FrenchConnection44

I’ve never felt the hatred on that basis. I have fam in NC and they are big fans. But I generally dislike root against most of the southern teams / expansion teams including the Hurricanes (I am an old school original six; plus the late 60s early 70s expansion teams; and the WHA additions; - Buffalo, of course; and okay with the Kings - with fond memories of 11:00 pm games against Dionne and Rogie Vachon). The one original 6 team I can’t ever root for is Boston. First Sabres game I ever saw was on TV vs Bruins in 1970. Lost 8-2 and if I recall, they had 72 shots on goal. Lol. It was actually a good goaltending game from Daley. Hated them ever since.

McDavid is amazing. So aggressive and quick. What a beast. Love the Oilers team.

Gavrikov would be a really good addition.

Definitely need a top 4 defenseman. Imo, we have 3 bonafide starting calibre defensemen. Joki and Bushkin are serviceable. But they are 5-6 at best. A top tier D is essential, imo. A two way forward (center or wing) is also significantly important. A two-way center would be nice; but I'd take a two-way forward as well.

Is it SabreSpace 2003 or 2023? 2023 is the one I joined. Bracket in. Happy if I lose because I have Boston winning it all. The one team I had to pick against based on emotional ties / hatred ... was Vegas. The rest of the way I went with my mind over heart.

Man. We need serious improvement on D. both our defenders were packed in and checking no one. Need better coaching and discipline. And … A free agent defenseman has to be the priority in the off season.

He’s really benefitted from the line changes. He’s a much better passer than scorer. That said, he needs some improvement. 1. He doesn’t have a strong shot. Or deadly accurate. Has to get stronger on the shot. 2. He has to get stronger and more physical. Both on face offs and in general. I think he can do both and become a real positive for the team. But still has some off season work to do. I was down on him early but he’s proven me wrong.

Players gotta stay positive. A goal for us will change the complexion

Man. Bad goal. Levi looked like he was peering around then stopped and it went right past his glove. But bad give away by Jokiharu in the Devils zone. just gave them a 3 on 2 and set up the trailer.

To me, as long as he progresses physically, hitting the weights to add muscle and getting up to 230ish+ in weight over the next few years, and improving his skating/balance, he will be a stud. He should look to Hedman as his model. Though not quite as tall (Hedman is 6’6+; but was only 220 when he entered the league. For years he’s gone 240), Power can become that kind of defenseman.

Works for him. Don’t see the benefit for the club. If he were first team or second team All-American I’d think differently. But I have watched several games of Minnesota hockey. I don’t see the value of giving him just what he wants. I would just as soon have the second round comp pick. Save the money and go after a top tier free agent D man to help the club immediately in 2023-24. Draft a high rated defenseman. And we have a couple in the system who could come on. Well … if so, hope he is great. I have doubts about him becoming anything special. Jmo.

Dahlin was amazing in this game. And that shot by Thompson was other worldly.

A number of times, not just on goals, it seems like our defensemen are just out of position - like they are setting up in a spot but no one is there and, oh look, there's an opposing player open in the slot. We need some sort of defensive system. Maybe try to hire a defensive specialist assistant? Someone with some experience with good defenses? But we also need 1-2 free agent vets to come in. One as a top 4 calibre. Another to at least compete with Joki, Byush, and Stillman. I thought Levi was pretty good. Kid has something about him. That said, like rookie pitchers or hitters, the league has yet to adjust to him to find his weaknesses. I felt like they did a couple of times tonight - the first goal and the last goal. Should have had that first goal. He makes up for his size with quickness and has a good butterfly but I think that can be exposed. Teams will try to go up high (as in goal 1) and see how he handles those high shots. And they will try to used his quick movement against him (as in goal 6). Tough situations on the other goals. But he's still learning. Going to be growing pains and most of them will come next year I believe. He's going to have to continue to work on quickness and build his intelligence to be able to be effective and a winner.

I agree. We have cap space the next couple of seasons. As I mentioned, I'd like to see us sign a top 4 Defenseman (who is a very good defender) and a strong forward. To add to the mixture of young players. But don't want to give up the young prospects.

Not just looking at his points (although at the college level one would like to see more offensive production given his experience - he's been outscored by several defensive teammates). But more so, just that he hasn't really improved significantly from 3 seasons ago. He was honorable mention All Big 10 3 seasons ago; not last year; then honorable mention again this year. In the 2-3 games I've seen he's been decent but not special - which one would hope at that level (probably the 2nd best below the NHL level, after the AHL).

