dudacek

Don't remember seeing this posted: https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/31194727/the-human-side-buffalo-sabres-18-game-winless-streak-2021 Good insight into Granato's past and how he is approaching this situation.

After all these years, you finally blame the goalie and I can't even agree with you. 🤣 I mean it was a crappy rebound, but it was a bad pinch by Dahlin to allow the shot in the first place, and Fogarty completely missed his man. Plenty of blame to go around. It's not that I disagree , but he does have two points and is +4 in the past five games. Results gotta mean something, right? 🤷‍♂️ 1G, 2A, +7 in the past five games, playing 24 minutes a night. Is he finally shaking off the COVID? This. Granato's refusal to answer the question was so telling. I mean I'm mostly with @Taro T that the biggest change is Linus, but have never seen so many individual players look so much better after a coaching change. They are legitimately entertaining to watch. Casey, Joki, Thompson, Asplund, Monty, Okposo...they've all sudden morphed in to the best versions of themselves. And Dahlin... Tonight was the type of game you expect from a first-overall franchise player — I can't believe he wasn't the first star. Two absolutely elite plays for his points, the second absolutely mind-blowing with the game on the line. It was so beautiful

Am I wrong to hope that part of what Adams is trying to put together in his super-secret front office rebuild is installing a director of scouting to basically function as the savant @rakish is pointing to? Someone to oversee both Formenton and Crowe? I don't see them holding their horses on an announcement if all they are looking for is a few front-line scouts. There needs to be at least one more significant piece in addition to the senior advisor and the assistant GM.

Asplund was always a guy I projected as a useful bottom-sixer: speed, effort, and smarts with just enough skill. He kinda fell off the radar in the past year, but he sure has looked the part lately. He's scored 4 goals in his past 8 games, 3 in his past five. He's emerging in much the same way as the other two. The final 20 games of the season look a whole lot more interesting than they did two weeks ago.

Missed Compher for the Sabres in 2013

A lot of confidence here over nine players yet to play an NHL game.

Where recent Norris trophy winners were at age 20: Josi: Playing in the minors for Milwaukee, three years away from his first 40-point season Giordano: Playing as an overager for the Owen Sound Attack in the OHL, 8 years away from his first 40-point season Hedman: Putting up a 26-point season for the Lightning, three years away from his first 40-point season Burns: Putting up 16 points as a rookie with the Wild, two years away from his first 40-point season Doughty: Putting up 59 points as 2nd-year King Karlsson: Putting up 45 points and -30 as a 2nd-year Senator Keith: Playing in the minors with Norfolk, 5 years away from his first 40-point season Subban: Playing in the minors with Hamilton, 4 years away from his first 40-point season Lidstrom: Playing in Sweden, a year away from his 60-point rookie season in Detroit Chara: Splitting time between the Islanders and the minors, 6 years away from his first 40-point season I don't think that ship has even loaded its cargo.

This is where the draft consensus does fans a disservice. Even is Grigs and Girgs were ranked higher by "the consensus" the Sabres by scouts to identify the best players, and Wilson is/was clearly better. Your scouts are supposed be able to go off the board and identify that Blake Wheeler was actually better than the guys ranked ahead of him. This is not a case of the Bruins actually being more lucky than smart by picking Marchand in the the 3rd.

I don't have high hopes for him, but I see this as good news. Someone else new to look at down the stretch, with the slim chance he can be more VO and less CJ Smith

A lot of good observations here. On the other hand, Chad did make it clear that these were ongoing discussions and that there was a desire to make multiple hires and announce them en masse. What I've been watching with interest is the lack of any talk from the big boys like Friedman and Lebrun on this front. They chase smoke, and if one would think they would have chased Chad's report. They seem tight with Rutherford and I wonder if they've been asked to sit on this for now in exchange for futures.

I've made my feelings about Linus very clear, but if he is determined to test the market: Hall and Ullmark for Robertson and Freddie Andersen (who has been hurt and has not played well) with us retaining salary? It solves the Leafs two biggest issues heading into the playoffs and gives us an NHL ready prospect and a chance to test-drive one of this year's UFA goalies.

The Leafs are on record as being willing to part with their top prospect. We would have to get highly creative, but can we somehow turn Hall into Nick Robertson?

Did anyone track the Pegula jet in PA last week?

I think it is entirely possible that the owners will decide their money is better spent dumping at least a part of Hall's salary than it is proving Adams is a tough guy. From Tim and Kerry's perspective: 3rd rounder and ~ $1 million in real money vs. message sent. That said, I think some team will cough up a 2nd, which should be enough for this to be moot.

Vogl with a deep dive into Linus' season and his future: https://theathletic.com/2500079/2021/04/05/what-should-the-sabres-do-with-goalie-linus-ullmark-his-career-has-been-on-a-steady-incline/ Vogl talks about the loss of Linus' father and his separation from his family, including his newborn daughter. It reads like he tried to talk about his contract and got rebuffed: So, with that in mind, please forgive Ullmark for not contemplating his status as a pending unrestricted free agent. The piece spends a lot of time setting the table: There were signs heading into the year that Ullmark was ready to establish himself. Last season, his even-strength save percentage ranked seventh in the league. His overall save percentage climbed to 18th from 51st. This year, his even-strength percentage of .928 ranks 10th while he’s lifted his shorthanded save percentage from .838 to .890. “His career has been on a steady incline,” Granato said. “Linus is a No. 1 goalie.” "Ullmark’s number will go up with the open market waiting. The No. 31 goalie spot in the 31-team NHL is Anton Khudobin’s $3.33 million. The No. 15 position belongs to Robin Lehner and his $5 million deal." Lots of UFA goalies this year. Teams with better scouting staffs than Sabrespace will have Linus at the top of the list along with Grubauer. He will get paid.

