mjd1001

So let's just ignore that for most of the year, they had one of the best power plays in the league. They've turned into one of the top scoring teams in a league. They have several players that have developed really well, much better than they have under previous coaching staffs. Improvement has been seen all over the roster and all over the scoring sheet and even standings. Since this management team and coaching staff took over, i'm not expecting them to flick a switch and turn into a stanley cup contender overnight. What a good coaching staff does is continues development of players, and they show overall improvement. That's exactly what this staff has done. I don't see how one can knitpick on one aspect of a possible coaching staff 'failure' and derive a whole narrative from it.

Thumbs up simply because you listed Pettersson so high. Many (not everyone but many) people on this board forget about the guy, when I watch him play on that Vancouver team I think him and Jack Hughes look like they will be in the MVP discussion for most of the next 5-8 years. On this topic overall....Tage is probably a top 10 center. He isn't top 5. But him and about 10 other guys are pretty much interchangeable for th 5-15 slot.

As of now, I think Toronto is just as good as they were last year. Differnet players in the middle of the lineup, but I don't see them as noticably better or noticably worse. With that said, They had 111 points last year I expect that to come down SLIGHTLY. Why? Montreal will be a bit better. Detroit about the same or better. Ottawa and Buffalo should be better. Florida should be better in the regular season. Only Boston and Tampa will be worse. There aren't enough games and points against those 2 teams Toronto can gain compared to points they can/might lose vs the rest of the improving division.

I must have missed the Zadina news. I guess my point Still is i'm not a fan of the way detroit is handling the rebuild.

The biggest thing/quickest way I see Power can improve is actually his confidence against the better teams the Sabres play against. It was noticable to me that when the Sabres played some of the top teams in the league, he was more likely to pass the puck away a bit too quick on the zone exit when he still had a step or two more to take. Or when he chased the puck into the corner agains the better teams he wasn't pressured all the time yet would be quick to just flip the puck up the boards to the blue-line without always looking for a better play. He didn't do that as much against some of the 'lesser' teams. If Power comes into this year with just a bit more confidence that he can play well against the top competition, that will be a major step forward for him.

Ottawa I think is the challenge here. Detroit I am not worried about long term. I just don't seem them developing their top young talent as good as Ottawa, Buffalo, and other teams. I think people are saying Detroit is a team 'on the rise' because they have a handful of top 10 picks in the last few years. However, they aren't really doing all that great compared to other top 10 picks. Seider on D looks good, but not dominant good. Larkin is at his ceiling. A good ceiling as a guy expect to get 25-32 goals per year, but again, very good, not elite. Lucas Raymond is their other 'star in waiting' but he took a bit step back in year 2. Not only were his stats down, but a few articles out of detroit I read said his overall game hadn't progressed either. Rasmussen is another of their elite prospects, a former top 10 pick..but he's already 24, going into his 5th year in the league and has less production than Mitts. People are high on Zadina, another former 6th overall pick, but he was drafted all the way back in 2018, and he's shown nothing to make you think he is more than a 10 goal per year guy. Edvinson was another top 10 pick on D for them, but since his draft he has moved up through the system but not yet excelling at any one level. A lot of the good play Detroit got this year was from 35 year old David Perron, 30 year old Andrew Copps, 32 year old Ben Chiarot and 27 year old Kubalik. The young guys need to step up a lot to have Detroit take that next step, and I just see Buffalo and Ottawa having the 'young guys' developed more than those on Detroit. With me saying that, now watch Detroit come out and finish 10 points ahead of Buffalo and Ottawa this year.

I think a healthy Dahlin getting the puck up the ice out of the D-zone and setting up the forwards helps ALL the forwards keep production up. Should I say a healthy and fairly well rested Dahlin. I know he is going to get a lot of ice time, but can we find a way to knock it down from almost 26 minutes per game he last last year to something like 23 minutes per game?

Tampa and the Islanders, as you said, are probably the safest bets. Boston you can't rule out a major drop. Bergeron, Krecji, Bertuzzi, Hall, Orlov and Clifton are all possibly gone, and they played a major role on this team at some point. Marchand will be turning 36 later in season and he did have a slip in offensive production last year. We are all tired of predicting the Bruins taking a step back, but it is a possibility. Toronto is a great regular season team, but they are so top-heavy that all the need is a season ending injury to one of their top 4 and a half step back in goaltending and that would cause them to take a major step back. Not that you can rely on it happening, but their season can change the most with injuries to their top 4.

