GDT: Kings at Sabres, 12/9/14, 7:30 pm, NBCSN

[darksabre]

[IKnowPhysics]

Myers played a great game last night. It wasn't flashy, but he did a lot of things right and made a lot of good, simple plays in his own end. These are the sorts of quiet, steady nights you need and expect from a top-two D in one goal games.

[darksabre]

Myers played a great game last night. It wasn't flashy, but he did a lot of things right and made a lot of good, simple plays in his own end. These are the sorts of quiet, steady nights you need and expect from a top-two D in one goal games.

 

In an ideal world, do we hope that Risto/Zad eventually supplant Myers/Gorges as the top pair, putting Myers in the 3/4 slot where he truly belongs?

[That Aud Smell]

:huh: What's Harrington thinking? I don't Tweeter (Tweet? What's the verb?)

 

What's Drew Doughty? Chopped liver? the number 2 pick in 2008? First D chosen?

 

The fault is mine if you're inferring that the suggestion from the writer was that Doughty's chopped liver. That was not the implication at all. The idea was that you can build a perennial power by drafting toward the top of the draft -- and hopefully getting very-good-to-great players -- for several years. That is, you don't have to obsess over getting the next Crosby, etc. Which, as others have noted, is pretty much how everyone other than the Penguins have done it (because "generational players" don't come along often).

 

"Generational Talent" is a drafting phrase that I believe was dreamed up as part of HockeyFuture's rating system years ago. Now it is a common phrase in hockey parlance.... it really has become silly in some respects.

I don't disagree with this. There is some utility to it, however.

 

All of this is to say that, for me, I am now far more at peace with this team playing their way out of the bottom 2. I would trust GM TM to get an excellent future pro somewhere toward the top of next year's draft, even if it isn't McEichel.

 

Last night was the first time in a while that I'd watched almost an entire game. The way the 55, 51, and, yes, even 57 looked made me think differently about where the team is and where it may be headed.

Edited December 10, 2014 by That Aud Smell

[Doohickie]

I think there's more talent on the team than most posters here want to believe. Not elite level overall, but clearly some rising stars. As more of the plateaued and declining players are replaced by the upcoming youth, I think we're gonna have a good team, with or without McEichel. Yes, one that can challenge for and probably win a Cup.

[LGR4GM]

In an ideal world, do we hope that Risto/Zad eventually supplant Myers/Gorges as the top pair, putting Myers in the 3/4 slot where he truly belongs?

yes.

[darksabre]

yes.

 

So what we should be hoping is that GMTM doesn't fall into the Darcy paradox of banking on kids that might not have proven themselves yet. Ideally Myers doesn't go anywhere anytime soon, just in case Zad/Risto don't surpass him. Myers only becomes replaceable once you decide to pay Zad and Risto his money.

[Jsixspd]

I was very pleased with the Sabres' play last night. We're no longer a smallish soft finesse team - we got some big guys who don't/won't back down now; 28, 51 and 55 are only going to get better and better. Once we add some solid 1st line offense and good shooters, this team will improve markedly.

Edited December 10, 2014 by Jsixspd

[IKnowPhysics]

So what we should be hoping is that GMTM doesn't fall into the Darcy paradox of banking on kids that might not have proven themselves yet. Ideally Myers doesn't go anywhere anytime soon, just in case Zad/Risto don't surpass him. Myers only becomes replaceable once you decide to pay Zad and Risto his money.

 

Reasonable.

 

Ideally, each of these three guys develops into a top-pair-level D on a contending-level or SC-winning team defense corps. That's why we drafted them, and eventually, that's the job we expect of them. That said, even if Zad and Risto develop properly, why even let a well-playing Myers go unless we get into Salary Cap issues? It'd be great to have the depth, if affordable, to prevent such history-changing plights as The Case of the Stinky Leg.

[darksabre]

Reasonable.

 

Ideally, each of these three guys develops into a top-pair-level D on a contending-level or SC-winning team defense corps. That's why we drafted them, and eventually, that's the job we expect of them. That said, even if Zad and Risto develop properly, why even let a well-playing Myers go unless we get into Salary Cap issues? It'd be great to have the depth, if affordable, to prevent such history-changing plights as The Case of the Stinky Leg.

 

I think cap issues will eventually be the problem. I think it's also best not to worry about them now.

