GASabresIUFAN

Those are topics for different conversations.

Krebs’ best opportunity could come if Kulich falters at center and gets moved to wing or sent down.

The Sabres scored 265 goals last season. The Sabres traded or let go of JJP (27 goals), Cozens (11 goals), Clifton, Joki, Lafferty, Kubel, and JBD and lost 48 goals in the process. The Sabres also added forwards Norris (1 goal in 3 Sabres games, but 21 overall in 56 games), Doan (7 goals in 51 games) and Danforth (9 goals in 61 games) and D Kesselring (7 goals) and Timmins (3 goals). Net of these changes the Sabres are down 2 goals on paper including Norris' 20 goals with Ottawa. Based on my projections I see the Sabres at 254 goals next season. Looking at next year's roster, I see Zucker (21 goals) and McLeod (20 goals) as regression candidates. Zucker do to age and McLeod do to an abnormally high shooting %. There is hope. Benson (10 goals) and Kulich (15 goals) are youngsters who hopefully blossom with more ice time and bigger roles on the team. The key to overcoming the deficit beside Kulich and Benson improving is rebounds in healthy and production from injured players like Norris (21 goals in 56 games), Quinn (15 goals in 74 games) and Greenway (3 goals in 34 games). The last X factor is Doan. Is he a 4th line energy forward and 7-10 goals is all we can expect, or can he seize a 3rd line role and give us 15 goals?

1. https://www.nhl.com/news/topic/32-in-32/buffalo-sabres-nhl-edge-stats-for-2025-26-season-32-in-32 2. https://www.nhl.com/news/topic/32-in-32/buffalo-sabres-inside-look-for-2025-26-season-32-in-32 3. https://www.nhl.com/news/topic/32-in-32/buffalo-sabres-three-questions-for-2025-26-season-32-in-32 4. https://www.nhl.com/news/topic/32-in-32/buffalo-sabres-fantasy-projections-for-2025-26-season-32-in-32 5. https://www.nhl.com/news/topic/32-in-32/buffalo-sabres-top-prospects-for-2025-26-season-32-in-32 The most interesting stat in the Edge article (Article 1) is the Mid and long range goals scored by the Sabres last season. The Sabres were among the league leaders in mid and long range goals last season. Is that sustainable or subject to a reversal of fortune? I'd like to have seen some advanced metrics on our crap goaltending. In article 3, they got 2 of the 3 questions right (but not in the right order). McLeod building on last season is not even on the radar of a major issue other than a regression will make it even harder to replace JJP scoring. The top issue facing the Sabres is can the "revamped" defense improve defensively. The No 2 issue is UPL and goaltending and the 3rd issue is replacing JJP's scoring.

You mean other than the 6 D 6'0 or taller all weighing 195 to 220 lbs with two of the top 3 6'4 or taller? (and the entire top 4 6'1 or taller and all 200 to 220 lbs. All of these D registered 82 or more hits with Kulikov at 114 and Mikkola at 137. They also all block shots.

Why? They have an internal salary cap. Why? They aren’t committed to winning. Why? Because younger and cheaper is the motto of the franchise. Why? Because they have never given out a long term deal to a veteran player. Why? Because under Adams they have traded away every productive forward when their contracts came due (Eichel, Mitts, Reinhart and JJP) downgrading the talent on the roster each time. Why? They still have a ton of dead weight contracts in Power, UPL, Norris and Samuelsson. If the Sabres were committed to keeping Tuch, the deal would already be done. So much for “wants to be here”

If Quinn rebound, Benson matures and Kulich continues to improve there is a significant likelihood that Tuch isn’t re-signed.

I may be in the minority on this one, but I actually like the Sabres prospect pool. I readily acknowledge the lack of huge star power, but there are a ton of solid players who will likely make the middle of our lineup better in the years to come on both offense and defense. At forward I really like Helenius, Ziemer and Östlund. I believe all 3 have solid NHL futures. I also think Richard and Wahlberg could earn their way to the NHL. Rosen also has NHL potential, but probably elsewhere. Defense is chock full of D who I can see contributing in the NHL. Novikov, Komarov, Strbak, Kleber, and Mrtka should make the NHL, with Strbak and Mrtka being top 4 players. I also like Osburn and McCarthy as potential NHLers. The most impressive thing about this D group is size, size and more size. They kind of remind me of the Hajt, Korab, Schoenfeld, Guevremont era of the Sabres when teams had to skate throw those surprisingly mobile redwoods. All 4 guys were 6'2 or taller and well over 200 lbs.

That said, I actually agree with management on this one. I think Kulich's best position long-term in the NHL is center. Tage, imho, is not a center but a gifted goal scorer whose best position is on the wing even though he has played center with success in the NHL. In the last few seasons he has looked better on the wing vs at center. Given the likelihood that Norris (and others) will miss time with an injuries during the season there is a high probability that we'll see Norris, Tage, McLeod, Kulich, Östlund, Krebs and Kozak all play center for the Sabres at times this season.

Management has said that Kulich is a center.

