The New Lineup Thread

[Drunkard]

Agreed. I'd put Pommer on his off wing and puy Z on the 3rd line. Pominville often switched wing with Vanek. He did fine.

 

I agree. If the Reinhart at center experiment is already over then our top 4 wingers need to be Kane, Pominville, Okposo, and Reinhart.

[Doohickie]

Another interesting stat:  Our goalies have save percentages of .908 (Lehner) and .816 (Johnson).  They have lifetime save percentages of .918 and .915, respectively.  Once the Sabres skaters start to pull together as a unit (and don't give up so many odd-man rushes), the goalies' save percentages will regress to their means.  Suddenly they'll look okay.  Even if the Housley system allows more odd-man rushes, I expect their save percentages to come up once the system kicks in.

[Randall Flagg]

Another interesting stat:  Our goalies have save percentages of .908 (Lehner) and .816 (Johnson).  They have lifetime save percentages of .918 and .915, respectively.  Once the Sabres skaters start to pull together as a unit (and don't give up so many odd-man rushes), the goalies' save percentages will regress to their means.  Suddenly they'll look okay.  Even if the Housley system allows more odd-man rushes, I expect their save percentages to come up once the system kicks in.

Add that to Brawndo's stat from the other thread. Sabres are shooting around 4% right now. If they finish at league average that will more-than-double. If they finish dead last, around where dead last was last year, they still almost double their shooting percentage. 

 

The Sabres are not this bad, and this will be a lesson in freaking out over 3 game sample sizes that we'll laugh about later. Whether we're laughing from a wild card slot or from 8th last again, I dunno. 

[LGR4GM]

I like Larsson on a real line. Personally I would do Larsson - Reinhart - Griffith/Pommers but let's see what they do. 

[Taro T]

I like Larsson on a real line. Personally I would do Larsson - Reinhart - Griffith/Pommers but let's see what they do.

 

Larsson sucks when playing wing. Why put him there?

 

He is one of the exceptions that proves the rule that "all C's can play W." No, he can't. (Probably more of a won't than a can't, but either way, it doesn't work.)

[GASabresIUFAN]

Deck chairs on the Titanic.

[TrueBlueGED]

Beaulieu is bad, but the correction I'd make would be to give him very sheltered minutes , and let him nowhere near PP1. I'd much have Beaulieu in that situation than Gorges in any situation.

Which is basically what we all assumed was going to happen, right? I don't think there's a single soul who would have been excited about Beaulieu as a top-pairing Dman.

[nfreeman]

Which is basically what we all assumed was going to happen, right? I don't think there's a single soul who would have been excited about Beaulieu as a top-pairing Dman.

 

What about the souls of the fans of the opponents?

[Thorny]

New #Sabres lines at practice:

Girgensons-Eichel-Pominville

Kane-O'Reilly-Okposo

Pouliot-Larsson-Reinhart

Griffith-Josefson-Nolan

Scandella-Risto

Beaulieu-Tennyson

McCabe-Gorges

Antipin & Moulson skating as a pair as well.

Reinhart may not be a third line center, but he is definitely not a third line winger

Flip Pommers and Reinhart and let's go

McCabe on the 3rd pair is mind-boggling to me.

 

Sam Reinhart playing wing on the 3rd line, with no PP time, is a waste of an asset, no matter how you look at it. If that's his place amoung the Sabres, I'm sure there is a team out there who still sees his potential as a little closer to what it was when he was drafted.

 

First time I've found myself here: If this is what Reinhart is in Buffalo, we should trade him. Increasingly, he's looking like one of those "needs a fresh start" players.

Edited October 11, 2017 by Thorny

[North Buffalo]

Easy, Sam is fine Housley just juggling to see what works

[Thorny]

Easy, Sam is fine Housley just juggling to see what works

That's fair, I did use the word "if". We'll see how things progress.

 

Let me be (the first? One of the first?) to officially predict an in-season trade of Sam Reinhart. Just a hunch! Heard it here first (maybe).

[LGR4GM]

Perfectly possible. 

[Samson's Flow]

Easy, Sam is fine Housley just juggling to see what works

I hope so. I would be very disappointed if the Sam at center experiment lasted three games.

[Pokey Jones]

You really can't play a season of uptempo hockey and have guys logging huge minutes, no matter how good they are, the body won't allow that. You have to roll lines and pairs of D and play everyone. If we go back to huge minutes for the best players again like Bylsma did, we will also have to slow it all down and we will be back to what we had last year. 

[Weave]

I hope so. I would be very disappointed if the Sam at center experiment lasted three games.

 

It has lasted two coaches and two GM's.  None of them have felt Sam at center was better than Sam at wing.  At some point you have to assume that at least one or two of the folks actually being paid to make these evaluations are better than we are at it.

[Randall Flagg]

It has lasted two coaches and two GM's.  None of them have felt Sam at center was better than Sam at wing.  At some point you have to assume that at least one or two of the folks actually being paid to make these evaluations are better than we are at it.

So if Sam plays center for 3 games, then doesn't because we don't win, and the second they switch back because they liked his line's possession numbers, can we draw the same hard conclusions you are, that they want him playing center? Because he will be back at some point. 

 

I simply cannot understand why this board needs black and white with a sample size of less than 4% of the season.

[Thorny]

So if Sam plays center for 3 games, then doesn't because we don't win, and the second they switch back because they liked his line's possession numbers, can we draw the same hard conclusions you are, that they want him playing center? Because he will be back at some point.

