dudacek

I’d say more of a spectrum than camps, but that’s nitpicking; I’m in agreement. Most of Sabrespace would like another good defenceman, wants a goalie, wants to hoard our pool as much as possible and likes the direction we’re headed. The devil (and much of our conversation) is in the details.

Kid is on a fantastic looking holiday in the south of France. Probably wants to just enjoy it. The deal is inevitable. Probably already done and just waiting for him to finish decompressing before it gets announced and he has to face the accompanying hoopla.

He wasn’t to start the year; plays frequently died on his stick as he skated himself into dead areas. But by the end of the season he frequently looked like the WJC version of Casey, a puck hound with fantastic hands. I hope the player we saw down the stretch is the player he can continue being. Teams with that guy as their 5th best forward are very, very good.

No, he’s a third liner. Two guys with less ice time and way fewer points are our 2nd liners. just ask the internet 🤷

Not sure if I made my point: The 74 Sabres already had the Connection, Luce, Rammer, Schoeny, Korab and nearly everyone else who we remember as the core of a great team and they still missed the playoffs. It wasn’t additions that put them over the top, it was experience. Last year’s Sabres team was force-fed that experience. Is it so unrealistic to see them make a similar leap?

In the Sabres history, they’ve made a jump from mediocre to very good three times: 1975 1990 2006 Look at those teams, particularly their ages and where they came from. Not once was it sparked by a collection of flashy veteran outside additions. Every time it was sparked by a young, homegrown core that either arrived, or stepped into their fully formed selves at around the same time. Apparently, it happens every 15 years or so.

It's crowded literally at every level and position except NHL forward. By design to be sure. It will be interesting to watch which players push their way up.

Misleading in what sense? Jost played 59 games for the Sabres last year. The other 6 "new" guys played 59 combined.

Is the bold your opinion, or Donnie’s? Because when has Granato ever shown a lack of trust in Jokiharju, or shown any inclination to prefer Boosh? 21 minutes a night last year for Henri. 15 for Ilya. To paraphrase @Taro T, Granato loves him some Jokiharju.

I’d agree with this. Im of the opinion the core of Thompson Tuch Dahlin Power Cozens Levi doesn’t need to turn over, it just needs time.

As it stands right now, these are the changes from last year’s opener: Jost Asplund Greenway Hinostroza Rousek (?) Bjork Clifton Bryson Johnson Fitzgerald Levi Anderson Luukkonen Comrie That’s 7 of 23 slots - a lot more of a turnover than what it feels like.

Two all-around studs, two mammoth stay-at-home types, two aggressive play pushers (one physically, one with his skating). Donnie’s going to have plenty of choices for how he wants to match up.

I think those are the putative starting six, but you can mix and match them any way you want and Lyubushkin will get plenty of action as the season unfolds. It sure sounded like he doesn’t envision Johnson as a 6/7, more like somebody he intends to lean on, on and off the ice. There’s been a real tactical angle to his comments this week; I suspect we will see a lot more tactical matchups, both within games and game-to-game. And they’ve targeted these two new guys as players having the situational skill sets missing from the tool box last year. Sounds like we may get a much better look at Donnie Granato, game coach, this season.

Nadeau, I believe

He was noticeable in a power forward way: obvious strength and speed driving to the net.

Further to the above, I’m pretty sure Jokiharju, Lyubushkin, Johnson and Clifton add up to 4…? 🤷

