Amerks8796

The Amerks did not have a racist incident at all. What a terrible headline to the topic.

I don’t know why stuff like this continues to get perpetuated. The AHL today isn’t the AHL of 20 or 30 years ago. It’s younger, and more angled towards development. Kulich moving down a level to the QMJHL doesn’t make any sense. He should be in Rochester.

I agree. It’s weird. It’s usually those that are quite prominent on Sabres twitter. I think they’re very insecure people, and the moment an Amerks fan questions the Sabres, they can’t handle it.

It’s interesting that on twitter, I’ve never seen an NHL fan base as hostile to an AHL team as Buffalo is to Rochester. I don’t know why. It’s quite weird.

Most are independently owned. Chicago and Hershey have quite a bit of money, but as far as I know, neither team controls any hockey ops anymore. Going back 10 years ago, both teams would sign their own players. But now they’re at the whims of their parent club. Same with Syracuse. Howard Dolgon owns the team, but TB has total control over the on ice product.

To answer the question, not really. But probably more so than many other NHL teams. To me, the Amerks history and stature in the league should grant them additional resources and attention to win. That’s just my personal opinion. They have a rich history, and I think Buffalo has an obligation to keep that going. That doesn’t mean putting the Amerks needs over the Sabres. But no one has ever suggested that. You can prioritize winning in the AHL without sacrificing development. Ultimately, Buffalo puts a little extra emphasis on winning compared to some of the typical AHL bottom feeders, but to the level of Hershey, Chicago, Providence, Wilkes- Barre, Syracuse? I don’t believe so.

I’d be quite happy if he ended up with Rochester, but I have a hard time seeing it. Salary does matter. It would be a last resort to waive him.

I would agree. They need a top 6 C now that Artuu left. A couple candidates I would like are Sam Anas, Cedric Paquette, Sam Steel.

Just using raw numbers, I count 11 forwards that I see on Rochester right now. Malone, Biro, Rosen, Mersch, Rousek, Weissbach, Ceserqvist, Kisakov, Jobst, Murray, Pekar Unknowns right now are Kulich, Kozak and perhaps McDonnell. Either way, I think they need to bring in at least 2-3 more forwards in the organization, whether it’s those I mentioned above, or another vet or two

I understand why he did this, but it’s a monumental loss for Rochester. Between him, Jankowski, Quinn and Peterka, that’s a lot of offense gone, with very little brought in to replace it. Might be a tough year.

Yes. But he came back fine and was the teams best player by the end of the year. Certainly wasn’t a mistake for him to turn pro that year.

Girgensons had a very good 18 year old year in the AHL. Perhaps you meant someone else. He started slowly and was one of the better players on the team by the end of the year, definitely the Amerks best player in the playoffs that year.

Similar to Peterka last year. There was some debate on if he was ready to play in the AHL. I think it would be a mistake for him to play in the QMJHL. The Amerks have a lot of talent, a good coaching staff, and a very good environment. That’s where he should be. Kozak, too.

Sorry, but that’s not how the conversation went. I responded to Taro about the AHL rules regarding development players, which was in reference to earlier comments in another thread. The response to me after that was off topic, and not related to anything I was posting about.

It’s that, but also the AHL doesn’t specify that “development” players have to be actual prospects, or a certain age. It’s based on professional games played at the AHL level and above. So a 35 year old who has played his entire career in the ECHL would technically be a development players. It’s 100% useless as a definition.

This is not the point, which you’re missing. There was a comment previously about how the Sabres may not have enough “development” players. My point was that’s not an actual thing. AHL teams can fill their roster with older players if they want. It’s within the rules. I’m not saying they will. I’m saying people are misinterpreting the rules, and acting like it could potentially be an issue, when it’s not one at all.

That has literally nothing to do with what I’m talking about. But thanks for the tip.

The “not enough young players” thing regarding the Amerks is weird. It’s not an issue. It’s never been an issue for any AHL team, ever. It’s not even really a thing. You could technically have a full team of ECHL lifers who are 35 years old, and it would be within the rules. The only thing teams have to worry about is how many veterans are in the lineup on any given day.

In my opinion, Dell played pretty well. Yes, a defenseman saved that shot, but the other 17 minutes of OT he kept them in it. People have had it out for Dell ever since he stunk in Buffalo and had that hit on Batherson, but as Appert said over and over, he was great all year in Rochester. The Amerks simply don’t even make the playoffs without him. UPL had a bad year in the AHL, and Dell’s steady play kept them in it. I’ll pass on Dell next year, but I’m certainly glad the Amerks had him this year.

I’ll never understand those who want these guys to go back to Europe. It’s not that those leagues are bad, but the Sabres have little control over it, and it’s a very different style. Last summer some people wanted Peterka to go back to Germany. How much better did it work out? Sabres need to get these prospects to NA as soon as they can in almost all circumstances. They should be learning the Sabres systems, adjusting to the NA game, and working with Sabres coaches. It’s easy to understand why a 20 year old kid would want to go back home, but the Sabres need to lay out why it’s better for them to stay.

He also stood on his head in OT in game 1 against Belleville. Amerks may not have even made it out of round one with UPL. Dell was an asset in the playoffs. Big saves at big times.

Amerks need a lot, mostly at D and goaltending. I’d be fine with Houser as the backup and someone like Subban or Tokarski as the starter. On defense, I’d re-sign Tischke and Alt. In addition in free agency, I’d go find a couple top pairing vets to replace Samuelsson and Fitzgerald. At forward, you’re going to need to replace Quinn and Peterka’s production. Some of that will be from increased production from Weissbach and Rousek, but I would really target Andrew Poturalski if possible. Big time AHL player and he’s from Buffalo. I’d bring back Malone and Jankowski if they’re interested. It’ll be a transition year with more veterans.

Good teams build good depth. If he makes the team, great. If not, Rochester has one defenseman signed for 22-23.

I’m disappointed they lost, but Laval was the better team, so I don’t feel too bad. Laval is super fast and they forecheck hard. They may not win the cup but they’ll be a tough out. Amerks just ran out of gas. I think the Utica series took a lot out of them, and losing Mersch didn’t help.

Dell was consistently a .910 goalie all year. It’s interesting when people justified UPL’s poor play towards the beginning of the year with “small sample size” but that of course doesn’t apply to Dell now. He’s easily been the better goalie all year. I’m not even a big Dell fan. I don’t want him back next year, but he’s been far better other than a one month stretch when UPL played well around March.