mjd1001

I think this team will 'turn things around' this year....the problem is, how far out if it will they be when they do? They have 4 points now...it is reasonable to think if they can 'play slightly under .500' until Dec 1, they will start December with 18 points. They have to play better than they are to even get to that point though. But even if they do that...that would give them 18 points in 25 games...meaning to reach 95 points they would need 77 points in 57 games (a 110 point pace). So, while it still is early, if they don't turn things around fast they are likely to miss the playoffs again. I think they will turn things around, but not fast enough. -O'Reilly, Okposo, Reinhart, Moulson, are too slow for todays NHL. They are not going to keep up with the play in the neutral zone. They are all overpaid because of this. BUT, that doesn't mean they are a total waste on this team. If, IF, they system is something that isn't second nature....maybe those players are taking a half second too long to think instead of reacting.....add that to the fact that their slow skating speed puts them a half second behind the faster players, and it is a problem. Now, once they get used to the coaching and those decisions are instinct instead of thought, the reaction to being where they need to be will be immediate and they will 'keep up' better. You can get to the same place as a faster player if you get that fraction of a second head start. That is how O'Reilly, Reinhart, and Okposo will keep up in this league...they aren't there yet, but I think (hope) they will be. -D-partners need some time to get used to each other. From many people who have played the game, I always hear there are a LOT less mistakes and it is easier to control the puck when you know where your D-partner will be and what he will do. Not only are most of the D-men on this team not used to being partners...they are new to playing on the same team with each other. Once they get some time and practice together (20-30 games) 20-30% of those 'small' mistakes will be reduced. Pucks now thrown into an empty corner or along the boards with no-one there will instead be passed to a teamate. Put both of those things together, and I think it makes this team at least .500, if not better. It just sucks having to wait for all of that to come together. I really do think O'Reilly and Okposo are not going to be the players they were in the past...simply because the league has gotten faster and their 'reaction time' can only make up for so much of their lack of speed. If there were any 'takers' in the trade market for either with a decent offer, I'd make it. Seeing how that isn't likely, they will make do but don't expect much more from them than being a good, but slow' third line on a winning team. Team speed is critical in todays NHL, but there are 3 parts of it. 1.) Skating speed. 2.) reaction time. 3.) effort. How much of all 3 of those does each player on this team have? I think the reason why Evander Kane looks so good now is he has all three, great skating speed, ZERO reaction time because he just 'goes', and great effort.

I think the big problem here is that for the Amerks to be good, you need Bailey, Baptiste, Guhle to be good, if not real good or great. HOWEVER, with the Sabres looking like they are (for the most part slow, especially the forwards, and losing), as soon as Bailey, Baptiste, or even someone like C.J. smith shows any consistent great play, they are likely to get another shot with the Sabres....thus gutting the Amerks again. I usually see 1 or 2 Amerks games a year (and catch any on TV if they happen to have one or two shown in Buffalo) so I'm looking forward to watching them. Fasching seems like a great buy...but I really want a fast skating team, top to bottom...I don't see him fitting in well to the NHL in the near future.

What is of note regarding this? All 3 of those players have average or below average skating speed. (and yes, O'reilly IS slow, when I watch him coming up the ice he is clearly slower with or without the puck than many others around him) Kane, Girgensons, Eichel, and Pomminstein are at the top of the scoring list for the Sabres, all players with above average to great skating speed. (of course it helps they are getting points off of each other). Not only is speed getting more important in the NHL ever year (this year even more than last year) but it also seems if you want to play the new system, it is even more important to this team. Players who are slow or even average when it comes to speed are falling behind on this team and in the league. We may NEVER get what we want/expect out of ROR/Okposo/Reinhart because of this. It will be interesting to watch a few more weeks to see if this is indeed true, but it looks like it to me.

I really hope not. Unless this team is bad beyond belief (worst in the league by 5+ points or more in January), I think you don't make any changes. I could see some player moves...trades...and I can imagine that pretty soon, but nothing about the coach or GM unless there is some major turmoil where people are yelling and screaming at each other in the front office.

He's getting less ice time (just above 19 minutes a game). That is still close to the team lead for forwards, but more than 2 minutes less per game than last year. That should help him to not be worn down at all by the end of the season. BTW, it looks like Eichel is averaging about 20 minutes of ice time per game under Housley...which is the team lead and slightly more than last year. As far as ROR, it is only through 5 games, but some things to look at this year: -Slightly less ice time (as noted above) -He has taken 2.6 shots per game this year. (He had 2.62 last year, so about the same) -He has more PP time on ice per game this year than last year (Sabres are averaging more power plays this year so far) -He is winning 66% of his faceoffs this year (He was at 58% last year) Very small sample size, it is really hard to gain anything out of analyzing stats until I think about game 20.

