How would you line them up?

[Slack_in_MA]

38 minutes ago, Weave said:

I still grimace every time I see Quinn in a mock lineup.  He so needed to be packaged up for a top 6 vet.

Agree.

And Benson on the top line gives me pause. Fine player, but first line? Not yet, IMHO.

[dudacek]

1 hour ago, dudacek said:

Good question. Has Adams actually talked publicly since Byram signed?

In the postdraft presser, he referenced Timmins as a “cleaner” player, which is what they wanted “in that particular spot in our lineup”.

I think that’s what put the Power partner thought in my head because he’d used similar language earlier when talking about what Power needed in a partner and why he thought Docker did pretty well with Power.

@LGR4GM

check out what Adams says about Power’s partner starting at 47:30ish in the context of what he said about Timmins and what we know of Kesselring’s game.

It explains where I’m coming from

https://www.nhl.com/sabres/video/topic/sabres-coaches/ruff-and-adams-locker-cleanout-6371704447112

And the last piece is in Adams post July 1 session where he makes reference to having “two big shutdown guys” together as an option for Lindy.

You can squint and call that Timmins and Mule, but to me, that sounds like Mule and Kesselring

Edited 9 hours ago by dudacek

[GASabresIUFAN]

I'm not sure the opening day lineup matters. it's about who ends up making a positive impact of the NHL roster and who doesn't.  

Last year Adams "revamped" the 4th line to be tougher to play against and 2/3 of that group are gone and the 3rd, Malenstyn is likely the 13th or 14th forward heading into camp.

Last year UPL was coming off a great season with a new big $ deal and of course flopped.

Last year Kulich was slated to spend all of last season helping the Amerks.  Instead he became an impact player for the Sabres.  

The real question is how healthy can a lineup that includes Greenway, Norris, Quinn, and Samuelsson stay? Can guys like Timmins, Johnson and Doan, who have never played a full NHL season, be relied upon?

Who is this year's Kulich?  Östlund? Helenius? Rosen? I wouldn't be surprised by early this season if one of the big Russian D emerge and play in our top 6.

Edited 9 hours ago by GASabresIUFAN

[Archie Lee]

7 hours ago, dudacek said:

My opening night lineup card:

Benson Norris Thompson

Quinn McLeod Tuch

Greenway Kulich Zucker

Danforth Krebs Doan

Byram Dahlin

Power Timmins

Samuelsson Kesselring

Luukkonen

Lyon

Spares: Malenstyn, Jones

 

This is very close to what I would go with. I actually really like the roster, from a talent perspective and from the angle of potential for future success. 

Of that roster though, how many players would you say have most likely already played the best hockey of their careers, or the best that is expected of them?  I would say 5 or 6. Tuch, Zucker, Greenway, Danforth, Lyon. Maybe Thompson. 

Now do the same with the teams that made the playoffs last year. You need to get down to Montreal and Ottawa to get close. That’s great if we are still primarily focused on building for the future, and we are just hoping that this is the year we sneak into WC2. But it’s still a roster built largely on hope. If we are really serious about playoffs, this is the year to better balance the roster. 

Edited 8 hours ago by Archie Lee

[7+6=13]

Unconventional and not going to happen, but I'd like to see the below offense be given a shot at working.  I'd like to find a combo that puts Power on the 3rd pairing until he earns moving up but I don't like he and Samuelsson as left shots together.

 

Benson Thompson Tuch

Quinn Norris Zucker

Greenway McLeod Doan

Danforth Kulich Krebs 

 

Dahlin Kesselring

Byram Timmins

Samuelsson Power 

Luukkonen

Lyon

Spares: Malenstyn, Jones

 

[SABRES 0311]

Zucker Norris TNT

Quinn Kulich Tuch

Greenway McLeod Benson

Malenstyn Krebs Doan

Dahlin Byram

Power Kesselring

Timmins Samuelsson

Edited 1 hour ago by SABRES 0311

[LGR4GM]

Benson - Norris - Tage

Zucker - Kulich/McLeod - Tuch

Quinn - McLeod - Doan

Greenway - Krebs - Danforth

Byram - Dahlin

Power - Kesselring 

Samuelsson - Timmins