dudacek

I think the fan base loves JJ but is still underrating him a tad. My lasting impression of JJP was his playoff dominance. He was so good against a couple nasty teams. He is such a strong, explosive skater, his hands and vision are very good and he competes hard. He has all the elements, including the intangibles, to be a legitimate first-line NHL winger. His ceiling is as good as any forward in the organization. For this team to become a true contender someone will have elevate beyond their hype like Bergeron and Kucherov did. JJ’s our best bet to be that player. I think he makes the team and is a making an impact by the end of the season.

Or for Gold: Olofsson Mitts Asplund Peterka Cozens Hinostroza

Gold has the top D, Blue the 1st line. Guessing combos from today’s groupings: Skinner Tuch Thompson Olofsson Cozens Mitts Quinn Krebs Okposo

Sabres Skinner Thompson Tuch Olofsson Mittelstadt Okposo Asplund Cozens Hinostroza Girgensons Power Dahlin Samuelson Jokiharju Bryson Lyubushkin Comrie Anderson In the NHL mix Quinn Krebs Peterka Bjork Sheahan Pilut Fitzpatrick UPL Amerks Mersch Biro Murray Rousek Kulich Weissbach Kisakov Malone Rosen Cedarqvist Kozak Pekar Clague Priskie Davies Laaksonen Prow Subban Cincinnati Warren Jobst Olischevski Passolt Tischke Elliot Berzolla Houser Warm Reserve Bloom Savoie Nadeau Poltapov Östlund Neuchev Costantini Huglen Konecny Richard Sardarian Marjala Rotkovic Karlsson Sjodin Von Barnekow Johnson Komarov Lindgren lyckasen Novikov Sova Levi Portillo Leinonen

Just noticed the training camp roster lists Girgensons as a LW, Thompson as a RW, and both Asplund and Hinostroza (?) as centres. Mitts, Krebs and Cozens all centres as well, as are Savoie and Kulich. Not sure if this means anything in terms of early plans, I’m guessing not.

I think 3 things have to happen for the Sabres to make the playoffs: 1) Someone (most likely Cozens or Mittelstadt) has to emerge as a 60-point threat driving a 2nd line with Tuch or Olofsson. 2) Either Comrie or UPL has to take the reins as .915 starter 3) Owen Power will have to have an immediate impact

He's been a presence throughout most embedded videotape this year and we haven't seen him utter a word. I'm sure that's deliberate. I would imagine that with Kim's health issues Terry hasn't been as present as he normally is with the Sabres and the Matt has been designated to be the family presence. It will be interesting to see how active that presence actually is, and how that evolves.

Seth Appert likes to point out that JJ Peterka had just 3 goals at Christmas time. My favourite Peterka numbers are 7/5/12, as in the numbers he had in just 10 playoff games. Peterka had an historic season for the Amerks — the third most productive AHL season by a U20 player ever. But even more impressive than his overall numbers was the meteoric rise that his game took during his first year in North America, starting as a promising but raw 2nd-round rookie and finishing as perhaps the best player on the ice. https://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=226507 Despite overwhelming numbers that seem to indicate he’s done all he needs to do in Rochester, fandom seems mixed as to whether Peterka will or should be a Sabre. It’s not a size issue, not after he took a brutal pounding from Utica and Belleville without missing a stride. Besides he’s an explosive, powerful skater with a squat 190-pound hockey player’s frame. And it’s probably not a defence issue, not after listening to Mike Peca extol the virtues of his two-way growth during development camp. It’s more a numbers game, where some don’t see a top 6 role for him and don’t want him in the NHL if he’s not being used in that manner. What do you expect from JJ Peterka?

Pretty much everything the Sabres have done since Krueger was fired has been the result of faith in people and a plan. This is simply more of the same. It's a different look for professional sports. Even if it wasn't the Sabres, I'd like to see it succeed.

The whole idea of a “soft tank” is predicated on the idea that the Sabres don’t actually believe that playing Cozens/Krebs/Mitts/Power/Quinn etc in prominent roles is the best way to develop both them and the team. Which makes Adams and Granato and Appert and every other acolyte in the front office a really good liar. Im going to go with Occam’s Razor on this one.

Botts was awful, but that’s not why he was fired.

I can’t remember which coach/exec it was (it may have been more than one), but in the aftermath of Krebs excellent play at centre in the AHL playoffs, it was said “we want him/see him playing centre.”