I'm not sure what you mean..thats not how it works? Give any 3rd line center in the league first line minutes, and they are going to put up more points. If O'Reilly gets even 18 minutes per game (still probably more than a typical 3rd line center) and he is on the PP but on the second unit (where his talent probably says he belongs) and you are getting 15 goals and 25 - 30 assists out of him for the season. Not even close to being worth $7.5 million for a guy who still makes crucial mistakes regarding giveaways pretty often.

A 3rd line center that gets 1st line minutes. As I said in my post...most players with decent offensive ability will put up a lot more points/goals when given more minutes. When Ennis and Hodgson were on this team and given good minutes, they led the team in goals or points. Add to that the fact that ROR gets a LOT of Powerplay time, and I would expect those extra points. Over the last couple of years, over 40% of his points come on the PowerPlay. That is well above what most of the top players get.

I have come to a conclusion and I am not coming off of it...ROR is a 'good' player at best, and not a player that is worth $7.5 million dollars. -Since his first year with the Sabres, the only good stretch of games he has played were in the World cup. He wasn't great last year and so far (in a small sample size) not this year. -His scoring 20 and 21 goal seasons aren't impressive on a bad team. He got a lot of PP time and even Ennis and Hodgson scored over 20 when they were the "top guy" on a bad team. (He really is only a reliable 15-18 goal guy) -His D play is good at best. Sure he is great on faceoffs, but most of last year..and ALL of this year he has been close to a turnover machine. If not putting it right on the oppositions stick, at least making bad decisions that lead to turnovers. -People can tell me all day long he isn't slow..that he as 'decent' skating speed, but I don't see it. As the game gets faster, he is having trouble keeping up at times. In the NHL of 2014 or 2015 he was better than in the NHL of 2017. -He just doesn't seem to be able to control the game on any level. I know he isn't a superstar, but as others have said...does he control the puck and move it well coming up the ice? If he is not that type of player, when he gets the puck in the transition game does he make great (or even good) passes to keep the rush going? How often does he go into the corner or along the boards and take the puck away from someone else? Does he break up a lot of plays in the neutral zone? I see him do those things OCCASIONALLY, but not any more than what I would consider making him 'above average' at best..but probably average. Overall, I think he is a 'good' 3rd line center. Anything more than that (maybe because of his salary) and we are expecting too much. If we EXPECT from him what he really IS (15-18 goal guy, great on faceoffs, good (but not great) Defensive forward), then there won't be a problem. But, there IS a problem because in a Salary Cap league, it is hard to pay a guy $7.5 million a year who is giving you that. He would fit nicely on a team making $5.5 million per year being a very good 2nd line center...with time penalty killing and on the SECOND PP unit.

I'd like to think Eichel is better than Matthews right now, but Matthews puts in a lot of goals. Reinhart seesm to have regressed the last half season. I know he put up more points last year, but he put up less goals and is less noticable on the ice. I am becoming more and more convinced that something is seriously wrong with ROR, or he just can't keep up with the game. Its not just a game or two..but in the past 2 years, he had a good/great world cup playing for Canada, but he hasn't been good for the Sabres (good maybe but not even very good). Everyone just seem to accept he is good/great because he is Ryan O'Rielly, but with my eyes I see a $7.5 million dollar player that doesn't have the ability to take over games and makes a FEW big mistakes a game, that often lead to goals for the other team.

Nashville was 2-5-1 through Halloween of last season.... They lost 6-1 in their 6th game of the season, making them 2-4 They didn't get above .500 until November 17..... They were pretty much a .500 team until the middle of January. I'll be OK as long as we get some wins and don't have any more games like yesterday afternoon.

I'm not being sarcastic, but is there a large enough influx of talent to have a major impact on this team? -We all hope Guhle is good/great, but he sure didn't look that good in this camp/preseason. -There has to be serious doubts about Bailey and Baptiste now. They were no-shows in camp. I still want to believe Baptiste has the talent to be Eichel's winger long term and be a 25+ goal guy, but I'm starting to have doubts. -Nylander hasn't shown me anything at all saying he is close to ready...even with the Amerks last year. Is there anyone I'm missing? I HOPE any of the above players will eventually have an impact, but right now they have as many flaws/holes as what we are seeing on the Sabres.

I'm beginning to think that O'Reilly and Okposo were fast enough to be good in the NHL of 2015....but they aren't fast enough to be good in the NHL of 2017-2018. The league is changing fast (literally).

I think it is the talent.

I have been somewhat critical of ROR since last year...and the 2 games this year...while only 2 games..have only reinforced that view. Your point about last year him wearing down..that is a good point. If he had 2-3 minutes of less ice time per game I think it would have helped him greatly. I want him to be better. When he ended up playing for team Canada last year in the World cup he looked great..one of the top performers on that team. I just want to see him be a legit top 100 player in the NHL this year. My only other thought (and this is going back to the new system), maybe the game is changing more than we even think? The game might be moving to needing speedy forwards as almost mandatory. Basically, if you aren't a fast skater...you might as well be really slow? We'll see how the season progresses.

