Jump to content

Mark Pysyk


Doohickie

Recommended Posts

Boooooooooooooooooo stop effing with kids for no reason

This does not hurt Pysyk and could help him. What it does do is allow Nolan to get a longer look at his bottom defensemen without having to sit Pysyk which clearly does him no good at all. They have flexibility to send him down, keep him playing, so that is the logical move. The Sabres will likely move one or more of Weber, McBain, and Sultzer before year end as part of a package or outright waiver so you might want to make sure you know what you have if you are Nolan.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This does not hurt Pysyk and could help him. What it does do is allow Nolan to get a longer look at his bottom defensemen without having to sit Pysyk which clearly does him no good at all. They have flexibility to send him down, keep him playing, so that is the logical move. The Sabres will likely move one or more of Weber, McBain, and Sultzer before year end as part of a package or outright waiver so you might want to make sure you know what you have if you are Nolan.

 

As I said before, it takes a big chunk out of his paycheck, so it does hurt him. Its part of the deal, however, and the players seem to deal with it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This does not hurt Pysyk and could help him. What it does do is allow Nolan to get a longer look at his bottom defensemen without having to sit Pysyk which clearly does him no good at all. They have flexibility to send him down, keep him playing, so that is the logical move. The Sabres will likely move one or more of Weber, McBain, and Sultzer before year end as part of a package or outright waiver so you might want to make sure you know what you have if you are Nolan.

All I know is that watching Sulzer made me sick last night.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 8 months later...

I thought we should revive this thread. As we go into this season many people are focused on Risto, Zadorov, Zemgus, Reinhart and such because they are all 1st round picks we are excited about. Well I am excited about this guy. Mark Pysyk, our 2010 first round pick at 23rd overall. Now Pysyk last year put in what can only be described as a solid season. According to some advanced stats he faced the 3rd best level of competition and yet had decent corsi numbers and such. On a more level note, to me he always seemed to pass the eye test. He looked good when he was out on the ice and he didn't panic.

 

Prior to the Olympic break he was returned to Rochester where I figured he would spend the next couple of weeks playing and learning but he never did return to the Sabres. From what I have read and gathered Timmy thought he needed to work on his offense and wanted him getting top minutes in Rochester. Now as we go into this season I am eagerly anticipating his ascension from borderline NHL player to permanent top 4 defender.

 

I view Pysyk as top 4 for a couple of reasons. First is his skating ability. He has decent speed but more importantly has good footspeed and balance on his edges. Watch him work down low sometime he can be elusive to opposing forwards trying to check him. On top of that he is smart. He isn't overly flashy and unless you look for him, you may not notice him an entire game... but that means he is doing it right. Pysyk is one of those steady guys who is large enough physically to give forwards hell but smart enough mentally to know when to dish it out or take a hit to make a play.

 

Bottom line is Pysyk is a steady guy without the flash or hype that Risto, Reinhart, Zadorov have gotten but he has similar potential (meaning he could be a valuable contributor to an NHL team) and he is someone who I think can take another important step forward this year and really change how we play in our defensive zone.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Full agreement. Kid may see some growing pains this year, but I read the depth chart as proof they expect him to be with the big club for good this season.

I'm terrible at remembering which D plays which side, but style-wise, in the not-to-distant future I see him as the steady complement to either Myers or Risto on our top pair. He will never wow you, but he will make a quiet difference.

I've said it before, I think he's a Numminen type who will play in the league for a long-time.

Edited by dudacek
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I thought we should revive this thread. As we go into this season many people are focused on Risto, Zadorov, Zemgus, Reinhart and such because they are all 1st round picks we are excited about. Well I am excited about this guy. Mark Pysyk, our 2010 first round pick at 23rd overall. Now Pysyk last year put in what can only be described as a solid season. According to some advanced stats he faced the 3rd best level of competition and yet had decent corsi numbers and such. On a more level note, to me he always seemed to pass the eye test. He looked good when he was out on the ice and he didn't panic.

 

Prior to the Olympic break he was returned to Rochester where I figured he would spend the next couple of weeks playing and learning but he never did return to the Sabres. From what I have read and gathered Timmy thought he needed to work on his offense and wanted him getting top minutes in Rochester. Now as we go into this season I am eagerly anticipating his ascension from borderline NHL player to permanent top 4 defender.

 

I view Pysyk as top 4 for a couple of reasons. First is his skating ability. He has decent speed but more importantly has good footspeed and balance on his edges. Watch him work down low sometime he can be elusive to opposing forwards trying to check him. On top of that he is smart. He isn't overly flashy and unless you look for him, you may not notice him an entire game... but that means he is doing it right. Pysyk is one of those steady guys who is large enough physically to give forwards hell but smart enough mentally to know when to dish it out or take a hit to make a play.

