What do we think of the Sabres defence corps?

[inkman]

14 hours ago, dudacek said:

There is not a lot of things to feel good about right now as a Sabres fan.

Could this be one?

• Power 6’6 226
• Kesselring 6’5 215
• Samuelsson 6’4 227
• Timmins 6’3 213
• Dahlin 6’3 204
• Byram 6’1 205

These guys range from pretty good to elite in their skating ability.

No one is small. No one is slow.

Five of them had enough skill to be picked in the top 32 picks of the NHL draft, 3 were the first defencemen taken, 1 is a top 4 defenceman in the league and the best to ever wear blue and gold.

All of them are young enough to say that their best hockey is ahead of them.

All of them are old enough to say that they’ve been around the block a few times.

They’ve got balance and flexibility in terms of where they slot, utility and skill sets.

They all have reasons to be highly motivated.

On paper, the pieces seem to fit.

It’s been so long since we’ve had a good defence corps I probably forget what one looks like.

But can this be it?

Can we actually have something good?

Or are Lindy Ruff and Marty Wilford going to drive these guys into Lake Erie?

Dahlin & Kesselring can’t be the torch holders for the D’s toughness.  Did everyone forget the revelation Gilbert was last season?  A physical defenseman that cleared the crease, played to body and dropped the gloves. Instead we resigned Jacob Bryson and signed Zac Jones.  
 

I just don’t understand what Adams is doing.  Your were a bottom of the roster plug.  He should understand as much as anyone what value having toughness brings to a hockey team. Instead we get 5’9” players that aren’t good a hockey not to mention all the 6’5”+ players the Sabres have that don’t touch anyone.  

[GASabresIUFAN]

15 minutes ago, inkman said:

I just don’t understand what Adams is doing.  

Don’t worry, Adams doesn’t understand it either.  

[LGR4GM]

30 minutes ago, inkman said:

Dahlin & Kesselring can’t be the torch holders for the D’s toughness.  Did everyone forget the revelation Gilbert was last season?  A physical defenseman that cleared the crease, played to body and dropped the gloves. Instead we resigned Jacob Bryson and signed Zac Jones.  
 

I just don’t understand what Adams is doing.  Your were a bottom of the roster plug.  He should understand as much as anyone what value having toughness brings to a hockey team. Instead we get 5’9” players that aren’t good a hockey not to mention all the 6’5”+ players the Sabres have that don’t touch anyone.  

Probably Wilford or someone liked Zac Jones and Adams was like "cool! lets get him!" 

[LGR4GM]

Zac Jones: 115games, 28pts, -10, 76 blk/82, 48 hits/82, -1.1relcf%, -13.6xgf and he's gonna turn 25. 

The MOFO has played only 115 games and he's -13.6xgf but they have him as the 8th defender or maybe 7th over Bryson. If he plays a game in Buffalo it will be 10 games too many. 

[bob_sauve28]

1 hour ago, inkman said:

Dahlin & Kesselring can’t be the torch holders for the D’s toughness.  Did everyone forget the revelation Gilbert was last season?  A physical defenseman that cleared the crease, played to body and dropped the gloves. Instead we resigned Jacob Bryson and signed Zac Jones.  
 

I just don’t understand what Adams is doing.  Your were a bottom of the roster plug.  He should understand as much as anyone what value having toughness brings to a hockey team. Instead we get 5’9” players that aren’t good a hockey not to mention all the 6’5”+ players the Sabres have that don’t touch anyone.  

Gilbert was not good at playing defense though 

[DarthEbriate]

56 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Zac Jones: 115games, 28pts, -10, 76 blk/82, 48 hits/82, -1.1relcf%, -13.6xgf and he's gonna turn 25. 

The MOFO has played only 115 games and he's -13.6xgf but they have him as the 8th defender or maybe 7th over Bryson. If he plays a game in Buffalo it will be 10 games too many. 

I still think he is ultimately a Karmanos claim to provide Clague (and Prow/Brannstrom) replacement. The contract was simply to avoid claiming off waivers.

That said, he's an RFA in 2026... which reeks of Adams and the need for team control. At least he didn't trade a 2nd for Jones' rights.

[inkman]

28 minutes ago, bob_sauve28 said:

Gilbert was not good at playing defense though 

Right. Neither of the guys manning the 7/8 s are that good either.  Pretty typical bottom of the roster D.  So why not employ someone that brings other things to the table, i.e. toughness and size.  
 

