GASabresIUFAN

I'm not low at all. I just hoped I'd never see a performance like that again.

That was the Sabres I sadly hoped I didn’t ever see again. Oh well.

Can’t think what is more painful watching this or Thursday night football.

It’s going to be a long game folks.

Sobatka was better. Ville Leino was better also.

When I do these lists I weigh both upside and time to the NHL. Because of that I tend to downgrade goaltenders because of how long their development curves can be. Portillo and Levi may not turn pro for another 2 years and then it could be 2-3 more years in the minors before their ready.

@LGR4GM says faceoffs don’t matter.

@dudacek I like your list except for a couple of quibbles. Fitzgerald, Cederqvist and Costantini have played their way on to this list, while Biro not so much. Costantini has 9 pts in his first 11 college games. Cedergvist has 11 pts in 18 SHL games. Fitz is the shutdown RHD for the Amerks, but has now added some O. I’m also not sure that Levi is better then Portillo. I also think R2 will make more of an impact as this season progresses. My updated list 1-5. Power, Cozens, Quinn, Krebs, JJP 6-10. Samuelsson, Bryson, R2, Rosen, Johnson 11-15. Levi, Portillo, Laaksonen, UPL, Weissbach 16-20. Poltapov, Kisakov, Novikov, Nadeau, Costantini 21-25. Bloom, Murray, Fitzgerald, Cedergvist, Rousek, 26-30. Pekar, Huglen, Van Barnekow, Sardarian, Marjala,

As to the question of drafting better. Our team for next season potentially could include at least 12 and maybe more of our draftees or internal prospects. At center - We'll have draftees Mitts, and Cozens On the Wing - We'll likely have draftees (or UDFAs) Olofsson, Girgensons, JJP, Quinn, Asplund, and Routsalainen On defense we'll have draftees Power, Dahlin, Bryson and Samuelsson (and in theory Pysyk if retained) That's 12 (13 w Pysyk) internal prospects, plus acquired prospects Thompson, Jokiharju and Krebs The breakdown: GMDR (1 or 2) - Girgensons (& Pysyk) GMTM (2) - Olofsson and Asplund GMJB (6) - Mitts, Cozens, Dahlin, Samuelsson, Bryson and Routsalainen GMKA (3) - Power, JJP & Quinn Seems like we have seen an uptick in drafting since JB took over. KA has also done a quality job so far.

Rob has sadly taken just a few hit to the head over the years.

Erod is taking advantage of this opportunity. All I’m asking for is R2 to get a similar opportunity with real players before we write him off. The guy scored 5 goals last year in 17 games while playing with decent players.

I doubt it. They were particularly awful against Pitt last night after the first period. Like R2, Cozens needs better players. Thompson's line likely remains Mitts and VO form a line with someone at RW, hopefully R2, but possibly Hinostroza or Caggiula. I can see Cozens moved between KO and Z This will form 3 really solid and capable lines. After that Eakin will probably center the 2 guys not paired with Mitts. Like I said before, if DG isn't going to pair R2 with good players, then R2 and the Sabres will be best off sending him down.

Caggiula and Hinostroza kill penalties, Bjork not so much. Tuch won’t return for at least 2 more months. When Mitts and VO return, R2 will be on someone’s wing to help create more offense.

Thompson and Asplund are doing exactly what they did under DG last season and are building on it. Cozens also looks the same, but I think that is more a maturity and confidence issue. For R2, he is a smaller player with a good O skill set, but that skill set is useless with guys like Bjork, Caggiula and Hayden. He needs to be with real hockey players. Guys who can pass him a puck in a scoring area, guys who can convert a pass. Without Mitts, VO and Tuch, the Sabres are down to 5 forwards besides R2 with good O toolboxes, Cozens, Asplund, Thompson, KO and Skinner. Girgensons can also score. That's it. With 5/6 of those guys on the top 2 lines, R2 is buried on the 4th line because we lack additional centers for him to play on Cozens wing. I fully understand why R2 is buried, but as I've said before, it's doing him no favors. I've said this before as well, I'd send R2 down and bring up Jankowski (we'd need to convert his deal to an NHL deal first) to replace him on the roster. I'd move Jankowski to Eakin's place and drop Eakin to play with Bjork and Hayden until the injured players return.

No one has looked good on the PP. Also how is R2 going to excel when he is saddled with two guys who shouldn’t be in the NHL? Caggiula and Hayden couldn’t convert a pass if it hit them in the skates and bounced in. What DG is doing to R2 is nearly identical to what RK did to Asplund. Until we see R2 play with real players, it’s unfair to judge him.

I could also be a personnel issue. To many JAGs at both forward and D. They just don't have enough quality players to withstand such a charge.

Yep, we have subtracted a former MVP, a perennial all-star and another top 3 winger and we are a better team.

I think you mean directed in from a skate.

Crazy win. Tokarski was unbelievable. Save of the year.

FYI Hinostroza, Caggiula and R2’s PT 5 on 5 is about the same. Vinnie and Caggiula are getting an additional 2 minutes PK time.

Who is he playing ahead of when Mitts and VO return? Girgensons, KO, Cozens, Thompson, Asplund, Skinner, and Eakin are guaranteed slots head of him. I also don’t see him supplanting Hinostroza or R2. That leaves him fighting for the last spot with Bjork and Hayden. Once Tuch returns, where does he play?

I don't think he is going to take things apart. Olofsson is really the only big question. Is KA committed to him being part of the core long-term? If KA is then it's unlikely KA trades VO. However, as an RFA, he'd probably bring a pretty penny at the deadline. Everyone else ranges from no value to being replaceable internally except maybe Miller. Trade Hinostroza and R2 slides into his role with probably better results. Hagg can be replaced by Samuelsson. When VO, Mitts and Tuch gets healthy, that probably the end of the road for Hayden, Caggiula and probably Hinostroza. I don't see Eakin or Pysyk being traded because of our lack of depth at center and RHD. Once everyone gets healthy up front, most of the JAGs will be gone VO Mitts Tuch Skinner Thompson Asplund Girgensons Eakin KO R2 Cozens Bjork Add Krebs to the mix and Bjork is gone as well. I really like that forward group. On defense you have 4 core guys once Samuelsson gets elevated and Joki gets healthy in Dahlin, Joki, Samuelsson and Bryson. If Pysyk is retained, that leaves one maybe two slots. Moving on from Butcher (as if someone would take him) and Wolanin wouldn't hurt us and giving Miller's slot to Power makes sense.

There is always someone available especially in the off-season. The question is cost. KA didn’t want to spend anything on goaltending and got nothing.

If KA wanted better goaltending he wouldn’t have signed Dell and Anderson in the off-season. UPL should stay where he is. The only real solution is to find outside help but that is nearly impossible at this point. KA isn’t going to do it anyway. I fully understand and agree that looking at a Tokarski/Dell combo makes one want to retch.

When VO, Mitts and Tuch return, Hayden, Caggiula and Bjork should be the guys replaced. However, I believe R2 is waivers exempt and can be sent down.