Drag0nDan
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Posts posted by Drag0nDan
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29 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:
Tage on the PK tells you that Adams failed at roster construction. A key component for a 3rd line player is that you can use them on the PK or PP just like a key component to making the 53 man roster is being useful on special teams. Same concept but Adams decided to build a roster that didn't make any sense and this was the result. He needs to grow up quick because the only excuses left are incompetence.
prioritized fixing our broken PK and in turn broke the PP.
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Assuming no roster moves - how i think they could look.
Dahlin
Tage - Greenway- Byram
Tuch
Power
JJP - Benson- Quinn
Cozens
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6 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:
Not to mention those are minutes that you now do not have to give your high scoring forward at even strength and on the powerplay because Tage is tired.
Agreed. If you're in the playoffs? Sure - get your best PK guys out there and leave it on the ice. But he took a puck off his wrist in like what the 10th game? Missed a bunch of time and probably came back too early, shot suffered all season.
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On 4/20/2024 at 2:02 PM, inkman said:
Regardless, unless Upie takes a big step back and Levi in undeniable, I’d like to see Devon spend next season in Rochester. Plenty of dudes out there they can get to play 20 games if need be.
See thats my issue. The "dudes" out there are terrible when they play here for whatever reason. 3 dudes played 60 or more games this past year - UPL was tied for 11th at 54 starts. I'm fine bringing someone in I guess, but I don't think its fair to levi to basically say "you're going to the AHL out of camp because 56 (plus another 34 in college) starts over two seasons isn't enough and we want you to see more pucks".
As a team that is at best "on the bubble", can we really afford to continue to trot out goalies who are worse than the one in the AHL because "development"? Or should we be looking at something closer to an even split ideally?
Comrie was 11-16-1 here
Hutton was 31-49-10
Dell was 1-8-1
Tokarski was 12-20-7
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On 4/20/2024 at 9:42 AM, That Aud Smell said:
All fair points, but … this isn’t binary.
I’ve been a Bills STH for a while now. There is something transcendent about being in a stadium and joining in a stretch of cheering delirium. Fandemonium, as Van called it.
I said it at the time and I’ll say it forever more: The wildcard round when the Bills demolished the Patriots was the happiest I need to be, probably the happiest I can be over a sporting outcome. I was crying at times — with the tears freezing fast to my face. When the Bills win the Super Bowl, I’ll be in a more static environment. It won’t, can’t be the same. I don’t think it’ll even be as delightful. We’ll see.
Whether we’re ooohing and ahhhing over a Josh Allen odds defying scramble or wooping and 🤘 ing at an Eddie Van Halen run of hammer technique arpeggios (RIP), that element of human connection (what some religious call “communion”) adds something unique to and amplifies the enjoyment of the amazing thing we’re experiencing.
The crowd during the micah hyde interception was the loudest i've ever heard in that stadium.
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On 4/18/2024 at 2:50 PM, Demoted said:
As long as they play good hockey I don't care what the drug of choice they want.
Eh - that kind of crap tends to lead to problems with the younger kids and just a clique type atmosphere within your team.
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17 hours ago, That Aud Smell said:
Did anyone catch Dahlin’s remarks today?
Dude said that the team didn’t practice hard enough and that they’ll need to be more intense in their training and preparation next season.
There’s no disputing it: DG didn’t work these guys hard enough.
The Beyond Blue and Gold Skinner goofball practice video from midseason — “is practice over? … Tuchy said it’s over … okay, I’m done” — was the Sabres organization telling on themselves.
It reflected in the first period of literally every game they played. The youngest team in the league should be among the fastest, and i didn't find our team to be faster than many teams. When you're chasing points at the end of the season, you need to shorten the bench and play top guys for more minutes. When you get caught on a long shift, you need to not have anchors in your skates.
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20 hours ago, Thorny said:
I only see the peak human athletic condition
The man was put on earth to do 2 things score goals, and eat hot dogs... looks like were almost out of hot dogs...
15 hours ago, Mango said:I like that you responded to yourself here. Haha.
I think I generally agree here. Worth noting that I believe Adams said something along the lines of "getting cute" as opposed to "grinding it out" or "making it hard on the other team".
The team didn't seem prepared to play starting game 1 in October. They need to be in better shape when they come back to Buffalo later this year.He's not wrong... I'm not sure how one counts extra passes, but we pass up a LOT of pretty good shots to pass. Sometimes they're even passing from somewhere like the high slot, to the dot for a worse shot.
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52 minutes ago, Pimlach said:
Yes. They are all lost to some extent. Dahlin wearing a C next season is like putting the weight of 13 years of failure and dysfunction on a 23 year old. A kid that at times tries too hard to do too much.
