dudacek

This is fantastic. I know it’s marketing, but I don’t care. Hits me right where I want to be hit. I want to believe and for the first time in a decade, I feel like I can let myself. If they pull the rug out from under me, so what? It’s better than wallowing in the misery. Grab a little bit of joy and hope when you can.

I don’t think Skinner’s career year has gotten the attention it deserves. His +/- led the team and his 47 assists are tied for the 3rd most by a Sabre in the pAst decade. And those numbers aren’t mirages, he made plays and paid attention to defence like I never thought he could. You can’t really call him the most improved player, but for me he was the most surprising. Ive never been a fan of his game prior to this year, but the way he’s filled out the missing pieces and eliminated the selfishness is truly remarkable, especially at the point of his career. This season he was truly a top-10 left wing.

In terms of production by a Sabre, Casey’s 59 points are the 14th most of the past decade. His 44 assists are the 5th most during that period, more than Eichel had in 7 of his 8 NHL seasons. For comparison, Sam Reinhart’s most productive Sabre seasons were 50, 50 and 65 points; Ryan O’Reilly’s were 61, 60 and 55; Evander Kane’s 35, 43 and 40. @Weave used to talk about how, if the Sabres ever got good, Reinhart could be their Patrick Sharp: a versatile 5/6th forward capable of moving around the lineup as situations demand. Sharp became that player for the Hawks in his mid-20s. https://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=54873 I wonder if (Hope?) we just saw Mitts take a similar step.

Mitts finished the season with 15 goals and 44 assists. That was good for 24th in scoring for NHL left wings, just behind Killorn, Boldy and Dubois, just ahead of Perron, Kreider and Laine. By definition, there are 96 1st-line forwards in the NHL. By production, Casey was a borderline 1st-liner.

I have no interest in re-litigating the whys of the Jeff Skinner situation, but anyone who suggests he was banished to the 4th line and kept there despite good play needs to rewatch the tape. He was objectively terrible for all but the first month or so of Krueger’s tenure.

Let the record show that we finished the season just 7 points behind the Lightning. We were 2 points ahead of them in 2023, and matched up exactly head to head: lost 5-3 and 6-5 in OT, then won 6-5 in OT and 5-3. They will not be better next year. We will. Next year’s goal should not be a wild card, but top 3 in the division.

They won’t be signing him to a bridge this summer; it’s long-term or nothing with a year still on his deal. The best and only comparable is Aaron Ekblad’s second contract, which was for 10.2% of the cap, or about $8.5ish today If the Sabres can get him for under $8 million per they should be happy. Don’t know that there’s any incentive for him to sign for less. Remember Dahlin took $6 on a bridge.

I was more looking at it from the perspective of middle six wingers, that they had too many “VOs” and not enough “Greenways.” I know others think otherwise, but I don’t think they got Greenway intending to use him on a grind line with the likes of Girgensons, I think they got him to ride shotgun with skill guys higher in the lineup.

It think once it all shakes out Adams will have effectively traded Olofsson for Greenway, which is exactly what this season showed he needed to do in terms of the composition up front. Time will tell if he choose the right player to trade and the right player to acquire.

The solution to me is simple: keep the salary cap constraints into the post season.

Unfortunately, Tage is not expected to play.

Why do posters fear Brisson? If it’s the Eichel situation, then Eichel was long gone well before hiring Brisson, and it was only after Brisson stepped in that the situation started moving. Take this for what it’s worth, but Adams was very complementary of Brisson at the time. His other Sabre clients are Samuelsson, who just signed long-term and Okposo who clearly loves the organization. Is there something else that I’m missing?

Definitely, most notably Owen Power.

The concept of Toews is highly enticing: a competitive, 2-way 3C with 3 cups and the ability to win faceoffs, who can move up the lineup in a pinch and share some wisdom with the kids on a short-term deal as an upgrade from Jost. The idea of a player like that between between Peterka and Quinn next year is enticing. I suspect that's not what you're getting though. I worry about entitlement issues and how much he has left. He'd have to come in with an Anderson mindset, and I just don't think that's who Toews is. I'd be taking a look though. Granato will have some insight and a connection.

And he was 0-5-0 the 5 games before that and 9-9-1 overall. UPL was 17-11-4. Neither goalie is going to ruin our chances of the playoffs in a backup role, assuming Levi can win 30+ games in 50+ starts. The question is do you trust Levi to be up to that?

To me "We should fire the assistant coaches" is the ultimate in fans mindlessly needing someone to blame. Do you have any idea of what any of our assistant coaches actually did, or didn't do, to contribute to the issues you listed? Yet you want someone to lose their job? My favourite example of this is the abysmal offence of the 2021 Sabres. The forwards coach of that team was Don Granato, someone who clearly has plenty of insight about how to generate offence. I think what I like about Kevyn Adams is how he does not seem to be driven by finding people to blame, or to sacrifice; his focus is on support and solutions.

