dudacek

Power’s draft year was a much more pedestrian 0.63 p/g, behind Luke’s .95, Quinn’s .78 and Fox’s amazing 1.14 (it was against easier competition in Harvard, but how the heck did that guy last until the 3rd round?) Power’s 17-year-old season is the 3rd best p/g over a full season by a defenceman in USHL history.

“Elite” is a vague term. Owen Power’s production in his 19-year-old NCAA season was 32 points in 33 games, or 0.97 points/game. Some of his peers in comparison at 19: Adam Fox 0.97 Luke Hughes 1.23 Quinn Hughes 1.03 Jake Sanderson 1.13 Charlie McAvoy 0.68 Brock Faber 0.44 Cale Makar 0.62 Lane Hutson’s 1.29 is the best of the past 25 years. Power ranks 11th.

This is a great point. I added a "none of the above" option for those who feel like you do.

Thompson: Two years ago Tage was a flat-out game-breaking offensive star, embarrassing NHL defensemen with his moves and blowing pucks past goalies from 40 feet. His offensive peers were Jack Hughes, Brayden Point and Sidney Crosby. Last year, his offensive peers were William Karlsson, Sean Monahan and Pavel Zacha. Will he be the point-per-game first-line centre every contender needs? Cozens: The draft pedigree is stellar and the development path has been exactly what you’d expect from a young top-six centre. Until last year. The speed/size/skill/compete combo remains what every scout looks for in a good 2C. Last year the game didn’t match up. Will Cozens get his act together and rebound and bring high-end 2C production and the confidence that was often missing last year? Quinn: No one argues about Quinn being good. The question is how good and how often? Can he stay healthy? And if he stays healthy, will he be a complementary 2nd-line Joel Farabee-type player? Or will he step up to the Alex Tuch/Matt Boldy/Pavel Buchnevich level of top-six difference-maker who drives play from the wing? Power: This is not the first time Sabres fans have been disappointed with the progress of a young, highly touted defenceman. (This thread from less than three years ago is interesting reading). But it is safe to say that last year Owen Power played more to his age than his talent. The question is less about how good he will be eventually, and more about how good he will be this year. Will he consistently tilt the ice in Buffalo’s favour as a 22-minutes-a-night all-situations D2? Samuelsson: Lots of Sabrespacers talk about the need for a big, defensively sound defenceman who can be relied on to play big minutes against the opponent’s top players. It wasn’t that long ago that Mule was being pretty much universally touted around here as that player. Three consecutive seasons of spending nearly as much time on IR as on the ice have softened his support considerably. Will he succeed as this team’s Jay McKee? Luukkonen: It was ironic that last summer’s weakest link actually turned out to be the most reliable part of the team. UPL was good, and once the crease became fully his, he was very good, as in one of the NHL’s best goalies. So unlike the rest of the list, the question is not about whether he can grow or rebound, it is about whether or not he can maintain. There were many, many posters around here adamant that he would never be an NHL goalie. Yet here he is with a 5-year deal and the job of carrying the Sabres back into the playoffs. Will he continue to be the legitimate NHL starter he appeared to be throughout this calendar year?

It’s not unusual to have question marks going into any season about certain players. But I can’t recall a Sabres team with as many unknowns as this one: I don’t mean roster holes, I mean roster slots — key roles — filled with players who may or may not be able to fill them. Teams usually succeed when they have players being properly slotted in the lineup and utilized in roles where they can excel. I am comfortable with Rasmus Dahlin as the Sabres cornerstone defenceman and Alex Tuch as their power forward. I am less comfortable about the other 6 crucial spots in the lineup: 1C, 2C, scoring winger, 2D, shutdown D and 1G. We have guys that could do very well in those roles, but no reason to be confident that they will. If all these guys play to Kevyn Adams expectations, this can be more than a playoff bubble team, it should actually be a good team. If none of them do, prepare for another rebuild as Adams scans the help-wanted sites for local arenas looking for managers. How many of these guys do you see excelling this year? (Pick as many as you think will succeed. Thread loosely inspired by an Athletic Bills article)

