Annual expectations thread 2023/24: #78 Jacob Bryson

[dudacek]

In the space of a little over three weeks, Bryson went from being perceived as a serviceable young NHL bottom-pairing defenceman, to being the unanimous whipping boy for Buffalo fandom. Other Sabres defenders got hurt, Bryson got elevated into the top 4, and promptly went -14 in an 11-game stretch right about the same time the Sabres lost 8 games in a row. Although he stabilized to the tune of going ‘just’ -9 the rest of the way, he never really recovered and became a frequent healthy scratch. From November on, the Sabres went 3-9 in games he played more than about 16 minutes, and 20-18 in those games he played less.

https://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=187489

Surprisingly enough, Bryson was a tad over the magic 50% for his 5-on-5 Corsi last year despite his abysmal +/-. And it is hard to remember he was a relatively neutral performer over his 1st NHL season-and-a-half before his horrendous fall of 2022. Was he the victim of a bad month, under horrible circumstances, or was he exposed as a minor-leaguer who got off to a fortunate NHL start? The Sabres clearly liked him, given that unexpected $1.8 million deal he signed a year ago, but they clearly also aren’t going to count on a bounceback, acquiring three new defenders since the deadline. He opens camp as the #8 on most depth charts.

What do you expect from Bryson this year?
(Last year’s takes here)

 

[Eleven]

There's this special place on the Genesee River just for him.  It's called "Rochester."  Unless he can learn to cook a decent steak, in which case Russell's or Chop House are good options.

Edited August 30, 2023 by Eleven

[Claude Balls]

Somewhere other than Buffalo should've been an option.

[SwampD]

He’s young, and he’s got quicks.

He’s going to surprise people this year.

[Zamboni]

He’ll be a depth player who is in and out of the Sabres lineup due to injuries or a 3rd line Dman going thru a slump.

 

He’ll get 10-12 points.

OR 

He’ll be a part of a trade.

 

Bryson will be 26 in November.

[Pimlach]

5 minutes ago, SwampD said:

He’s young, and he’s got quicks.

He’s going to surprise people this year.

He is small and weak.  He should not make the roster if we are to take a significant step forward. 

[GASabresIUFAN]

Option not in the poll.  He gets beat out by Clague again and spends the season in the A.

[PerreaultForever]

option 4. AHL all star. 

[Claude Balls]

1 hour ago, SwampD said:

He’s young, and he’s got quicks.

He’s going to surprise people this year.

Oof, that's a bold statement. He is basically the same size as Torey Krug. But the talent level is night and day. Krug had a bad year in St. Louis, but up until then he was an above avg undersized d-man. Bryson is well below avg. The thing I like about Krug (other than playing for Boston) is he is feisty and has tenacity. He actually has a set of balls between his legs. The only thing Bryson has between his legs is a tampon string. He's a lost cause imo.

[French Collection]

He was a whipping boy for a reason, he sucked. I use a blanket statement like that because I get upset thinking of al of his faults and errors. He should be in Rochester, I doubt any teams want to take on his salary.

I would rather see Clague be ahead of him or Johnson/Novikov get a chance when they seem ready for a shot.

[nfreeman]

Well, it's between Bryson and Stillman for the #7 spot, and neither of them covered himself in glory last year.  It's quite possible that Bryson beats out Stillman for the #7 spot and dresses for plenty of games due to injuries in the top 6.

[mjd1001]

I'm hopeful for him to have a bounce-back season.  He is what, only 24 or 25? D-men take longer to develop than forwards usually. Guys who turn into NHL caliber guys who are not early first round picks often take until their late 20's before they reach their potential.  Does that guarantee he will be great? No, it sure doesn't. But he has talent, skating ability, and he still has a chance to improve.

I don't know if it is an 'expectation', but more a strong hope he will be an improved 6/7 guy with the ability to jump up the lineup in case of injuries and be more effective than last year.

Edited August 30, 2023 by mjd1001

[Mustache of God]

I've been saying for years that as long as Bryson is on the team we will not be a playoff caliber team. He should only be called up if injuries start to mount.

[SwampD]

9 hours ago, Claude Balls said:

Oof, that's a bold statement. He is basically the same size as Torey Krug. But the talent level is night and day. Krug had a bad year in St. Louis, but up until then he was an above avg undersized d-man. Bryson is well below avg. The thing I like about Krug (other than playing for Boston) is he is feisty and has tenacity. He actually has a set of balls between his legs. The only thing Bryson has between his legs is a tampon string. He's a lost cause imo.

The surprise could be that he wont be just terrible.😂

He can really skate, but boy does he get pushed around.

[Taro T]

Durn shame they traded Lyubushkin away because he's the 9 if Busch is still here. 

Personally like Clague's game better than Bryson's (kind of like saying paying bills is less annoying than filling out tax forms; don't really like either task) but expecting Bryson stays the 8 which means he'll play in about 20 games this year.  But don't see him as anything more than that.

