GASabresIUFAN
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Posts posted by GASabresIUFAN
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Baptiste has better hands and is a bit more creative. Bailey is a physical specimen who may have dominated lesser competition with size and speed. I don't see the hands in his game and he thinks the game instead of reacting. More time in the AHL can cure both ills.
Why someone doesn't get called up is always a bit of a mystery. The example I always come back to is Pominville. Vanek and Roy make the team and Pommers is waived and no one takes him. Then he finally get a chance and now all these years later, he may the best of that great rookie crop. (Fyi; Pommers is the 3rd leading pts scorer of the 2001 draft class.)
Bailey will get his shot. With Nick out amd Fasching, maybe they'll finally another shot.
Right now, Ristolainen and Gorges have a CF% of 39.4 when together. When split apart, Gorges is a 19.0%, and Risto is a 51.6%.
The sample size is small still, but this is something that was predicted before the season, based on last year.
I do think the pairs are maximized right now, because I think a pairing of Gorges - Franson hurts us a lot, but GMTM still needs to focus on finding Risto a partner that can handle the minutes Dan gives him, even though (I think) the defense as a unit has been playing well.
As long as Gorges and Franson remain Sabres we will continue to have a hole in the D group. The sad part is there isn't anyone in the organization ready to replace them now or maybe even in the next year or two. Obviously, Nelson's play in his only game didn't inspire any confidence and with the team with 2 straight wins, i doubt you'll see a change in the D.
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Here is a couple of more stinkers.
Curtis Brown for Jeff Jillson
Stu Barnes for Mike Ryan and a 2nd (Branislav Fabry)
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Hasek for Slava Kozlov and a first
Danny Gare, Jim Schoenfeld, Derek Smith for Mike Foligno, Dale McCourt and Peterson. McCourt never was the same goal scorer he was in Detroit.
First Round Pick for Robin Lehner. Too much for a goalie,
Mike is one of my favorite all time Sabres. We got 664 games frim him plus 500+ pts and a captain. Pederson also gave us 4 good years. Gare and Smith gave Det a total of 99 goals between them.
Ray Sheppard for a buck.
That's pretty bad. Ray was a very good player. I can only imagine the personality issues that lead to that deal.
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I forgot about Hannu Virta on defense. Is 245 games not enough? He was really solid with 25g and 101a in those 245 games.
Were Marty Biron or Bob Sauve good enough to slip on to the end of this list?
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We all remember the great trades. Names like Hasek, Satan, Drury and Briere all were acquired with little value or not nearly equal value going the other way. Seriously Hasek for Stephane Beauregard or Satan for Barrie and Millar. Wow!
But we have a couple of stinkers going the other way. In my humble opinion the worst was Calle Johansson for Malarchuk and Ledyard. The guys we got were good players and gave Buffalo some value, but Johansson is the greatest D in Wash history with 474 pts in 983 games. Had he stayed, he'd rival Housley as the best D in Sabres history. To bad we only got 118 games from him before trading him away.
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After the 4 guys on the ballot get in, that's 13 players in. So who is left, in no particular order?
In Goal: Edwards and Barasso
On D: Hajt, Korab, Van Boxmeer, Zhitnik, Bodger, Playfair, Tallinder, Myers, McKee,& Woolley
C: Hawerchuk, Luce, Turgeon, Peca, Drury, Briere, Tucker, Ruuttu, Barnes, Roy, & Savard
RW: Dumont, Audette, Ray, Seiling, Foligno, Pominvlle & Dumont
LW: Vanek, Satan, Ruff, Brown, McKegney, Hecht, & Ennis
Current Guys: Eichel, Ristolainen, ROR
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It's time to get some energy in the room. Bring back Baptiste. Give Nylander a couple of games. Bench anyone not giving 100%. After that lackluster performance (our 2nd terrible performance in 2 home games) It's time to try anything. Need to add speed and skill.
So ......
Nylander ROR Reinhart
Moulson Larsson Okposo
Ennis Girgensons Baptiste
Foligno Schneider Gionta
Kulikov Risto
McCabe Bogo
Gorges Nelson (10 minutes only)
Ullmark
Lehner
Demoted Fasching and Grant. Waive Nilsson. Put Deslauriers on the bench permenantly.
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That was embarrassing.
