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Bos, Wash and Pitt could also find their way down in the East. At some points older teams stop producing. Of the 3 Boston and Wash seem the most likely.

When does Bjork get the pink slip?

Saw a guy named Emmett Sproule on the Amerks camp roster. Looked him up and he scored 30 goals and added 56 assists for the Pete’s last year. Anyone know anything about him?

I don’t want to throw gas on this debate, but when I looked at the team that featured a semi healthy Mitts, a fully healthy VO who could shoot again, Krebs and Tuch, the team went 16-14-3 or an 87 point pace. Even those lineups still often featured 2 or more of Hayden, Bjork and Eakin, as well as Anderson or Tokarski in net and at least 2 JAGs like Pysyk, Miller, Hagg, Butcher and Fitz on defense. That period included 5/6 of the 6 game losing streak, and featured 21 of 33 games against playoff teams (8-11-2, but 5-4-2 at home). All those JAGs are gone or in a much reduced depth role.

Potential lines for the Amerks (without Bjork, Sheahan, Pilut or Fitz being returned) Forwards Biro Malone Rosen Mersch Kulich Rousek Kisakov Kozak Weissbach Murray Pekar Cederqvist Defense Clague Laaksonen Davies Priskie Tischke Prow ex: Eliot Goalies: UPL Subban What a nice looking lineup. Some raw rookies like Kulich, Rosen, Kozak and Kisakov, but no denying their talent. 4 forwards, 4D and both goalies w some NHL experience. Real physical 4th line. I worry a little about the D. Adding Fitz to the group would help.

Today’s lineup makes it pretty clear Bjork is the 15th forward and Pilut is still in the running for the 7th D.

So Bjork and VO out at forward for tonight and Pilut in as the 7th D. Comrie also not dressing. Should we reading anything into this. Isn't it kind of about time that Comrie plays behind the actually starting D in a game?

https://www.nhl.com/sabres/news/buffalo-sabres-training-camp-practice-report-jj-peterka-jack-quinn-line-combinations-october-3-2022/c-336014346 Are the lines taking shape? Looks to me like JJP is well ahead of Bjork in the pecking order. The D pairings seem pretty firm. I really like the 3rd and 4th forward lines. The Cozens line reminds me of the Vanek, Roy, Max line in some ways, and it's a nice blend of skill and speed with 2 players (JJP and Cozens) willing to do to the dirty areas. I'd put Tuch back with TnT & Skinner. That line needs someone willing to pass and that really isn't VO, Skinner or TnT's first priority. Tuch did such a good job of feeding Thompson last year. I do like Quinn with Mitts.

@Doohickie, come to think of it, Bjork should be 15 behind Sheahan also. (He is also behind imho Rousek, Biro and Malone, but that’s a different issue.) When I look at possible roster moves, if we waive Sheahan there is a good chance he gets claimed from a team looking for cheap depth. No team will take Bjork and his 1.8 salary. Sheahan is much more likely to be of use to the Sabres than Bjork. One factor that may play into short term roster decisions is the 4 game West Coast road trip that starts in Edm Oct 18 (Game 3 of the season). Will they want 14 forwards or 8 D for the trip? Right now I’m betting on 14 F and 7 D with Bjork and Fitz being the odd men out. It looks like Pilut has made real strides in the last couple of years.

JJP makes this team over Bjork, however Vinnie is the 13th forward right now if JJP makes the team. Bjork is 14. Centers - TnT, Mitts, Cozens, Girgensons (4) Wingers - Skinner, Tuch, VO, Quinn, Asplund, KO, Krebs & JJP (8) Extras: Vinnie, Bjork

It really depends on how JJP, Sheahan and others do over the next week, but I disagree on JJP. While they could send him down, I've seen nothing that even hints that is how the Sabres are thinking. In fact when I looked at the depth of the forward group in Rochester, it doesn't look like they anticipate him being there. The Amerks forwards right now are Malone, Mersch, Kulich, Rosen, Kozak, Kisakov, Murray, Biro Cederqvist, Rousek, Weissbach, Pekar, Jobst and Passolt. That's without adding Sheahan or Bjork. That's a huge amount of talent for an AHL team upfront.