Each so perfectly fit team needs through a moneyball focus that I’m a believer.

Haven’t looked at the Atlantic, but I think the top 4 in the Northeast slip while the bottom 4 improve. Buffalo and Ottawa could get 85-90, Detroit maybe 5 points behind them and the Habs about 60ish? Leafs and Lightning 100-110, Boston and Florida 95-105. I think it is possible one of the teams could implode in the same manner Vegas did last year and will make it a rest. I can’t tell you which one, but Florida’s defence corps is awful, the pressure on Toronto is immense and the Bruins are aging and without their best players early. Tampa has lost their depth and without Vas would be vulnerable.

@PerreaultForever's point of view is basically the same as the Athletic's: assign value to players who have proven they have it. They might be "new" going back to last fall, but Lyubushkin, Power, Samuelsson, Quinn, Krebs, Mitts, Tuch and Peterka combined for 28 goals last year and Eric Comrie has won 13 games in his career. I don't agree with him, but let's not pretend he doesn't have a case.

Wow. Very much unlike the NHL.

They’ve got 6 goalies in camp. I would imagine a 7th would be difficult to accommodate in terms of planning and sharing the net during camp.

Bjork with a new number, 15 Comrie will wear 31, Pilut 20, Sheahan 8 and Lyubushkin 46.

Training camp battles: 2C: Cozens and Mittelstadt should be facing off here, with Krebs in the mix 4C: Riley Sheahan best fits the role, but he's probably not one of the 12 best forwards. Will they move Girgensons or Asplund into that spot, or go with the low man in the 2C battle there? Scoring winger: It's not clear what kind of rotation Granato will run, but whether it's 3 balanced lines, or a clear top 6, he's going to lean on at least 2 wingers beyond Skinner and Tuch to join the PP and score some goals at even strength. Olofsson is the clear favourite to be one. Quinn and Peterka should battle Okposo, and possibly one of the 2C losers to join him. 2RD: will Lyubushkin or Jokiharju join Power? Final roster spots: Assuming health, there will be a maximum of 5 spots available for Krebs, Peterka, Quinn, Bjork, Sheahan, Pilut, Fitzpatrick and Luukkonnen. Biro, Murray, Malone, Clague and Subban are veterans who might also be pushing to join them.

Overall I think the Sabres are outclassed at the top of their lineup, but they have the ability to turn over 4 lines as good or better than most of their competition. That's a nice quality to have when the Sabres also have one of the division's fastest rosters and a coach who preaches that style. Buffalo's goaltending is a huge question mark, but no more than Toronto's, Montreal's, Ottawa's or Detroit's. It's defence corps is clearly better than Florida's, Montreal's, Ottawa's or Detroit's. Their PK needs work, but I expect their PP to be good. They aren't very physical, but they are well-coached and they do seem to compete and have resiliency. Yes, Ottawa and Detroit should be better and Buffalo could conceivably finish 7th. But Buffalo should be better too, and the top 4 teams are all likely to be worse. Points in general should be easier to come by. I find it hard to see this team finishing with a worse record than last year. I'm finding it really hard to put number on things, but I think anything less than coming within 10 points or so of a playoff would be a personal disappointment

The Sabres have good numbers, but the reason I'm ranking them #1 is no one else has prospects the calibre of Quinn and Peterka here, who have the ability to push ahead of guys in their middle-class. Toronto has a lot of vets and a handful of kids who can fill the bottom of the roster just fine. Detroit and Montreal have a lot of options here. Ottawa too, although some of these Senators will be playing higher in the lineup. Boston's depth isn't deep. And it will show with Marchand and McAvoy out. Tampa seems to have run out of cards in this portion of their lineup, while Florida's depth is just plain bad.

I think the Bruins have the best supporting cast: a lot of good NHL players properly cast in their appropriate slots, as well as 2 of the division's better goalies. I'd take Florida next. It's not a deep middle class and the defence is weak, but the top 4 are well above the competition. But Buffalo might be third. Detroit and Montreal have their share of depth at this level, but so do the Sabres, and most of the Sabres have upside possibilities the other two don't have. Tampa has lost much of it's middle class, although their grit there should keep them competitive here. Toronto's continues to be meh. Ottawa hasn't developed one yet and the youth of its core is going to make that even more obvious.

