FrenchConnection44

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.

In this case I’d agree he’s extremely important, imo, given that he shores up a weak spot on the team. Like an otherwise good football team that has zero pass rush getting a great pass rusher, or awful pass coverage and adding a great CB, those can be a big difference in team success. Samuelsson seems the best all around defenseman (not the offensive prowess of Dahlin, of course). Obviously they need more elements but he brings features to a weak area that few others do.

All that is premised on them being the same player. Kulich is a goal scorer not a facilitator (as yet) which is what I was comparing with the two as far as flashing upside. Perhaps you haven’t realized this in your short time as a hockey fan, but there are different types of hockey players. There are those who don’t develop as passers for some period of time (if ever) but are great scoring snipers. While there are others who have more all-around scoring/passing game that they bring to the table (Rick Martin vs Gil Perrault). One can only presume you believe Point (45/38) or Ovechkin (42/30) deficient players this season; whereas, say, Kucherov (28/74) is not, because they score goals at a higher rate but don’t garner assists (ranking 66th and 120th in assists, respectively) - as that’s not their game this year (as with many scoring forwards; cf. Rantanen; Thompson; et al). See how that works? (I really would not typically respond to a conversation that way; I do so only to prove a point - while making my main point about Kulich [age; goal scoring prowess] as there really is no reason for you to be a condescending ***** about a response from my perspective that was a legitimate engagement in conversation about the two players. That’s why I responded, not with serious intent, as I did above - one appropriate to yours. Maybe you’ll get the point; or not). As to the prime reason for my saying he has more upside - as a goal scorer - is that he’s been scoring goals at a higher rate than Quinn at the AHL level … at age 18 - by himself in a foreign country half way round the world, and all the cultural challenges that attend to that for an 18 yr old, and whose language he hasn’t learned well I might add (as I did previously) - compared to Quinn’s production at age 20 a bit over an hour flight from home. In his native language. (Have you lived in a foreign country whose language you did not know? I have). And when you mature a bit in life and you want to have a legitimate adult - ie rational and respectable - conversation or disagreement, let me know; I am more than happy to engage in that.

Great list. Thanks. I try to look at several lists. Seems like Reinbacher has a variety of different draft ratings. Given that, in all likelihood, he’s not going to be ready for a couple of years at least, maybe more, I think the Sabres should go best available and not reach for a defenseman unless he’s rated where they draft (or in the vicinity). But I would like a two way forward who has some physicality to his game. Leonard is intriguing. He seems pretty physical from that video break down even though not a 6’3 bruiser. 5’11, 180 is decent size with room to fill out that frame. But sometimes those shorter players can be physical intimidators. Like the evil Brad Marchand. Or Rick Tocchet. Even Theo Fleury (all 5’6 of him!). Or going back Ted Lindsey.

It sounds like Kulich is ultimately going to be a winger (though that may not have technically been his draft position).

The proof of the pudding is always in the eating … and will be next year. Either he continues his development and impresses enough - and the team needs it - to be called up or he won’t. And part of it could be a numbers game but that will also depend on how well, say, JJP et al develop. But I’m not seeing how some of these comps are altogether accurate when one looks inside the numbers. “A touch ahead of Quinn’s 15 game pace his first season with the Amerks?” Quinn had 2 goals in 15 games. Kulich has 21 in 55. Seems to me that’s more than a touch ahead. (.13 to .38 per game) But more to the point is how well Kulich has progressed … as opposed to his overall numbers. He had 7 goals in his first 32 games. Nothing special but very good for his age (it might be accurate to say that was a touch ahead of Quinn’s first yr with the Amerks but it’s still 7 in 32 to a pace of 4 in 30). But in his last 21 games, he has 14 goals. Which, though only 21 games, is a better pace (.67) than Quinn (.53) last year or certainly JJP (.40). And Kulich is still 18. And hardly spoke English at the start of the year. Whereas Quinn was 20 all last season. JJP turned 20 mid season last year. Given that, I would not exactly label that, “clearly at least a step behind where Peterka was a year ago and 2 below Quinn.” His overall goal pace is equal to JJPs last year, better this last half season, but certainly has continued to show significant improvement (as Seth Appert noted, “He gets better every week, he keeps growing his game and his work ethic is very impressive.”) His passing game needs to develop as well as his size and those are the elements almost certainly going to keep him down at the start of next season. But as I said, given how he is progressing in the toughest league outside of the NHL, as an 18 year old, it is going to be tough to keep him down for very long if he continues on the pace he’s been on. I see more and faster upside to him than Quinn (whom I really like) or JJP. But, again, the proof of the pudding will be in the eating when he competes at the highest levels.