This is probably the most talented group of defencemen the Sabres have ever had. I'm not sure there is a more mobile group in the league, and I expect them to be very good in transition — offensively and defensively — and in the offensive end. Overall, they aren't nasty or disciplined enough without the puck in their own zone. Dahlin is a stud, Jokiharju and Clifton match up well with any team's 5th and 6th defencemen, and there are capable fill-in bodies behind them. The unit will sink or swim on what they get from Power, Byram and Samuelsson — a trio that did not play a single game together last year, and has each played 164 or less NHL career games.

That poor family. And under those circumstances and against that backdrop. And Columbus, again.

Pronman appears to have a tendency to scout from a checklist. What I mean is that he has his view of what an ideal NHL player looks like and should be able to do, and he subtracts points from prospects based on what they lack from that archetype. I don’t think it’s a surprise that Dylan Cozens is (or was) his favourite Sabres prospect because that archetype would be Eric Lindros or Mark Messier.

Curious where you got those numbers. Stuff I've seen showed Power ranking highly on his possession numbers offensively, not so good on the defending side, and overall slightly positive. NHL.com had Power at 51.5% Corsi, if i remember correctly. The need for Power to take a leap for the Sabres to do the same is certainly spot on, as far as I'm concerned. Brian Duff has been pushing it a lot this summer.

It really comes down to the bold doesn't it? Are Tage/Tuch/Cozens/Quinn/Peterka/Benson Dahlin/Power/Byram/Samuelsson Levi/Luukkonen the players Adams seems to think they are? Or are they the players we watched last year?

Not being snarky, I wonder how often Pronman sees these guys? He rates literally hundreds of them on his own.

I looked past being told my opinion is rank. And puke emojis being posted beside my posts. But I’m done with this particular discussion. You don’t have to argue with me about an internal cap; I’ve not argued otherwise, and you should know that. Just like you know I’m not a Pegula apologist. I’m not here to be a backstop for your anger at the way he’s destroyed our team. Happy to talk Sabres with you any time. It’s one of the things that keeps me coming back here. But if you just want to vent, find somebody else to indulge you.

I’ve never really been into Sith philosophy. Bad for the complexion. 😜

I’m struggling to reply to this. It feels like you’re ripping me a new one for suggesting that an opinion that I don’t agree with might be plausibly held by the Sabres brass. I think there’s a pretty wide gap on the value you and I ascribe to Skinner that underlies this discussion. Beyond that, I mostly agree with you. My opinion on the move hasn’t changed and neither have my goal posts. Win and they were right.

Oh I agree money is a factor, actually edited it in to my post, but not before you quoted it, apparently. If I’m willingly blind - and I’m not discounting that - the glare coming off Skinner’s game is certainly feeding that.

Can’t Skinner be cut in the name of accountability and, at the same time, the Sabres be cheap and arrogant for not using the cap space saved? My opinion: 1) I don’t like Skinner’s game, I can see why Lindy doesn’t want him in the top 6, and I won’t miss him as a fan. 2) Skinner is too talented an offensive player to toss aside without having an obvious replacement, or a plan to use the cap space to improve the team. 3) I love Quinn and Benson, but I don’t trust the sample size - or the depth behind them - enough to hand them the keys without a safety net. My perception of the Sabres opinion: 1) Lindy doesn’t see a role for Skinner, and his play in the 2nd half of the season was enough to sway Adams 2) A demoted Skinner is a distraction detrimental to the culture they want in place next year, and the money saved is at least a nice fringe benefit. 3) Adams was/is overly confident he can trade for a Skinner replacement if Quinn/Benson/Zucker don’t work out. So I guess I am posting both sides in a way, but I don’t think I’m being inconsistent.

September, hah! Dahlin was hosting captain's practices in July.

