dudacek

Not next year they don’t They will have about $30-34 million to re-sign or replace Cozens, Jost, Girgensons, Okposo, Asplund and Clague. It’s the following summer where it gets interesting with Power, Dahlin, Mittelstadt, Jokiharju, Krebs and UPL as RFAs and Olofsson, Lyubushkin and Comrie UFAs.

This I mostly agree with. I think you are talking about types of players and roster construction to improve what I called “structure” and “consistency.” My point was simply that the Sabres can now hang with everyone in terms of raw speed and skill, they get beat on the details.

D- zone they generally stack both wingers to the slot side of the circle. O-zone they typically lineup the wingers on their off-wing (when they aren’t getting Skinner or Okposo to take the draw). Like I said earlier, I don’t really think it’s too important the way the Sabres play. As far as the line-numbering thing goes, the pre-game depth chart rarely reflects the order they play the lines, or the amount of ice time they get. My best guess is that it’s a loose interpretation of how likely each line is to score. Okposo wasn’t a 4th line winger when he was on the LOG line and he certainly wasn’t last year when he was scoring 20 goals. But he got that label and it’s stuck. I think most people tend to base it whatever they have the most personal familiarity with, as opposed to what their coach actually does.

Why do they list Okposo on the 4th line all the time too, even when he’s skating 15 minutes a night? All I know is I see Quinn lining up on the left regularly for faceoffs and I usually see him on the left boards when they break out of our zone. IMO it’s moot any way since the Sabres are constantly rotating on the attack and generally play an F1 system on the forecheck and the backcheck.

Talent is talent, IMO. How it’s applied is another story. I think the kids are going to continue to improve defensively just like they are improving offensively. Krebs, Cozens, Peterka, Quinn and Power are fast enough, smart enough, competitive enough and diligent enough that they will become much better at defending as their bodies grow and their brains adapt.

The Briere comparisons just get more and more obvious.

Quinn and Peterka have played on their off-wings all season.

Agreed, plus I don’t see many better 4th-liners around the league.

Frazier and Dorsey weren’t the ones getting pushed backwards on 3/4s of the snaps.

We’re more than halfway through the season and have seen most of what the league has to offer. Im pretty confident talent is not much of an issue any more except in the crease. We have enough talent - speed and the ability to execute at speed - to keep up with any team in the league. The issues are mostly consistency, defensive structure and a dab of that abrasive arrogance that defines teams like the Lightning. Hopefully most of it will come through maturity.

Once the pitchforks and torches get put away it will become clear this game was largely lost in the trenches.

All true. I think Joki, Mitts and Olofsson are being given every opportunity to add themselves to the core. However, each is a free agent summer of ‘24. The 1st 2 will have arbitration rights, while Victor will be a UFA. The cap, the progress of younger players in the organization, and the desire to bring in upgrades from outside the organization will affect what happens there just as much as it will with lesser talents like Bryson and Comrie This organization is not going to be able to keep everyone. Nor, in all likelihood, should they.

Any time I listen to Adams it hear him indirectly saying: Skinner Thompson Tuch Quinn Cozens Peterka Krebs Dahlin Samuelsson Power Luukkonen Are going to get every chance to be part of the long-term core of this team. Levi is replacing Anderson. Olofsson Mittelstadt Jokiharju, Lyubushkin, Bryson and Comrie are under contract for next year. Asplund, Clague, Jost, Girgensons and Okposo are free agents. Any of them could be re-signed. Basically, there are 11 roster slots in question and I suspect most of them will be filled with players already here unless we can sign or trade someone who upgrades the latter two groups. Next year's team is going to look a lot like this year's.

He's tied for 25th in goals in the entire NHL right now, more notably 14th in ES goals.

Quinn has nothing to learn in Rochester. He was absolutely dominant there. I agree he needs to get stronger, but the biggest adjustment for him is learning to play his game at NHL speed. He's a bit like an intermediate skier learning to tackle black diamond runs. The only way he masters them is to keep trying. Let's not overstate his flaws. He's already as effective as most players on NHL 3rd lines and his numbers reflect that — goals and assists and analytically.

There's a few others — Robert thomas, Jordan Kyrou, Matt Boldy, Jack Hughes and tage Thompson — but Dylan's probably going to be coming after a better season than almost any of them when he signs.

Jack Quinn has played 60 AHL games. Peyton Krebs has played 25.

Oh, I’m very much with you on that. Just not sure a Swedish “Chad” would be.

2 points back of the Islanders, 4 of PIttsburgh, 7 of Washington. Despite our recent slumping over the past 10, we’ve still gained 4 on the Islanders and 2 on the Penguins, while keeping pace with Washington. Going to need to string together another run at some point.

This, not a “demotion” was why Tage was playing with them. They play direct and demand that of their centre. That’s what’s Tage has to get back to.

Rutherford never hired Boudreau and, from the sounds of it, never would have. I believe the issue there is mostly about a lack of defensive structure under Boudreau. I believe the reason he hasn’t been fired yet is because Rutherford doesn’t want to bring his guy in until he can put him in a position to succeed. Yes, it is completely unfair to Boudreau.

I was talking about the fans love for him. They love his personality and don’t hold him too accountable for the on-ice performance, which they blame on management.

I am curious as to what his reasons actually are. Im skeptical it’s either of the above: those are factors for veteran free agents, not prospects who will be almost certainly be doing a lengthy apprenticeship in the minors. It’s hard to say what any team will be like in those areas when he gets his opportunity. Most decisions of this nature come down to money, opportunity, work environment and or family/lifestyle issues. I think opportunity could very much play into things: this organization has 2 others in the “heir apparent” role. It might make sense to find an organization with a gaping hole in the depth chart under “potential starter 20-25”. The Sabres and the city of Buffalo have certainly improved their reputation, but they haven’t erased all stigma. I could be wrong, but Portillo strikes me as someone who is coming from a position of privilege. Money in terms of salary shouldn’t be an issue - all ELCs are the same - but I’m curious as to whether there are business opportunities off the ice that play into it. We know he’s an MBA student already involved in his own venture. Maybe he wants to be in a place better situated to chase his post-hockey career. He might see a better fit for himself in a place like Toronto - clearer path to the NHL crease, “world-class” city, prestigious franchise, plenty of off-ice business opportunities. I don’t have a clue, really. Guess we will learn when he makes his decision.

Canuck fans love Boudreau and hate Aquilini, the owner. It’s less about Bruce’s job performance and more about his personality and how badly the team has been managed for a decade. Lots of frustration over the team’s unwillingness to blow things up entirely.

Did anyone else catch Adams on GR yesterday? He didn’t come right out and say Portillo wasn’t signing, but he might has well have. I mean it’s no surprise, but it was the most transparent that I’ve ever heard him on that subject. Said they believe he’s a legitimate NHL prospect and pretty much acknowledged he’s had trade discussions with other teams. On the flip side, it’s also pretty clear he expects to sign Levi as soon as his college season is done.