RochesterExpat
-
Posts
948 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Posts posted by RochesterExpat
-
-
1 hour ago, Warriorspikes51 said:
Stamkos? Pat Kane? I could see one of them being brought in
Marchessault ? Doubt he'd want to come here though
I think Stamkos stays in Tampa. Kane is interesting but it depends on what term he wants. Either of those would be good additions.
If we’re talking about Vegas, I think Stephenson is more likely to hit FA and would be a better addition for Buffalo on what should be a reasonable contract. I’m afraid that if Marchessault hits FA, his Conn Smythe drives up the price. Add to it that he’s 3 1/2 years older than Stephenson and I think Stephenson is the better target.
-
1
-
-
16 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:
The Leafs will never ever trade Taveras to the Sabres. Also Taveras has a full NMC. If he wants to stay to Tor, he's staying.
If he wants to move, he'll pick a team that is a Cup contender next year, not the Adams lead Sabres.
What about Sean Monahan as an alternative? He is 29 (30 in Oct), had a nice rebound season (59 pts - 26g 33a) and can play all 3 forward positions. He won 54.9% of his faceoffs (nearly 1300 draws) and is from Brampton Ontario. a two 2 years 10 mill total contract might do the trick. I think he'd slot very nicely into the 3rd C role, and maybe even drop Cozens to the 3rd C role.
It’s why I added the hypothetical and mentioned the NMC at the start.
I really like Monahan but I expect the Jets to extend him since they gave up the first to acquire him. I like Toffoli as well but I also expect him to get a new contract.
-
I’m sure this will be received well, but in a hypothetical Leafs rebuild where NMCs get freely waived (which is what the Make Believe fan base seems to expect), would you consider trading for Tavares as a 3C?
Tavares is overpaid at a cap hit of $11m for one more year. Since few—if any—teams can afford to eat that outright, a 25% retention is probably the starting point. That lowers his hit to $8.25m for the 24-25. Buffalo is able to accommodate that, but that’s probably the starting point for Buffalo to consider and I think it could/should go lower.
His last three seasons:
2021-2022: 79 GP, 27G 49A 76P
2022-2023: 80 GP, 36G 44A 80P
2023-2024: 80 GP, 29G 36A 65P
He turns 34 at the start of the season and Tavares will essentially be a cap dump by Toronto. His acquisition cost should be minimal. Leafs fans will probably celebrate a bag of pucks going their way because, at least in part, the Toronto media likes to scapegoat him for the Leafs playoff exits. His contract is the problem—not the player. He is still a productive center with 1,109 regular season NHL games under his belt.
The big downside to signing him is that he is not a long-term solution. He would be in Buffalo for one season. A younger player with term is ideal, but I don’t know how aggressive Buffalo will be in pursuing such a player. It’s also nigh impossible to really know who is available for trade at reasonable values. History tells us time and time again that players signed in free agency are overpaid.
Buffalo has a need for a 3C. Tavares can also be a scoring winger in the Top 6 if we need him to fill that role due to an injury. He is elite at faceoffs and is a still a threat on the power play. He is more physical than Bertuzzi and Domi—all while taking far fewer penalties. He’s got the NHL experience. He has leadership experience. Contrary to what Toronto fans will tell you, there is a lot to like with Tavares. It’s the albatross of an $11m cap hit that makes him difficult to like.
Would you be willing to trade a prospect like Rosen and a 4th round pick to Toronto for Tavares at 25% and send a 3rd to Anaheim to retain an additional 25% (lowering his cap hit to $6.25m for one year)? We have the assets and this is one player that I don’t think will cost an arm and a leg to acquire because Toronto media is trying to run him and Marner out of town.
-
15 hours ago, kas23 said:
I don’t doubt this is true, but to say someone prefers Raleigh-Durham to Buffalo is kind of funny. I mean, neither are glamorous places by any stretch of the imagination, but I guess weather and taxes win out.
Have you been to Raleigh in the last decade? I can easily see how someone would prefer Raleigh to Buffalo.
-
8 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:
Well they haven't lost yet (but it doesn't look good). Bruins blew a 3-1 game lead last year with a better team roster so they could easily do it again.