Skinner finished the season on a 13-game goalless streak. He scored a hat trick against Seattle, and had 3-point night against Vegas in March. In the other 34 games to finish out the year, he had 3 goals and 4 assists. 13 points in 36 games of uninspired play as the team needed to get its season back on the line. From its highest-paid veteran. Pretty sure that's why he's not here any more. You want accountability, this is what it looks like.

I looked back into the mists of time to when the Sabres were a team that didn't need to push their prospects into the NHL early. These were the approximate ages when these guys graduated to full-time NHL action Myers 19 years, 8 months Ennis 20 years, 6 months Foligno 20 years, 7 months Stafford 21 years, 4 months Sekera 21 years, 6 months Kassian 21 years, 10 months Armia 22 years, 7 months Paille 22 years, 10 months Pominville 23 years McNabb 23 years, 8 months Pysyk 23 years, 9 months Miller 25 years, 3 months These are the ages of these guys right now: Helenius 18 years, 3 months Wahlberg 19 years, 1 month Kulich 20 years, 4 months Östlund 20 years, 5 months Komarov 20 years, 7 months Novikov 21 years, 1 month Rosen 21 years, 5 months Poltapov 21 years, 6 months Levi 22 years, 8 months Johnson 23 years, 1 month

Never opposed to a team flipping over rocks.but I don't think I'd be too interested in a PTO with the Sabres if I had other options. One of Zucker/Benson, plus McLeod, Greenway, Krebs, Lafferty, Malenstyn, Aube-Kubel are 7 guys ahead of you for 6 spots, plus Rousek is on a 1-way and Rosen and Kulich are knocking on the door. I could see the Sabres in the market for a top 6 player, but a reclamation project would realistically have to have a hell of a camp to push the team off some of those investments to crack the bottom 6.

I think a fully formed Benson would be so good for Cozens. I think the same about Benson and Thompson. We shouldn’t have to be relying on a 19-year-old to be a difference maker this year.

Yep, I go back and forth between this voice and the one that says “but what’s the plan if he can’t?” But despite their different positions, I’m sticking with the idea that situationally, Benson is the one replacing Mittelstadt. Quinn, situationally, replaces Skinner and Zucker backfills into the roster spot where Benson was. McLeod is less about replacing Mitts than he is about addressing a role that was missing on last year’s team.

McLeod scored 14 in 28 in his last AHL stint, and has 23 in his last 138 NHL games. I think he’s a pretty safe bet for 12 to 15, which is a good number for a bottom-sixer. The problem to me is the other guys coming behind him if there are injuries or poor performances in the top 6. I think Jason Zucker is a better 3rd line winger than Skinner because of the versatility of his game. And Jack Quinn is a better top 6 winger than Skinner for the same reason. I think they are asking a lot of Zach Benson to essentially fill Mittelstadt’s role offensively as the playmaking 2-way middle six swing guy this year, which is the way the roster shapes up to me right now.

Kulich Helenius Murray Rosen Östlund Wahlberg Tullio Dunne Jobst ...would be a very watchable top 9. I think Kulich's path is on the wing, hoping they make the move, which also benefits Östlund and Helenius Novikov Johnson ...is a pair I'd like to see tested under hard shutdown minutes to prep them for their NHL futures.

We've talked a lot about whether the top 6 has enough pop, but one of the reasons for that is how little margin for error this group of forwards has. You can cross your fingers and hope for 30 from Cozens or Quinn, but you can't do that for even half that with most of the bottom 6 Nick Aube-Kubel has scored 31 goals — in his entire career, 282 NHL games over 6 seasons. Sam Lafferty scored 13 last year, 12 the year before and 11 combined in his 3 other partial NHL seasons. Jordan Greenway's 10 last year tied his career high Peyton Krebs has never scored 20 goals in a single season anywhere, even when he was ripping up junior, it was as a playmaker Lukas Rousek has 1 NHL goal. The 16 he scored 2 years ago with the Amerks were his best in any league. Beck Malenstyn? 7, 7, 11, 7, 6 — those are his season totals, AHL and NHL combined If Zucker and Benson aren't scoring, they aren't getting any help filling the nets from these guys