Straight Talk: 1st Line: what do Sabres really have on this roster?

[Spoonman]

So, what has KA put together for his NHL roster? 
 

Who would you keep & on what line (if we were a legitimate NHL club)?

I’ll start w 1st liners on this team: 

Forward:

1/ Tage

1/ Norris (if he ever gets & stays healthy?)

Defence:

1/ Dahls

Goal: 

1/ none

Thoughts? 

 

[DarthEbriate]

Norris is a 2C around the league -- a good one, but not a top-line talent. He'd be the 2C on the Sabres as well, if Ruff trusted TNT to play defense.

[Crusader1969]

2 hours ago, Spoonman said:

So, what has KA put together for his NHL roster? 
 

Who would you keep & on what line (if we were a legitimate NHL club)?

I’ll start w 1st liners on this team: 

Forward:

1/ Tage

1/ Norris (if he ever gets & stays healthy?)

Defence:

1/ Dahls

Goal: 

1/ none

Thoughts? 

 

I have no issue with Benson being (or becoming) a top line player

I wouldn't put Norris there though 

[Doohickie]

1 hour ago, DarthEbriate said:

if Ruff trusted TNT to play defense.

It feels like Tage has, in fact, improved his play without the puck, including defense.

[GASabresIUFAN]

Is this news to anyone that the Sabres lack high end players?

[SabreFinn]

No way I would keep Norris. I hope he gets healthy soon, and he can stay healthy and play well,  then we trade the horrible contract somewhere else. 

Edited 17 hours ago by SabreFinn

[LTS]

I look at the roster and I see:

Östlund, Benson, Malenstyn, Dahlin, McLeod, Doan, Timmins, Samuelsson (small sample size), Zucker, Bryson, Kozak.

I think Bryson remains a serviceable 7th D, Timmins a 3rd pairing D, Kozak does his job as does McLeod and Malenstyn. I think Östlund is showing promise.

Why no Thompson?  He's a one-trick pony at the moment. He can't win board battles and he doesn't do great in contested space. I like him, his skill is immense but the book on him is close his time and space and he's a turnover machine. No sample size on Norris. Quinn hasn't made it happen. Tuch is... who he is. Zucker is an established vet. Dahlin covers for others. Sammy is getting it done this year. Doan is the real deal.

The Sabres continue to not have a great first line simply because they keep trying to inject youth into it. If the Sabres get one more top line forward who can pull attention from Thompson I think they will do very well.

[SABRES 0311]

Sabres have only two established top six forwards, three counting Norris.

Need at least one more. Preferably a playmaker. Need to replace Tuch who I think will leave. Need a more reliable 2C since Norris has injury issues.

So yeah, we only have TT that is a true reliable top six forward.

[DarthEbriate]

12 hours ago, Doohickie said:

It feels like Tage has, in fact, improved his play without the puck, including defense.

We'll find out for sure what Ruff thinks once they're both in the lineup together.

[Doohickie]

2 minutes ago, DarthEbriate said:

We'll find out for sure what Ruff thinks once they're both in the lineup together.

I won't be surprised to see Tage back at wing, but his defensive play won't really be the reason.

[GASabresIUFAN]

Scoring wise Tuch is a top 10 RW and top 50 of all forwards.  Add his PK ability and he is a top line, but not an elite forward. FYI he is the Sabres top scorer (pts wise) and is 50th in the NHL (forwards).  Colorado has 2 players in the top 10 and 3 in the top 38.

We have a ton of middle 6 forwards and and 2nd pairing D of various quality, such as Power, Byram, Samuelsson, Doan, Benson, Norris, & McLeod.  Quality is the issue.  Mcleod, for example, is a high end 3rd line center, but a low end 2nd line center.  
 

The real issue for the Sabres, besides bad management and goaltending, is the lack of elite talent.  

Edited 5 hours ago by GASabresIUFAN

[DarthEbriate]

5 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

The real issue for the Sabres, besides bad management and goaltending, is the lack of elite talent.  

They don't have anyone who brings the puck up ice and you're scared. Sure, you're wary of TNT, but you just go and take away his space because he's got reach but not control. He doesn't create space because he's really only a threat to shoot, not to make otherworldly passes or breeze past you.

Now... not every team has a player that creates space. But the Sabres really, really need one.

And yes -- a goalie would be nice.

[HILLsabre]

I think it's very evident and becoming more clear every game. Not sure why so many were in denial the last 4-5 seasons...maybe all the hype and hope on the youth movement. This team has only one top six CURRENTLY IMHO. TNT and he even needs superior talent along side for that to be true. Sure Benson,  Quinn will eventually be at that level eventually, but not now.

[French Collection]

1 hour ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

The real issue for the Sabres, besides bad management and goaltending, is the lack of elite talent.  

Elite talent should have found its way onto this team by drafting top 10 for like 15 years including 2x #1 and 2x #2.

The return for some elite talent that left was below elite.

As you state, management is the constant through all of this.

[GASabresIUFAN]

Just now, French Collection said:

Elite talent should have found its way onto this team by drafting top 10 for like 15 years including 2x #1 and 2x #2.

The return for some elite talent that left was below elite.

As you state, management is the constant through all of this.

Cozens, Quinn, Nylander, Ristolainen, Mitts, and Savoie were all top 10 picks in this era.  Not a lot to show for those picks. (Mrtka is a new draftee)

Our top 1st and 2nd overall picks Eichel and Reinhart are great but traded away.  Dahlin is great, but Power sucks.

The only second rd picks to make an impact are JJP (traded away), UPL and Samuelsson.   That’s all we have so far for 18 2nd rd picks and UPL stinks as well.

Our other 1sts are still developing or made little impact with the Sabres such as Johnson, Zadorov, Östlund, Rosen, Kulich (out with blood clots), Benson, and Helenius.  I like some of these players, but none are elite.  

Our top 2 players outside of Dahlin were both former 1st rd picks acquired in trade in Tage and Tuch.  Both are 1st line players, but neither is truly elite.  

That’s not a lot to show for 15 years of bad play.

[PerreaultForever]

It's absolutely impossible to evaluate this team with Norris as part of it since he hasn't played more than a few minutes. The biggest problem is still the D. They need another big guy who plays at least like Samuelsson is playing this year. If I'm the GM I'm trading whatever flashy forwards I need to to get that. Ideally, trading Norris, but I imagine that's impossible. 

[DarthEbriate]

2 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

It's absolutely impossible to evaluate this team with Norris as part of it since he hasn't played more than a few minutes. The biggest problem is still the D. They need another big guy who plays at least like Samuelsson is playing this year. If I'm the GM I'm trading whatever flashy forwards I need to to get that. Ideally, trading Norris, but I imagine that's impossible. 

There is a possibility (however unlikely) that the Norris evaluation can begin shortly and continue for several months. (He's gotten his automatic 20 missed games out of the way.) The key features of Norris are the things he does that no other center on this roster does in a single package: above-average FO, above-average speed, above-average shot, and a full 200' game. 

The D --- he didn't look great, but he never had a great chance to get fully integrated, either --- but it could still be Kesselring. However, it's more likely that Kesselring is what he was with Utah at the start of the season and why they were willing to let him go -- a 3rd pair guy who can move up just fine when he's paired with experienced partners. 

The best option is probably to trade Byram to a team that needs an offensive D in exchange for an older 2nd pair defensive D with a bit of snarl.