Archie Lee

Such a good observation. The team played joyless, disconnected, uncommitted hockey in Prague. 2022-23 was the year that the players rose above expectations and played to a level and outcome whose sum was greater than the assembled parts. From there they needed management to buy in and fully support the players ready to take the next step. Hasn’t happened and things may have stagnated.

Last year only 3 of 16 playoff teams started with two losses; encouragingly, Fla and Edm were two of them (LA was the other). None started with three straight losses. The season is long, but I think it can be generally said that teams that are playoff contenders don’t start the year 0-3 (and don’t spend $7 million below the cap, and don’t hire a head coach without an actual search, and don’t start the season with the youngest line-up in the league and a top 6 with an average age of only 23).

Bills are 2-0 against teams they were projected to be better than, and 1-2 against teams that they were, more or less, projected to be in the same range as. If they beat the Jets this week (no sure thing), then they pretty much have a clear path to a division title. Not telling anyone what to expect or demand or get frustrated about, but once I accepted McDermott is a good but not great coach, and that Allan is a great QB but not Mahones, then I have found it easy to enjoy watching them go 10-7 or 11-6 and hoping it all falls into place in the playoffs. This looks like another such year. We aren’t likely to win the Super Bowl, but there should be some fun and exciting ball along the way.

Tuch would be a top-6 player on every team in the NHL, I think. There are lots of contending teams that don’t have two wingers who are obviously first-line forwards. I would say our issue is that we don’t have any player who is an obvious first line forward and that 4 of our top 6 forwards are still in the stage of their career where they are not yet fully formed as NHL players (I know Cozens is going into year 5 and is approaching 300 games played; he is still 3-5 years from being at the top of his career arc as a complete player though).

I’m not drawing any conclusions from game one. But, the two most over-hyped changes from the off-season were the benefits of swapping one coach for another who was recently fired for similar reasons, and replacing four bottom six players (who all went to contenders) for four bottom six players that actual playoff teams found to be replaceable. Oh, and those were the only changes of the off-season.

Frustrating game in that the same issues that dogged us last year were present today. Slow and sloppy start, bad PP and no single player who was both willing and able to do something dynamic to alter the trajectory of the game. On the positive side, it was game one and, if you are so inclined, you can chalk it up to the Sabres starting tentative and nervous (reasons for which not fully understood), and the Devils being opportunistic, and that put us behind the eight-ball, and that’s hockey in a nutshell. What happened today is reason for concern, but not necessarily indicative of how the season will go. I won’t be at all surprised if the outcome tomorrow is reversed.

Cozens is strangely polarizing in my view. I thought he was our best forward today, and it wasn’t even close. He is closer to being our Hischier than Thompson is to being our Hughes.

Ha! Of course. Just wondering though if you think Peterka will lead the team with 33 goals or Thompson will score 40? Hopefully they both achieve those #’s.

I’m confused. Which of your posts is the real dudacek?

I can't remember where I heard this (I think one of the Athletic's Hockey Podcasts), but the person speaking made the point that arbitration hearings had changed in recent years and that teams largely understood that it was not healthy for a long-term relationship with a player to tear them down in arbitration. Teams have apparently moved more towards being positive and presenting comparable contracts that supported their position, than to the former method of going on about how a player is not as good as he thinks he is and providing all the reasons and evidence for why. The Bruins are apparently more old school when it come to arbitration. Still, I fully anticipate that Korpisalo will have a career year.

This is more or less where I am. It is early October and I am optimistic. I love this franchise and if you are a Sabre I want you to be successful. There are lots of reasons to be hopeful about where this is going. But, too many things have to go right that simply have no consistent track record of going right. Players need to bounce back to a level they did not display a year ago, or emerge to a level they have not, largely due to youth, shown before, ), or repeat something they have only done once. And, Ruff needs to be the coach we remember him as and want him to be (in effectiveness if not specifically in style) and not the more average NHL coach that the rest of the hockey world sees him as (it is telling in my view, that in the time since he was fired by the Sabres, no true contender identified Ruff as the coach they needed). I am hopeful and optimistic because it is October and because we are young and talented and because Ruff has seemingly breathed new (old) energy into the franchise. Too much needs to go right that has not gone right before, for me to predict the playoffs though. I disagree with those who predict boom or bust. We are the definition of a bubble-team until we prove otherwise. I see no reason to predict a collapse. We are most likely to fall just short.

Hutton was amazing for the first 2 months and was largely the reason for the great start / 10 game win streak. He was out of his mind good for 8 weeks. Then…

Yep. The key for us is not to wait for Boston and Tampa to become 85-90 point teams. We need to become a 100 point team.

What’s the vibe on this game for the players on both teams? For Red Bull, is this like the Soviet Wings coming to town (less the Cold War backdrop)? Or is this NHL exhibition level intensity? Or, is it NHL all-star game intensity? Is this sorted out in pre-game discussion, or do they just start playing and respond accordingly if a Red Bull runs Benson through the end boards?

