GASabresIUFAN

The Sens over drafted JBD with the 26th pick in the 2018 draft. Most rankings had him as a 2nd or 3rd rd pick out of the AJHL. He then spent 3 years in college. Here are some comments about him from the 2018 draft. https://thehockeywriters.com/jacob-bernard-docker-2018-nhl-draft-prospect-profile/ They thought he had 2nd line potential. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/342438/2018/05/21/pronmans-2018-nhl-draft-board/ I think the bolded is what we are seeing so far from Bernard-Docker in a very limited sample size. https://senshot.com/ottawa-s-problem-with-jacob-bernard-docker-is-buffalo-s-problem-now-01jpe4seg1jt Apparently, this Ottawa fan site was happy to see JBD move on. One thing the author fails to mention is that JBD blocked 156 shots his one full NHL season and was willing to play physically when necessary. I don't know if he has 2nd pair potential, but he looks to be playing a simple game, can skate and is willing to hit and block shots. I'm curious to see what he can do.

With a win tonight, the Sabres improve to being the 6th worst team in the NHL up from 4th. Heroic run to picking 8th again on its way.

I want to watch this video, but I'm afraid, very afraid at the same time.

I grew up on Santora's and Bocce. What is the best pizza in Buffalo now?

No. Just lots of backup goalies.

Apparently subtracting Cozens was more important than adding Norris.

No

Win a friggin puck battle

Statistical evidence why we need to overhaul the defense.

Awful giveaway

Yep.

As of right now, these 9 players are the most likely scenario. I know Ruff has moved TNT back to wing since returning from injury, but I like him at center. I think the lineup flows better with him there. I don't think a Norris/TNT combo is a good fit. JJP TNT ???? ???? Norris Tuch ???? McLeod Greenway After those pairs, I'd like to see how well Benson, Kulich and Zucker work with each center before slotting them.

If you read my prior post; 3 years 4.75.

Last I looked Norris and TNT are ahead of him on the center depth chart. Before this season he hadn't had over 30 points in a season. Until he proves this season isn't an aberration, he's a 3C.

McLeod’s shooting % in Edm was 11.9%. He is shooting 22% this season and only has 17 goals. To pay up for a career shooting year is Cozens all over again. Someone brought up Casey’s deal. His was based on two consecutive 55+ seasons. McLeod has never had over 30 points in an NHL season prior to this season. Again paying up for a career year would be a mistake. He is a solid two way 3C until he proves this season isn’t an aberration. 3 years at 4.75 max.

Given who they have re-signed and Adams statements, I don’t think any new top 6 forwards are in the cards. Norris, Tuch, TNT and now JJP are core top 6 forwards. They just re-signed Zucker and Greenway. The McLeod acquisition was a big move from this season and has worked. He’ll be re-signed. That’s 7/9 of the top 9 forwards next season. The remaining slots are going to 2 of Benson, Kulich or Quinn. Benson and Kulich are our top young forwards not named Peterka and both play the right way. Management is likely counting on a big jump in production from both next season and their ELC’s help stay cap compliant. As much as I’d like to see a top 6 playmaker added to this group, I don’t see it in the cards at this point. I do agree on two top 4 veteran D. I’ve only been asking for them for 3 years. Getting back on topic for a minute, I’ve been debating a 3 yr deal vs a 7 yr deal. The more I think about it, maybe a 5 yr 6.5 per season contract would work for both. This would give JJP another FA contract before turning 29, while giving the Sabres a core piece for most of his prime.

I did. I felt Cozens should have traded over the summer and I criticized the contract the day it was signed because of the shooting %.

This is precisely my point. The run it back option would be a mistake. However to create flexibility, some current Sabres with high or potentially high cap hits need to go. The Samuelsson buy out is probably the easiest decision, but after who do you move to free up money to fix the roster issues? Do you trade Byram or Power or try to keep both? Is your most productive young forward on the block (JJP) or do you move Quinn, a recent top 10 pick or do you trade the 3c who you traded Savoie for? If I was the GM, I wouldn’t mess too much with the forwards. We need to re-sign JJP and McLeod. Guys like Lafferty or Krebs would be on my chopping block in favor of playing Kozak. My changes start with the defense. Moving on from Clifton, Power (or Byram) and Samuelsson creates potentially $16 mill in cap space to get veteran stay at home D to replace them.

Which forwards are you punting?

... and ? Ultimately it doesn't matter who they move on from. They can't keep both and have money to improve the defensive play of the D group. I'd prefer to punt Power, but I firmly believe he'll never be a reliable defender and I believe Byram will become decent defensively and will be cheaper to retain. It's also not like No. 1 overall D haven't been traded in the past. Former No. 1 overall D, Erik Johnson was traded from Stl to Colorado during his 3rd NHL season. I hope your correct, but with Adams and Pegula, you never know. Which forward are you punting by the way? Quinn? JJP? McLeod? Kulich? Who?

So Power, who is a defensive liability, should remain because he's helped the 2nd PP unit? He and Byram have the same number of goals (7) and Power has 3 more assists. However Power is a D group worst -14 (Clifton is 2nd worst at -6) while Byram is +6. Byram has 7 EV goals and 24 of his 26 assists are at EV. Power has 6 EV goals and 22 EV assists. Both players have improved their shot blocking this season. Power has 101 and Byram 94, but Byram takes the body and leads 70 hits to 24.

Here I'll lay out the Cap situation again. The Sabres have 16 players under contract, plus 7 RFAs including McLeod, JJP, Byram, Quinn, Levi, Kozak and Bernard-Docker. Keeping all 7 RFAs will cost about 24 million. The 16 current contracts cost (with Skinner's dead money) $72,293,015. Add 24 mill to that and we are at 96,293,015 with a cap projection of 95.5. We have no money to work with unless we move on from Power or Byram and buyout Samuelsson.

I agree Adams should be gone, but because of the Power's contract and similar bad deals, we will be up against the cap just keeping our RFAs and we'll still have a bad team. We have to get out from under some of these obligations to fix the roster. That means moving on from either Power or Byram. I'd prefer to keep Byram because I think he is just as good offensively as Power, he is willing to work on his defense and he is willing to hit someone. I see no such willingness from Power to improve defensively or by physical.

You are hard on him because he stinks. He deserve every ounce of criticism he gets. He is being paid to play like a No. 1 D, but instead only delivers a 50% effort. You are correct, he has no idea how to play defense and is either unable or unwilling to play physically. Until those things change, his contract is one of the worst in the NHL.

In McLeod's 1st 40 games as a Sabres he had 6 goals and 12 assists, with 4 of the 6 goals comings in the games 5-8. That means just 2 goals in the other 36 games. In the last 20 of those 40 games, McLeod had zero goals and only 6 assists. In the last 26 games he's 11g and 12a assists, with 9 of these 23 points coming in the last 7 games. I'm sorry, but that's the farthest thing from consistent production. Spin it anyway you want, but I'm not paying up for that offense and if we sign him for more than 3 years we will regret it.