Adams might not just be bad at his job but he might also be dense as ***** lead.  I don’t criticize him as much as most do in this forum but it’s not for a lack a disdain, I’m just exhausted on the topic. 
 

This dude might be painfully stupid. It would be so easy to assemble a team this city would adore. Cater to their foundation. Get hard working, tough players. Of course you need talent. We already have Dahlin, Tage, Tuch, so fill out the roster with toughness. 
 

Stop jettisoning players like Will Borgen and Brendon Hagel. Value players with those skills.  This isn’t rocket science.  Build a team the community can get behind.  The garbage that has patrolled the ice the last decade and a half is pathetic.  
 

You got your top of the roster players, stop employing Samuelsson and Quinn.  Put actual men in those roles.  My lord it isn’t that hard. 

[dudacek]

25 minutes ago, DarthEbriate said:

I still think he is ultimately a Karmanos claim to provide Clague (and Prow/Brannstrom) replacement. The contract was simply to avoid claiming off waivers.

That said, he's an RFA in 2026... which reeks of Adams and the need for team control. At least he didn't trade a 2nd for Jones' rights.

I kinda look at the revised depth chart as this:

• Dahlin -> Dahlin
• Byram -> Byram
• Power -> Power
• Samuelsson -> Kesselring
• Jokiharju/Docker -> Samuelsson
• Clifton -> Timmins
• Bryson -> Bryson
• Clague -> Jones
• Johnson -> Johnson
• Novikov -> Novikov

Hopefully the prospects at the bottom can push their way up into the call-up mix, but they won’t start there.

Kesselring makes them better, but “good” still rests a lot on what version they get of Power and Mule.

[dudacek]

7 minutes ago, inkman said:

Right. Neither of the guys manning the 7/8 s are that good either.  Pretty typical bottom of the roster D.  So why not employ someone that brings other things to the table, i.e. toughness and size.  
 

Adams might not just be bad at his job but he might also be dense as ***** lead.  I don’t criticize him as much as most do in this forum but it’s not for a lack a disdain, I’m just exhausted on the topic. 
 

This dude might be painfully stupid. It would be so easy to assemble a team this city would adore. Cater to their foundation. Get hard working, tough players. Of course you need talent. We already have Dahlin, Tage, Tuch, so fill out the roster with toughness. 
 

Stop jettisoning players like Will Borgen and Brendon Hagel. Value players with those skills.  This isn’t rocket science.  Build a team the community can get behind.  The garbage that has patrolled the ice the last decade and a half is pathetic.  
 

You got your top of the roster players, stop employing Samuelsson and Quinn.  Put actual men in those roles.  My lord it isn’t that hard. 

It would have been such a small thing to just not sign Bryson and use that money to sign Gilbert or a reasonable facsimile.

[inkman]

19 minutes ago, dudacek said:

It would have been such a small thing to just not sign Bryson and use that money to sign Gilbert or a reasonable facsimile.

Not to mention he’s a local kid. Not that I need a team of Buffalo born and raised but it’s a nice complement making inroads into the community.  Adams is operating at a level only he and Pegula understand. 

[PerreaultForever]

I have to see Timmins play before I decide. I can't say I've really paid attention to him in the NHL. The D is big enough, not sure it's strong enough or tough enough. Much of it still depends on Power getting better and Samuelsson not sucking entirely. 

[TheAud]

1 hour ago, PerreaultForever said:

I have to see Timmins play before I decide. I can't say I've really paid attention to him in the NHL. The D is big enough, not sure it's strong enough or tough enough. Much of it still depends on Power getting better growing a pair and Samuelsson not sucking entirely. 

Fixed it for you. But I completely agree with your points here. 

[inkman]

25 minutes ago, TheAud said:

Fixed it for you. But I completely agree with your points here. 

The last thing we need is another Tyler Myers who wasn’t naturally physical but knew he had to be to stay in the league. He would just spas out and commit a penalty rather than playing the body in a natural way.  

[LGR4GM]

I tried to tell ppl what Power was. 

[TheAud]

1 hour ago, inkman said:

The last thing we need is another Tyler Myers who wasn’t naturally physical but knew he had to be to stay in the league. He would just spas out and commit a penalty rather than playing the body in a natural way.  

I hear you but I am just looking for Power to use his frame to lean on players in the corners and clear out in front of the net, not to try to be the reincarnation of Chris Pronger. His active avoidance of contact makes him hard for me to even watch without feeling nauseous. 

I like his offensive game for the most part. 

Edited 1 hour ago by TheAud