dudacek

Did you think Casey was a passenger tonight?

Casey’s next assist will be his 40th. Now that isn’t nearly as impressive as 40 goals or 80 points, but it’s notable. It’s a total only 12 Sabres have reached since 2000. Danny Briere only did it once. Tim Connolly only did it once. Ryan O’Reilly never did it. Neither did Chris Drury. He’s going to break 50 points, something only Eichel, ROR, Dahlin, Reinhart, Skinner and Thompson had done in a Sabres uniform prior to this season and since we launched the tank. Has he changed any minds?

Skinner was absolutely fantastic last night. It's weird. The 1st line clearly misses some chemistry with Tage out; they just don't click as well. But individually all 3 members were buzzing.

You guys aren't wrong when applying logic to most people. I don't know that this applies to Levi. He's not your conventional 21-year-old. He's fit and well-rested. He wants to play. He lives to stop pucks. Common sense says start Comrie. I'd start Levi. Tonight and against Florida.And maybe beyond for as long as we're in the race. Because I want to make the playoffs.

Yeah, I didn’t pull that reference randomly. Adams seems to have tried to focus on players wired to compete. It will be interesting to see how that manifests itself when these kids are men.

A lot has been made about our lack of D prospects. The fact that we have a top 3 set for the foreseeable future has always softened that for me. It’s solid depth we need, not front-line guys. I don’t think it’s a stretch to think we might get a Borgen out of those two, or a Jokiharju out of Johnson and Lindgren. Don’t get me wrong, we need to draft some more defencemen, and Johnson is the only one of those 4 who should make it. But all 4 could, and I expect them to at least give Weber a few skaters to work with in Rochester.

The euphoria of this thread ain’t going to last. But I’ve been trying to tell you: this is not another fragile little kid.

Pretty sure that's what it usually looks like an hour before puck drop

Very loosely, I tend to think of Joki as a #4/5 in the offensive and defensive zones and a #3 in transition.

This is what a meant about him not being as aggressive as Joki. Joki’s defensive mindset is to see what’s in front of him and attack it. Johnson tends to be safer and more calculated. I think people tend to miss how good Joki is at actually neutralizing attackers when engaging because they get focused on those times his style allows other threats to get behind him. Johnson is more conscious of those secondary threats.

I’m going to couple this with your earlier post to conclude that: Cozens, Quinn, Peterka, Krebs, Kulich, Östlund, Savoie, Power and Levi are off the table as trade chips for at least the foreseeable future, because in Adams mind they are the future: they are where team improvement is coming from, they are who he is hoarding his cap space for. (I’ll add Mule to that - even if Adams didn’t - because of his contract.) In my view, that leaves him with plenty of other chips (Rosen, other prospects and picks, cap space, Olofsson etc.) to work with to acquire the missing pieces

Do you interpret the 3-5 years comment as Adams not being willing to make the moves you suggest for 3-5 years? I don’t. I interpret it as him not being willing to make moves today that would ***** up his salary cap 3-5 years from now. Maybe @Taro T or someone else who was at his Q&A can clarify. ***** Separate and not really aimed at you, but your post sparked it: something I see a lot is Rosen and Östlund being grouped together as a step below Kulich and Savoie. In my view, Östlund is far closer to the first 2 than to Rosen. Granted, I’m not huge on Rosen, but I see him with a Tyler Ennis ceiling and a Alex Nylander floor. Östlund has both a higher ceiling - legit 2-way 2C - and a safer floor, as in Tyson Jost, maybe? I don’t see him busting. He’s ultra-smart, fast and competitive. Never stops skating, always around the play, always on the right side of the puck, one-touch passing his way around the ice. All the things we liked about Asplund as a prospect, but much more offensively gifted and involved.

i think a lot of people have downgraded or not paid a ton of attention to Johnson, maybe as a defence mechanism against him walking. He is a co-captain and 1st pairing defenceman on the best team in the country. The latter is a major reason why he didn't sign last summer.

