dudacek

I disagree with the bolded. How do you explain one-year deals with Hall, Ullmark, Montour and Reinhart? We know Sam and Taylor wanted more. You are correct, he's on the roster. Johansson is significantly better than Sheahan or Lazar. Which is why there needs to be a Cozens on the line. Rob Ray indirectly had a very relevant point on Skinner: The Sabres best players don't want to play with Skinner because he doesn't get them the puck and he doesn't do what they want them to do. Guys like Derek Ryan (or Curtis Lazar?) are more content with just doing their thing and let Jeff do his.

It will be Tage Thompson. Where is my Tage?

He's starting on the taxi squad

Sometimes I think we debate stuff we actually agree on because we read different things into the same words. I firmly believe that any organization benefits from a manager with reasonable, clearly articulated expectations who practices what he preaches and is easy to respect and follow.

Maybe tryout is the wrong word, but I think the strategy has to be looked out as a trial of some sort, given all the short-term deals. I can't see any other way to regard it. If it all works, Adams will likely try to keep it together and if it doesn't he will try to keep the parts he wants and walk away from others.

For me: Added a coach who seems to care about culture and players want to play for Developed Jack Eichel into one the league's elite players Fired Jason Botterill, a terrible GM Traded for Eric Staal to fix their biggest roster issue without sacrificing any piece of their future Signed Taylor Hall, the best offensive free agent available without sacrificing any piece of their future Developed Victor Olofsson and Henri Jokiharju and shown signs that the same may be coming for Tage Thompson, Dylan Cozens and Rasmus Dahlin None of these things may equal wins, and they are mitigated by other issues created and left unaddressed, but they are things that give me hope.

I think what the franchise needs most long-term is to win this year, energize the existing core and create a good situation for the Cozens and the Quinns to walk into. That doesn't preclude your scenario, but only if you see enough from the kids right away. This season is not about learning on the job.

You seem to be more upset about R2 than the situation warrants. He was always a longshot to make the team this year, he didn't do anything special in camp, and if he shines in Rochester he'll be back up. There is a ton of truth in this. The Sabres have basically made a ton of short-term bets while keeping their options open for next year. Personally, I think it was a smart call given the nature of the season and the condition of the fanbase, but if we don't take a real step forward, there is a huge possibility that next year will be a step back.

Any word if Euros like Pekar, UPL, etcetera are coming back? With guys like Mitts and Borgen up on the taxi squad it would seem the Amerks are going to struggle to ice a full lineup.

My take on where we appear to be headed: The first line has the potential to be the best line since 16/89 were working their magic (hopefully with Thompson in the Andreychuk role) The 2nd line moves the puck very well, is very smart, and can finish. It could be very good and is the best 2nd line we've seen since the slug era The Eakin line's success revolves around Eakin's performance. We know Okposo and Girgensons play that role well and I think Rieder will be a pleasant surprise. Eakin needs to be what Adams and Ralph seem to think he is to make it a viable 2-way 3rd line. I am intrigued by the possibility of Skinner and Cozens playing against 3rd pairs, even with Sheahan/Lazar as basically a safety valve. But that means we need Cozens to be effective. I can't see Skinner and two plumbers being effective at either end of the ice. The top four is as it should be, with the idea of the 1st two pairs getting equal time to start and Dahlin/Montour evolving into the first pair as Dahlin steps into his own. Those two need to be with Jack and Taylor as much as possible. Miller and Joki is a good 3rd pair if Miller adapts to his off-side. Both goalies need to take a step from last year. Sheahan, Asplund, Mitts, Irwin, Borgen seem like viable choices as spares The PP should be deadly. If it's not, I will blame the coaches. The PK has to be better. Rieder, Sheahan and Eakin have good track records here. They have not addressed the D though and that is concerning. Lots of reasons and to be concerned and lots of reasons for optimism. This is a better team on paper than last year's and a better one than we've had for some time. I don't know if excited is the right word, but I am very intrigued to see if it can somehow all come together.

Not sure whether to take that as Okposo is out for sure, or Cozens is the placeholder. Affects my reaction. Asplund is one I had not considered opening night, but this is the year he should make them team if he is going to be a player. Pulling for him. Like his game a lot at the lower level. Hasn't looked yet like it will translate.

