dudacek

😜 I really hate it when a broadcast team is invested in storytelling when the play is underway. This is hockey not baseball. I want my announcers to be the melody relaying the rhythms of the game. Separately, Callahan is neither insightful, nor entertaining. I’m seeing some more love for this down thread, but it can’t be stressed enough what a glorious fake that was by the tall kid, punctuated with some skilled hand twisting to deliver the pass. He really has. He’s not fast, but he’s more than making up for it with his tracking and doggedness on pucks. He’s hands are good enough to deliver more of those perfectly placed shots moving forward. It wasn’t boarding, sure, and probably not a major, but why not interference or cross checking? The puck was certainly long gone and the arms extended. Well finished for sure, but the pass was even better and the glory in that play was the keep-in. Donnie used the word resilient and it fits. We seem to keep coming back from our potholes. Yeah, they were rightfully making a big deal of our current 6-game stretch, but 18 of our last 19 have been against teams in a playoff race.

That’s a good team-friendly contract for a 25-goal scorer. And that’s what Victor is. I’m putting more stock into the rest of his career than the middle 30 games of this year. (Actually saw some emotion on the winner tonight)

It occurred to me while watching the Canes tonight that they are a contender with neither a superstar forward, nor a superstar defenceman, nor a superstar goalie. It also occurred to me that as much as I respect them, I would be surprised if they ever won a cup. The Sabres as constituted now can easily grow into the Canes. If they want to win a cup though, one or two of our kids is going to have to find that higher level.

A while back Donnie talked about Dahlin’s partner and basically said it doesn’t matter who it is because he is so well-rounded. Ideally, the player would be tough in order to deter opponents from running Ras, but he looks at it as scenario where Ras is elevating his partner, rather than the other way around, no matter who the partner is. Im paraphrasing from memory, but the gist was he doesn’t seem too worried about finding Dahlin a new partner, or married to the idea of keeping him with Joki. I think it might have been in the After the Whistle pod with Wilford, but I’m not sure.

Pretty sure UFA remains 7 years pro or 27 years old, whichever comes first.

They’ve been few and far between. Our centre spine has 21 goals in the 2nd half of the year; Tage has 17 of them. Dylan and Casey have been getting lots of assists, but the goals have been hard to come by.

That Twitter thread builds on previous reading I’ve done about Levi. He’s no iconoclast, but neither is he ever going to be a conformist. He doesn’t fit the boxes; he does it with a smile on his face, but he does it his way. And history has supported his choices. Kid’s going to be special.

Didn’t mean that as literally give him whatever term and money he asks for. I meant if Kyle wants to be traded at the deadline, trade him wherever he wants to go; if he wants to stay, keep him regardless of offers; if he wants to retire, offer him a job in the organization; and if he wants to return, sign him to a short-term deal at a fair but generous rate for his performance level. Don’t steer him with a particular agenda, let him take the lead. He’s earned it. Whatever path he picks is highly unlikely to handcuff the Sabres and the younger players need to be sent a message about how this organization is going to treat its good soldiers.

Those are ES numbers from NHL.com

How are you defining soft? He’s not scared of getting hit, or shy about dishing it out. He doesn’t back down when it comes to the extra-curriculars like scrums and stick work. He’s winning more board battles than he’s losing and is getting under peoples skins. These things arent measurable, but they are kinda hard to deny by anyone actually watching him play lately. As far as measurable go, he leads the team in hits and is 2nd in both blocked shots and PIMs. The only objective criteria by which he can be considered soft is fighting. because he doesn’t fight. Of course only 2 Sabres and maybe 50 NHLers do, so that’s not really much of a relevant stat these days.

No, Bryson is +4 over that period and, as I said, Joki is even. Hagg was also even, Mule -6 They’ve all played in front of the same 2 goalies. This is for the 2nd half of the season, so the past 29 games.

Curious what people think about the fact that during the 2nd half of the season Henri Jokiharju has been on the ice for as many goals for as he has against, while Rasmus Dahlin has been on for 9 more against. They generally play together and face the toughest opposition. Semi-related, do people care that Casey Fitzgerald has been outscored by 15 in just 22 games? Or that Mark Pysyk has been outscored by 10 in 24 - generally in 3rd-pairing usage?