It could absolutely happen, but I see at least one big difference between the B’s this year and last. I think last season the team lost their fire when they were up 3-1 (the choice of not switching starting goalies after game 5 aside) because they knew they were a great team and thought they would just win (I say this as the proud owner of a Bergeron jersey who is my all-time favorite non-Sabre hockey player). It was a team that played expecting to win and not wanting to win. Through the first four games this year, every Bruin player is out there playing like he wants to win—and being led by Marchand who is embodying that attitude perfectly. Just look at how well Pat Maroon is playing. It’s the whole lineup.
I'm convinced it’s the same issue Toronto is having. The Leafs players just expect to win based on talent, but I don’t see them wanting to win. I could argue it’s Buffalo’s problem during the regular season as well where we have these “young, talented and skilled” hockey players repeatedly being told how talented they are. The problem is they don’t realize they need to play the game until they’re down 2-0 at the first intermission. Or we’re at game 50 of the season. Call it heart. Call it whatever you want. It’s what drives winners.
On a different note, if the B’s win the Cup, Marchand has a pretty good chance of winning the Conn Smythe. If he captains a Stanley Cup winning team and wins the Conn Smythe in the process, we might see some heads explode at the very real possibility of a Rat in the HHOF.
-
Levi saved the game.
Also as soon as I posted about blocking shots the Amerks did a great job blocking shots in the last 5.
-
1
-
-
Östlund just gift wrapped a goal to Kulich and Kulich didn’t bury it. Bummer.
-
Are the Amerks avoiding blocking shots for a reason? Is it to give Levi a clear view? It’s just odd in playoff hockey to see players shifting out of lanes.
-
-
Whoa. Wahlberg really made his first a beauty.
-
1
-
-
14 minutes ago, Thorny said:
Is this just a goals thing though? It’s impressive regardless, and im not going to check them all, but we seem to be cherry picking a bit as im not sure I’d call, say, Point’s season similar. He only had 4 more goals, sure, but he also had 55% more assists
It’s similar in the sense that we’re looking at a second or first line role/production. He is behind everyone listed, although, honestly, when we account for the differences with power play points, his numbers pretty well match with Gaudreau. So I think I would consider it a cliff between Aho and the rest of the group. DeBrincat, Point and Kucherov (add in Robertson if he’d played a full season) make up the next tier. Peterka and Gaudreau are the third tier with the rest of the players having a noticeable separation.
Part of it is we’re forced to use a small sample size. A total of 185 forwards drafted 2nd round or later played in at least one NHL game during their age 21 season over the last decade. If we limit to players playing 40 games, we’re down to 44 players. Of those 44, JJ is 7th in points-per-game. If we look at only even strength points, JJ is 6th.
There are plenty of other ways to look at it and we can expand from that first/second line impact to look at other players. For example, if we consider TOI, JJ’s numbers are now closest to Jesper Bratt who was playing sheltered minutes and only played 60 games.
So the data is cherry picked but it’s not cherry picked because I’m trying to make JJ into a stud player, it’s cherry picked because it’s hard to really quantify since this is such a rare occurrence. His numbers look good because they are good. He’s in good company no matter how we slice it. Gaudreau may be viewed as a less than favorable player by some, but he’s still a 60 point guy. He just gets negative coverage because he signed a massive deal following a pretty clear outlier of a season. With JJ’s numbers looking like Gaudreau and Bratt, I think everyone here should be thrilled.
One other weird thing I noticed—and this is kind of off-topic—but the “flash in the pan” seasons virrually all come from 1st rounders. I wonder if that’s because utilization and opportunities are different. They get pushed into the league early instead of really earning a roster spot. Just an observation and a conjecture.
-
2
-
-
I’ve already told the wife I will buy one of the next generation to replace the riding mower I have currently. I also need to see how the vineyard and orchard are going to affect the size of my mowing area(s), so I figure it’s probably a 3 year buying timeline.
All that aside, it isn’t even the gas or changing the oil that bothers me the most—it’s the noise. I switched to a push electric a while back for working minor stuff around raised beds and fence lines. I love it because the noise level makes it more comfortable to work with. How is the decibel level like on your Ryobi? Any operator fatigue from mowing the acre?
-
1
-
-
12 hours ago, dudacek said:
One thing seems to hold true though, very few of the guys on that list of 25 proved to be a flash in the pan. This type of production at the age seems likely to set him up for at least a Nikolaj Ehlers type career.
Put another way (and to reiterate what @LGR4GM already alluded to at the end of his post): as a second round pick, making the list is even more of a noteworthy accomplishment.
