RochesterExpat

After the last few games—and especially after last night—I am convinced Benson is secretly Jeff Skinner Jr. except he’s always channeling angry Jeff and not apathetic Jeff.

lol

I feel personally attacked.

Why Greenway? Who are you replacing him with?

Technically he already had the game of his life and it was against us—not with us. If anything, I view Robinson right now as a good measuring stick for how serious GMKA is to winning versus trying to be everyone’s friend. If Girgs goes back into the lineup with how Robinson is playing and Robinson sits, I’m done. At the same time, when Robinson inevitably returns to mean, if he stays in the lineup with no other changes to the 4th line, or the 4th line regresses to a black hole, I’m done.

This was my exact thought too.

That replay makes that one of the weakest 5 + game I’ve ever seen.

JJP plays a much more straightforward hockey game than Quinn. The “we need to simplify our game” cliche isn’t an issue for Peterka. It’s not a knock against him at all. He is just wired that way. I don’t know how else to describe it. He plays a direct game. I think JJP is a better player currently, but with a lower ceiling than Quinn, and I recognize fully that this is about as subjective a comparison as one can get. Peterka plays a mature game for his age which is why I give him the edge. Peterka’s problem last season was managing his pace of play over an 82 game schedule which is why he was streakier than Quinn and cooled off. In 77 games he had 27 even strength points compared to 31 in 75 for Quinn. Quinn had 7 power play points to Peterka’s 5. They had essentially the same TOI. Statistically, the differences last season weren’t huge. They had similar expected goals (even the same .76 xGF per 60 for 5v5). Quinn was more physical, but Peterka had fewer giveaways. Quinn draws more penalties and Peterka takes more. Peterka attempted fewer shots. They had identical Corsi and Fenwick scores. When we talk 5v5 xGF%, Quinn is better, but we can literally account for that due to JJP and VO playing 53 minutes with Krebs and 60 minutes with Cozens. Like everyone else who had VO as a line mate that season, his stats took a hit. Quinn never played with VO. When you adjust for VO, they were essentially the same on the stat sheet.

I agree with most of what you said (specifically with JJ vs Quinn), but 37 points in 75 games on less than 14 minutes ATOI during your age 21 rookie season already makes you good. Is he this team’s missing roster piece and a real game changer? I don’t think so. But let’s not make it sound like Quinn isn’t already a good hockey player. The real question is whether he’ll ever be considered a great hockey player. He’s already good.

The Sabres need a Michael Mersch.

Quinn’s official status was updated today. He’s now listed “day-to-day” on the injury report.

How many bags of pucks does the org have? We should really consider this.

Hitting the post from the slot is also the classic scoring chance that isn’t a shot.

Maybe Matty Ellis would mention it between periods.

You know what’s probably going to happen? This team is going to shock everyone and win 4-2, win the next game 5-4, and suddenly everyone will be back on the bandwagon. Only to then go on another 4 game losing streak, see people jump from the wagon, and then get a surprise win again for the bootlickers to salivate over and board the bus for another ride. The wheels of mediocrity go round and round… But at least the guys want to be here. Judging by attendance the fans don’t, but at least the players do!

