Do the Sabres actually need more RHD or does it not matter?

[LGR4GM]

We have a lot of LHD. In fact by next year we will probably have 5 NHL lhd to think about depending on what Ryan Johnson looks like in camp. This does not include the idea of Novikov one day coming to bolster a 3rd pair as a shutdown defender. Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power, Jacob Bryson, Mattias Samuelsson, and Ryan Johnson are the 5 I think are reasonable to project to the NHL level. 

Now the question then becomes do we have to target a RHD in this draft because that side has major questions. Well, if you read this article the answer is not necessarily depending on how good our LHD are and how bad the RHD replacement would be. 

So for fun we could have or some variation thereof. 

Power - Joker

Dahlin - Johnson

Bryson - Samuelsson

[Dr. Who]

We need an "interesting" emoji as in "that picture might be a masterpiece, but I don't know enough to really comment, so I'm going with `interesting.'"

[thewookie1]

41 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

We have a lot of LHD. In fact by next year we will probably have 5 NHL lhd to think about depending on what Ryan Johnson looks like in camp. This does not include the idea of Novikov one day coming to bolster a 3rd pair as a shutdown defender. Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power, Jacob Bryson, Mattias Samuelsson, and Ryan Johnson are the 5 I think are reasonable to project to the NHL level. 

Now the question then becomes do we have to target a RHD in this draft because that side has major questions. Well, if you read this article the answer is not necessarily depending on how good our LHD are and how bad the RHD replacement would be. 

So for fun we could have or some variation thereof. 

Power - Joker

Dahlin - Johnson

Bryson - Samuelsson

 

I want a vet and at least one righty

[Hank]

I think by Thanksgiving Dahlin is moved to the right side and is the top pair with Power. 

[Sabres Fan in NS]

1 hour ago, Dr. Who said:

We need an "interesting" emoji as in "that picture might be a masterpiece, but I don't know enough to really comment, so I'm going with `interesting.'"

🤔

Thinking face is about as close as we have.

[Curt]

2 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

We have a lot of LHD. In fact by next year we will probably have 5 NHL lhd to think about depending on what Ryan Johnson looks like in camp. This does not include the idea of Novikov one day coming to bolster a 3rd pair as a shutdown defender. Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power, Jacob Bryson, Mattias Samuelsson, and Ryan Johnson are the 5 I think are reasonable to project to the NHL level. 

Now the question then becomes do we have to target a RHD in this draft because that side has major questions. Well, if you read this article the answer is not necessarily depending on how good our LHD are and how bad the RHD replacement would be. 

So for fun we could have or some variation thereof. 

Power - Joker

Dahlin - Johnson

Bryson - Samuelsson

Wait.  That’s the guy who Buffalo hired?  He had the hockey graphs blog?

[sabresparaavida]

2 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

We have a lot of LHD. In fact by next year we will probably have 5 NHL lhd to think about depending on what Ryan Johnson looks like in camp. This does not include the idea of Novikov one day coming to bolster a 3rd pair as a shutdown defender. Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power, Jacob Bryson, Mattias Samuelsson, and Ryan Johnson are the 5 I think are reasonable to project to the NHL level. 

Now the question then becomes do we have to target a RHD in this draft because that side has major questions. Well, if you read this article the answer is not necessarily depending on how good our LHD are and how bad the RHD replacement would be. 

So for fun we could have or some variation thereof. 

Power - Joker

Dahlin - Johnson

Bryson - Samuelsson

Kinda interesting that you posted that article with that post, which basically states that there’s a sizeable gap in performance between LhD+rhd pairings and one playing on their offside. Based on this article, the 3 rookies in that lineup, and the lack of good defensive defensemen, our defense would likely be pretty bad with that group.

[inkman]

1 hour ago, Hank said:

I think by Thanksgiving Dahlin is moved to the right side and is the top pair with Power. 

