dudacek

Got a bit of an insight into the coach’s mind yesterday on WGR when he said how important it is to be able to kill plays quickly on defence, but basically implied that killing plays is kinda useless if the defender isn’t able to transition after the kill. Kinda explains why Lyubushkin became the odd man out, why they targeted Clifton and what he sees in Bryson and Jokiharju. The latter 2 can be quite good at stepping up to blunt the rush and flipping the play up ice. Apparently that outweighs their struggles when that doesn’t work and they get pinned, overpowered and chasing in their own zone. Our coach is not a big fan of the old-fashioned stay-at-homer.

I’m a little concerned by how bad Clifton looked in his 2 preseason games. He’s clearly a better player than that, but he also is being asked to play in a much different system and we can’t afford his adjustment to take weeks. There’s a reason he’s starting the season on the 3rd pair with our most stable vet. I’m also a little concerned about Owen Power, mostly because Donnie hinted that he’s a little concerned that Owen is putting too much pressure on himself. He’s an extremely analytical kid, whose head is stuffed full of thoughts about leading this team to the playoffs and signing a big-money, long-term deal. I saw what happened when Dahlin spent too much time thinking and not enough playing.

I don't think it would be correct to characterize it as "because he's Dahlin's friend" influencing roster decisions I do think "wants to be here" and "he's a Sabre" do influence roster decisions and can often be congruent with the above. Semi-related, I think people are overlooking the contract with Bryson. I don't mean the Sabres are keeping him up because they don't want to be paying him that much to be in the minors. I mean the Sabres gave him that contract because it represents what they think of him as hockey player. They agree he was disappointing last year, but they don't think last year represents who he is. He is being given a chance at redemption. Like the goalies, most of us disagree. We'll see who's right.

I think @Thorny nailed it yesterday. As frustrating as it may be for us armchair GMs, Adams is going with the goaltending he has because he believes he will get capable goaltending from the goalies he has. All we can do is hope he's right.

Oh, i think Ottawa and Buffalo are pick 'em and could be for years to come. I also agree that the Sabres not making the playoffs is entirely possible and will be crushing to the hope Adams has been selling (largely successfully, in my case).

Greg Wyshynski picked the Sabres to be the league's most disappointing team this season. Says everyone seems to think they're about to make a step and they aren't. Says Ottawa is top-to-bottom better.

I believe the top 3 picks - Bedard, Carlsson, Fantili - and Benson.

I think the presser makes it absolutely clear unless you think Dahlin is a totally devious, skilled and bald-faced liar: Andrew Peters was wrong and the idea that Dahlin was pushing for 5 years was never a consideration.

Quinn?

So happy for him and for us. He’s a keeper. https://www.nhl.com/sabres/video/rasmus-dahlin-press-conference-6338736075112

Yeah, I think that spot was being held for Patrick Kane, unless Benson (or even Olofsson) makes him redundant.

Colorado claimed the Coyotes #3G today on waivers. Im not familiar with him, but UPL and Comrie certainly appear to have better resumes. https://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=196998

Adams said Benson is on the team because he earned it - not because he put up points, but because of what he did with all his puck touches and how he matched up against NHL players in all situations. He’s still here because they think it’s the best thing for both him, and the team.

At an estimated cap of $88 million next year, capfriendly says Dahlin is at 13.17% TNT is 8.6, Skinner 10.8 and Mule 5.1% for this year.

I have no issues locking my 2 best players up for $20 million, regardless of position, especially if they are each playing 25 minutes a game. Having my 2 best centres locked up long-term for $14 million makes it even easier. For whatever it’s worth, Adams repeated this morning what he has said previously: Power wants to sign in Buffalo long-term, conversations are ongoing and intense and it’s about finding a number that works for both sides. Ive been saying for months, something around the Aaron Ekblad contract is what it will take get it done. In today’s dollars, that’s 8 years at a little over $8.5 million.

