Sabres interested in Marco Rossi

[JohnC]

41 minutes ago, dudacek said:

You don’t think he can contribute 45 points in a consistent top 6 role?

I’m pretty comfortable with that considering he put up 30 as a teen in a lesser role.

Also, the only way Peca was on the Sabres 3rd line was if you defined 3rd line as “matchup line”.

He led all forwards in ice time during the run to the finals with 21:44 a night.

If he's bringing you 45 pts in a top six role then in my opinion he's not a top six player. I have extolled the virtues of Benson as a player as much as most people here. However, because of his current lack of physical development I don't see him being a top two caliber of player. Will he eventually do so? I'm confident that he will. But right now, I would say no. I have never felt that he was a liability playing on the top line. But that is not to say that I felt that he was providing the team first line production. 

If he comes into camp more physically developed than in his prior years, then good for him and the team. I will be open minded about where he should be slotted. But what I have seen so far that type of leap forward is a lot faster than I expect.  

[dudacek]

6 minutes ago, JohnC said:

If he's bringing you 45 pts in a top six role then in my opinion he's not a top six player. I have extolled the virtues of Benson as a player as much as most people here. However, because of his current lack of physical development I don't see him being a top two caliber of player. Will he eventually do so? I'm confident that he will. But right now, I would say no. I have never felt that he was a liability playing on the top line. But that is not to say that I felt that he was providing the team first line production. 

If he comes into camp more physically developed than in his prior years, then good for him and the team. I will be open minded about where he should be slotted. But what I have seen so far that type of leap forward is a lot faster than I expect.  

Not debating your point, just adding context:

There are 192 top 6 forward slots in the NHL. 

45 points was good for 137th in forward scoring last year.

[ska-T Palmtown]

13 minutes ago, JohnC said:

If he's bringing you 45 pts in a top six role then in my opinion he's not a top six player. I have extolled the virtues of Benson as a player as much as most people here. However, because of his current lack of physical development I don't see him being a top two caliber of player. Will he eventually do so? I'm confident that he will. But right now, I would say no. I have never felt that he was a liability playing on the top line. But that is not to say that I felt that he was providing the team first line production. 

If he comes into camp more physically developed than in his prior years, then good for him and the team. I will be open minded about where he should be slotted. But what I have seen so far that type of leap forward is a lot faster than I expect.  

45 points puts you at around 150th in the league in scoring. 91 of those players are listed by ESPN as "C" or "D" (yes i know there is discrepancy between where they are listed and where they play) ... that means ~ 60 wings scored 45 or more points last year. Given that 2 wings per team play on the TOP line ... one could make an argument that 45 points as a wing is borderline TOP line production. 

Not sure where the arbitrary nature of "45 points is not top 6 production" comes from. But stats don't back it up. I think there was a long discussion on McLeod in this same context. In today's watered down NHL, not every top line player is putting in 90 points ...

Edit: Dang, @dudacek typed less and beat me to it! and I was totally debating the point 🙂 

Edited 20 hours ago by ska-T Palmtown

[JohnC]

1 hour ago, dudacek said:

Not debating your point, just adding context:

There are 192 top 6 forward slots in the NHL. 

45 points was good for 137th in forward scoring last year.

Right now, his shot is so weak that I don't see him as a first or second line forward. If he came into camp more physically developed and more capable from an offensive standpoint, I would be ecstatic to be proven wrong. The more important issue for me regarding his individual stats is not what his production is right now but rather whether can it be surpassed by another player. We'll have to see who the front office brings in to determine what his role will be. Although he played a lot on the first line last year, he was in my estimation not a first line caliber of player. The criticism for his elevated role should be directed to the front office. 

Edited 19 hours ago by JohnC

[Archie Lee]

14 minutes ago, JohnC said:

If he's bringing you 45 pts in a top six role then in my opinion he's not a top six player. I have extolled the virtues of Benson as a player as much as most people here. However, because of his current lack of physical development I don't see him being a top two caliber of player. Will he eventually do so? I'm confident that he will. But right now, I would say no. I have never felt that he was a liability playing on the top line. But that is not to say that I felt that he was providing the team first line production. 

If he comes into camp more physically developed than in his prior years, then good for him and the team. I will be open minded about where he should be slotted. But what I have seen so far that type of leap forward is a lot faster than I expect.  

Evan Rodriguez had 32 points in 82 games. He played most of the year in Florida’s top 6. 