[K-9]

In an ideal world, do we hope that Risto/Zad eventually supplant Myers/Gorges as the top pair, putting Myers in the 3/4 slot where he truly belongs?

 

I'd argue Risto/Zad has already supplanted them.

 

GO SABRES!!!

[Doohickie]

I was very pleased with the Sabres' play last night. We're no longer a smallish soft finesse team - we got some big guys who don't/won't back down now; 28, 51 and 55 are only going to get better and better. Once we add some solid 1st line offense and good shooters, this team will improve markedly.

 

I watched the Oilers-Ducks game. I'm glad the Oilers became us and we became the Oilers.

 

 

 

I'd argue Risto/Zad has already supplanted them.

 

GO SABRES!!!

 

If they sustain their level of play since Zad started playing in the league, then... yeah. Risto definitely is the more responsible, more seasoned, of the two, but Zad has a wild-card, helter-skelter quality that seems to boost his game. He ain't skeered.

[X. Benedict]

I watched the Oilers-Ducks game. I'm glad the Oilers became us and we became the Oilers.

 

 

 

If they sustain their level of play since Zad started playing in the league, then... yeah. Risto definitely is the more responsible, more seasoned, of the two, but Zad has a wild-card, helter-skelter quality that seems to boost his game. He ain't skeered.

 

I agree. He's fun to watch isn't he?

[Kristian]

Just Crosby, unless we're redefining "generational."

 

"Generational" is an ungrateful term, because who in their right minds would claim Mario Lemieux wasn't a generational talent? But he played alongside Wayne Gretzky, so... Close, but no cigar.

[LastPommerFan]

 

 

"Generational" is an ungrateful term, because who in their right minds would claim Mario Lemieux wasn't a generational talent? But he played alongside Wayne Gretzky, so... Close, but no cigar.

 

Meh, they were drafted 5 years apart. Still fits.

[inkman]

"Generational" is an ungrateful term, because who in their right minds would claim Mario Lemieux wasn't a generational talent? But he played alongside Wayne Gretzky, so... Close, but no cigar.

I'm fairly certain when most people use the term they are not using the "highlander" there can only be one every 30 years definition. It's being used in place of a better term to describe players so talented that great, superstar, or exceptional doesn't really cut it. How often these players appear is really arbitrary.

[Doohickie]

I agree. He's fun to watch isn't he?

 

Here's the thing: As a pairing they make mistakes. But you watch what happens immediately after the mistake and instead of giving up on the play or continuing the mistaken behavior, they both as a pairing clean up after themselves. So even when they mess up, it doesn't typically lead to scoring chances for the other team. For instance you see Zad overcommit on a pinch and the puck gets swatted away from him, instead of watching and skating behind the play, he skates like hell to catch the guy that just burned him. If it turns out that Risto has his back covered, he still skates like hell and takes the next man that's a threat.

 

These two guys are a microcosm of what is starting to go right with the Sabres. They're supporting each other on the puck better, aggressively closing gaps and really dogging the other team when the other team has the puck. It's still to early to call them the Hardest Working Team in Hockey, but the Sabres are making great strides, and this defensive pairing, Girgs/Ennis, and Deslauriers really stand out as exemplifying that.

Edited December 11, 2014 by Neuvirths Glove

[That Aud Smell]

"Generational" is an ungrateful term, because who in their right minds would claim Mario Lemieux wasn't a generational talent? But he played alongside Wayne Gretzky, so... Close, but no cigar.

Meh, they were drafted 5 years apart. Still fits.

 

Quite right.

 

I'm fairly certain when most people use the term they are not using the "highlander" there can only be one every 30 years definition. It's being used in place of a better term to describe players so talented that great, superstar, or exceptional doesn't really cut it. How often these players appear is really arbitrary.

 

Agreed.

 

To hear some tell it, two such prospects (not pro players, mind you) will emerge together in next year's draft.

 

I have no idea whether Eichel belongs in the same company as McDavid. I'd been hearing about McDavid for a longer time, and then started hearing about Eichel more recently, and then started hearing "hey, maybe he's as good as McDavid or even better."

 

My bet is that McDavid is the Crosby-level prospect, and that Eichel's just a notch below, perhaps along the lines of a Stamkos (?) or Tavares (?).