He’s one of only six non-first round picks in the last decade with similar performance at age 21 (I’m adding one if you check these numbers because I’m giving Jason Robertson the benefit of the doubt as he hit 45 points in only 58 games). Those players?
- Aho
- DeBrincat
- Point
- Kucherov
- Gaudreau
And the aforementioned Robertson.
That’s some pretty good company to be in. Good for JJ.
-
To the point about the weak power play and JJP having room to grow there, he was tied with Sidney Crosby and Brady Tkachuk for 5-on-5 goals this season—good enough to have only eleven players league-wide with more 5-on-5 goals.
-
1
-
-
11 hours ago, SABRES 0311 said:
I think the biggest impact will be readiness.
It’s not just first period. It’s readiness in general. I said this in the Oct 17th GDT against Tampa:
From the outside looking in, I will say I think Granato made a mistake with his handling/allocating the preseason games. The Sabres gave too many games to rookies and too few games getting the top lines together. The organization is too far along in the rebuild to give this much ice time to evaluating rookies.
I don’t see this being an issue under Ruff. I will be shocked if the preseason roster isn’t a much shorter list this season.
-
- Popular Post
- Popular Post
+1 future Sabres fan. Mom and baby are healthy and everything went well.
Now to hope the kid grows up in an era of a winning hockey team in Buffalo.
-
2
-
8
-
$3.3 to $4 million for three years ($10-12 million contract value). That’s market value for young goalies with less than a full season of solid performance. Oettinger, Gustavsson, and Georgiev being comps.
-
3
-
1
-
-
35 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:
No. Adams needs to add veteran players that already know how the NHL works for next season. Enough of this making room for the kids crap.
It’s not about making room it’s about the kids competing for jobs and winning—exactly what you want to see happen. Quinn and Peterka were guaranteed to make the jump after their rookie AHL seasons and GMKA / Granato said as much that they “earned it” the year before. I don’t see Ruff having that mentality at all. It’s going to be real roster spot competition. He waived Pominville in 2005 because he didn’t meet the expectations set for the offseason.
A lot of this hinges on what moves are made in the offseason. Buffalo needs to add to the right side on defense. They also need to add a scoring winger for the top 6 and overhaul of the bottom 6. I think Johnson is a trade piece because he has the 1st round pedigree and he has time in the show from this season. I realize it may not be a popular opinion—or a correct one since public advanced stats for the AHL are nonexistent and the eye test is subjective at best—but I believe Novikov is ahead of Johnson based on watching the last two months of Amerks games.
But, again, I’m not suggesting that Novikov deserves a roster spot. I’m merely saying that I think he earns one at camp because of how he plays hockey and what Lindy is likely looking for. I also want to clarify that I do not believe for one minute that Novikov is a top pairing defenseman or will become one. He’s a bottom pair and 7th D guy, but he plays a mature game and plays the style that Lindy likes. He’s fast. He moves the puck well. He breaks up plays well.
His status as a rookie shouldn’t preclude him from the roster if he earns the spot. Vanek was a rookie in 05-06. Paetsch and Stafford were rookies in 06-07 (side note, I will never forget Stafford dropping the gloves against Neil for Campbell). Kaleta would have been a rookie in 06 too I think. Of course those were forwards.
Anyway, at the of the day, it’s a fun thought exercise to project Lindy’s impact while I’m sitting in the hospital delivery room, but also somewhat meaningless until the summer roster moves are made. If we roll it back next season instead of making meaningful changes, I think I’ll lose my mind.
-
5
-
1
-
-
7 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:
I look at Dahlin, Power, Mule, Byram, and the others and I see a bunch of talented kids desperate for a coach who truly understands 2 way D play and that is Ruff
I agree it’s going to be the defense.
As for specific players, it’s going to kick open the door for Novikov to fight for a roster spot because he is the type of D-man that Lindy loves. If Novikov plays well during the playoffs and comes to camp prepared, I will not be surprised to see him earn a roster spot. Even if it’s as the 7th D. One of the changes I see is Lindy is going to put an end to “it’s better to have a weaker player on the NHL roster so the stronger player can get more ice time in the AHL.” That’s not how it was handled in NJ. I don’t expect it to be different in Buffalo. You build the roster to in win first and foremost.