I would hope that this week, of all weeks, Kevyn is not focused on interviewing and negotiating for new front office staff.

Driedger's numbers are intriguing but brief. Not one of those goalies is as good as Linus is right now, and none of them is an answer for more than next year.

Two other Sabre tidbits: Adams did well getting what he got for Staal; it's a buyer's market and the buyers are waiting for the prices to go down. The price may have only been a 4th on deadline day Their over/under on Sabre trades was 4, but they think Adams needs to start the ball rolling soon. They said he doesn't have the staff, or the experience to pull off a bunch of deals on deadline day, even just in terms of handling the paperwork.

I listened to the same podcast, and I took that as Adams is getting calls on Risto, Reinhart, Dahlin and Ullmark and that he doesn't want to trade any of the four. I read the "foundational" comment referring to "core players that you don't dump at the deadline." It's not really clear from the delivery whether the foundation referred to just the latter two, or all four, but it was followed up with a basically you'd have to over pay to get one, where he was very much referring to all four. The other interesting blip out of the Sabres segment was Lebrun floating the idea that Hall might not get traded — basically that when it comes right down to it, no team with the need will have the cap space to make it work. Dreger basically told him he was nuts and Hall will be traded. Also, I believe it was Seravelli who said Miller and Sheahan will have interest.

Kinda cherry-picking no? Where are Glass, Tippett, Anderson and Rasmussen on your list, all of whom went before your bunch?

I find Hall post-COVID to be full of bursts of ultimately pointless energy between stretches of morose navel-gazing. He's got some obvious one-on-one ability, but there is no end game; so many of his plays are either ill-conceived or poorly executed and he doesn't display much chemistry. I have no idea how many of his assists are secondary, but I believe a ton of them were not why a goal was scored. He looked great on the Mitts goal last game, exploding out the zone on the rush and putting a crisp pass on the tape. Those plays have seemed more the exception than the rule.

Other than a rare exception like Eichel, what centres are regularly carrying the puck out from deep in the defensive zone? Through the neutral zone at time, but I don't see it happening much coming out of our zone. It is primarily the job of the defenceman to do this, sometimes by skating, more often by passing to a winger. I sometimes think line driver means different things to different people. Sam Reinhart generally makes the game easier for the players he is on the ice with because he gets you the puck when you want it, and he gets himself where you want him. We know he's Jack's favourite linemate, and I suspect he is probably the consensus favourite of anyone on the team. Reinhart does get knocked down at times, but the idea he constantly loses puck battles is both wrong and utterly misses the point. Wayne Gretzky lost most of his puck battles, but so what? Sam retrieves pucks better than anyone else on the team and he makes plays in the dirty areas more than anyone else on the team, mostly through positioning and anticipation.

Why is Linus carrying this "injury history" label? He missed a month this year and a month last year. I'm not aware of anything significant prior to that, in North America or Sweden except that elective hip surgery thing, which is neither injury-related nor degenerative. There is nothing that raises concern as a recurring issue, like Okposo's concussions. Seems to be pretty standard for a pro hockey player.

For me it's more of a question of whether we get a better return now, at the draft, or at the deadline next year.

Driedger: 15 NHL games prior to this year Grubauer: better stats than Linus, had similar stats to Linus at a similar age when he was acquired for a 2nd. Going to make good coin this summer Talbot: similar stats to Linus, backup last year, SP .908 and .893 the two previous years Fleury: similar stats to Linus, $7 million cap hit Smith: similar stats to Linus, 37 years old, a pure stopgap who had terrible numbers the previous two seasons, losing the number spot on two different teams Varlamov: similar stats to Linus, signed to 4 years @ $5 million per, cost a 1st and 2nd to acquire Lankinen: Worse stats than Linus, the 27 NHL games he played this year are the 2nd most he has ever played as a pro. Going into the season with him as your #1 would be like us handing the reins to JJ. This board would have melted down Linus has one peer on that list as a developmental prospect who showed steady progress and now has arrived: Grubauer, and Grubauer is going to get paid this summer. Rask, Fleury and Varly are/were expensive acquisitions, Bernier, Smith and Talbot are veteran stopgaps enjoying good rebound years after three straight down years, Anderson is those guys two years ago. Lankinen and Driedger are out-of-nowhere keepers. Linus has gotten better every single year. Literally. He arrived as an NHL starter last year and as a stud this year. Linus Ullmark has allowed more than three goals just once all year — the 4-3 OT loss to Philly. His last "bad" game was Jan. 9, 2020, when he allowed 4 in 30 shots against the Blues. He consistently gives us a chance to win. He's probably the best shootout goalie in hockey. There isn't a Sabre who does his job better. He's focused, consistent, calm, competitive and talented. He's also young enough that he will be good for a while. He is actually what you dream happens when you draft a goalie in the late rounds and patiently develop him. Chucking that away to sign Freddie Andersen to a one-year cross-your-fingers-he-rebounds deal is pound-foolish, because all that does is mean you are paying Andersen big money or looking for his replacement a year from now while Linus gives some other team a fighting chance for the next five years. Bet on your guy, reward him for rewarding you.