JohnC

I don't think it will because in an abbreviated season you are vying for playoff spots with teams you are repeatedly playing. As like in the playoffs where fighting usually declines you don't want to put your team in a short handed situation because of a lack of discipline. What I also believe (opinion) is that the level of intensity will be more evident from the beginning of the season to the end because more teams will be bunched up competing for points in the standing.

To add to what you are saying most of the fights are contrived in that the participants agree in advance to engage in this out dated foolishness. The charade is stupid.

That injury was very disappointing. I wanted to see how he would do getting a lot of playing time. Would it show that he was a promising player or that he still was physically overmatched? I think with this year's offseason training regimen he would be more ready to become a contributing player. Is he a second line caliber of winger? I'm not sure. If he becomes a solid third line player at least he would be a contributor. This is the season where he needs to establish himself.

Your list and categorizing of players in the disappointing and bust categories leads me to be cautiously optimistic. There are a few players who have the ability to dramatically leap above your less than stellar rankings. In the disappointing category it isn't unreasonable to believe that Hall, Montour and Miller to play a lot better than they did last year. I expect a healthy Hall to make a quantum leap forward playing with Jack. For whatever reason it seemed last year that Montour never got comfortable playing on a Krueger coached team. After a year under his belt with Krueger he should have a better understanding of what the coach wants out of him. I have the same reaction for Miller who was a wasted player on the roster. He should be a third pairing defenseman who gets steady playing time. With Tage the expectation is that he has reached the physical development point where he is physically equipped to withstand the rigors of the NHL. He obviously has skills but it has to translate into production. He is going to have the opportunity to earn a more substantial role than what he has had. Is he ready to seize that opportunity? Skinner is a player who was a big disappointment last year. Not all of it was his fault. He simply didn't have enough of a supporting cast to allow him to utilize his scoring talents. With the addition of Staal he should be in a better position to showcase what he is capable of. Maybe the biggest X factor for the team on your bust list is Hutton. Were his eye issues the reason for his plummeting performance? I'm not sure. So far it seems that the organization is willing to stick with him as a backup (subject to change). As many others have pointed out that is a tremendous risk that the organization is willing to take. And as you have astutely pointed out much of the roster is in the 23-30 range. So the hope is that there is a natural progression from the younger players and plenty of young veteran players who are still in their prime and not at the stage of declining performances. There should be improvement but will it be enough?

Your response makes absolutely no sense. What does checking have to do with fighting?

Fighting is stupid. It aught to be banned out of the sport. There is no fighting in the Olympics and in the college ranks. And that elimination hasn't hurt the sport. Other than the pugilistic sports it is not allowed in other sports. Football, basketball, baseball and soccer don't allow it. And there is plenty of contact in those sports. Concussions are now a concern for most sports. So why allow fighting when it increases the risk of head injuries? There is no longer a need for goon behavior in the sport. The Neanderthals in the sport and audience need to enter the modern world and find another activity to seek a vicarious thrill. It needs to be ended.

Thanks for the response. It clarifies the issue for me. My concern about the situation dealt primarily how it affects Cozens. Overall, I'm glad that Cozens had the opportunity to play in the Junior games and hopefully grow from the experience. But for the short term it sets him back a little with his roster positioning. He not being available for our camp and the early part of the season should open up an opportunity for some other players. The player who I will be watching is Arttu who has been playing in Europe. So he might be a little more advanced coming into camp than some of the players that he will be competing with for a roster spot and role.

Is there a required quarantine for players coming into town from outside the country? And if so will players such as Cozens and Quinn miss training camp because of the travel and quarantine requirements take away from the training camp period.

I have no problem with him on the third line. As I have stated before I would rather have Reinhart on the first line with Jack and Hall. If Olofsson earns a second line assignment then more power to him. You compete for your ice time and role. That's how it works. So in general we are dancing to the same music. Where I somewhat disagree with your position is that I believe that Olofsson has more potential to expand his game than you do. I'm not wedded to a player's role. Let's just see how it plays out.

