Josh Norris has an Upper Body Injury; Zach Benson is hospitalized

[Pimlach]

5 hours ago, DarthEbriate said:

I'll nibble on the quibble.   

Hmmm.... are we still doing phrasing? Brew that is true... nevermind. Onward!

 

Per the bold: Yes, all too true (and exaggerated with Benson and Kesselring out of the lineup).

But although Thompson can play center, he isn't as long as Ruff is coach because he doesn't play defense as Ruff expects him to.

Here are the center spines in the division. One team is missing the best center in the entire division (and most people around the league would their new #1 over anyone the Sabres ice, and another team is banking on Pastrnak+playing every game 1-0 to avoid being top-5 in the draft order.

Contract aside, how many of these spines would you take before you selected Buffalo's?    dailyfaceoff for the lines/order

Lindholm - Mittelstadt - Minten - Kuraly

(Norris) - Kulich - McLeod - Krebs - Kozak

Larkin - Kasper - Compher - Rasmussen

(Barkov) - Bennett - Lundell - Rodrigues - Kunin

Suzuki - Kapanen - Dach - Evans

Stutzle - Pinto - Cozens - Eller

Point - Cirelli - Gourde - Holmberg

Matthews - Tavares - Domi - Roy

Buffalo center spline is maybe better than Boston's and that is it.  And to get there you must include Norris or put Thompson back in place of Norris.  

I complained about the center spline a lot last season and they replaced Cozen with Norris.  That only works if Norris can actually play in the games.  

McLeod is a 3rd liner that can help top 6 a little bit.  Krebs and Kozak are JAGs.  

[Pimlach]

3 hours ago, pastajoe said:

Lines at practice today:

Zucker Kulich Tage

Quinn McLeod Tuch

Doan Krebs Danforth 

Malenstyn Kozak Geertsen

Only Tage and Tuch are legit Top 6 players.  Sorry Kevyn but you blew it again.  

I think you will see Helenius up by December.  

[thewookie1]

2 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Only Tage and Tuch are legit Top 6 players.  Sorry Kevyn but you blew it again.  

I think you will see Helenius up by December.  

Benson and Kulich have Top 6 skill and Zucker is a former Top 6 guy.

 

I do agree though that Kevyn blew it.

[Pimlach]

8 minutes ago, thewookie1 said:

Benson and Kulich have Top 6 skill and Zucker is a former Top 6 guy.

 

I do agree though that Kevyn blew it.

Benson and Kulich do indeed have top 6 skill, but I am saying legit Top 6,  as in no question about it.  

Benson has 21 goals in his first 146 NHL games.  Kulich has 15 goals and 28 points in one NHL season.  They have skill but they are not going to be top 6 on good teams.   Zucker is a fine player, but he would be a 3rd liner on a good team.   

People want to win more games right now.  They need players that are better right now.  

[LGR4GM]

6 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Benson and Kulich do indeed have top 6 skill, but I am saying legit Top 6,  as in no question about it.  

Benson has 21 goals in his first 146 NHL games.  Kulich has 15 goals and 28 points in one NHL season.  They have skill but they are not going to be top 6 on good teams.   Zucker is a fine player, but he would be a 3rd liner on a good team.   

People want to win more games right now.  They need players that are better right now.  

I don't agree about Benson or Zucker.

1 hour ago, Goldseatsaud said:

Injury settlement for Norris. Adams bought damaged goods 

This isn't football. 

[SabresBillsFan]

3 hours ago, Taro T said:

Worse than a waste of a roster space.  He took the stupid penalty that led to the icing that led to him being unable to move the puck 4' out of the zone off that next faceoff that led to the game winner being scored.  

Great choice, Lindy.  😒

I’ve seen him enough on the Silver Knights last season and you didn’t even notice him when he was on the ice. Brutal pickup by the Sabres and then you wonder why it’s 14 yrs of no playoffs.

1 hour ago, Pimlach said:

Only Tage and Tuch are legit Top 6 players.  Sorry Kevyn but you blew it again.  

I think you will see Helenius up by December.  

I know it’s Hockey Buzz but Tuch possibly to Florida, I know, I know take it with a grain of salt.

[LabattBlue]

Steep price to pay to get rid of Cozens and his cap hit. Is there such a thing in the NHL as a waive/injury settlement?

[SabresBillsFan]

Tanking for McKenna

[Believer]

2 hours ago, Thorny said:

Injury prone 

Norris is worse than injury prone. He is a china doll.

Want to hear what his multi week injury is this time.

Muscle tear? Rotator cuff tear? Neck injury? His lower body is fine, so he can skate.

Must be something a cortisone shot can’t help.

Saw a close up of Norris on the bench shortly after he left the ice. He gave no indication of pain. No wincing, no gritted teeth.

Just a blank face. 

 

[LabattBlue]

 Norris buyout numbers for next summer(link below). If he ends up being out more than 1/2 of this season, I would consider it.

