mjd1001

Power gets a ton of ice time every game he plays. I know he/they watch film, but maybe missing a few games and getting to watch from up high/the pressbox is something that might be really really good for him.

Clifton with already over 18 minute of ice time. He is going to end up with 22 or 23 minutes this tame at this rate.

If, IF this was the start of a 10 game winning streak...after those 10 wins in a row the Sabres would have 68 points in 61 games. or 55.7% of available points. Currently 55.7 is 8th in the conference. A 10 game win streak probably STILL has them outside of the playoffs.

I really have zero problem with it. You don't want it to happen? control the puck, or better yet when you play poorly enough to lose a game, its going to happen to you. Remember it next time you play them....beat them next time. Even with all that, you STILL don't hit the guy in the head with the stick. You want to make a statement drop the glove in front of him, wrestle him to the ground...etc. Demand to your coach you want to go out for the next faceoff and address it on the ice there. NOT doing that and instead going up high with the stick just FURTHER illustates the lack of toughness the leafs have.

I agree with the above. Even when people on this board and general fans were saying how good he was, I didn't just see it. He was good for a teenager, but he wasn't good for an NHL defenseman. However, I still think he'll be worth the contract in the long run. Do I know for sure? No, but I am of the firm belief that, with a couple exceptions, NHL defenseman don't round into the player They're going to be until they have a couple hundred games under their belt. I think Power will be very good, maybe great, but we won't see it for another 2 years at least. My hope is he turns things around and starts playing better, and it's a gradual increase in play until he reaches that very good to great level.

My reasoning? And I may be wrong but here goes.... The team was much better last year with the same head coach... What's different? Assistant coaches. They are getting better goaltending if every nothing else would have been the same, they'd be a much better team. What's the difference? Production from the first line and cousins. All of them have had more injuries this year than last year. The power play, to me that is coaching but that's more the assistant coaches than the head coach who runs that. Sure, it's a lot to go on, but I think DG as head coach but with a different assistant coaches and a healthier roster means this is a much better team.

I'm good with this.

I know the data is imperfect, but I thought it would at least mean a little bit, and more importantly a point of discussion on here other than the 'fire Adams' or "fire Granto' threads.

I could see Zemgus on that team. Fitting in, maybe signing an extension and staying there for a couple more years....

For those older fans...Andreychuk. he took a bigger beating than Vanek and Gausted combined....and all he did was score from there. But as a kid...I remember so many people wanting to get rid of him because he wasn't a good skater ..didn't score pretty goals....Dave Garbagetruck people would call him.

After the replay, that was worse than I thought. Sure, he showed you up, but after the play, you take a run at him, a two handed cross check to the head and face? That is the EXACT thing they need out of this game. You don't like it, you get in his face, ask him to drop his gloves..and if he doesn't want to you drop yours anyway and go at him that way....cross checks to the head like that after the play are garbage.

Ottawa show boating a little bit on that empty net goal versus Toronto, but Morgan Riley across check to the head after? That should be a multi-game suspension

I think many of us have the opinion that Pegula is not going to hire, nor work with, anyone who makes him uncomfortable and even the slightest way. He wants somebody to let him be involved when he wants to be involved. He doesn't want somebody to tell him he's wrong when he's wrong. He basically wants to be a coddled owner that will always have rose petals thrown on the floor and to be asked for his opinion whenever he walks into the room. Every owner has the right to do what they want to do and many of them want to be involved, I just have the impression that his priority is looking for people around him that make him be comfortable instead of looking for the best people.

Many defensemen, even first rounders... Need a couple hundred games before they really hit their stride. He appears to fall into that category. I think he'll be fine, probably very good, it's just going to be a couple of years.

So with what...10 days off? Any lingering injuries had a chance to get a good rest. Then they played 2 home games, so they didn't have to travel. Dallas is a good team, St. Louis kinda average, but neither are even in the top 10 this year in goals allowed, they both can be scored on. Then, you just played on game when you got back, then had ANOTHER couple days off between games (at home again) to rest and practice. Neither goalie you faced this year is even in the top 20 in terms of stats this year. 2 total goals. By the way, this team was the 3rd best scoring team in the league last year. This year? The Sabes TOP goal scorer is tied for 48th in the league. Their TOP point scorer is tied for 60th. That is the BEST this team has to offer right now.

Who in this forward group "goes to the net"? The only way I know of to track that is to look at one of the charts of each player, where they take the shots from, and which ones are taken from the 'front of the net'. I looked at the charts of each player up to today, and wanted to see which player takes the greatest percentage of their shots from the "high danger" area. (Basically form a triangle from each goal post to the faceoff dots, then draw a line connecting the faceoff dots, and seeing what percentage of thier shots are taken from that 'in close/in front of the net' area) So maybe some guys are better from the wings and are told not to go to the net. But, to see who actually DOES to to that 5-7 foot 'tough' area in front of the net and see how often they get shots off, here goes: Benson 47.5% Girgensons 42% Skinner 32% Tuch 30.5% Okposo 30% Cozens 29% (last year he was at 33%) Mitts 27% Peterka 24.6% Thompson 24% (Last year he was at 30%) Greenway 24% Quinn 21.6% VO 19.6% Krebs 18.4% I got the data from: https://edge.nhl.com/en/skater/20232024-regular-8477949

So, they have a full week and a half off to get healthy...... Come back and play 2 home games (with a few days rest in between)... Against 2 teams that are 'average' at allowing goals..... Put up almost 80 shots between those 2 games.... and score a total of 2 goals. Exciting hockey we have here.

