dudacek

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.

I mean everyone thought Olofsson was going to be traded because we didn't have room for him. So the net effect to Adams' plan is that he may have to hold off on flipping VO. A lot of people were saying he was trash anyway, so they aren't happy slotting him back into the lineup. But I wasn't one of them and i don't think you were either. He's a flawed player, but he is an NHLer and he can score goals. Adams pretty clearly thinks more of several of his guys than the average fan does because there were clearly things he could have done this summer and chose not to. And i guess he will live and die on those evaluations.

Except for a bubble team they might be. I had never really broken down this kinda stuff in that way, but it kinda supports my theory that teams become good by incremental improvements across the roster as much or moreso than anything else. And stars have less of an impact than we think. A top centre playing over 20 minutes a night doesn't even account for close to 10 per cent of his team.

It's not quite that simple because linemates and role affect player value: Olofsson was a far more useful player riding shotgun with Sam and Jack than he was on a 2nd line with Mitts and Jost. Mitts played like a star with Tuch and Skinner. But I can get on board for sake of argument. Assuming Olofsson is 80 percent of the player Quinn is, and that roster spot represents 5% of the Sabres lineup, for half a season, aren't we talking the team taking a 0.5% hit this year replacing Quinn with Olofsson? The 80 percent is completely made up, the 5% is a rough estimate, and every percentage point matters to a bubble team, but i think this kinda shows the degree of impact Quinn's injury could have on the current roster. I'm sure Tatar would help, but I'm not sure how significant that help would be.

A lot of people around here think Olofsson isn’t an NHL player, or at least one with much value. I think most GMs would love to have an Olofsson handy to plug into their lineup at no acquisition cost if a regular forward went down for a half-season with injury. I also think that guys like Rousek and Kulich need to see they have opportunity and giving them the first shot when an opportunity arises is sound people management. But only once your organization has arrived at the point where it has that kind of organizational depth. That’s what I meant when I said that “next man up” is what a strong organization would do.

Mitts replacing Quinn on the 2nd line is not a downgrade, but that isn’t really what we are talking about here since Mitts was better than Quinn last year anyway. I mean you’re absolutely right that every person in the lineup can move up a slot without a huge net overall loss if your depth is strong. But @thorny is also right that your team might be better if you moved Tatar into the lineup instead of Olofsson.

The Sabres have a ton of defencemen. Depth is not an issue, I am interested in Dumba if he’s a clearly going to be our 3 or 4. I’m not sure if he is that player any more.

This is what a team that believes in its depth would do.

Putting aside the goalie factor for a moment and consider how often a prospect as good as Matt Savoie gets moved for a rental. For the Sabres, Hellebuyck is essentially a rental.

@nfreeman seems to be suggesting Hellebuyck won’t be moved unless you are including a centrepiece better than Östlund or Rosen in the deal. I think it’s kinda the opposite: he won’t be moved until someone offers a piece as good as Östlund or Rosen in the deal.

The Jets know what they’ll get for Helle if they trade him now. They’re betting they’ll get more if a Levi or a Vanacek or a Husso falls on his face this fall.