We are in accord that ES goals are more difficult to accomplish. My hope is that Hall returns near to the form that earned him a MVP trophy a few years back. And a lot is riding on Skinner getting back to his standard sharpshooting form with the addition of Staal who is a legitimate 2C center. Hopefully, with an increase in goals it will take some of the pressure off of our less than sterling goaltending. In other words magnify your assets to minimize your liabilities.

There is no qualifying on that issue. More goals are better than less goals. And it is more than probable that Olofsson is going to be at a minimum a third line winger, and maybe a second line winger. And it is not out of the realm of possibility that he start off on the first line or periodically be inserted on the first line on select occasions. So he will be getting plenty of ES time. As you acknowledged he has an exceptional quick trigger shot where he can convert set-ups not only in PP situations but also at ES. I also separate myself from those who believe that he is primarily a PP specialist because I do believe that he has a little more expansion to his game that will allow him to be on a line and get plenty of ES time. This is somewhat of an associated issue but I'm hoping that Tage and Olofsson will step up and help to provide some sorely needed secondary scoring. If you ask me whether Tage or Olofsson will earn a second line role I can't say for sure but I won't be surprised if one of the two do.

As I previously stated I don't care what line he is on. I have not argued to put him on the first line with Jack. On the contrary I have argued to put Reinhart on the Jack line along with Hall. When all is said and done what matters are the goal totals whether they come from ES, the PP or even the PK. When you look at the scoreboard it shows the goals scored regardless how they are made. I would value a 30 to 40 goal scorer playing on a lower line over a first or second line defensive role player whose purpose is to balance out the line. You are creating a straw man with your extrapolation argument. When I am discussing the issue of Olofsson I'm focusing on the issue of value associated with his goal scoring ability regardless whether it comes from the PP or ES. That's the point.

I think you got him accurately assessed. I consider him a second pairing defenseman who I put at three. What he adds to the unit that Krueger values is some physicality. If he was a more cerebral a player he would have the tools to be a first pairing. But he doesn't. Like you I am fine with that.

Correct me if I am wrong but isn't a goal scored on a PP scored the same way as a goal scored at ES? If a player scores 30 goals in a season regardless how it is done it still equates to production. I would rather have a 40 goal scorer who scores 30 on PPs and 10 at ES than have a player score 20 at ES and 5 on the PP. Unless the concept of arithmetic has changed in this unusual world of alternate facts 40 is more than 25.

@LGR4GMmade his response to a comment that I made that we need higher than expected contributions from some of our players. I listed Tage and Olofsson in this group. For me the issue isn't what line he plays on or whether he is considered a young player or not (he didn't believe so while I did based on his meager NHL experience) as it is his production. If he is primarily a specialty PP player and scores on a pro rated full season basis at a 30 goal clip then I would be more than happy with his production. 30 goals is 30 goals whether they come from dirty goals tipped from the front of the net or from picturesque shots from the perimeter or mostly on the PPs. While I see more potential for him to expand his game others don't. Whatever side of the equation one is on that issue is as far as I am concerned a reasonable take.

The horse has worked like a mule. How about 20 min a game on a compressed schedule with less time to recover?

Risto is a second pairing defenseman. He's not a first pairing player but that is fine with me. Krueger seems to like him a lot especially for his physical presence that is lacking with most of the other members of the unit. (McCabe is the other defenseman who plays with some jam.) The key to maximizing his usage is to play him a little less and to simplify his game. Stating the obvious Risto is physical and not cerebral. The one area where I would like to see him used more is on the PP but not at the point. The few times he was used as a body in front of the net he was disruptive and gave the unit some jam. I don't understand the overstated criticism of him. I like him as a player when he is playing in a role that he is suited for. With the collection of players that we have in the unit the coaching staff should be able to put together three pairings that spread the playing time around more. That lighter load will result in more production for him relative to the playing time. The players that I want to step up on the unit are Miller and Montour.

