2018 - 2019 Lineup

[TrueBlueGED]

3 hours ago, Thorny said:

To Randall's point, assuming Bogo is a nogo, the guy we have slated as our next up RHD would be Nelson, who doesn't match up to even the lower quality RHDs he mentioned in his post, for the teams without two bonafide top 4 RHDs. 

Botterill allowing the team to enter into camp with Bogosian penciled in as a top 4 Dman on the right (assuming no further moves) is to my mind his biggest mistake thus far. 

I'm not sure I expect this at all, but I think our best option is to keep Dahlin on the right. Additionally, I'd sign Enstrom to a cheap deal to bolster the left side and provide a stabilizing presence for Dahlin. His health is a concern and he's not giving you anything offensively, but he was still a positive possession player and would allow more time for Pilut/Guhle et al. to develop. I'd run something like:

Scandella-Risto

Enstrom-Dahlin

McCabe-Bogo

I'm biased (it is my idea, after all), but I think that looks a hell of a lot better than rolling Dahlin on the left paired with Bogo, and our 3RD being Nelson.

Edited July 18, 2018 by TrueBlueGED

[inkman]

You don't want Bieksa? ?

[GASabresIUFAN]

I don't want Bieksa or Enstrom.  It's time to stop with the ancient vets.  No more Gorges, Moulsons , or Pommers.

[Thorny]

2 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

I don't want Bieksa or Enstrom.  It's time to stop with the ancient vets.  No more Gorges, Moulsons , or Pommers.

Enstrom has always been very shaky during the Jets games I've watched here. Prone to big mistakes. True mentioned he has good metrics, perhaps a Beaulieu-lite type situation going on?

Edited July 19, 2018 by Thorny

[Randall Flagg]

1 minute ago, Thorny said:

Enstrom has always been very shaky during the Jets games I've watched here. Prone to big mistakes. I hear Enstrom has good metrics, perhaps a Beaulieu-lite type situation where he is concerned?

I think it's more from a lens of "I was a rock solid player who is currently losing a handle on things and am unsure of myself for the first time in my career," from the little I've seen, whereas Beaulieu is just "I'm bad because I can't process at this speed"

[TrueBlueGED]

9 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

I don't want Bieksa or Enstrom.  It's time to stop with the ancient vets.  No more Gorges, Moulsons , or Pommers.

What if the ancient vet can still play? The problem with Moulson et al. is they have nothing left in the tank. If Enstrom does, I think he can play a role on this team, even if it's for half a season while Guhle and Pilut germinate a little more. Signing Enstrom would be a cheap and risk-free way to bolster depth and competition on what remains a really bad blue line. If he sucks, so what? It's not like he's going to command a multi-year contract we have to deal with. 

[TheAud]

2 hours ago, Broken Ankles said:

Incorrect.  Boeser was born Feb 1997.  He was 20.62 when the season started in October last year (2017).   Casey was born in November 1998.   He will be 19.8 years old in October 2018.   Difference of 3/4 of year.  He had two full years of college, not one and Casey will put up 55 pts. + in 2019-2020.   And as far as Boeser having upside on Eichel you might not have too many on this board (or anywhere) agree with you on that one.

Yes, I noted my missing on the birthdate in subsequent posts. 

Casey may or may not put up 55 pts this year. He may or may not score 29 goals...in 62 games. I'll take the under on all those for this season. 

I said he MIGHT have the upside of Eichel. Of course no one agrees with me as this is a Sabres board. I am not saying I'd take him over Eichel. Heck, maybe one of these seasons Eichel will score 29 goals too. 

 

[jsb]

17 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

I don't want Bieksa or Enstrom.  It's time to stop with the ancient vets.  No more Gorges, Moulsons , or Pommers.

I'm with you, if you're going to go old fartville, play Hunwick with him to start the year until someone else steps up. 

But heck, if Dahlin's as good as advertised, he may not need someone to mentor him and looking at the roster, that may be the best idea yet

[GASabresIUFAN]

16 minutes ago, jsb said:

I'm with you, if you're going to go old fartville, play Hunwick with him to start the year until someone else steps up. 

But heck, if Dahlin's as good as advertised, he may not need someone to mentor him and looking at the roster, that may be the best idea yet

Everyone keeps trying to find a veteran guide/mentor for Dahlin.  What is wrong with the good vet we already have named Scandella?

[TrueBlueGED]

6 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Everyone keeps trying to find a veteran guide/mentor for Dahlin.  What is wrong with the good vet we already have named Scandella?