I don't know much about the very technical parts of the NHL game...like football, I can say if a good game was played or not but I do not have any idea the responsibilities of each player are at any given moment. But, I do think that if everyone is saying the new 'system' is totally different, that it will take some time to get the players used to it. What I am starting to watch closely is the performance of Ryan O'Rielly. Last year I thought he didn't have a good year (a decent year but certainly not getting $ worth for $7.5 million) Whether Bylsma's system was good for him or not I'm not sure, but seeing how he made a lot of mistakes last year, I was hoping a DIFFERENT system would be good for him. Through the limited action I have seen in the preseason and 2 games of the regular season, I am a little more worried. I'm not saying he is a bad player...he is above average, but not more than that. When he had bad stretches...it was said to maybe be linemates...or the overall talent of the team...or the coaching...the system........but other than very brief stretches in his time here, I'm seeing an average at best 2nd or 3rd line center. I need more from him.

The game was fun to watch. It wasn't boring, but I still want more goals overall. I thought Lehner played a decent game. No matter how bad he looked, if 2 out of 3 shooters miss in a shootout, I'm OK with that from the goalies point of view...then it is on the Sabres shooters. Antipin looked like he played nervous, not a great game...but I expect it might take him 5-10 games at least to get used to the NHL (maybe more). ROR needs to be better. If Bogo plays as good as he did in the preseason, it will be a big plus when they get him back.

If you are paying ROR $7.5 million per year...and he is not going to score you 30 goals...then he has to stop making mistakes. He can't be just 'good', he has to be better than that.

I agree 100%. I love speed guys..pure blazing speed...it is what I enjoy watching. Most of my favorite players of all time were in this category....Bure....Federov....Karlsson, Peter Bondra.

Gouda is my favorite. Various Cheddar cheeses are second only to Gouda, but I have them more often. Gorgonzola. Its a better version of Blue Cheese to me, and the most fun of all cheeses to say its name.

I watched about half, maybe a little more of the game online. Of all the players there, I was hoping for a bit more form Baptiste last night, but it only was one game. Of all the Sabres forwards/prospects, I really think he has the best chance of being a very good NHL player (not just a 3rd or 4th liner). If everyone met their potential, I think his upside is better than Nylander or Bailey. But, at least for last night, Baptiste was kinda quiet.

Its only about half way through the first period, but the Devils prospects are skating circles around the Sabres...with Bailey, Baptiste, Guhle and others....this team still looks SLOW! Once again, I know its early in the game and it is the prospects, but the Sabres look like they are almost standing still. I think part of the problem is there is only one camera and not that good of angles...and the lighting isn't quite the same as at an NHL arena.

More goals. I just want more goals. Goals for (hopefully) I'll even take it with some goals against. I just don't want to sit in front of a TV watching a Sabres game and go 1+ hours and not seeing a puck in the net.

I'm pretty sure everyone agrees he is awful in shootouts, but costing a team 8-15 points a year is not even close. The Sabres were in 8 shootouts last year...so I GUESS you can say he could cost the Sabres 8 points if he lost every one of them, and if he was in net for all 8. If you are in 8 shootouts a year, and 'average' goalie will win 4 and lose 4.....so if Lehner were in all 8, he would cost the Sabres 4 points vs an average goalie. In a typical season, odds would have him in 5 or 6 of the 8 shootouts. Lets say 6. If an average goalie splits those, and Lehner loses all 6, he would cost you 3 points. Last year, he actually was in 4 shootouts and lost all 4. If the average goalies wins 2 and loses 2, the lost you a total of 2 points last year by being awful in shootouts instead of average. Some teams don't even get in 8 shootouts. Last year, Montreal only was in 5, Winnipeg was in 4, San Jose and Colorado only had 3 the entire year. But even assuming he loses everyone he is in....that would on average cost you 3 points year vs a typical goalie...assuming 8 shootouts a year and Lehner in net for 6 of those. Him costing you 15 points a year would be almost impossible. You have to go back 4 seasons to even find a team that had 15 shootouts or more (and that was before the 4 on 4 OT which reduces shootouts) and you would have to assume he loses every single one and compare him to a goalie that wins just about every one.

I would have liked to keep Briere, but I had the thought that Drury was going to be close to being on the downside of his career and if Buffalo had resigned him, in a year or two the contract wouldn't look that good. Even with saying that, the nhl was already on the verge of changing back to a 'clutch and grab, don't call penalties' league the next year....and that exact Sabres team with both of them may not have been good enough to win the cup. The biggest problem with not being a serious contender was NOT that you lost both of them...it was what you did (or didn't do) after that.

I'm OK with the D-corps now...I don't think they need to force another move. To me, you can go into the season (at least training camp) with that group.