GASabresIUFAN

I think Eakin potentially bring more offense then either Lazar or Sheahan. I’d like to see Skinner Eakin Cozens and Rieder Sheahan Okposo, but RK is married to Eakin/Okposo pair.

That certainly makes me feel better if Cozens remains in the starting 12, but why not go all the way and let Mitts center that line? What does Sheahan bring besides a big body? What if Cozens is the placeholder for Lazar?

Jack was great last year. He was a complete player for the 1st time and he focused more on scoring goals which we needed. Admittedly it’s in less games but his ES scoring was relatively flat on a gross number. He had 62 ES points (.80 ES pts per game) 2 years ago and only 60 last year (.88 ES pts per game). Better certainly but not “monster” better. The biggest change was his shooting % which went from 9.2% to 15.9%, thus allowing him to score more goals despite actually having less scoring chances year over year. His career best prior to last season was 10.2%. Lets hope that the more accurate shooting Jack is here permanently. Please don’t read this as a criticism of Jack. It isn’t. He is our most dynamic player and now one of the best and most complete centers in the NHL. He deserves a winning cast around him. I just don’t think creating two checking lines is a smart approach for a team desperate for offense, especially when we have the talent in the organization to create a 3rd scoring line and one excellent shutdown line.

Good luck with that. Thompson is the 1RW, VO the 2LW, Skinner the 4 LW. We can stop there. The rest is just filler, until he gives the kids a chance. Sadly that probably won’t come til February and it will be to late by then.

Last season the only real offensive improvement on the Sabres came from the addition of talented kids to the lineup, specifically VO and Jokiharju. All the returning players were level or declined at ES under RK. Jack wanted vets like Hall and Staal and he got them (for a year). Adding Eakin, Rieder and Sheahan are nothing but roster filler and they are as easily replaced as they were acquired. They may help the PK, but so would better goaltending, a more precessing need then 3 new 4th vets. We would be so much better off this season taking a chance on Mitts or Routsalainen then playing the likes Rieder and Sheahan. At least Routsalainen and Mitts have upside.

That bottom 6 is really scary bad. Pair Skinner with Routsalainen and you might have a very effective 3rd scoring line. Why risk that when you can field 5 lousy vets instead. Someone wrote that RK’s goal was to build lines with some logic to them. What logic is there in a line of Skinner Lazar and Sheahan?

If you want to see how this plays out, look up how Jack Johnson got his debts settled. The worst part about the Johnson story was that he trusted his terrible parents. His father was his agent and used his POA to borrow against his son’s future earnings but the parents spent the money on themselves.

Especially this year with a compressed schedule and so many back to back games. I thought replacing Hutton was going to be one of the highest priorities this off-season with so many goalies on the open market. Wrong. I also thought we needed RWs instead of LWs. Wrong there as well.

I’d love for them to get a Hutton upgrade, but until Hutton actually stinks in real games, I doubt KA makes a move.

I wrote that Risto’s production fell because Dahlin took over the no1 PP, but his ES was only marginally better year over year; 4g 22a to 4g, 19a in the shorter season. That’s not real improvement. I also wrote that Risto’s D improved. KO’s even strength goals have been flat for 3 years at 9,7,8. That isn’t improvement, but his overall production has gone from 44, to 29 to 19 as he has morphed into a 4th line checking forward. So while, Risto improved on D, RK wreaked Montour and Miller. In addition no one, including Jack, truly flourished offensively under RK. Jack did score more goals but assists fell at ES, Reinhart at ES fell 12 pts. Skinner tanked. Some of this is from the shorter season but not all. Honestly other then Risto’s D, I can’t find anyone who truly improved last season under RK. PS. I was trying to generate some hope for coming season. You made me look even deeper at the numbers especially as ES and now depressed me further about the team under RK. Thanks.

Just read the Athletic Sabres preview and like nearly everyone else they have us 7th in the division with a similar record to last year. The funny thing, as I read the article, it occurred to me that we really don’t have many candidates for a serious regression this season outside injuries. Besides RK sentencing Skinner to 4th line purgatory, the majority of our forwards should be as good if not better then last season. Rieder, Eakin, Sheahan, Lazar, and Okposo produced next to nothing last season. Eakin is destined for more PT here then LV so hopefully he rebounds. Okposo should be at least as good as last season and if he and Eakin can find some offensive chemistry maybe he be more productive then his 19 pts last season. I don’t expect anything from Lazar, Sheahan or Rieder. The more important players are the six forwards in our top 6. Hall has been down the last two years, however he is playing for a big payday and is paired with one of the most dynamic centers in the NHL. If the pairing works, then both players will explode and this will add wins the columnists aren’t expecting. The Athletic did note that Jack’s chances actually fell last year, but that looks like an anomaly. Tage gets the first opportunity to ride the Hall/Eichel coat tails. If he carries his good play from camp into the regular season, he will more then earn the contract KA gave him. I expect Staal to continue to defy father time. He is going to have two solid line mates in Reinhart and VO. Reinhart has been pretty consistent offensively over the last few years. This will be his first year away from Jack and is somewhat a candidate for regression. However he’ll still be on the top power play and VO’s presence on the line should help him keep his assists up. I suspect VO will be perform very similarly to how he performed last year. On defense, I expect bigger numbers from Dahlin and Jokiharju. Dahlin especially seems poised for a break out. If this team clicks, I can see him actually scoring at nearly a point a game as the QB one the number 1 PP. Joker had 15 pts last season, I think this is a reasonable goal even in this shortened schedule. McCabe’s production remains steady between 12-15 pts. No reason to suspect he’ll slide. Risto had his worst O season last year dropping from 43 to 33 points as Dahlin took over the 1st PP but his best year defensively. Hopefully the D trend continues, but he is a candidate for further regression. Montour had his worst O year last season as he was moved to the left side. He is a huge rebound candidate. Miller also had his worst statistical season last year. However he now has a fixed role on the team in the top 6 but on the left side. Hopefully he’ll adjust well and being back some of the O he showed in LV. Basically, only Reinhart and Ristolainen seem like candidates for regression, but there are arguments that both should be just fine. If guys like Eakin, Hall, Montour, and Miller rebound and Thompson, Dahlin and Jokiharju continue to develop we could easily outperform expectations. My biggest concern is how many past and present Sabres has their worst statistical seasons under RK. Current Sabres Skinner, Miller, Okposo, Montour and Ristolainen had their worst O seasons last year, plus ex-Sabres, Sheary, Vesey and ERod. While not all of their diminished offense can be laid at RK’s feet, he certainly bares some responsibility. Hopefully both he and the players learned from their mistakes last season.

