Rumor: Ryan Johnson to sign with buffalo

[Carmel Corn]

Anybody have a sense of his hockey IQ?  I tend to question Joki's, hoping Johnson has a better feel for neutralizing threats deep within our zone.

[Taro T]

55 minutes ago, pi2000 said:

To clarify, the frozen four concludes next week, Thur 4/6 - Sat 4/8.  

Buffalo's final game in April 14th.   Rochesters final regular season game is the 16th, so I'd image he might get a game or two in Buffalo then head to Roch for the playoffs.  

Pretty sure that can't happen.  If he plays in Buffalo, he'd've needed to be on the Amerks roster on trade deadline day.

[MattPie]

4 minutes ago, Taro T said:

Pretty sure that can't happen.  If he plays in Buffalo, he'd've needed to be on the Amerks roster on trade deadline day.

Interesting. Can he sign with the Amerks and play in the playoffs? I'd probably give him the choice between a game in the NHL or a playoff run in the AHL. I can see both paths being a positive from both parties perspective.

Edited March 31, 2023 by MattPie

[Taro T]

8 minutes ago, MattPie said:

Interesting. Can he sign with the Amerks and play in the playoffs? I'd probably give him the choice between a game in the NHL or a playoff run in the AHL. I can see both paths being a positive from both parties perspective.

That's my understanding.  Someone that follows the AHL closer could say for certain.

[Porous Five Hole]

7 minutes ago, Taro T said:

That's my understanding.  Someone that follows the AHL closer could say for certain.

My understanding is he can sign an ATO with the AHL club and let his soon-to-be signed ELC slide to next year. But there’s no reason for him to delay the start of his ELC. That just delays the signing of his second contract by a season.

So super duper unlikely.  
 

As we have all said, to have Johnson sign here and forgo UFA in four months, the Sabres would need to put him on the big club to burn a year of his ELC (just like we did with Levi & Power before him). Johnson certainly would go to free agency this summer if the Sabres were/are unwilling to do this. 

So no AHL playoffs for Johnson this year. 

[dudacek]

54 minutes ago, Carmel Corn said:

Anybody have a sense of his hockey IQ?  I tend to question Joki's, hoping Johnson has a better feel for neutralizing threats deep within our zone.

This is what a meant about him not being as aggressive as Joki.

Joki’s defensive mindset is to see what’s in front of him and attack it. Johnson tends to be safer and more calculated.

I think people tend to miss how good Joki is at actually neutralizing attackers when engaging because they get focused on those times his style allows other threats to get behind him.

Johnson is more conscious of those secondary threats.

[JohnC]

55 minutes ago, dudacek said:

This is what a meant about him not being as aggressive as Joki.

Joki’s defensive mindset is to see what’s in front of him and attack it. Johnson tends to be safer and more calculated.

I think people tend to miss how good Joki is at actually neutralizing attackers when engaging because they get focused on those times his style allows other threats to get behind him.

Johnson is more conscious of those secondary threats.

I'm more positive about Joki and his play than most people are on this site. There seems to be a "Mitts Syndrome" here where a player gets negatively labeled and then it sticks even if the play indicates otherwise. It's like a bad first date where the bad impression becomes irretrievable. What I have noticed about Joki is that he is becoming more aggressive on offense. He is getting more confident in pursuing offensive opportunities than he previously did. Another reason why Joki hasn't won enough plaudits from a large segment of the critics is that he is not a banger. He is a smooth skater and a fast skater who is one of our best defenders in chasing the opposition down when it is coming back ahead of us. I still see some upside with him. 

If Johnson is somewhat similar to Joki in style and caliber of play I would be more than happy. 

[dudacek]

39 minutes ago, JohnC said:

I'm more positive about Joki and his play than most people are on this site. There seems to be a "Mitts Syndrome" here where a player gets negatively labeled and then it sticks even if the play indicates otherwise. It's like a bad first date where the bad impression becomes irretrievable. What I have noticed about Joki is that he is becoming more aggressive on offense. He is getting more confident in pursuing offensive opportunities than he previously did. Another reason why Joki hasn't won enough plaudits from a large segment of the critics is that he is not a banger. He is a smooth skater and a fast skater who is one of our best defenders in chasing the opposition down when it is coming back ahead of us. I still see some upside with him. 

If Johnson is somewhat similar to Joki in style and caliber of play I would be more than happy. 

Very loosely, I tend to think of Joki as a #4/5 in the offensive and defensive zones and a #3 in transition.

[Marvin]

1 hour ago, dudacek said:

Very loosely, I tend to think of Joki as a #4/5 in the offensive and defensive zones and a #3 in transition.

I think this is more than fair.

Edited March 31, 2023 by Marvin

[JohnC]

5 hours ago, dudacek said:

Very loosely, I tend to think of Joki as a #4/5 in the offensive and defensive zones and a #3 in transition.

You are being fair in your evaluation. I see Joki getting better and solidifying a #4 ranking. 

[PromoTheRobot]

I hope Ryan was watching tonight 

 

 

[FrenchConnection44]

I don't dislike Joki. He is still 23 so he still has upside. But I would not let that preclude me from drafting a defenseman high (hope we have a shot at Reinbacher); and we have a high 2nd round pick (right now it's the 7th in the 2nd round. Which has potential). Nor would it preclude me from going after as good a defenseman as I can land in free agency. Would be great to find a top tier veteran. It's not a spectacular year for free agent defenseman. Whether Joki is a solid 4 or not wouldn't matter to me. It would be even better - regardless of how he rates vs the rest of the league - if he were #6 as it would mean we upgraded 4 & 5. Better to have a really good 4 & 5 and a legit 4 playing as the #6 defender. He does need to improve though, imo. 

Ryan Graves is an interesting target. He's having his best season by far - typical for free agency - but he's young (27) and he's got size (6'5, 220) and he's been a strong, near lock down defender this year. +28 (was +40 in his second season). He could be a fine defender for us and imagine him alongside Power. However, it has to be a reasonable contract. Which may prevent us.

It's tough because although we are in a great position the next 2-3 seasons, you don't want to over pay free agents who may not be as good as many others on the team you are going to have to start paying.