Curt

Cozens? Power?

I second the disagree. Never felt that way about Vanek. Teams would beat the hell out of him and it never took him off his game. No one said that Vanek intimidated people..

Ok, fine. Looks like I was projecting my opinion that they would be a mid-80’s pt team onto the majority of the group. I still think that they will be that.

Agreed. How is he ever going to finish at the rim or score a header in the box?

Defensive

There aren’t any. Someone probably will, but I don’t think there will be any D prospects who are locks to go in the top 15.

This is a consistent trend over the course of many years. It’s not just something from the 15 games this season or even from last season. It’s year after year. It applies to the visiting team as well. Low hit numbers in Buffalo is a real thing.

Hit stats are unreliable junk. They are recorded differently by some local guy in ever building in the league. For whatever reason, in Buffalo hit stats are recorded at a comically low rate. The Sabres average 8.7 hits/60 at home (2nd lowest in the league is 14.0). On the road they average 19.5 hits/60, 9th lowest in the league. I would agree that the Sabres are not an overly physical team, but hit stats are completely meaningless garbage.

Perhaps you are right about that. They have 8 ENG. Seems like that is probably above average.

Regardless of motivations, this is certainly a slow build. By the way, I don’t doubt the authenticity of the motivations.

It’s not the offense. Sabres are 3rd in the East in goals scored. Unfortunately, they are also 3rd worst in goals against. Goaltending has definitely been part of the problem.

The vocal majority of this board (whoever that includes) definitely did not think that the Sabres plan was to win now this season. It was extremely obvious and most everyone agreed that this is a slow build and the team would be only incrementally better this season.

Trades are hard to discuss as generalities because they are so dependent upon specifics of the players involved. Im not opposed to trades, full stop. I’d be fine with, for example, Mittelstadt for the defenseman equivalent of Mittelstadt. (formerly highly regarded young guy who is struggling a bit). I probably wouldn’t be in favor of Mittelstadt, Krebs, and picks for a 28 year old 3/4 defenseman with a couple years left on his contract. Im not opposed to adding talent in areas of need, but I’m very hesitant to spend much in the way of assets to do so. By “good enough” I just mean that they generally succeed. If the likes of Power, Samuelsson, Jokiharju, Cozens, Krebs, Mittelstadt, Quinn, Peterka, Savoie, Kulich, Östlund mostly fail to meet expectations, then it probably won’t matter what trades or free agent signings are made, the Sabres won’t become a contender.

Regarding statistical primes, I believe you are correct that it’s generally that 22-26ish range, with regards to offensive production only. It can probably be argued that many players in 26-30 age range have improved defensively and offset much, or all, of any offensive production decline. There are probably studies out there, I kinda recall seeing a couple, I’m not going to look them up. I agree that the Sabres certainly have some very good players who are in their prime right now (Skinner, Tuch, Thompson, Dahlin, Olofsson) but I don’t think it’s enough to start pulling the trigger on win now moves, trading high quality picks and prospects for players in their primes. I feel like doing right now could actually put something of a ceiling on this team, and limit them from becoming a real contender 2-3 years down the road. Honestly, I think Buffalo is too far away from being a contender right now to make any consolidation trades to fill roster holes. I don’t think they can know what those roster holes will be on a Sabres playoff roster. I think once enough players are in place to make the Sabres a legitimate playoff team, THEN it’s time to push chips in and trade a few good prospects/picks for right now players. If I was in charge, my plan would probably be to show continued growth this season, and demonstrate to the league/fans that this team is surely on the upswing (mixed bag so far, I know). By doing that, get some more fans in the seats $$$, and become more attractive to UFAs. Then this offseason, hopefully attract a slightly higher class of free agents, signing another goalie, better than Comrie, to share the net or be the starter, and an additional defenseman at least as good as Lyubushkin, but hopefully a bit better. If that means giving out a couple $4-5M, 3-4 year deals, I think I’d be fine with that. Basically doing something similar to what Detroit did this past offseason. That, along with continuing development of young players, could fill the holes in the roster and make the Sabres a solid playoff team. Then you see how they do for a year or two. See who excels in playoff situations, see who exceeds expectations, see who is fitting best into the team, see what areas are holding the team back. THEN, if necessary, make a big move to cash in some youngsters/picks for players in their prime. Then compete for the Cup At least that’s what’s in my mind. When it comes down to it, I really believe that the Sabres future depends upon how their current group of young players/prospects develop. If they collectively are not good enough, trades and free agent signings are not going to be enough to push the Sabres to the top.

Kinda, but he is a 18 year old goalie in the 5th(?) best hockey league in the world. He is many years from the NHL. All about potential at this point.

What I think needs to improve. 1) Better/more consistent goaltending 2) A little more depth in the middle/bottom of the D group. 3) More experience/consistency in the forward group.

I believe that this draft and develop strategy with reasonable incorporation of analytics and emphasis on team culture is the right approach. I have no idea if it will result in a cup contender. Too many steps between here and there.

Undrafted?

I’d like to see Asplund and Mittelstadt swapped. I want to see Mitts on a bottom 6 checking/forechecking/dump/cycle line. I think that might be his future. And Asplund can help Krebs-Olofsson on the defensive end.

I resemble that remark. Not trying to be a pain. I honestly had no what you were talking about (and I actually still don’t think it’s funny), but that’s ok. I guess Thorny got it.

Sedin is standing next to someone who isn’t his identical twin, because only one of them was there???

So, I’m a big dummy I guess, but I still don’t get it.

I don’t think that’s true actually. Everything I’ve ever seen previously says that they are identical twins. Also, they look like identical twins. EDIT: Just quickly read the article. Where does it even say that they are fraternal? I didn’t see it.

I knew that they shouldn’t have shared that supersized milkshake with just one straw during Tuesday’s goalie meeting.

4 is enough. Every team goes through ups and downs. Even good playoff teams are going to go through stretches where they lose 2-3-4 in a row. The difference is that good teams get themselves righted more quickly. Just 1 bad game instead of 2-3 in a row. Just a 2 game losing streak instead of 4, or just 4 instead of 7. I expected bumps along the road this season. I still expect the Sabres to end up with a point total around the mid 80’s.