What role does Krebs fit into next season?

[LGR4GM]

Sparked by discussion about Krebs being the 4th center with no hope of moving up currently (Tage, Cozens, Mitts) where does he fit and how do you view him heading into next season?

[Goldseatsaud]

Good question trade possibilities 

[kas23]

Has to grow into role as 4th line center or become trade bait. Not saying he won’t develop as a very skilled player or saying we should give up on him, but there’s just too much talent in front of him. 

[SDS]

No man’s land. He’s not quite good enough at anything to be more than a placeholder for someone else. Unfortunately, I don’t see him becoming more skilled than the weak sauce he has shown so far. He’s not big enough to impose his will in his current role. Is good enough to be on the last line of a non-playoff team, but I don’t see his contributions towards a playoff team being good enough.

[GoPuckYourself]

Stays as 4th line C, seems like a decent fit.

[GASabresIUFAN]

Honestly, we don't know.  @dudacek, myself, and others have been debating this issue in the Mitts thread.  Jost is kind of in the same boat, except older.

In his last year of Jrs he put up 43 pts in 24 games and last year he had 15 pts in 18 AHL games.  This year he was asked, like Mitts, to play a different role.

I agree with Dudacek that he adapted his game well to the 4th line center role.  He finished 2nd to Girgensons on hits by a forward at 93 (Z had 96).  DG added him to the PK at the very tail end of 2022, but he still finished 6th among forwards in PK TOI.

It's taken Casey Mittelstadt until he was 24 to find his game in the NHL and Krebs is only 22.  Depending on how closely KA sticks to the status quo roster at forwards, Krebs could start the year as the 3rd or 4th line center.  If  DG/KA liked how Casey played with TnT's line, Casey could easily be back as the 3rd center, pushing Krebs to 4 and Jost to the pressbox.  

Maybe he'd benefit as Casey did from some time on the wall next season.  

[dudacek]

The 3rd-line centre role is his unless he sucks in camp, or someone like Savoie blows up.

I think it’s what they are training him for long-term.

I get the “but Mitts looks good at centre” thing, but to me that’s more of a “between Tuch and Skinner” thing.

I also wouldn’t get too caught up on positions, linemates or roles; Donnie and Kevyn have designed this team with the idea of having multiple guys who play centre and they can and will be shifted as circumstances demand.

So when I say 3C for Krebs, I mean he will mostly play centre and get middle-of-the-pack ice time.

[LGR4GM]

I wonder if Mitts - Krebs - Kulich works. Really depends on Krebs offseason training. He needs to be way harder on pucks and faster in executing plays. 

[Porous Five Hole]

He is Dixon Ward. 40-50 pt guy with some playmaking ability. The NHL game is still a little fast for him. 

Krebs has only dressed for the Sabres for 120 games. He doesn’t turn 23 until next year. I would give him some leeway. 
 

BTW, Peterka PPG% .42

Krebs PPG% .34

And Peterka saw PP time and a whole lot of second line minutes. 

[triumph_communes]

He came in with high expectations because of the trade. Can’t hold that against him. 
 

Hard to judge someone playing with Okposo and Girgensons. That trio regressed defensively quite a bit from the Larrson days, but they scored a little more. Still a net negative. 
 

He isn’t a great center right now but he may improve with a little more time. Not physical enough to play physical, not fast enough to keep up, and his hands are still too hot to be a skill guy.   He gets a little more strength and maturity and he will be useful. 
 

No hurry or motivation to move him, he can come back and repeat and be fine. 

[DarthEbriate]

Krebs Antilles, Hero of the Rebellion

Turn Krebs into a bottom 6 Swiss Army Knife. C/W. PK2. PP sidewall if there are injuries. He'll be an agitator and fiery sparkplug that the team needs. Part Angry Larry, part Lazar, part Mitts, part Jost. The best part of Krebs is he hasn't languished as high pick whose skill was passing/offense. He's embraced the gritty. He was 2nd among forwards in hits and first in fights.

