mjd1001

I think Krebs liabilities are more in the neutral zone and D-zone than they are up front, but even his production isn't great. To get a greater 'sample size' than just the first month of this season, I went back and looked at the last 41 games (half season) including this season and the end of last. Krebs (38 games) 1 goal, 10 assists (2 goal, 20 assist pace over a full season) Just for fun, some of ther other players '82 game pace' over the last 41 games for the Sabres: Thompson: 54 goal, 100 point pace Skinner: 38 goal, 86 point pace Dahlin (1 missed game): 26 goals, 78 point pace Olofsson: 38 goals, 66 point pace Cozens: 12 goals, 44 point pace Mitts: 18 goals, 50 point pace Tuch: 28 goal, 70 point pace The magic date used to get 41 games back is all games since March 18, 2022. Since that date (the last 41 games/half season), Thompson leads the NHL with 27 goals. Thompson (Dal) also has 27 but he has played 2 more games. Tage has 27, what about the rest of the league since then? Kaprizov 26, McDavid and Draisaitl both also with 26, Horvat 25 (but only 9 assists), Stamkos also 25, Matthews Pettersen and Kucherov also 24. Over that same time period (41 games), Dahlin would be 3rd in the NHL in points among D-men with 39. Only Josi (one more at 40) and Makar (2 more at 41) have more. In goals from the Blue line, he is tied for the league lead with 13 with Makar and Karlsson

I have no problem with VO. He has proven when he is healthy he is a dangerous NHL player. While when not scoring he may seem 'invisible' to some, this year he hasn't made many major mistakes to cost the team goals. Over the past couple seasons he has about 1/3 of his goals on the PP, making him a dangerous PP weapon but still pretty good even strength (more than he gets credit for). He has 10 goals in 20 games, a 40 point pace, including PP goals, Even strength goals, and a couple empty net (one to seal the game). I'm getting that for under $5mil per year, I'm good with that. As far as Krebs, he is playing awful. However they are choosing to develop him, well they obviously know a lot more than I do. What I do know is when he is on the ice, he rarely is helping this team and often is hurting it.

They need time. 90% of what they need is time. D-unit is young. Dahlin is elite now. Hes one of the top 10 D-men in the game, maybe top 5. He can control a game from back there. If Power keeps getting better, you have the possibility of having Dahlin or Power on the ice for almost 70% of the game. But Power needs time to get better. Up front, you have what looks to be a dominant Center in Tage. You have a couple of 'good wingers'. You 'need' Peterka, Cozens, Krebs, and Quinn to get better. At least 2, hopefully 3 of them to get noticably better. But again, that takes time. As said by a few other people when talking about New Jersey, Hughes and Hirschier up front are playing great, but they played really poorly and the team was bad for a few YEARS until they got to where they are now. Time.

Is a 104 point pace. Hard? Yes it is. Statistically are they likely to make the playoffs? No, they aren't. Doomed? Not yet. The next 2 weeks upcoming games may make the numbers look even worse, but I don't want to rule them out of anything unless that 'point pace' gets even higher.

If you want to find a way to get Krebs back in for a game or want to give VO a day off (like you said you want to do with most fowards) then fine, I'm good with it. But not because you think you will get more from Krebs than VO. VO has shown time and time again he is a streaky player. Most goal scorers you can say are Streak but he seems VERY much so. It usually is right about the time people are calling for him to sit that he goes on to score 4 goals in 5 games. That is who he is. Krebs on the other hand, I have not seen a forward play as bad or hurt his team as much as he has this year. I am not a guy who ever says 'send him down to Rocherster becasue he is struggling" but for the first time in years I think Krebs is a player that it applies to. VO? I have learned to live with his streaks of 'invisible' or 'bad' games because when he isn't hurt, he works himself out of it and when he does he is very, very valuable.

St. Louis is playing much better and they aren't a bad team, but their 'winning streak' they aren't exactly a juggernaut. Good one goal wins vs Vegas and Colorado, but then 2 wins over Anahiem, one over Chi, San Jose, and an overtime/shootout win vs Washington. 7 wins are 7 wins, esp 2 good ones, but they aren't Boston. With a good game at home the Sabres can win this one...and it would be a good win.

I might not watch the whole game (family coming over tonight) but I'm very much looking forward to this game just for the unis. As I mentioned before, I am old enough that as a kid I grew up with the Blue and Gold. I probably saw my first Sabres game in the late 1970's and as a kid started following the team closely in the early 80's, WELL before the red and Black. Yet I like the red and black better. Hope we see these unis pretty often and not just this year but a few games per year (at least) going forward.

