dudacek

Did the draft thread disappear? I guess this fits here as well. One guy who strikes me as a very Sabres-type selection is Swedish centre Noah Ostlund. Plays fast, smart and hungry. Djurgarden kid, which I believe is an organization with a lot of ties to our Swedish scout. Not small, but physically immature and certainly has a lot of filling out to do. Most projections I’ve seen have him going in between 16 and 32, but depending on how the board falls I could see the Sabres reaching or happily snatching him up with Florida’s pick.

Blindside hit to the head in the dying seconds of 3rd. R2 scored winner on the resulting PP.

He’s a veteran and their best puck-moving defenceman from what I’ve seen, so it should hurt. On the other hand, he also took our captain out, so not sure there was an overall gain there. Prick move. Glad to see there was at least some consequence. Gotta be another forward coming in for Mersch, no? Scarfo maybe? No way they go into this with just 10 forwards.

And at 32: 32. Buffalo Sabres: Reid Schaefer, LW, Seattle-WHL Schaefer’s been a name trending in NHL circles in the second half. He’s a big, physical winger who provides some offense and finishing touch and I would say has a 50/50 chance to be a first rounder. He would complement a lot of the skilled guys in the Sabres system with a different style of play.

Gauthier at 6 and Pronman stating some scouts are liking him in the top 5. Looks like the dream of getting him at 9 is going to die early.

From today's Buffalo News: "Peterka led all AHL rookies with 68 points in 70 games, recording the most points by an AHL player in his under-20 season since Guy Chouinard had 80 as a 19-year-old with Nova Scotia in 1975-76." I don't get those who are reluctant to pencil Peterka into the lineup next year. He had a season like Vanek in 04/05. When kids dominate in the minors, they move up. That's how it works. It's called earning it.

You can really see why Portillo and Johnson should have been here. Murray Biro Ruotsalainen Prow Schuldt Mcinnis Malone Mersch Davidson Alt Rousek Jankowski Weissbach Laaksonen Tischke Pekar Kisakov should be back or should be replaceable through a free agency That's the bones of a competitive AHL team minus a goalie and a sexy prospect

People who aren’t watching shouldn’t be getting impression Quinn is getting tossed around, or is shying away from contact. I think it is better described as he is having more trouble escaping contact. The Quinn I watched most of the year has excelled at finding spaces within the patterns of the game, then exploiting them with a subtle lateral movement to gain separation, to set up some exquisite one-touch passes or that deadly shot. What’s happening now is shadowing: he is being marked so tightly that checkers are ignoring the other aspects of the game to subtly grab, poke, taunt and interfere with him. He is battling through it, but he doesn’t have JJ’s burst, or his low body strength and the battle is costing him the split second of space he is used to exploiting so well.

The difference in the refereeing between this and the NHL playoffs is notable. The difference in what they let go between this and the NHL regular season is shocking.

I’m pretty sure I overthink these things. The Sabres seem to be intentionally planning to have 4 top 6 centres and 9 top six wingers, most of whom play multiple positions. It’s for maximum flexibility when it comes to matchups, injuries and eventually cap decisions. I mean if the worst-case scenario is 4th line of Quinn/Krebs/Peterka, how is that bad? We’re kinda seeing it in Rochester right now. With teams focused on Quinn, the other 1st line with R2 is killing them and the 4th line with Rousek and Biro are getting ***** done. Depth and versatility help coaches create mismatches. Semi-related, it’s kinda why I’m not going to be surprised if the Sabres pick an LHD high this year.

Just to be clear, Cozens had 13 goals and 38 points in a year he turned 21 Curtis Lazar is 27 and hasn’t put up those points in any two years combined. I continue to stand by my “less douchey Ryan Kesler” prediction.

They have less than $8 million to sign or replace him, Lybushkin, Giordano, Sandin, Liljegren, Spezza, Blackwell, Kase, Engvall and Mikheyev.