 

Bottom line is Pysyk is a steady guy without the flash or hype that Risto, Reinhart, Zadorov have gotten but he has similar potential (meaning he could be a valuable contributor to an NHL team) and he is someone who I think can take another important step forward this year and really change how we play in our defensive zone.

 

Huh?

 

As for the rest of this post: I think Pysyk has shown flashes that he could develop into the kind of guy that you and dudacek describe, but IMHO he'll need to have a very high-end hockey IQ to become a solid top-4 defenseman -- and we haven't seen enough yet to know whether this is the case. He doesn't have the body to play a physical game, nor the offensive skills (shooting or passing) to be a difference-maker in terms of contributing to the offense. He has very quick feet and great balance on his skates, but not the top-end speed I was expecting based on all of the raves we heard when he was drafted.

 

I also think the Sabres kinda think he'll get there this year, but they aren't sure, which is why they signed Benoit.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

His size certainly isn't a strength, and his physical game is meh.

But from what I've seen, he's good at not putting himself in situations where he is going to lose a physical matchup.

 

The puck is off his stick quickly and safely. He uses that stick effectively to separate the puck from charging puck carriers, break up passes and tie people up in front of the net. He doesn't engage attackers head-on, he angles them away from danger areas.

He's not an explosive skater, but he is fast (forward, backward and laterally) and very poised and efficient. He uses his feet to get to the right spots ahead of his opponent. I'd argue that his defensive IQ is already above-average and it is going to get better.

Sometimes less is more on the back end.

 

I don't think you will ever get big plays or big numbers from him, just a lot of quiet efficiency.

i do wonder what a mature Pysyk will be like in big games. Will his style be an asset because he will keep his head when others are not? Or will he lack the edge to make a difference against more dynamic players who can match his IQ?

Edited by dudacek
Link to comment
Share on other sites

If he can be Hank Tallinder before the injuries I'll be okay with that.

 

But Tallinder, although also not a big hitter, had a pretty different style and body -- a decent skater but not great, and 6'4" with a long wingspan that he used to disrupt passing lanes. Pysyk needs to play a different game.

 

I think a better comparable is Chris Butler, who didn't turn out the way we were hoping. It would be a disappointment (although not a shock) if Pysyk didn't surpass Butler.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't really know any comparable for pysyk. His stick checkimg reminds me of lidstrom, his skating reminds me of svoboda, and his breakout passing of campbell. Obviously not on the levels of lidstrom or campbell but it reminds me of it. As for the critism of his physical play. Are people confusing physical play with big hits? Cause he does play the body and he does engage in front of the net and it is not the token effort campbell would do.

Edited by drnkirishone
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I love Pysyk. One of those guys that always seems to make the right pass and is great at breaking the puck out of our own end. He also makes good decisions in the offensive end in regards to passing and pinching. I don't think he'll ever score many goals or throw big hits but he is a quietly good player. You never hear about him which is great for D-men. Based on our great depth with young D I think he will eventually slot in as an excellent number 4 or 5 guy as someone has mentioned above.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

James Patrick.

 

I'm bullish on him too.

 

Whoa.

 

Patrick had 36 pts in his first full NHL season, then 43 pts, then 55+ pts in 5 of his next 6 seasons, including 1 season with 71 pts and 1 with 62.

 

Pysyk will probably have zero or 1 NHL season with 40+ pts.

 

Pysyk is a very good skater. Patrick was an F-15.

 

I think we're talking apples and oranges.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Whoa.

 

Patrick had 36 pts in his first full NHL season, then 43 pts, then 55+ pts in 5 of his next 6 seasons, including 1 season with 71 pts and 1 with 62.

 

Pysyk will probably have zero or 1 NHL season with 40+ pts.

 

Pysyk is a very good skater. Patrick was an F-15.

 

I think we're talking apples and oranges.

 

Speaking of apples and oranges, that rookie season for Patrick came in the same year where Gretzky lead the league with 208 points. Comparing to the scoring of that era is never going to fly. Just look at some of the numbers here. And speaking of that, what sticks out to me the most... only one goalie had a save percentage over 0.9. It's crazy how much things have changed.

 

Edit: I think the Patrick most people think of now is the one who played for the latter 40 years of his 80 year career, just a solid middle of the pack defenseman who played smart and was never a liability out there.

Edited by shrader
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This topic is OLD. A NEW topic should be started unless there is a VERY SPECIFIC REASON to revive this one.

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...