Ugh 

[French Collection]

Analytics are not my thing but I read the article.
It makes sense that they perform better on their forehand side. One advantage I can see is an improved shooting angle, like the forwards on their off side, think Ovie. The puck is in front of them when walking the the line which is easier to handle.

A big downside is being on their backhands while holding the wall or pinching. Breaking out of the zone on your backhand is also not ideal.

Mike Babcock was adamant about this LD-RD balance when he coached Team Canada. He must have got some analytical info some where plus his eye test and experience.

I will keep a close eye on Team Canada’s World Junior team defence as they selected 8 LHD this year, Owen Power being one of them.

Bottom line, there are a lot of good RHD available at the top of this year’s draft so I would pick one  in order to have one in the pipeline. If the Sabres stick with multiple lefties, then they need to make one or two of them comfortable on the right side in order to maximize their effectiveness.

[Taro T]

5 minutes ago, French Collection said:

Analytics are not my thing but I read the article.
It makes sense that they perform better on their forehand side. One advantage I can see is an improved shooting angle, like the forwards on their off side, think Ovie. The puck is in front of them when walking the the line which is easier to handle.

A big downside is being on their backhands while holding the wall or pinching. Breaking out of the zone on your backhand is also not ideal.

Mike Babcock was adamant about this LD-RD balance when he coached Team Canada. He must have got some analytical info some where plus his eye test and experience.

I will keep a close eye on Team Canada’s World Junior team defence as they selected 8 LHD this year, Owen Power being one of them.

Bottom line, there are a lot of good RHD available at the top of this year’s draft so I would pick one  in order to have one in the pipeline. If the Sabres stick with multiple lefties, then they need to make one or two of them comfortable on the right side in order to maximize their effectiveness.

If they keep the predominance of LHD, remember that until he entered the NHL Dahlin spent a ton of time on the right side.

[Carmel Corn]

Ideally....YES.  Risto and Montour are already gone.  Miller will be gone after this season and who knows about Pysyk.  We need more than just Joki back there.

[Huckleberry]

Power - Dahlin 😛

[Drag0nDan]

39 minutes ago, Taro T said:

If they keep the predominance of LHD, remember that until he entered the NHL Dahlin spent a ton of time on the right side.

He played over this year and it was probably his worst stretch of hockey under Granato.  Aside from maybe the 1st period of the seattle game

3 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

We have a lot of LHD. In fact by next year we will probably have 5 NHL lhd to think about depending on what Ryan Johnson looks like in camp. This does not include the idea of Novikov one day coming to bolster a 3rd pair as a shutdown defender. Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power, Jacob Bryson, Mattias Samuelsson, and Ryan Johnson are the 5 I think are reasonable to project to the NHL level. 

Now the question then becomes do we have to target a RHD in this draft because that side has major questions. Well, if you read this article the answer is not necessarily depending on how good our LHD are and how bad the RHD replacement would be. 

So for fun we could have or some variation thereof. 

Power - Joker

Dahlin - Johnson

Bryson - Samuelsson

Time to make some trades and sign some free agents

[Taro T]

33 minutes ago, Drag0nDan said:

He played over this year and it was probably his worst stretch of hockey under Granato.  Aside from maybe the 1st period of the seattle game

Time to make some trades and sign some free agents

Was also some of his best hockey.  Those 1st 4 w/ Butcher he looked like a new man.  The last 4, not so much.

Besides, he was still primarily on the left side even then.  And, even when he was w/ Psysk, he would shift over a fair amount (though he was primarily on his strong side).

[Thorny]

Ya I’d like to come away with both a C up high and a RHD, would go a long way towards rounding out the prospective pool, which while gaining admirable depth of late is still rather unbalanced 

Edited December 14, 2021 by Thorny

[LGR4GM]

I hope to get a rhd too. Jiricek is my favorite but there's others. 

[Thorny]

12 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

I hope to get a rhd too. Jiricek is my favorite but there's others. 

