pi2000

I can’t believe people still get worked up about people who get worked up about who makes an all-star game.

Young group, lacks depth, playing a condensed schedule the last half of the season... yeah, I don't expect much. "There's an old saying in Tennessee... "

Sad to hear. Get well soon Murph!

Let's be real... we're 6 points out of wildcard sport, in January. Sure t's a nice improvement from years past, but we're not in a playoff race. Let's not kid ourselves, this team is young and as the calendar turns from Januaray to February and March, veteran teams will step up their games. At that same time I fully expect Buffalo to slow down a bit as the kids slowly run out of gas... and that's OK... they're on the right track to compete for a wildcard spot next season.

Everybody gets a trophy.

Sure UPL is 6-1 over the past 30 days, but Anderson has a much better sv% and GAA over that span. Send UPL down when Comrie is ready.

Who picked these guys?

It's encouraging to finally see some progress. That said they're still a ways off from playoff contention IMO. They need to continue building and developing depth from within. Best case scenario... they stay completely healthy, especially on the back-end, and goaltending steps up, they could be in the wildcard mix at the end of the season. But if one of Thompson, Dahlin, Samuelsson, Tuch, Cozens, etc.. go down... there just isn't enough depth there yet to fill those voids.

============================================================== BUF even strength goal differential through 36 games = 12 BUF even strength minutes played through 36 games = 1764.35 exp+/- is a function of %min played at ES and team ES goal diff TRpm(team relative +/-) is the diff btwn actual+/- and exp+/- %min is % of ES minutes played ============================================================== Team Player TRpm GP +/- exp+/- %min BUF Jeff Skinner 11.94 33 15 3.06 25.5 BUF Alex Tuch 10.61 36 14 3.39 28.3 BUF Tage Thompson 10.49 36 14 3.51 29.2 BUF Mattias Samuelsson 10.02 23 13 2.98 24.8 BUF Rasmus Dahlin 9.18 35 14 4.82 40.2 BUF Owen Power 8.37 33 13 4.63 38.6 BUF Jack Quinn 2.62 31 5 2.38 19.8 BUF Kyle Okposo 2.62 29 5 2.38 19.8 BUF Kale Clague 0.28 16 2 1.72 14.3 BUF Henri Jokiharju 0.13 16 2 1.87 15.5 BUF Ilya Lyubushkin 0.12 22 2 1.88 15.7 BUF Rasmus Asplund -0.50 21 1 1.50 12.5 BUF Dylan Cozens -1.05 36 2 3.05 25.4 BUF Tyson Jost -1.35 18 0 1.35 11.3 BUF Zemgus Girgensons -1.58 35 1 2.58 21.5 BUF Vinnie Hinostroza -2.30 16 -1 1.30 10.8 BUF Casey Fitzgerald -2.75 23 -1 1.75 14.6 BUF JJ Peterka -3.09 36 0 3.09 25.8 BUF Peyton Krebs -3.28 30 -1 2.28 19.0 BUF Lawrence Pilut -5.36 17 -4 1.36 11.3 BUF Victor Olofsson -12.82 36 -10 2.82 23.5 BUF Casey Mittelstadt -13.98 36 -11 2.98 24.8 BUF Jacob Bryson -16.89 29 -14 2.89 24.1 ==============================================================

Part of his delayed development was because of the shoulder injury he suffered in Nov 2019. He started that season in Roch tallying 12 points in 16 games, gets called up in November and blows out his shoulder in the first game missing the remainder of the season. The following season was shortened due to Covid. I believe if he stayed healthy in 2019, and there was no Covid season, we'd have seen this procuction earlier in his career.

His ceiling is Zemgus with a better shot.

10 thoughts.... What exactly is Thompson's ceiling? It's getting to a point where it's considered a bad game if he doesn't score at least 2 or 3 points. The trip on Skinner was as obvious as it gets. Kuznetsov slashes UPL in the mask, undoing the snap and play has to be stopped... all within arms reach of the referee. That's a penalty every day of the week. Samuelsson a -2, his worst outing of the season. Owen Power wears glasses off the ice. That said, I assume he wears contact lenses during games... why not wear them all day or get Lasik? Who was Granato yelling at during the timeout? UPL made some spectacular saves, but continues to struggle with rebound control, high glove and catching the puck. Washington scouted him and took advantage. Bryson needs to sit. JJ Peterka looked dangerous all night, yet logged a team low 12 minutes of ice. Mittelstadt is German for "Middle City". That Ovechkin guy can shoot the puck, he'll be a good one.

As well as UPL has played there are still glaring weaknesses in his game. Ride him while he's hot, but send him down when Comrie is ready.

....and the Red Wings played last night. Could be a rough first.

Bryson needs to sit... no coincidence they went 4-0 on the road trip with him out of the lineup.

Is a driving ban even legal?

He's not good, but then again we've been spoiled for 50 years with RJ. Van was the best.

Is it Ku-litch or Ku-lick?

IMO they stay around 5-10 points out of wildcard spot through Feb, and then fade down the stretch as the younger players hit the wall and teams tune up their games for the playoffs.

Let's pump the brakes on Levi as the long term answer. He currently ranks 23rd in GAA and 8th in sv% at the NCAA level. Good, not great. Seems like a great kid.... with all the intangibles you'd like to have in a goaltender (except size), and I hope he finds success.... but he's done nothing yet at the pro-level. I'm not saying he won't be great, but goalie prospects are extremely unpredictable.

That said another former Sabrespace darling, Samson Reinhart, continues to be a minus player, even on a stacked Florida squad. Making $6.5m he ranks 367th in cost per point... 24 points in 33 games, barely a 60pt pace. Is that worth $6.5m?