Keep the nucleus and young guys there. Unlikely the UFAs remain unless we don't sign anyone else. I like those 3 but I think we can get better. We need a power forward and a defenseman with size (who can play, of course). But the main thing is to see these guys get bigger and stronger. Obviously continue to improve their skill sets. So they can play more physical. Our game will still be offensive scoring power but we have to get bigger. I was perusing the Tampa Bay lineup. They have 13 players over 200 who play and get minutes. And 8 over 220. The Sabres have 3 over 220 (Greenway, Tage, and Samuelsson - and Tage is not a physical player). These guys are young so it will take a couple of years before they reach their peak but we need to see advancement in size. Gotta hit the weights in the off-season. A second element I'd like to see among several of the scorers and potential scorers is to work on their shot. Speed and more so accuracy. We get a number of opportunities but are inconsistent in shot accuracy (often right into the goalie).

I don't dislike Joki. He is still 23 so he still has upside. But I would not let that preclude me from drafting a defenseman high (hope we have a shot at Reinbacher); and we have a high 2nd round pick (right now it's the 7th in the 2nd round. Which has potential). Nor would it preclude me from going after as good a defenseman as I can land in free agency. Would be great to find a top tier veteran. It's not a spectacular year for free agent defenseman. Whether Joki is a solid 4 or not wouldn't matter to me. It would be even better - regardless of how he rates vs the rest of the league - if he were #6 as it would mean we upgraded 4 & 5. Better to have a really good 4 & 5 and a legit 4 playing as the #6 defender. He does need to improve though, imo. Ryan Graves is an interesting target. He's having his best season by far - typical for free agency - but he's young (27) and he's got size (6'5, 220) and he's been a strong, near lock down defender this year. +28 (was +40 in his second season). He could be a fine defender for us and imagine him alongside Power. However, it has to be a reasonable contract. Which may prevent us. It's tough because although we are in a great position the next 2-3 seasons, you don't want to over pay free agents who may not be as good as many others on the team you are going to have to start paying.

I hate the Jets.

Savoie with some sweet assists today as well as the goals (another empty netter). He looks like a center to me. Kulich ... still 18 (for those in Rio Linda 😉 ) ... sick last night but came back with an assist today. Dude has 20 goals, 13 assists in his last 41 games - at the AHL level. He's a sniper. He was listed as a center when we drafted him but he's a winger/scorer at this juncture. So much promise with these young players. Do need to add a couple of defenders who are strong. Komarov should be invited to camp and we'll see if he improves enough over the summer. Would be great to see. But I think we have to look for a top tier free agent defender. Let the rest battle it out for the final 2 positions. At this point, I am skeptical of Ryan Johnson. Will he sign? And how good will he be? He is in his 3rd year at Minnesota. Hasn't performed as well as one would hope for a 21 year old 1st round pick in 2019, imo. Not bad by any means. Still not sure what he brings. But we may be able to get along fine without him. Drafting a defenseman is a possibility but may still take a year or two to develop depending on who we select. Reinbacher seems to be the consensus top defender (rated anywhere from 10th to 30th overall). He's been on a vet team and their main defenseman. So that's a positive. I'd be considering him heavily if there is a shot.

Sweet to see that Tuch, Skinner, Dahlin and Cousins (of course, Tage) have all outscored Eichel. Of course, Eichel has only played 62 games - still, that's part of it. Tuch only has 66 under his belt and is well ahead in goals and points.

My thoughts exactly. They played a tighter game and it made me wonder if they should not develop that approach to more games.

The Sabres store sold out of Levi jerseys half way through the second period! 😂 so great. Lol. Like this kid. Gonna have to weather some storms. But the talent is there for sure.

Not the same talent level by far, obviously, but I am sure Mess sees the similarities to his Edmonton team. They were all super young together (Gretzky, Mess, Anderson, Lowe, Coffee, Kerri, etc. ) with great offense but lacked D and some toughness early. He and the Great One had a losing record their first two seasons in fact - even though they made the playoffs the second season at 29-35. But won a series vs Montreal! We need more talent influx but it is hopeful and exciting. I like what Messier says.

Some nice praise of Levi’s game.