I don't see it. I mean Yes, he isn't stellar defensively and overall he's not a top 4 D-man, but he isn't making mistake after mistake causing this team goals against. With the skill of a bottom pair guy at best, he isn't 'good enough' to PREVENT goals with a stellar first pass (like Dahlin) or winning a lot of battles on the boards (Samuelsson/Lyubushkin when healthy). But not a tunover machine. To me his is fine as a D-man who does get (like you said) less than 15 minutes of ice time per game. But when paired with a decent partner, I'm OK with him in that role. Just do not expect him to cover up for his D partner, or young forwards mistakes. I'm not advocating for him to have a bigger role of course, he is still a bottom pair guy, but I just think him and Jokijaru are a bit better than many on this board give them credit.

Interesting to me his first tame, only a practice (or two) and he got both PP and PK time. Esp on the PK, Only Girgs and Tuch got more PK time among forwards, and he was close. Samuelsson and Jokijaru got a lot of PK time on the back end. If they can handle the PK, great, that means Dahlin can use the time to 'rest up' so he can be out there even more on the PP and even strength. Jokijaru gets picked on a lot on this board, but this is where he is valuable. He is good skater and has some skills in the offensive zone, but when you don't notice him as much he is having a great game. He is not a liability even strength (compared to what we have seen in the bottom 2), he can fill in on the PP, and is actually pretty good PK. When Lyubushkin first came back from his injury he was playing bad and his ice time was a bit low. He is back up to the 18-19 minute range so hopefull that means he is feeling better. Asplund not only wasn't used much in the PK, but he was WAY at the bottom of ice time overall for forwards...I didn't see much of the game, did he get hurt?

Confidence in the offensive zone, but he needs some legit work on his overall game. In almost every aspect of his game he looks like a journeyman minor league guy who is totally outmached in the NHL.

I decided to go through the game again and see if anything stood out with the goals allowed: 1st Tor goal: Its hard to know if anyone is to blame when SH because I have no idea how they are told to play the PK, but this looks like a simple case of the D-men allowing a forward to get behind them, but it might not be their fault as the forwards were a bit slow to rotate due to good Toronto passing. The best way for this goal to have been prevented is it Tuch would have cleared the puck a few seconds before it was scored. He had more time than he thought and could have put it out of the zone but he didn't do it. 2nd toronto goal: strange bounce behind the net, puck goes to a place Lyubushkin didn't expect. Lyubushkin doesn't recover well form that. Asplund very late getting back to cover the slot Toronto Goal. 3rd tor goal: Crazy goal, sloppy play on the boards in the offensive zone. Quinn with a giveaway, Thompson can't keep it in, Dahline can't keep it in, Toronto gets the chance. Didn't bother with the last 2.

I think Bills fans can 'put away' the Allen for MVP chants for another year. He might be playing hurt, but his MVP chances are just about gone.

I'm hoping Cozens is a very good/excellent foward. He is closer than Krebs, Peterka and Quinn. I'm just slightly frustrated watching him because I think his over-agressive and out-of-position play are easily correctible. I'm just waiting for him to do it.

No joking, it might be close to being true and that is why magement may not be panicking as much as the fanbase. It just might be that they feel Power, Quinn, Peterka, hopefully Krebs and even Cozens are much better plays opening night in 2023 vs what they were/are in 2022.

As I mentioned earlier in the post, Mitts and Thompson are a lot different in that way than Cozens. When playing center, they cover the slot in both zones much, much better than Cozens, and Cozens is out of position more than both of the others combined.

I disagree with Cozens being effective. This year he has taken a step back. I have posted this many times, but look at the goals the Sabres have allowed when he has been on the ice. He is out of postion A LOT. He is full speed ahead chasing the puck. Watching replays (and him live sometimes) it amazes me he is allowed to get away with it. In the offensive zone, the puck will go behind the net where a Sabres winger already is there, and he will crash the boards behind the play, sometimes on the verge of fighting his own player for the puck. I have seen 1 or 2 examples this year where he did that (instead of maintaining his orginal spot in front of the net) where the winger does gain possession and if Cozens would be in front of the net it would be an easy pass to him but he just chases the puck. In the D-zone it is worse. Watch Mitts and Thompson in the D-zone when they play center. They let the D-men (and wingers) dig the puck out and they cover the slot. Cozens on 3 or 4 goals aready allowed this year just flies behind his own net, leaving the slot WIDE open where the eventual goal scorer eventually gaines a pass and is one on one with the goalie for the eventual goal. He is aggressive, he is somewhat physical, and he does have skill, but he often times this year is hurting the team more than helps it becasue it seems he just don't play any kind of system like the rest of the forwards, he just goes full speed after the puck and that is his only focus.

I never wanted him to leave and would have been happy if he were here all that time. I like him as a person and think he is a good coach. HOWEVER, I'm not sure even Lindy would have been able to make it through the Tim Murray regime and what happend to the roster during and after that.