Just terrible penalty shots. Zero puck skills displayed and bad shots. I love Dylan Cozens. Hustles hard. Scrappy. But aside from needing to continue to add muscle to his 6’3 frame (he should ultimately be playing at 205-210 of good weight), he has to work on the accuracy of his shot. He needs to become more of a sniper. That was a terrible penalty shot and far too many of his shots go right at the goalie. He and his line also give up too many turnovers.

Kulich continues to impress with two more goals. I think he is a star in the making. Not sure we can keep him down long.

I know a couple of teams are interested. One thing we can offer him is ample opportunity to start! I’d def take a serious shot at him.

Excited about what he brings to the table. Agree he needs more muscle and strength. But he is a helluva player. It’s a fine line between bringing up too soon and risking some stagnation at the amateur level. I see it a lot in MLB. But our needs are for a two way FwD and defenseman. I’d only bring him up if we traded away someone (say, like Mitts).

for me, the evaluation of Granato, whom I like a whole lot, is not grounded in whether he makes the playoffs or not. But it’s just evaluating the play on the ice. Obviously, there are personnel moves that need to be made to add additional players to strengthen weak areas. But on the ice, I find that his defensive system in particular is just so bad. When the Sabres are in their zone, they just don’t seem to have a good system. They stand around, don’t back check well, they don’t play aggressively on the defensive end, there are just so many problems compared to some of the better teams, it’s almost night and day. Of course, some of the main questions you have to ask if you are considering firing a coach, is who is available to replace that coach? And do they want to coach your team? And are they a fit with the personnel on your team? They need a coach with some better, defensive prowess, but they don’t need a guy who can’t coach offense either. Our identity is not going to be a grind it out, 2-1 scoring, defensive team. We are always going to be an offensive team with the talent that we have, but we do need a coach who can still have a solid defensive system in place.

Like any other player that age in a great program. Heck, Wally Szczerbiak went from 210 to 240 in 3 yrs at Creighton. I follow Alabama football and most players at RB, LB, TE, add 10+ lbs of muscle (and add speed) each year they are there. Those are all 18-19-20 yr olds. So I’d expect all those guys above could add 8-10 lbs of muscle, improved speed, each year the next 2-3 years. Power was listed at 215 this year. His ultimate playing weight should be in the 235 range at peak. Maybe bigger depending on his frame. I’d say he should go near to 225ish next year. Be stronger in the legs and skate faster with greater balance. That’s the kind of growth to which I’m referring - that which happens at the better major college programs.

Generally concur here. I’d trade Mitts. I like Haula. They do need a good two way Forward. With a good +/- . And another defenseman and goalie.

Agreed. Coaching? I wonder if Granato knows how to coach any kind of defensive system? Aside from, “you four stand here, here, here, and here. Try not to let them get a shot too close in.” Our defense in our zone is terrible. PK or 5 on 5. And an unimaginative PP. I like Granato. Just not sold on him as a legit upper tier coach. Adams has generally done a decent job constructing the team. Not sure about some of his accumulation of defensemen (or failure to do so) aside from the top 3 guys. These last 2-3 weeks have been a massive let down. A wounded Dahlin and injured Samuelsson haven’t helped. Chychrun for the next two years would also have been great. It’s a bummer we could not pull that off. What is the deal with Rian Johnson? Not re the Sabres and just as a player? Just not seeing it. Hard to know after this breakdown what player will want to sign with the Sabres as a free agent without gross overpayment? Adams has to get another goalie - priority 1. And a starting defenseman - priority 2. And another two way veteran forward who can be a leader. Horvat would have been a good one. Players have to have an improved training regimen. Do we need a new trainer and/or strength and conditioning staff? We shouldn’t have just one guy as that but have a whole department dedicated to the science of building the best and strongest hockey player body possible out of the raw mold that enters the building. Several need to add 5-10 lbs of muscle this off season (Power needs to add 15-20 over the next 3 off seasons), get better balanced and stronger on their skates, and play with a more toughness. We are among the softest teams in the league. If not the softest. Don’t have to become the broad street bullies. Just more physically and mentally tough. The Pegula’s have had a tough year with Kim. Hope she continues to recover. Franchise needs her leadership at the top and needs to build out to become a state of the art franchise. Only way to do it with a small market team in the NHL.

Well. What a collapse. Good talent is there. Toughness, mental and physical, and maturity are not. Also need a goalie or two and another defenseman. There is hope for a high draft pick but none of those rated in the top 10 are defensemen. But a potentially very good player.

I remember going to a Sabres-Flyers game and Schoenfeld roughed up Schultz. Took him down. Later on a line change, Schultz was skating off and Jim was standing at the point waiting for the face-off. Schoenfeld fake lunged at him and Schultz jumped away. The crowed went nuts and laughed at him.