dudacek

Damn, Wheeler really high on Portillo off a relatively small sample size.

No Mittelstadt, Borgen, Bryson or Thompson in there, eh? What does Sabrespace think? Are they still prospects, or have they maxed out as minor leaguers/tweeners?

LOL, it's amazing how embedded this is in our collective psyche, even though last night's 3rd was the first time we've seen it all year. I'd go as far as to say that we haven't seen much of it since the Lindy days. Those years with Robin Lehner turning 2-1 leads into 3-2 losses weren't the true Alamo because there was no conscious decision to go to a prevent defence then. That was just about teams waking up because they were about to lose to a really bad team.

Did I miss something? Wasn’t he out there to close things out on the PK?

This is certainly the way Krueger sees it and so far it has been supported by analytics. But as long as Skinner isn’t scoring the argument isn’t going to get a lot of support, especially with the top two lines not producing either at even strength. Me, I’m just going to judge on wins and losses.

You went back five years. Joki and Miller played one of those, Montour 1 and a bit, and Dahlin 2. I just don’t think the 2015 to 2020 cumulative run has much to do with this collection of players. The current numbers reflect the fact that four of our five most frequent shooters -Eichel, Hall, Dahlin and Skinner - have combined for 2 goals. Do you expect their abysmal results to continue?

Miller’s been a heavy risk/reward player his entire career. His struggles tonight weren’t about Dahlin. Dahlin’s -2 tonight was much more on the guys he was playing with (the Eichel line) than anything he did.

They are dressing six forwards who were here last year and only 4 who were here two years ago.

That was one for Kevyn Adams and the Kevyn Adams type players he filled out the bottom six with this year. Ralph alluded to it in the post-game: Rieder Eakin Sheahan and Lazar win faceoffs, get in faces, and take care of the details in a way the Conor Shearys and Jimmy Veseys refused to ever fully invest themselves in doing. Dont take this as an endorsement of the way Skinner is being used, but damn, that line is a pack of wild dogs at the slaughterhouse sometimes on the cycle and forecheck. It’s a treat to watch and has to be one of the league’s more effective “4th” lines. Matt Irwin’s skill level is pretty much non-existent, but he played far better tonight than I ever imagined he could. As a unit, Jack, Sam, Taylor, Colin and Ras were really bad in our zone. Eric Staal is growing on me. His body is slow, but his mind still functions at a very high NHL level. Looking forward to watching chemistry with Cozens develop. A lot of people on here seem to think the Victor Olofsson we saw last year was as good as he’s going to get. I’m seeing a guy who is getting more pucks and making better passes. After a good debut, Kyle looked like a guy who hadn’t played in while. Another good finish by Linus. The fact he let in an undeflected point shot for the second game in a row is a worry. Having a good 2nd PP unit is a thing? Wow. Uneven game against an uneven team. Good teams win those games, then come back with better games the next time they hit the ice. Looking forward to see what Thursday brings.

I suspect the forwards are the way Ralph pictures them ideally in his mind.

Rangers are at a similar crossroads to the Sabres: They've played better than their record might suggest three straight one-goal losses) and they desperately need a win to avoid falling behind in the race early. They got a lot of guys (Lafreniere, DeAngelo, Krieder, Zibanejad) who haven't produced yet. They will be prepared. They can score. Not sure how good they are a stopping it. I'm curious to see how Ralph uses home ice to neutralize Panarin and get advantages for Eichel and Hall Lot of similarities between the teams on paper. I'd like to see the Sabres make a statement as to which team is going to be a real factor.

The New York arrogance has been particularly smug during the pause. The idea that Eichel is sick of playing for a bad team and will want to come to the Rangers has one big flaw: the Rangers aren't good. Stepping on their heads as we climb the ladder is exactly what the doctor ordered.

Yes, Bryson is already down and Davidson will also play games for the Amerks. Casey and Cozens might as well. Ralph made it pretty clear there will be a lot of movement between the three rosters, so they will be drawing from 15 forwards and 7 defencemen. AHL dresses 17 skaters, rather than 18 still? There will be times when injuries and travel could leave them short, or with players out of position. That said, the AHL will be a glorified practice league this year anyway.

