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GDT: Preseason Game 1: Buffalo at Washington, 2pm


Marvin

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I thought there was a lot to like in the game.  Defense wasn’t one of them.  I thought the kids carried play for extended periods although spacing was an issue.  

I liked Kozak and Cozens.  I thought JJP brought a good deal of energy.  UPL looked ok, but good in the shoot-out.  

I like that they are trying to win every game when they play, be it prospects games, preseason games or regular season.   Create that mindset and hopefully it will translate to the standings in April.

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There is a ton of puck movement from Buffalo in the offensive zone. Lots of cutting low and dishing things middle, quick cuts to the slot and aiming for deflections, cross ice passes too. Very dynamic offensive movement and that is a good thing. Kozak might not go back to the WHL this year, I am start to believe he shouldn't. That is pretty impressive from a 7th round guy (he was picked with the first pick of the 7th). 

UPL was fine in this one. No complaints except the 2nd goal I think on the screen that leaked through. 

Dylan Cozens has something to prove this year or at least thats how he is playing. 

On the OT goal I have to complain about Krebs. He follows Pilut around to the outside then stops high in the zone which sure he gives Pilut a back pass to him, but if he stops earlier and goes into the high slot he makes himself available for a scoring chance and creates a mini 2v1. Just something I noticed that bothered me but considering Pilut had a beautiful assist to Hinostroza, didn't really matter. 

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You can’t really take a lot away from that game as both squads didn’t really dress anything that resembled NHL rosters.

I thought Sova didn’t look out of place. I would like to see them take a flyer on him.

Savoie had a couple bursts where he just blew by guys.

If UPL could consistently play like that he will be fine. Knock on wood he can stay healthy and put a run together this year.

Seeing Savoie, Quinn, JJ, Kulich and Kozak all playing well and realizing that the group is only a portion of the young forward talent in the system is very exciting to think about.

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6 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

UPL was fine in this one. No complaints except the 2nd goal I think on the screen that leaked through. 

It was the third goal. I went to dig up the replay because I remember this goal as I thought (and said at the time) that it went off the player in front. The Caps announcers thought so to at first and then seemed to be confused about it after. That being said, the Caps announcers were absolutely horrible so I'm shocked they were even aware the puck went into the net. I had to have the list of players and jersey numbers in front of me the entire game because they referred to players (on both sides) by the team names more often than player names and were typically quite far behind the play.

This is the goal. It's officially credited on the score sheet to Snively as he tipped it to the high corner. I'm not sure UPL is truly squared to that shot though. The camera angle isn't very good either.

This is the second goal he gave up.

Sova might have been trying to go for the change there and got caught leading to the 2 on 1. I said in the thread that I wasn't sure how he got beat, but I'm not sure he really did. I think it was a bad change.

 

This is the first goal. On the powerplay and Mantha just rocketed it. UPL was squared to the shooter. It is what it is.

 

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2 hours ago, Flashsabre said:

Seeing Savoie, Quinn, JJ, Kulich and Kozak all playing well and realizing that the group is only a portion of the young forward talent in the system is very exciting to think about.

I lived in Detroit in the 1990s and they had a pipeline like that.  It was a direct contributor to their dynasty of making the playoffs 25 straight years (if memory serves) and 3 Cup wins.  Basically, Tomas Holmström would be injured and they'd stick in Johan Franzén and barely miss a beat.  It was almost exciting when someone got injured because a lot of the time it was a chance to see the latest mature prospect and frequently they stuck with the big team for years.

When you have such a deep prospect pool you can weaponize it to trade good veteran players to receive players in positions of need back, plus if they're on ELCs or modest bridge deals it frees up cap for the big free agent signings.

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On 9/25/2022 at 5:19 PM, RochesterExpat said:

Couple other points:

- As others said, they did a shootout after the game. Rousek won it in the 7th round. Rousek did a good job feeding Kulich the puck a few times and played well overall.

- Tyson Kozak outshined and outplayed Quinn and Peterka. If you disagree we can settle it with fisticuffs. Both Quinn and Peterka played fine. Kozak was just far more impactful while he was on the ice. Part of that may have been that Quinn and Peterka were with Cozens whereas Kozak was with Murray and Sheahan. Quinn and Peterka are not on the level of Cozens whereas I'm confident in saying Kozak is a better player than Murray and Sheahan. Hence his impact may have been outsized. On the flip side, he got a lot less ice time than Quinn and Peterka did, but made better use of it. He's definitely a two-way player so he was noticeable in both ends. Regardless, Kozak will be in Rochester in the fall. There's no chance he's going back to Juniors. 

- UPL looked good. Not great, but certainly not as bad as I think his SV% will suggest.

- Our best defenseman on the ice was Pilut. I thought he'd be fighting for a 7th or 8th slot, but now I don't know. Curious how the rest of camp goes for him.

- As far as Sabres players go, Cozens looked dramatically better than everyone else. Asplund played well with Hinostroza. Those three were clear NHL players in this scrimmage. I don't see Peterka or Quinn bumping Vinnie from the roster. 

- Kulich and Kozak have a decent argument to get 10 games in Buffalo this year. They weren't at the NHL level of the three above, but they were noticeable and outplayed their opponents when they were on the ice. If you had this on your 2022 Bingo Card I'm calling *****. Not that either are about to bump out Quinn or Peterka for roster spots. Just pleasantly surprised with how they played and it's worth putting here.

- Savoie does not look NHL ready, but I also think pairing him with Asplund and Hinostroza may have had something to do with that. He had some serious flashes of talent and good Lord that kid has some hands, but he played the periphery too much. I'd like to see him with Cozens in a game.

- I said if we were above 40% I'd be shocked. Box score says 24 - 36... which is hilariously exactly 40%. Not above though. I still have some dignity. On that note, Krebs is awful at the dot. 

- These guys have some serious speed. They're going to draw a lot of penalties this season.

- Asplund on the powerplay is... preseason hockey.

There exists no reason to bring Eakin. Glad he is gone. Just an area that needs some real improvement.

 

I'd also argue if Cozens and Krebs can't win faceoffs against other prospects in a glorified scrimmage, the team should be taking note of that and working on it. That's what these games are for.

Nice writeup.

The things that stood out to me was UPL playing great in the SO.  He played well in the 1st 60 but was really at another level in the SO.  Was pleased with his game.  IF he can play like this, Mr. Anderson might find himself an Amerk.  Would not have expected to even entertain that possibility based on his play last year.

Would love to be wrong about him.

Kozak isn't going back to Junior.

Kulich really could get a handful of games in the NHL this year.

Pilut started slow but played well overall.  Still think he's one of the 8 come October.

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2 minutes ago, Taro T said:

Nice writeup.

The things that stood out to me was UPL playing great in the SO.  He played well in the 1st 60 but was really at another level in the SO.  Was pleased with his game.  IF he can play like this, Mr. Anderson might find himself an Amerk.  Would not have expected to even entertain that possibility based on his play last year.

Would love to be wrong about him.

Kozak isn't going back to Junior.

Kulich really could get a handful of games in the NHL this year.

Pilut started slow but played well overall.  Still think he's one of the 8 come October.

No he won't. They aren't going to bring UPL up to sit on a bench. Adams said as much. 

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