Interesting comments from Adams on the goaltending in his presser this morning. He essentially said they’ve been “having conversations” about it right up until yesterday, and the “situation around the league” was a major factor in keeping 3 goalies. Not clear if those conversations were internal or external, but he certainly implied that Comrie and UPL have value and he was not going to give either away for nothing. Sounded to me like he is waiting for a shoe to drop: team(s) (Tampa?) in need of a goalie making a move to acquire one. Maybe that goalie is one of ours, maybe it’s someone else’s but it reduces the risk of one of ours not clearing waivers? Maybe one of our goalies cracks, or pouts, or (god forbid) plays well enough to remove the logjam. But it sounds like even though the 3-headed monster is not something that will be around indefinitely, it will be in place until a reason materializes for it not to be.

Just came to do the same. 🍺 Im thinking a few kids are going to get marginalized here because the competition for ice time will be tough. That is one deep AHL team. Murray Biro Rousek Rosen Kulich Weissbach Mersch Richards Jobst Kisakov Kozak Neuchev Cedarqvist Fiddler-Shultz Nadeau Warren Slaggert Giroux Clague Johnson Stillman Metsa Cecconi Davies Novikov Prow Jandric Savoie Tokarski Cooley Houser

I’m with Webster on this, free agents who sign AHL contracts are the property of no NHL team and those contracts typically allow the player to void that contract to sign an NHL deal. If Metsa is on a typical AHL deal, he can sign with the Sens tomorrow at no compensation. That’s the risk you take by not offering him an NHL contract.

I thought he had a good game at both ends of the rink. One of the few Sabre consistently on the right side of the puck. Won battles and moved the puck well. Moved his feet better than he has. We look so talented offensively and so clueless defending. It’s remarkable actually This

With the opening night roster mostly on display tonight, I’m curious if we are going to get a preview of how the PP is going to lineup. The Sabres had a good power play statistically last year, but that was mostly the creation of a monster first half that relied heavily on Tage Thompson’s bomb from the left wall. The unit wavered in the spring and didn’t seem to adjust well when teams took Tage away. The base seemed to consistently be Tage, Tuch and Skinner low, and Dahlin as the QB. Cozens seemed to take most of the right wall duty away from Olofsson, at least as the season went on. Power always ran PP2, with Mitts, Olofsson, Cozens, Quinn, Peterka and Okposo getting the majority of looks in support. How would you tweak the PP this year and what do you think Donnie will do?

He just turned 24 in June. Its like Dahlin, being only 23, they’ve both been around so long you forget how young they were when they started.

Devon Levi is a star, the Sabres make the playoffs with ease and make a run to the final 4.

“170-pound teenagers can’t survive the grind of pro hockey. An 82-game season will grind them down and destroy their confidence. Some 230-pound goon will take a run at him and shatter his body and his psyche beyond repair.” Every single reason why Benson shouldn’t be in the NHL this year could have also been applied to Isak Rosen and Jiri Kulich playing in the AHL last year. Maybe the Sabres have learned a thing or two about this situation?

Sometimes players become whipping boys because they struggle (Bryson, UPL). Other times it just feels like the mob needs someone to pile on. I think the latter’s the case with Joki. Everyone talks about the defence falling apart last fall when Samuelsson went out. No one talks about #10 also being missing for that stretch. Everyone talks about Samuelsson Dahlin being such a good pair last year. No one talks about Jokiharju Dahlin being an even better pair analytically. Everyone talks about injuries hampering Dahlin’s play after the all-star game last year. No one talks about Jokiharju playing through 2 serious injuries last season. The guys not a star, but he’s a real NHL defenceman, not the Jamie McBain-like press box fodder some of you make him out to be: Sekera, Kalinin, Shannon - good Sabres teams have always had room for guys his level. The article has a subtext that suggests the room is well aware of what the keyboard warriors are saying about Henri. I hope he’s healthy and able to piss in their Cheerios this year.

I guess it should be considered a miracle if a pro hockey team looks beyond tired, myopic hockey tropes like “18-year-olds can’t play” when making lineup decisions. Because there are reasons why Benson slipped to 13, and they aren’t about “doing better”.