dudacek

I think the only way this doesn't happen is if he is dramatically outplayed by one of the big 3 forward prospects (Kulich Savoie, Benson). Still, this was pretty interesting (from elite prospects): Matt Savoie 179 lbs Jiri Kulich 179 lbs Isak Rosen 174 lbs Lukas Rousek 172 lbs Zach Benson 170 lbs I mean, it's hard to trust weights on the internet, but that raised my eyebrows. I thought Benson and Rosen were the pipsqueaks, with Savoie only slightly bigger and Kulich and Rousek far more physically ready. Maybe not..

The Sabres have 4 goalies with NHL experience 😜

Nobody can finish

Pretty straightforward concept. We all know things won't be the same as last year. Give us 5 differences that are reasons why you think the Sabres will be good this year, and 5 that are reasons why they won't be: I'll start. The Sabres will be good because: 1) Casey Mittelstadt will have a career year and will cement himself as a core piece 2) A healthy Rasmus Dahlin and a more mature Owen Power will tilt the ice for 45 minutes a night in their team's favour the way no other NHL blueline duo will or can. 3) Jordan Greenway won't be a stud, but he will be exactly the reliable, 2-way middle-six big body the team was missing last year. 4) Peyton Krebs will emerge as one of the league's better 3Cs. 5) Devon Levi is the real deal and will make all this goalie angst about as moot as the backup position on Tampa. The Sabres won't be good because: 1) There is no way the forward corps will be as healthy as it was last year and the team relies far too much on their top line to survive an extended injury to any of them. 2) Eric Johnson is not an NHL regular any more and Conor Clifton will elevate to his increased responsibilities about as well as Colin Miller did when we got him from Vegas. 3) Dylan Cozens won't take the step most expect him to. 4) Jack Quinn's absence removes the most obvious candidate for internal growth up front and no one will be acquired or step up to fill that hole. 5) The coaching staff will fail in an effort to make the team more accountable defensively

i agree with the bold. I also think the rigid grid of a pre-game lineup doesn't really reflect the reality of an NHL game or an NHL season to the extent we think it does. I explained my rationale in post elsewhere on the site a few days ago: I think we going to see Dahlin and Samuelsson split up more than most expect. I get the sense Clifton and Johnson will result in a more even ES rotation and more R/L emphasis. it least that's my reading of what Donnie said post-FA Something like this maybe, as a base in an average game? Dahlin Johnson 10 minutes ES Power Clifton 12 ES Mule Jokiharju 12 ES Power Dahlin 4 Looking for extra offence ES Samuelsson Dahlin 4 Looking for extra defence ES PP: Dahlin 5, Power 3 SH: Mule/Clifton 3 Johnson 2 Other guys 1-2 With the rest being the random pairings that injuries and game situations spit out. That layout turns the minefield that was the 3rd pairing last year into something that can survive hard opponents when they have to, and should do well against their preferred matchups. The 2nd pairing is improved as well, and Dahlin is so strong he and Johnson should be fine if they aren't ridden hard like a top shutdown pair. Could be a way to some reasonable improvement in our goals against if the forwards and goalies co-operate. So that base in practice looks something like this on average per game: Dahlin 25 Power 23 Mule 21 Clifton 19 Jokiharju 18 Johnson 14

Skinner Thompson Tuch Peterka Cozens Mittelstadt Greenway Krebs Olofsson Girgensons Jost Okposo Rousek Dahlin Johnson Power Clifton Samuelsson Jokiharju Stillman Lyubushkin Levi Luukkonnen

Don't disagree with a lot of this, but if you told me I could have Montembeault, Husso, Korpisalo, Samsonov, Bobrovsky, or Levi, I'd take Levi. I'd also feel comfortable matching him up against Merzlikins, Jarry, Hart, Kuemper and Vanecek. Call me crazy 🤷‍♂️. And none of what you just wrote really addresses the point of my post: as the 4 teams I cited proved, good teams can and do make the playoffs with goaltending like what the Sabres got last year. I don't know if the Sabres are good enough to follow in their footsteps, but through my Kool-aid glass in August, I'm not seeing any reason why their skaters can't match the skaters on those other teams. Even if what Adams has done is not what I'd do. Let's get this season started already.

