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 13 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 14 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 12 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 5 hours ago by SABRES 0311

[LGR4GM]

Benson - Norris - Tage

Zucker - Kulich/McLeod - Tuch

Quinn - McLeod - Doan

Greenway - Krebs - Danforth

Byram - Dahlin

Power - Kesselring 

Samuelsson - Timmins

[Jorcus]

I see a lot of people putting Quinn on the left wing. He has enough trouble defending on his right to make me think that is not a good idea. My guess is that for now Zucker, Benson, Greenway, Krebs and Kulich are going to rotate up and down the left wing spots. The chances of the opening night line up lasting more than a few games with Ruff is pretty slim. 

 

[Doohickie]

17 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

 

Danforth?

Jones?

I guess I haven't been following closely this summer.

[JohnC]

1 minute ago, Doohickie said:

Danforth?

Jones?

I guess I haven't been following closely this summer.

You were too busy modeling your legs at the car dealership to be aware. 😃

[LGR4GM]

1 hour ago, Jorcus said:

I see a lot of people putting Quinn on the left wing. He has enough trouble defending on his right to make me think that is not a good idea. My guess is that for now Zucker, Benson, Greenway, Krebs and Kulich are going to rotate up and down the left wing spots. The chances of the opening night line up lasting more than a few games with Ruff is pretty slim. 

 

That's why I put him with McLeod and Doan. Quinn likes the offhand side because it is easier to cut into the middle and shoot. With Doan and McLeod, it hides Quinn's defensive issues while giving him a puck carrier in McLeod and a dig it out of the corner in Doan, both of whom are good defenders. I think they want Kulich at center but I could see Krebs getting some time at LW instead of staying on the 4th line since Danforth is here. Greenway to me is almost strictly a 4th line player at this point. He can play PK, and get about 10 other minutes a night on the 4th line while being an adult in the room. I don't need him for more, even if Adams overpaid him. That's my logic at least.

[DarthEbriate]

53 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

That's why I put him with McLeod and Doan. Quinn likes the offhand side because it is easier to cut into the middle and shoot. With Doan and McLeod, it hides Quinn's defensive issues while giving him a puck carrier in McLeod and a dig it out of the corner in Doan, both of whom are good defenders. I think they want Kulich at center but I could see Krebs getting some time at LW instead of staying on the 4th line since Danforth is here. Greenway to me is almost strictly a 4th line player at this point. He can play PK, and get about 10 other minutes a night on the 4th line while being an adult in the room. I don't need him for more, even if Adams overpaid him. That's my logic at least.

Re: Greenway

In terms of starting lineup, he's a 4W. But, if the team does surprise (frequently leading in the 3rd period), then I see him floating up into top-9 minutes to protect the lead at the expense of Quinn.

At this point, though, he's another double-salary for the production you expect from him on the scoresheet (like Girgs and Okposo before him) even if he fills a role that the team needs: some leadership/experience, muscle, and PK skill.

[Taro T]

2 hours ago, Jorcus said:

I see a lot of people putting Quinn on the left wing. He has enough trouble defending on his right to make me think that is not a good idea. My guess is that for now Zucker, Benson, Greenway, Krebs and Kulich are going to rotate up and down the left wing spots. The chances of the opening night line up lasting more than a few games with Ruff is pretty slim. 

 

@LGR4GM beat me to it, but Quinn's best offense has come when he and Peterka swapped wings.  Yes, he's more than a bit of a defensive black hole right now, so regardless of which side you're playing him on, you need to give him defensively responsible linemates.

Personally, would rather get the increased offense from him (which could be substantial) being on his off-wing and worry about the slightly worse defensive play (it CAN'T be much worse than it was if he is going to keep a job in the NHL) as it comes.  

Tuch and McLeod/Norris would be defensively responsible and actually give Quinn players with legit offensive chops that might actually get him the puck or be able to do something with it should he get his passing touch back.  Krebs & Greenway would cover for his defensive deficiencies but wouldn't afford him much help in the offensive zone.

[dudacek]

Probably too many summer margaritas, but I feel too comfortable with too many of these line combos and D pairs.

There are still too many unproven pieces but the group feels more balanced in terms of skill sets.

Effectively, it needs a healthy Norris and one of Quinn, Doan, Kulich or Benson to pop before I can say playoffs are possible, but the latter is something I think more likely than not. Fingers crossed on Norris.

Edited 2 minutes ago by dudacek

[dudacek]

2 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

That's why I put him with McLeod and Doan. Quinn likes the offhand side because it is easier to cut into the middle and shoot. With Doan and McLeod, it hides Quinn's defensive issues while giving him a puck carrier in McLeod and a dig it out of the corner in Doan, both of whom are good defenders..

I had Tuch with Quinn and McLeod for similar reasons. But there’s something really appealing to me about the Doan/Quinn pairing.

This exercise really made me think about trust, in terms of “as a coach, do I trust this guy in this situation?”

Quinn is the guy who burned a lot of trust last year. It’s important that he earns it back because I think in terms of raw skill he is one of our most dangerous forwards