GASabresIUFAN

I wrote in another thread that KA is bringing back nearly his entire roster next season. It was a little tongue in cheek, but the Sabres are 7-3 in their last 10. They have 21 games left. If they continue that level of play the rest of the season they might challenge for a playoff spot by the end, thereby creating hopium, and giving KA the excuse to run it back one more time.

What about Chychrun? 1 year left on his deal. Ottawa wants to move him. Mobile RHD. Contract is for about $5 million. Joki and a 2nd for Chychrun?

Every year there is a player or two traded at the deadline with term who is traded because he needs a change of scenery. Last season KA smartly acquired Greenway for a 2nd and he has been a quality addition to this roster. He has played up and down the lineup, scored some timely goals, and killed penalties effectively. So who could be this deadline’s Jordan Greenway for the Sabres?

So basically they were just as bad defensively and in goal in the first half of the season as they were last season as they played themselves out of contention. Now that they aren’t in real contention they are playing better. I think we have seen this movie before. The offense still hasn’t come around. UPL does deserve all the accolades he is receiving for this season. He is the sole reason our numbers are better. We have allowed the 20th most HDSA (high danger shots against) this season and were 21st last season according to moneypuck. In fact, we allowed only 2.1 HDSA last season and are allowing 2.2 this season. However, don’t count on a repeat performance from UPL next season. As we have seen with our top forwards, next season is a thing onto itself. It does give hope for next season, but that’s it. Goaltending stats vary year to year and are very dependent on how the team plays in front of him.

He is going to bring back virtually the same roster. He’ll re-sign UPL, Krebs, Joki and Mitts, elevate Levi to goalie 2 and if KO wants to play again, he’ll re-sign him as well. I also think he’ll re-sign Robinson. That leaves exactly 2 roster spots; 13th forward and 7th D available for new talent. He’ll claim that this season was growing pains for the youngest roster in the league. He’ll state the fans should be optimistic for 24/25 because of the improved defense and goaltending in the second half of this season, the return to health of key forwards and the continued development of young elite talent in Benson, JJP, Quinn, Power, Levi and Ryan Johnson. He’ll talk about how close to NHL ready star prospects Savoie, Rosen, Kulich and Novikov are giving us great depth next season and in the future.

Don't forget Skinner, Joki, Ryan Johnson, and Bryson are Jbot's as well. The breakdown looks something like this (25 total players active and injured). Players listed by how they were originally acquired by the Sabres. DR - draft: Girgensons TM - draft: Olofsson; FA: Okposo Jbot (10 players) Draft: (7) Cozens, Mitts, Dahlin, Johnson, Samuelsson, Bryson and UPL Trade: (3) Thompson, Skinner and Jokiharju KA (12 players) Draft: (4) Power, Quinn, JJP, and Benson Waivers: Jost Trade:(4) Robinson, Krebs, Greenway & Tuch FAs: (3) Comrie, Clifton & E Johnson

I guess, I saw this as a low-event game where the Sabres played pretty solid team defense. They had 10 takeaways and played TB even physically. I haven't seen the puck possession stats by zone in minutes, but in the 3rd the Sabres seemed to control more of the play. It was a very solid road win.

Yeah. I thought this was one of the first times all seasons I saw last year's team. They played with a never-say-die attitude they displayed much of last season. They came back twice against a better team on the road and won.

Did they fine the officials for being incompetent?

If the Sabres showed this kind of heart all season, the season would have been a great one.

Actually they were taken from the players current teams’ website. For example, the Amerks roster page list Kulich at 5’10 170 just like I posted. So sure you know better.

At forward? Wahlberg obviously. I think Kulich plays bigger than his size and Benson certainly tries to but isn't there yet. Wheeler said Savoie is very sturdy on his skates but I didn't see that in Rochester or Buffalo. Rosen, although listed at 5'll" looks bigger on the ice and Wheeler alluded to that as well. As I wrote up thread, I think once Rosen adds some Lbs to his frame, he'll add a more physical side to his game as he already drives to the net in Rochester.

I didn't say the Sabres were small. I said most of our good forward prospects are small and they are (heights and weights from team websites); Benson 5'9" 170, Savoie 5'10" 176, Östlund 5'10" 165, Rosen 5'11" 168, Kulich 5'11" 170, Kisakov 5'10" 160, and Neuchev 5'11" 171. The only listed forward prospects over 6'0" is 6'3" Wahlberg. When you have 7 of 8 forward prospects averaging 5'10" 170, what other conclusion can you draw but say we have a lot of smaller forward prospects? I also said we have big D prospects which is also true. Novikov 6'4" 209, Strbak 6'2" 205, Komarov 6'3" 190, McCarty 6'2" 188, and Johnson 6'0" 170. All the D are 6' or taller and except Johnson, all play a physical game.

Mitts wasn't a bull a few years ago. In fact, he was quite the opposite. Rosen's game looks very similar to Mitts at the same age. Mitts liked to play in a straight line forward but was also good at setting up his teammates. This is Rosen right now. Once Rosen puts on 15-20 lbs, I think you'll begin to see a more physical part of his game emerge, just like it did with Mitts (except Mitts had to turn baby fat into muscle). Rosen projects as a 20-goal NHL guy with 30-40 assist potential. Who does that remind you of? For a point of reference Mitts (age 21) - AHL numbers 36 gms, 9g, 16a, 25 pts (or .25 g/gp & .69 pts/gp) Rosen (age 20) - AHL numbers 47 gms, 13g, 17a, 30 pts )or .28 g/gp & .64 pts/gp)

