Rasmus Asplund Called Up

[LTS]

2 hours ago, jad1 said:

It's not as difficult as you make it sound.  How many fans were on the Jokiharju train before Botterill made that trade? It wasn't a huge deal, but it has impacted the roster in a positive way.

 Botterill can find deals to make, the problem is that he has built the current roster with 9 puck-moving defenseman and Jimmy Vesey.

He needs to focus on building forward depth and he doesn't need to hit a home run here.  Just find a couple of guys better than Sobotka. 

He's a professional GM with fully staffed scouting department and tradable assets.  It's time he moves from just stock-piling talent for the future to actually building an NHL roster that can compete and win this season.

With the flurry of trades and trade rumors going around I can see why there's a massive expectation that moves are made..... oh wait.

There's basically nothing other than a few things about a few teams shopping D.. because anyone with half a brain knows that the Sabres are shopping D and that the Kings are shopping Toffoli, because he's been healthy scratched out of the lineup.  

After that, not much else going on out there. 

It's every bit as difficult as I make it sound because it takes more than a single team to trade and someone has to be willing to give up something that will improve the Sabres while the Sabres are willing to give up out of the assets they have.  I am sure Botterill can make a trade, I am also certain that in order to do so it would be a trade that no one on here would support, but at least he would have "done something."

Right now, it seems like there isn't much of a market, and, generally, that's how it works in the NHL.  I would be more on Botterill for not bringing up players out of Rochester before I am on him about not making a trade.  You need to shake up the roster, pull some guys out who aren't doing enough.  That's the biggest lever they have right now.

[pi2000]

On 11/16/2019 at 4:51 AM, LTS said:

Here we go.  "Do Something".  

Why do these posts continue to exist?  You speak as though there's a move to be made that helps this team and the GM is intentionally not making that move.  What if the only players available on the trade market right now are the equivalent of Lazar and Asplund?  What if it's only draft picks?

You aren't alone in these posts, too many people keep calling out for "Do Something".  

Everyone take a moment and go look at this page: https://www.nhl.com/news/2019-20-nhl-trades/c-289968698

Look over that list and figure out what move there would help the team?

For every bit of interest in a potential player (Toffoli) there are plenty of counter-arguments to making the move.  There are not slam dunk "Do Somethings"

 

That's the GM's job.    However, due to his lack of foresight and planning he's effectively painted himself into a corner.

The time to "do something" was a long time ago.

[LTS]

25 minutes ago, pi2000 said:

That's the GM's job.    However, due to his lack of foresight and planning he's effectively painted himself into a corner.

The time to "do something" was a long time ago.

Yes, that is the GM's job. 

If you look at the list of players that have been moved, not a single one of them would have helped the Sabres.  That's my point.  There's NOTHING going on in the NHL, so you can't just DO SOMETHING.

Well, you CAN, but it would mean making a trade that is horrific for your team, so it's not really the DO SOMETHING that people want.  People apparently want the GM to execute the perfect trade, without considering that other GMs are involved.

 

[Zamboni]

6 minutes ago, LTS said:

Yes, that is the GM's job. 

If you look at the list of players that have been moved, not a single one of them would have helped the Sabres.  That's my point.  There's NOTHING going on in the NHL, so you can't just DO SOMETHING.

Well, you CAN, but it would mean making a trade that is horrific for your team, so it's not really the DO SOMETHING that people want.  People apparently want the GM to execute the perfect trade, without considering that other GMs are involved.

 

So EA sports NHL trades. ?

fantasy trading is funsies.

[Drunkard]

22 hours ago, LTS said:

Yes, that is the GM's job. 

If you look at the list of players that have been moved, not a single one of them would have helped the Sabres.  That's my point.  There's NOTHING going on in the NHL, so you can't just DO SOMETHING.

Well, you CAN, but it would mean making a trade that is horrific for your team, so it's not really the DO SOMETHING that people want.  People apparently want the GM to execute the perfect trade, without considering that other GMs are involved.

So we should be content with him sitting on his hands until the trade deadline? At that point the Sabres will be well out of the playoff race and he'll likely just be selling off Scandella and Bogosian for late picks from teams looking for playoff depth.

