GASabresIUFAN

Which one? in the off-season on Defense I mentioned guys like Schenn, Ruutta and others. For the forward, Paguette from TB comes to mind.

A couple of defensive D men to start. I'd also add a forward or 2 who are higher skilled versions of Girgensons. We do have diversified skills on our forwards, just it seems no one other than Girgensons willing to go into the dirty areas.

Sure. When you look in our prospect pool, even if Johnson signs, we have no one on defense. I like the two Russians, but when they get here is anyone's guess and we need guys who can push on and hopefully replace Jokiharju and Bryson sooner then later, since KA is unwilling or unable to bring in good veteran help.

I’d trade him for a legit D prospect right now.

And I thought the prior game was an embarrassment. Thank g-d Adams and Granato got their extensions. They are certainly doing a great job right now. PS the Devils have won their 10th straight. Guess what folks a rebuild can actually work.

Think of the roster as a stock portfolio. KA bought some perceived value stocks like Comrie, Lyubishkin, and Bryson and some penny stocks like Pilut and Fitzgerald and they aren't working. Time to take the loss and move on.

The best argument for him signing here is that we can burn a year of his ELC. The best argument for him not signing, as I mentioned in my post, is that he can choose from 32 options when his college season ends instead of just one. I think he chooses the 32 options. That said odds favor him playing at least one year in the A before joining any NHL team, so even if he signs, he’s unlikely to provide immediate help. Again, KA can’t rely on prospects to fix the problems on D, he must go outside the organization.

High danger chances and odd man rushes are not the same thing. HDC may include odd man rushes, but it’s defined as shots taken from certain areas on the ice such as net front. I completely disagree that the defense is holding up their end. All the D, except Power and Dahlin, have terrible advanced metrics. We need to send Pilut and Fitz down and acquire 2 veteran D. One for depth and one to partner with Power once Samuelsson returns. This will at least one of Jokiharju, Bryson or Bush to the bench where they belong. I don’t think KA will address the goaltending until the off-season at the earliest even though I agree Comrie and Anderson aren’t good enough.

Too late to field a team capable of making the playoffs this season. 80% of the season remains. We have a playoff caliber offense and with the right tinkering on the blueline we could actually still have a successful (winning!) season.

When you have mediocre goalies you have to do things on defense to prevent odd man rushes because any mistake ends up in the net. Our D isn’t up to that task. This is on DG and KA. Granato needs to adjust how he coaches and KA needs to get him better defenders who actually have a clue on how to play in their own zone. Time for KA to actually support the team before it’s to late.

The was embarrassing. KA invest in some friggin D.

Why is there a gameday discussion that is 43 pages long before the game even begins and originates in a post from 2016?

SWE1 is the notation hockeydb.com uses for the HockeyAllveskan tier of Swedish hockey. It looks like Djurgardens IF, Östlund’s team, was relegated from the SHL to SWE1 after last season.

Why do I think Johnson won’t sign? His father works for the Ducks, he’s a California kid and most importantly he gets to choose his destiny as soon as the college season ends. Yes the Sabres have shown there is an opportunity here, but from his standpoint why go to Buffalo when he can choose from all 32 teams and choose a equal or better opportunity closer to home. That isn’t to say he won’t sign here, but I think it’s unlikely at this point. Even if he did sign, like Levi, he is facing at least one year in the A before he even has a chance of seeing ice time in Buffalo. We can’t ask a rookie to solve our depth issues anyway.

I doubt it. These are the 2 guys they are paying NHL salaries to regardless of where they play.

I’ve been patient for 50 years. He has his core D in Power, Dahlin and Samuelsson. Bryson is not a core player and either is Jokiharju. However I’m not even asking for him to replace them. All I’m asking for is to bring in veteran depth behind them if (when) they falter or we have injuries. As I said in the off-season Fitz (age 25) and Pilut (age 27) aren’t NHL players and they aren’t developing prospects. The only reason they are here is that they were cheap and already in the organization. They should be in Rochester helping there. We need vets in the depth spots who can mentor the young D group and give us capable minutes when called upon. I honestly don’t understand why KA is so afraid to make a move that truly bolsters his roster. Development is great but at some point you have to turn the switch from development to competing for a playoff spot. The offense is there now. Why waste another season when we have to resources to make the situation better and not block a single prospect on defense or in goal because we don’t have a single near ready prospect in either of these areas? (Johnson is likely to sign elsewhere, UPL is a bust, and Levi is still years away).

