dudacek

I wonder if Kevyn “why would we be interested in a goalie who isn’t any better than the goalie we already have” Adams is interested in John Gibson any more? We know he was a year ago. Things change.

Assuming the Jets want to make a hockey trade as opposed to a futures trade, Hellebuyck for Nylander makes a ton of sense to me.

If we are in the race at the deadline are we going to need him? Seems to me that means status quo worked.

Nice to see Johnson taking a bit of a leadership role at Dev camp. I think people convinced themselves he was walking and tried to forget or minimize his worth as a prospect. He’s still 21 until later this summer, but he has 4 years of college under his belt and is an NHL skater who can extinguish plays and transition pucks. They list him at 6’1” 190 so it sounds like he’s done some filling out. I don’t expect his transition to take too long and he could be a nice complementary player

I thinks he was talking to to Allvin about moving up. The Canucks mandate is to make the playoffs this season. They don’t make it without Demko. I would be stunned if he gets moved.

Except Okposo, Girgensons, Johnson, Clifton, Greenway, Stillman and the developing Samuelsson, Krebs and Cozens. This is what I meant with my post yesterday that people look past what has been happening and continue to see what they want to see on this particular issue. *** I’m surprised people still see “developing” and “making the playoffs” at cross-purposes this year. The Sabres “developed” into a 91-point team last year. If they “develop” any further, they’re in the playoffs.

And I am unreasonably confident that Levi’s going to make a Ryan Miller in 2006 run this year that makes all this talk irrelevant. It just seems awfully risky.

The goal is to get a read on the general board feeling on the situation in net. Subtext is to spark good conversation that points to the best path. I’m not trying to push people to a conclusion I’ve already reached, I’m trying to use the discussion to forge my own conclusion. I”m seeing 3 points of consensus: Levi is going to be this team’s goalie long-term Giving him the keys without a strong support system is a huge risk short-term UPL and Comrie aren’t that support system I don’t know that any of these premises are actually true, but every time I try to pick one apart, I end up deciding I agree with them. So we need a goalie. The next part is what kind of goalie do we want, who is available, and how much should we be giving up? I’m still working through that part, but I actually do see options

Last year, 5 of their 25 picks were NHL regulars. Meanwhile, 8 of the Sabres 20 have hit and a 9th prospect-turned NHLer, Krebs was added through trade. Despite that, the cream of our next wave: Levi/Benson/Savoie/Kulich/Östlund/Rosen still stacks up favourably to their Eidvinsson/Danielson/Kasper/Cossa/Sandin-Pelikka But another issue, like @Randall Flagg points out, is star power: we have Dahlin and Thompson who have broken out as legitimate studs, Skinner and Tuch who are close, and Power and Cozens who legitimately look like they are coming. They have Larkin, who is close and Seider who no one doubts. Not only have we hit on a higher percentage but overall, their ceilings look shinier. Now there is still time for Eidvinsson and Raymond to turn into perennial all-stars, but that is equally true of Levi and Quinn. The develop part matters just as much as the draft and you need a bit of luck as well. So far Detroit seems to be falling short.

However, he is a fan of Comrie’s. Does that give you any hope there?

It’s done. It’s going to drop when fan anxiety over lack of a big move hits its peak, which, judging from what I’ve read here this morning might be coming soon.

In his defence, we did pick 1st twice, but I don’t think the draft hauls are really close. We’ve had 11 firsts and 9 2nds in the past 6 years. They’ve had 10 and 15. 1 Dahlin - 4 Raymond 1 Power - 6 Seider 7 Cozens - 6 Eidvinsson 8 Mittelstadt - 6 Zadina 8 Quinn - 8 Kasper 9 Savoie - 9 Rasmussen 13 Benson - 9 Danielson 14 Rosen - 15 Cossa 16 Östlund - 17 Sandin-Pelikka 28 Kulich - 30 Veleno 31 Johnson - 32 Wallinder 32 Samuelsson - 33 Beggren 33 Poltapov - 35 Tuomisto 34 Peterka - 36 Buim 37 Davidsson - 36 McIsaac 39 Wahlberg - 38 Lindstrom 41 Leinonen - 40 James 45 Strbak - 41 Augustine 53 Kisakov - 42 Gibson 54 Luukkonen - 47 Cleveland — 51 Neiderbach — 52 Buchelnikov — 54 Mastrosimone — 55 Hanas — 60 Johansson

Longest in Colorado sports and he was very open that he had no intention of leaving; it was the team’s choice.

I’m starting to think there are only 2 paths worth taking: pay the price for Gibson, Hart or Hellebuyck, or put all your chips on Levi and use those assets to acquire Pesce/Hanifin. I don’t think a good middle ground option for goalie acquisition exists.

2 games. Didn’t really make an impact.

Not quite. Savoie went to Rochester after the ICE got knocked out. But I think the more important thing was Savoie has been to a development camp, Benson never has. Related, Benson and Ryan Johnson were the only 1st-rounders on the ice today and Kisakov and this year’s pair were the only 2nd rounders.

Just so we’re clear, you know that neither of those guys is a backup, or even a 1B when it comes to the NHL goalie pecking order, right? Jarry is 7th in starts over the past 3 years and is the league’s 12th highest-paid goalie. Hart is 16th and 26th and will be due for a big raise next year. These are bona fide NHL starters by their contracts and track records. Nothing wrong with saying those should be Buffalo’s targets, but this is the backup goalie thread and if you want to acquire them you will not be paying backup goalie prices. It feels like I am seeing a lot of “we just need a guy to break in Levi” and then throwing out names of expensive players who would be the undisputed starters for half the league.

Seems like most people like the signing, but how many think Clifton can be a solid #4 defenceman? I look at him more as a 4/5 - a guy who can play top 4 minutes in a pinch, but is better suited for the 3rd pairing.

I think it’s weird that the Sabres draft Benson and we hear a chorus of “too small and soft, can’t win in the playoffs.” Yet when we sign a 6’4” 225-pound Stanley Cup winning mountain, and the most abrasive defenceman on the Bruins, after trading for Greenway and Stillman at the deadline to replace Hinostroza and Bryson we get crickets. People see what they want to see 🤷

You’ve been very consistent in saying that Levi will be a good starter, so why should we pay a bushel to to grab someone he’s going to make redundant anyway? Part of me thinks you’ve got a point.

Bertuzzi is a guy I would have a tough time cheering for and will have an easy time hating in blue-and-white. However, he should be an upgrade for them over Bunting.

Agreed. There was a very noticeable shift in coaching focus from “developing” to “winning” that happened to close out the season. I see no reason for that to shift in the coming year.

Here’s the thing about proven starting goalies: there aren’t very many of them. You want to know how many goalies have played 130 games over the past 3 years, which is only an average of 43 starts? Just 13 You aren’t getting Vasilevskiy, Saros, Shesterkin, Sorokin and Oettinger. And most of you don’t want Hellebuyck, Markstrom, Gibson, Binnington or Bobrovsky given their contracts. I’d say Kuemper and Jarry are both too expensive, and unavailable. And then there’s Fleury who has a no-movement clause and is apparently done with moving. The Venn diagram of goalies who are proven, available and affordable is very small.

I was feeling the same way. Adams says he is recovering from a stress factor in his foot and probably won’t be on the ice.

Is there anyone who is “that good”? Any time anyone proposes a goalie, somebody responds with a version of this. Not pointing fingers at you, it’s something we all seem to be guilty of. Goaltending really does seem to be in the eye of the beholder. My reading of this board is that the only goalie we’d all be happy with Saros, and even then only if we didn’t pay too much.