Okposo’s future with the team should be whatever he wants it to be. Before then, can we please stop referring to him as a 4th liner? He’s 3rd on the team in goals, 4th in points. He’s playing nearly 17 minutes a game and contributing to both special teams while being both a physical presence and decent defensively. He’s probably going to finish the year with 20 goals and close to 50 points, totals good enough to rank in the top 25 in the entire NHL for right wings. And he’s the central figure in setting the new tone for this team that we are all coming to appreciate both on and off the ice. Give the man the respect he deserves.

He gets the Beanpot, he gets a 2nd year with his buddies, he gets another shot at the Hobey Baker, he gets another year of college life, he gets another year towards his degree, he gets a shot at redemption after ending the season on a sour note. Apparently, these are things he wants to experience before he throws himself into what he probably believes will be a 15-year run as a professional hockey player. Sounds like he is very happy with being a Buffalo Sabre and there is no indication he intends to start his professional career anywhere else. Looking forward to it.

Of course. The numbers are hardly infallible. I just wanted to make it clear to the board that the numbers show someone on an entirely different level than Stafford. They indicate it’s entirely reasonable to expect Vanek - what they actually show is a Stafford floor and a ceiling well in excess of Vanek.

To me it’s similar to the Quinn/Peterka situation. Like Peterka, Portillo is a very good prospect worth getting excited about. Like Quinn, Levi is doing extraordinary things. I expect Portillo to sign and look forward to seeing what he can do in Rochester next year.

i thought I detected something from Adams in his no comment to Marek this morning. Disappointing, but organizationally it works to sign Portillo this year and Devon next. Unfortunate we will have to listen to the Chicken Littles bleat another year about him bolting.

Always good not to anoint anyone until they prove themselves, but I think that part about “not always translating” needs some context. No player in the past 25 years of Buffalo Sabres system has ever come close to what Jack Quinn is doing in his D2 year in the AHL. None are close in their D3 years. This is his competition projected over 82 games: Jack Quinn D2 55 goals 121 points Drew Stafford D3 53 goals 106 points Luke Adam D3 42 goals 89 points Derek Roy D3 32 goals 82 points Jason Pominville D3 42 goals 80 points JJ Peterka D2 31 goals 81 points Tyler Ennis D2 27 goals 77 points Thomas Vanek D2 46 goals 75 points Zack Kassian D3 41 goals 71 points Mikhail Grigorenko D3 27 goals 69 points Casey Mittelstadt D3 21 goals 57 points I think the point is, he has no comparables. He’s literally ahead of the 2nd best D2 player by nearly 45 points. I think it should also be said that no Sabre D2 prospect has ever put up close to a point a game in the AHL and failed to become a good NHL player. Even counting players a year older, 6 of the 8 players to pace for even half of what he’s pacing translated into good NHLers.

People get way too zeroed in on the starting 12. The Sabres will have used at least 22 forwards this year, 15 of them likely in at least 40 games. There should be no qualms with counting JJ as the 12th or 13th guy. Look how much action Eakin got in that role this year.

Agree with this. Pretty sure this is legally no different than the Sabres agreeing on deal today with Rosen effective when his Swedish deal ends, but it does smell funny.

Not that I’m aware. Think it’s pure speculation based on the state of the Jets.

Still haven’t figured out why so many are high on Jankowski He’s just as JAGy as Eakin or Hayden.

If I have reason to believe Hellebuyck is happy to join us, the pick isn’t costing us Wright, Slavkovsky, Nemec, or Cooley, then absolutely. He’s among the best goalies in hockey and should continue to be for another 6-8 years. He helps us now and down the road, we will have the cap space to re-sign him and the type of up and coming team that he should be happy to play for.

In the NHL, you score, you get paid. I would surprised if you could find an arbitration-eligible player who has produced as much as Victor has the past 3 years who signed for less than $4 million per, especially with term. You can find many who got more. Victor has averaged close to 24 goals and 54 points per 82 games over his career. He had 14 points in his first 14 games this year, and 11 in his past 15. And he had 10 in 30 in between. Does the middle 30 represent a red flag, or an opportunity to sign him for less than what he’s worth?