PerreaultForever

? Played fine for me. Commodore was hilarious.

Well the stats online vary a little based on how updated they are. So NHL average is 6'1" Sabres under that include: Jost, Skinner, Olofsson, Rousek, Okposo, Peterka, Bryson, Clague, Clifton, Jokiharju, Levi. I'm not saying the team is short in height, they are NHL average, but they don't play heavy. How many teams have a Dahlin? In terms of size, don't most of them? eg. Boston, Carlo's 6'5 Forbert's 6'4 Lindholm's 6'3 McAvoy's only 6' but are you really going to suggest Dahlin plays a heavier game than McAvoy? Or since I was talking about Seattle earlier, Borgen 6'3 Dumolin 6'4 Larrsen 6'3 Megna 6'6 and Oleksiak at 6'7 and 257 lbs. How many teams have one of him? I could go on. Dahlin's great, but to suggest we have a big D is inaccurate. and again, they don't play heavy although little Clifton will help change that. Tuch's a good big forward, but lots of teams have them. Thompson is huge and he's our main guy partly because of it, no argument, but he's hardly "unstoppable". Difficult to stop, but there were games where he got shut down and/or limited. Have to use the size for it to be an advantage as well. He's a gentle giant most nights. I will be ecstatic for this simple fact to finally have changed this year but up to now regardless of the team's height and weight, they do not (can not?) play a heavy game and they struggle when a heavy game is used against them. They have been, and probably still are, a soft team. In general, (and this is the main reason why I think success in the standings last season does not necessarily mean more points this year) teams did not play heavy against us. They came in still fairly confident and loose and often didn't bring their A game or their A goalie. We totally caught some teams napping, but regardless, almost no one felt the need to play heavy against us (most nights). This will change if we win early next season. I think it's something the team needs to be ready for this year more than other years and this is also why I don't like how Adams decided to construct the bottom of the roster. If Lucic runs Levi this board will go insane, but the Sabres, what will they do????

Well, we have some bigger guys and we have some smaller guys but who plays big and who plays small is another matter. The average NHL player height is 6'1" The Buffalo Sabres average height is 6'1" So in terms of height we are just fine. Probably okay in weight too even if we do have a few skinny kids that still need to add muscle. But who plays a heavy game? That's the real question. (as for Detroit, no, they are not a "big" team in terms of how they play, but they are slightly "bigger" than us in terms of height at 6'2" average, although that stat might be pre DeBrincat)

Panarin's still standing.

I partially agree but I also see how we could go back and forth on the details of this for ages. The main thing I'd add is this is where team culture and leadership comes in. If you come onto a team that prides itself on it's D and the leadership are 2 way players learning D and improving your D becomes a thing of pride and you gain confidence. In that culture a blocked shot can have more value than a missed breakaway. So it really depends on the team and the player's personality. If the culture is firmly in place though, the rookie's personality bends to it (or he is gone). This was a missing aspect for the Sabres that imo is only now showing signs of forming.

Bruins rolled lines and rotated D so there's really not much difference and these stats don't tell you much. I've seen a lot of Bruins games and I know how Clifton was used and why. Rest easy, that's why I said we should sign him in free agency a long long time ago.

This is possible. Not sure what will happen with Tampa. Their time may be done but they still have a lot of high end talent so with good goaltending they might still be there. Florida is a question mark. A few moves. A few differences. They can't play that playoff style all year, it's too physically demanding. I guess their fate is also in their off and on goalie's hands.

No, Gryzlek was 4. Clifton was bottom pairing when everybody was healthy before Orlov got there. I will say this though. Bruins always viewed Clifton as too small, but he got his chance a few years back when they had like 5 D injured at the same time (maybe more) and Clifton got in and impressed and he's a real competitor. He made himself hard to take out of the line up and he was capable of filling in with the top 4 when needed. Where he played in the line up became more about pairings/style than his relative ability to the other defenders. That's my biggest fear with Clifton actually, that he will compete too hard and try to do too much and in our (lack of a good) defensive system he might get caught out of position and lose a bit of his game. Hopefully not. Johnson's fine, it's just a question of age and what's left.

