Digger
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Posts posted by Digger
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In general I'm really impressed with the higher scoring statistics this past season. It seems to me that it's been some time since we had so many in the 100+ point category (8 and was close to 10 if Miller and Marner had made it). The defense stats are impressive too. It's been a good year for the NHL in that sense. I thought it was worth discussing while waiting for the playoffs to start..
Scoring Leaders (points)
· Connor McDavid 123
· Jonathan Huberdeau 115
· Johnny Gaudreau 115
· Leon Draisaitl 110
· Kirill Kaprizov 108
· Auston Matthews 106
· Steven Stamkos 106
· Matthew Tkachuk 104
· J.T. Miller 99
· Mitchell Marner 97
Defence (points)
· Roman Josi 96
· Cale Makar 86
· Victor Hedman 85
· Adam Fox 74
· John Carlson 71
· Quinn Hughes 68
· Kris Letang 68
· Morgan Rielly 68
· Aaron Ekblad 57
· Devon Toews 57
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I'm glad that they pulled out the win tonight. Nice way to end the season. There's definitely hope (with real substance not just hopium) going into this off season. I also don't expect any shocking words from the locker clean out interviews (which is truly joyful for Sabres fans everywhere).
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6 hours ago, Flashsabre said:
Gudbransen has flourished in Calgary with Zadorov as a big physical defensive pairing that know their role and keep it simple.
I think he would be a good signing but he is not the guy to be Power’s partner
He would be 3rd pairing, PK but would addalot of physicality and leadership back there.
I caught an interview with Erik Gudbranson on HNIC and he was saying that he really hopes that he can stay in Calgary because his wife is tired of all the moving. Not saying to pass on him (would love to have him as a 5/6 pair) but he does sound really motivated to offer a discount to stay put in Calgary.
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3 minutes ago, Brawndo said:
The one complain I have, is that UPL should have been brought back up to get at least an additional 20 starts with the Sabres. That way the organization would have a better idea of what the goaltending needs are at the NHL Level and if UPL is truly an option
Yes, I can't argue with that. I wanted to see Rochester in the playoffs but we decided to keep the other eligible prospects with the Sabres. It would have been nice to see him play a few more games with the Sabres with the overall improved team play. I still think we need a number 1 going into next season.
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I just re-watched the highlights. The look on Lindy's face after each of the first 3 goals is priceless. I almost felt sorry for him.
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I've enjoyed reading the posts (catching up from last night). Here's one positive from the O'Reilly trade that we should all be able to agree on. Having the deadline in place for the trade (O'Reilly's bonus pay out) killed JBot's negotiation strength in getting the return that he wanted. That was (I believe anyway) the lesson learned for ownership and Adams when they were trading Eichel. No deadline and we won't make the trade until we feel comfortable with the return.
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1 hour ago, Eleven said:
It is one of the worst trades in Sabres history. Are you kidding?
On edit, let us revisit the return:
--Tage Thompson, who has had one heck of a season that we all wish he repeats, and who was almost universally bemoaned before October 2021.
--Vladimir Sobotka, who was a zero.
--Patrilk Berglund, who could play Robert Downey Jr.'s part in "Less than Zero."
--A last-first-round pick, Ryan Johnson, who may not ever play for the Sabs.
--A way-in-the-future pick (at time of trade) that happened to be swapped, with another Sabres pick, for Colin Miller.
For a Conn Smythe winner and captain of a contender thereafter.
In what world would you do it again?
To your bolded text In what world would you do it again?
I guess that if you had perfect foresight to see how Tage would develop years after the trade (this season).
Of course if you had perfect foresight then you would have seen that St. Louis would win the cup with O'Reilly and that he would win the Conn Smyth and most likely insisted on getting a better return that would help the team immediately that year.
Perfect Foresight would ensure that we did not take back Berglund who did not want to be a Sabre to the point where he voided his contract which was quite the negative headline at the time towards the Sabres.
Perfect foresight would have allowed our GM to realize that while Mittelstadt was a top prospect he wasn't going to be able to handle the 2nd line center duty..............and that Sobotka and Berglund wouldn't either and that we would not have a viable option for 2nd line center until ?? (last season, this season).
Perfect foresight to see that Eichel would eventually want off the team too and perhaps seeing O'Reilly get traded and win the cup elsewhere looked pretty appealing. Speculation and no I don't miss Eichel. At least that trade has had a positive impact the year of the trade with the added bonus of future upside and picks to be made.
