dudacek

I remember Lafreniere hyped as a clear #1 and much more highly regarded than Power.

Further to the above, the final 12 games of the season (basically when Tuch, Dahllin and Samuelsson came back and Levi arrived) the Sabres were 15th in goals against, with 3.00, and 19th on the PK at 78.6%. Small sample and mediocre numbers to be sure, but improvements, if they can be sustained.

He did not, at least not directly. He said what he always says about the goalies, he has faith in UPL and he thought he took steps, and he beams about Levi like he's his son. It's my opinion that he believes Levi upgrades the goaltending, Whether he believes he upgrades it enough is an open question. He was pretty open about the defence falling apart whenever it wasn't fully healthy and he talked about having space to add, so I read that as an open admission that he intends to add a defenceman who is at least good enough to play in the top 4. He talked about two other things that you didn't but fit into your line of questioning. One is team defence: he openly admitted that the primary goal of the past 2 years was to build confidence by developing the offence of his young players. He implied that the team is now in a position where there will be more emphasis and accountability on defence, combined with what he perceives as a natural improvement in decision-making due to experience. The other is the penalty kill. There will be deep dive into how and why they failed (there was a suggestion of a lack of confidence). He seems to be hoping that late season use of Tuch, Quinn, Krebs and Cozens gave them valuable experience in that role. And he also acknowledged their desire to look closely into acquiring players who are good at the PK. My impression was that he believes there were tweaks made at the end of the season that will pay dividends next year, particularly if a good start (and some big saves) builds confidence early. It is my belief that the plan for fixing the goals against is Devon Levi, a Ryan Graves type who can kill penalties, Jordan Greenway, and better defensive play from most notably Power, Quinn, Cozens and Krebs. We may also add a responsible veteran forward if either Girgs or Okie walk.

The Athletic did a piece where they asked scouts to rank Bedard against the past 9 #1 choices as they were regarded at the time of their draft. https://theathletic.com/4349812/2023/05/04/connor-bedard-connor-mcdavid-nhl-draft/ I found the results a little surprising; not that McDavid and Bedard are 1-2, but that Austin Mathews was thought of nearly as highly Bedard at the time of his draft. I remember Mathews as closer to Eichel Stamkos Tavares than the Ovechkin level where my hype meter has Bedard. Also interesting was Jack Hughes being a clear-cut #4. I remember doubts about his size and felt Dahlin was more hyped. But the biggest surprise to me was that the scouts ranked Dahlin/Power as almost a pick-'em. Remember, this is "at the time of their draft". Around here, Dahlin was touted as complete and the best defence prospect since Potvin, while Power was considered not a surefire #1 and the type of player who would have gone 3rd or even 5th in other years. "Three voters preferred Dahlin, two preferred Power, and they were always one spot apart in each voter’s overall list." Complete rankings: McDavid Bedard Matthews Hughes Dahlin Power Lafreniere Hischier Ekblad Slavkovsky

Can our pieces match up? Kucherov Kane - Thompson (Quinn?) Point Toews - Cozens (Savoie?) Stamkos Hossa - Tuch/Thompson (Quinn, Savoie?) Cirelli Sharp - Mittelstadt (Kulich, Krebs, Savoie?) Hedman Keith - Dahlin Sergachev Seabrook - Power McDonogh Hjallmarsson - Samuelsson Vasilevskiy Crawford - Levi it's interesting. Dahlin's the only surefire yes, for me. The others have a lot to prove — and that's a lot of players that have to roll the right way — but they aren't really out of the question, either And of course there's the rest of the roster to worry about, but this thread is about cores.

I know a few Amerks fans hate this attitude, but the team exists to feed talent to the Buffalo Sabres. The results speak for themselves. I can’t imagine a better spot for Östlund than Rochester. Neuchev, Novikov, Östlund, Nadeau and (unlikely, I know) Johnson joining Rosen, Kulich, Kozak would certainly have me renewing my AHLTV subscription.

Kid I’m quite curious about from a Sabres perspective is Matt Wood, who’s from my neck of the woods. On the surface he seems to lack the uptempo speed and fire that Adams seems to favour, but he is highly skilled and has some intriguing numbers. He led UConn in scoring as an 18-year-old - putting up similar numbers to what Thompson, Tuch, Zegras and Caufield did as 19-year-olds. The only U18 NCAA prospect to produce more in the last 20 years was Jonathan Toews. He also led his BCHL team in scoring as a 17-year-old the previous year, with the most productive year from anyone that age in that league in at least 20 years - ahead of guys like Turris, Newhook and Kent Johnson. In short, he drives offence. I suspect our analytics team has done a deep dive into this kid and found some intriguing results. I also know Jerry Forton will have an excellent handle on his character, since he is “very close” to the UConn staff. And he does seem to be one of those Quinn/Power personalities the Sabres love: a hockey nerd constantly looking for ways to upgrade his game. https://theathletic.com/4457512/2023/04/29/nhl-draft-matthew-wood/ I’ve barely started looking into the draft, and this kid seems to be ranked on the low side of where the Sabres are picking, (although I’d imagine the fact he tore it up at the U18s last week has pushed him closer to the centre of people’s radar) but I’m going to predict right now he has a good chance of being the Sabres choice.

