PerreaultForever

Ya there was. I'm not going to go searching but that's what started me on this path.

Yes he is "fine". I want him to be great. He can be, but the way we do things he might just be "fine".

I think that's true to some extent. I will bet he plays better D there in time but he's there to score goals that's for sure. Their top 6 looks good.

What a joke of a franchise. Another big announcement to say everything is the same. I read today they have 9000 season tickets sols. So, there's a minimum of 9000 mentally insane people in Buffalo, no wonder nobody wants to come 🙂

No, that's not true. What I'm saying is Utah wasn't very good and he didn't play much so there's nothing to indicate he can be a top 6 forward yet. That's all. There's no evidence he is anything. He MIGHT be, but he might not. Penciling him in for a top 6 role at this point seems silly.

Well yes, you can look at it that way but my point would still be we do not develop them properly. Not "properly insulated" and not "supported" with the roster as they build it is the problem. It's the full system of how we do it. That's really my point so at some stage I feel we need to reset it and start doing it the right way. Being on a team that wins. Being on a team that has a playoff run (even if it's AHL, it's still part of the process of becoming a pro). All of that matters too and that's part of why I think it would help him rather than hinder him. Proper NHL roster with insulation and support would be ideal as well but we don't have it. Consider how we develop players however. Look at the differences in how the veterans we do bring in play from the way our home grown players play. That in and of itself is very telling.

This team has developed players poorly for so long people here have forgotten how it's actually done. and then they wonder why the ship sails in circles with no leadership. If Benson got to lead a team to a Calder Cup while working on his strength and muscle he'd return a far better player than he will be as is but whatever. I'm not going to keep arguing the failure of Sabres development. The results speak for themselves.

That's my point. They didn't see him as anything higher up the roster so why do we?

Well I believe that these younger players develop better if they have less pressure and can focus fully on aspects of their game and body that needs it. Both Tage and Mitts came back from Rochester better players than the ones that went down right? I don't want Benson to just be good for us, U want him to be great for us. If he's truly too dominant for Rochester he gets called back up later in the year. This is not complicated. If in camp he outperforms veterans by a lot then he also stays but that sort of internal competition is missing and these kids don't learn the right way to compete. There is always a lack of adequate veteran presence on this team and there still is.

I think he should be third line (or in Rochester) and his primary development goal right now should be adding muscle and strength. I want him to be elite when the process is complete but Sabres don't understand the development process.

I'm skeptical simply because he couldn't really crack the line up of a weak Utah team so clearly, they didn't think he was good enough or ready or a major piece. Do not remember seeing him play though so just don't know. For me he's like an unknown rookie. Wait and see when he actually plays. I need to see how he plays most of all. I really think people tend to be overly optimistic here because of his father. I am curious, but remain neutral and skeptical until I see him in action.

I could have thrown coaching in there as a point. It is mediocre that's definitely correct. I fear the future when they name Appert head coach more. I included the chronically injured as a collective group. Norris is obviously the most important piece there. Greenway the least important.

I think your prediction is a little premature. If you have noticed in the past I have praised Benson often. I like Benson. Benson is the future. I don't think he's ready to be the present.

idk, we never know. I just don't see the urgency or the true commitment to trying to win now. Doing everything possible. I see a hole in the line up. I see these things as all potential recipes for disaster: 1) Reliance on young scoring players emerging rather than going with proven vets. 2) Hope the goaltending rebounds. 3) Hope the injury prone roster stays healthy. 4) Hope that Power develops given a better partner to play with. I see all of these as potential flaws. Now the die hard optimist might say: 1)Quinn will rebound and emerge. Benson and Kulich will become solid NHLers. 2)UPL will rebound and Lyon will give us a solid reliable tandem 3)Norris, Zucker, Greenway etc. will actually stay relatively healthy and provide solid veteran play 4)Power and Kesselring will click and arguably become a top pairing giving us a solid D for the first time in years. Possible, but I'd say improbable. Could be some mix of both scenarios but I guess I see the probability of the bad much more than the good. I just don't feel optimistic about this line up.

Time is up for Quinn. imo he was rewarded for failure with the deal they gave him. So yes, there's an expectation, but I do not have the faith Adams has in him. Benson is 20 years old. He is a kid and he should not be top 6. We are pushing Kulich too fast and too much and I expect a sophomore slump scenario. Hope that's wrong. Power should start to show signs of getting it and maybe Kesselring helps further that but idk as we have not been developing him properly. Sabres are just "get in the deep end and swim kid" and maybe eventually he's good enough to get it on his own but have to see it to know. Doan I am not commenting on since I just haven't seen him play as I've said before. A veteran top 6 forward allows Benson to play on the third line where he belongs this year.

Rust was supposed to be on the block. Rumor has it that Pavel Zacha is on the trade block. There are players out there that could fill in for Peterka's loss and give the kids a little more time and ease.

They're not in 'cap trouble". That is utter nonsense. They choose to spend under the cap, but in no way shape or form are they in cap trouble. Also going to have tons of cap space when Dahlin demands a trade. 🙂

The D is almost certainly set as Dahlin-Byram, Power-Kesselring, Samuelsson-Timmins. The forwards idk, I see holes and too much reliance on young players in top roles. Health will be an issue but I'd actually consider Greenway-Norris-Thompson as the top line. Greenway to open up space for the other two and to provide net front presence. More middle six options that way as well. Ideally however, I'd want to add a top 6 forward we don't currently have.

Sure, ya, and they definitely need that money 😉

I just don't think this guy is any better than Clifton but we shall see.

Bored this summer?

We haven't really. Norris played what one, two games for us in a dead season? He's basically a new addition now.

It's edited for effect and I'm sure parts are even added in to transmit a message. I'm sure Kevyn was acting stubborn and wanted an additional player with Kesselring. I'm sure Utah preferred to throw in a pick or something. It's a trade negotiation and we were already told on twitter teams said Sabres were hard to deal with. Kevyn likes to try to win trades. So he got a throw in at the end. Yay. Well to me that is a toss in but we likely define that differently. I wouldn't disagree with the rest of your comment. I initially reacted to somebody having him up on the top line with Tage. I thought that was ridiculous.

Well he hasn't done anything noteworthy in his NHL career yet. We shall see. Again, we shall see how "hard" he is. That was the sales pitch on Malentstyn too. I don't believe a word "embedded" says.

Those are the MAIN PIECES. The other bigger change is Cozens/Norris as I've said repeatedly. The rest is non consequential.