@JohnC has beaten this to death, but if the Sabres 18 skaters are good enough, the team will make the playoffs without any improvement in net. People point to Vegas and others reply, yeah, but that's Vegas. But: The Edmonton Oilers made the playoffs last year with a raw rookie Stuart Skinner playing 48 games and the absolutely abysmal Jack Campbell (.888 SV%) playing 36. The Los Angeles Kings made the playoffs with career minor leaguer Pheonix Copley playing 37 games and the corpses of Jonathan Quick (.876 SV%) and Cal Petersen (.868 SV%!) combining for 41 games. The Florida Panthers went to the finals with the duo of Bobrovsky and Knight (each a .901 SV%) combining for 71 games. And the Seattle Kraken made the playoffs with the UPL-level duo of Grubauer (39 games, .895 SV%) and martin Jones (48, .887) it's no reason to accept the status quo, but apparently teams have goaltending like ours and make the playoffs all the time.

For each other? Other than the fact they are smallish forwards, they aren't at all alike as players.

Here's one for you, from Down Goes Brown in the Athletic: It’s August, barely anything is happening, and the casual fans are all focused on baseball, barbecues, “Barbie”, and the occasional NFL preseason games. In the hockey world, only the diehards are still around. If you’re reading this, then that’s you. Good. We need to talk. I wouldn’t write this piece during the season because the casual fans would take it personally. They’d probably get upset. But you? You’re still reading hockey content in mid-August, even when you know there’s nothing to read about. You can handle some big kid talk. And that’s what you’re getting today. We need to talk about you. Specifically, about your fan base. There are some truths that you and your fellow fans need to hear. No, I don’t know which team you cheer for. That’s the beauty of it — I don’t need to. Because today we’re going to talk about some things that apply to pretty much every fan base. Even yours? Yes. Especially yours. You may not like them, but it’s better that you hear them from a friend. Here is a hard truth your fan base needs to hear. You’re overrating your prospects and young players They’re not that good. OK, yes, some of them are. Depending on where your team has spent the last few years on the whole contending-to-tanking continuum, they may even be very good. They’re just not as good as you think they are. That’s because you’re probably falling into the same trap that virtually all fans do: You’re looking into a future where all your team’s prospects have reached their ceiling. If every one of those guys is as good as the experts say they could be, we’re in great shape! But you’re not because that’s not how prospects work. A few of them will reach their ceiling. If you’re very lucky, one or two might even go Tage Mode and smash through that ceiling. But other guys will stall out before they reach their full potential, and some will just end up as busts who never make it. That’s true even if your team is especially good at developing. It’s just the nature of how sports work. And you know this, of course — when it comes to other teams. But when it’s your guys, and you’ve paid close attention to everything said about them, it’s easy to get caught up in the hype and confuse a ceiling with a most-likely outcome. And once you’ve fallen into that trap, you get very mad when somebody comes along and suggests that the future isn’t exceedingly bright. Look at this prospect list, you want to yell, it’s filled with future stars. Except it isn’t.

So what you're saying is UPL does a fantastic job of pumping up our offence and probably should get more starts? 😜

Then "the Sabres" is pretty irrelevant, no? The guys Adams has hired have been poached (Weber, Peca), interviewed for GM positions (Karmanos, Ventura) and/or so far, so good (Granato, Appert, the scouts and development coaches) In the high-turnover world of professional sports that's hardly a questionable record.

By "we" do you mean Adams?

Damn close if last year was any indication. I wasn't talking about statistics, I was talking about how he played. if you go back and watch the Detroit game, you know those 6 goals against weren't because Devon sucked. But if you want to go strictly by stats, 4 games at .929 or better, 2 at .857 or worse, 1 at .912. If you give me .912 or better 5 of every 7 games, you're getting it done. Will the other 2 always be bad? How will that affect him?