Like 2/3 of the team, he needs to bulk up a bit, but he's 6'0" and nearly 190. Get to 192-198 over the next couple seasons and he'll look the part of a 3C/4C who can do a bit of everything.

One good aspect of Krebs: he went from 35% faceoffs his first season to 45% last year. Part of that is playing with Zemgus/KO who know how to battle off the draw, but Krebs has the tenacity to become good in the dot. (And the kids as a whole will get better at winning the faceoff scrums as they age.)

Lines

I think Quinn-Cozens and the top line are set in the top-6. And Mitts has shown the potential to belong there. If Krebs slots into the Mitts-role of "rotating 3rd line parts", he can work with Greenway, Savoie, Rousek, JJP, (or Jost or VO?) to figure out the right combination. I'd be curious to see a 3rd line of JJP-Krebs-Savoie where you expect chaos but can live with it because Levi is the goalie. (The "responsible" 4th line would get more minutes than the Kid Chaos Line.)

Early in the season, I do think Granato will "pull a Krebs" and start Savoie centering a 4th line of veterans/responsible grinder types. Your choice of Greenway/Zemgus and KO/Rousek. That gives Krebs about a month to explore the 3rd line and gel.

[Zamboni]

I think he’s one of the best passers on the team. He’s young. Developing. I’d rather see what steps (if any) he takes over the summer and next season. I like him. 

[Randall Flagg]

For years I wanted a short leash on young players finding their way because our lineup around them was so weak. We spent years trying to dump water out of a sinking ship, so Mitts and Tage were guys I had no interest in seeing in Buffalo. Things are different now, and Krebs can absolutely find his way in the lineup the way it's constructed. There are a dozen different ways you can deploy him to try and find the way he helps the team the most, without jeopardizing our place in the standings. I'm happy to let them do that, and have absolutely no idea to what level he will find his way. Tage blew me out of the water, Mitts did better than I expected. Hoping Krebs can do the same 

[Brawndo]

Krebs has the second best defensive metrics of all the forwards. He also has known as a playmaker in the WHL and did very well in the AHL. If they are going to keep him on the fourth line I would like to see him with Zemgus and Pierre Engvall. 

[SDS]

21 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

I wonder if Mitts - Krebs - Kulich works. Really depends on Krebs offseason training. He needs to be way harder on pucks and faster in executing plays. 

Do Mitts and Kulich excel at retrieving passes off defensemen's skates?

[Pimlach]

I said most of my Krebs stuff in the Mittlestadt thread that got hijacked into a Krebs thread.  

I love the enthusiasm and the work ethic.  Needs work on his shot and to keep training for more strength.  Good frame to work with, and pretty nifty passer with vision on the ice

He will process the game faster, play stronger, and be better in the next 2 years.   Because of the talent ahead of him, and behind him, he may be a trade piece and become a real good player somewhere.  Or he could stick in Buffalo depending on lots of other things.  

I think I see a good middle 6 hockey player down the road and a guy that will be a dedicated teammate. 

 

Edited April 16, 2023 by Pimlach

[Weave]

4 hours ago, SDS said:

No man’s land. He’s not quite good enough at anything to be more than a placeholder for someone else. Unfortunately, I don’t see him becoming more skilled than the weak sauce he has shown so far. He’s not big enough to impose his will in his current role. Is good enough to be on the last line of a non-playoff team, but I don’t see his contributions towards a playoff team being good enough.

I think this is stated more harshly than I would state it, but I can’t really disagree with it either.

Of the young forwards we have, he is probably most at risk of being supplanted.

[PerreaultForever]

Depends on who (if anybody) we add in the off season. 

When I knocked Krebs a few weeks back a bunch of people told me all about his great vision, hockey IQ, passing ability and so forth so if all of that is true, he's your #3 center with Quinn and Peterka isn't he? 

