BlowLeafsBlow123

Yes, yes it would. Having any of (non-toxic) Eichel, O'Reilly or Reinhart would be a huge help right now. Remember how good O'Reilly and Reinhart were when Eichel was hurt that one year? We are severely short on top-end talent with Savoie being the only hope for a first liner eventually (our new Briere!). I could maybe be talked into Östlund or Kulich getting there eventually, but the more likely scenario is for those guys to be good complimentary players. The organization is still going to need one or two top line talents in the system to become a real threat in the conference. Adding that to our d-core and (hopefully) Devon Levi, and they might have something legit. My hope is that some guys squeak free via trade next offseason, as we're going to be chocked full with prospects and not have enough spots for them to all develop. Look for guys like Mitts, Olofsson, Rosen, etc. to become trade-bait at some point. A Skinner buyout is still something I'd be looking at over the next couple of off-seasons. They are going to need that roster spot opened up, and to change the makeup of the team.

Yes, and is also shows the NHL team that there's a new standard that Bjork wasn't meeting. There will be no more passengers on this ride.

I have to say that I'm really thrilled Donny is not being stubborn with his lines. There were a few points last year where he was, but was maybe more out of necessity due to lack of depth. It was clear as day that it just wasn't a good line construction for the first two games. The top line with all shooters and no one to do the dirty work was a poor coaching move, plain and simple. The good news is he learned to recognize that quickly, which could be where the analytics folks are helping him. I get what Donny was trying to do with having Tuch spark another line, but Olofsson was not the guy needed to replace him on the that top line. Hino would've been better in that spot if we're being honest. Tuch is the straw that stirs the drink, and can hopefully get our two goal scorers going. They need to at least remain a net positive, as they were getting absolutely caved in at ES. IMO, he really nailed it with today's practice lines. I love that they're trying Asplund at Center on the 2nd line. He could be another gem down the middle for the bottom 9. If Mitts is better at draws, he can always step in to take faceoff and shift to wing. The beauty of having C depth, even with some guys forced to the wing. Also, I think Asplund is possibly too good for a traditional 4th line role. I'd say he could be perfect on a third line for a good team, but good enough to play up when needed. Mitts may get a little more freedom as a winger. Side note on Asplund, I'm really hoping he's that next long-term deal that maybe looks outrageous to the casual and non-Sabres fans, but will be a steal for years to come. There's likely never been a cup winner that didn't have one or two guys like him. He's our modern-day Jochen Hecht and just might have a 50-60 point season in him. Keeping the Cozens/Peterka pairing was smart, while recognizing that Hino and Cozens also have chemistry. Quinn with Girgs and Okposo actually might allow him to get more touches, while those two create space. If they're starved for offense late in the game, they could always swap Hino and Quinn and try to get that Peterka/Quinn chemistry rolling. I'll be shocked if this lineup does worse than the last two games, where the top 6 just didn't get it done. My guess is we'll see a bit more cohesion up front. We get to see the real value of having depth throughout the roster. When the lines are constructed properly, they'll be much harder to dominate like Florida did. Especially if Power gets the yips out of his system, we could see some really good hockey coming our way.

That's a great way to put it regarding their construction. When you take an objective look at our team, our first line might be in the bottom 5 of the league. However, if each of them can put up high 60s in points and we can get 55-60 out of one or two other guys below them we might be competitive. I do think you're correct in that our path to winning more than we lose is by our bottom 9 being better than other teams. That certainly seems to be where we have the advantage over several teams in our conference, but requires a couple very nice rookie/sophomore seasons and continued scoring touch from Okposo and Girgs. I really think if Cozens continues his step and can somehow become a 55-60 point two way center, a lot of our problems will work themselves out.

Indeed that's exactly what I'm doing. While yes, we've improved our team play and scoring overall, we still do not match up well with the big dogs of the league (except for Toronto of course). The top of our conference is a bunch of deep rosters full of big, fast, skilled, and mean teams (Tampa, Florida, Boston, Carolina, Pittsburgh, etc.). We simply don't have the horses to go line for line with them, especially when Donny is busy experimenting with the makeup of the lines. By the time some new contracts kick in over the next few years, Tage will be an average paid second line center, so I see that point fully. I just hope the management realizes that it's unlikely for him to blossom much more than he has. They should take that house money they found and use it to the fullest, but please don't settle. The search for a real # 1 center that can hopefully play a strong 2-way game is still on. I personally don't see that guy on this roster or in the system, unless one of the recent first rounders really really develops. We'll see how the year goes, but I would think they're still going to target centers in the 2023 draft in what will likely be one more top 10ish pick.

Longtime lurker, first time poster ... They look slower than they should, and that's because they're not in rhythm and the lines are jiving outside of the bottom 6. They seem to struggle with the bigger/faster teams with strong two-way centers at the top of their lineup. I think one of the biggest reasons for this is Tage simply isn't good enough to fight through Barkov and Bergeron bearing down on him. His splits again Boston and Florida last season are paltry at best and should be of concern moving forward: Against FL/BOS in 21/22 season: 8 Games - 1G 3A -9 Is it just me or is that not a potential issue? I'm sure those guys do that to a lot of lesser first lines but if our goal is an eventual cup contender, we need someone that can go toe to toe with these guys a bit more effectively. He got skunked in 5 out of those 8 games. Oddly enough, he was also skunked by Ottawa in both games he played against them last year and now this year as well. He feasted on teams like Montreal, Philly and even Toronto, who play a less structured game. However, I'm concerned that we're hitching our wagon to a Center that isn't able to step his play up against better opponents with any regularity and it seems to be a certain type of team that simply shuts him down. Perhaps this points to him being better suited as a complimentary player, but that contract would suggest they see him as at least a 1B Center. I'm willing to give him this season to figure it out getting top minutes, but if things don't get better against the good teams they will need to consider re-allocating top line minutes accordingly. We could really use Cozens developing into a true 2-way beast, because he might be able to force the issue against the big boys.