dudacek

Further to the injury discussion: At the trade deadline the Sabres invested nearly $17M in 3 forwards for next year: Norris, Greenway and Zucker. They have combined for 21 of a possible 39 games since. The have also combined for 2 goals and 5 assists and a -7. Lucky we don't believe in paces from small sample sizes any more.

Too soon because...? 2022 draft 11 Conor Geekie 49 games played 12 Denton Mateychuk 37 13 Frank Nazar 49 14 Rutger McGroarty 5 15 Jonathan Lekkerimaki 23 16 Noah Östlund 0 17 Joakim Kemmel 2 18 Lian Bichsel 32 19 Liam Ohgren 28 20 Ivan Misochenchenko 39 First round picks are usually getting a taste of the NHL in their D3 year. Östlund is literally one of 6 in his class who have not. For the record, I would like to see him on one of the top lines with Kulich sliding out of the top 9.

Leone (to Duff and Marty) is of the opinion Östlund has a skill set that allows him to slot in on any style of line. Called him a bit of a unicorn that way. He has the energy, fearlessness and defensive acumen to play effectively with Lafferty and Malenstyn.

To be clear, this isn’t really a “look” or a “reward”. This is more a “our 2C and our 6C are hurt and our best centre is playing wing to support the look we’re already giving our best centre prospect, who’s next man up?”

One would think that finding playmaking winger or two to take advantage of the way Tage, Kulich and Norris can shoot (and Quinn, Peterka and Tuch for that matter) should be an off-season focus. I mean I guess I number of those guys can also pass, and that's also the hope for Benson, but its certainly skewed. I'm again struck by what a perfect fit Mitch Marner would be be in the off-season.

In a season full of down notes, stuff like this is fun to see. Östlund has definitely filled out since he got on stage on draft day looking like he was ready to apply for his learner's permit.

I would imagine this is because whatever happened to Kozak last game is still an issue. I would hope he's not plugged in to Kozak's spot in the lineup, but that has been the case with Rosen's callups. Subbing him for Krebs between Tuch and Zucker would be the best thing for him, but I'm not sure that's the best thing for the team, given the way Krebs has played.

That's a bit misleading. 24 is definitely a young goalie. UPL is 26 and he is still a young goalie. There are only 4 goalies 26 and younger to have played 40 NHL games this year: Wolf, Dostal, Kochetkov and Ersson. Wolf is the only one to do so at 24.

My perception of the sabres relative to other teams is that they score a higher percentage of their goals by 'snipes'. They aren't a high-volume 'shoot from everywhere 'team, or a 'crash the net for rebounds and deflections' team. They are a 'find some open space from 30 feet and beat the goalie' team. And because they have guys like Tage and JJ moving and shooting the puck, they're relatively successful at scoring goals that way. I don't know how "attacking styles" affects xgf numbers, but they must.

Sorry for the clickbait thread title, but @Stoner has poked holes in his super fan status several times since he bought the team. According to a new Athletic article, this is why he switched: Tim Graham with an Athletic piece on the song's 50th anniversary: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6243478/2025/04/03/terry-pegula-sabres-bills-song/ Nostalgic read for Sabres history buffs.

Article in the Athletic on how many NHL people are expecting this to be a summer of offer sheets. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6250562/2025/04/03/nhl-free-agency-offer-sheets-offseason/ It contains this snippet: Peterka will draw lots of trade interest this offseason if the Sabres can’t get a new contract finalized. And if he’s not re-signed by July 1, there’s no doubt he would be an enticing offer-sheet candidate. Allan Walsh happens to be his agent, but out of respect for the Sabres, his client and the process, he wouldn’t comment specifically about that situation. “But I have talked to general managers generally about offer sheets this summer, and some general managers have said to me — one in particular (said), ‘My goal this summer is to do an offer sheet,’” Walsh said. The only question to me here is whether JJ is legitimately interested in moving on, or this is just his agent setting the table for Adams to overpay the man.