Granato’s take was that offence is actually harder to learn and some players never learn it because coaches don’t give them the freedom to experiment and find out what works and what doesn’t. He wants to instill confidence in them that they can score at the NHL level before rounding out their games.

Not surprised VO is back in. Am surprised to see that line and him in the middle?!?! If those three stick as a unit, Quinn is obvious centre, but 🤷‍♂️

What might be the best D corps in the league with 2 legit goalies is going to keep you in every game. And the top 4 are all between 25 and and 29. They aren't going to age out any time soon. it's the forwards though, specifically the centres. Bergeron, Krecji, Bertuzzi, Hathaway, and Foligno are all UFAs The depth chart for next year right now is: Marchand Zacha Pastrnak Hall Coyle Debrusk Frederic Steen Greer Lauko Beecher Lysell On paper, that's just not good enough. They've got $10 million available under the cap to upgrade, but they also have to pay Swayman, as well as re-sign or replace Orlov and Clifton on the blueline with that. Can they get some good players to sign cheap again? Will they trade a goalie and or a defenceman? They're a well-run organization, so I'm sure they will come up with something. I'm just really curious to see how and what.

I've been convinced for a while now that once Levi takes the net over it will be his for a long time. I didn't really expect that to happen this year and I hope that doesn't derail the plan in a year or two. But if he is "that guy," the other guy becomes way less important. As in either Comrie or Luukkonnen are fine for 25 handpicked games. They only become issues if Levi is not "that guy." Who outside of Buffalo remembers Ryan Miller's backup?

Fading yes, but not quite ready to write them off for a while. The cap has hurt their depth and trades seem to have exhausted their ability to improve. But a core of Kucherov 29, Point 27, Hedman 32, Sergachev 24, Cernak 25, and Vasilevsky 28 is going to stick around for a while and the Paul, Hagel, Cirelli, Jeannot group is some effective youngish foot soldiers. Hopefully they will be a hurdle we can jump in the next year or two, but they'll hang in longer then we like, just like Pittsburgh and Washington did. Pastrnak and that defence corps and goaltending should mean the same thing for the Bruins. I'm really curious what happens there after this year — who's gone and how do they adjust?

Wasn't on my radar because I wasn't aware he was a pending UFA, but this makes a ton of sense. He's the right type of player. $6 seems high to me. Ben Chiarot got the best D contract last year at $4.7, which was way high for a stay-at-home 2nd-pairing guy. $4/4 would seem to be the minimum though Other pending UFAs who may fit the profile: Dumoulin, Severson, Gavrikov, Soucy, Gudas, Holl, Mikkola, Mayfield, Clifton, Schenn, Dehaan It's also worth noting that the Devils picked up Graves for a 2nd because a cash-strapped Avs team couldn't afford to keep him. That happens when a team can't sign players they want to and either move that player, or someone else to make room. And, of course, there are teams who might be looking to shake things up. Pending RFAs: Dunn, K'Andre Miller, Byram, Borgen, Bouchard, Bjornfot, Bahl, Fehervary, Peeke Players on cash-tight teams: Ceci, Kulak (Edm needs to sign Bouchard), a Vegas D (holes at forward and goal, no cap space) Possible shakeups: Tanev, Zadorov, Hanifan (all entering their last contract year with Cal), Roy, Walker (entering last year, LA has kids ready to move up) Dillon, Demelo (entering last year of contract,Jets have 5 guys over $3 million on blueline), And @SwampD, you'll be happy to know that without signing a single contract in the off-season the Sabres are already over the cap floor thanks to the combined $15 million raises of Mule, Cozens and Tage kicking in. And Ben Bishop's contract is nowhere to be found Capfriendly has them with $19 million to spend on re-signing or replacing Vinnie, Girgs, Kyle, Anderson and Jost. It will be very interesting to see how they will use it.

And the Isles win means the Penguins are out. I know we've been predicting it for years, but this year marks a changing of the guard in the east. More than half the rosters of Pittsburgh and Washington are stuffed full of 30-year-old veterans — including all their key parts — and neither organization has anyone of consequence coming behind them. Father Time has finally caught them and I don't see either team coming back any time soon.

I’m going to be seriously invested in stats-watching the final two games, hoping the team and individuals can push some good numbers even higher. Im going to watch the locker-room cleanout stuff intently looking for signs that “unfinished business” will become the theme of the summer. I’ll keep an eye on the world championships, the farm team, and on other prospects, but mostly take a step back from Sabrespace starting next week. Head to Europe for a nice vacation, work in my yard and finish up a renovation project. Don’t expect I’ll be watching much hockey. I’ll pick up the iPad again for the draft and free agency, hoping Adams will stay the course, and is able to continue his run of extending key players to team-friendly contracts, stay away from flashy moves, and augment this emerging team with a few sensible pieces. Then Im going to get outside, enjoy the Vancouver Island sunshine and see you all for prospects camp. It’ll be nice not having to invest so much time this summer fixing the Sabres. 😘

We’re building something good here and this season was a big step toward that. And yes, that is on Adams.