Scandella probably isn't going to be skating with him. I'm looking for a good on-ice presence next to him. Maybe I should remove that aspect from my analysis entirely and just say I'm trying to improve a blue line that still sucks. 

[dudacek]

I don’t think Dahlin needs a vet at all.

play him with McCabe, or Risto or Bogosian and watch those guys get better because of him.

Edited July 19, 2018 by dudacek

[TrueBlueGED]

5 minutes ago, dudacek said:

I don’t think Dahlin needs a vet at all.

play him with McCabe, or Risto or Bogosian and which those guys get better because of him.

Dahlin may not need a vet, but at 18, it'd be nice if he could skate next to a legitimate top-4 NHL defenseman. Only players on the roster who fit that criteria are Risto and Scandella, who are almost certainly going to play with one another in the same role they had last season. 

[Randall Flagg]

5 minutes ago, TrueBlueGED said:

Dahlin may not need a vet, but at 18, it'd be nice if he could skate next to a legitimate top-4 NHL defenseman. Only players on the roster who fit that criteria are Risto and Scandella, who are almost certainly going to play with one another in the same role they had last season. 

Our franchise is pretty stupid 

Any fan with some time can sit down with the tape, the stats, and nail down exactly what is wrong with our team, and could have done so many times in the last decade better than the team itself did. Instead we've decided to let the add-by-subtract lottery wheel fall on... O'Reilly?.... and are charging forward with the same actual hockey related problems we've had since tanking.

Risto will have his 60 point pace through thanksgiving fall to the low-mid 40s, will average 26 a night, there will be three dumb fan-least-favorite defensemen in every single lineup this season, kids and depth will struggle to score, maybe not as much, but we're down to 2-maybe-3 top six players because that's how we decided to fix it slightly

Edited July 19, 2018 by Randall Flagg

[inkman]

55 minutes ago, jsb said:

...ifyou're going to go old fartville...

PA and I split a timeshare there 

[inkman]

14 minutes ago, TrueBlueGED said:

who are almost certainly going to play with one another...

Taking back end play to a whole new level

[GASabresIUFAN]

4 hours ago, TrueBlueGED said:

Scandella probably isn't going to be skating with him. I'm looking for a good on-ice presence next to him. Maybe I should remove that aspect from my analysis entirely and just say I'm trying to improve a blue line that still sucks. 

I'm not sure.  It may depend on how McCabe plays. For arguments sake, lets say McCabe in his 2nd yr in the system with a simplified role as the stay at home D, wouldn't make a good partner for Risto.  I'm imagining a Tallinder/Myers type duo.  In fact McCabe reminds me a great deal of Tallinder.  This frees up Scandella to play with Dahlin.  

I'm also imagining a top PP eventually next season of Mittelstadt, Eichel and Reinhart with Risto and Dahlin.

4 hours ago, Randall Flagg said:

Our franchise is pretty stupid 

Any fan with some time can sit down with the tape, the stats, and nail down exactly what is wrong with our team, and could have done so many times in the last decade better than the team itself did. Instead we've decided to let the add-by-subtract lottery wheel fall on... O'Reilly?.... and are charging forward with the same actual hockey related problems we've had since tanking.

Risto will have his 60 point pace through thanksgiving fall to the low-mid 40s, will average 26 a night, there will be three dumb fan-least-favorite defensemen in every single lineup this season, kids and depth will struggle to score, maybe not as much, but we're down to 2-maybe-3 top six players because that's how we decided to fix it slightly

i think there is some truth to this.  However, if McCabe steps up and we get the pairings I mentioned about, I can see Risto PT dropping to 23/24, with Scandella/Dahlin duo gradually getting more PT.  

[LGR4GM]

13 hours ago, Sakman said:

Yes, I noted my missing on the birthdate in subsequent posts. 

Casey may or may not put up 55 pts this year. He may or may not score 29 goals...in 62 games. I'll take the under on all those for this season. 

I said he MIGHT have the upside of Eichel. Of course no one agrees with me as this is a Sabres board. I am not saying I'd take him over Eichel. Heck, maybe one of these seasons Eichel will score 29 goals too. 

 

Take him over Eichel... hell we could have had Boeser and Eichel. But nooooooo we got Robin f####g Lehner instead. I will never not be bitter about this. 