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2 hours ago, WildCard said:
Lehner is and will forever be my least favorite Sabre
1 hour ago, LGR4GM said:Ville Leino has entered the chat
How about Slava Kozlov in the Hasek trade to Detroit. Talk about a player that didn't want to be here.
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I mentioned this in the comparison thread with Eichel.
He has one year left at $1.4M and then is a RFA with arbitration rights. Is it better to sign him this off season or wait and to see if he can repeat again next year? I'm not sure, but for the right amount I'd sign him, $5M x 5 great, $6M x 5 years good, $6.5M x 5 years okay but if he wants more than that? (then let's wait and see if he can repeat his performance.............remember the Skinner contract (not the same I know but still a contract that is difficult to trade).
I would also add the Adams has to predict the full core players salaries as they get good and need bigger contracts to see how they may project. Fun job. I'd love to listen in to those conversations.
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I guess that I can't get past the salary. With the salaries they both make Tage Thompson is the clear winner for value. Will we be trying to sign Tage to an early extension this off season? He has one year left at $1.4M and then is a RFA with arbitration rights. Is it better to sign him this off season or wait and to see if he can repeat again next year?
What's he worth to sign this off season for a 5 year extension?
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I listened to the Adams interview and didn't feel that he shared anything new (at least from what I had been hearing). This has been debated pretty well now. It is what it is, and hopefully next year we have them all signed and ready to start playing in Rochester in hopes that they'll be Sabres someday.
I would like to hear an honest interview with all 3 (Portillo, Levi, Johnson) but I know most of what is said is pretty guarded and most likely coached by their advisors.
In contrast, if you look at the prospects playing in the CHL you don't see many of them turning down NHL contracts for that last chance to win the Memorial Cup as an over-age player. They take the opportunity when it comes. That can be a good thing and a bad thing of course. Good for the NHL team if they develop and make the NHL but maybe not so much for the player if they don't make the NHL (but they still get the life experience).
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14 minutes ago, Doohickie said:
- The move happened before Mittelstadt's injury, which was in the first game of the season. Tage was moved to C in the preseason. Note that it may have been an experiment at first but Tage almost instantly blossomed at center.
- I think even if Reino was still here (which is an interesting thought experiment in itself), Tage would still have been given a chance at C and Reino would have reverted to RW. But it may have been a situation like we're seeing with Krebs were sometimes he plays wing and sometimes center. I think if there was some rotation between Reino and Tage, Granato would have recognized how much better Tage is at center while Reino can play well at center or wing.
- If the choice came down to Cozens versus Tage at center, I think Cozens would be playing wing right now.
Maybe you're right. My point was that this was really a season of opportunity for many players to step up and Tage has made the most of it (Eichel, Reinhart moved, Mittelstadt hurt). You might recall that even Hasek needed to get his chance as a number 1 before he cemented the spot. Yes I agree on the "thought experiment" comment.......typical Sabres fan always wondering what could have happened.
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22 minutes ago, JohnC said:
Moving Thompson to center put him in a position to succeed. It gave the lanky player more space to maneuver and create. When asked why he moved Tage to center the coach said that as a prospect he was a center and saw his ability to skate and create. It was a positional move that allowed the player to unleash his assets and minimize his liabilities. As Tage has physically filled out he has demonstrated that he can battle for the puck on both the offensive and defensive zones. In contrast to Krueger the coach with the cool blue framed glasses focused more on what a player can do rather than focus on what he couldn't do. That's what good coaches and teachers do: maximize potential.
I'll give Granato the credit for moving Tage to center but I do wonder if the move would have happened if Mittelstadt had stayed healthy and if Reinhart had stayed with the team this season and playing center as he had at the end of last season. Cozens also. The conditions were right. It just goes to show that all players have to take advantage of the opportunity when it comes up. Granato looks brilliant on the move regardless and we are much deeper at center than we thought at the beginning of the 2021-22 season.
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10 minutes ago, Archie Lee said:
I think Vegas is still in a position where if they just win their games they will get in. Nashville’s schedule is rough. Dallas has their Van/Cal/Edm stretch and they host the Knights. LA’s schedule is comparatively easy but they just aren’t that good right now. Vegas has three in a row at home v Devils, Caps and Sharks. If they sweep they will likely be well positioned a week from now.
I think Vegas is going to have to falter further to miss.
In other news the Jack Eichel Voodoo dolls are selling quickly to former Eichel fans..................