Edmonton’s 5th and 6th highest scoring forwards had 30 points. 

Carolina’s 5 and 6th highest scoring forwards had 39 and 36 points respectively. 

I wouldn’t want Benson/Kulich/Quinn as line 2, but Benson with Norris/Thompson or McLeod/Tuch, could be very effective lines.  
 

 

 

[JohnC]

13 minutes ago, ska-T Palmtown said:

45 points puts you at around 150th in the league in scoring. 91 of those players are listed by ESPN as "C" or "D" (yes i know there is discrepancy between where they are listed and where they play) ... that means ~ 60 wings scored 45 or more points last year. Given that 2 wings per team play on the TOP line ... one could make an argument that 45 points as a wing is borderline TOP line production. 

Not sure where the arbitrary nature of "45 points is not top 6 production" comes from. But stats don't back it up. I think there was a long discussion on McLeod in this same context. In today's watered down NHL, not every top line player is putting in 90 points ...

Edit: Dang, @dudacek typed less and beat me to it! and I was totally debating the point 🙂 

It is understood that @dudacek is a quick draw. Everyone knows that. 😀

[JohnC]

5 minutes ago, Archie Lee said:

Evan Rodriguez had 32 points in 82 games. He played most of the year in Florida’s top 6. 

Edmonton’s 5th and 6th highest scoring forwards had 30 points. 

Carolina’s 5 and 6th highest scoring forwards had 39 and 36 points respectively. 

I wouldn’t want Benson/Kulich/Quinn as line 2, but Benson with Norris/Thompson or McLeod/Tuch, could be very effective lines.  
 

 

 

Watching his play last year, I thought he lacked the caliber of shot to be a first line player.  As you point out,  Evan Rodriques played most of the season as a top six player. That doesn't mean that he is a top six player. E Rod is an earnest and consistent player who played a lot on the top two lines. However, that doesn't mean that he is a top two-line caliber player and is paid commensurately so. Because of the cap teams are constructed differently. There is a distinction between being on a top line and being a top line player. The pay scale tells how he is ranked as a player. 

[LGR4GM]

1 hour ago, The Jokeman said:

Yeah I'm old school that see 3rd liners as defenders, top 2 lines are majority of scoring and 4th liners are grinders that don't kill you with bad defense. Benson to me isn't a great on offense. He might get to 45 in three or four seasons but see it next year for sure.

I'll bet you 50 bucks Zach Benson produces above the 45pts in 82 mark next year. 

That's 0.55pts per game or higher. 

[The Jokeman]

12 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

I'll bet you 50 bucks Zach Benson produces above the 45pts in 82 mark next year. 

That's 0.55pts per game or higher. 

Until the roster set it's tough to say and I don't make money bets but if want a gentleman's bet sure. 

[PerreaultForever]

4 hours ago, kas23 said:

I think Rossi wasn’t treated fairly this past season. He’s an actual 2-way forward who put up 60 points. Sort of the same production we traded for Byram, but at least this may seem sustainable. He entered the doghouse in the playoffs because they placed him on the 4th line and as a result, played like a 4th line player. The guy is 23. I think he has a great chance of becoming more consistent. I view him as as a McLeod with a higher ceiling. I’m with you though, I wouldn’t send them Peterka for him unless more is coming back.

I think Foligno’s best days are behind him, but still would be a positive addition, even if we’re paying him $4M for the next 4 years. 

Of course Foligno's best days are behind him, but he'd still instantly be the toughest guy on the team and he'd bring in his leadership and work ethic. I'd rather have him in practice yelling at Quinn to pick it up rather than having him on Minnesota shoving Quinn to the ice with one hand and a nasty look. We desperately need some hard tough leaders to help whip these country club kids into shape. 

[LGR4GM]

1 hour ago, The Jokeman said:

Until the roster set it's tough to say and I don't make money bets but if want a gentleman's bet sure. 

a gentleman's wager it is

[JP51]

13 hours ago, CallawaySabres said:

If you think you really had to explain that for people to catch the humor, the reputation and sense of humor of this board has sunk like the Titanic. 🥹🤣

I was actually going to type something very similar, but thought, no need.
 

 

I actually did need to explain I was moderately shocked myself, but in defense this poster is a pretty literal one... picking up sarcasm was not a specialty... lol c'est la vie bottom line is that it has gotten so bad that people actually dont know which way is up any more... it all falls in a category of "You cant make this sh%t up" LOL