I think Tuch will handle it better. We don’t have any other choices on the roster right now.
I just don't see a captain with Tuch unfortunately - and i also don't think he wants it. It almost has to be dahlin.
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1 hour ago, JoeSchmoe said:
I've always thought he sounded like a 420 enthusiast, but the extended interview confirmed it. Anyone else hearing that?
Wonder if he'll be celebrating in a couple days.
Id rather that than the nose candy that's quite popular among hockey players these days.
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On 4/15/2024 at 12:53 PM, bob_sauve28 said:
Oof. My thing on him - he's a fine middle 6 dude. My issue is - even shooting at his best %... he does not score 20 goals. So either he passes up too many shots, or he can't shoot.
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On 4/10/2024 at 4:10 PM, GoPuckYourself said:
Yes I just meant I miss those days, I want a whole roster of Lindros and Steven’s types, come on people it’s really not that difficult to figure out.
Yeah i'm cool not running a neutral zone trap team. It was boring back then, and less effective today with an emphasis on player safety, holding, and the trapezoid.
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7 minutes ago, CallawaySabres said:
Hamilton was saying that Ellis was not responsible for the PP and it was the head coach who dictates the style of the pp. Ellis was also Adams guy so he may just stick around.
I don't think a new coach isn't going to want to hire their own guys.
I assume these are all the "managers" - people who had guys reporting directly to them. The rest of the guys get to interview for their jobs with a new coach/adams(or new GM). Bales has a pretty solid resume to lean on, and likely ends up with a job here or somewhere else. Not sure anyone else should be brought back.
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2 hours ago, GoPuckYourself said:
I just want a more physical team in general, I guess i just associate size with physicality, the years of seeing Eric Lindros getting blasted by Scott Stevens endlessly may have given me big man syndrome.
I'm confused... do we want lindros? Because he was the big guy here 🙂
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2 hours ago, LGR4GM said:
There should be no rookie players in the opening night roster for the 2024 Sabres. Everyone stays in jrs or Rochester and those spots are filled by actual capable veteran players. So no Savoie, Kulich, Novikov, Rosen.
I think I'm OK with one. Ideally they... play their way onto the roster though.
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Just now, LGR4GM said:
Buffalo could have have gotten assets to basically be a pass through team. Let's say player y is 1 million bucks. Buffalo agrees to retain up to 50% and Ys og team agrees to retain 25% which is the max. Buffalo has a cap hit of 500k on their books and pays that 500k in real money (unless there's a lower actual salary but let's keep it simple). Player Y goes directly to 3rd team and Buffalo gets an extra 4th or something.
So it works differently than the nfl.
Just one of the many issues with NHL, their cap, and free agency:
I just don't see a ton of value trading cap space - until someone starts offering tangible pick value i don't see the point. Why help someone circumvent the cap?
The NMC/NTC/M-NTC lists are getting out of hand at this point as it seems like almost every player has something. There's also too much term on contracts that are fully guaranteed.
Offer sheet compensation is in a word - ridiculous. 4 1st rounders is just too much at any level for one, but the level with which to offer a 1st (and a 3rd) is way too low. They've built that to not be an option.
Figure out LTIR because man is it stupid.
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28 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:
Ppl keep saying this but did they?
Upl was good but was team defense really any better?
I think the backchecking has improved, forwards are more engaged, and absent eric Johnson they have improved as a net front team. But their transition and zone exits are super messy now.
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On 4/9/2024 at 9:21 AM, GoPuckYourself said:
I disagree with your whole take... Missing the playoffs by 1 point isn't a playoff push? We were tops in the league in scoring the year before. Adams then added some guys he thought would help in the "playoff push" in Eric Johson/Clifton and thought that would be enough. I doubt many in here thought the entire roster aside from 3 players were going to regress.
I feel like this years Sabres didn't hit a stride all season. They buckled down to play better defensively, but at the expense of offense. They haven't been able to counter-attack effectively for a number of reasons.
- Cohesion has been an issue, and i think thats coaching - line shuffling is part of it, but it just feels like no one ever knows where to go with the puck outside the offensive zone. They either push back to the defense (hurting our chance to pressure the opponent), or hold the puck (obnoxious turnovers at the blue line).
- Always seem to take the puck at the wall, and they don't push the pace often enough - they're afraid of turnovers.
- On the odd-man rushes they do get, a considerable number get broken up on their own mistakes. Never looking to shoot, slowing up and letting the opponent break it up, stupid drop passes. So many never even get a SOG.
- Even with an increased focus on defense, they still give up a lot of high slot shot attempts which usually stems from poor defensive play by the centers.
