dudacek

Eillot Friedman, who said he talked to Adams about the need of a partner for Power, then speculated that he was not on the team yet.

Adams in an Athletic interview with Vogl: You mentioned Owen. There have been various reports about looking for a veteran right-handed D. If that’s the case, what do you want from a person who would be his partner? Yeah, it’s interesting there’s been reports out there. When we look at Owen, we see a player that’s gotten better from the start of the year to the middle of the year to the end of the year, which to me is so important. No matter how talented you are, no matter where you’re picked in the draft, you have to keep getting better. So that’s exciting. I look at him as a player that’s going to be an every-situation, big-minute player when he’s playing on our team. Whether that’s right in the beginning or if that takes a little time, that’s fine, but I think it’s important to have stability around him, to have a calmness. What we’ve thought a lot about is, “Are there players out there that we could target for trade discussions? Are there players out there that are potential UFA-type guys that we can look at? Or are there guys internally that we think would be a good fit?

As opposed to Adams asking him if he is interested in going to the Leafs, who have offered a 1st?

I've heard Granato say pretty much exactly this on more than one occasion. So many say they want the coach to “let the kids play and learn.” That's exactly what Donnie is doing. He’s not the only coach to understand this, but not many are given the opportunity to do it because their primary job is to win.

I agree with Pi’s observations that the Sabres can be tighter defensively and smarter with in-game tactics and usage. I also think Granato would be the first to admit that, but he’s playing a longer game here, one that coaches generally aren’t afforded at the NHL level. Lack of coaching knowledge is among the least of my concerns with Donnie.

It’s almost impossible for Vegas to fall into a top 10 slot. I’ve got the Islander picking 10th right now. Even if they go say 15 and 10 to finish the year, Vegas only needs to win 5 of their last 20 to stay ahead of them.

These days, I’m more interested in the concept of Comtois than the player. Comtois is having a terrible season, even more disappointing than Victor’s. He’s been completely out of favour since the season started and has been a healthy scratch. He should be available, and fairly cheaply, but the Sabres need to do their homework on his struggles. What I like about the concept of Comtois is that he is a big body who engages physically and gets under the skin of opponents and is a bit of a Swiss Army knife. He can play centre and wing, on any line, and in all situations and matches our age window. He also has enough talent to score 20 goals. We don’t have a young player like that except Cozens and we need one. I get the whole “we’re not talented enough to move good players” but this would about team-building - moving a good player to create space for other good players who are better fits. Quinn is eventually going to make Victor redundant.

I like Vic, but I think a top 9 that includes Skinner, Mittelstadt, Krebs and VO (and to a lesser extent Tuch and Tage) could use more snarl and/or sandpaper. Cozens can’t carry that load all on his own. We need to add a middle six player with some edge. Given Victor’s age and contract situation, his trade value and the fact JJ and Quinn and possibly Rosen are coming behind him, he is the most likely chip to trade. I still am really intrigued by Max Comtois and would like to see them explore trading Vic for a player his age and style.

Correct, sorry for the confusing post. It is the other teams who have games in hand and have to cash them in.

Barring an utter collapse by Nashville, LA or Minnesota, they are effectively in 2 races: with Edmonton for the 3rd seed in the Pacific with Winnipeg and Dallas for 2nd wild card. Edmonton is pacing for 96 points, Dallas 92 and Winnipeg 89. Vegas is pacing for 90, so as of right now, they’d be out. But they have a ton of games in hand with points already in the bank. Its going to be tight, but they are losing ground and need to stop the slide now.

3 guys playing in the middle 6 of playoff teams, each making well over $3 million per and averaging 13 goals apiece right now? Who has guys like that on their 4th line?

You misread the Pysyk reference; they will sign a Pysyk type to be the 7/8, in addition to acquiring Power’s partner. Signing Power, the new top 4 D, a starting goalie and 3 or 4 forwards missing from that group should get them over the cap floor. What I posted isnt my plan for the Sabres, it’s what I am almost certain what Adams is going to do. He’s got about a half-dozen roster spots yet to fill. I hope they are used wisely. In my world he gets a Jay McKee, a Chris Drury, a Marty Biron, along with a Pysyk, a Hinostroza and a Deslauriers.

Because he's the partner Power deserves, but not the one he needs right now

You're reading me wrong. The bold is exactly my concern as well. What I'm not getting across well enough is that I need to see more from UPL before I am willing to commit to him even as half of a 1B combo. Based on what I've seen of him so far, we need to acquire a goalie who clearly better than him, not a Korpisalo or some such he can compete with. I'd like to see him get 15 or 20 games down the stretch to prove he's capable of even 25-30 NHL games next year.

I believe the team is planning to go into the season next year with Thompson Tuch Skinner Mitts Okposo Cozens Krebs Quinn Girgensons Asplund up front, leaving 3-4 slots open. Olofsson and Peterka might take 2 of them. I also believe the team plans to go with Dahlin Jokiharju Power New Guy* Samuelsson Bryson Fitzgerald which pretty much settles the D, except probably adding a Pysyk type for depth UPL will be one of the goalies, along with a vet to be named later. That vet better be a good one. We will have the cap space.

If you are intending to acquire a legitimate proven NHL starter you are absolutely going to have to invest significant assets. If you are intending to acquire a 1B type then you definitely need to see evidence beyond what we've seen so far in order to project UPL as his battery mate, or it will be this year all over again.

We absolutely need to see what UPL has to offer down the stretch in order to inform our off-season decision-making process.

Flagged PA because he’s been vocal about results not mattering once the team is out of it, but it was really an open question. For me, it’s been a development year, so I want to see development. The more games Krebs, Cozens and Mule have like the last 2, the more comfortable I am about the direction of the team. If any success comes only on the backs of Anderson and Skinner that is less significant to me.

@PASabreFan? What difference (if any?) do you see in a Sabres team ending a bad season 8-5-1 instead of 2-10-2?

And according to WGR 3 of the 4 wins the previous 3 Marches were in extra time.

So they’ve already matched their March win total of the last 3 years combined?

This is reasonable, but you’ve got to remember that you’re likely to substitute Power for Hagg, UPL for Anderson, Girgensons for Eakin, Quinn for Hinostroza and Fitzpatrick for Pysyk. It’s not really a talent drop off and should not presumably equate to worse hockey. And as far as chemistry goes, the “new” guys except Power are already integrated into the room.

This team is going to have to turn over at least a 1/4 of its players if it wants to improve next year any way. Why wait?

Latest After the Whistle had Harrington, Rivet and Hamilton speculating hard that the Sabres have Power partner targeted from outside the organization and they haven’t caught a whiff of who it might be. And they wouldn’t be surprised if that player is brought in now.

The Sabres braintrust has spoken about Jokiharju/Dahlin as a pair moving forward and the need to acquire Power's partner.