I wrote in the lineup thread that there is about 50 ways to make this years forward combo since no one, including management, knows where to slot the centers and where to play them. If Kulich draws in with Thompson and plays well, he could be a 50 pt player. If he draws in with Greenway and Quinn, he could end up back in Rochester. I really like Kulich and I think he handles the moment well and produces. I think we’ll see more assists than goals this year in support of guys like Thompson. Something like 21g 27a. If Kulich can handle top 6 minutes successfully, the Sabres offense slots together so much easier and shouldn’t miss a beat 5 on 5.

Maybe a better title would have been is Kulich the lynchpin for the offense. There I might agree.

No and not even close. The lynchpins, such as they are, are all the D not named Dahlin and UPL (or Levi). Until this team proves that it can play defense and has a goalie that can be effective for at least 35-40 games, this team is DOA. Kulich's emergence may help the offense replace JJP, but it does nothing to solve the fundamental flaws of this team under Howdy Doody.

Nothing has changed that opinion.

This is one of hardest lineups to slot in a while. We know who 8 of the top 9 forwards are with Doan and Greenway fighting for the 9th slot. The problem is we have almost no game film on who Norris fits with. We also have a ton of “scorers” with very limited proven playmakers except Tuch to match them with. Add Kulich’s limited experience and you have a ton of possibilities without many reference points. I can see an argument for Kulich starting the year as the center on any of the top 3 lines. The only thing that’s certain is Tage on the top line. After that, It’s going to come down to who plays well with whom in camp. The defense, besides Dahlin, only seems more settled, but isn’t. The key is going to be who Kesselring shows chemistry with. I don’t think Kesselring with Power is a given. What happens if he meshes with Byram and not Power. Does Power play with Dahlin or do they try Samuelsson with Dalhin again. If I had to guess Tage Kulich Tuch Zucker Norris Quinn Benson McLeod Doan Danforth Krebs Greenway Dahlin Power Byram Kesselring Samuelsson Timmins UPL Lyons

What you didn't see the NHL Network commentary that Zac Jones is the 2nd coming of Jesus and will propel the Sabres defense to great heights? Listen starting at 1:13 of the video.

This is my point. Doan and Peterka are the same age (about a month apart) and JJP has 238 games to Doan's 62. Doan and Kulich have the same level of experience and similar production, except Kulich is 2 years younger. To me, Doan has no where near the upside of either JJP or Kulich. He may have the potential to be a 40 pt player on the 3rd line and produce solid two way play, but that's all we are likely to get out of him. Unlike JJP and Kulich who are or should be core players, guys like Doan are replaceable. To me Doan and guys like him are a dime a dozen and easily found and easily replaced. I don't think his acquisition moves this team forward an inch. Hopefully he pulls a McLeod and proves me wrong. By the way, you can't really just discuss what Doan is without the context of who he is replacing in the lineup. It maybe unfair to Doan to ask or expect him to fill JJP's offensive shoes, but such is life.

He is another talent downgrade through trade by Adams. Peterka (23) 238 gp, 67g, 150pts Kulich (21) 63 gp, 15g, 24 pts Doan (23) 62 gp, 12g, 28 pts His upside, if there is one, is that of a 3rd line forward.

I'm not sure the opening day lineup matters. it's about who ends up making a positive impact of the NHL roster and who doesn't. Last year Adams "revamped" the 4th line to be tougher to play against and 2/3 of that group are gone and the 3rd, Malenstyn is likely the 13th or 14th forward heading into camp. Last year UPL was coming off a great season with a new big $ deal and of course flopped. Last year Kulich was slated to spend all of last season helping the Amerks. Instead he became an impact player for the Sabres. The real question is how healthy can a lineup that includes Greenway, Norris, Quinn, and Samuelsson stay? Can guys like Timmins, Johnson and Doan, who have never played a full NHL season, be relied upon? Who is this year's Kulich? Östlund? Helenius? Rosen? I wouldn't be surprised by early this season if one of the big Russian D emerge and play in our top 6.

Adams is planning ahead. That’s why he is leaving $5 mill on the table this season. He knows he’ll need money to re-sign Tuch, Kesselring, Doan and Benson (assuming everyone has a good season) after this coming season and he wants to be prepared. A good GM would spend the money on one year deals for more help this season, but Adams doesn’t work this way. You dump Bryson and Malenstyn and sign Roslovic and Rutta instead.

The year that was 1964 is a classic comedy album. RIP Tom.

Isn’t Thompson part of the Compher, Grigorenko - ROR - trade tree? Last I looked Compher (2013)was a 2nd rd pick from the tank era and Grigorenko (2012) was a 1st. Isn’t Johnson, a 1st in 2019, part of the same trade tree?

RiP Ozzy, Hulk and Chuck. Tough few days

Good is a relative term, but here a few trades or signings with decent to good outcomes (in no particular order) 1. Gaustad for a 1st 2. Vanek for Moulson, a 1st and a 2nd 3. Compher, Zadorov and others for O'Reilly 4. Kane traded for a 1st 5. Nylander for Jokiharju 6-10. Drafting Eichel, Reinhart, Ullmark, Dahlin and JJP 11. Signing Zucker 12. Trading Savoie for McLeod

.... and 3 inexperienced GMs later the product is still unwatchable. How does the rebuild go if someone like Dale Talon had been hired to replace Regier instead of the 3 stooges?