I’d probably rank Eakin at the bottom of the four new Larry’s so far. But any ES scoring issues the Sabres have are Skinner, Eichel, Hall, Olofsson, Staal, Reinhart combining for 3, not Lazar, Reider, Sheahan, Eakin and Cozens combining for 5. Also, I think you are overstating our ES scoring issues. Right now, we are 15th, dead on average.

I am expecting Cozens to rotate back in, which would push Casey out, but I wonder if Casey has pushed past Tage as the next man up? Curious that it was Asplund dropped from the taxi squad rather than Tokarski if Hutton is coming back. I wonder if there is any chance that Quinn gets a game. I suspect no as long as Thompson, Mitts and Cozens are sharing one slot. (Which may be why Asplund was dropped) I think we were expecting (hoping?) Lazar, Sheahan and Rieder would be in and out. I don’t know if any of them deserve to be sat at this point, but it will be coming. (Which is, I guess, exactly the kind of competition Adams and Krueger were hoping to develop).

Amerks continuing camp in Buffalo for the next two weeks until Amerks season starts, or have they moved to Roch? And guys currently on the Sabres roster like Casey and the taxi squad roster like Quinn are free to practice with the Amerks or the Sabres at any time, right?

Montour has been better since being separated from Dahlin, which was 2 1/2 games (nearly half a season!) ago. I think Risto has been very good, but I'd pick Jake McCabe as our best. Not sure if I've seen Jake play better hockey.

I liked what they did in the O-zone. It also seemed (unfortunately) that they spent more time in the D zone than any other unit. We're also conditioned to reject one when we see it.

I like Risto more than most around here. I also love John Gibson and believe in having an unquestioned long-term starter as part of smart franchise management. I do the trade, so long as it's not a key prospect. I also counter with UPL instead of the first. Very interesting take on Gibson in this year's Athletic goalie poll of NHL execs and goalie coaches: 7. John Gibson, Ducks Average 2021 tier rating: 2.03 We’re going to jump to the most interesting opinion here, because most panelists really like John Gibson and think he’s an upper-echelon goalie. But one, who gave him a 3.5 rating (tied for his lowest), explained why we might be seeing the downward arc of his career. “I don’t see him working at his craft. I don’t see parts of his game that have really gotten better,” this panelist said. “There are older guys in the league — look at Jacob Markstrom. His game has changed quite a bit. Even a guy like Freddie Andersen has made adjustments. I feel like Gibson is collecting his paycheck. Would that be different if they had a better team in front of him?… I’m hard on him because I feel like he could be so much more.” A GM countered that opinion. “I disagree,” he said. “I see John Gibson play with my own two eyes. He didn’t have a good year last year, but he’s a very good goalie.” But a goalie coach, who likes Gibson, echoed the notion that his style may be dated. “I see his numbers every year, and they’re unbelievable, but you look at his style from a goalie coach’s point of view — he has a touch of old school to him,” he said. “It’s not pretty. There are certain parts of his game I don’t trust. But I give him credit: He’s a workhorse who can handle the load.” Said another: “Put him on a good team and he could be a top guy.”

As a pure roster addition, Fleury is a clear upgrade on Hutton. If he gets hot, or blooms being reunited with Bales (50/50 at best IMO) he could be an upgrade on Linus. So on that level, I'm definitely interested. As an asset, his play/contract gives him a negative value, so any trade would have to address that issue. (Thus the "complicated" in the original Tweet)

He is a multiple pro bowl player, is he not? I think something that gets overlooked with Edmunds is the degree of difficulty involved in playing his position. As one of only two linebackers he has a lot of range to cover, and if he makes a wrong read, he doesn't have much in the way of backup.

I think I'm with you on this. The Bills just wrapped up their third playoff year of the past four and some people were still calling them bad heading toward the mid-point of this season. And yes, a lot of it is message board hyperbole. By the eye test, the Sabres have looked like the bubble team a lot of us thought they were, and by the fancy stats they've been better than that. By the Sabrespace gameday threads we are a bottom-feeder. I've watched pretty much every game the Sabres played in the past decade. I know what trash looks like. And so far the 20-21 Sabres aren't it.

I anyone here excited? The reaction to this season so far ranges from "c'mon, it's not that bad" to "they're trash again, I give up"

Leaner. Seriously. His face sitting on the bench is the thing I noticed most. He didn’t do much to affect the game positively or negatively IMO, but he did show a few bursts of energy and got an easy assist.

Two points out of a playoff spot? With only 50 games left?