JohnC

It's very probable that Levi is going to be our #1 goalie. UPL was drafted in 2017 and is 23 years old. Ullmark was drafted in 2012 and is 30 years old. It wasn't until last year, when he was 29, that it was evident that he could be a mainstay NHL goalie. Why would the GM give up on a young goalie who is already in the system? If another team claims him because he is out of options, then so be it. I believe that Levi is going to be our primary goalie next year with Comrie as the secondary goalie. That doesn't necessarily mean that the GM will jettison UPL out of the system next year.

Ullmark was drafted in 2012. It wasn't clear until last year that he could be a good goalie in the NHL. He'll be 30 in July. Ukkoi-Pekka Luukkonen was drafted in 2017. He is 23 yrs. old. Do you think that the GM is going to give up on him at this still early stage in his development? I don't. If another team claims him because he is out of options, then so be it. But making a too quick decision on his prospects as a NHL goalie would be a mistake. I believe that the GM is not willing to make a determinative judgment just yet. If he was included in a package that brought back a high quality goalie, I would not object. Right now, I see Levi as our #1 goalie next year with Comrie as our #2 goalie. I also see UPL in the mix.

You are making a mistake if you are going to be captivated by the comparison in AHL stats between Ullmark and UPL. UPL has had a number of surgeries (hip) which resulted in a long and exhausting rehabilitation process that setback his development. There is no question that UPL had his struggles this year. He also played well. He's still young Does that indicate true development and NHL potential? I don't know. Has the GM given up on him? I'm not sure but don't believe so. You seem to be convinced that Comrie and UPL are not goalie options for next year. I don't think your position aligns with the GM's thinking. Again, that's my opinion. I think he is more receptive to Comrie as the backup than you are. I will say that your position and my position on Levi as the present and future goalie do coincide.

What if the GM believes that UPL has a potential to be a good NHL player? Should he trade him? It took Ullmark a number of years before he reached the NHL and developed in the NHL. Now he is doing well in Boston. A Vezina candidate. Of course, the team in front of him enhances his play. Should the GM go out and get another more established NHL goalie? I simply don't know. I don't believe that the GM has given up on Comrie either. (My opinion). If I had to predict what the GM is going to do it would be bulking up the blueline rather than making a change with our netminding staffing. I just don't see KA giving up significant assets for a goalie such as Saros. Is that a gamble? Yes.

There's no disputing the fact that Skinner was terrible playing for Krueger. He was like a fish out of water. His play dramatically changed after the coaching change, as it did for Dahlin and others. Skinner was never going to succeed in a Krueger system, just as Dahlin was never going to reach his potential under that same rigid system. A coach has to work with the players he has on hand, dealing with their strengths and weaknesses. Krueger wanted to force the players to adapt to his system instead of adapting to the specific talents of the players. That ability to adapt is what distinguishes Granato from Krueger.

Of course, Ralph was going to be loved during an winning streak, just like any coach would be. However, his body of work is deemed a failure because it is a failure. There is no other way to evaluate his tenure. The Krueger era and post Krueger era are stark contrasts. It's not too difficult to come to a judgment about his stint as a coach here.

The appeal for Kaleta was more derived from him being a Buffalo area guy and a good guy. He didn't have much talent to draw from, but he always gave maximum effort. He was a lesser version of Rob Ray. Very often nostalgia clouds the reality. I believe that he works for the Sabres in community relations. Good for him.

I'm not sure in this era that Kaleta is good enough to make the Rochester roster?

I'm confident that the GM will bring in players on defense to strengthen and add dept to that unit. The pursuit of Chycrun demonstrated that an upgrade was needed on that unit. On the other hand, I don't think that he is going to bring in another goalie unless he trades UPL for another goalie. The organization got a glimmer of what Levi is capable of, and my sense is that they are going to rely on him as their primary goalie with either Comrie and UPL as the backup.

Attached is a link of Granato's postgame comments. This is a 3 minute segment. He made some comments on Mitts. This link was taken from Sabres.com. https://www.nhl.com/sabres/video/don-granato-postgame-41423/t-277822760/c-16618251

Tage is likely going to be the center for the top line. But when he got hurt and Mitts moved up it became evident that when Mitts is assigned more talented offensive finishers, he becomes so much more productive. In his short stint with the Tuch/Skinner line he stood out and thrived. The real issue is what line is Mitts going to be on? And will it be at center or wing? My preference is to keep the Quinn/Cozens/JJ line intact. Just a number of interesting issues to consider for next season.

The story you have fictitiously created about Jeff during the Krueger era is categorically wrong. On a WGR segment, Granato was asked about Skinner and his quick resurrection under him. The coach pointed out that even when Jeff was essentially exiled by the previous coach, he still assiduously worked on his game in practice. While Jeff was getting limited minutes in games, his practice habits never dropped off. This is what Granato witnessed and so stated on the radio. Your memory of the gruesome Krueger era is far from being accurate. The verbosely talented coach idiotically believed in his outdated system and forced players to play within in. Jeff as a player had attributes that would never work in the coach's restrictive system. The same stultifying system straitjacketed Dahlin, Tage and most of the other players on the roster. The coach's approach to the game and his religious devotion to his system never made sense. You work with the players that you have, including their strengths and weaknesses. It's like a baseball manager ordering his single hitter to concentrate on hitting home runs, and your bulky home run hitter to concentrate on hitting singles and stealing bases, and the basketball coach ordering his rebounder who has no shooting touch to shoot more three-point shots, and your track coach having his sprinter running the distance races and your distance runner run in the sprint races. It made absolutely no sense. The team's dismal record attested to that failure. It shouldn't be a surprise that when Granato took over, even when the wins didn't come right away, the style and level of play dramatically changed. You mentioned Jeff and going behind the dumpster to smoke. That's not the real story. The real story is that the coach metaphorically threw the player into the dumpster and set it on fire. The end of the story is that the coach is gone and relegated to the ash heap of failed coaches while the player is still playing with passion and is thriving.

