JohnC

I think it's realistic for him to hit the numbers that you project, especially if he is put on a more talented line. However, even if he doesn't reach the projected numbers, hie still adds value by the way he plays. As @K-9 pointed it, as a rookie, he was one of the most structured and persistent checkers in the lineup. And, as you noted, right now, he is one of the best full-length players on the team. This resilient youngster was a terrific draft selection. I'm looking forward to seeing how he does in his sophomore season.

If I had to bet on one player who was going to make a quantum leap forward, my money would be on Quinn. Last year, JJP took a step forward. Although I wouldn't categorize it as a quantum leap because there were too many down interludes. In my opinion, Quinn is a better player because he has a greater dimension (skating in tight spaces and hockey intelligence) to his game, whereas Peterka is more of a straight-line power forward. Understandably so, a lot of attention is given to who the GM is going to bring in from the outside to upgrade the roster. However, it's just as likely, if not more likely, that the improvement of players such as Benson, JJP, Quinn, UPL, Power, Byram etc.) is going to be the biggest factor in whether next season will be a success or not.

Neither of us know whether Benson is going to take a quantum leap forward next season. But for a player who was so young, I didn't witness him last season fading as the season grinded on. In fact, it was the opposite. I thought he played better at the end of the season than the beginning of the season because he seemed to comfortably adapt to the tougher NHL game. I'm not predicting a quantum leap forward in his play, but he should be better with a season experience and an offseason to prepare for this upcoming season. As far as his ability to adjust to a tougher style of play that Lindy will require compared to what Granato tolerated, I would say that he was one of our more responsible players from a checking standpoint in both zones and from a willingness to have a net presence in our offensive zone. My point is that maybe some other players will have trouble adjusting to a Lindy coached team, but he shouldn't have any problem adapting to the new coach.

You missed my point regarding Benson's play in his rookie season. As a full-time player his offensive stats were not impressive. That's a fact. I wasn't factoring in his age because that wasn't the issue. My central point was that despite his production I still felt that he played well and never was a liability. Hopefully, you are now unbaffled.

There is another factor that leans toward bringing him in sooner (earned of course) than later. There is an expectation that he will be joining a better team than the others did. Of course, there is an assumption that the GM is going to make moves that improve this roster.

I agree with you that the GM has to bring in some experienced players who can play right away. However, whether he makes the roster out of camp or after a stint in Rochester that doesn't foreclose the option of adding vets.

Terrifically detailed analysis of Savoie. How can one not be excited with this prospect. Based on your comments and the numerous reports about him, I envision him playing with the Sabres sooner rather than later. Thank you.

Two prospects I would be very reluctant to trade in any deal are Savoie and Levi. The Sabres have a good prospect pipeline with players who won't make the big club because there simply isn't room to absorb them. There is no excuse for the GM not to trade some prospects for players who can help this team right now. When you got chips you should use them I would like to get the opinions from those who follow the prospect world. Does anyone think that Savoie can follow the footsteps of Benson and impress enough in camp to make the Sabre roster. It's apparent that he isn't suited for a fourth line role but maybe as a third line player? Whenever I watched Benson, although his offensive output wasn't impressive, I never felt that he was a liability on the ice.

His production from a point standpoint wasn't too impressive. However, his play always seemed to be solid. I was surprised that as the season advanced this youngster's play seem to get better (as you allude to). He didn't fade at all as the season grinded on. He and UPL were my pleasant surprise players. I'm eager to see how he plays in his second year.

If you want to scapegoat someone then direct your attention to the GM who put this team together and hired the HC and kept him on longer than he should have. This roster was inadequate from a talent standpoint and from the way the team was constructed. Okposo as a player and captain was an inconsequential factor in this team's failure. It's obvious that Okposo had a low-key personality and not hard in your face challenging style of leadership. He is who he is. To expect him to be something he was not was unrealistic.

The Sabres were a flawed team from a deficiency in talent and from a construction standpoint. On top of those problems there were coaching deficiency issues. It didn't matter who the captain was and how he handled that role. It wouldn't have made much difference in altering the situation. There are a variety of leadership styles. Just because he wasn't publicly vocal doesn't mean that he wasn't a leader in the room. What I'm stressing is that Okposo recognized as did many players in the exit interviews recognized that there were serious foundational problems to this staff and team that had nothing to do with the leadership ability of their former captain. My recommendation is simple: Improve the roster by adding more talent to it. (It is the same recommendation that everyone else is offering.) That's the major source of this team's failure.

Your word "nonchalant" is a terrific descriptive word on how KA has operated over the last few years, especially last offseason. He established a road map for rebuilding this roster relying for the most part building from within. That wasn't an unreasonable approach considering that a decision was made to do a reset. The sabotaging flaw to his strategy is he didn't do much to undergird that rebuild plan by bringing in enough players to support his new core. So, when a player like Quinn got hurt, it became a major setback that cascaded throughout the roster. This team lacked depth and balance to absorb an injury to a prime player. The franchise is at a point where the GM has to demonstrate urgency by bringing in a number of players that will strengthen this roster, even if it is the lower half of the roster. There is simply no excuse for this GM, who has an abundance of assets to parlay, to not make enough moves to make this roster better and more balanced. The gamble that KA is making is that he believes that this new youthful core that he is counting on is good enough to get over the playoff drought snide. If he doesn't add at least a few additional players to the roster, he will again be sabotaging this team and himself. My fear is if he does not do enough to upgrade the roster, the new core gets frustrated and disillusioned and want out like the old core did.