Interesting that the Athletic Article has us as being one of 10 teams with two centres in the top 37. No team has 3. I still wish Adams and Pegula would have the courage and commitment to make one additional move (Kadri, Andersson, Ehlers) and I still think our core is too young to expect they will collectively, if not some as individuals, take the step forward we need to be a playoff team. But we should be tantalizingly close.

I think there have been a lot of successful NHL players over the years who played that style. It is not in their nature to be aggressive or physical or - pick your expression - “get to the net” or “mix it up”. They tend to play on the perimeter and often leave you wanting more. Some though are effective in their way. They can stabilize a line, cut-off the opposition or create offence with intelligence, instinct, speed and positioning rather than by relying on physicality. Of course it is better to have the complete package, but it is a rare player, even in the NHL, who has it all.

Tuch is the other Sabre in the top 150, he is ranked between Power and Cozens. There is no set # per team, some have more than 5, others have less. The Sabres have no player ranked in the top 2 tiers, with Dahlin and Thompson in tier 3 (Dahlin at the top of tier 3 with Bedard). As with all of these Athletic rankings, the real point is just to generate discussion. I think all 5 Sabres ranked have an opportunity to jump a tier (or two in some cases) this year. Further, there probably is no team with more players than the Sabres, who could move into the rankings a year from now: UPL, Byram, Quinn, Peterka and Benson all have that sort of pedigree/potential. This is how you get to be a playoff team. You don’t wait for the teams ahead of you to get old and falter, you just get better than them.

Since it is the Bruins, I anticipate at least 100 points in the standings, with Korpisalo, and whoever the other guy is, having an award-level season.

I missed this entirely...what are all these examples of us changing lines with the intention of "getting Cozens going"? I don't recall a single instance of this.

We are fortunate to have these kids. Whether they take the big step this year or next, I am bullish on their future. I am critical of Adams for not doing more this off-season, but there is no denying that he has overseen very good drafting that has led to this level of young talent (with more still coming).

I like: Dahlin/Power Byram/Clifton Samuelsson/Jokiharju The 2nd and 3rd pairing could be flipped and Byram and Clifton could be considered pair 3. I just think it is the best balance of skill, d-zone play, experience and physicality.

Good post and interesting data. It supports why I am at least somewhat equivocal in my view on this. Indeed, it could work out. That said, a couple questions to consider: - Three of those teams had a 1st overall generational or bordering on generational talent in their forward group, and the one that didn’t had Aho. Who in our group would you compare to Matthews, Aho, Mackinnon or Hughes (or Marner or Rantanan for that matter)? - How many teams in the same period dressed a similar group of young forwards (by age if not talent) and did not get in the playoffs? I can think of two off the top of my head, the 22-23 and 23-24 Sabres. I’m not letting the players off the hook entirely. If we don’t make it this year though, the bulk of my frustration will be with the people in charge. We have cap space and assets to ice a better and more talented team and have chosen not to. Like a classroom that is out of control, at some point it isn’t the kids.

Setting aside that it was nearly a generation ago, I don't think Roy, Vanek, Pommer were ever a 2nd line combination at the ages in question. To the bolded, you are quite correct. I actually don't anticipate that Benson/Cozens/Quinn will be a line all season, and they almost certainly won't be if they don't perform well together. My comments are directed more to those who think that is a good 2nd line for this team in this critical year, than it is to the notion that Ruff is determined for that to be a line throughout the season.

I respect this view and have no argument against it. I don't really have an opinion on whether, all things considered, Cozens will have a better year than Quinn. What I do know is that if you look at the depth charts of teams that are expected and expecting to be in the playoffs this year, you won't find a projected 2nd line composed of the equivalent of a 23 year old centre coming off a disappointing season, a 22 year old RW who hasn't topped 15 goals or 40 points in his NHL career and who is coming off an injury plagued season, and a 19 year old LW who had 30 points as a rookie. It's asking a lot to expect these players to play the role we are going to ask them to play while placing "playoff expectations" on the team. No other team in the NHL that is expecting to be in the playoffs is doing this (or would, for that matter).

That's not really countering my point. I'm not arguing that Cozens isn't or shouldn't be ready to be good, I'm arguing the opposite and adding that it is time to give him two wingers who are already there. There comes a time when we have to fully support a player (in this case Cozens), by surrounding him with players who will help him be successful. This is not a shot against Quinn and Benson, nor am I fully discounting the possibility that together they might be great. Dylan Cozens would have a better chance to be a fully impactful player if his line-mates were the equivalent of what we project Quinn and Benson to be 3-4 years from now. I submit that this is self-evident. Totally misses the point though. Cozens may well be and should be ready. The same can't be so definitively said about his projected line-mates though.