dudacek

Is Dahlin part of Adams plan long-term? Is Buffalo part of Dahlin's plan long-term?

Whatever respect he deserves for not caving to a bad offer, is voided by his inability to find a way to make a deal happen. He seems to have left himself no escape hatch in order to rehabilitate Jack’s value. Medical compromise seems off the table. He hasn’t been able to make a creative deal involving conditionals or salary dumps materialize. And he’s boxed himself out of allowing Jack a dignified road back to the team by allowing things to get personal. Whatever breaks the logjam is going to come months after it could have, too late to help Granato and the kids execute this seasons plan. He’s done a good job of making Jack the bad guy, but in the process he’s allowed things to get to this point and he’s failed to execute his job: making the team better. Tell me I’m wrong.

This has got no discussion whatsoever. No rumours of where talks are. No angst. Nothing. Check in time arrives tomorrow. Dahlin needs to be here.

Since some are calling this a cost-cutting move, I wonder what the Sabres might be saving. Dont imagine cutting 200 hours of air time annually - that is subsidized by sponsors - would be a huge chunk of money. Dont imagine Peters and Rivet are making much either. Anyone have any idea?

I’m interested. What are the rules?

Kaprizov bent the Wild over. Leveraging one 50 point season into 45 million while only giving up 2 UFA years? I mean, the dude is good and it might be worth it, but I can’t recall anyone getting such a player-friendly contract with so little on his resume.

Very interested in seeing Bryson on that list. He’s 23 waiver-eligible and still on his first contract - just like Wiesbach, Murray, and Ruotsalainen - yet didn’t play in the rookie camp. The only reason I could see for that is that he’s considered a Sabre, like Cozens.

I would much rather see Cozens and Mittelstadt playing 25 minutes each a night at centre and Rasmus Dahlin moving up to play the other 10 on opening night than Eakin. MacInnis, Hayden, Girgensons, Asplund, Quinn, Okposo, Matt Ellis, Doug Allen…everyone and anyone else deserves a shot first.

I see Jack is (GASP!) listed on the training camp roster. And, get this, in the picture he's SMILING!

Tage 6'7" 219.

Yes indeed. Especially with the options of Quinn, Rosen and Kisakov also in the pipeline. That's a lot of skill off the wing.

I think Teppo was one of the best defencemen of his generation. The dude played 20 years! Henri is not at the level. But in terms of the role he can play I think there are parallels and I think Henri will be a legit NHL top 4

Picked in the 3rd round of the 2009 draft, Cody Eakin carved out a respectable 10-year NHL career as a 3rd line 2-way centre. After some impressive playoff runs over his career, his numbers fell off a cliff two years ago in Vegas and he was dispatched to Winnipeg at the deadline. The Sabres read his fall as a blip, signing him to a 2-year deal at a $2.2 million cap hit during the pandemic return, considerably more than the going rate for most players of his stature that fall. https://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=99396 Buffalo broke and Eakin busted along with them, posting some of the worst numbers of his career. He fell out of favour under Don Granato and spent most of the home stretch on the bench or in the press box. What do you expect from Eakin this season?

Poltapov is better than Peterka 😜

Marty and Duff were talking about this on the Prospects broadcast. But it wasn't clear that it was permanent. They should be fine. Sounds like Rivet and Peters chose to move on and have other plans. Hope that includes Sabre talk on another platform.

"Bad" is relative term. Josh was "bad" only in the sense of the level necessary to dominate a good team in a playoff game.

I see him battling Eakin and MacInnis for the 12/13 role and more suited to that role than either, because he provides an element neither of those guys provide and is otherwise missing from the roster.

I saw this a lot when he was signed. Was surprised to discover he's only played 24 AHL games in his career and they were four years ago. He wasn't signed with Rochester in mind.

I think Pysyk is what he is at this point in his career. Any hope for him is coloured by his history here. His resume looks an awful lot like Jacob Josefson or Taylor Fedun or so many other veteran spare parts whose careers have come to Buffalo to die in recent years.

Hayden was drafted in the 3rd round in 2013 out of the USNDP, where he was coached by Donnie Granato. He spent four years at Yale, finishing up as team captain and scoring 21 goals in 33 games as a senior. He averaged more than 5 shots on goal a game. He's not enormous, but he is a big dude who earned his living getting to front of the net. Despite his low profile, he's spent the majority of his pro career on NHL rosters, with just 24 games in the minors, all in his rookie season. But he has been one of those guys who is always checking the lineup sheet to see if he's dressing. He's listed as a centre but lines up regularly on the wing. He hasn't taken a lot of NHL draws and loses more than he wins. He hits and he will fight. He's done it 16 times, with bouts against Nic Deslauriers and Marcus Foligno on his card. https://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=145478 Last year he started the season in Arizona with a regular 4th line shift, but became mostly an afterthought in February and March, where he often got less than 10 minutes a game, or was a healthy scratch. What do you expect from Hayden this season?

Adams has made a very public declaration of building around people who want to be here and are entirely focused on making the Sabres better. A captain who has very publicly expressed the opposite creates a very difficult situation for him, at least if you buy the premise that the captaincy is an important role that demands a certain standard of behaviour from the person holding it. I don’t think Jack would have much issue returning to the room as a teammate. But as a leader? How do you follow someone who neither shares your goal, nor believes in its possibility?

Mark Pysyk arrived in the Sabres organization as a 2010 1st round draft pick right around the time analytics were starting to get a foothold into the hockey consciousness. His analytics (as well as his calm presence and great feet) made him a bit of a darling among a certain segment of the fan base and there was great weeping and gnashing of teeth around these parts when Tim Murray shipped him off to Florida before he had a chance to cement himself as a regular on the Sabres blueline. He did become a regular in Florida, but in a depth role, even playing forward for them when they ran into roster difficulties. https://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=110238 After four seasons there, Pysyk was not resigned by the Panthers and inked a minimum wage deal with Dallas last October. He proved to be a spare part last season with the Stars, bouncing in and out of the lineup and between forward and defence. The fact that he signed for above minimum wage this summer seems to indicate there was some degree of interest around the league, but it also apparent that Pysyk needs to re-establish himself as a full-time NHLer or his career is on the line. What do you expect from Pysyk this season?

He got 5 points in 7 games in a checking line role at the WJC. Wasn’t on for a goal against in the entire tournament. He then got 9 points in 15 games as an underager in the AHL playing with a hernia. The player picked right in front of him, Alexander Holtz, got 3 points in 5 WJC games and 3 in 10 AHL games. The player picked right after him, Marco Rossi, had 0 points in 4 WJC games and didn’t play pro. The 4th overall pick, Lucas Raymond had 5 points in 5 WJC games and 18 in 34 SHL games. Even Mr too-good-to-be-traded-for-Jack-Eichel Quinton Byfield scored at nearly an identical pace to Quinn in the AHL - 20 points in 32 games. What were your expectations for Quinn last year?

I was talking about the Pegulas, not Adams. Adams comes across just fine in my opinion.

Buried that one. Peterka. Looked like Crosby there.