GDT: Calder Cup QF: Amerks vs Rocket, Gm1: Wed May 14 7p

[LGR4GM]

22 minutes ago, JohnC said:

I appreciate your evaluation. When I asked the question it relates to how they would do in the NHL.

Benson

Helenius

Kulich

Östlund

That's in 5yrs tbc

[PromoTheRobot]

1 hour ago, LGR4GM said:

Benson

Helenius

Kulich

Östlund

That's in 5yrs tbc

Ryan Johnson? I also think Zach Metsa is excellent but no one sees him in the NHL.

Edited 7 hours ago by PromoTheRobot

[inkman]

6 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Ryan Johnson? I also think Zach Metsa is excellent but no one sees him in the NHL.

Zach Metsa is 5’9”.  I think resigning Bryson killed any chance Metsa has at the Sabres.  Unless he’s significantly better than Bryson, which I’m not sure there is evidence of. 

[LGR4GM]

7 minutes ago, inkman said:

Zach Metsa is 5’9”.  I think resigning Bryson killed any chance Metsa has at the Sabres.  Unless he’s significantly better than Bryson, which I’m not sure there is evidence of. 

Came here to say this. I would have signed Metsa and dumped Bryson. Metsa is at least a right shot. 

Honestly Buffalo needs to get rid of Samuelsson, Bryson, Clifton, and either Power or Byram.

[JohnC]

1 hour ago, LGR4GM said:

Benson

Helenius

Kulich

Östlund

That's in 5yrs tbc

If your top two players turn out to be better than Kulich, then that is very encouraging. 

[LGR4GM]

Just now, JohnC said:

If your top two players turn out to be better than Kulich, then that is very encouraging. 

Zach Benson is already better than Kulich. I think this board is way too low on Helenius. Kulich and Helenius though could be put next to each other. 

[sabremike]

9 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Came here to say this. I would have signed Metsa and dumped Bryson. Metsa is at least a right shot. 

Honestly Buffalo needs to get rid of Samuelsson, Bryson, Clifton, and either Power or Byram.

Yup, no thought to roster fit whatsoever.

Kevyn is the worst NHL GM since Mad Mike's reign of error on LI came to an end.

[JohnC]

9 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Zach Benson is already better than Kulich. I think this board is way too low on Helenius. Kulich and Helenius though could be put next to each other. 

What about a kid line with Quin/Kulich/Peterka?

[Jorcus]

15 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Zach Benson is already better than Kulich. I think this board is way too low on Helenius. Kulich and Helenius though could be put next to each other. 

Kulich may be able to do things that Benson can do. Benson will never be able to do things that Kulich can do. 

[DarthEbriate]

50 minutes ago, inkman said:

Zach Metsa is 5’9”.  I think resigning Bryson killed any chance Metsa has at the Sabres.  Unless he’s significantly better than Bryson, which I’m not sure there is evidence of. 

The evidence for Metsa is that he is 5'9", doesn't have an NHL contract, and Leone can't keep him out of the lineup; they're simply better with him dressed. He even is an alternate captain this season.

AHL statswise, Metsa has the edge, though it's not by landslide.

Bryson: 76 GP, 4-29-33, +10.   .43 points per game.  No playoff games

Metsa:  123 GP, 14-56-70, +30.   .57 points per game.   Playoffs 21 GP, 1-5-6 +2

[pi2000]

we're debating Bryson vs Metsa?

yikes 😂

[PromoTheRobot]

20 minutes ago, pi2000 said:

we're debating Bryson vs Metsa?

yikes 😂

Have you ever watched Zach Metsa play. I'm talking more than one shift?

[Porous Five Hole]

1 hour ago, LGR4GM said:

Zach Benson is already better than Kulich. I think this board is way too low on Helenius. Kulich and Helenius though could be put next to each other. 

I know you’re not sleeping on Östlund, but the board should know he had a great year and has solidified himself as a top prospect. We really didn’t know what to expect other than he had a terrific world junior once and very little experience on North American rink sizes.

I think he will lead the Amerks in points next year and has already proven he’s more than steady in their defensive structure.  We’re also starting to see some of his silky hands now that he’s healthy & more adjusted to the size of the league and size of the ice. He’s needs to work on strength training and the on-ice assertiveness will continue to develop.  
 

He put up 19G 17A 36 pts in 45 games and a +20 as a rookie.  
If I may average this out for a full season of production, here’s how that stacks against another winger who had to make the same adjustments to North America in his first year at the same age:

Östlund (projected):

30G 27A 57 PTS in 72 GP, actual +\- is +20

Peterka:

28G 40A 68 PTS in 70 GP, +\- was -3

Exceeding JJ’s average goals per game is a really good sign.  

[Archie Lee]

56 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Have you ever watched Zach Metsa play. I'm talking more than one shift?

Perhaps one thing to consider in the comparison, is that Metsa is only 11 months younger than Bryson. Metsa was 24 when he started his last year of college. He was 26 at the start of this AHL season. Bryson has been a full-time NHL roster player, more or less, since he was 23. I’m not taking anything away from Metsa, or really trying to defend Bryson, but maybe people would think differently about Bryson if he had not played in the NHL prior to age 27. 

