BlowLeafsBlow123

There's no way they bring all these assistants back...right? RIGHT?

I keep saying...he's probably the best d-man in the league if he's on one of the top teams. Imagine him with Colorado, he'd be racking up points. That said, not sure he's ever going to be at Makar's level offensively ... that dude is Bobby Orr for all intents and purposes. Not sure I could ever see Dahlin pacing for 30ish goals.

He's cooked. If they can find a sucker this offseason, they need to strike. I'm sure he'd love to end up in his hometown of Philly and I'd gladly let them repeat the Risto trade 🙂. Obviously you're not getting much in return, but you might be able to move him just because he's a large, youngish defenseman.

Wasn't he available on waivers earlier in the season? That was a huge miss by Adams...but we all know he's mentally challenged.

Yeah, I'm not seeing playmaking from either Tuch or Peterka on a consistent basis. Tuch makes things happen, plays an alpha game by getting in on pucks and playing a more aggressive straight line game. But I don't see creativity from either of them consistently, like we used to see from Eichel/Reinhart/O'Reilly for instance. Those guys all saw the ice much better than this current crop of top 6'ers. We need someone that can come in and calmly make tape to tape passes on the PP in key moments, like we saw Pat Kane do last night. It truly feels like the missing ingredient and something I'd loved to fill by trading Cozens. While Norris is an upgrade as a center, he's not an upgrade as a playmaker by any means.

I wonder if this is why we were starting to see the smoke around Peterka. Perhaps they've quietly decided they don't want to pay him. Not sure how I feel about him as a long term piece tbh. I'm most certainly NOT giving him a 6+ year deal. I'd sign him short term for now and see what happens. He either becomes a cap casualty down the line or he's good enough to be a core piece eventually. Right now, I'd see what the market looks like for him and see if you can improve other parts of the roster with him. I kinda like Benson long term over him as a top 6 LW.

He's precisely what they need, especially if they keep Norris at the top of the lineup. Either way though, having Marner and Tage together at ES and PP would be dynamite. He'd allow you get creative with how you setup the lines. The problem right now is the lack of playmakers throughout the lineup. They have guys that can bury pucks and shoot above their expected goals (Thompson, Norris, Tuch, maybe Peterka). But not a single one of them is a proven passer/playmaker/creator. I'd argue they need two players like that, ideally one in the middle and one on the wing. Then development and improvement from Quinn and/or Benson would become the "gravy" it should've been over the last few seasons. Adams relying on these younger guys in top 9 roles for three years in a row is possibly his biggest blunder, up there with not finding a real partner for Power. That said, Benson is a core piece to me, even if he's never a true top 6 forward (I think he's capable). He's actually someone I'd be willing to sign long term someday, still not sold on Peterka or Quinn in that regard.

Yes, he's next on the list of guys that NEED to be gone this offseason. There's no doubt about it to me...he can't be relied on and just plays too casual a game. It's too bad because he looked so promising in his rookie season. His game changed since then. I remember him eliminating guys frequently either with a strong stick or along the boards. He's never going to be a punishing hitter but he effectively eliminated his side of the ice and then the bottom just fell out. He does none of these things well anymore. Is it the injuries? Coaching? Comfort after getting a large contract? It's just another in the long line of issues on this team. Giving all these guys long-terms deals after proving very little looks to be a huge blunder for Adams. Samuelsson in retrospect was never a great deal. Giving him around $5M was painting nearly a best case scenario for what he'd turn into. Maybe you saved your self ~$1M per year if he turned into a true top pair shutdown guy. The same goes for the Power deal. His deal still has potential to be "okay" but it seems like Adams got cocky after the Tage contract and thought it'd work for all these guys and that they'd all hit their top potential. It'll likely be his undoing. From here on out, I'd avoid paying any of these guys until they prove they can get this team into the playoffs and actually perform under pressure. A lot of these contracts were based on a team that had no expectations or pressure to speak of. You can tell how the games have changed for these guys with actual expectations put on them.

You're telling me Adams couldn't sell him on joining here? The guy who takes a year to close a single trade deal couldn't seal the deal with a HOF'er? As much as Sabres twitter loves to rag on Kane and his poor analytics...I truly think he could've been a huge help to this team over the years. A guy with high IQ, clutch ability and PP prowess is precisely what they've needed for years. Our group just cannot get that key PP goal in close games and tend to panic at the end of games trying to tie it up. The broadcast yesterday showed it very well how Kane is calm and processes the game in a way that allows him to score in key moments. He might be the ultimate Sabre killer and it's a sad chapter in the Sabres drought. He probably would've come here with a competent, veteran GM and President of Hockey Ops in place. But, can you imagine a Hall of Famer having a chat with Adams and feeling like it's a smart career move?

Why couldn't we get San Jose or something tonight? Of course we get a hot Florida team. I'm so embarrassed right now.

I can't help but feel bad for him. This is a disease that this organization is infected with.

I'll take a d-man that can at least play in the NHL ... he's probably an upgrade over Bryson.

Brannstrom for Aube-Kubel ... ok

I've been a huge Cozens-hater, similar to @mjd1001 on another board. But really enjoy the perspective over here. The Sabres need an infusion of clutch players for this team and some hockey IQ. I'm not sure where Norris stands here but seems he knows how to find open ice for scoring chances at least. I still think we need to swap out another low IQ player for someone that plays a heady game. I think Kulich plays a smart game, which is good, but he's not quite ready to be a top 6 C full-time. Sometimes when you have Thompson, Tuch and Peterka on the ice all at once, the low IQ plays tend to compound and you end up with bad shot selection at the end of games (i.e. last night). Maybe Norris and someone else could help there, we'll see.

