dudacek

After a long run of being a 25-point man, Johnson’s counting stats fell to negligible last year. He played a lot of minutes in the middle of the season as the Avs fought through a raft of injuries, but his ice time dropped at season’s end and into the playoffs to finish at 17:15 for the year, heavily tilted toward defensive zone starts. After 13 years of being a good soldier in Denver, he was essentially squeezed off the team by the salary cap and the $27 million dedicated to the 5 D they already had under contract. He said in free agency he very quickly targeted Buffalo as the type of organization he wanted to be a part of, encouraged in part by old friend Kyle Okposo https://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=95359 It would be unfair to say Johnson’s counting stats and analytics last year played no role in the Sabres decision to pursue him this summer. But it would be fair to say they meant less than 6’4”, 225 (his height and weight) 920 (his career games played), 1 (his draft slot, and number of Stanley Cups won) and the fact that he added plenty of PK expertise, hits, blocked shots, safe puck management, and the type of veteran experience and leadership Buffalo needed, especially to fellow 1st overall picks Owen Power and Rasmus Dahlin. What do you expect from Johnson this year? (*the team hasn’t officially announced it, but Johnson has always worn 6 and has flashed it in Sabres colours.)

Wish @qwksndmonster and @darksabre were talking hockey on here rather than being drawn back in by more important things.

He was with Mitts and VO for that one.

Defence is not hard to learn or to execute, the issue is self-discipline not ability. Offence tends to be the opposite.

Good post. It is sorta weird how Clifton/Johnson/Greenway/Levi seem to have perfectly targeted last year’s weak spots (goals against, PK, physical presence) at the required positions and Sabrespace has collectively kinda overlooked that.

Does the AHL exemption just given Shane Wright give us any reason to hope for the same for Savoie? Wright is 4 days younger Wright played 141 CHL games over 4 seasons. One of those was the COVID season where he played 0 games Savoie played 149 CHL games over 4 seasons. Savoie played 34 game in the USHL during the COVID season. You'd have to think the only reason not to exempt Savoie is to punish him for playing in the US during COVID

As it was the previous 2 seasons, Jokiharju’s year was marred by injury and his counting stats remained relatively static. The lack of obvious progress from his early years and the addition of shinier, newer toys on the roster led to many fans growing tired of him. His coach, however, should not be counted among that number, skating him for more than 21 minutes a night for the second consecutive year. https://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=196298 Two Jokiharju stats didn’t spark much attention, but were notable nonetheless. For the first time in his professional career, he finished above 50% in his 5-on-5 shot share. And he did that despite his D-zone starts increasing from 42.9% to 49.3%, and being unstapled from the hip of Rasmus Dahlin. Henri Is entering his 6th NHL season but has never topped 69 games played. He just turned 24 and has played 273 games. What do you expect from Jokiharju this year? (Last year’s takes here)

The season started badly for Greenway and got worse. He missed training camp due to an off-season shoulder injury, came back too early and relapsed, then came back again and played poorly. He followed that up by sleeping in and missing a team meeting in late January in what appeared to be the last straw for the Wild. He was acquired by the Sabres at the trade deadline for a late 2nd-round pick, failed to make much of an impression early, missed some time, and played a little better in a middle 6 role when he got back. His production for the season was easily his worst in 5 pro seasons, less than half of his usual per/game rate. https://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=170297 It wasn’t a huge stretch to conclude neither Greenway, nor Wild coach Dean Evason were huge fans of the other. Don Granato and Greenway on the other hand clearly appreciated what the other brings. Granato seemed pretty clear that Jordan needed to have a big off-season where he got focused and in shape, and Greenway pledged to do exactly that during locker clean-out. Some Buffalo fans were disappointed to discover that Greenway was no Milan Lucic, but he does very much offer the big body and responsible middle six play that everyone thought the Sabres needed last year. At least he did the 3 previous seasons in Minnesota where he averaged 39 points per 82 games as part of their elite checking line. What do you expect from Greenway this year?

Not aware of anything about tweaking the system and I’m not really expecting that; he’s made no bones about his team playing fearless, attacking hockey on offence and defence. What I have heard is talk about holding the players more accountable for playing good defence within the system. The emphasis was on inexperience no longer being a crutch, that by and large the roster has played enough NHL games to know what they need to do. Basically, it’s now about winning over development. If I have time to look up Granato’s quote from early in the off-season, I’ll post it. If you’re talking show-me, I think we were already shown a glimpse down the stretch. The goals against over the last 11 games was a respectable 2.91, down from the overall 3.62 and guys who were struggling within the system like Bryson, Clague, VO, Peterka, Jost, Stillman and Lyubushkin had their ice time cut back, or were nailed to the bench

I count 12 of those guys as 1st contract Amerks. There’s going to be a lot of prospects down there this season, which has got to be some sort of recent record. It will be interesting to see who sinks and swims.