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Dahlin interview, he's changed his go to statement from "super excited" to "super happy".
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Great game, nice to get the win.
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it's been an entertaining second period
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I can see that maybe there's no spot for him next season on the Sabres barring injury call up but I do wonder if he couldn't find a spot on another NHL roster. I think that it would be a smart move to stay for another season to see if he gets a chance. Otherwise Rochester could really use him.
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3 hours ago, breese866 said:
Skinner Thompson Tuch
Krebs Cozens Peterka
Quinn Mittelstadt Oloffson
Okposo Asplund Girgensons
Hinostroza Hayden
Power Jokiharju
Dahlin Samuelsson
Bryson Fitzgerald
Pysyk
This is how I see our team looking next year.
The Flyers and the Bruins have always been synonymous with big, bad, rough and tough teams. Win or lose, same identity. To me, the Sabres hallmark has been speed. Remembering back to the 03-07 teams coming out of the lockout, our team was built on wicked speed and quickness. It seems that that is the team we are trying to build now. Is that too many of the same type of player? Small, skilled, quick and fast players. Someone recently said that you need different type of players in order to build a successful organization. Back in the day, I remember one of the players say that management told him to take boxing lessons over the summer, could have been Barnaby. I think someone should tell Cozens to take a boxing lesson this summer. Not necessarily to fight, but to be ready when it may become necessary and so that he doesn't get it handed to him. I hope Power, Samuelsson and maybe Dahlin develop a snarl to go along with their extraordinary ability. Maybe we should bring in a big rough tough RHD, this summer.
Okay I'll bite, but what changes would you make?
I think we all agree that upgrading the goaltender position is priority #1 going into this off-season. This is followed by getting 1 or 2 RHD that can play, and most likely top 4 minutes (unless Dahlin can settle in on the right side). Do they need to be tough (sure if available and they still have the skill to play top minutes). I would say that what we need to ensure additions are good team players that will jump in and defend their teammates when needed. This season the Sabres have been better than quite some time with players willing to jump in a to defend and support each other. I like Olofsson and Asplund but we know that they won't do much or anything in a scrum. But I don't see us upgrading to the tougher version of either. I would love to have Marcus Foligno back on the team but I find it highly unlikely they will get him back.
Cozens taking boxing lessons and fighting more? I hope not and I hope that he's getting better advice than that. He'll make a bigger impact using his skill rather than becoming a tough guy.
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Here's a thought. The NHL goes back to having a draft combine again this year after cancelling 2020 and 2021 for Covid.
Did the lack of combine results make much a difference to the 2021 draft and is this something that can be evaluated now?
I suppose one of the big hits last season was to have CHL shut down and reduced playing times for many draft prospects so maybe that will always be hard to evaluate.
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I know it's a long shot but are there any European goaltenders that might be worth offering a contract coming over to North America?
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9 hours ago, Brawndo said:
Did anyone else look at Power coming out and think we need a taller tunnel cover? We need something adequate for Tage and Power now. Poor guys are hunched over walking to the ice.
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I don't think anyone forgot about him. To a certain extent it's difficult to gauge where he is at the end of the season (with respect to the Sabres and playing consistent at an NHL level). Is he ready to take the step or does he still need to keep developing defensively a bit more before making the Sabres full time? As I recall, we have very limited call-ups allowed from Rochester after the trade deadline because we used 3 (on paper) for Samuelson, Krebs, and Fitzgerald. Ideally we would have both JJP and Quinn up for a few games to see if they where they are but we also need them playing well for Rochester to see if we can get into the playoffs. May still be the plan.
No announcement on Ryan Johnson??
in The Aud Club
Posted
I've said this before about Ryan Johnson but I think the fans thoughts that there's no spot on the roster (or in the next couple of years) are short sighted. He's a top Sabres prospect that will need to spend some time in the AHL developing. Sign him and let him develop. When he's ready he'll push for a NHL spot. Who knows where we'll be at when that time comes (possibly going into the playoffs with an injury to one of our established LHD and need him). If there's no spot on the Sabres and he's clearly ready for the NHL he becomes tradeable (with the expectation of getting some value in return). Today I think his trade value is low (at least until he's signed to a contract). This team needs depth and signing quality prospects that are waiver exempt are a necessity.
Like the others Levi and Portillo I wish that he would sign this off season and start with Rochester in the fall but if not we'll have to be patient. He'll be fine, patience.