If Skinner can be a 25-30 goal scorer on a third line, that would be terrific. I'm assuming he would get PP time in order to get into that scoring range as a third line player. How Ruff handles Skinner is an intriguing issue. As is how Skinner adapts to Ruff and what he expects from his new coach. As you point out, he is more of a lone ranger player than someone who blends in well with his line mates. But there is great utility in having a goal scorer who doesn't play on either of the top two lines.

I'm open to trading our first pick and other prospect assets. But if the Sabres were to do that, I would expect the return to be a player who is a second-line talent who would immediately help us. A player could be a second-line talent yet play on the third line and move up when needed, as Mitts did. The Sabres traded an extra second round pick to acquire Greenway. In my view, a few of those type of deals that bolsters the lower lines would make this team more balanced and in general better.

I'm not looking for a smashing singular deal that will alter the course of this flailing franchise. That's an unrealistic expectation. What I'm looking for are a few deals/transactions that cumulatively make this team better. Most of the roster spots are already designated. The hope is that there will be internal improvement from players already on the roster supported by an upgraded bottom half of the roster that will better balance out this roster i.e. make it a tougher team to play. There is an assumption/hope that these cumulative moves will be augmented with better coaching. I doubt that there is going to be an eye-popping deal that is going to dramatically alter the course of this team.

Maybe I have misinterpreted @dudacek's comments but he seemed to say that our top two lines, however they are constituted, need to improve their play from last year. Does that necessarily mean some of those members need to be dealt to bring a change to those lines? You believe so while I don't necessarily believe that to be the case. Although I'm open to it if a deal or two at that level can be made. My preference would be to deal our top pick and prospects to get that type of deal done rather than shedding a player or two from our top lines. I've listened to KA on more than a few occasions since the season ended. It seems to me that his focus is on upgrading the lower lines and balancing out the roster with some tougher/grittier players. Will those type of moves be adequate enough to change the dynamic of this team? I recognize that your response is absolutely not. My response is that I'm not sure.

The Sabres could definitely use a player who has the ability to hover around the net and bang loose pucks in. Surprisingly, although Benson hasn't scored many goals, he is one of our best players around the net.

I and most people agree with you that our core underperformed last year. Your position is not a minority position. But I don't see the core that you previously listed changing very much. I can't say for sure how the top two lines are going to be constituted but it's likely that the lines will be made up from your list. My sense is that KA is not going to stray from the core that he has assembled. He seems to be saying in a variety of forums that his focus of attention is going to be on upgrading the lower lines. For the most part, I agree with that approach. Will the GM be more aggressive this offseason to bring in a top two-line player? I'm not sure that he will.

Gabe Kaplan, the actor and one of the creators of the show, became a professional poker player. https://www.google.com/search?q=actor+gabe+kaplan+vegas+gambler&oq=actor+gabe+kaplan+vegas+gambler&aqs=chrome..69i57j33i160l4.13426j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

I don't believe that the supposed core players that you listed are the biggest question marks entering next season. The bigger issue is whether the GM will be able to add the right support players to a roster that already has most of the core players on the roster. Most of the listed players should have even more upside. The critical issue most analysts point to whenever the Sabres are discussed relate to the third and fourth line players that are needed to better balance out the roster, meaning players who play a tougher and grittier style of game. You bring up an intriguing issue associated with the coaching change. How much of a difference will Lindy make working with this roster compared to a Granato coached team? I think the coaching change with Lindy will show more structure and player accountability (playing time based on performance) should be more evident.

Back to the future. 🙃

@LGR4GM, from a style of play does Savoie resemble Briere at all?

If the GM could add a couple of Greenway type players, I would be happy. Greenway is a big player who plays a heavy and strong style of game. He doesn't get bumped off the puck or pushed out of position, and he gives us strong net presence when in the offensive zone. There is nothing flashy about his game. But he is the type of player that we need more of. I'm not overemphasizing size as I'm emphasizing style of play. Benson is far from being one of our biggest players but without question he is one of our grittier players. We need more of them.

To his credit, the GM has accumulated enough talent within the system to use them as chips for a trade. He also has the ability to go to the free agent market and acquire players who add attributes (mostly physicality) to significantly upgrade the lower half of the roster and better balance this roster. I would certainly be open to trading our first pick as part of a deal to bring in a first or second-line caliber of player. From an overview perspective, we have enough talent to fill out our top two lines. And I believe that our blue line has enough talent to put together suitable pairings. It's the third and fourth lines that need to be significantly fortified. What I'm not in favor for is blowing up this roster with so called blockbuster PR deals that deplete the talent base and end up setting us back again. (We have done that already.) For me, it's not so much about being dramatically bold as it is being wise and judicious.

You look at the talent that was dealt to start over and rebuild our roster. The list includes Eichel, Rheinhart, Montour, Ullmark etc. and to a lesser extent Mitts who all are on Cup contending teams. (Eichel was on a cup winning team last year.) The return was mostly for futures (picks), also including young players such as Tage, that took time to develop. That phase of the rebuild or reconstruction is now over. Our GM has talked a lot about this new phase of competitiveness. Unless multiple players are added to this unbalanced roster, this franchise will continue to be stuck and remain being an inconsequential franchise with a withering fan base. (Compare the hockey fanbase to the Bandit fanbase!) Some people are looking for a blockbuster deal that brings in a high-profile player. I'm not one of them. What I expect at the minimum are at least three good players (Greenway type players) added who fill out the third and fourth lines and play a tougher brand of hockey. Would I give up a first-round pick and a high-end prospect for a Cirelli type player? Yes. The GM has to demonstrate that he knows the difference between adding talent and molding a serious team together.