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This team without it's most important player (Eichel) and a key scorer (Kane) has 4 pts in 5 games. Not great, but not terrible either, and there have been some real positives. The PP, even without those key players, have been very good (thank you Matt Moulson) and the PK (other then last night) has been stellar. Our Team Faceoff % is greatly improved with the addition of Grant and improved numbers by Reinhart and Girgensons. The goaltending has been steady. We have also played a difficult schedule so far with 4 road games including a West Coast trip. Our opponents YTD are 22-10-4 with only Calg being below 500 at 3-4-1. Despite the hard schedule our goal differential is only -2 which means we have been competitive in every game (ok except Mon and I'll give the boys a pass on that one with the shock of losing Eichel and then Kane). Also don't forget we are integrating two new key players (Okposo and Kulikov) to a team that was thrown in chaos with the injuries with even the new pieces sidelined to start the year. Other positives IMHO have been the improved play of Moulson and Girgensons. Larsson is becoming a top defensive forward and I think McCabe is becoming our best defensive defenseman.
My goal for this team until Jack and Kane return is for them to tread water and stay around 500 which they are doing. I'd like to see DD settle on some D pairings and let them develop some chemistry. However, the tinkering both up and back by DD is his search for chemistry on a young team trying with everyone trying to find a role and it's pretty clear that the chemistry is there yet.
Last year we went 15-22-4 to start the season and then finished 20-14-7. If they can manage 41 pts the first half this year and if they can turn 3 of the OTL's into win and go 23-14-4 down the stretch we'll still be in the playoff hunt by year end.
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I don't see a problem with having 2 "skill" guys on a line (using that word instead of finesse), as long as they aren't afraid to go to the dirty areas, and there is at least one hard-nosed player on the line (Girgs). As Sam has shown, he isn't afraid to go to the net front.
ROR and Okposo are skill guys but they aren't finesse players. Reinhart and Ennis need space to be effective and aren't really good at creating it. Reinhart in front of the net on the PP is a seperate issue.
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I'm going to use the finesse word. Sam, despite the goals around the net last year, is really a finesse type player. He is also the 3rd lightest Sabre forward behind Gionta and Ennis. Putting two finesse players together makes me worry about ouck possession. Big Z is the guy who is going to have the dig the puck out, forecheck etc... Hopefully it works.
As to Nelson, his skating and offense are NHL ready. His D isn't. So the question becomes is he better off learning D in Buffalo and practicing against NHL players while also being sent down for some weekend games in Roch or playing full-time in Roch. I vote for keeping him in Buffalo.
One other note. Has anyone else looked at how good our Faceoff stats are so far. I think it has been one of the keys to the PK.
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Maybe they'll trade Vatanen instead. I thought they should have traded him instead of re-signing him given his age. Fowler is younger, and cheaper for the next two seasons. You can always move Fowler after this season to give a roster space to Montour and Theodore long-term. They also have another top D prospect in Jacob Larsson.Sooooo Reinhart? :angel:
I've been watching the Ducks games to see how Fowler has been playing. Don't kid yourselves, he's not coming cheap even if he's the one to truly get moved. He's arguably the best defender they have right now.
Maybe this is what they are trying to do. Get offers for both Fowler and Vatanen and then take the max offer. However they are running out of time and teams are running out of cap space.
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My biggest concern with Reinhart at center on a line with Ennis is I fear that they will be physically dominated. I hope Big Z is willing to serve as a corner man and protector to the small Ennis and smallish Reinhart.
I'm kind of excited to see if ROR can create the same kind of chemistry with Moulson and Okposo that Johnny T did. I'm going to be optimistic and think that this line is going to work, If so, what are the ramifications for the team once Eichel and Evander return?
Could we look like this in 6-8 weeks?
Moulson ROR Okposo
Ennis Eichel Reinhart
Foligno Larsson Gionta
Kane Girgensons Deslauriers
Grant
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The Monday D pairings were:
Gorges Risto
Kulikov Bogosian
McCabe Franson
DD wants to get Kulikov more PT so McCabe gets paired with Franson, The biggest problem continues to be Franson.
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Has anyone considered that as long as Franson is on this team, we'll have at least one pairing that we aren't going go like. At least Kulikov/McCabe and Georges/Risto we can live with and this is better then creating a Franson/Gorges pairing.
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Decisions like this make it hard to support either Bylsma or TM. Tim said he was drafting a center not a rw when he took Samson at 2.
We didn't have Eichel or ROR when Samson was drafted. At that time our best centers were Ennis and Girgensons.
Bylsma hasn't been happy with Reinhart's game so he's moving to center between Girgensons and Ennis.
Per Paul Hamilton
It's pretty clear that we need to get move offensive pressure from someone other then ROR and Okposo. Giving Samson a shot at center makes perfect sense and it's about time. A line of Samson Girgensons and Ennis is interesting. I worry about size and pass first mentality with that group.
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The top line looked dominant against Van despite not scoring. They controlled play for significant periods.
That said, is it time to balance the lines better and give Reinhart a shot at center? I also really liked Baptiste's speed. Maybe a game on the road at Philly isn't the place to experiment, but maybe our next home game, lets give Sam a chance. Although I'm breaking them up below to get Samson to center, I liked the effort of Moulson Girgensons Ennis.