I've said this before but will repeat it. You, me, nobody here would have traded the entire Buffalo roster for the entire Seattle expansion draft roster so the idea of saying they were ahead is, imo, ridiculous. We already had the so called 'core" we are excited about. They also had no pipeline, no prospects, and had to build a farm team from scratch (which they also did quite successfully as they almost won the AHL title). As it looks now, they will not be rebuilding through the draft in a few years as they are building a pipeline and are balancing their roster with veterans and younger guys. It will be interesting to see if they can sustain things and keep improving this way.

I stumbled into this video where Mike Commodore gives his rather open and candid comments on Babcock. It's hilarious imo. Well worth the viewing.

Yes, but lots of good D over 30. Pietrangelo is 31 I think and he was vital for the Vegas cup win. Gudas was even older for Florida. Heck Johnson's 35 so why'd they sign him if you want spring chickens? If Pesce was signed for 8 years, sure, end of that deal he's falling off the roster maybe and you might even buy him out but 6 good years as a top 4 would be fine with me.

This statement, isolated and out of context becomes completely incorrect. It is hard to "teach" offense to a player who doesn't have it. Skill is skill and you can't turn a work horse into a race horse. That's obvious. BUT at the NHL, these offensively skilled guys come in and they have rarely had to be defenders or worry about the high skill levels of the opposition. Offense first has always been their way. Teaching them the discipline and structure and their assigned role is a much harder thing to do. Point(s) being?

On the team we had last year, yes, he's #4 on the depth chart. On a good team no, he's #6 or even #7. I said earlier "we are better" and the "D is better" BUT I don't think it's enough.

So you're trading 2 first we already made and a 2nd but not 2 future firsts when presumably we pick lower? Seems to imply you think Adams made some bad picks? Your version offers more than mine. I agree prospect depth must keep going, but a luxury of multiple prospects also gives you options.

You really like to pick and choose don't you? Almost a year ago now I said target Clifton in free agency and you said no, he sucks. Too small and not very good. But whatever, the fact I said we should get him first here means nothing to you so as usual, you are easily dismissed. read what I said about Clifton when we signed him.

Hopefully that is correct, but I don't think so.

I admit when I'm wrong. Pity you never do. Last year I said Detroit and Ottawa might be better than us because of their moves. We did better than expected (mostly because of Cozens), Detroit did worse, and Ottawa had goalie problems that sunk them. In the end Ottawa was close to us and Detroit did a pivot for the future and after dismantling they went on a losing streak. Both teams are still competition for next season and I doubt there's more than a 10 pt. difference between the 3 of us come season's end. Ottawa next year worries me more than Detroit.

Tampa's going to miss Killorn. They fall for sure but how far idk. Could still be a playoff team. Islanders who knows? They are basically the same and never look great on paper but they plug along in that throwback style and they win those close games so who knows, they could be there again. Boston is Boston. Krecji will not be back that's almost certain. If Bergeron doesn't come back things are iffy at center but as for the rest, they'll only miss Hall.. Remember they were winning a lot of games before they added Bertuzzi and Orlov. Clifton was a bottom end guy when they were healthy. They have enough D depth to handle that departure. If the goalies are good and Bergeron comes back their fall won't be as far as you might think. Definitely not a first place in the league team again but right out of the playoffs might be wishful thinking. Toronto? Probably big regular season numbers as usual but that D isn't good and goaltending isn't very much to worry about. Wouldn't be surprised if they win the division and exit first round as usual. Ottawa and Florida are the question marks for me. Will Florida be a one and done and will Ottawa get it together? If one or both of them is good I don't see a way to get in unless some team has a horrific injury filled season and totally falls apart. and we do of course have to consistently beat Detroit, Pittsburgh and any other bubble team we will be competing with. Keep them from picking up loser points too. Biggest thing for us is to start winning regularly at home!