I have not watched him this year, but from what I’ve seen in the past, Johnson’s calling card is his feet; he’s nimble, smooth and agile in a similar way to Bryson. Physically, he’s more Jokiharju size. His game is calmer and less aggressive than Henri’s but his skill level is on par. He doesn’t add much in the way of thump or offence but he’s not timid or stone-handed either. He reads the play in both directions and makes good decisions. What he does well is defend the rush, retrieve dump-ins, beat the forecheck, and get the puck out. At the college level, he is the guy playing against the other team’s best players. In short, he’s a defensive defenceman built for the modern game. It will be interesting to see how his game adapts to NHL size and speed, but his upside is to be the reliable support guy on a top 4 pairing. His floor is a bigger Bryson. It should also be noted that even though he’s a college senior, he’s still only 21

Yep, they’re definitely a talented hockey team. This is actually came up today. He told the media they will never see him throw a player under the bus during a presser, but he’s told “every single one of them” they aren’t pulling their weight and they need to be better. I think our coach is smarter and more competitive than this board gives him credit it for.

Wait PA and a handful of other random internet accounts don’t constitute “people”? I must ponder this. Over rum. 🥃

I'm not sure why people are so terrified about Levi starting "because playoffs". To me, there's a far better chance that he might go on a run than either Comrie or UPL, neither of whom has shown the ability to string together a run of good games. Short term, if he sucks and lets in 4 early, what are we going to do, say "I knew it, we should have started Comrie"? Because there was no chance that was going to happen to Comrie?

It’s a comparison I’ve seen a lot.

I’m not sure of Johnson’s ceiling or how long it will take him to get there, but I would be surprised if he’s not as good or better than Bryson right now.

The present goes to hell 3 out of every 5 times one of the other 3 start. Why can’t this be a “this kid looks better than the trash we’ve been putting out there, let’s take a swing at the playoffs” move? The odds are less than a coin flip that the other three play well enough to win. Demonstrably. Provably. I’ll take the coin flip.

Our goalies have let in 4 or more 14 of our past 24 games — 7 or more 5 times! — and you're worried about them trying someone new? I think that it would be negligent not to give the kid a shot.

The Habs game was so familiar and seems to match the anayltics: The Sabres spent a lot of time in the Habs zone going Globetrotters, hanging on to the puck for extended periods in the offensive zone and tossing back and forth with ease until they finally freed up someone for a shot (or didn't). The Habs spent extended periods in the Sabres zone forechecking, cycling, grinding and crashing the crease and throwing pucks at the net. We inevitably fall into a sports car versus puck-ups scenario on either side of the ice.

Mats Lindgren kinda following the Savoie template this year: pedestrian start, strong finish. Finished the season with a 7/17/24 run with 61 shots over his final 27 games after going 4/6/10 with 51 shots in his first 36. His Rustlers won their division and face Calgary in the first round. Seems likely there was something going on off the ice that precipitated his trade and contributed to poor 1st-half play this year and 2nd-half play last year and him slipping in the draft. He also had the following to say about the Sabres development staff: "It's been really great," Lindgren said. "It shows that they care a lot and it makes me happy. It gives me confidence when they are coming out and watching me play, going out for dinner, and just talking about the games and what I can improve on. "I'm really happy with how they do things in Buffalo, and I'm so thankful for Adam, Nathan, and Tim for taking their time to come out and watch me and everything. It's been great so far. Even just sending me video clips of what I can do better, breaking down video, talking with me on the phone. They're always available for me to reach out to them whenever I want, and they've made that very clear. It's amazing to have people like that who you can reach out to." "Being a part of the Buffalo Sabres' prospect pool has been unreal," Lindgren emphasized. "The potential and just how the team is looking right now in Buffalo, it's amazing. It's exciting watching their games and seeing what they're going to be like in a few years, or even next year. "It's very exciting for me to, hopefully, be a part of that one day."

I don't think Adams will cross Orlov — or many guys really — off his list because of age. If any one is crossed off, it will be because of age+term.

Actual question, not rhetorical: who were those guys for the young Penguins, Capitals, Hawks, Lightning and Avalanche teams, the build we seem to be trying to emulate? Can it be Dahlin and Cozens and Thompson evolving into those players? Did Toews and Backstrom and Sid and McKinnon drive the bus the whole way, or did somebody else take them to the doorstep and pass over the keys?