You watch good hockey teams, and the second the puck is on their stick in their zone they are moving and grooving.
The power play falling off of a damn cliff is the big thing that really killed them though. To go from 63 PP goals to 36 is... a big drop off. They've also had more short handed goals allowed than last year too oddly enough, so the power play net goals went from 56 to 27.
PK improved from the worst in the league to league average which is nice I guess.
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2 hours ago, Archie Lee said:
Staying the course is the correct thing to do. But it doesn’t mean making no meaningful changes. Staying the course means you remain committed to the vast majority of your young core (Thompson, Tuch, Cozens, Peterka, Quinn, Benson, Dahlin, Power, Byram, UPL, Levi) and that you don’t “blow it up”. Staying the course doesn’t mean running back something that failed. There are many meaningful changes that can be made in an attempt to advance this team to the playoffs that don’t involve steering off the current course (coaching changes and adding veterans in key positions are the obvious examples). To not make such changes is to do the opposite of what successful and serious professional sports franchises do.
Thats basically how i see it too.
Skinner is under contract - doesn't mean we have to have him on the team. Probably a year ahead of a buyout, and while he scores goals he
Greenway seems like a fine bottom 6 winger, but i'm not married to him (personally i think he plays too small. If he played a bit faster and brought it a bit more in the forecheck I think he could be a pretty good player.
Krebs can't shoot. I don't see how that works in a bottom 6 role if he isn't a physical or more effective defensive forward.
We have a bunch of prospects near graduation, doesn't mean they need to all be brought up (or kept). Preferably you bring up one (who does not play 7 minutes on the 4th line), and find effective veterans through other means to fill out the rest of the roster.
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Players I'd probably move, buy out, walk away from... Skinner, jokiharju, Krebs, Robinson, Jost, Comrie
JJP - Tage - Tuch
??? - ??? - Quinn - Need to trade for a real 2C - I assume its costly but someone like eriksson ek, or RNH who don't have NMCs. Free agency is a possibility, as we likely have money/cap available. Don't hate the idea of a pat kane buffalo thing on the wing, he's won cups, hes from buffalo, and we can probably pay him what he wants.
Benson - Cozens - Savoie/Kulich/Rosen combo - Fewer minutes, more juice. We always bring prospects up and bury them on a line with JAGs, and wonder why they dont/can't produce.
??? - ??? - Greenway -- Bring in guys who actually are difficult to play against, instead of rolling in a rotation of JAGs who don't really do much of anything particularly well.
Just going with the flow - I could see moving Ryan Johnson as a piece with a prospect to try and find an NHL righty for the top 4.
Power - Dahlin
Samuelsson - Byram
Johnson - Clifton
Bryson
UPL - Levi
If there's an available backup who you like, go for it - but most backups want term, or a chance to start. You get neither here.
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21 hours ago, Gatorman0519 said:
The right move. Rochester is fighting for their lives and he will help immensely. Plus valuable playoff experience. It doesn't matter if Comrie goes in anymore.
It matters to me! i don't want to watch him play 🙂
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On 4/3/2024 at 9:33 AM, Doohickie said:
And it seems like JJP jumps in and out of that group. Sometimes he's right up with them, sometimes not so much. I hope with the experience he's getting he can be more consistently in that group.
I hope JJP sticks with Thompson and Tuch. The speed on the wing there can really help them gain the zone, he's an underrated forechecker, and the kid can shoot. That'd leave cozens with Benson and Quinn, or potentially a new C. Skinner on a wing with likely a rookie out of camp (we have several at the moment, and i should hope they move one or two of them), and hopefully a new 3C or Cozens (I'm not a fan of Krebs - seems like a AAAA guy and not someone you pay). Then line 4 would ideally be made with... actual shutdown forwards. Greenway and 2 players who are difficult to play against, can kill penalties and can chip in some goals from time to time.
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3 minutes ago, Thorny said:
I’d kill to be a team with a terrible prospect pool full of washed up has beens (not saying OVI is that)
at least we’d “have been”
Right - if you aren't going to compete for a cup... at least ovechkin gives you somewhat of a reason to go.
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40 minutes ago, Thorny said:
I was kinda hoping he got it, but if he has to hold his team hostage to do it, as he seemed to be earlier in the year, it just cheapens the whole thing so it sorta tarnishes it. But he’s been picking it up of late
He's definitely fading - but he still leads his team in goals and is a monster on the power play. The two years at 9.5M for a winger approaching 40 is probably more of a concern. But what he hurts them on the cap, he probably makes up for in tickets and merchandise etc.
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Zach Benson, the 5'10" 170lb, 18yr old rookie's first season review
in The Aud Club
Posted
Now if he can just figure out how to stay out of the box 😄