Yeah, there may not be any deals going on now, but it was obvious last season that the forwards needed help and his big moves up front were re-signing Skinner, letting Pominville go, bringing in Vesey who has done nothing and bringing in Johansson who has actually been better than expected. Any way you slice it though, it wasn't enough based on how that last 5 months of the season went and that was obvious to almost everyone on this board outside of the handful of people who were either taking the wait and see approach or people who defend Botterill pretty much no matter what. Sure it's tough to point to this exact moment in time to force a deal but the reason the natives are getting restless/impatient is because there were other opportunities (last years trade deadline, the entire offseason, free agency, the draft) that he could have made a move to improve the forward talent and he mostly maintained the status quo other than bringing in one new solid contributor in Johansson.

[LTS]

On 11/19/2019 at 2:10 PM, Drunkard said:

So we should be content with him sitting on his hands until the trade deadline? At that point the Sabres will be well out of the playoff race and he'll likely just be selling off Scandella and Bogosian for late picks from teams looking for playoff depth.

Yeah, there may not be any deals going on now, but it was obvious last season that the forwards needed help and his big moves up front were re-signing Skinner, letting Pominville go, bringing in Vesey who has done nothing and bringing in Johansson who has actually been better than expected. Any way you slice it though, it wasn't enough based on how that last 5 months of the season went and that was obvious to almost everyone on this board outside of the handful of people who were either taking the wait and see approach or people who defend Botterill pretty much no matter what. Sure it's tough to point to this exact moment in time to force a deal but the reason the natives are getting restless/impatient is because there were other opportunities (last years trade deadline, the entire offseason, free agency, the draft) that he could have made a move to improve the forward talent and he mostly maintained the status quo other than bringing in one new solid contributor in Johansson.

Obvious to some... are they the same ones who were mad that Gilmour was sent to Rochester?

Are they the ones who want Reinhart traded?

Are they the ones who think some other GM wants Ristolainen so bad that they'll give up a top 6 forward for him?

I've seen what people find "obvious" around here.  What's obvious is that we don't know much about much, but like to pretend we do. You don't have to be content, by all means continue to get all worked up over the things you can't control.  Fight the air to your heart's content.

[North Buffalo]

Its what we do...

12 minutes ago, LTS said:

Obvious to some... are they the same ones who were mad that Gilmour was sent to Rochester?

Are they the ones who want Reinhart traded?

Are they the ones who think some other GM wants Ristolainen so bad that they'll give up a top 6 forward for him?

I've seen what people find "obvious" around here.  What's obvious is that we don't know much about much, but like to pretend we do. You don't have to be content, by all means continue to get all worked up over the things you can't control.  Fight the air to your heart's content.

 

[LGR4GM]

On 11/18/2019 at 1:52 PM, LTS said:

Yes, that is the GM's job. 

If you look at the list of players that have been moved, not a single one of them would have helped the Sabres.  That's my point.  There's NOTHING going on in the NHL, so you can't just DO SOMETHING.

Well, you CAN, but it would mean making a trade that is horrific for your team, so it's not really the DO SOMETHING that people want.  People apparently want the GM to execute the perfect trade, without considering that other GMs are involved.

 

Robby Fabbri would have helped the Sabres.

[inkman]

So does anyone want to offer up an opinion on Asplund?

[North Buffalo]

11 minutes ago, inkman said:

So does anyone want to offer up an opinion on Asplund?

Seems to be good in corners, back checks well and a good passer. Tough despite his size and quick.  Sabres need a scorer though.

[Zamboni]

How do you think he’s looked?

 

Asplund has been fine. I have very low expectations of him right now. He’s battling, back checking, competing. He’s not hurting his line at all. I like him so far.

[Doohickie]

12 minutes ago, North Buffalo said:

Tough despite his size and quick.

Plays like a big man.  He must have a fire plug build.

[Curt]

I think he has looked pretty good.  I’ll agree with others who say he plays bigger than his size.

I don’t expect much scoring from him.  I think long term he’ll be a strong D, checking 3rd/4th liner or a third wheel/responsible presence on a middle 6 line.  Contributing around 30 points.  I don’t think he has the offensive skill to be a real top 6 scoring line contributor.

[DarthEbriate]

29 minutes ago, inkman said:

So does anyone want to offer up an opinion on Asplund?

I'm liking his speed. I look forward to seeing him given a couple more weeks to gel with a line at this level now that Sobotka is on LTIR. He's had Thompson and Okposo and Gilmour as wingers thus far. Whomever he lines up with, I want that to follow RK's "keep 'em united" mentality give his line a chance. I like the concept of Olofsson-Asplund-Mitts. The kid gloves mitts line that will get sheltered minutes (which should have been together in Rochester all last season).