I think the Lightning continue to have the best core; to my mind the presence of Vasilevsky makes it not close. The Leafs is very good, just ahead of the Panthers because theirs is one player deeper, and Boston is right there with both, assuming good health and age resistance for Marchand and Bergeron. Don't sleep on Ottawa either: there's some projection involved obviously, but that 6 is good already, and some would argue Batherson makes it 7. Objectively, the Sabres and the Wings are a step behind and similar: fine, but nothing special, lacking in elite players, and hoping their young stud D-man can change that. Montreal might be excited about Suzuki and Caufield, but they are way behind.

Honestly, how do you think the Sabres stack up? Core Boston: Bergeron, Marchand, Pastrnak, McAvoy, Lindholm, (5) Montgomery Buffalo: Thompson, Skinner, Tuch, Dahlin, (4) Granato Detroit: Larkin, Vrana, Bertuzzi, Seider, (4) Lalonde Florida: Barkov, Tkachuk, Reinhart, Ekblad, (4) Maurice Montreal: Suzuki, Caufield, Anderson (3) St.Louis Ottawa: Tkachuk, Stutzle, Norris, Debrincat, Giroux, Chabot (6) Smith Tampa: Kucherov, Point, Stamkos, Cirelli, Hedman, Vasilevsky (6) Cooper Toronto: Matthews, Marner, Tavares, Nylander, Reilly (5) Keefe Supporting cast Boston: Hall, Krecji, Zacha, Debrusk, Smith, Coyle, Carlo, Grelczyk, Ullmark Swayman (10) Buffalo: Olofsson, Okposo, Mittelstadt, Cozens, Krebs, Asplund, Power, Jokiharju, Samuelsson, Lyubushkin, Comrie, Anderson (12) Detroit: Raymond, Copp, Perron, Kubalik, Fabbri, Suter, Chiarot, Hronek, Maatta, Husso, Njedeljkovic (11) Florida: Bennett, Verhaege, Duclair, Lundell, Hornqvist, Forsling, Montour, Gudas, Bobrovsky, Knight (10) Montreal: Dvorak, Dach, Gallagher, Hoffman, Dadynov, Drouin, Matheson, Edmunson, Savard, Allen (10) Ottawa: Batherson, Formenton, Joseph, Zub, Forsberg, Talbot (6) Tampa: Killorn, Paul, Colton, Hagel, Namestnikov, Sergachev, Cernak (6) Toronto: Bunting, Kerfoot, Jarnkrok, Engvall, Brodie, Muzzin, Murray, Samsonov (8) Depth/role players Boston: Foligno, Frederic, Nosek, Clifton, Fobert, Reilly, Zboril (7) Buffalo: Girgensons, Hinostroza, Quinn, Peterka, Sheahan, Bjork, Bryson, Pilut, Fitzpatrick, Lukkonnen (10) Detroit: Zadina, Erne, Rasmussen, Sundqvist, Veleno, Smith, Berggren, Eidvinsson, Lindstrom, Hagg, Pysyk, Oesterle (12) Florida: Cousins, Lomberg, Tierney, Luostarinen, Balcers, Staal, Del Zotto, Carlson (8) Montreal: Pitlick, Byron, Slavkovsky, Evans, Armia, Guhle, Barron, Harris, Wideman, Montembeault (10) Ottawa: Gambrell, Watson, Pinto, Grieg, Kelly, Katelic, Sanderson, Hamonic, Holden, Zaitsev, Bernard-Docker (11) Tampa: Maroon, Bellemare, Barre-Boulet, Perry, Bogosian, Cole, Foote, Myers, Fleury, Elliott (10) Toronto: Kampf, Clifford, Robertson, Gaudette, Aubel-Kabel, Simmonds, Giordano, Liljegren, Holl, Sandin, Benn (11)

Yeah, I didn’t mean to imply we can make any conclusions from the tourney. I kinda looked at Weissbach and Laaksonen to set the bar. I’ve watched both at the AHL level and consider each to be useful-to-good AHLers who won’t be NHLers. In that context, this is what I saw: the Sabres group looked better - faster and more skilled - than the opponents they faced. Kulich and Savoie are already better than Weissbach. Rousek, Rosen, Kozak, Kisakov and Cedarqvist are at a similar level to Weissbach Komarov and Lindgren are worse than Laaksonen. To that, I’ll add that the 4 highest picks are clearly the most talented players When I filter that through where they are on the development scale and where they were picked and adjust accordingly, it makes me think the Sabres might be on the right track. It will be interesting to see how much these guys improve.