Lindy Ruff: if Thompson keeps this play up, he'll be #1 C

[LGR4GM]

Ruff on wgr talked about how good Thompson has played the last few games and that if he keeps that up, when Norris comes back, they will play Norris at 2c and Thompson as 1c.

He also said Zucker may play tomorrow, Norris and then Benson will be the next back but aren't ready yet. 

[Gatorman0519]

Rosen and Östlund are playing pretty good as well. I hope they stay in the line up. 

[Doohickie]

5 minutes ago, Gatorman0519 said:

Rosen and Östlund are playing pretty good as well. I hope they stay in the line up. 

They're kind of where Kozak was last year:  You know they're gonna be roster regulars, but right now they're tweeners.

I as especially impressed by the work Östlund put in last night on a checking line that chipped in offensively.

And Kozak looked great at 3C.  He's really starting to control play out there.

[Doohickie]

One last thought:  This is why teams want centers over wingers.  Centers can shift over to the wing and shift back to center; it seems like this is the way Tage operates best- moving back and forth.  I think the change in responsibilities sharpens his focus.  And having Norris (maybe eventually) and McCleod, and Kozak and Krebs and Östlund all ready to play C, but filling in at wing if need be, makes the team stronger.  If one of the center spine has a rough game, you and push him out to the wing and take the pressure off; there are other centers that can step in.

[LGR4GM]

12 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

One last thought:  This is why teams want centers over wingers.  Centers can shift over to the wing and shift back to center; it seems like this is the way Tage operates best- moving back and forth.  I think the change in responsibilities sharpens his focus.  And having Norris (maybe eventually) and McCleod, and Kozak and Krebs and Östlund all ready to play C, but filling in at wing if need be, makes the team stronger.  If one of the center spine has a rough game, you and push him out to the wing and take the pressure off; there are other centers that can step in.

Would be nice to know before the draft if this team actually has center depth because the draft is wing and defense heavy. 

[JoeSchmoe]

Krebs and Malenstyn don't offer anything that can't be supplied by Kozak and Greenway. If I'm in charge, I'm chopping Malenstyn first, Krebs 2nd.

[mjd1001]

Who is 1C versus who is 2C and this team doesn't really matter to me. 

I'm sure they'll both play in the power play, and it's not like you are going to put two All-Star wingers with one of them and not with the other. The lines are always changing anyway. 

If you want to call one of them 1C and one of them 2C then fine... But to me when they're both in the lineup, theuir lines will pretty much be interchangeable. I'd expect if or when Norris is fully up to speed, there might be some days where Tage at center and his line would get more ice time, and other days where Norris would. 

Maybe you simply say Norris is 2c because you want to bring him back slowly, and maybe even for the rest of the year, You don't want him getting the most ice time simply to reduce wear and tear on the body/injury chance.

7 minutes ago, JoeSchmoe said:

Krebs and Malenstyn don't offer anything that can't be supplied by Kozak and Greenway. If I'm in charge, I'm chopping Malenstyn first, Krebs 2nd.

I understand your point but for me Greenway would be the first guy out. 

I really don't see him doing much positive other than eating up ice time. He's just a very expensive "filler" at wing to me.

[Pimlach]

Thompson has been very good lately.  

Two things I see are much more physical play and better attention to details in his two way game.   He is not just getting in the way by waving his stick, he is winning puck battles and physically overpowering opponents.   

He can be a complete beast if he wants to be.  He could be taking another step in the maturation of his game. 

[Doohickie]

10 minutes ago, JoeSchmoe said:

Krebs and Malenstyn don't offer anything that can't be supplied by Kozak and Greenway. If I'm in charge, I'm chopping Malenstyn first, Krebs 2nd.

Eh.  Not sure I agree.  One or more of them may have to go, but Malenstyn played probably his best game as a Sabre last night while Greenway was just kind of okay.

[Pimlach]

11 minutes ago, JoeSchmoe said:

Krebs and Malenstyn don't offer anything that can't be supplied by Kozak and Greenway. If I'm in charge, I'm chopping Malenstyn first, Krebs 2nd.

 

4 minutes ago, mjd1001 said:

I understand your point but for me Greenway would be the first guy out. 

I really don't see him doing much positive other than eating up ice time. He's just a very expensive "filler" at wing to me.

Krebs, Malenstyn, Kozak, and Greenway are all contributing.  Kozak being the best of the bunch.  

Malenstyn cleanly hits everything in sight, Greenway is playing the game he can play.  Both help on the PK.   Every team needs players like this.  

[Jorcus]

14 minutes ago, JoeSchmoe said:

Krebs and Malenstyn don't offer anything that can't be supplied by Kozak and Greenway. If I'm in charge, I'm chopping Malenstyn first, Krebs 2nd.

I like Malenstyn better than greenway. He is faster and has more endurance. Greenway seems to last about 35 seconds on a shift then he is standing straight up. You can always tell when he is gassed by that vertical posture. 

[Doohickie]

20 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Would be nice to know before the draft if this team actually has center depth because the draft is wing and defense heavy. 