I haven't seen their projection. However a 10+ point year over year improvement would be a very good result for this coming season.

Analytics are great. They do a great job of explaining what happened in the past, but they are terrible at accounting for player development. There is a well known adage that past performance is not indicative of future results. No model could have predicted Tage's improvement last year nor did they predict Skinner's rebound. They all assume if you were "X" last season you'll likely be within one standard deviation of "X" this season. All these model say will be exactly the same as last year points wise. I honestly can't see that happening unless the goaltending completely falls apart, which admittedly is possible. As I've said before, jettisoning the JAGS throughout the lineup with young high end talent plus full season of the traded for players will elevate this team by at least 30 goals over the course of the season. Moving from a team that score 230 to one that scorer 260+. Teams that score 260+ are at a minimum 82+ pts teams.

They are probably going to go with the hot hand early in the year and see how things play out.

Yes and no. We probably go down the field that same way and score a touchdown and still win. Harbaugh new his defense was gassed.

Here is the deal with Bjork’s contract. His cap hit is 1.6 and salary 1.8. If waived the Sabres get 1.1 in cap relief, but Bjork still gets his 1.8 in salary. Bjork isn’t in our top 12 forwards and won’t be playing even if he makes the team. Truthfully he isn’t in our top 17 forwards. I’d play JJP, Vinnie, Sheahan, Malone, Biro and Rousek all ahead of him. So what’s best for the Sabres? Carrying a bad player because he has a contract or giving his roster spot to someone who can help them team? I’d rather have the 8th D. I’d also rather keep Sheahan over Bjork. One caveat is that according to Capfriendly Pilut is still waiver exempt. If that is correct, @Amerks8796 could ultimately be right and the Sabres send Pilut down while carrying 14 forwards. All that said, Bjork is a JAG who had 8 pts in 58 games last season. Sheahan, who also plays center and is defensively responsible, put up 17pts in 69 games last year and was a plus player on an expansion team. Money or no, Bjork should not make this team over Sheahan, JJP, Krebs, Pilut or Fitz.

I was thinking much the same thing. Lots of puck movers, but not anyone who actually defends well.

What has Bjork done to prove he is a viable NHL player compared to the upside of JJP or Krebs? The best thing that could happen to Bjork (and the Sabres) is that he gets waived and picked up by another team. With Sheahan, Malone, Rousek, Biro and Weissbach all in the organization, Bjork is easily replaced if lost. Maybe Appert and fix Bjork in Rochester if he clears waivers and turn him into an effective NHL player. Also, keeping Fitz or Pilut over Bjork would only reduce our cap hit by about 350K. We’d remain above the cap floor. Of course, it’s very possible that someone starts the year with an injury and no one we are discussing gets cut.

How do Amerks fan feel about a potential D group of Clague, Davies, Laaksonen, Priskie, Tischke, Prow and Eliot?

How? Right now with Vinnie, Krebs and JJP we are at 13 forwards. Bjork or Sheahan would be a 14th forward. If we carry 13 forwards, we can keep both Pilut and Fitz in the NHL. I would agree that waiving Bjork and Sheahan is more likely than waiving both Fitz and Pilut. I looks like there are 5 D in the Amerks camp after the recent cuts. Add Priskie, Clague and Davies to that group and the Amerks have plenty of D even if the Sabres keep both Pilut and Fitz in Buffalo.

Here we are with about a week left in camp and the roster is pretty much as predicted back in July. What drama is left? Are we carrying 13 or 14 forwards? If 13 - None of Bjork, Sheahan, or Malone is making the roster. Krebs & JJP are making the roster. Are we carrying 7 or 8 defense? Who is still fighting for 7 & 8? Fitz and Pilut? I don’t think Clague, Priskie or Davies are really in the conversation. I’m kind of thinking Pilut is the leading candidate for the 7th slot.

@inkman I was being sarcastic.

Got to love seeing Alex Nylander getting another opportunity.

UPL plays like that most nights, he’ll become our starter sooner then later. He was especially impressive in the first period. VO and TNT have incredible releases on their shots.

https://theathletic.com/3621131/2022/09/28/nhl-regression-candidates-2022-23/