The islanders are not hopeless but they have a few issues: -There is virtually no help in the system. They have a few young players Isle fans can convince themselves MIGHT be good NHL'ers, but they have to try hard to do that. There really isn't anyone in the orgainzation that can be any kid of difference maker at any level. -With no help coming in from the system, how about anyone on the main roster still young and getting better? Not really. Forwards 'usually' hit their statistical peak about age 25-26, and by the age of 28 they tend to start the slide down in production. Barzal is 26 already, but he might be a bit of an overpay at 9.1m per year. Horvatt is 28. Anders Lee is 33. Brock Nelson will be 32 when the season starts. Lee, Nelson, and Horvatt are going to be the only guys on that roster next year that scored over 20 goals this past season, with no help really coming...most other guys you are lucky if they hit the high teens. Sure, they play a good Defensive game, but when it comes to outgunning any other teams, they don't have much of chance. They play a great defensive game and have great goaltending. That will keep them competitive. But the problem is there is really no reason to think they will be any better next year than they were this year, and a few reasons (slight regression due to some aging) to think they might be slightly worse. Basically, the past 2 seasons (84 and 93 points) are probably their ceiling, with little going to to push them over that ceiling.

I agree if you are talking about this heat/weather. Personally, I'd rather take a walk outside with temps in the 30's with a jacket on, the 40's, 50s, and low 60's with a light jacket on, or the upper 60's or low 70s with a t-shirt...rather than deal with ANY of this 85 and over stuff with humidity. And even the sun. Give me a mostly-to-partly cloudy day over the sun beating down on my skin heating it up even more for most of these days.

Hope this doesn't become controversial or political....but my complaint is the launch (so far) of 'threads', the twitter competitor. I tried it. I will give it a shot. but there are some major issues/complaints I have right now. -No desktop app for Windows. when working I spend half my time in front of the computer at a desk. It is SO easy to check Twitter, have the app pinned to the taskbar, click once and it opens and within seconds I'm checking my feed. Threads? Phone apps only, no desktop app at all. No way to easily check the threads from the computer at all. -Totally random posts coming up. There is no option to just read the people you follow...some algo determines what it thinks you want to read and fills up the feed with random junk from poeple I dont know saying things I don't care about. If I open 'twitter' or 'threads' to read posts by people I follow....it is now a total waste of time to scroll through pages and pages of junk from stangers I don't care about. -Search feature. There is a search. As of now you can't search topics, just users. I want to search for Sabres, F1, Buffalo ny? nope, only searches users, can't search for topics. Great we have a choice (maybe not if the userbase splinters between both apps) and I know its early, but to me they need to fix those 3 things ASAP, the first 2 most importantly, or the app is close to useless for me personally.

Bread is an under-rated part of any sandwich....and a lot of that has to do with Water. Everyone in their own city/region thinks they have the best pizza (due in part to the crust) or the best bread...or best 'whatver food' and they are convinced of it. Why? They are USED to the water in their region...the same water that goes into their pizza crust, their bread, their pasta is boiled in, etc. My wife is from NY city and has friends that are 100% convinced that their sandwiches/bread/pasta/pizza is the best in the world and anyone who thinks otherwise is crazy. Its not just their 'civic pride' though in all cases. They are used to the taste/mineral conted of that NY city water so when their food is cooked in it, to them it is the best (same thing in other regions/cities.) Its the offseason, topics tend to get off topic a bit more as there is less overall to talk about regarding the teams/players.

Honestly, I just want 3rd pair D-guys who are good enough to keep Dahlins ice time down a couple minutes a game (to about 23) and Powers ice time down to about 21 minutes per game. Having 2 great D-men so at least one of them can be on the ice for the majority of the games in the playoffs may be more important than in the regular season. Have a guy back there who can get to and move the puck out of your zone will be very valuable in playoff hockey. While you need to have your stars play a lot to GET you to the playoffs, once you get there those guys need to be somewhat rested AND fully healthy.

I was hoping for a bit more on the back end. Free agency or a trade...I really had my hopes on ONE player a bit better than what the Sabres got. Maybe Johnson or Clifton will be a better fit on the Sabres and they will turn out to be good? Unless something else big is going to happen in the trade market, it looks like slight improvements to the back end plus the young guys getting one year better are the order for this season. Might be good enough to get them into the playoffs.

Zero interest in him. I'm not even sure he would be any better next year than a healthy Comrie (I still think Comrie played through some injury woes even when he came back) or UPL. And to give up anything for that? I posted this in another thread about him, but the last time he had a 'good' year, Jeff Skinner was in his FIRST year with the Sabres. And even that year was 'good', not great.

I tend to agree. I still think the team/coaching staff is pretty high on Jokiharju too, at least more than many fans are.

They are trying to win the off-season in the hearts of their own fans.

I don't have much of a preference in terms of who they sign in FA...meaning no one specific I really want. I just want them to do something soon so we have something to talk about...and hopefully it'll be someone we can easily convince ourselves we like....ideally a vet (but not too old) D-man.