Sabre cracks the list of The Athletic's top regression candidates. Writer Harman Dayal's logic seems sound: I really liked the Eric Staal-for-Marcus Johansson swap from the Sabres’ perspective. The veteran centre should be able to fill Buffalo’s gaping second-line centre void in a way that Johansson probably couldn’t. With that said, I don’t think Staal will be as productive as he was in Minnesota where he notched 47 points in 66 games last season. For one, he’s likely to see a pretty notable decline in power-play opportunity. Staal was a fixture on Minnesota’s first unit, one that ranked top-10 in the NHL last season, by virtue of being the Wild’s best centre. Coming to Buffalo, he’ll obviously cede those duties to Jack Eichel and fall to the second unit which means Staal could see a decline on the 14 power-play points he managed in 2019-20. In addition to possibly reduced five-on-four time, Staal might also be in the midst of a modest even-strength decline. The 36-year-old went from averaging 8.4 shots per 60 minutes of five-on-five play to just 5.8. What kept Staal’s goal-scoring numbers propped up was the fact that his shooting percentage spiked to 15.5 percent to compensate — that’s an outlier (it’s Staal’s career high shooting percentage) and unlikely to last. Combine less PP usage with an inflated even-strength shooting percentage and I think there’s a pretty strong chance you see a dip in Staal’s production. https://theathletic.com/2315120/2021/01/12/nhl-regression-candidates-2021/

Hmm... I forgot I wrote this. Maybe it’s why I’m giving Adams the benefit of the doubt. 😜

The Sabres have so many questions it’s hard to point at one, but Eakin is among the most pivotal in my mind: he is being relied on to improve our speed, our PK, our forechecking, our backchecking and our bottom six scoring. That is a helluvalot to put on a guy who scored 15 points last year with disastrous fancystats playing on two good teams. Do they have intel on why he sucked and reason to think he can reverse his graph? @Brawndo’s comment really hit home for me about how he is the poster child for eye test versus analytics. I can’t say I’ve watched him a ton, but I remember him best from Dallas and Vegas playoff runs where I loved his hustle. I thought he would have fit in well on the 98 or 99 Sabres with his speed and relentless approach. But it’s hard to ignore last year’s numbers. I think his play will definitely influence my respect for the player evaluation skills of our new staff.

Just like the Bills?

I'm not sure exactly what you guys are debating, but it's indisputable that the Sabres were a better ES team under Krueger last year than they were the previous year under Housley. That's the case both in counting stats and advanced stats.

Why are you so convinced guys like Casey, R2 and Cozens are ahead of guys like Okposo and Lazar and Ralph is willfully ignoring that?

He has. A big part of the reason I like Linus.

Does anyone think we will actually see him play? Krueger certainly wasn't expecting him to before he saw him play.

Did not see this Krueger quote to Hoppe about Skinner elsewhere: “It’ll be important for Jeff to just keep working hard,” Krueger said. “And again, our principles need to be the guideline, but within that framework every player has the opportunity to let his genius express itself. For Jeff, that’s usually in the danger zone in front of the other team’s net. So his linemates need to get him there, he needs to do the work to get himself there and the goals will follow. It’s always hard work before you get rewarded

I am amazed at how the Jack Quinn of the scrimmage looked so much more like the Jack Quinn I watched in Ottawa than the Jack Quinn I saw at the WJC. It appears his defence-first mentality at the tourney was very much by coaching design and masked the offensive part of of his game.

I think this has been well-explored. Mitts has been as bad as Skinner in his own zone and Cozens has never played an NHL game. Sheahan (or Lazar) brings a defensive conscience and a predictable guy who plays on "the right side of the puck" and can allow Skinner to freelance. Ralph has made it clear he wants lines that he doesn't want to have to hide match-up wise. Not arguing with your point, just answering your question. Is this based entirely on Eakin's play last year, or have you not liked what you've seen in camp?

Absolutely. I think that seems to be where the board consensus is going if Ralph doesn't want Skins with Staal and Sam. Semi-related: I mean there was never any doubt, but you really know you're a Sabre nerd when you look at that chart and think 'that Mitts line looks interesting, love to see what it could do in Rochester'

That is outstanding. 😂 I'm loving Jack's new look: at least our top three centres look like hockey players.

From the Athletic's annual goalie ranking, gleaned from a poll of 6 NHL GMs, 4 head coaches, 5 goalie coaches, Linus was 23rd: For a guy who is 27 years old and has never played in more than 37 games in his NHL career, the 6-foot-4 Swede received a sneaky high amount of love. Especially in the goalie-coaching community. “I’m a fan. I like his style. I love his compete. He plays with an edge,” said one. “Ullmark has paid his dues. He’s going to surprise people. He can hold his team up this year.” “I’ve seen enough of him in Buffalo. He made some good improvements last year with (goalie coach Mike) Bales and his skill level with playing a little bit more conservative,” said another. “He’s going to be pretty consistent.” One more vote of confidence from a coach: “He’s the better of their two goalies. I like him a lot. He’s athletic. I think he’s got a great future.” https://theathletic.com/2308397/2021/01/10/nhl-goalie-rankings/