GASabresIUFAN

Sad situation. We have had 13 1st, 2nd r& 3rd pounds picks the last 3 years, and besides Power, we haven't a single D. In KA's 3 drafts we have drafted 27 players, 1 goalie, 5 D, and 22 forwards. Besides Powers, Lindgren, in the 4th rd, is our highest drafted D and he won't be close to Buffalo for at least 2-3 years. The other 3 D were drafted in the 5th, 6th, and & 7th rounds. We also have no legit NHL prospects currently in Rochester. Laaksonen, a 3rd rd pick in 2017, is a defensive liability still and looks like he won't make the next step. Johnson, our best D prospect, is questionable if he'll even sign here. KA needed to add real depth and instead brought in a bunch of AAAA guys like Clague and Pilut for the Amerks.

Not that I have heard. With Bush out, we are down to Dahlin, a rookie and a bunch of JAGS again. Memo to KA, find some friggin help now!

DG also uses Mitts on both special teams. I guess DG had more faith in them than some people here.

Just a quick comparison between Dahlin and fellow Swedes Victor Hedman & Erik Karlsson through their first 4 seasons Dahlin 277gm 31g 129a 160pts - Year 5 (so far) 8gm 5g 5a 10pts Hedman 258gm 16g 73a 89pts - Year 5 - 75gm 13g 44a 55 pts. (First 70+ pts season in year 8, and 20g 80+pts in year 13) Karlsson 233gm 43g 120a 163pts - Year 5 - 82g 20g 54a 74 pts (First and only 80+ pt season in year 7 and has been diminishing since until maybe this year).

From the Athletic discussing VO and Mitts: https://theathletic.com/3743526/2022/10/30/sabres-kyle-okposo-tage-thompson/ “Olofsson’s night was headlined by his pair of power-play goals, but his line was also effective at five-on-five. According to Natural Stat Trick, Olofsson, Casey Mittelstadt and Jack Quinn accounted for 16 shot attempts and only one against in 8:04 of five-on-five ice time. They also had 98 percent of the five-on-five expected goals while they were on the ice. That’s an absurd evening of hockey from that group.”

VO is tied for the team lead in goals with 6 and Mitts is tied for the lead in assists with 5. Considering the D behind these guys, I'm not sure the current analytics mean much.

Looking forward to next weekend in Athens. UGA vs Tenn should be a track meet. Disturbing incident after the Mich/Mich St game. MSU players (thugs) attack a Michigan player in the tunnel. https://news.yahoo.com/michigan-state-players-jump-michigan-032655086.html

Yep. Biron has been saying it for years.

Because his career is kinds of like Hagg's. He had a "good season" which lead to a decent contract and he ended up getting passed by other guys in the organization. I think he is a better player then Hagg, but right now even Hagg would be an upgrade over what Pilut and Fitz are giving us. Like I said, KA should have made this deal assuming Car would have moved him in the conference. Maybe this deal by Van, opens the door for them to move on from Schenn? He'd work here also.

Lousy return for Carolina and I'm sorry, but a failure on KA's part.

Our D group still stinks in preventing shots on goal. They were 10th worst last season and so far thus year we are the 4th worst. Of the 3 below us, Ana, AZ and Pitt, Ana and Az have combined for only 3 wins so far. This is just one indication that what we have on D isn’t working. Injuries, youth, lack of depth are all factors, but one of these factors, depth, can be addressed now and it should be.

Make the trade and make it now. You can always weaponize the cap space later if we aren’t in the playoff race.

No else did either. All 3 pairings tonight were bad. Back to the drawing board.

Hey Donnie, I think we know what you need to work on in practice. Puck possession and zone entries. KA needs to find some D. Just awful.

Awful d zone play continues.

What terrible puck decisions. Dumb

“Some marvel from DC”. Thumbs up to Dunleavy.

KA needs to find some D.

KA needs to find some D. What he’s got isn’t cutting it.

I don’t see Skinner remaining with TnT and Tuch long-term.

I’m not saying this is the case here with Asplund, but as the season drags on, all the guys will have dumps and bruises that could benefit from a day off here and there. We’ll be happy for the depth when that occurs. I also don’t agree with anyone being exempt from sitting even if they were a letter. We aren’t a good enough team to be playing guys who aren’t pulling their weight. If you aren’t contributing, who should sit. The player I’d sit right now is KO. He hasn’t contributed at either end of the ice as much as Asplund. If Cozens or Mitts or VO aren’t playing the right way and others are, they should sit to. This is admittedly a little naive but it’s how I feel.

I’m an Asplund fan as well, but having a more defensive forward sit during a home game when you control last change makes much more sense than sitting him on thr road. KA wants to get PT for JJP, Krebs, and Quinn to help their development, but this will come at the cost of at least one vet as long as Vinnie remains in the lineup. Tonight Asplund draws the short straw against an offensively challenged team. It’s a calculated risk, but a necessary one to keep Krebs and or Quinn for sitting to long. At some point Sheahan is also going get some PT and then 2 people will sit if everyone is healthy. Honestly I think KO would benefit from getting a night off from time to time. One other thought, I want Krebs in and on the PP2, we need his passing skills there.

Frozen puck traveling at 100 mph hitting someone in the face. I'm surprised it's not much worse.

And? He is almost certainly an upgrade over Fitz and Pilut and if he is an improvement for Bryson, so be it. Always better to have competition. If he makes Bryson expendable for other assets, that's fine as well.

Perfect. Make it so.