As far as the 'season being in the toilet'.... A lot can change and it IS early, but right now the last wildcard spot in the east is looking/projecting to be 95 points. For the Sabres to beat that (96 points total for the season), they need to play at a 105 point pace from now for the rest of the year. Its not impossible, just they need to turn things around now.

Krebs is the ony one of the young guys I can see sending down because he has played awful this year from game 1. Just awful in about every way I have seen. The other guys, they have shown flashes (or more than flashed) that they can 'keep up' with the NHL game and produce. I think Sabres management might think the fine tuning of their game might be best served by 'learning from mistakes' on the big club. Krebs is the only one that seems ovematched in every aspect of the game at this moment. Cozens is a good example. He isn't going down to Rochester, but his problem now is knowing what he can and can't get away with...knowing when he has to stay in position vs not. Sending someone down like Cozens would have the opposite effect. He might 'get away' with more in Rochester, when the exact lesson he needs to learn is he can't get away with certain things that he did at a lower level.

They have young players/high draft picks, numerous ones, that they are giving ice time to. Look at New Jersey, Hughes and Hischier. They were high draft picks, they played them right away and they were bad for a couple years but they stuck to it. Buffalo is trying the same thing with their young guys. Krebs, Quinn, Peterka, even still Cozens up front, and Samuelsson and Power on the back line. They ALL have talent, but they all are very young and are going to make a lot of critical mistakes if you 'throw them in the fire'. If you want that development path, you are not going to be as good as you want for a year or two while doing that. NJ decided to focus their team around those two guys (Hughes and Hirchier) and this is they year they have veterans surrounding them and they are playing great all around games. Hischier has 317 career games played already, Hughes has 184. By comparison, Cozens has 138, Power 26, Peterka 20, Quinn 15, Krebs 77. They may not 'get it' until games 150-200. For Dahlin, it took him on the back end to get to about game 250 in his career before things really started to click. For power, they are committed to playing him, but what if he keeps making mistakes that cost chances (and games) for the next 2-3 years. It is possible, but the Sabres have made no statement or showed any sign that says they are going to do anything but that with their young players. That's all I got.

He eventually becomes your 3rd line center. Can fill in at 2nd line center IF he improves from where he is or in case of injuries. 20-25 goals per season should not be out of the question with him. (currently on a 22-23 goal pace). He only has just over 200 games played, so while at his age he probably is CLOSE to what you are going to get from him, there still might be some small upside in production.

The Sabres should be better at this point in the season. But, NJ has 2 advantages: 1. They have brought in more/higher priced mid level talent that can help the team now. Buffalo is playing Quinn, Peterka, Cousins, and Krebs quite a bit and they are all having major issues with positioning or turnovers. NJ has more guys that may NOT be more talented, but aren't hurting them the same way. 2. NJ has 2 key young guys leading the team. Hischier who is 23, and Hughes who is 21. They have a LOT of NHL experience for their age. The past 2 -3 years, they played, they often times were VERY bad while they learned. Now they have that experience and are a lot better. That seems to be what the Sabres want to do with the young guys...have them learn "in the NHL, on the ice". In the long run that may be a good stategy (to be a team like NJ), but you are also going to be not that good while doing it (just like NJ)

My point is he is pretty good at the PK. Look at the goals against when he is on the ice for the PK or just watch him, he doesn't rotate out of position and is good at clearing the puck when there is a loose puck. Hes average or better at it. Other will disagree with me, but I don't care too much if points come 5v5 or pp or sh. A point is a point, a goal is a goal. They count the same. They both count just as much toward a win. So no, on this team I dont' think his production overall is sad for 4th in ice time among fowards, becasue to me I'm not going to cherry-pick even strength only to make my point. Projected for 50 points has ZERO to do with me assuming he can play 82. "projected" is just a way of 'annualizing' what he is doing in a small sample to make reference to overall production easier. He might play 82, he might not, but that was not the point of what I said.

I can't find it the report now but if I remember him as a potential top 10 pick in his draft year: good skater but lacking high end speed. Good stick handler but not a great shot.

I'm going to ask the question I kinda brought up the other day that no one has really answered. Why the hate on Mitts? Why do so many people say they are done with him? And if you trade him, you are creating a hole how do you fill? He is on pace for 50 points. He is killing penalties and NOT making mistakes doing so to cause goals. I mentioned I checked last week that as of then he was over 50% on faceoffs. Reviewing all the goals the Sabres allowed, he has not been out of position or made major mistakes to cause many of them (unlike Krebs, Cozens, Quinn, and Peterka). He was/is 4th in ice time among forwards. The only reason I can see for all the hate is people WANTING him to be on pace for 35+ goals whiile he is only on pace for 20. But he is playing a role on this team that is above replacment value for sure.