Disclaimer…if he is bought out, no doubt he would start dressing for 82 games a year for some other team.  😂

 

https://puckpedia.com/player/joshua-norris/buyout

 

[Believer]

6 hours ago, rickshaw said:

Hey now, come on. Faceoffs are hard. It’s the leading cause of upper body injuries, right? 

Saw him go down in a pile of players by the net at one point. Guessing this is when the injury occurred. Maybe that last faceoff he took before doing a split and face plant on the dot took him out.

[LGR4GM]

He tore an oblique or something else in his abdomen on the faceoff. 

[DarthEbriate]

I was looking forward to a series of Delta Force, Missing in Action, Octagon, and Invasion USA fodder this season. The highbrow Norris, if you will.

 

But this feels more appropriate today

[Taro T]

2 minutes ago, DarthEbriate said:

I was looking forward to a series of Delta Force, Missing in Action, Octagon, and Invasion USA fodder this season. The highbrow Norris, if you will.

 

But this feels more appropriate today

Pretty sure you're getting the highlighted one, unfortunately.

[pastajoe]

1 hour ago, SabresBillsFan said:

Tanking for McKenna

Makes sense; he plays at Penn State in the Pegula arena.

[Pimlach]

1 hour ago, SabresBillsFan said:

I’ve seen him enough on the Silver Knights last season and you didn’t even notice him when he was on the ice. Brutal pickup by the Sabres and then you wonder why it’s 14 yrs of no playoffs.

I know it’s Hockey Buzz but Tuch possibly to Florida, I know, I know take it with a grain of salt.

Well, Tuch isn't signed but I doubt that Adams would move him, unless he asked to be moved (he hasn't), or he is asking for too much money and would prefer to try his luck in free agency (maybe). 

 

 

 

[Night Train]

Wow. Norris is a china doll. 

[kas23]

I‘m not in favor of signing Tuch. Get what you can get for him and blow it up. Wipe the slate clean. Let the new HC/GM what to do with Tage and Rasmus. At this rate, I would’ve been better to just waive Cozens with the hope someone else kee would pick up his contract. Now we are stuck with one that’s just as high. 

[Scottysabres]

Well, looks like Adams will need another 5 years to shape a roster.

i don’t know about you all, but I’m all in…….Go Adams!!! 🫡

[HumanSlinky39]

Norris has been a full-time NHL player for 5 seasons. He's played 236 games, or 47.2 per season. The guy is incredibly fragile. Yes, he has skill and is a responsible 2-way player when healthy, but that's not very often. Plus he's locked up for basically 5 more seasons at $8MM per. That was a reckless and irresponsible trade that no real GM would make and it should cost Kevyn his job...but it won't. 

[Rip Titwide]

7 minutes ago, HumanSlinky39 said:

Norris has been a full-time NHL player for 5 seasons. He's played 236 games, or 47.2 per season. The guy is incredibly fragile. Yes, he has skill and is a responsible 2-way player when healthy, but that's not very often. Plus he's locked up for basically 5 more seasons at $8MM per. That was a reckless and irresponsible trade that no real GM would make and it should cost Kevyn his job...but it won't. 

Like, at 11 PM last night if not before. 

[RochesterExpat]

3 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

He tore an oblique or something else in his abdomen on the faceoff. 

I had a partial tear of an ab from sneezing too hard (yes, seriously, I know it sounds dumb). It was excruciatingly painful and took weeks to heal.

I can’t imagine that as a professional athlete because it’s totally immobilizing for a while. Conditioning has to take a massive hit.

[Pimlach]

4 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

I don't agree about Benson or Zucker.

 

Benson was to prove he is a legit Top 6 by scoring more points.  Right now, this season,  we need him to produce more than the 10 goals and 30 points that he has produced in the past two season.  Sure, they brought him up very fast and he is young, I get that.  Skinner is gone and they didn’t replace him.   Peterka is gone and they didn’t replace him.  Their goals have to be replaced and Benson, among others, has to contribute more on the scoresheet   I hope he does.  

As for Zucker, I think he is really good player and I always have.  But his career is winding down.  He can score 20 again by playing on the top 2 lines and with power play time, but I just don’t think he would get that opportunity on a really strong team at this point in his career.  Instead he would be a 3rd liner.  I think he is extremely valuable to Buffalo because he still brings it on game day and he can help show the way.  

[Pimlach]

25 minutes ago, RochesterExpat said:

I had a partial tear of an ab from sneezing too hard (yes, seriously, I know it sounds dumb). It was excruciatingly painful and took weeks to heal.

I can’t imagine that as a professional athlete because it’s totally immobilizing for a while. Conditioning has to take a massive hit.

It’s very sad, and even surprising, that a finely tuned athlete in this modern sports era,  with such knowledgeable training and dieting, can get this injury on a faceoff.  It says something very concerning about his overall durability.    

He is a good player, he is skilled, and he doesn’t play a shy or timid game.  I saw him run someone and I saw him retaliate on a hit.   

It’s just bizarre that he has these issues.  

[DHawerchuk10]

23 hours ago, Brawndo said:

Per Ruff