dudacek

Hope people get the nuance here, but I don't think this is a career year as much as it is a breakthrough year. I see it as similar to Eichel, Dahlin and Reinhart's 4th year: a season which sets the baseline for what we can generally expect from him going forward; even if he never matches it, he should be in the ballpark. It not like he's an established 40-point guy who suddenly put up 60 in his 7th season. He lost a year to injury and has played less than 150 games before this season.

I want UPL in the NHL next year. It's time. If he doesn't make the jump, we probably shouldn't count on him to ever make it. But we need to see what he's got.

It's like this board believes that no hockey player ever went to college to win a national championship or (gasp!) get an education.

According to Marty and Duffer, that’s the simplest path.

William Karlsson went from a 75-point guy to a 55-point guy, so if that’s what’s meant by fluke, then I can follow the logic. My point was that it’s hard to watch what Tage does and how he does it and think that he’s not a legitimate top-6 player. If you can sign him to a long-term deal befitting a 55-point scorer this summer I’d do it in a second because he is going to be at least that player and he could be more. If he wants to be paid like a 75-point scorer, yes make him do this again first.

UPL doesn’t fail the eye test like Dell and Tokarski do with the lunging and the odd stances and the getting turned around. He presents a big solid front, is extremely good down low and in tight and is athletic post-to-post. He looks like a modern NHL goalie. And then shots from well out that he is ready for just go through him. It’s strange. He’s certainly good enough to play in the NHL, but until he fixes that flaw, I’m not sure he can be the guy.

So much about goaltending is personal taste and belief. Holtby makes sense on paper, but I don’t see him as a culture guy and I’m not a believer in his game. I think Anderson could make the “3-headed monster” work. He’s essentially there as a safety net and/or assistant coach if the other 2 guys are playing well, and to share the load if one of them doesn’t. UPL can still be sent down if he’s not earning his job. Anderson can be waived and kept in Buffalo, with a poison pill contract to protect him if we need a roster spot. I dont trust any of the 3 to be a number 1, but I’m OK with 1 of the 3 emerging.

Quinn had a quiet game but he was money in the shootout. Springfield played a very stifling game. UPL looked very good for most of his 65 minutes, but long shots continue to plague him.

I don’t know how anyone has watched Tage play this year can consider it a fluke.

Offer Fleury one year at $10 million, be sad when he turns it down. Kuemper and Freddie Anderson are also guys I’d overpay for a year, maybe 2, but they’ll want term. I’d definitely do the same for Husso and heks a guy I’d consider signing to term. Doubt Adams will. Braden Holtby is probably more durable than Anderson but otherwise I prefer Craig. I have no interest in signing a Strauss Mann type unless it’s on a 1-year deal. I’m not replacing or blocking Levi and Portillo until I know I have to. I’m slowly coming around to Marty Biron’s idea of Casey DeSmith as being the guy who best fits within Adams’ parameters. I’m not high on DeSmith, but I can buy into Karmanos and Ventura having some insight there. Can we run with Anderson UPL and DeSmith in an open competition?

I would expect the pair of them to share the crease in Rochester and may the best man win. That is if one of them (Levi) doesn’t beat out UPL or whatever bridge goalie is sharing the crease in Buffalo.

It’s even beyond that though. Since Christmas-ish, the Sabres have effectively added: Tuch Krebs Mittelstadt Samuelsson Power Anderson Plus a healthy Olofsson They’ve made a real difference.

It was always a process of letting them learn from their own mistakes this year for Donnie. So I don’t think it’s as much about improving/implementing the system as the players getting better at hockey. I have noticed, as Taro points out, more tactical bench coaching. I wonder how much of that is finally having the roster to make moves? Too little being made about the fact the Sabres best hockey has also happened to coincide with their healthiest roster.

IS this the lovechild offspring of Darcy and the Batman?

It must be the audio feed, but I can’t tell you what the vast majority of Sabres goal songs are. I mean Tage has 35 goals, and I don’t have a clue. Skinner’s Miley is the only inspired choice that sticks out. Krebs Back in Black is the only other one I know.

43 in his past 42. The sample size continues to grow. Obviously there’s a “do it again” element, but It is interesting that the above pace is pretty much spot-on what Eichel gives you. Eichel has been roughly a point a game 4 of his 7 seasons, above once and below twice.

I would do this. He’s going to be a 60-point scorer for most of that deal.

On the contrary, I have been saying from the beginning the reasons for not sending Mule and Krebs down are cultural. I agree good culture survives minor changes. I also think it’s a slippery slope you need to tread with care. We’re still early in our culture-building process.

I find it fascinating how in its brief history Vegas has embodied both sides of the American psyche. The light of the lovable rejects banding together and pulling themselves up by the bootstraps. And the dark of the cult of celebrity and the ruthless pursuit of winning at all costs.

Tanev is better than Pysyk at everything on the ice and is as good a teammate as you will find. Doubt you could find a better match for what the Sabres are looking for. Doubt he is available.

I think there has been a concerted effort by the Sabres to treat every game down the stretch like it matters in order to develop talent and culture. I think it’s working. I don’t think Adams and Granato think the season is over. After what we’ve seen the past decade of Marches and Aprils, I thank them for it.

Oh there’s no doubt that some players got valuable experience in an AHL playoff run, I just doubt it’s been a crucial element for most cup winners. Palat and Killorn went on nice runs. But Point didn’t, Hedman didn’t Stamkos didn’t, Kucherov didn’t, Coleman, Cirelli, Sergachev, Cernak, McDonough, and Vasilievskiiy didn’t either.

Off the top of my head, the top 10 pick would have a 90 percent chance of being an NHL player, and probably a good one, a pick in the mid-teens where Vegas sits is probably closer to 65 per cent and the 2 in the 30 to 40 range 50 per cent chance of being an NHLer. Quinn, Cozens, Mitts, Nylander, Risto are pretty typical of the range of players you get late in the top 10. Girgs to Krebs represent what you can reasonably hope for in the teens. Getting a Samuelsson or Jokiharju with a late 1st is better than you should expect and a Tage there is an absolute home run. Asplunds and Brendan Lemieuxs and Guhles are more common and a lot of guys in that range don’t make it all.

I understand it’s a popular point of view around here, but it is backed up by what evidence? We can only judge a GM by the moves he makes.

I think Adams and Granato are molding Cozens to be their matchup guy; whether that’s as the 1C, 2C or 3C is TBD. i honestly have no idea at this time how Krebs, Mitts and Thompson will be utilized in the long run, but Thompson has proven to me he can be a legit top 6 centre. To me, they guy you’re looking for is a short-term need, but not a core piece. I suspect they will pick a centre in the first who will have a similar level projection to their current 4. It will be interesting to see how his development and theirs affects the direction of the roster down the road.