Edited July 19, 2018 by LGR4GM

[That Aud Smell]

12 hours ago, Randall Flagg said:

Our franchise is pretty stupid 

Any fan with some time can sit down with the tape, the stats, and nail down exactly what is wrong with our team, and could have done so many times in the last decade better than the team itself did. Instead we've decided to let the add-by-subtract lottery wheel fall on... O'Reilly?.... and are charging forward with the same actual hockey related problems we've had since tanking.

Risto will have his 60 point pace through thanksgiving fall to the low-mid 40s, will average 26 a night, there will be three dumb fan-least-favorite defensemen in every single lineup this season, kids and depth will struggle to score, maybe not as much, but we're down to 2-maybe-3 top six players because that's how we decided to fix it slightly

[TrueBlueGED]

9 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

I'm not sure.  It may depend on how McCabe plays. For arguments sake, lets say McCabe in his 2nd yr in the system with a simplified role as the stay at home D, wouldn't make a good partner for Risto.  I'm imagining a Tallinder/Myers type duo.  In fact McCabe reminds me a great deal of Tallinder.  This frees up Scandella to play with Dahlin.  

I'm also imagining a top PP eventually next season of Mittelstadt, Eichel and Reinhart with Risto and Dahlin.

i think there is some truth to this.  However, if McCabe steps up and we get the pairings I mentioned about, I can see Risto PT dropping to 23/24, with Scandella/Dahlin duo gradually getting more PT.  

McCabe, at the absolute peak of his career to this point, looked like he could be developing into a 2nd pair Dman. Absolutely nothing he's shown to this point would indicate it's even possible he could be paired with Risto. If McCabe was with Risto (assuming the same minutes Risto has been playing) he'd look as good as Beaulieu. He'd completely crumble. 

[nfreeman]

 

But what if, by New Year's, the top pair is Scandella and Dahlin?  If McCabe could earn the #4 slot in that scenario, suddenly the top 4 looks pretty good.

[TrueBlueGED]

13 minutes ago, nfreeman said:

 

But what if, by New Year's, the top pair is Scandella and Dahlin?  If McCabe could earn the #4 slot in that scenario, suddenly the top 4 looks pretty good.

That would be fantastic, and the best possible outcome. I also think it's more likely that Jim Kelly comes out of retirement and quarterbacks the Bills to the Super Bowl. 

[pi2000]

14 hours ago, dudacek said:

I don’t think Dahlin needs a vet at all.

play him with McCabe, or Risto or Bogosian and watch those guys get better because of him.

Leave it to the Sabres to finally get their hands on a franchise defenseman then do nothing to properly develop him... just leave him out there to figure everything out on his own.   

[nfreeman]

4 minutes ago, TrueBlueGED said:

That would be fantastic, and the best possible outcome. I also think it's more likely that Jim Kelly comes out of retirement and quarterbacks the Bills to the Super Bowl. 

I assume you think McCabe is the weak link in the proposed scenario?  I.e. Dahlin-Scandy becoming the top pair isn't implausible, right?

I think McCabe is going to have a good bounceback year, and will contribute more than Bogo, Nelson, Beaulieu and Guhle, and probably Pilut.  If that's right, he could seize that #4 slot.

 

[Randall Flagg]

48 minutes ago, nfreeman said:

 

But what if, by New Year's, the top pair is Scandella and Dahlin?  If McCabe could earn the #4 slot in that scenario, suddenly the top 4 looks pretty good.

If McCabe becomes McAvoy it looks pretty good, otherwise it still looks below average

[dudacek]

34 minutes ago, nfreeman said:

I assume you think McCabe is the weak link in the proposed scenario?  I.e. Dahlin-Scandy becoming the top pair isn't implausible, right?

I think McCabe is going to have a good bounceback year, and will contribute more than Bogo, Nelson, Beaulieu and Guhle, and probably Pilut.  If that's right, he could seize that #4 slot.

 

I think the Sabres defence should be better, but Botterill has certainly left a lot to chance.

The way I see it, there are two top-four defencemen on the roster (Risto, Scandella) and three who could be.

Counting on Brittle Bones Bogosian to be one seems foolish for reasons well-discussed around here.

Counting on Dahlin to be another is a better bet, but the kid is just 18.

McCabe is the other. Two years ago he looked the part. last year he very much did not. How much of that was related to the surgery he put off? He is definitely among the crowd of people that Botterill was talking about when he was urging more players to step out of the shadows and into leadership roles.

Is he healthy? Has he had the best summer of fitness and preparation in his life? Is he mature? Is he any good?

If we are going to improve, he is one of the unsung pieces that has to be part of that.

Edited July 19, 2018 by dudacek