We have 6 centers (when Norris can play) of varying abilities.  Tage and Krebs also play wing regularly and I can see any of the others also moving to wing when expedient.  I have my worries about the durability of Norris (as many of us do), but I kind of like our center corps and depth right now.  And duh:  I forgot all about Kulich.

And don't we have another C or 2 in Rochester that are approaching NHL readiness?  Wahlberg, Helenius?

3 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Kozak being the best of the bunch.

I like Kozak but I think he might still be in the honeymoon phase.  I'm not sure I take him over Krebs.  Possibly, but I'm not there yet.

[LGR4GM]

1 minute ago, Doohickie said:

We have 6 centers (when Norris can play) of varying abilities.  Tage and Krebs also play wing regularly and I can see any of the others also moving to wing when expedient.  I have my worries about the durability of Norris (as many of us do), but I kind of like our center corps and depth right now.  And duh:  I forgot all about Kulich.

And don't we have another C or 2 in Rochester that are approaching NHL readiness?  Wahlberg, Helenius?

Wahlberg is not a center IMPO and he is 2+ years away at this rate. Helenius is and should be a middle 6 C at some point. 

[inkman]

21 minutes ago, JoeSchmoe said:

Krebs and Malenstyn don't offer anything that can't be supplied by Kozak and Greenway. If I'm in charge, I'm chopping Malenstyn first, Krebs 2nd.

I mean I guess strike while the iron is hot.  It’s seems like weird timing immediately after his best game as a professional you want to move Malenstyn.  I’m still trying to figure out what the love fest with Kozak is.  He’s alright, I just don’t see much more than a 12th or 13th forward in him. 

[Doohickie]

4 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Malenstyn cleanly hits everything in sight, Greenway is playing the game he can play.  Both help on the PK.   Every team needs players like this.

And really, the fact that both are on the roster and one of them not on IR might be the exception rather than the rule.

[JoeSchmoe]

I'm not really a Greenway guy myself, but unlike Malenstyn he'll at least drop the gloves when he has to. He can score the odd goal too, which Malenstyn does not.

[Doohickie]

Just now, inkman said:

I’m still trying to figure out what the love fest with Kozak is.  He’s alright, I just don’t see much more than a 12th or 13th forward in him. 

He also had probably his best game as a Sabre last night, and arguably outplayed McLeod.

It's weird:  This team seems to have new talent bubbling up and figuring out who to jettison will probably determine the Sabres' success this season.

[mjd1001]

18 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

 

Krebs, Malenstyn, Kozak, and Greenway are all contributing.  Kozak being the best of the bunch.  

Malenstyn cleanly hits everything in sight, Greenway is playing the game he can play.  Both help on the PK.   Every team needs players like this.  

I'll correct myself on one thing about Greenway. I don't know if the numbers back this up but I believe from what I see with my own eyes he is a very effective penalty killer. 

It's just beyond that I don't see anything special or even above average about his play.

He's better than someone like Quinn or Cozens who actually hurt the team when they was on the ice the last couple of years I don't see Greenway doing that. It's just that even strength, I'd rather have one of the other guys in front of him.

[DarthEbriate]

If Ruff trusts TNT at center (and Thompson plays well in his own zone at center), it frees up the line construction tremendously. TNT as 1C (the offensive guy) and Norris as 2C (d-zone, much better at face offs --- don't get hurt!) would be a good combination. McLeod is a very solid 3C and Kozak gives you responsible 4C play. Krebs and Östlund shift to the wing until more folks are healthy.

As the veteran forwards pieces return to health, you definitely send the kids back to Rochester for more minutes. Benson does everything Rosén does and better and Norris is an upgrade over Östlund.

[Taro T]

40 minutes ago, mjd1001 said:

Who is 1C versus who is 2C and this team doesn't really matter to me. 

I'm sure they'll both play in the power play, and it's not like you are going to put two All-Star wingers with one of them and not with the other. The lines are always changing anyway. 

If you want to call one of them 1C and one of them 2C then fine... But to me when they're both in the lineup, theuir lines will pretty much be interchangeable. I'd expect if or when Norris is fully up to speed, there might be some days where Tage at center and his line would get more ice time, and other days where Norris would. 

Maybe you simply say Norris is 2c because you want to bring him back slowly, and maybe even for the rest of the year, You don't want him getting the most ice time simply to reduce wear and tear on the body/injury chance.

I understand your point but for me Greenway would be the first guy out. 

I really don't see him doing much positive other than eating up ice time. He's just a very expensive "filler" at wing to me.

It also could simply be an acknowledgement that teams will key on Thompson more than they will on Norris, so other teams will treat Tage as the 1C and Josh as the 2C.

By ice time, expect Tage will get a little more time than Josh will, especially as they work Norris back into the lineup (hopefully for significantly more than 3 games this time), but when both are in game shape doubting that difference will be more than 1 minute.  By what the other team puts out against them, expecting Tage to clearly be the 1C until Norris can create more problems than Tage can.

And IF Tage stays motivated to play this way, which is a big if, as a physicality has never been in his tool box, these last 2 games have been a revelation, but if he stays motivated to play this way, he'll be real hard to supplant as the 1C.