The other player I think will be the boom or bust will be Clifton. He did well in Boston’s system and started to get his feet under him after a pretty bad start to the season. I look forward to seeing him under Ruff and back to playing on a team with a system where he has an explicit role.
I also have a strangely optimistic feeling about Peyton Krebs next season. If he is on the Sabres, I can see him finding a real role with expectations under Ruff. Not just a “we’re not sure where to put you so welcome to the fourth line” spot.
-
2
-
-
1 hour ago, LGR4GM said:
You know that I am just saying Weber because everyone around here yells "PECA!!!!" 382 times a day because they know who he is and that's the only requirement?
I don’t think you can fault people for favoring the names they know. Especially when he is being touted as highly as he is by the national media.
I said Vinny Prospal because he has the type of mentality I want to see in a coach. What do I mean by that? The Amerks do coaches vs player scrimmages on occasion. Vinny was upset the coaches weren’t winning enough that he started bringing full equipment to the rink to put on for the scrimmage—just so he could skate at full speed. I want coaches that want to win and the fact you have a 50 year old coach (or close to it, I’m too lazy to look) putting on his equipment because he hates losing to his own players in a meaningless scrimmage tells me Vinny hates losing. Not to sound like every other person on repeat, but Buffalo needs to fix the culture of losing. It starts by bringing in the right coaches.
I’m sure there are plenty of names I haven’t thought of that fit that type. Those are just the players I want to see. McKee is mentioned because he would do everything he could as a player to get a win. Peca the same and we have Peca’s public comments as a coach to back it up. It’s the mentality that I care about. Not the name. It’s not “it’s okay to make a mistake” Granato anymore. It’s “you should be pissed off you lost a game and out there playing every minute to win it.”
-
1
-
1
-
-
3 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:
Can we please aim for something at least like this (and even this is on the light side when comparing to top NHL staffs).
There's no reason we need to hire up and comer former Sabres who need a job/experience.
This is why Peca is on the wishlist for so many. He’s the obvious crossover between the two lists even if he’s “light” on experience.
I guess in my mind, I’d like to see the coaching staff consist of something like:
HC - Ruff, obviously
Associate Coach - Peca (probably necessary title to pull him from the Rangers assuming they grant permission to speak with him).
Assistant Coach 1 - NHL assistant level experienced candidate (or AHL HC). Or Peca if you can bring in a probably-ready-to-be-a-HC Jay Leach type candidate as the associate. Maybe Cory Stillman doesn’t want to move to Utah? Although he’s another candidate that would probably want the associate title. Does Joe Sacco want to leave Boston and come back to Buffalo? Doubt it, but that’s the kind of candidate I want to see.
Assistant Coach 2 - Vinny Prospal/Jay McKee. I like Vinny as an assistant coach in Rochester and I think this is the coaching position you open the door to experimenting with the “rookie” candidates. Vinny has enough player experience and he’s not a young kid so I think he would be fine. McKee is also “inexperienced” at the NHL coaching level, but he has the coaching bona fides from lower levels and also the NHL/Sabres experience.
Goaltending - Mike Bales. It ain’t broke. Don’t fix it.
-
4 minutes ago, Pimlach said:
Everybody that plays the PK should be taking away passing and shooting lanes, and blocking shots. Thompson did what he should have done. Injuries happen.
No argument from me, but it’s uncommon around the league to have your goal scoring 1st line center killing penalties because the injury risk from blocking shots.
-
1
-
-
2 minutes ago, Captain Caveman said:
I keep hearing Peca's name -
Isn't he on staff in NYR? Would he even be able to come here?Yes, but his contract might be up this year. Assistant coaching contracts aren’t public information so people are speculating (or hoping in my case) that he might be available.
-
1 hour ago, Doohickie said:
No thanks. That's why Muel is always hurt.
Muel should be used as a PK specialist and get third pairing minutes time for 5v5. Nothing is guaranteed, but I think changing his minutes from 20-25 a night to 15 would go a long way to helping reduce his injuries. And it’s not like I think that’s a poor utilization for him either. I think that’s to the best benefit of both the team and the player.
Then again, Granato had Thompson blocking shots on the PK, so who knows what Ruff might do or how the team will look.
-
2
-
Off-season Game Plan 2024
in The Aud Club
Posted
If he brings one in, I think it tells us how loud Lindy’s voice really is.