Regarding Korpisalo we just disagree on his worth. He battled a hip problem but after that was fixed he got a lot better and he's a solid competitor. I think that was one of the key FA signings this year. I stand by that and am fine to admit I am wrong if he turns out to be crap in Ottawa. Hart's not a one year guy because he's an RFA not a UFA after this contract. Even if it's an overpay in terms of true value I just don't care if we traded two future first round picks for him. He'd fill a need and at the same time not block Levi. Open competition and may the better goalie get more starts. There's upside to Hart BUT if he's not that great you can move on after or he can become the back up to Levi. It's got you covered either way. As for 2 future picks, again, I just don't care. We have a big prospect pool. If Adams is drafting well at some point we will be trading multiple prospects for one roster player. We will have to. Much like L.A. is already doing. There just won't be enough room for all the prospects anyway so you'll either have to move them or you'll just lose them to waivers eventually anyway. So you think I'm throwing assets away, while I think it's sound strategic moves. I mean let's just say Rosen, Savoie, Kulich, Benson, Rousek, (add a few more if you want) are ALL NHL players. Where are they gonna play? You've only got 4 lines and you've got a salary cap if they're good. There's simply no room for all of them unless you're also thinking of moving out the current roster. Assets are assets, and keeping them or moving them is determined by what you have in each position and what you need. You keep or move accordingly.We have enough of them to make a FEW moves.

Okay that's fair enough. IF you believe we are there now and will make the playoffs with this line up I can see how you wouldn't want to make any bigger moves. That makes sense. We differ in that I don't believe we are there and so I wanted a big move to take us over the top and get us there. Frustrates me that we didn't do that since I think it'll be deja vu all over again next April. No point in us still debating that as it's an endless argument until next season unfolds. The one thing we both do agree on is we want playoffs next year.

Sustainable success is built by good drafting. Nobody argue that so you don't need to keep saying it. So you wait on Kulich, one more year, and then an NHL development year and then.......... You wait on Savoie, 2 more years? Three? Benson? 2 years as well if he's better? Maybe 3? You didn't answer my question. How many more years are you willing to wait?

Too many hypotheticals so idk. I see top teams manage the cap so I think we can find a way too. I'm not paying Mitts 5 million + Krebs hasn't earned anything over 2 yet either. Helleybuck is maybe too big of an ask I agree, but Pesce was certainly affordable .

I wouldn't trade Kulich. Benson idk yet. Savoie, for the right deal sure. The Pesce moment is gone. They signed lesser D men so yes, they'd have to move one or two if that happened (or not have signed Johnson etc) Hellebuyck is more complicated. I wouldn't like 8 years either. 2 years absolutely. 6 probably. How much goes back in the deal depends on how much I'd like or hate it. I would trade the 2 firsts (next year and the year after so no prospects gone) Philly apparently wants for Carter Hart. (kind of hoping we get good enough that 1st rounders have less value to us going forward as well) I would have signed Korpisalo as Ottawa did. If they jump ahead of us now because of it remember this post. If they stay behind us or do worse feel free to throw it back in my face at the end of the year, but I think that was the move we should have made.

That's true. I just don't see them as important pieces moving forward if you make different additions. I really don't like what we did with the bottom 6 this year myself. I personally wouldn't have signed Kyle or Zemgus or Jost. There were better options to go forward with (but of course if those players didn't want Buffalo different story but that's unknown)

Oh no, I got it, and experience will help some players. I agree. Cozens leap forward was a big reason we did as well as we did and the younger guys still have potential upside, but it won't come from Quinn this year and we're still looking at a gamble in goal. It can work, but it's just a maybe (maybe not). Korab was traded for and his pairing with Schoeny made them a force. Luce and Ramsey had chemistry but adding Gare made us have 2, not 1, solid lines and gave the checking unit a dangerous counter strike capability. Those were "holes" that needed filling. I look at the whole roster and, although I think we are a little better, I see the same holes and weaknesses as this past season. The bottom end might even be worse as they are older/slower. I also have confidence in Levi being a good (maybe great) goalie in 3 years. I do not have confidence in him being a great goalie right away. It's another maybe. Maybe not.