Interesting quote from Granato this morning that seems to indicate he’s not expecting to be adding much in the way of reinforcements or rookies. Also touches on the whole development vs winning argument. Basically saying this group is no longer inexperienced, and will be expected to be accountable. Q: As expectations rise and you have all of these young prospects pushing for spots, how does that balance work for you? You mentioned last year shifting how you coach a bit, maybe being a little tougher on guys. How do you strike that balance? We were always tough, but it was a different demand. It was kind of shifting. There’s an organic approach to it, which is the most impactful. They were immersed in gaining experience because we wanted them to soak as much in through the NHL the last couple of years as possible. There are guys who played the bulk of their NHL career in the last couple of years. We wanted them to be immersed in the moment, learn from the moment and soak the experience out of it and pay attention to details and absorb it, even if it’s a mistake. Maybe you thought you were going to outscore a team and you forgot how important defense is or stick position is or details are. Those players gained that experience and I talked to our team just past the midway point, that young is old. You may be young in age but not in experience. Guys that have been with us as a coaching staff by the end of the year had 162 opportunities to grow and that’s more than enough for me. We’ve provided those growth moments as opportunities. Now it’s about applying those and being more consistent, having more conviction. So for any young guys coming in, it’s the guys that return that this is their ball. I see a roster that is going to look a lot like last year. That group last year brought us to a level that they’ve earned the first right to keep this thing going in a positive direction. And if we have a shift in focus, like I talked about, with greater attention to detail, those are the guys that are going to have to do it

Interesting quote from Donnie this morning in the Athletic: You’ll see us do that on the defensive side. People say left-handed defensemen can’t play on the right side. That’s because they haven’t gotten reps. Get them reps! As we’ve seen that’s worked and guys get comfortable. We won’t change that even though we have three right-shot defensemen. Context is making sure players are flexible and are capable of playing multiple roles, and with multiple teammates.

Benson is a dog on a bone. Had more steals this morning than the other 30 players combined. Always thinking, always moving. Neuchev has some sick hands. Marjala scored a bunch just going to to the net and finishing what those two created. Kisakov and Richard were a deadly combo offensively, Kisakov passing, Richard finishing. And Novikov looked like a man.

It's interesting how Jokiharju has disappeared from everyone's depth charts. (He was one of the most frequent PKer last year, 2nd to Mule if memory serves.

Chevy is saying he’s content with Hellebuyck staying going into the season because he has to establish leverage. But he has to know full well the last time anyone spent anything significant on a rental goalie was Ryan Miller and that blew up in Doug Armstrong’s face. if he can’t make a summer deal before the market locks up, he’s going to be left praying a contender’s goalie suffers a season-ending injury. Because he’s not getting more than a late 1st and the equivalent prospect at the deadline.

I’m not pushing Greenway as some sort of Mike Foligno in waiting. In the 2 seasons prior to last, he put up 59 points in 118 games with no PP time playing on a checking line against top opponents with a heavy dose of D-zone starts. He also had 252 hits and he isn’t prone to running around and taking stupid penalties. He is also an absolute mountain of a man, one of the biggest forwards in the national hockey league. He’s never been given the opportunity to play with players as talented as Mitts and Cozens, and his amateur numbers show he might have more offence inside him, but he’s never been a goal scorer. I’m not pitching him here as a Van Reimsdyk. I’m hoping more for a reliable pillar of a player in the way Mike Grier was on the flank of Chris Drury. More of a 40 points to Casey’s 60 and Dylan’s 70 while doing everything on the 2nd line that Victor Olofsson couldn’t. Basically, I’m looking to him to be that “playoff-type” hockey player you say this team lacks. It’s definitely an optimistic view. But looking at his career, last season marked an outlier - clearly the worst of what he’s had to offer. Physical play and defence have been his calling cards. He got stale and he’s being given a second chance. We’ve seen Donnie work magic with guys like this before.

Don’t want to speak for @Thorny, but there were definitely posters who didn’t want to see Bloom go because he was “the only player of that type” in the system. To be fair, the context was them not liking who he was traded for.

Sabres NHL defencemen under contract: Dahlin Power Samuelsson Jokiharju Clifton Lyubushkin Johnson Stillman Bryson Clague And in the AHL Davies Johnson Novikov Cecconi Prow Metsa Jandric Savoie There may also be a handful of other AHL contract players but I’m not aware if guys like Tischke, Bartkowski, Eliot and Strand are returning. It’s crazy crowded.

Oh I agree, but you’re out here in B.C. Don’t you think every move they make is aimed at getting better without hitting the rebuild button? They have absolutely nothing behind Demko and would be lost without him.