[Pimlach]

1 hour ago, Taro T said:

Durn shame they traded Lyubushkin away because he's the 9 if Busch is still here. 

Personally like Clague's game better than Bryson's (kind of like saying paying bills is less annoying than filling out tax forms; don't really like either task) but expecting Bryson stays the 8 which means he'll play in about 20 games this year.  But don't see him as anything more than that.

Others here showed fancy analytical data indicating Boosh was our worst defender last season.  I sure did not see that on the ice.  
 

I will not like it if Bryson gets 20 games.  

[Taro T]

39 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Others here showed fancy analytical data indicating Boosh was our worst defender last season.  I sure did not see that on the ice.  
 

I will not like it if Bryson gets 20 games.  

And getting away from the focus of this thread, but Lyubushkin was very bad when he was playing through the early season leg injury especially when he was paired with somebody that should've been in Ra-cha-cha (which was pretty much everybody on the depth chart below Fitzgerald).  When healthy, he was pretty much as advertised.  Still am disappointed that we won't see how he would've worked out in his 2nd year in Granato's system especially when he'd've been paired with a player better than himself when on the 2nd pairing or drawing relatively easy minutes with another actual NHLer on the 3rd pairing.  But they likely made assurances about playing time to Johnson to get him to sign and Granato loves him some Jokiharju; so he likely was pencilled in as #7 and it's understandable why he'd want out if he in fact did want out.

Hoping the estimate of 20 games for Bryson is on the high side.  But would be very surprised if Samuelsson and Johnson both exceed 65 games and the rest of the crew will get dinged up some too.

[dudacek]

Clague was #7 in games played for the D last year with 33.

Fitzgerald, 23, Stillman 18 and Pilut 17 were 8, 9, 10

The previous year it went Miller 38, Butcher, 37, and Fitzgerald 32.

Bryson was actually #2 that year, after Dahlin.

[French Collection]

8 hours ago, Pimlach said:

Others here showed fancy analytical data indicating Boosh was our worst defender last season.  I sure did not see that on the ice.  
 

I will not like it if Bryson gets 20 games.  

I think Ryan Johnson can be better than Bryson by mid season. Bryson may become a good AHL puck mover but Johnson’s bread and butter is a skating shut down game.

I hope I am right with this prediction as I am done with Bryson. He would have to have a terrific bounce back camp and pre season to even warrant the #7 spot in my opinion.

Edited August 31, 2023 by French Collection

[Sabres Fan in NS]

Who ??

 

[Pimlach]

9 hours ago, nfreeman said:

Well, it's between Bryson and Stillman for the #7 spot, and neither of them covered himself in glory last year.  It's quite possible that Bryson beats out Stillman for the #7 spot and dresses for plenty of games due to injuries in the top 6.

Dahlin, Muel, Power, Clifton, E Johnson and Joker => ok.  

6/7/8 of  Stillman/Bryson/Clague =>   Yuck.  

R Johnson will eventually see NHL ice given this situation.  

[dudacek]

42 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Dahlin, Muel, Power, Clifton, E Johnson and Joker => ok.  

6/7/8 of  Stillman/Bryson/Clague =>   Yuck.  

R Johnson will eventually see NHL ice given this situation.  

Are there actually NHL teams with a 7-8-9 significantly better than Stillman-Bryson-Clague?

Boston has Mitchell-Regula-Lohrei. Florida is rolling out Reilly-Carlsson-Kiersted.

Isnt 7-8-9 usually “yuck” by definition?

Edited August 31, 2023 by dudacek

[Pimlach]

3 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Are there actually NHL teams with a 7-8-9 significantly better than Stillman-Bryson-Clague?

Boston has Mitchell-Regula-Lohrei. Florida is rolling out Reilly-Carlsson-Kiersted.

Isnt 7-8-9 “yuck” by definition?

It is because none of our 7/8/9 are good hopeful NHL players.   Can’t wait until we see Ryan Johnson and Novikov move up the depth chart.  Players we have hope for that can push the people above them.  

Edited August 31, 2023 by Pimlach

[dudacek]

I just can't get past how easily Bryson gets overpowered.

For most of his 1st 2 years he would tease me that his feet were good enough to compensate, but last year they did not.

And he brings no offence whatsoever.

I just don't think there's room for him as a regular on a good NHL blueline corps, even one as potentially top-heavy as ours.

As a spare part he's probably as good as any, but I think I'd rather have Stillman's bite.

 

[LGR4GM]

7 hours ago, dudacek said:

I just can't get past how easily Bryson gets overpowered.

For most of his 1st 2 years he would tease me that his feet were good enough to compensate, but last year they did not.

And he brings no offence whatsoever.

I just don't think there's room for him as a regular on a good NHL blueline corps, even one as potentially top-heavy as ours.

As a spare part he's probably as good as any, but I think I'd rather have Stillman's bite.

 

He's the example of size being a detriment. He's too small to handle the contact and not fast or smart enough to escape it.