https://theathletic.com/5297202/2024/02/29/sabres-nhl-prospect-pool-rankings-2024/ Apparently we still have a deep and talanted prospect group. 1. Benson - small all around forward. Top line potential. 2. Savoie - small all around forward. Speedy with top 6 potential 3. Kulich - 2 way goal scoring forward. 25 goal+ potential. 4. Levi - small and athletic goalie. Starting NHL potential. 5. Östlund - small 2 way playmaking forward. Top 6-9 potential but needs another 20lbs. 6. Rosen - Mitts type forward. Top 9 potential. Also needs to add more lbs. 7. Novikov - Big D with improving O game. Solid 3rd pair potential. 8. Johnson - Steady D and great skater, but not much offense. 4-6 NHL D. 9. Wahlberg - Big forward who skates well and creates offense. Top 6 already in the SHL. Has an NHL futures but still needs more development. 10. Strbak - Strong physical D who also has a good stick. 11. Neuchev - small talented offensive forward. (Stop me if you have read this before). Needs time to develop. 12. Ratzlaff - small athletic goalie. 13. Komarov - Big 2-way D who has developed offensively. May lead the Q in D scoring. Wheeler thinks he will play some in the NHL. 14. Kisakov - small offensive forward. Hasn’t progressed as quickly as others. 15. McCarthy - solid defenseman who needs to refine his game to have a shot at the NHL. IMHO - Conclusions: Way to many smaller forwards. Love all the big D and think Komarov is much to low in the rankings. I might place him as high as 10th. Like the respect Novikov’s game is getting. Östlund is in some ways the key prospect in this group, since he is the only true playmaker. If he adds the necessary muscle, his all around game is Bergeron style, as he can play both special teams, win draws, clear the D zone and drive offense. He and Wahlberg are only pure centers. The big questions: Are any of these guys elite talents? Can these guys elevate the Sabres to Cup contention, or this just another wave of the same?

Maybe the math is too hard for him or TP has a mandate that he is only going to pay players who actually play for his organization.

1 - That he got hurt 2 - He didn't get traded. a NMC doesn't not mean No Move or Trade, it means no move or trade without consent.

That's disappointing in two ways.

Maybe he's been traded?

Wow. They finally did it. They won 3 in a row. Another very solid performance by UPL. Nice SO goal by Casey. Thought Skinner had a very solid game.

It would be interesting to know how that translates to playoff success.

What’s missing from the offense. I think the answer is more playmaker and more physicality. When I watch this team I keep wondering who is going to set the table for his linemates? We actually have too many shoot first guys. Ruff used to say he wanted a goal scorer, a playmaker, and a physical presence on each of his lines. When I use this model for the Sabres, I don’t see the necessary playmakers or physical players. The first line is two shoot first guys (Skinner and TNT) and Tuch as the playmaker and physical presence. Last season Skinner really worked at setting up his teammates as well as shooting. This season his passing has fallen off and as has his line. Tuch is also not ideally suited to the playmaker role, but he is such a good all-around player it does matter much. A second line of Greenway, Mitts and Cozens has the Ruff balance. Mitts is the playmaker, Cozens the scorer and Greenway the physical presence. That said it’s not a line I like long-term. The new 3rd line is a mess. Krebs was supposed to be a good passer but Donnie had choked off that part of his game. Benson is an unknown as he continues to work hard with minimum results. JJP is the scorer. Quinn is also a shoot first type guy. To my untrained eye, I’d start the O repair by replacing Skinner and Krebs on the roster I’d also try to re-think all the line combos. Last night on the pre-game show they mentioned putting Greenway with Tuch and TNT, creating a huge physical but excellent skating line. Greenway forechecks and goes to the net, Tuch creates and TNT snipes. The new second line matches Cozens and Quinn. Cozens forechecks and plays around the net, Quinn shoots and either Mitts or a new playmaker creates for Cozens and Quinn. I’m actually envisioning Rosen/Benson as the playmaker for this line from the wing. In fact, I think we’d get more from Benson right now if DG asked him to use his hockey IQ to focus more on creating for his linemates. Lastly, the 3rd line combines JJP with Mitts. What this line needs is someone to forecheck and go to the net. Just like getting Greenway at the deadline last year, adding another such player should be a deadline goal this year. The goal of the exercise was to re-imagine the forwards using a KA centric approach by utilizing the assets already in the organization as much as possible, thus recasting Cozens in a more physical role and Benson as a playmaker. Both guys have those traits and it’s not a stretch to place them in those roles. Rosen is also a pass first player and that may help him make the Sabres as early as next year.

The team is defensively better, but I think that is mostly on improved play from UPL over the course of the season. Too bad he and the other goalies weren’t giving us this level of performance early in the year. It might have changed the course of the season. As to Cozens and TNT, beware the career year shooting %. Cozens shot 14.7% last season for a career 8% or less shooter his other seasons. This year he is back to 7.9%. TNT shot 15% and 15.9% the last two seasons. It looked like he had taken a huge scoring step permanently. Alas no. Before his breakout he was an under 10% shooter and he is back down to 9.7%.

The best thing about ESPN+ is that I don't have to record the game. I can turn it on at any time and watch from the beginning. I can usually tell pretty early what team I'm getting. If they get behind 2-0 early, I tend to move on with my day now and go on to some other activity or show to watch. So the pattern this season is to watch the first period, see if they have any legs, and if they do continue to watch. If not, not. Last year, even if they got down 2-0, I'd continue to watch because they had the fight in them to come back. This year not so much/

It wasn’t a serious comment. Relax. Adams’ mantra is they have to want to be here. Well here is home, in Buffalo. However if the team continues to play poorly at home, then isn’t fair to ask whether they want to be there?