but even in those there are moments (that deking in Pittsburgh) that have us giddy for the future. We are very lucky to have Rasmus Dahlin. Also, he's on pace to more than double the rookie year scoring of Doughty, Karlsson, and Hedman, while being younger than any of them were when those numbers were posted. Zach Bogosian: A-. We've actually gotten games from this guy, and though the Bogo bunker moments are starting to creep in more and more, he's been a key part of our transition game, and gives the whole team a boost of energy. It's far more than I expected and I hope, but can't yet expect, that it continues. Marco Scandella: D. I don't know what Marco has been battling this year, but it hasn't been pretty. It's his first two weeks of last year, but extended into December. I hope he can figure it out cuz I love the guy and we need him at his best. Hopefully whatever is keeping him out isn't serious and he can be back fixing up his game shortly. Luckily with the players above, we haven't needed him as much as we did last year, and hopefully in a situation mirroring Okposo w.r.t. less expectations, he can start to do a similar thing in rebuilding his game and becoming an asset again. Nathan Beaulieu: B+. He's definitely rebounded into being a 6/7D we are all mostly fine with for now. An offensive touch has balanced any shakiness defensively, and instead of using him on PP1 and pairing 2 like we did last year for stretches, he's been safely sheltered and is better for it. Also, A+ on the community work. Casey Nelson: C. Exactly what we'd expect, no more, no less. Isn't losing us games when he has to play, and brings a good first pass to the table. Completely fine with him as a 7/8D for now. Carter Hutton: A-. I was very skeptical of him getting the largest load he's ever had, and he's delivered. The single biggest individual reason this team is better, and it's not particularly close. Stick taps for Hutton. Though, the way he jaws at his teammates and stares them down sometimes, and the tone of his postgame interviews, aren't my cup of tea. But he's playing well and it's helping us win games, and that's the important thing. Linus Ullmark: A-. He's handling the backup role spectacularly well, and is a huge positive presence for the team. I feel relaxed and happy when he's on my TV 1200 miles away. Hopefully he can keep developing and steal the job sooner or later.

I agree that that stuff happens, particularly on the boards, but I absolutely do not think that's what was going on in this case. Guys are focused on playing hockey, and not every player knows exactly where Tom Wilson and everyone else is on the ice at all times. That's Gretzky level sh*t.

It was illegal in that it was from behind. I don't know how you could think otherwise. But I don't know if it's anything more than that.

I think Wilson over Elie is an easy call as long as Wilson doesn't have lingering issues. The Sabres are not the Colorado Avalanche; they will not win games or play good hockey letting 3 lines get caved in all game, because their top line is not scoring the most of any line since Heatley-Alfredsson-Spezza like Colorado's is. This is why I talk a bizarre amount about the Berglund line. When our 4th line is out there occupying the offensive zone and cycling beautifully, our first lines are that much better for it, and the Sabres don't have fans complaining about getting outshot by 20, or out-corsi-ed by 40, because whatever you want to say about stats, when that is happening, like last night, it's clear to everyone and their grandmother who is going to win the game. Remi Elie has pep and speed, but has blown up whatever line he's on, in terms of being able to do anything sustainably good. Scott Wilson is a player you have to be careful with, but he's shown the ability to make lines work, and scored 14 points in 49 games last year, something Elie was not pacing for. Wilson is just more useful and we have a better chance of playing sustainably good hockey (which we have played in plenty of games this season) with him playing than we do with Elie. Now that the streak is over, it's time to stop messing around. If an entire forum can tell you that Berglund-Sobotka-Pominville is a disaster waiting to happen, Phil, and that Berglund-Girg-Larry is the most effective 4th line this team has had in a decade, it's a little frustrating to see the former and not the latter and get run out of the building as expected. I'm not saying that was the difference between us winning and losing, but Berglund on goofy lines like that has failed every time, and 10-28-22 has been surprisingly good every time. No more screwing around - find combinations that work, practice dutifully, rest hard, and get back to playing the smooth and focused Buffalo Sabres hockey we've gotten plenty of glimpses of but know we won't see doing things like that.

I thought Pilut was very cautious. Had a couple nice breakout passes. Two no-nos into the slot where Ullmark saved him. A reasonable first game.

Since we drafted Eichel and came out of the tank, we are 3-8-2 against Florida.

Honestly, without the context of the winning streak, that was indistinguishable from the worst of last season, or an average tank game. 5v5 shot attempts were 65 to 28. PA has a great point. There was some stuff going on during the streak that you keep together because streaks, but probably wasn't going to work all year, and now it's time to start addressing it. We have to stop putting together bottom sixes that get caved in, and we have to stop playing Jack against Barkov ? We have combos we know work down there. 10-22-28 has almost 200 minutes of gutsy, grindy goodness and 71-17-72 could very well be okay to play above them. If you don't want to take Tage off Casey's line, put Sam on Vlad's (that combo scored twice the last time they were together) and try to rejuvinate Pominville on two days' rest with Jack and Jeff again. Get McCabe and Scandy man healthy. Reset, and come out with your hair on fire Monday.

Nah, they were cowering in fear. He gets in their heads so much that they were over 85% in possession tonight

Got the point. Phew.

Risto rubbing off on Dahlin there ?

Why?? Edit: Oh. Oh Jesus.

Jesus Christ guys.

We make a great team in subtly attempting to reverse jinx our team.

Peeper! Jack, let's do this.

I'll be surprised if we get out of this one with a point

Ugh.

Hold on tight, get these two points, and take your two days off to try and remember how to play hockey boys!!

A third goal would be huuuuuuuuuuuuge

Hoowee Dahlin

Not Barkov lol

We have iterations of these very same players that make superficial sense together and have extended time's worth of underlying metrics supporting that they play good hockey. It's a little frustrating that we keep throwing lines out that are a safe bet to spend 80% of the time chasing their tails.

They really do have more good players than their record would make you think.

That Berglund line was a disaster before the puck dropped

This is some bad Buffalo hockey fer sher. Bogosian is trending back towards bunker Bogo, just a bit.

Pilut's first bad play, that giveaway to the point.