JohnC

Skinner has also demonstrated that he does have an all-around game beyond shooting. He can pass and play a responsible defensive game. Thankfully, the Sabres have a coach who knows how to get value out of his players. As you point out Skinner is playing up to the value of his contract.

That is one of the few facts of life.

Thanks for pointing that out. That's to our credit. But we haven't fared too well against the upper echelon teams in our division, teams that we have to surpass. You take it step by step. The team is making progress and moving forward. However, that doesn't mean that it won't be a major challenge to get over the hump this season.

Have we beaten any of the upper tier teams such as Colorado, Tampa, Boston, Carolina, Vegas etc? I can't recall that we did. Although we did play well in most of those matches but still lost. I think that this team can get back in the race but merely as a fringe team trying to stay in the hunt.

I believe the organization has reached (or is close to) the point where it doesn't have to make any blockbuster deals requiring giving up significant assets to acquire top two line or top two pairing players. I would rather add another couple of Lyubushkin caliber players, who I consider to be a third pairing player. That mid-tier type of additions would add depth and more properly align where players should be slotted, especially on the blue line. I have not given up on Mitts and Olofsson. No question they are struggling. But it wasn't too long ago when DG said that Mitts was one of the better players in his training camp a couple of years ago. If Mitts can regain his form and confidence, I think he will be slotted as a credible third line player and a contributor on the second PP. That would be fine with me. Just a reminder: How many people gave up on Skinner and felt that he was a financial albatross around this roster? Now he is considered a primary player and worth his heavy salary.

Either this guy's suit is too big or he is too small for the suit. However, he should be complimented for the Elvis wiggle. 🤡

You are treading on dangerous territory when you bring up the Ullmark issue. 🤡 This is a hypothetical question: How many more points do you believe the Sabres would have this season if it got Ullmark caliber goaltending on a consistent basis?

What Krueger didn't understand is that the NHL of today is a different game that he envisioned. This is now an era of fast pace north/south hockey where the modern rules promote movement. It isn't about retrenching back as it is pushing forward. His background was coaching a Swiss team that played against superior teams. His approach made sense because talent-wise he couldn't match the talent of the opposition. So everything he did was to stifle the opposition and hope to capitalize on their mistakes. He was simply a fish out of the water floundering around and drowning himself.

No.

I, like you, have heard DG talk on WGR about the sequencing of principles, and which of them are a priority. He has on a number of occasions stated (as you noted) that the first priority is to concentrate on getting an offensive flow, and once that approach has been mastered/installed go on to building a defensive system. Contrast his offensive, north/south attacking approach to Krueger's more defensive posture to the game! One coach believed in suppressing talent while the current coach believes in the expression of talent.

The encouraging thing about playing Krebs with the two grizzly vets is that it forced him to play a more disciplined and tighter style of game. What the insertion of Krebs into that more defensive line demonstrated is that Krebs can adjust his free floating and loose passing brand of hockey and make him concentrate more on puck retrieval and possession. Especially in the third period of the San Jose, Krebs worked hard, along with his linemates, to keep the puck in his own zone. Or another way to describe it is to value the puck and the possession. Something he had problems with. Don Granato showed that good coaching includes experimenting to put his players in the best position to succeed. The next challenge for the coach is to find the right strategies to get Mitts and Olofsson back on track. I know that @LGR4GM doesn't agree with me (expecting a barrage of assaults) but I do believe that these two players are salvageable.

Is that why you have your orthopedic doctor in your contact list? 🤡

The most intriguing thing about the practice lines that DG is assembling is having Krebs on the Girgs and Okposo line. If that reshuffling has a positive effect on Krebs's play, that in itself is a good thing for the youngster and for the team. No one can argue that the Sabres are a finished product, far from it. But if you can develop a youngster within your system and have him contribute, then that is another added piece to the puzzle.

He's entitled to his opinion. He can follow the team in any way he wants to. That's his prerogative. It's just that some people work hard not to be happy.

I'm in the disappointing category who thought that Mitts was going to be a good NHL 2 or 3C. It hasn't materialized. But even when I had higher expectations I never, or recall others saying, that he would be a $10 M player. (There may have been a distinct minority who elevated the player but the prevailing view was that he could potentially be a legitimate player in this league. Right now, the tide is going against him. That's disappointing. But that doesn't mean that he is completely washed up with no chance of salvaging his career. I believe he needs a change of scenery to reinvigorate his career. The issue I have with @PerreaultForever is that he creates an outlandish premise and then foists it upon others. That is a cheap and unworthy ploy.

No one is anointing anyone. That's your capstone fallback response to everyone. Much of the commentary about a number of the youngsters is positive for the simple reason is that their play is positive. Are Power, JJ and Cozens playing poorly? Isn't their recent play encouraging? And not all the commentary is indiscriminately glowing for players such as UPL, Mitts and Olofsson. You don't think that they have been harshly criticized? You are painting a false picture that everyone, but you, has been sucked into the vortex of delusion that their team is on the verge of hoisting the Cup. That's not true, and never has been true. Following a rebuilding team is different from following a Cup contending team. (Stating the obvious!) To get from point A to point Z is a process, sometimes excruciating so. It's not necessarily a steady upward trajectory. That's where we are at. And most of us understand that. What you are basically saying is call me when you get there. In the real world you don't get to your destination unless you travel the road.

What you are basically saying is that "it could be" or "could not be". It could be "heads" or it could be "tails". It could be on the "right" or it could be on the "left". We could "win" or we could "lose". There are no guarantees because in life there are no guarantees. Tell me something that a stupido like me doesn't already know. 🤡

What progress are you referring to regarding Krebs? He has been struggling. I thought the coach putting him on the Girgs and Kyle line was a smart move in that it forced him to play a tighter game within a line structure. I thought in the third period when this line kept the puck in their zone that it was a valuable lesson for how to play a NHL game. I'm not giving up on Mitts. (Although my expectations for him are waning.) As you point out at the minimum, he has value as a second PP member. The best thing that could happen to him and the organization is for him to get more of his game back. He would then have more value on the market. I'm starting to come to the conclusion that he needs a change of scenery in order to reinvigorate his game. I remember DG saying last year that Mitts was one of the best players in training camp, then he got hurt and never seemed to get his game back. How quickly the storyline on a player can change!

What's also encouraging about the scoring chart beyond the +/_ is the wide distribution of goal scoring. That's a positive side that the roster is better balanced and not overloaded by one depended upon line.

He had issues both off and on the ice. I think he did get his life straightened out.

I'm far from being done with Olofsson. It's easy to feel giddy after a win against a tanking team at the end of an extended and exhausting road trip. But what happens when the Sabres face the inevitable injuries? We've seen that spiraling down phenomenon two often. Are you going to argue that we have enough talent in reserve? When this team is in-tact, even with its known deficiencies, this team can compete with all teams. However, what it doesn't have is an excess in talent who you can casually get rid of only to have created another void when a player or two is out of the lineup.

The broadcast had a graphic that showed our three rookie players in Quinn, JJ and Power, combined, have more points than any rookie group on any team in the league. And watching our guys no one can deny that there is still so much more room to grow.

You go in circles. I don't know what you are talking about or what your point is. To say prospects are prospects is like saying a horse is a horse and a mule is a mule. I'm admittedly very obtuse but I'm aware of that.