Going back and reading this: are we sure Asplund isn't a bad penny? Everyone gets hurt or waived on his line! Or... is he secretly making room for someone new?

[dudacek]

He’s fast and smart and he hustles.

No reason he can’t take over for Larry or Z next year, which was probably the plan all along.

Hopefully he can develop enough offence to be an upgrade.

[tom webster]

1 hour ago, dudacek said:

He’s fast and smart and he hustles.

No reason he can’t take over for Larry or Z next year, which was probably the plan all along.

Hopefully he can develop enough offence to be an upgrade.

I will be disappointed if he doesn’t develop into a high end third liner

[French Collection]

1 hour ago, dudacek said:

He’s fast and smart and he hustles.

No reason he can’t take over for Larry or Z next year, which was probably the plan all along.

Hopefully he can develop enough offence to be an upgrade.

I see him as a 3/4C who can contribute more offense than Larry or Gus. He seems to have more quickness and creativity than those two.

If Mojo stays at 2C next season, Asplund could battle Mitts for the 3C role if Cozens plays wing.

[Mustache of God]

24 minutes ago, French Collection said:

I see him as a 3/4C who can contribute more offense than Larry or Gus. He seems to have more quickness and creativity than those two.

If Mojo stays at 2C next season, Asplund could battle Mitts for the 3C role if Cozens plays wing.

If mojo stays our 2c next season jbot should be fired. He created that hole and would have had two seasons to address that need.

[inkman]

2 hours ago, Zamboni said:

How do you think he’s looked?

 

Asplund has been fine. I have very low expectations of him right now. He’s battling, back checking, competing. He’s not hurting his line at all. I like him so far.

I haven't focused on him yet.  I've noticed his skating, which is a little bit of a surprise as it wasn't noticeable as an Amerk.  Everyone referring to him playing bigger than his size is somewhat of a surprise.  He didn't really show any of that in Rochester.  

[inkman]

2 hours ago, Doohickie said:

Plays like a big man.  He must have a fire plug build.

I always thought he looked slight but I could be thinking of Olofsson.  Rasmus is listed at 5'11" 187 lbs.  

[Drunkard]

5 hours ago, LTS said:

Obvious to some... are they the same ones who were mad that Gilmour was sent to Rochester?

Are they the ones who want Reinhart traded?

Are they the ones who think some other GM wants Ristolainen so bad that they'll give up a top 6 forward for him?

I've seen what people find "obvious" around here.  What's obvious is that we don't know much about much, but like to pretend we do. You don't have to be content, by all means continue to get all worked up over the things you can't control.  Fight the air to your heart's content.

What's obvious is that Botterill is in over his head. I'm actually not getting worked up about it at all though. I held off on buying NHL.TV this year so I haven't spent a dime on this disappointing product. It is nice see the masses start to turn on fatter, dumber, Pugsley though. The Botterill bunker is growing with each day. By March the arena will be half empty and the crowd that actually bothers to show up will either be quiet or booing. 

For the record I'm not worried one bit about Gilmour because we still have 10 other defensemen. I'd rather he not trade Ristolainen and Reinhart because I have zero confidence in him to trade any asset of actual value. I'm not screaming for him to make a move because I think he'd just make things worse by trading a good player for magic beans and garbage depth. I was just trying to explain why others are growing impatient. The team was absolute garbage for 5 months after the winning streak ended last year and the only moves at forward that were different from last season was replacing Pominville with Johansson and adding Vesey. That wasn't enough given how the team performed from December 2018 through April 2019.

[Curt]

1 hour ago, tom webster said:

I will be disappointed if he doesn’t develop into a high end third liner

What does that mean to you.  I find that people sometimes have drasticly different definitions for terms like that.  

For example, you expect Asplund to develop into a C with good defense (I’m assuming), who can contribute........ (blank/how much offense?)

[Doohickie]

2 hours ago, inkman said:

I always thought he looked slight but I could be thinking of Olofsson.  Rasmus is listed at 5'11" 187 lbs.  

He plays bigger than that, doesn't he?

[inkman]

17 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

He plays bigger than that, doesn't he?

I haven't been watching him 

[triumph_communes]

Good forechecker. Team needs that. Doesn’t seem to have lost all ability to try to make passes that eventually score goals except on accident like some of our fourth liners.