I was content with evaluating how Clifton/EJ performed at the start of the season before passing judgement, but I wasn't happy with the overall defensive plan--just willing to be patient. What I really wanted this offseason was Joki replaced by a proper D-man to pair with Power, a real 3rd D-pairing added, and Bryson to be shot out of a cannon into the sun. Of course, Joki has played better this season and the Clifton/EJ signings failed to move the needle in a positive direction. We also shipped out Lybushkin for a 2025 4th--but at least Jacob Bryson is still enjoying games from the suite level! Thankfully Ryan Johnson has been a pleasant surpri--oh wait, he's a healthy scratch. What? I said multiple times before the season started someone should go to Vegas and make a parlay bet that Levi wins the Calder and the Sabres make the playoffs because the latter won't happen without the former. Now Levi is in Rochester (well, except tonight), so that should say everything that needs to be said about how the goaltending plan for this season as gone. Lastly, and back to your point, I wanted the bottom six reworked. Bringing back Girgs and KO on one-year deals was, at least to me, somewhat reasonable since they were serviceable as a 4th line for most of the last season and they are in roles that are cheap/easy to fill if they fell off the proverbial cliff. Was it an ideal move? No. Was it a run-for-the-hills-the-sky-is-falling move? No. It was just, whatever? Compared to the issues with goaltending, defense and the third line, I can't really say VO/Girgs returning was much more than a blip. What did I want for the bottom six? I wanted VO gone. I wanted Jost as the 13th man--or simply gone since KO/Girgs were back. When the Quinn injury was announced, I was in favor of adding a Top 6 winger as long as we were adding someone with affordable term or a limited-term overpayment (no more than two seasons). I also wanted some kind of plan for KO/Girgs if neither were up to par this season. It's now December. Girgs and KO pulled a Thelma and Louise and Krebs joined them for good measure. VO is streaky as streaky gets. Jost is still a waiver-claimed JAG. But that's not the actual worst part of all of this. The worst part is GMKA arguably improved the bottom 6 by trading for a player at the cost of a conditional 7th round pick. The fact said player is unlikely to be the worst player in our bottom six for the few games he'll play prior to getting waived is an organizational embarrassment. Add to it said player is apparently on the penalty kill unit and you really have to wonder just what is going on in the front office. I'm sick of being a fan of a team that can "improve" itself with a bag of pucks. How does the front office not see that as a problem? Your team should never be bad enough that dumpster diving through other team's trash improves your roster. Especially if the trash is from one of the few teams who are even worse than you are. Before people want to say the team didn't improve and just bash Robinson for being awful, he is better than Okposo, arguably an improvement over Girgs/Jost, and (subjectively) a step up from Krebs--hell, throw in VO if he's not streaking at the moment. Instead of lauding GMKA for this move, we should be publicly shaming him. Bring back the tar and feather. The team is actually at the point where trading a used jock strap improves this team. Making the trade doesn't get you an award. It should get you run out of town for allowing that situation in the first place. It's like a military commander bragging about winning a single battle while signing the surrender document losing the war. Even more embarrassing is the fact the bottom six is the easiest piece of the puzzle to add to during free agency. It's the Top 6, goaltending, and Top 4 D that are GM nightmare generators. The free agency sweet spot is literally the bottom 6. And just like the free agency, bottom six players are easier to move. Right now we have all of our picks for the next three drafts save for the 2024 5th. Adding to those picks we have a spare 2025 4th and a spare 2025 7th (if the bag of pucks doesn't play 45 games). Just go look at the depth chart and realize how many tradeable assets we have playing in juniors, the AHL or elsewhere. Per CapFriendly, we're 4th in projected cap space. How are we not adding meaningful assets? Maybe the only highlight in the whole bottom six right now is Rosen playing better the last two games. Maybe he's finally settling into the NHL or maybe it's just a small sample size fluke. Of course, he's playing a bottom six role with replacement-tier players, so he won't have a meaningful impact even if he hits his stride. Can't block those kids from getting to the NHL, but we never said anything about blocking them when they make the NHL! Anyway, thanks for coming to my TED talk. I got you.

I have beer league tonight just after the game. My guess is I'll outscore the Sabres tonight. I've got 4 in the last 6, but I'm old and fat. What's Buffalo's excuse?

That's honestly a really good question. I think the core of it is maturity. We see a lot of players who lack toughness/grit "find" it in their game after a few years in the AHL or NHL. Generally, the players who develop grit/toughness are the same players who dominated junior hockey and it was an unused part of the game simply because they were just that much more talented than others (and played with other superstars themselves). Is that something that developed from coaching? Is it a natural evolution stemming from a need to adapt to survive in a league of relative parity? Is it just a consequence of physical growth and mental maturity? Or is it some internal motivation coming from looking at your NHL-level teammates and realizing these are guys playing playoff series with broken ribs? I haven't a clue.

I like the idea but which winger(s) actually complement him?

Leafs fans, probably.

Since we’re playing the wings, are you a drums or flats person?

Weirdly the final day full-ice scrimmage during high school hockey tryouts when I was a freshman. No one took me seriously at all because I hadn’t seen the inside of a gym until that summer when I started attending the captains workouts and I didn’t really know anyone on the team. I was also the nerdy kid who was a year ahead academically. Not quite a fit. Ended up scoring a hat trick and getting two apples in a 6-2 meaningless win, but I more proved to myself I belonged and made the team.

But what about the voices in my head?

So you’re saying I should shave the beard and trim my stache before beer league tonight?

Out of curiosity, what do you think his next contract should look like? I’m not sure I’m as negative about Mitts as you, but I am worried he’s going to price himself out of the team.