He played with men in Sweden this year, so that should help.

Sounded like a real focus of post-season conversation upstairs has been the viability of a 3-goalie system. Adams said only that it’s not ideal, but you can make it work. My impression is his path will be guided somewhat by his options, but I think we’re both just guessing.

Both words, for me, equal abrasiveness, a style of game that pisses the opponent off. I just read an article that research has shown even "obvious" words like "penguin" carry different meanings for people. I don't like sandpaper or grit because they seem to be obvious examples of that. When someone says the Sabres need more grit, do they mean: hitting? fighting? chirping? intimidating? ability to dish it out? to take it?

This is the right of it. The question is not whether the Sabres need to hit more, it is "do they have the ability to outlast their opponent in the exhausting grind that is the NHL playoffs?" Strength, speed, endurance, discipline, depth and fortitude are all elements that go into this, both as the grinder and a grindee.

The Bedard/Levi race next year should be interesting. 😜

Hits that aren’t likely to result in Sabre puck possession, would be my guess, or to quote more eloquent people upthread: “Ristos” Adams was very quick to say they want their players to be physical and hard on contested pucks. (To be clear, I’m not trying to debate this with you, just passing on my interpretation of what I heard)

My interpretation of the response: Basically, it’s that the conventional hit stat is full of empty calories. The Sabres strategic goal is to have the puck. Hits are valued and encouraged for separating player from puck and gaining possession, hits for the sake of hits are discouraged for removing the hitter from the play.

I hear from Adams a consistent message of context being important: the why behind the numbers. He gives me a good sense that the principles underlying their decisions - personnel and tactics - have been pretty thoroughly and thoughtfully challenged and massaged.

In this interview, he didn’t promise “I am going to get a good defenceman” but, when asked about what needs to be addressed most, he responded by talking about how much Mule’s injury hurt them. Correctly or not, I’m pretty comfortable reading that as an acknowledgment he’s aware we need another good defenceman and will try to acquire one. I’m well aware other’s mileage may vary.

From this morning. Nearly an hour and worth an off-season listen. Among other things, Adams talks about: why the sabres don't hit what he's going to do to to cut the goals against and how he doesn't really give a rat's ass about the handedness of his defencemen He manages to talk around a lot of things, but it's pretty relaxed and reading between the lines it gives you a pretty good insight on where they are on a lot of topics. Gave me the sense they believe most of the pieces are already here and they will take the steps to address the ones that aren't because they expect to be good. https://www.audacy.com/wgr550/authors/howard-and-jeremy-show

I remember a picture of him working out being posted last time his size came up. Kids didn't look skinny. Projection-wise, he's a boom-or-bust type. Reminds me of Afinogenov — not the skating, but in the sense that he's skilled and frustrating, with do-it-yourself tendencies and might have a similar ceiling.

Off the top of my head, Kisakov did for the Sabres and Kuzmenko for the Canucks and Askarov for the Predators.. There was the Fedotov situation, where he was detained last year for military service after signing with the Flyers, so your question is warranted, but thus far it’s largely been business as usual on the hockey front. Neuchev was one of about 8 who signed since May 1, the day KHL contracts expired

Josh Bloom is 185 pounds and has averaged 32 penalty minutes a year as a junior. He was traded for a player who is bigger, grittier, and has already played more games for the Sabres than 13 of the past 15 Sabres 3rd rounders have played in the NHL. I don’t think this trade means what you think it does.

Kid's got a lot of growing to do to round out his game. But the shot and hands are sick. Glad to see he's going to be in the capable hands of Appert and Peca. It will be interesting to see what they do with him. Cozens, Krebs, Quinn, Peterka, Rosen, Poltapov, Kisakov, Nadeau, Savoie, Östlund, Kulich and now Neuchev is a ridiculous injection of talent up front in less than 4 years. And people wonder why they traded Bloom?

What happened to this team? Its not a stretch to say that 6 years ago they were where we seem to be now: young, deep and positioned for a long window of contention.

The interview was…eye-opening? You get glimpses of it listening to Andrew Peters, but as @PASabreFan says this is how (a lot?) of these guys really are: dude bros with a poorly nuanced, entitled athlete’s perspective on their profession and life. Next time you read so-and-so is a “good guy, beloved in the room” remember this interview and think about how that is also how Berglund is regarded in St. Louis. Your version of “good guy” and a 24-year-old hockey player’s are probably not aligned.

Marcus Foligno had 18 in his first 135 Derek Roy 27 in his first 119 Tim Connolly had 24 in his first 163 Danny Briere had 21 in his first 112 And the career has yet to be confirmed, but Casey Mittelstadt had 17 in 113 games and 27 in 154 These are just some relatively recent Sabres. Looking at the leading scorers this year: Jack Hughes 18 goals in 117 games Mika Zibanejad 23 in 111 JT Miller 15 in 114 Tage is a unicorn, but plenty of people break out after slower starts and it's a proven mistake to be passing judgement on players before 200 games played.

He's not big, but he's a dirty areas player who pisses opponents off and can make plays in traffic. Think Vaclav Varada. Sounds like the Sabres will be making every effort to sign Novikov and Neuchev as soon as the window opens later this spring and that they've been laying the groundwork to make that happen.