dudacek

Victor Olofsson is known to be Asplund’s best friend on the Sabres. So maybe it shouldn’t be a surprise that his season mirrored the older Swede’s in that he started (12 points in 19 games) strong offensively, then sucked badly in mid-season, going through a very painful 1-goal-in-55-games drought. Fortunately, his overall point total of 27 was decent for a player who was essentially a rookie, and his defence stayed strong; he led the team with a 52.8 % ES Corsi. Somewhat surprisingly, he ranked just 6th in SH ice time among the team’s forwards. He scored 6 goals to lead Sweden in the World Championships this spring, but does not have a history as a goal scorer at any level. https://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=176326 Asplund kinda gets overlooked in the crowd of developing players who benefited when Ralph passed the baton to Donnie. Like many others, he became a full-time NHLer for the first time after Ralph was fired. Under Donnie, he’s been a 10-goal, 30-point player per 82 games, who has been among the team’s most reliable defensive forwards. A 35-point defensively stout 3C was kinda what was hoped for when Asplund was drafted, although he has rarely played centre in the NHL. He isn’t talked about much any more as player with room for development, but he has played only 137 NHL games, 80 of them last year. What do you expect from Rasmus Asplund? (Last year’s takes here):

Not gonna quote @RochesterExpat, but I saw a lot of the same things you did. His hockey brain has a ways to go. Its a lot like the Lindgren commentary though. Kid’s got great edge work and popped to some people for that reason. He popped to me for some absolutely terrible puck decisions. Both are relevant. Slavkovsky’s going to pop early for his physical gifts. Then people will be down on him for his mental flaws. Development will determine where ultimately he lands on the Nichushkin/Jagr spectrum. He’s got hands though and he will be able to physically dominate, even at an NHL level. That and the competition are why he went 1st overall.

Gotta say the poll is tilting way more to the optimistic side than I expected - maybe because it’s been one of the lowest in terms of voters.

He kinda has that Mule "stay calm and swallow 'em up" thing going on.

Kozak and Komarov were 2 who didn't get much talk in the tread who made a good impression for me.

Nice for Rosen to leave a good final impression.

that Beck kid looks as good as I thought he would. it is. I hope they are taking care of his mental health.

Just dogs every puck.

Laaksonen look smuch stronger physically against boys.

I don't like Rosen's defence so far, but the kid has some skill. Tough, tough shift for Lindgren

Guys playing too fast for their skill level. Not pretty, but entertaining. Kisakov looks like a sly bastard out there.

I've got it on their facebook page. Anthems on

I picked 65ish because my brain tells me that just seems to be the most logical choice. But from what my eyes saw since the calendar turned, the first option would not surprise me in the slightest, assuming good health and good linemates. Tage is a character guy with talent and a unique, hard-to-defend skill set, now that he’s finally figured out how to use it. All the criticisms amount to “he wasn’t that good before” and completely discount how good - not lucky, good - he was last year. I believe in development. I think he’s for real.

Yep, that's why they need Asplund or Tuch or even Girgensons with them. i wonder if Krebs has improved his strength, because with it, the cycle shouldn't be a problem. He looked notably batter in that area in the AHL playoffs than he did back in December down there.

List did not include goalies. Some of the forwards ranked ahead of Tage: Danault, Erikson Ek, Mangiapane, Nichshkin, Schiefele, Teravainen, Hischier, Buchnevich, Bratt, and Carter Verhaege

The Athletic’s top 100 - assembled in draft form by their analytics and scouting writers, then vetted and reshaped with feedback by actual NHL execs - is out. https://theathletic.com/3590441/2022/09/15/nhl-player-rankings-connor-mcdavid/ Dahlin is the only Sabre: 99th on the list, 33rd among defenceman. Buffalo’s Rasmus Dahlin was an interesting debate after an excellent offensive season. He has all the tools of a star defenseman between his elite hands and offensive instincts to go with good size and mobility. You could easily make a debate about whether he should be higher based on what we expect he could do next season, but that requires a step up in play at five-on-five, specifically in his own end. The panel held out that they wanted to see it more consistently, but not without detractors from around the league who expect Dahlin to make a big jump in the not-too-distant future. “Defensemen sometimes take longer than forwards. Some of the best defensemen in the league right now didn’t play like that until they were 22, 23, 24 years old. Dahlin will be a top NHL defenseman sometime in the next few years,” said an NHL executive. Among the higher-ranked defencemen: Thomas Chabot, Noah Hanifin, Rasmus Anderson, Mackenzie Weegar, Seth Jones, Darnell Nurse, Adam Pelech, Ryan Pulock and Eric Karlsson.

Completely out of the box? Asplund Krebs Olofsson Quinn Cozens Okposo Girgensons Mittelstadt Tuch Skinner Thompson Peterka

It's the combos that get my mind buzzing: I think Tage/Skinner is the only given. Tuch worked well with them, but I also like the idea of him with Mitts and, really, his game fits with anyone. Asplund usually gets pushed down to the '4th line' in most of the mocks I've seen, but I don't think that's a given. he seems to boost whatever line he's on, and his defence is in high demand on the this roster. In fact the number of offence-first players on the team, coupled with Donnie's attacking style make me doubt if there will be a traditional 4-line hierarchy. Are you sure Zemgus will be on a "checking" line? Cozens/Krebs was a thing. I like the concept of Krebs/Olofsson. How do we maximize Krebs ability as a passer? Quinn/Peterka were great on the Amerks, will they have to be broken up in Buffalo? They each have pretty rounded games. If you push the traditional line hierarchy (other than a JAG line, Grananto didn't really use it at even strength) out the window and just look at chemistry there are so many intriguing options.

You know the story. You watched it unfold and discussed it thoroughly last month when Tage signed his $50 million contract. https://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=177831 Thompson enters the season with a well-defined role and the confidence of the organization. They gave him a contract that says we believe in you and we expect you to be a long-term leader. What do you expect from Tage Thompson? (Last year’s takes here):

UNLIMITED POWER!

The Krebs/Cozens/Olofsson combo did some damage on the PP last year and I’m curious to see what they might do 5-on-5. I really think Krebs has the sort of game that would mesh very well with Victor’s particularly if the have a two-way guy with some jam to go get pucks and help defend. Girgs, Asplund, Tuch and Cozens all fit the bill.

The team played about 41 games with all of Krebs, Tuch, Mitts, Samuelsson and Anderson available, and about 22 games with none of them available. My loose count puts them at 20/17/4 with and 5/13/4 without. To that group, they've added Lyubushkin, Comrie, Quinn, Peterka and Power. Yes, I realize everyone has injuries, but not half-a-season to their #1 goalie and #1C exiting camp. To say this team hasn't added anyone to a 75 point team misrepresents what has actually happened over the past year.

Correction: that's .29 goals/game, not 29 goals. Goals over 82 is actually 24

Adams has made it abundantly clear he wants to sign and keep his own guys and he's keeping his cap space powder dry for exactly that. Maybe circumstances and development will line up in a way where he will be able to keep Vic. But more likely he will eventually have to make some calls on who he signs long-term and who he trades. The contract he gave Vic tells me which way he's leaning. My own personal feelings on Vic is that he has a 30-goal, 60-point season in him and this year might be the year. And, as you point out, those are guys you'd like to keep.

Holding off buying my Winterhawk tickets until its confirmed he'll be there. Nice to have 3 prospects in the Dub for once.