I haven't commented yet, but after reading the comments so far... -Some seem to think he has a chance of making the team with Quinn being out. I think there is virtually no chance of that. -I like reading that a lot of sites/pundits say he should have/could have gone higher. That is good. I'm not a big fan of the way they describe his style of play. I mean, nothing wrong with great vision, hard work in the D-zone and one of the best playmakers in the draft. Its just me, personally, I like wingers sho may be lacking in those areas IF they are kinda fast and kinda big at the same time, or just plain fast.

People who don't know how to do their job correctly and then they blame others. Just this morning I was driving in NF and there was road construction. I was heading west on a one way street (that was done to one lane) and came to an intersection. There was cross traffic in both directions. So, no police directing traffic, but instead 3 construction guys standing in the middle of the intersection 'trying' to direct traffic. I wanted to keep going straight. The road ahead of me wasn't blocked. I saw cars pulling off of side streets onto the road I wanted to go on. Yet apparently I wasn't supposed to? The construction guys were not really paying attention to the traffic, mostly talking to each other while waving their arms and pointing at cars. So the guy in the middle pointed at me and then started waving both arms up and down, almost like he was flapping his wings. I have NO idea what he was trying to do, so I entered the intersection and rolled down my window. He came up to me and started yelling at me that I could only go left or right. Like mad yelling at me raising his voice. So, other cars were on the street in front of me I wanted to go straight on. There was no construction vehicle there. And he was half paying attention to traffic and using some hand/arm waving signals that I have never seen anyone use to direct traffic, and he got mad at me and came up to my window yelling at me because I have no idea what he was trying to do? My complaint of the day. Pay attention to traffic, not your coworkers. How about actually POINTING in a direction that someone can go?

I thought that would be the most unpopular choice, but I kinda agree with you. He is at a point where a pretty big jump statistically, while maybe not likely, isn't out of the question with him.

I said about a month ago I would be OK with the status quo PLUS 1 legit top 4 D-man and another prospect D-man for Rochester who is good enough to play for the Sabres in a pinch. Anything else, a big goalie move being what is a big topic right now on this board....isn't that big of a deal for me. Just get a legit top-4 Dman and bringing back the rest of the gang is fine. Girgensonss and Okposo aren't likely to be here next year, certainly not both of them, so the young guys will get their shot eventually. If they force their way on to the team early by being light-out in a good way in camp so be it.

I know this was not directed at me, but I feel the same way (I am not eager to make trades and if its not a clear 'win' I'm likely not interested -- at this time). Why? I think making trades that you might not win, taking chances for something that might be a big reward....those type of deals I could get behind when your team is really 'stuck in the mud', so to speak. If you are going no-where or have an attitude in the room that needs to get changed, go ahead and make some big changes. However, I feel good about the direction of the current team. I LIKE the players on the current team. I think there is a chance that all of the goaltenders on the roster play better this year and that Levi could be a long term solution and he is here already. I think if you made NO moves (which I do not want NO moves) the team would still be better if no major moves were made. With that said, I want a move for a top-4 D-man and if that means trading assets (including a former 1st rounder) than that is what I'd be comfortable with.

This is a topic that keeps on coming up. It is short-term thinking by the sabers or maybe the NHL. I'll bring up a few people... My daughter and her boyfriend who are in their middle 20s, two nieces who are in their middle 20s, and a nephew who is in his early 20s. Those are the people in that age bracket in my life who have now moved out of their parents house and are living on their own. Every single one of them was a fan of the sabres growing up, and went to games, and watched them on television. My youngest nephew as a teenager had a collection of sabres jerseys. I verified with my nephew and niece when I saw them last over the holidays but none of them have traditional cable television where they get the MSG network, so none of them watch sabres games anymore. They are still fans of the team, but they don't go to any games, buy jerseys anymore, and they want them to do well but they watch the games much less than they did when they were readily available. My nephew was more of a sabres fan growing up but now he's more into the bills.... Why? He can watch all the games. I'm sure it's not the same with everyone in that age group, but to me it's obvious that to make a little bit more money with your cable television partners, you are shutting out a large segment of people who are going to be less fans of your product, buy less merchandise, and is there overall interest drops go to less games.

It is the same in nominal terms. Whether the cap goes up is the thing you have to decide if the nominal makes it worth it. The point of my post is do you break the contract down the way you do knowing the nominal, but not knowing the other things. Plus for me, I guess the numbers being as high as everyone is throwing out there, those numbers are good for Dahlin, I'm not sure sure for Power. I think Dahlin has a higher likely ceiling than Power. My personal opinion is Dahlin is/should be in the Norris trophy discussion every year for the next Decade. I think Power, while very very good, might be more likely to be 'all star' caliber, but a notch below Norris caliber.