So much this. What is fundamentally wrong with building a roster next year that should have no room for Jiri Kulich?

Does everyone think we can count on Zucker and McLeod to produce like 2nd-liners next year? On Norris and Greenway to play 70-plus games? On at least 1 of Quinn/Benson/Kulich to graduate to the 50-point-and-a-plus-player plateau? All at the same time? Substitute a 60-point 2C Cozens for Norris and isn’t that pretty much what Adams did this year?

The issue with the forwards is not about the talent, it’s about the composition. It’s not about the ceilings of Kulich, Benson and Quinn, it’s about having all of them in your top 6 at this point in their careers at the same time. Its about applying the same thought process behind the McLeod trade to this roster a few more times. Fingers crossed Norris qualifies. Its the Herb Brooks thing: I’m not looking for the best players, I’m looking for the right players.

This is something that the board still hasn’t quite wrapped its collective head around. None of Quinn, Cozens, Benson and Kulich performed like good top 9 performers this year or provided good value for their role. I know I’ll get pushback on this, but generally speaking, their contributions have been roughly on a tier with those of Peyton Krebs. Look at the numbers. We’ve replaced one of them. Sure they’re young enough to get better, but how many of them, and by how much? Are you willing to take that bet? Again? After this year, I can’t fathom the number of Sabrespacers who seem OK with our forwards.

I'm curious where he's going to settle. Hes going to fall back next year; nearly every one does after having this kind of breakout. The question is what will he typically be over the next 5 years? What I've liked most about McLeod is how often I see him covering and supporting on the backcheck: "oh *****, we're going to get caught.. nope, McLeod is there" On this team it's very noticeable. Tuch and Krebs are the only other ones doing that even half as much as McLeod does.

I've come full circle to the point where this is pretty much all I'm invested in. I mean I'm interested in the stuff away from the games, but I'm not letting myself get invested in the big picture until it actually changes. Even things that I want to see happen — Adams fired, winning the draft lottery — there's no point. We've done things like that before. 32 times happy, 42 not this year — one game at a time, that's how I cope.

Goaltending is so weird. As much of a weak link as he's been this season, he was a strong point last year. It's like after the elite guys, you never know what you're going to get from the next tier. I mean look at Blackwood and Gustafsson and Swayman and Saros. True #1s — such as they exist — don't get traded.

Me neither. I think Cozens desperately wanted to fix the Sabres and I’ll always appreciate that about him.

Meanwhile, what the hell has gotten into Alex Tuch? Goals in 4 straight games and 16 in his last 22? Leads the entire NHL over that latter stretch. Since he and Tage came back from the break after being overlooked for the 4 Nations they are tied for 3rd in NHL goals, one out of first.

The difference tonight was pretty clearly which team had Dylan Cozens 😜 In all seriousness, the bloom has started to come off Cozens in Ottawa after his quick start. Last 9 games his stat line looks pretty Sabresy. He’s got 1 goal and 4 assists, and his goals for % is just 33%.

Goalies look better when the D isn’t giving the other guy easy open looks. Defenders look better when the goalie makes saves. Huh. 🤔

“If Kulich and Benson and Samuelsson and Power and UPL are as good as I think they are, this is a playoff lineup” -overheard Adams to Pegula

Because 'little guys get hurt more, big guys are durable' is one of the more overrated tropes in hockey. You twist your knee sharply at 20 miles an hour, take a slash to the wrist or a puck to the jaw, or hit the boards hard, being 180 or 220 is irrelevant. The second most relevant issue to injuries is play style: how reckless are you with your body? The 3rd is responding to them in a way that maximizes recovery and minimizes any long-term effects: if/how you play through them, take time off, treatment, therapy, surgery etc. Genetics and age play a role in some types of injuries: do you break and tear easily? Heal quickly? But the most relevant factor is luck.

Now do Byram.