The team is on pace for 300 GF. They are more then ready. KA’s job is to fix the D and goaltending to support the offense. He has 3/6 of his D group and 50% of the goaltending. It’s time for KA to step up.

Long term we are committed to 3 D, Samuelsson, Power and Dahlin. The others are expendable. If Schenn outplays Bryson that confirms that Bryson is expendable. 11 D played for the Sabres last year, 9 played 36 or more games. Even on good teams, such as 2006/7 team, we played 11 D with 7 playing 47 games or more. The role of 7th D is an important one. Like with Vinnie, DG would rotate the 7th D in if everyone was healthy and he’d get significant PT regardless as history shows.

FYI: The Sabres are on pace to score 300 goals this season. Even in the 5 game losing streak they scored 3 or more in 3 of the 5 games. The offense, while far from perfect, isn’t really the problem. They only score 232 last season. They are also in pace to give up 290 goals against. This would be the same as last year despite adding Comrie and Lyubushkin.

I agree with the Sabres general philosophy. I’m not talking about bringing in some to play over core guys, I’m talking about depth and leadership. I’m talking about having a Vinnie Hinostroza quality 7th and 8th D who has playoff experience instead of AHL quality players like Fitz and Pilut. I’m talking about making sure the gap between the 4th D and the 7th D in quality isn’t the Grand Canyon like it is right now. Are you saying KA needs to grow a pair?

Why not yet? Those two (Schenn and Stralman) can't be worse than Pilut or Fitzgerald, they would be cheap to acquire, won't take up much cap space and bring significant experience and leadership which our D group really needs. Schenn is a + player on a bad Vancouver team. Stralman has over 110 games of playoff experience. He obviously isn't the player he once was, but who cares at this point. His leadership alone is worth the risk.

That's the problem. It doesn't have to be this way. KA could have and should have brought in someone with winning experience on the blueline to help accelerate the development of the kids. Someone like Schenn or Stralman on the cheap side for example. In fact, I'd be contacting Van about Schenn and Bos about Stralman today.

The waiting for Levi strategy doesn't work for me either. What is the best case scenario? He signs this off-season, goes to the AHL next year dominates and earns a late season recall. The maybe he shares the NHL next in 2024/25. That's the best case. What happens if he proves he needs 2 or 3 AHL seasons to get ready? What then? UPL's continued poor AHL numbers tell me he is not an NHL goalie. He is being outplayed again by Houser. KA need to move on from Anderson after this season and get a veteran in with some tread left on the tire. He needs a minimum of another 2 year bridge guy.

I’d like to see Rousek as well. He has earned a shot.

For this team to compete for a playoff spot they need to avoid what exactly just happened. 5 game losing streaks can bury a season. The Sabres are full of excuses. They competed hard, injuries on defense, youth and inexperience, still learning how to win etc… Fill in your favorite here. The real issue for me is a poor depth especially on D and in net as well as a lack of true winning leadership on the team. KO, Z and Anderson are pro’s pros, but none have really significant winning experience. Anderson has the most playoff experience when he played 19 playoff games for Ottawa in 2017. The real leader in playoff experience is Tuch with 60 + games. Bush is the D group leader in playoff games with 7 on the choking Leafs. Girgensons has never played in the playoff and KO has only 24 games under his belt and has been mired in the Sabres losing culture now for 6+ years. The lack of depth is on KA. He shopped at Goodwill two years ago and upgraded to Wal-Mart this past season off-season. He has 20 mill in cap space, a ton of draft picks and a deep forward pipeline but seems unwilling to utilize these tools to strengthen the team. When injuries struck the fragile D group, he did nothing and the 5 game losing streak ensued. The team also lacks someone like Teppo Numminen to bolster the experience of a youth D group and to help them keep their composure. Even during this streak had they kept their composure they may have been able to earn some points. They lead TB early in the 3rd before giving up 3 straight. Tied with Boston after 2 before again falling apart in the 3rd. Had we gone 1-3-1 in the last 5, I think the team and the fans would feel much better about things thinking we had weathered the injury issues and can now move forward. That lack of leadership is also on KA. I’m not sure if it was @Weave or @inkman who raised this issue in the off-season, but we discussed it somewhat then, but the need really showed itself over the last 5 games. So how do we go forward from here? I’d still very much like to see make a move for additional D help. Sooner the better, but I do realize it’s hard to make deals in season, especially this early. However, this is the year to try an in season move for help. There are 3 high end guys worth “tanking” for. Van remains a likely target. There are probably others.