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Rank the Sabres defenders


LGR4GM

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My criteria: It's game 81 at Boston at the end of this 2021-22 season. A win and the Sabres are in the playoffs and Boston is eliminated from playoff contention. (Right now) whom do I trust to play the most minutes and give the Sabres a chance at victory?

Dahlin - Pysyk; Hagg - Jokiharju; Bryson - Miller; // Samuelsson - Fitzgerald; Power - Johnson; Butcher - Prow; Laaksonen

And by the end of the season I would hope that Samuelsson supplants Hagg and that Power replaces Miller (Bryson switches to play on the right side).

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24 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Dahlin - top pairing 

Power - projected top pairing

Jokiharju - top 4

Samuelsson - projected top 4

Johnson - projected 3-5

Bryson - 4-5

hagg/Pysyk/Miller - NHL 3rd pairing

Butcher/Fitzgerald - NHL spare

Prow/Schuldt/Davidson/Laaksonen - AHL depth

This seems about right.

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*****

 

Here is the true list! 

Dahlin is alone at the top, for now. 

Joki and Pysyk occupy the second rank as good, solid, reliably, un-flashy but very valuable defenders. 

Bryson is just a notch below but (hopefully) getting better. 

Miller is good. Not sure why he is so hated. 

Hagg is serviceable, not a major liability and I would be happy to have him as a seventh defensemen 

Butcher is not so good,. 

I have no idea how good--or bad--Power and/or Johnson will be. Samuelson looked really good the brief time he was here, I'd probably rate him at Bryson level to start, but he obviously has an upside 

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2 hours ago, dudacek said:

Dahlin - top pairing 

Power - projected top pairing

Jokiharju - top 4

Samuelsson - projected top 4

Johnson - projected 3-5

Bryson - 4-5

hagg/Pysyk/Miller - NHL 3rd pairing

Butcher/Fitzgerald - NHL spare

Prow/Schuldt/Davidson/Laaksonen - AHL depth

I think I am here as well. Hope the Sabres add a RHD in this draft because there will be many even outside the top 5. 

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2 hours ago, dudacek said:

Dahlin - top pairing 

Power - projected top pairing

Jokiharju - top 4

Samuelsson - projected top 4

Johnson - projected 3-5

Bryson - 4-5

hagg/Pysyk/Miller - NHL 3rd pairing

Butcher/Fitzgerald - NHL spare

Prow/Schuldt/Davidson/Laaksonen - AHL depth

Pretty good. 
 

Joker could be a top 3/4, or a 5/6 on a strong team.  Johnson projects the same.  
 

Bryson and a Fitz are more like a 5/6/7 to me. 
 

 

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3 hours ago, dudacek said:

Dahlin - top pairing 

Power - projected top pairing

Jokiharju - top 4

Samuelsson - projected top 4

Johnson - projected 3-5

Bryson - 4-5

hagg/Pysyk/Miller - NHL 3rd pairing

Butcher/Fitzgerald - NHL spare

Prow/Schuldt/Davidson/Laaksonen - AHL depth

This is pretty much my ranking.

Laaksonen reminds me a lot of TJ Brennan

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52 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

I think I am here as well. Hope the Sabres add a RHD in this draft because there will be many even outside the top 5. 

Yeah, even if they don’t get Nemec or Jiricek there are quite a few 1st rounders. This is the year to get a RHD in the first or even early second.

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3 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

I’ll let you know when we get a few who can actually play defense. 

 

3 hours ago, Let's Go B-Lo said:

In order of resistance offered

1. Crotchless panties

2. Swiss Cheese 

3. Tissue Paper 

4. Fog 

5. The Sabres Defense Corps

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you guys for your contributions to the conversation.  Truly amazing.

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35 minutes ago, Curt said:

 

Thank you guys for your contributions to the conversation.  Truly amazing.

Name the defensive stalwart on our team?  Butcher, Miller, Dahlin? What about Hagg, Jokiharju, Bryson or Pysyk?  Pysyk is the best defensive D man on this roster and he is a journeyman at best and a maybe bottom pairing guy on a good team.  Jokiharju is next and at best he is inconsistent.  The rest range from mediocre to down right awful.  

It’s probable that the best defenseman in this organization is sitting in Rochester for logical reasons unknown and his name is Samuelsson. 

One of the reasons our goaltending stinks is that guys playing defense in front of them stink at playing defense.  

The solution is to move on from everyone not named Samuelsson, Dahlin and Jokiharju, add Power and find two veteran D who can actually play defense.  Want Psysk back on the 3rd pair ok maybe, but a minimum of one veteran real good in zone D is a necessity.

Ok, Curt?

 

Edited by GASabresIUFAN
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3 hours ago, Let's Go B-Lo said:

In order of resistance offered

1. Crotchless panties

2. Swiss Cheese 

3. Tissue Paper 

4. Fog 

5. The Sabres Defense Corps

 

 

 

 

 

The biggest issue with this list is the Tissue offers the most resistance.  I was actually at the fog/bat game.  The Sabres D actually was pretty good back then.

Edited by GASabresIUFAN
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Playing defence means different things to different people I think.

The coach says the best defensive defenceman on the team is Dahlin because he has an elite combination of separating man from puck and transitioning it out of zone. 

In that context, I’d agree no one on the team can touch him.

Bryson and Pysyk, early in the year, and Joki, now, are also pretty good in this combination of skills. Butcher is not. Hagg is OK at the former, poor at the latter. Miller is all over the map.

Edited by dudacek
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The truth about of D group is that they are simply bad.  As a group they are terrible at handling the four check and clearing the zone.  They get physically manhandled, make stupid passes and the stats reflect the issues.  They give up the 4th most shots per game and are near the bottom in high danger chances allowed.  If someone can find our opponents time is our zone, I’m also sure it near the bottom of the league. 
 

 

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