dudacek

One truism in hockey is that a career year is often followed with some backsliding. This year is just another case where Tage Thompson is the exception that proves the rule. Our best players — Thompson, Dahlin, Skinner, Tuch, Cozens and Mittelstadt — are all having career years, and by a significant margin. Tell me why we shouldn't we be worried about some serious regression.

Might be as simple as Stillman and Mule are still questionable and they want a healthy option if someone pulls up lame in warmup.

I'm actually kinda surprised that the statistical case (the whole package, not just the points) hasn't driven more of the conversation toward Dahlin. I'm thinking there's a portion of the hockey world that has yet to fully grasp how strong in his own zone, and how physically abrasive he has become. They might be vaguely aware he's no longer 'soft' or 'a disaster in his own zone' but they've yet to grasp he can shut them down and piss them off with the best of them, in addition to being the second-best offence-generating blueliner in the league. Personally, I blame it partially on the fact he's European, and partially on the fact he's a Sabre and Thompson has stolen the spotlight as far as the Sabre renaissance goes.

Good read, although there still seems to be a streak of people not wanting him around basically because he's not Cozens, as opposed to him not being a viable 5th or 6th forward. People seem to have forgotten that Casey was every bit as highly-ranked a prospect in his D1 season as Kulich and Savoie. And that the Sabres should be happy if the 9th pick in the draft turns into a viable 2nd liner and ecstatic if the 28th does the same.

Done

We’ve got 13 NHL forwards right now and will have 14 when Tuch gets healthy. Donnie said on WGR this morning lineup decisions moving forward will be based on winning. Who are you sitting?

Money is actually very good for what he produces. He is the NHL’s 116th most-productive forward and it’s 226th highest-paid. His statistical peers from above make Boldy $900K ($7 million next year), Perron $4.3, Karlsson $5.9, Burakovsky $5.5, Boeser $6.6, Tarasenko $7.5 Casey makes $2.5 The average 3rd line NHL forward right now has 22 points. The average 2nd-liner has 33. Casey has 40. To me the bolded is the biggest improvement in his game. I mean he’s no Tuch or Dahlin, but has become one of the better Sabres at protecting the puck along the wall and then making a play.

Registered his 40th point and his 30th assist tonight. Would have put him 2nd on the entire team last year for assists, and 1st the year before that. He sits in a tie for 116th in league scoring among forwards - which makes him a good second liner in terms of production. His peers statistically right now are guys like Brock Boeser, David Perron, Andre Burakovsky, William Karlsson, Matt Boldy, and Vladimir Tarasenko. He’s just under 51% in terms of shot share, bolstered by a 53.4% run in this calendar year. The big complaint from the fall was he’d show something for a game then disappear for 4. Has he changed any minds?

Seemed to me like Donnie deliberately had Krebs out against McDavid on multiple occasions. That, in and of itself, was not necessarily a bad thing. I’m thinking of how well Cozens did in that slot a year ago. But Krebs with Victor and JJ on his wings 😬 Casey Mittlestadt was very good tonight. I want he and Cozens to become the thing they are becoming. If we’ve got a dozen good efforts left in the tank, we can’t afford to waste them on games where we come up with no points. We don’t have the goalies to steal those points back. Huge decision on who gets the call in the crease tomorrow. Could be season-deciding.

Don’t disagree. The thing with Quinn is that I think he will be able move himself and the puck around in a way the top unit current lacks.

Can’t wait until a confident Quinn graduates to a top unit. That kid can pass and shoot, and is dangerous from so many areas.

^^^ Red flag, bull

Kinda depends on where the roster goes next year. Tage, Cozens, Krebs, Tuch Skinner Quinn Peterka, Greenway and Girgensons will be taking 9 forward spots. If Mitts, Olofsson, Jost and Okposo are back, there's no room for him, unless you want him in the role Hinostroza and Asplund had this year. But if Mitts or Vic is moved for D help, I can certainly see him getting a shot in a JJ/Quinn/Krebs role while one of those guys moves up the pecking order. It's another one of the reasons I see Vic probably being moved. Top 10 picks frequently make the NHL in D2 years, especially when they are producing the way Savoie has during the past few months.

Tuch was a year ahead of Greenway in upstate NY minor hockey and the USNDP, and a year or two ahead of him with the Wild, so I'm not sure they ever played together, but their paths probably crossed given their similar backgrounds.

Arizona has moved to very near the top of my list of teams I don’t want to get Bedard.

I’d like to see Savoie in Rochester this April, like we saw with Sam Reinhart. Not going to happen because Winnipeg is probably going to the Memorial Cup.

Pretty sure Skinner hasn’t had any stretches like that this year. (Yes, I remember the Krueger era)

I think Dan has done a very good job with his cadence this year. Having better material on the ice to work with has certainly had a role.

There have been whispers Johnson is going to sign. But all this really confirms is that no one offered a 2nd round pick for him. The Sabres get a late 2nd as compensation if he walks.

Further evidence that what you did last game doesn't seem to matter much to Donnie when he's deciding who sits.

Only thing to pay attention to about runs is that they don't tend to last. It might be more about last run wins. As far as the Sabres go, they haven't played particularly well lately. They are going to need to play better.

Asking JohnC specifically because he has been very steadfast in saying Adams was not interested in that type of trade. But always interested in other points of view. Mine mirrors yours in this case.

Someone will use the same logic we used in acquiring Greenway when paying a similar price for Vic: he’s done it before and he’s not really in a position right now to maximize what he does best. And they will be right to do so. He will score 30 goals and 60 points if he is playing 5-on-5 with a Jack Eichel and being the undisputed trigger man in the power play. I like Vic. I just like Jack Quinn better and, on this team, need a player like the concept of Jordan Greenway more.

There’s a scene in the Ryan Miller night Embedded video where Jim Corsi talks about the circumstances in Buffalo when Miller was drafted: Recent 1st-round draft picks Biron and Noronen in the system and the best goalie of all time between the pipes. If Portillo wasn’t interested in signing because of Levi and UPL, kinda glad he’s in LA

If I was building a team from scratch, I’d actively look for guys like Zemgus on my fourth line. Big and fast, hard-to-play against, relentless on the cycle, diligent on the backcheck, versatile, kills penalties, can be trusted against other team’s top lines, shows up every day, sets a good example: he ticks most of the boxes. Hope he is re-signed.