Mitts is now Sabres #1 center (although arguably the top 2 lines are equal) and I really think they will try to keep the two top lines you saw at the end of the year as the season starting lines. That's Skinner-Mitts-Tuch and Thompson-Cozens-Greenway. Line 3 is Peterka-Krebs-Quinn and 4 if they re-sign is Girgensens-Jost-Okposo.  If Kulich, Rousek, or somebody else supplants a veteran players will bump up or down that line up as appropriate. 

That's what'll happen if he doesn't sign any FA forwards that is. But it might be the way it is. I suspect (fear?) that management may think, well, if we'd had Levi all year we'd be in the playoffs so we're good, just keep drafting and developing internally. 

[SDS]

35 minutes ago, Weave said:

I think this is stated more harshly than I would state it, but I can’t really disagree with it either.

Of the young forwards we have, he is probably most at risk of being supplanted.

[Weave]

13 minutes ago, SDS said:

Apparently I don’t contribute anything, so you set the bar low.

Edited April 16, 2023 by Weave

[Pimlach]

42 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

Depends on who (if anybody) we add in the off season. 

When I knocked Krebs a few weeks back a bunch of people told me all about his great vision, hockey IQ, passing ability and so forth so if all of that is true, he's your #3 center with Quinn and Peterka isn't he? 

Mitts is now Sabres #1 center (although arguably the top 2 lines are equal) and I really think they will try to keep the two top lines you saw at the end of the year as the season starting lines. That's Skinner-Mitts-Tuch and Thompson-Cozens-Greenway. Line 3 is Peterka-Krebs-Quinn and 4 if they re-sign is Girgensens-Jost-Okposo.  If Kulich, Rousek, or somebody else supplants a veteran players will bump up or down that line up as appropriate. 

That's what'll happen if he doesn't sign any FA forwards that is. But it might be the way it is. I suspect (fear?) that management may think, well, if we'd had Levi all year we'd be in the playoffs so we're good, just keep drafting and developing internally. 

It’s possible they make very few moves, especially with forwards.  However, Adams must address the defense with his surplus at forward.  

[Believer]

6 minutes ago, Weave said:

Apparently I don’t contribute anything, so you set the bar low.

You contribute plenty, Weave…

Think Pimlach has a good read on Krebs… The kid is a puck hound… (Something he shares in common with Tuch, so they must have learned it in LV because we sure don’t appear to coach it here)… His enthusiasm is on display both on the ice and on the bench… Can’t teach that… Young kid with plenty of upside… KA kind of guy… 

[SDS]

1 hour ago, Weave said:

Apparently I don’t contribute anything, so you set the bar low.

I’m not sure what this means. I was just joking about stating something that I thought was true, but also stated sharply.

43 minutes ago, Believer said:

You contribute plenty, Weave…

Think Pimlach has a good read on Krebs… The kid is a puck hound… (Something he shares in common with Tuch, so they must have learned it in LV because we sure don’t appear to coach it here)… His enthusiasm is on display both on the ice and on the bench… Can’t teach that… Young kid with plenty of upside… KA kind of guy… 

No idea why you’re saying they don’t coach it here. When the team is playing well they forecheck relentlessly. It’s really been on display the last two weeks.

[Believer]

1 hour ago, SDS said:

No idea why you’re saying they don’t coach it here. When the team is playing well they forecheck relentlessly. It’s really been on display the last two weeks.

You’re right… Desperation “Must Win” games brought more puck hunt out in us the past few weeks… on and off the wall.

Seemed to me Tuch and Krebs in particular played aggressive puck hound since arriving compared to other forwards.

[Cage]

I think we should let him ride and develop.  It's too early to make definitive statements about his final role.  Hasn't enough crow been eaten on Thompson and Mittelstadt the last couple years.  Even on Dahlin some people wanted to explore turn into a winger, because he'll "never" make it as a defenseman.  Krebs is 22 and just had his first full season in NHL.  Let him develop and we'll see.  People were ready to kick Mittelstadt to the curb at mid-season.  He's 24 and ended the year on a terrific hot streak.  Now he's apparently cemented.