Why isn’t Jack Campbell ever talked about as our bridge goalie? Great team guy, as good a goalie as most of the other options, in that sweet spot of where you might not have to overpay, right age, not a block, probably weakens the Leafs… 2 years at $5 million per? Maybe 3 if you have to?

It’s interesting to hear Seth Appert say the Sabres envision Krebs as a centre long-term and then reinforce that by playing him exclusively at centre in the AHL playoffs -shuffling capable AHL centres like Biro and R2 to the wing. Its also interesting how well he has played there. With Tage establishing himself as the 1C, Mitts being talked up by the organization as ready to emerge as an offensive 2C, and all the work Granato has put into Cozens to form him into a shutdown 2C it raises the question about how each will be used next year.

I was thinking that tonight. Haven’t noticed if the Amerks are giving him the same kind of treatment or not.

Well done. Sean O’Donnell played 3 seasons for the Amerks but never played a game for the Sabres. We traded him to the Kings for Doug Houda.

Well he said he hadn’t made up his mind, but he’s not there, so I guess he said no. Pregnant wife may have played a role? Meanwhile, Aspy scored twice and was player of the game for Sweden today as they beat the Czechs 5-3.

Well I would hope not. That kinda spoils the fun, no? 😄 One more. He’s 4th all-time behind Andreychuk, Housley and Pierre Turgeon with 1224.

By the way, if that hit on Mersch had been, say, Sergachev on Marner, the hockey internet would have melted down tonight. Only saw the live angle, but it sure looked like a blatant intentional blindside to the head, about as predatory as it gets. There is no way that’s not a suspension in the NHL. Brutal. These Comets are punks.

Krebs bright light getting lost in the brilliance of JJ. Just like JJs often was to Quinn in the regular season. Those Krebs passes to nowhere have all but disappeared and he’s got a few absolutely elite assists, including the one on the winner tonight. He’s leading the playoffs in assists with 8 in 5 games. He’s also been sticking his nose into every dirty area he can find. I’m loving his game. Meanwhile, Peterka (4/4/8) is lighting up the best team in the AHL with skill while the refs have put away their whistles. He can’t not be in the NHL next year. Add in Rooster’s playoff leading 6 goals (3 helpers) and Amerks are 2-3-4 atop the AHL scoring chart

I might be pushing the case a bit with Poltapov, who also has a bulldog streak, but four of of our past five 1st and 2nd rounders project as scoring wingers. So it’s with a bit of discomfit when I say the guys who will probably make me happiest at 9 or 16 are also scoring wingers. I think the reason I am gravitating to Gauthier at 9 is because he seems to be where fit and value intersect the best and he adds a grit/power element to his skill. I have come around to whatever player has the most upside, while also being a perfect fit into the Cozens/Krebs play smart, play fast, team-first mould they’ve been installing, position be damned.

Brad May is the last of the ones who make you think “Sabre” 2 left. Not Alex Mogilny, who just missed at 990.

Correct. 3 to go, 2 of them hard and none of them easy.

Last night Quinn took a regular shift with Mersch and Malone and got a lot of extra shifts with McInnis and Rousek. Two of the 3 previous games it was a regular shift with Krebs and Peterka and extra shifts with Biro and Rousek. One of the Belleville games his primary line was Jankowski and Peterka. He’s been getting lots of ice time. The Amerks have had very little PP time the entire playoffs, which may be a significant factor. Not that he needs the PP to produce, just that it might help.

AJ Greer yaps and pokes in every scrum and has directly taunted the Rochester bench every time he’s scored. He’s like a minor-league caricature out there. I think you got the wrong first impression. I’ve watched Peterka 20-30 games minimum. He’s got Max’s skating stance and speed. But his game in general is nothing like 61. He’s a pretty smart hockey player who uses his linemates. Yes. He’s being challenged like never before and he hasn’t figured out a way to fight through it yet. Don’t think he’s been “bad” but he hasn’t been good either. Stat sheet says he’s getting shots but it doesn’t feel like he’s the threat to score he’s been for most of the season.