Final Roster - Any Surprises ?

[Weave]

It would appear that, once again, hope is a strategy in Buffalo.

[clink]

On 10/1/2025 at 9:56 AM, Drag0nDan said:

If you got 3 goalies, you don't have any goalies.  

Is that some Eastern thing? 😁

[DarthEbriate]

I'm surprised Kozak hasn't been waived to Rochester yet. He's not a guy that should get claimed because every team has 1-2 Kozaks. But if a team is dealing with injuries, I could see it being 50/50 of losing him. He's not going to score but he does the little things right and is positionally sound. We saw how much calmer the bottom 6 looked when he was in the lineup last year vs., say, Lafferty.

[dudacek]

7 minutes ago, DarthEbriate said:

I'm surprised Kozak hasn't been waived to Rochester yet. He's not a guy that should get claimed because every team has 1-2 Kozaks. But if a team is dealing with injuries, I could see it being 50/50 of losing him. He's not going to score but he does the little things right and is positionally sound. We saw how much calmer the bottom 6 looked when he was in the lineup last year vs., say, Lafferty.

He’s the next shoe to drop. Probably as soon as Thursday when Power is cleared to play.

The next one is the interesting piece; Who goes first when Greenway or Kesselring is ready: the 3rd goalie or the 8th defenceman?

Edited 1 hour ago by dudacek

[DarthEbriate]

10 minutes ago, dudacek said:

He’s the next shoe to drop. Probably as soon as Thursday when Power is cleared to play.

The next one is the interesting piece; Who goes first when Greenway or Kesselring is ready: the 3rd goalie or the 8th defenceman?

The eye test says both: Bryson and Georgiev can go. Johnson won the #7 and personally, I'd keep Kozak as he can give you better, more versatile forward minutes as center or wing -- he's a Danforth type.

I know Ruff loves Geertsen, but ... you have to dress him every game to actually be able to use him as a deterrent, and that's hardly likely because a 5-minute forward is almost useless in today's regular season games. (Florida/Tampa's silly exhibition over the weekend was exactly that -- an exhibition. They'll be civil in all the games that matter where their top lines are dressed.) Plus, Geertsen is hardly a deterrent -- Noesen won't be intimidated by him. They'll do a faceoff-based fight this season and that'll be the end of it.

[dudacek]

49 minutes ago, DarthEbriate said:

The eye test says both: Bryson and Georgiev can go. Johnson won the #7 and personally, I'd keep Kozak as he can give you better, more versatile forward minutes as center or wing -- he's a Danforth type.

I know Ruff loves Geertsen, but ... you have to dress him every game to actually be able to use him as a deterrent, and that's hardly likely because a 5-minute forward is almost useless in today's regular season games. (Florida/Tampa's silly exhibition over the weekend was exactly that -- an exhibition. They'll be civil in all the games that matter where their top lines are dressed.) Plus, Geertsen is hardly a deterrent -- Noesen won't be intimidated by him. They'll do a faceoff-based fight this season and that'll be the end of it.

I don’t disagree with you.

But I’m pretty sure Lindy Ruff does.

I said in the summer that Geertsen was targeted - by Lindy - to be used in this specific role, I’ve seen nothing to change my mind.

This is a coach who has already got - from his own mouth - three Swiss Army knives on the roster (Danforth, Krebs and McLeod).

It’s a coach who likes to roll his top 9 hard and use his 4th liners situationally.

And it’s a coach who sat Andrew Peters on the bench for 55 minutes a game, and played him 55 games a year.

I’d say it’s less deterrent than it is response, but Geertsen is getting the final roster spot.

Edited 48 minutes ago by dudacek