As I said in another post, this coach has proven to be adept at putting lines together. Next season is going to be interesting on who they bring in and how the players are assembled. What a dramatic change in atmosphere and expectation about this team entering next season. It's really exciting. This has been such a fun season.

I do like Mitts with Tuch and Skinner. Granato has been very adept at putting players in a position to succeed. Moving Krebs to an Okposo/Girgs line demonstrated that. Granato is good at assembling lines and when needed juggling them. I have a lot of confidence in his judgment on the line composition issue.

There are so many options to consider when assembling lines next year. The issue with Tage is if he is on a Cozens line, which player plays center. I think Tage at center takes less of a pounding than at wing. On the other hand, I like Cozens as a center. I find the Quinn/Cozens/JJ line to be an emerging line. I'm not making any declarations about lines right now because I'm just not sure.

Just some thoughts after watching this game. Should the coach consider having Mitts center the first line with Skinner and Tuch? Over the last dozen games or so Mitts has been one of our best players. So many line options for the coach to consider for next season. Tuch has speed. His acceleration is tremendous. His nifty move to get away from a player he was engaged and then that quick release was impressive. It seems that Mitts and Skinner are feeding off one another. Levi played well. He had one soft goal. What is impressive about him is he is so mentally tough. When a goal is scored against him it does not affect his play. If the Sabres had the caliber of play that Levi presented in his end of season stint all season long, how many more point would the Sabres have garnered? 10-15? It's going to be interesting to see what plans the organization has for Olofsson next year. I thought he played fairly well. The Krebs goal was a bizarre play that I haven't seen before. The defender actually shot it in while entangled with Krebs. This game didn't have many heavy hits but it was a fast paced up and down game. I enjoyed it. The future is bright. What makes it even brighter is Levi. Who would have thought that when KA traded Reinhart and got Levi in return that the deal could maybe be more consequential than even the Eichel deal? I enjoyed the season. As exhibited by the end of season flourish, this team has a lot of heart and character. They never quit. I salute them.

The organization has a strong inkling how good he is and is going to be. As a rookie, he's already considered to be one of our anchor defensemen, along with Dahlin. The organization realizes that the sooner you sign him to an extension, the cheaper he will be. (Like Tage and Cozens signings.) According to Granato, Power is one of the hardest working players in practice and off ice. This is a case where this special talent doesn't need any carrots dangled in front of him because he already has the inner drive to maximize his big talent.

Logical thinking doesn't satisfy the conspiracists. They are too consumed with their dark fantasy world that is a figment of their own unbridled imagination. If Johnson doesn't sign here, it is because he doesn't want to join this franchise. It won't be because his agent is influencing him to go elsewhere.

As you point out, there will be many line options to consider. That's a good thing because it indicates that the body of talent has grown to the point that when injuries occur the lines could be jumbled without the cascading effect as evidenced when Samuelsson got hurt. Another advantage of having a greater amount of talent on hand is that when the lines are not clicking within a game, the coach has an option to scramble the lines simply to change the dynamic and provide a spark. You make a keen observation about Greenway. There is a chance that he will be a surprise contributor beyond what many people expected. As you know, it was Granato who strenuously argued for his acquisition because of his familiarity with this player. The coach believes that there is more potential to draw from. There is no question that moves have to be made this offseason, especially on the blueline. But there is also no question that this roster is close to already being filled, mostly by in-house players. How can you not be optimistic about next season, and beyond!

Attached is a link of the coach's post game comments when he was in the locker room and at the podium. The link came from Sabres.com. If this was previously posted I apologize for the redundancy. https://www.nhl.com/sabres/video/sabres-victory-speech-41323/t-277822760/c-16600150

Using legal language: Arbitrary and capricious. The goal kick is like the check swing in baseball: It's whatever the umpire wants it to be.

Tough decisions are made when assembling line combinations. I still like Cozens in between Quinn and JJ. There's still a lot of growth potential on that line. When you move one player, you are also affecting how the other lines are pieced together. Granato has been very smart in putting together lines. I trust his judgment. I still believe that the most impactful line decision he made was to put Krebs in between Okposo and Girgs. It made Krebs an exponentially better player.

My simple answer is: I don't know. In my view, if you want to maximize his talent/productivity, he should be on a line with shooters and finishers.

I'm not sure about the length of the contract but I believe you are spot on with his annual average. With respect to the issue of breakout season and whether he can repeat it, I believe so. If he stays with a line composed of upper tier talent such as Tuch and Skinner, his numbers will follow.

The interesting issue regarding Mitts isn't whether he is going to be with this team. Based on what the organization has said about him it is apparent that he is in their plans. The more intriguing issue is on what line does he play on. Does he stay with the first line with Tuch and Skinner where he currently thrives or does he play on a 2A or 2B line? And related to the Mitts issue is how does it influence the line Tage plays on? This team is starting to reach the critical mass of talent where there are a number of line options with a number of versatile players. It wasn't too long ago where due to a deficit of talent players were playing on higher lines and pairing that they were suited for. That's not the case now.