Edited 5 hours ago by Archie Lee

[DarthEbriate]

1 hour ago, pi2000 said:

we're debating Bryson vs Metsa?

yikes 😂

It's an Amerks thread. (Where they both belong.)

[Jorcus]

One of the forgotten players in all this is Tyson Kozak. When he came up to the Sabres I thought it was pretty much a move of convenience. He was waivers exempt and had a few years of AHL time under his belt. Nothing stunning on the score sheet but responsible and not a big drop off from the other 4th liners we have right now. I took a look at his NHL edge stats and was surprised to see how good they were. He is fast and has a hard shot. Not the usual numbers you see from a 7th round pick. He has had his share of injury problems but it's not impossible that he rounds into a good NHL forward.  

[LGR4GM]

1 hour ago, Porous Five Hole said:

I know you’re not sleeping on Östlund, but the board should know he had a great year and has solidified himself as a top prospect. We really didn’t know what to expect other than he had a terrific world junior once and very little experience on North American rink sizes.

I think he will lead the Amerks in points next year and has already proven he’s more than steady in their defensive structure.  We’re also starting to see some of his silky hands now that he’s healthy & more adjusted to the size of the league and size of the ice. He’s needs to work on strength training and the on-ice assertiveness will continue to develop.  
 

He put up 19G 17A 36 pts in 45 games and a +20 as a rookie.  
If I may average this out for a full season of production, here’s how that stacks against another winger who had to make the same adjustments to North America in his first year at the same age:

Östlund (projected):

30G 27A 57 PTS in 72 GP, actual +\- is +20

Peterka:

28G 40A 68 PTS in 70 GP, +\- was -3

Exceeding JJ’s average goals per game is a really good sign.  

Except Östlund is older and hit the AHL fresh off time in the SHL versus Peterka coming out of the DEL.

[JohnC]

3 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

Zach Benson is already better than Kulich. I think this board is way too low on Helenius. Kulich and Helenius though could be put next to each other. 

I'm not sure that is the case???? Not saying you are wrong but I believe that Kulich has much more offensive upside. I like the grittiness of Benson but not confident about his offensive production. Although, I would love to be proven wrong. 

[dudacek]

1 hour ago, JohnC said:

I'm not sure that is the case???? Not saying you are wrong but I believe that Kulich has much more offensive upside. I like the grittiness of Benson but not confident about his offensive production. Although, I would love to be proven wrong. 

We probably shouldn't ignore the fact Kulich got 9 assists, often playing with the league's best goal scorer and is a year older than Benson.

D3 seasons of 1st-round Sabre forwards:

• Reinhart 79 17/30/47 -11
• Eichel 67 25/39/64 -25
• Nylander 12 2/2/4 -4
• Mittelstadt 31 4/5/9 -2
• Cozens 79 13/25/38 -19
• Quinn 74 14/23/37 -7
• Kulich 62, 15/9/24 -4
• Benson ???

And just because I noticed him:

• Power 76 6/27/33 +8

He's right there with Sam Reinhart in terms of the 2nd-most advanced guy behind Eichel. That +8 really sticks out. Something to think about.

 

[LGR4GM]

1 hour ago, JohnC said:

I'm not sure that is the case???? Not saying you are wrong but I believe that Kulich has much more offensive upside. I like the grittiness of Benson but not confident about his offensive production. Although, I would love to be proven wrong. 

Kulich has more goal scoring upside but idk about offensive upside. Zach Benson feeds pucks into HD areas with a skill the Sabres haven't yet capitalized on. Benson is superior defensively. 

I like Kulich a lot and his skating is faster than Benson which gives him an advantage. 

[JohnC]

5 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Kulich has more goal scoring upside but idk about offensive upside. Zach Benson feeds pucks into HD areas with a skill the Sabres haven't yet capitalized on. Benson is superior defensively. 

I like Kulich a lot and his skating is faster than Benson which gives him an advantage. 

These are two young players with upside and energy. I'm not complaining. The two young players who needs to step it up are Quinn and Power. My suspicion is that Quinn might be dealt for more veteran presence. 

[JohnC]

16 minutes ago, dudacek said:

We probably shouldn't ignore the fact Kulich got 9 assists, often playing with the league's best goal scorer and is a year older than Benson.

D3 seasons of 1st-round Sabre forwards:

• Reinhart 79 17/30/47 -11
• Eichel 67 25/39/64 -25
• Nylander 12 2/2/4 -4
• Mittelstadt 31 4/5/9 -2
• Cozens 79 13/25/38 -19
• Quinn 74 14/23/37 -7
• Kulich 62, 15/9/24 -4
• Benson ???

And just because I noticed him:

• Power 76 6/27/33 +8

He's right there with Sam Reinhart in terms of the 2nd-most advanced guy behind Eichel. That +8 really sticks out. Something to think about.

 

We got a collection of young players with upside. Now the challenge this offseason is to get a few more veteran players around them to put them in a position to individually and team-wise succeed. 

[LGR4GM]

5 hours ago, Jorcus said:

Kulich may be able to do things that Benson can do. Benson will never be able to do things that Kulich can do. 

I do not agree. 

[Taro T]

Just now, LGR4GM said:

I do not agree. 

When the 2 are actually in their prime they could be great complements for each other.