dudacek

Just when you thought you knew this team they go and do this.

I was little surprised to see that Tage has averaged 40 per 82 over the past 3 years.

Not really. I think regardless of the talent level up front we needed to change the makeup of the forward group. We’ve done that, and seemingly with the right types of players. I’d rather this than status quo. I just don’t know if they are right players, or what’s been done is enough.

To the thread question, we’re definitely better than before the draft, but it’s hard to say we’re a playoff team as constituted. I think we’re less talented than last year, but maybe better prepared for the rigours of an 82-game schedule and the grind of expectation? Part of that is the coach, part of that is the roster changes aimed at giving the coach what he needs to implement his game plan, and part of it is what last season taught a very young team. I think our defence corps is possibly the most talented this franchise has ever assembled. I know there are eyes rolling at that post, but a healthy Samuelsson, an older, stronger Power, and a highly motivated, comfortable Byram along with an elite Dahlin has a chance to be special. UPL looked real good last year and Levi is a talent. I think the back-end has questions to answer, but I believe it is playoff worthy. The forwards have questions from top to bottom. I think Thompson, Tuch, Cozens, Quinn and Peterka have a chance to be dangerous, but I’m not confident of that. I think the rest has a chance to be fast and hard to play against, but I’m not confident of that either. And I really want another centre.

This is kinda rose-tinted I think. Aube-kubel has never played a full season in the NHL and spent time in the minors last year. Malenstyn is a career minor-leaguer who needs to prove he can repeat. Even Lafferty has had healthy scratches.

You’ve been around for a while, you know how the Sabreverse works.

I would not be surprised if he just finally said to himself “it’s time to see what else this game has to offer” while he still had a chance.

Girgs doing his best to match Skinner. And I just posted in another thread about the minor league call-up Tampa needed for their 12th forward. 😂 But hey, maybe this is the final break from the tank era this team needed.

From what Kevyn said, it might be their plan A. His performance in Liiga has them thinking he might be ready.

And the absolute greasiest timing imaginable.

Bet the house on Skinner. It’s now the most inevitable thing in the universe.

That seemed inevitable. Ride shotgun with McDavid for a big year, finally make the playoffs, and make up the money you just lost with a big free agent contract. And probably win another cup in the process. Regardless of whether the move works out for the Sabres or not, you know much we’re going to get roasted for this one.

It’s become hard to read the off-season on paper over the years. Take Carolina: i see them losing 2 really good defencemen in Pesce and Skjei, Teravainen and Guentzel from their top 6, and another useful piece in Noesen. In comes a good defenceman in Walker and lesser pieces Gostisbehere and Carrier. That looks like a pretty significant downgrade, but does anyone really think they’re vulnerable? Tampa added Guentzel and McDonough, but lost Stamkos and Sergachev. They’ve got Perbix, Raddysh and Moser as their 4-6 on D and their bottom 6 up front right now is Sheary, Eyssimont, Glendening, Chaffee, Ylonen and a minor league call-up. Who thinks they’re going to miss the playoffs? You’d think the salary cap would create parity, but the same teams keep making it year after year: Tampa: 7 years straight Boston: 8 straight Florida: 5 straight Toronto: 8 straight Rangers: 4 of the past 5 Carolina: 6 straight Pittsburgh: 16 of the past 18 Washington: 9 of the last 10 Islanders: 5 of the last 6 That’s 5 teams in every year and the other 4 sharing the last 3 spots. It’s sickening. Can we please flip the ice this year?

I think your 3D is more important than your 3C, but the discussion is worth having. And where should your 3C rank compared to your wings? I had Casey as the Sabres 5F at the start of last season.

Is there anyone excited by Zucker? Is the team is better than it was last year, who knows? But it looks better than it did this morning. Can I have that, at least?

We're never going to get much proprietary info out of the Sabres, but you have to think their analytics team has done a deep dive into potential pro acquisitions in much the same way they do for the amateur guys. And that they are privy to more information and context than we get from our usual sources. Acquiring Malenstyn given what the regular charts say certainly raises the question of whether or not they are listening to their analytics team. But getting Malenstyn and then immediately following with Aube-Kubel tells me that's highly unlikely. I've been waiting for some Moneyball to drop ever since the department was added. From the hockey nerd perspective, this is one of the most interesting acquisitions the Sabres have made.

I remember when this guy was the Canucks' hot, young prospect coming out of college. Fans were all over this kid as the solution to their problems. Kinda like Brendan Guhle was for the Sabres back in the day.

So those 27 goals were just 2 seasons ago. Showed good, darting quickness and goal scorer's hands there, and some fire. And think he's got more give-and-go, and forecheck to his game than (bad*) Skinner did, and can supply some finishing off the cycle that we were lacking last year. I seem to remember him with some net-front PP effectiveness too, but I think that was back in his Minny days? Can good chemistry with Malkin translate to good chemistry with Tage? Can his finishing skills unlock some of Krebs playmaking on line 3? Is his overall game and fit a plus compared to Skinner's in a middle-six role in the style Lindy wants to play? You're going to get more hits and blocked shots, is the boost on D enough to offset the loss in O? All of this is predicated on the idea he's not done. Any one know his story last year?

Not sure anyone sees Zucker as a top 6 winger, but that's probably the case with Benson as well. I'm not sure how we're going to see Ruff put lines together, but I kinda expect it them to be built with purpose — "I need a line to do this" — more so than simple stacking. The rest of this post is spot on to me: they identified needs and addressed them with what was available; they have yet to find a way to address the most pressing need.

Certainly not in the sense that typically means, but Lindy has a history of using Greenway types as safety valves with more offensive players: Grier with Drury, Hecht with Briere. It's going to be fascinating to see how his approach to utilizing the holdovers differs from Granato's. I forgot Henrique was still out there. Pretty much the last potential 3C UFA no?

I saw Clague as a 1-way. My mistake. I think the point still stands.

10 forwards and 8 defencemen now on 1-way contracts. UPL, Krebs, Jokiharju and Malenstyn still to re-sign. $20M in cap space left.

Realize Bryson, Gilbert and Clague are spare parts but the Sabres now have 8 D on 1-way contracts, in addition to Johnson on a 2-way and Jokiharju unsigned. Adams made a point of talking about how depth is needed, so that’s probably all this is, but it certainly puts them in a position to flip Johnson or Jokiharju if they so desire.

Are we up to 7 Sabres signings now? Is this some kind of record for the 1st 2 hours of free agency for Buffalo? And I don’t know that we’ve eaten up much more than $10M yet.

Nice