Some very intriguing names on that roster. Can't wait. Rosen Kulich Cedarqvist Benson Savoie Nadeau Neuchev Kozak Kisakov Fiddler-Schultz and assorted scrubs Johnson Novikov Metsa Jandric Lindgren Komarov Ratzlaff

Prospect challenge roster has Kulich now sporting #20, so i adjusted the thread title accordingly

Semantics maybe, but there’s no doubt that Mitts is this team’s #5 forward, and I think it’s highly like Quinn would be #6 if healthy. Peterka may beat out Olofsson and Krebs for #6 while Quinn is out, but JJ was #10 in ice time last season, regardless of the fact he was often on Cozens wing. Krebs Girgensons and Okposo was an effective line last year, statistically the only line on the Sabres that actually played good defence and the type of hockey you seem to like, but I guess mileage may vary.

I think Rousek was #14 on the depth chart before Quinn got hurt and the fact that he’s both a winger and a versatile one like Quinn should cement his spot on the opening night roster. But I do think he’s a spare, and he’s vulnerable to being leapfrogged by a number of younger, more talented players. Really, I see him being this year’s Hinostroza in terms of how I expect he gets used. Hopefully, he’s as serviceable.

I think you’ve nailed the debate right there: I like Johnson, Clifton, Jokiharju, Okposo, Krebs, Girgensons, Greenway, Peterka as a bottom half of a roster a lot more than I think you do.

I’m waiting for the discussion to play out before voting. But if the Levi/Miller parallel holds up the way I think it will, and Clifton, Greenway and Johnson do what they’ve been acquired to do, I think the pieces are there. I think we’re going to be good.

I think Lindy was a product of his era and experiences 20 years ago, and isn’t the same coach today that he was then. I think he was very strong on tactics and strategy then, but was also a good leader as defined by the times. I think there is no doubt Don is an excellent leader as defined by modern times. I’d sure as hell work for him. Tactically, I love the style he preaches. It remains to be seen whether he is a good game manager, and whether our flaws in our own end are tied to his system, or the learning curve of his players.

Same reasons most of the good ones step away: The frustrating conversations outweighed the stimulating ones. It’s too bad because he always ranked high on the stimulating end of the spectrum, and, for me, his loss tilts the balance in the wrong direction.

This is where I am as well. And most of Sabrespace, if the poll so far is any indication. This one is quite interesting to me because the board had left me with the impression there were plenty of people thinking Kulich could be a contributor this year.

Roy, Vanek Pominville, Miller, Gaustad...? Also had a few guys who were spot players for the Sabres the next year like Paille. Does anyone remember that was only a nine-game playoff run? I didn't. The 21/22 Amerks had Quinn Peterka, Krebs, Samuelsson, Rousek and UPL. They went on a 10-game run.

And i agree with you on this, just didn't want people don't think Patrick was suggesting Krebs wasnt good.

Not by the way is poll is going. I was hoping for a little more discussion around the similarities and differences but maybe you've got the right of it.

Being in a position to win the cup and being in a position to contend for the cup arent the same thing. It took Vegas 5 years and a lot of changes to win it, but it has been in a position to contend since day 1. The reason we arent discussing if we can catch and pass Toronto is not because it’s unrealistic. It's because - for the 3rd off-season in a row - we refuse to believe the players we have can be as good as they eventually prove that they are.

This is kinda why I started the thread comparing this team to the 2005/06 team. You never did buy into what development was doing. It wasn’t about biding time until we’re ready to bring in the missing pieces to go for it. It’s been about forging the missing pieces from the pieces at hand. This team - as it is constructed right now - should not be waiting for Kevyn Adams to acquire Connor Hellebuyck or Brett Pesce, or for Matt Savoie and Zach Benson to turn 25. Just like the group did in 05/06, Skinner Tuch Thompson Cozens Mittelstadt Dahlin Power Samuelsson Levi can be, and need to be a contender’s core right now. They have enough size and skill and they've reached the point where they can’t plead inexperience any more. The rest can be, and need to be, a contender’s supporting cast right now. They have talent and they have the depth. Being realistic is being able to say “Florida nearly did it, why can’t we be as good as Florida?” Being realistic is about saying we’ve reached a critical mass to where we can be in the mix every year, just like Boston and Tampa did 10 years ago, or the Leafs did or the Hurricanes did 5 years ago. It’s not about waiting for Boston or Tampa to slip and gift them a spot, it’s about playing the hand we’ve got, stepping up and taking it.