https://www.cbssports.com/nhl/news/sharks-evander-kane-files-for-bankruptcy-totally-26-8-million-worth-of-debt-per-reports/ How does someone get 27 million in debt? 7 dependents? 3 homes? Evander needs some serious help.

Actually that is where the misuse comes from. We had 4 top 6 forwards last year. RK kept 3 on one line for most of the season and left Skinner on his own. My guess is a VO/Jack pair and a Skinner/Reinhart pair would have lead to more offense.

Yeah think? The funny thing is I don’t mind Skinner on the 3rd line but with decent players. He actually is a matchup nightmare for most opponents’ 3rd lines. However RK approach creates a line of Lazar, Sheahan and Skinner, which lacks a playmaker to distribute the puck.

Apparently goals per 60 at ES doesn’t matter for a team that has struggled to score goals. That makes sense.

Wasn’t analytics supposed to be a more important factor under KA?

Morally or financially?

This isn't the case of an inmate running the asylum. What has Skinner said the media or on social media? The only one who said Skinner wasn't playing the system was RK. My defense of Skinner is simple. I've said over and again that Skinner needs to buy in. RK admits Jeff is working on doing what RK wants, however, as I've said before, great coaches work with what they got and adjust to their talent. Lindy Ruff for example, but also Barry Trotz with Ovie, Backstrom and Kuznetsov. RK's system reminds me of Trotz's. From the quotes I hear Skinner is trying to do what the coach wants, but I also hear a coach unwilling to adjust to make the best out of this excellent 5 on 5 scorer. Trotz proved in Wash that he can be flexible. RK hasn't proven that and condemning his 2 or 3rd best even strength scorer to a 10 minute or less 4th line doesn't seem like flexibility. I hope and pray that I'm wrong. I hope RK's bottom six proves productive. The Sabres have 10 games in the last 18 days of Jan. We'll know pretty quickly if the RK plan is working.

May be worth a shot. Wasn't he the guy that at one point was supposed to be a top 10 pick, but then his rating fell late and he was drafted late in the 2nd rd? I did a quick search and McKenzie had him 24th in 2015.

Apples and oranges. Casey is a kid and developing prospect. Show me the expert quote that says RK is a proven great NHL coach? He failed in Edm and wasn’t given another shot at the NHL for years. His first year here was marked by 5 significant losing streaks, a terrible PK and poor player usage.

I’m not saying I don’t like getting Hall and Staal, nor am I saying KA stinks. In fact I think he has done a good job overall. However, he didn’t address RW or goaltending and all his new forwards are coming off down years, except Staal who is 37, which he hopes are not long term trends. I’m confident Hall will rebound playing with Jack. Not so much on Rieder and Eakin.

As I said earlier RK will take the heat for this. Some of this mess also lies with KA. We lacked depth at RW and Center, not LW. He had Skinner, VO and Girgensons returning. Our only proven RWs were Reinhart and 4th line KO. He did address center with Staal and Eakin but got LW Hall and never really addressed RW at all. Un-surprisingly we now have 3 top 6 LWs for two jobs and an unproven kid as Jack’s RW.

Lindy Ruff was the last good coach this team had and sadly his stale message and the lack of talent got him in the end. I was hopeful on RK. However last season his lack of flexibility, his moving Montour to the wrong side and the terrible PK all gave me pause. Now his approach to the bottom six has added to my negative feeling. Still it’s a new season. There is always hope.

http://collegehockeyinc.com/articles/2019/03/study-data-shows-need-for-patience.php#:~:text=College Hockey Inc.,paid to the youngest commits. Average commitment to a school is 18.9, with 28.6% being 20 or 21. Average age when the player debuts in the NCAA is 20. https://www.collegehockeynews.com/almanac/funfacts-ageavg.php\ At 30 D1 schools the average age of their teams are 22 or older.

One other thought on RK's statement that Skinner isn't playing the system. That should have been kept in house. He basically threw Skinner under the bus. Nice! He should have said we have 3 top 6 quality LWs and Hall and Olofsson have shown good chemistry with Jack and Eric so that's the direction we are going to start the year. However if that camp chemistry doesn't carry over into the season we will reevaluate. This way Skinner doesn't look like a chump and RK hasn't aired the dirty laundry in public. He can still send the same message to Skinner in house and say if you want to get out of my dog house work on back checking and helping the D.