I think Lindy likes Kulich's defensive game and letting the other two drive the offensive play.

Personally I'd start them on separate lines. Let Tage and Peterka drive L1 and have Kulich worry about defense. Try Norris with Tuch and maybe Quinn.

The headcase part of the Cozen conundrum is a huge piece, at least from my perspective. I always try to take note of the players that play well in (more) meaningful games against better teams. That was almost never Cozens. He seemed to feast when the team was feasting in high-scoring affairs or getting some secondary PP assists. His breakout year was a lot of him passing to Dahlin, then over to Thompson for a PP goal or Quinn/Peterka driving the 2nd line. He's hardly ever the primary play driver on big goals, like you see with a Tuch or Peterka (Quinn a few years ago) for instance. If you can remember back to when Mitts was still here, he seemed to play well in those games. I think of the OT winner on RJ's last call and a lot of scoring during that final playoff push that missed by one point. Cozens was a ghost during those games. I started turning on him late that year as he completely vanished down the stretch and the bad play persisted for two more seasons. He has his best games after we're all but eliminated, just look at the last few games last season. I just don't think he's a big time player and while he may have another 60 point year in him, he'll never be worth that contract based on his overall play.

Exactly. Perhaps Norris can be a guy that pops in a goal in a tight game. Cozens tended to play worse in those types of games and would instead make a crucial error like the other night against SJ.

Low hockey sense ... which has always been his issue even going back to juniors. The fact that the Sens traded a center to get him shows they'll use him there. Huge mistake.

Listen, if they're not willing to give up Byram and Cozens for a 100-point capable 1C, then I don't know what to say. I agree with @mjd1001's Cozens takes fully. This is an albatross contract and we're running out of runway to get rid of it before the rest of the league catches up. He's still thought of highly around the league as he's young and he's on the lowly Sabres, plus is a Team Canada favorite from his WJC and World Championships. It'd be highway robbery to get rid of that contract plus Byram, who is going to cost $7-$8M long-term and a little less on a bridge deal walking him to UFA. Personally I think we still need to build the D around Dahlin and Power, with better defensive d-men as their partners. Plus it allows them to shift a bunch of players within their lineup to the proper roles. Tage can be a 2C, McLeod or Kulich as the 3C...Krebs back to 4C = lots of options. We also have several center prospects coming up, with Helenius being the most likely Top 6 (2-way) capable player.

Benford, Rapp, Von, Rasul and we're good. Von gives them someone teams still have to at least account for as a pass rusher. I'm not sure any of our other guys strike fear into a team. Keep the lockdown corners and our current best safety and think we have one of the better defenses for the playoffs.

I'd guess that if Bryson, Gilbert or Clifton have a rough night it'll give Ruff the runway to put him back in. At this point, they're on a three-game winning with this exact group of defenders. I think he knows that the top 4 looks better (last game no withstanding) as currently constructed and perhaps has data from last year that shows that Joki was a drag on Power. The other thing to consider is that they could be actively shopping him as we speak, and don't want to risk injury. They'd be smart to sell him off before the deadline to a team needing a righty that might pay a little more to have him for the majority of the season. We have decent depth and still have Ryan Johnson down in the AHL, who looked like an NHL'er most nights last season. Plus Novikov might be close to ready for third pairing duty. The only problem is...it leaves Connor Clifton as your only true right shot. Adams would likely need to at least get someone else in that can play on the right. Personally, I'm good with it. Jokiharju just doesn't do anything well and is soft. I honestly prefer Bryson's game overall, and he's a much better defender and more adept at skating the puck out of trouble. I find Joki's hockey IQ to be quite low, especially in the offensive zone where his go-to move is to just shoot with no traffic in front. My opinion is that Ruff watched it for the first few based on reputation more than anything, but quickly realized he was the weak link and prefers a more rugged bottom pair. It makes sense.

Cozens will be lucky to hit 10 this year. He looks completely incapable of doing anything productive, let alone burying pucks.

I LOVE Zach Benson and think he's going to be most impactful. Lindy will quickly trust Benson as a go-to guy and put him on the ice a lot. I could easily see Zach having a 55-60 point year and being the best playmaker on the team. He can fit on either of the top three lines and be the play driver. Just a fantastic hockey player that we're very lucky to have gotten so late in there first round last year. This is a tough poll though, as all three are primed for a great season. I just think they're all ready to pop and become household names around the league. Peterka does seem to fit like a glove with Thompson and Tuch and has ten times the speed of Skinner who was one of the slowest skaters in the league last year. It's hard to see Peterka taking a step back on the goal scoring, and you have to imagine his assists go up on that line. I see him being a 30 goal guy with close to 60 points as well. I've always held Quinn in high regard as well. He's probably the most skilled winger in their entire system and certainly has the highest point potential. I do see him getting to around a point per game type of player. Just not sure it'll happen this year. I see him also in that 50-60 point range with very good 2-way ability, which is an underrated part of his game. His hockey IQ, like Benson's is off the charts. They're exactly what a guy like Cozens need. I voted Zach Benson for most points, a bit tongue in cheek and a bit hopeful that he's the next Marchand-type winger in the league. That said, it could easily be any of these guys which is a great problem to have. Hey you never know? If Cozens finds some defensive ability under Lindy, and Quinn magically turns into a 40+ goal guy, we could have our version of Marchand-Bergeron-Pasta 🙂

Thoughts on this deal? Seems like many of us might've viewed him differently than the organization. I see him as the extra forward but this deal would lead me to believe he's in the starting lineup night one.