I mostly (but not totally) disagree with that. Thompson is having a down year compared to the last couple, but even now he is scoring at a 30 goal pace. Paying him $7m per year is about what a consisitent 30 goal scorer should get (maybe even more), but he has almost 3 seasons worth of games showing that is a floor, with a ceiling higher than that. I have no problem with his contract. Thompson also my not be 'good' in the defensive zone, but he isn't someone that causes problems (like Cozens) so I don't hold that against him. Cozens, as many now on this board I RIGHT NOW do not like his contract. He has one year of scoring 30 (due to a high shooting percentage that year) and every other year (including this year), over 160 games played, shows he is more like a 8% shooting percentage guy, NOT a 15% guy like last year. Even if you figure he might be a 10% guy, that translates to 18-22 goals per year for him. Add that to the fact he is BAD in his own zone (not for lack of effort, but for simple hockey sense), and if he doesn't put up 30 goals per year for you, it is a bad contract. Power? I have posted many times on here last year that I thought he was "OK" last year but not as good as everyone thought. This year him playing, at times bad, doesn't surprise me. But, I do think that most D-men don't hit their stride, until they have 3000-400 games played. Power I think is not good now, but I think he WILL be good, it is just going to take another year or two.

I like Mitts, I want to see him here long term. BUT if he is looking for a big contract ($7-$8m per season), I'm going to at least entertain shopping him. Again, he's good, but he's a 15-20 goal scorer, 60-70 point guy. Certainly that isn't nothing, but lets not make it out that right now he is an all-star in waiting. Best 2-way forward? That may be true, but being the best 2-way forward on this team isn't saying much (he can be one of the best, or THE best and still not be good). So again, If they annoucned they signed him to an extension tomorrow I'd be happy. But if he is looking for a big time payday, I don't thik he is that 'big time' of a player and I would at least LISTEN to offers or do some light shopping. He is RESTRICTED this offseason, no need to give him 7 years for $50+ million. The Sabres control this situation, make the best decision based on all information. "All information" probably means shopping him around and seeing what his value is.

The opposite is true with me. My wife works during the day, even Saturdays. I have all the free time in the world on Saturday afternoons (and Sundays) and love those games. Its the weekday games that are a bit tougher. I manage to watch most of them, but not all, because she gets done with work usually at 6pm-6:30, and then it's 'lets watch a show or movie together' on weekdays at that time. The weekend afternoon games I love though.

Yeah, no one is untouchable. That doesn't mean I want to shop them around but every single player you listen to offers if someone makes one, and every single player/offer is dealt with on an individual basis. You have a young guy with a lot of potential, who is ahead of the curve already? Don't look to trade him, but if you get a great offer, you listen. No untouchables. My opinion is Dahlin has potential to be a top 10 player in the league in the next few years despite him not playing well right now, I LOVE what Peterka is doing now (lets not confuse with with Pastrnak though), Tuch is playing better likely though injuries and he may be one of the top 10 forcheckers in the entire league, plus he's a local guy......but, someone calls on any of them and I'm still listening to offers.

Some of the late 1990's teams I wasn't a fan of. Actually, I liked wathing Hasek, but the rest of the team was terrible to watch for me. Plante, Audette, Holzinger, Audette, Dawe, Grosek...Galley, Wilson, Huddy on defense. I had zero connection to that team. Watching them was praying for one or two of them to score and then just watching (enjoying I guess??) Hasek hold on. They had some good years becuase of Hasek, but I did not really like the players on the Ted Nolan era teams. Some people are mentioning teams from the 80's. I liked watching those teams. Maybe its because I was a real little kid and winning and losing didn't matter as much, but watching Housley play, Foligno, Andreychuk, Turgeon, even Lindy in his playing days, Mike Ramsey was one of my favoite players ever...Again, they may have had some bad years but I LIKED those teams.

Yeah I have. Its hockey, even a bad game I like to have it on the TV while I do other things around the house. If its a good game they are winning, I'm glued to the TV. So yeah.

I'm there with you. A young guy who is VERY injury prone but has had very good stretches of play (especially for his age) even though it isn't all the time. He's at about 5% of the cap now. He won't be even hitting his prime until close to the end of his deal (D-men usually continue to get better through their late 20's and even early 30's) Unless he is 100% totally shot and useless because of injuries....even a somewhat 'injury prone' guy who is likely to get better with experience might be well worth it at the number that will soon be UNDER 5% of the cap.

This may hurt the most on the Penalty kill unit. Only EJ had more ice time on the entire team on the PK (and who knows if he will finish the season here) Sabres PK is at its best with the tall/big guys with the long reach out there, so they can cover as many of the shooting/passing lanes as possible without getting out of position. Who takes those minutes on the PK? Clifton I guess, but I'd rather have Samuelsson out there on the PK than Clifton? Power? Nope, don't want him on the PK at all right now, he needs his minutes even strength.