I think we going to see Dahlin and Samuelsson split up than most expect. I get the sense Clifton and Johnson will result in a more even ES rotation and more R/L emphasis. it least that's my reading of what donnie said post-FA Something like this maybe, as a base? Dahlin Johnson 10 minutes ES Power Clifton 12 ES Mule Jokiharju 12 ES Power Dahlin 4 Looking for extra offence ES Samuelsson Dahlin 4 Looking for extra defence ES PP: Dahlin 5, Power 3 SH: Mule/Clifton 3 Johnson 2 Other guys 1-2 With the rest being the random pairings that injuries and game situations spit out. That layout turns the minefield that was the 3rd pairing last year into something that can survive hard opponents when they have to, and should do well against their preferred matchups. The 2nd pairing is improved as well, and Dahlin is so strong he and Johnson should be fine if they aren't ridden hard like a top shutdown pair. Could be a way to some reasonable improvement in our goals against if the forwards and goalies co-operate. So something like this on average: Dahlin 25 Power 23 Mule 21 Clifton 19 Jokiharju 18 Johnson 14

Thanks for this. it's long been a pet peeve of mine how being on the 2nd line and being a second liner are not at all the same thing. Ice time is what matters. Lines get juggled, penalties taken, injuries happen, shifts get missed, benches get shortened. The most remarkable stat about Owen Power last year was that he ranked 5th IN THE ENTIRE LEAGUE in total even-strength ice time and 6th in ES ice-time per game —a full minute more than Cale Makar, 2 minutes more than Adam Fox, 2 1/2 more than calder-winner Mortiz Seider as a rookie, nearly 3 minutes more than a rookie Dahlin. Sometimes he was lucky enough to play with Dahlin. More often he played with Jokiharju, or Lyubushkin. The idea that he was heavily sheltered because of Dahlin is preposterous. At least 2 defencemen are on the ice at all times, at least 4 log significant minutes. Owen Power was out there A LOT against good players and in hard situations. As far as the sabres defence goes, Power was the one doing much of the sheltering. He may have been the least-sheltered rookie defenceman of all-time. Sorry, this is more about the calder trophy voting than anything else. I don't think the average fan has any idea what Owen Power was asked to do last year.

It's nothing to do with calculating or lack thereof. The kids are well aware of the fact Levi won back-to-back Richters and tore up college hockey, and of his spectacular 5 goals against in 7 games run at the WJC. Quinn, Krebs and Cozens were on that team. They also watched him go 5-2 down the stretch with the Sabres. He is a peer. I think they will judge him primarily based on their own experience. I'm already on record as saying Adams should be acquiring another goalie and that he should be held accountable if he goes with the current three and they fail. I find nothing inherently offensive or dumb about either question.

I wonder if the players think or talk about how good Levi looked in his 7 games. We don't seem to. I think the bulk of the roster — Dahlin/Krebs/Power/Cozens/Quinn/Samuelsson/Peterka etc. — don't doubt him at all; he's of the same pedigree they are. The veterans like Tuch/Skinner/Johnson/Okposo? Very good question There's no doubt Adams will be (rightfully) crucified if Levi fails. I wonder what people will be saying if he succeeds?

Östlund has it in him to be a Mike Peca-level (level, not style) player - a smart, competitive, reliable big-game all-situations player who dominates middle-six matchups. I think some people mis-perceive him as being a small, soft skill guy, without elite skill.

Guess Redmond is Paestch’s replacement.

Ah yes, the old "we traded O'reilly and only got back their 5th-best prospect" thing. Hard to say what false narratives take hold, but they certainly do happen.

4 to 6 months was the estimate on return to play, so early November at best, but more likely in the new year. Return to form is anyone's guess. Anthony Duclair had a similar injury last year: " Duclair sustained a torn Achilles in July and didn't make his 2022-23 debut until Feb. 24." — nhl.com

My apologies. Dumba has sucked for a while. Surprised you’re interested.

Did you know he was minus player who had 14 points on a playoff team last year, has had negative possession numbers for 3 years running, and hasn’t topped 69 games played or 27 points in any of the 4 seasons before last year? Maybe - like a lot of other teams apparently - they did their homework and said “pass”.

This is funny when it’s about a team that dressed 3 first-year forwards regularly last year, in addition to having 3 others in their top 5 in ice time who had played less than 200 NHL games to start last year.