Above Nemec? Interesting..

If we came away with maybe your 3rd ranked C and Jiricek I'd be ecstatic and really like the look of the prospect pool

[Dr. Who]

4 hours ago, The Ghost of Doohickie said:

🤔

Thinking face is about as close as we have.

I see. I'm not normally a keen observer of precise emoji differentiation, but when I float over that sign it says skeptical, which is more negative in connotation than I would want to imply.

[inkman]

4 hours ago, inkman said:

Ugh 

@freester I just don’t think Dahlin should be paired with another offense first defenseman.  He desperately needs a guy that can cover his mistakes not add to them.  

[freester]

1 minute ago, inkman said:

@freester I just don’t think Dahlin should be paired with another offense first defenseman.  He desperately needs a guy that can cover his mistakes not add to them.  

This I agree with. Power is a rookie and Dahlin needs an experienced stay at home partner. The problem is we have a bunch of very young LD. I think we will trade a LD for a young forward prospect and keep Pysyck as our experienced RD and maybe add another experienced RD

[GASabresIUFAN]

We need better in zone play, more physical play especially in front of the net, and some playoff type veteran experience.  That vet having some real leadership skills also wouldn’t hurt.  

Adding Samuelsson to the mix will help.  Replacing Butcher, Hagg and Miller with guys who can actually play defense will also help.  

My hope for next year is as follows

Dahlin w a Stay at home vet

Power w a stay at home vet

Samuelsson Jokiharju

Bryson Pysyk

The million dollar question is who are these veterans and how do we acquire them.  I doubt any medium to upper tier free agents are coming here.  Could KA trade VO for such a defenseman? 
 

 

Edited December 14, 2021 by GASabresIUFAN

[Taro T]

31 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

We need better in zone play, more physical play especially in front of the net, and some playoff type veteran experience.  That vet having some real leadership skills also wouldn’t hurt.  

Adding Samuelsson to the mix will help.  Replacing Butcher, Hagg and Miller with guys who can actually play defense will also help.  

My hope for next year is as follows

Dahlin w a Stay at home vet

Power w a stay at home vet

Samuelsson Jokiharju

Bryson Pysyk

The million dollar question is who are these veterans and how do we acquire them.  I doubt any medium to upper tier free agents are coming here.  Could KA trade VO for such a defenseman? 
 

 

Don't know.  And it was a few years back, but back in October of '14 the Aisles got Leddy & Boychuk for a 2nd rounder each.  So, the D necessary to fix this up don't necessarily have to be expensive.  Especially w/ the cap space the team will have & Pegula bucks, they could get the 2 guys (& the goalie they'll need too) without "mortgaging the future." 

[dudacek]

4 hours ago, Taro T said:

Don't know.  And it was a few years back, but back in October of '14 the Aisles got Leddy & Boychuk for a 2nd rounder each.  So, the D necessary to fix this up don't necessarily have to be expensive.  Especially w/ the cap space the team will have & Pegula bucks, they could get the 2 guys (& the goalie they'll need too) without "mortgaging the future." 

Toni Lydman for a 3rd was one of Darcy’s more under-the-radar sweet deals.

[PerreaultForever]

12 hours ago, Huckleberry said:

Power - Dahlin 😛

Big no.

I think they really have their minds set on Dahlin-Jokiharju which I'm not crazy about but I think they like it. 

If so Power and ? Pysyk? idk. 

I personally don't see Bryson in the long term future but you never know. He has to get better, more consistent and stop turning the puck over in his own end. 

Definitely like to see a decent solid veteran in the mix so that it's not all rookies.

Oh, and the RHD LHD has always been overemphasized imo. It's ideal, but it's not essential. 

[sweetlou]

Jan Rutta is the perfect type of RD this team needs to play either with Power or Dahlin.   Has played with Hedman the last few years, and is a UFA after this year. Tampa won't be able to keep him.