Ennis ROR Okposo
Moulson Reinhart Baptiste
Foligno Larsson Gionta
Girgensons Grant Deslauriers
Thoughts
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I'm about to be rather blunt, but anyone who voted for Danny Gare ahead of Rene Robert or future HOFer Dave Andreychuk need their head examined. I have no problem with Mike Ramsey here, as he is the second best D in Sabres history, but for Gare to be placed ahead of these other forwards is simply wrong.
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Here is the highlights from last night's pasting of the Marlies. It's nice to watch a team that can actually score.
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Losing Evander effin Kane and a second-year player, as good as he is, shouldn't lower the expectations to "treading water." If this team can't win on a regular basis with a few key injuries, Murray didn't do a very good job of building it. It's not an excuse for other teams, and it shouldn't be one for us. Harsh? I suppose. But this was the year we had a real NHL team again.
I swear with the exception of a stretch here or there, we've been saying this since 1993.
Actually it should. Losing our entire second line changed the structure of the team. It elevated a line that is going to score 40 goals (Larsson's line) for the season to replace a line that had the skill to score 80. That's a huge change in your lineup. It allows opposing coaches to create better matchups against the top line since they no longer have to worry about a 2nd scoring line. In addition the injuries have placed players in the lineup daily that should be sitting in the pressbox.
These aren't injuries to 3rd and 4th line players that can more easily be replaced by callups and line shuffling. These are key players to the success of the team.
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To those taking shots at DD, you need to remember that we were on the road and DD doesn't get the 2nd change and therefore can't necessarily get the matchups he wants. I we start 0-5 at home then some shots at DD and his staff are justified.
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The lineup includes two D who aren't fast enough, an unproven goaltender who looks like a bigger version of Ryan Miller with less skill and an injury depleted forward group that has only 1 line of good to elite talent. How is that the coach's fault?
The better question right now is we are 1-2-1 after 4 games with a road game against Philly soon. If we can win that we are 2-2-1 after 5 and are still treading water. Do you think that treading water until the injured players return is good enough?
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Bogosian late getting back into the play. Surprise, surprise, surprise!
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Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!
Trade Ullmark for a Defenseman?
in The Aud Club
Posted · Edited by GASabresIUFAN
Before anyone freaks out hear me out. I'm not saying today or tomorrow, but possibly by the trade deadline, especially if we are in contention.
Facts:
1) At season's end Lehner, 25 (RFA), Nilsson, 26 (UFA) and Ullmark, 23 (RFA) will all be free agents. Kasdorf, 24, will have one year left on his ELC.
2) We are going to have to make at least one goalie under contract or RFA available in the expansion draft. Kasdorf is exempt and Ullmark probably is as well.
3) If Lehner plays most of the season as he did last night, GMTM will re-sign for at least 5 years.
4) The Sabres already have 49 mill in contracts for 15 players in 2017-18, but with no goaltenders. In addition to the 2 RFA goalies, RFA's include Big Z, Larsson, & Foligno. Key UFA's include Gionta and Kulikov.
5) Franson and Gorges are too slow for today's NHL and we have no one in the pipeline really ready for the NHL, Guhle is probably the closest, but that is no sure thing.
6) Teams across the NHL, like AZ and Car have no solid NHL goalies and not much in the pipeline.
7) Cal Petersen, 22, is probably our best NHL goalie prospect and he'll likely be signed to a pro contract after this college season, his 3rd at ND.
What does this all mean?
a) I think GMTM will re-sign both NHL goalies for next season, meaning Ullmark is likely the odd man out (even if re-signed). If GMTM re-signs Lehner for 5 years, this means that Ullmark is probably blocked from earning No. 1 job here until he'd be 28.
b) Signing Nilsson gives someone GMTM can expose in the draft who'll unlikely be chosen.
c) we need more young D in the pipeline and more speedy D in the NHL.
d) Ullmark is back on his game ytd and likely has some good trade value.
e) When Petersen is signed, odds are the GMTM wants him in the AHL in 2017-18. If so, that means Ullmark, Kasdorf with Petersen will all be fighting for the AHL jobs.
Bottomline: So many teams are looking for quality goaltending help, especially guys that are young, capable and still very cap friendly (and expansion draft exempt) The Sabres are desperate for NHL quality D now and even more so next season especially with Franson and more importantly Kulikov are UFAs. My suggestion is re-sign Nilsson and Lehner and then trade Ullmark to Ana or Car (or others) and get one of their near NHL ready young D in return. Ana can afford to part with Montour for example. They need a backup for Gibson and need cap savings for next season. Carolina, Dallas, and Arizona, could all use young help as well. With Ullmark traded, Petersen and Kasdorf can compete with top AHL G next season and we also still have Johansson in the pipeline.