Does Owen Power play for the Sabres next year?

[Eleven]

12 hours ago, Brawndo said:

The Sabres can the first and last team to finish 31st in the NHL Standings 

Even when the league expands, there will be a team that finishes 31st.  

[PASabreFan]

8 hours ago, Pimlach said:

We all need to be writing Adams about dumping Hall at the deadline.  Please do not re-sign him and add to the collection of huge mistakes we are still carrying  - Okposo and Skinner.  

Dose lips dough.

[LGR4GM]

Owen Powers is very good. He makes good reads in transition and he is hard to strip of the puck once he decides to skate it out. He is very very good at moving the puck up ice and has good exits and entries. The issue comes when we talk about his defense. I've seen in the limited games I have watched and it is noted in the 3 March scouting reports I have looked at. He can be passive at the blue line and allow too many controlled entries by the opposition. One report did note how he improved on this as the season went but it was still a concern. He can often be passive in his gap and not attack the oncoming forward, this could be a confidence thing or a learning thing but it is something to think about. He projects out to a good offensive puck mover from the backend who will get you into some defensive trouble from time to time. I don't see Hedman here like others but he is actually similar in some ways to Bryson the way he attacks up ice. He could be a top pairing guy if he develops right but you might be more comfortable putting him on the 2nd pairing with a shutdown defender and playing him on your pp1. 

 

Matthew Beniers is also very good. He is probably the best 200ft center prospect in this draft by a good bit. One report noted he was the most well rounded player in their big 10 data set. His transition game is literally above everyone with tracked controlled entries being significantly better than the next player in the big 10. Basically he almost always gains the zone with possession and rarely turns it over. The other good news is he carries the puck a lot so this isn't some small sample anomaly. I recently read about scalability in terms of skills. Beniers skills are scalable. He attacks in multiple ways sometimes on the same rush, he has great skating, is clever with his stick, makes reads quickly, and changes gears multiple times on the attack. Okay, liger but what in his own end? Surely this guy must be jumping out early to get all these great transition numbers.... NOPE. Beniers is great in his own end. Tracking data suggests he is 2 or 3 in the big 10 for retrievals and breakups in his own zone. He is constantly working and adjusting in the D zone and it got better as the year went on. He's ROR like in some of those regards. So what is the downside? He is a pass first guy in the offensive zone and doesn't shoot enough. His shot is okay but it could be better. Basically you are drafting Dylan Cozens but shoots worse and passes better. I think he projects to a strong 2-way Center in that ROR mold who might never truly WOW you but he plays the game the right way. He works hard every shift. 

[Brawndo]

 

[LGR4GM]

^ I believe the numbers go up to 70 if I remember that ranking system correctly. Anyone know for sure.

 

Edit: It is on a 20-80 scale. 

Quote

A note on the 20-80 scale used above. We look at five attributes (skating, shooting, puck skills, hockey IQ and physicality) for skaters and six for goalies (athleticism/quickness, compete/temperament, vision/play reading, technique/style, rebound control and puck handling). Each individual attribute is graded along the 20-80 scales, which includes half-grades. The idea is that a projection of 50 in a given attribute meant that our observer believed that the player could get to roughly NHL average at that attribute at maturity.

 

Edited March 19, 2021 by LGR4GM