I simply cannot understand why this board needs black and white with a sample size of less than 4% of the season.

It's definitely hard to draw conclusions at this stage. There are some key signs however that the coaching staff isn't exactly thrilled with Sam's play so far. The demotion off the powerplay units completely comes to mind. And if he's playing wing he should be in the top 6, and he's not.

[Weave]

So if Sam plays center for 3 games, then doesn't because we don't win, and the second they switch back because they liked his line's possession numbers, can we draw the same hard conclusions you are, that they want him playing center? Because he will be back at some point. 

 

I simply cannot understand why this board needs black and white with a sample size of less than 4% of the season.

 

The sample size isn't this season.  He's been continuously evaluated by coaches and GM's since he's turned pro.  That he's spent so little time at center should be telling.

[nfreeman]

The sample size isn't this season. He's been continuously evaluated by coaches and GM's since he's turned pro. That he's spent so little time at center should be telling.

Well, this coach felt he should play Center. He may have changed his mind on that, or he may have felt (and probably did) that the team and Reino both needed a kick in the pants after an atrocious start. But that doesn’t mean that Howie and JBott have decided.

[Weave]

Well, this coach felt he should play Center. He may have changed his mind on that, or he may have felt (and probably did) that the team and Reino both needed a kick in the pants after an atrocious start. But that doesn’t mean that Howie and JBott have decided.

 

No argument on that point.  My point was, just because we haven't seen Sam at center doesn't mean professionals who evaluate these things for a living haven't been evaluating Sam for the best position on the ice for him and this team.

 

And I may have mistook the post I responded to initially.  "Disappointment" doesn't have to mean that they disagree with the coaching staff.  It could mean they are disappointed that Sam hasn't done enough to retain the position. 

[Thorny]

Well, this coach felt he should play Center. He may have changed his mind on that, or he may have felt (and probably did) that the team and Reino both needed a kick in the pants after an atrocious start. But that doesn’t mean that Howie and JBott have decided.

Do we care that the kick in the pants included (based on practice lines) removal of his spot on the powerplay, and playing with even less scoring talent than before, all the while moving to wing?

 

If he's playing RW, Sam should be playing with Eichel or O'Reilly. Ryan needs the kick in the pants too, completely new linemmates might help.

[Thorny]

Just saw a feature on TSN about the Galchenyuk situation in Montreal. More than a few similarities to the Reinhart situation.

 

Dave Reid (who I think always provides good insight) was talking about how Alex was moved to wing on the 4th line. He said that when coaches do that it's not necessarily supposed to be interepreted as a "demotion", but more of an indication of how coach wants the player to improve his game. He said the coaching staff is looking to see Galchenyuk bring more physicality and grit to his approach, focus more on winning battles.

 

Perhaps something similar is going on with Reinhart, with his removal from the powerplay (focus less on that side of his game), and placement as a wing on what looks like a checking line with Johan Larsson.

Edited October 11, 2017 by Thorny

[darksabre]

Just saw a feature on TSN about the Galchenyuk situation in Montreal. More than a few similarities to the Reinhart situation.

 

Dave Reid (who I think always provides good insight) was talking about how Alex was moved to wing on the 4th line. He said that when coaches do that it's not necessarily supposed to be interepreted as a "demotion", but more of an indication of how coach wants the player to improve his game. He said the coaching staff is looking to see Galchenyuk bring more physicality and grit to his approach, focus more on winning battles.

 

Perhaps something similar is going on with Reinhart, with his removal from the powerplay, (focus less on that side of his game) and placement as a wing on what looks like a checking line with Johan Larsson.

I was thinking about this earlier and I agree. I think they're asking Sam to give them more. And I think that is justified.

[nfreeman]

Do we care that the kick in the pants included (based on practice lines) removal of his spot on the powerplay, and playing with even less scoring talent than before, all the while moving to wing?

 

If he's playing RW, Sam should be playing with Eichel or O'Reilly. Ryan needs the kick in the pants too, completely new linemmates might help.

 

Well, I think Reino has done so little worthwhile this season that I'm not inclined to disagree with any steps Howie might take as to his role.

 

Certainly ROR needs to improve as well.  It's a cliché of coaching that different players need different treatment -- so perhaps that's how Howie is operating here.

 

 

Just saw a feature on TSN about the Galchenyuk situation in Montreal. More than a few similarities to the Reinhart situation.

 

Dave Reid (who I think always provides good insight) was talking about how Alex was moved to wing on the 4th line. He said that when coaches do that it's not necessarily supposed to be interepreted as a "demotion", but more of an indication of how coach wants the player to improve his game. He said the coaching staff is looking to see Galchenyuk bring more physicality and grit to his approach, focus more on winning battles.

 

Perhaps something similar is going on with Reinhart, with his removal from the powerplay (focus less on that side of his game), and placement as a wing on what looks like a checking line with Johan Larsson.

 

I was thinking about this earlier and I agree. I think they're asking Sam to give them more. And I think that is justified.

 

Good stuff here boys.

[qwksndmonster]

The problem with using Bylsma's use of Sam against him is that Bylsma rarely changed the structure of his lines through 2 losing seasons. Sam did in fact have a small productive stretch at center but Bylsma reverted to his former ways and never tried it again.

 

The two years of lost development didn't only hurt the players individually. We should have a good idea of what O'Reilly looks like on wing and what Sam looks like down the middle and we don't.