From a NHL standpoint he's not as experienced as Sam.

It may not seem like it but I do agree with the concern that many others, and most notably @Thorny, have about the capabilities or our goaltenders. But even as deficient as we were at that position in last year's abbreviated season there were two areas of deficiencies that magnified that positional deficit. Those areas were in the PK and scoring in general. It seems that the organization has brought in some players who specialize on that unit. And I'm hoping the coaching staff alters its passive approach to the PK and becomes more aggressive in how they approach the PK. I didn't understand why the coaching staff didn't change its PK philosophy when what they were doing wasn't working? As far as the goal scoring deficiency the addition of Hall, Staal and more suitable support on a Skinner line should help address the scoring problems. And I'm counting on some of the young players such as Tage, Cozens, Olofsson and a surprise player or two to help contribute to spreading the scoring around. From an overview perspective it is fair to say that the Sabres are improved. What does that mean? Not necessarily as much as many believe it to be because other teams are also reworking their rosters and are also improving. But as a bystander and looking at what has been added to the roster it is reasonable to believe that the GM made enough moves to make this team more competitive.

As @LGR4GMhas pointed out the roster has already been significantly shaken up. My sense is that there won't be additional moves to fortify the roster. I'm aware that I'm going against the mainstream but I don't see there being a change in the goaltending tandem when the season starts. Maybe at a later stage in the season but not when the it starts. What this team needs is for some of the younger players to make a bigger contribution than expected. I put players such as Tage, Joki and maybe even Cozens or Arttu on that list. The biggest boost that is needed is for Skinner to return to scoring form and for Hall to get close to the level of play when he was at his best. The Sabres have had a recent history of starting off well and then fading. I think (hope) with the added talent there won't be such an exasperating fade because there is more depth to the lineup that can better handle the inevitable setbacks that happen during a season .

There was a story in the Washington Post where a hospital was down to one radiologist because of infections in that department. So what was done to keep the radiologist healthy and available was have him reside in a mobile home on the hospital parking lot to keep him away from the infected general population. (I say that with the recognition that by working at a hospital he is already working in a contaminated environment.) Without a doubt you are essential. People should be grateful to everyone who works in a medical setting, including the support staff who work in maintenance and cafeteria etc. You should be saluted for your service in this stressful and pressurized times for your profession.

I'm open to all options. Training camp is going to be abbreviated so he will have even less time to acclimate to the NHL. If he demonstrates right from the start that he can handle a second line role then more power to him. He will then have earned his role. However, it makes little sense to me to automatically put him on the second line for the purpose of accelerating his development. It not only could retard his development but also make this team less competitive. I have high hopes for Cozens. What I foresee for him is the Kirby Dach track i.e. his role increasing as he plays more. Cozens is a player I'm really excited about. Hopefully, as the season moves forward he will advance as a player and earn a more prominent role.

The more important issue isn't pairing Cozens on the second line with Staal to accelerate his learning curve as it is assembling players who make up the best second line. I don't see Cozens right from the start fitting that criterion. Maybe as the seasons progresses and he demonstrates that he is a better option on the second line he will earn a move up from a lower line. But to start him off there doesn't best help the line or help him.

When I am accused of my many faux pas I can comfortably say with confidence that I plead ignorance. 🤡

As it stands Ullmark is our primary goaltender. I'm more concerned about Hutton getting more playing time in a compressed schedule than I am with Ullmark as the primary tender. What should mitigate some of our goaltender worries is the probable increase in goals related to the addition of Staal and Hall to our primary lines and the hopeful added contribution from the secondary non-checking line. Another issue that needs to be addressed that impacted the goalies is our poor PK unit. The structure and lapses from the unit constantly put the goalies in vulnerable positions. Hopefully with an improvement in the PK unit and more scoring the goaltending issue won't be such a prominent issue. What it comes down to is as @dudacek pointed out: It's up to Ullmark to show what he is capable of or not.