Jorcus

Plus they got away with a trip right after that one.

I don't know what will happen but I keep thinking that 1 or 2 Amerks have to come up to start the season. For all the talk of player development Benson skipped the line. He played well but I just wonder about the messaging to the other players who are working on the game in Rochester. I am thinking if you are not going to to bring Kulich or Rosen up you have to trade them. There is going to be a bottleneck of NHL talent in Rochester that you can't bring up because there are no spots. 100 Games in the AHL for first round picks should be enough to decide what you are going to do. If you jump these two again then they have to go. My guess is they are not going to get into another Benson situation with Savoie. As much as Benson played well for his age he did not produce that well for his position on the team. That is not his fault or a knock on him, it was hoisted on him because Quinn was not available and they did not address that issue with a better NHL player. I am thinking they will bring Kulich up to replace VO on a third or fourth line.

Does his super power enable him to figure out my insurance plan?

That may be true and too be fair to Appert he does not have the stability of a line up that an NHL team has. Young players in and out of the line up are not going to look the same as a team that has pretty much the same core of players year after year. You can see a lot of positioning errors in the Amerks and probably every other team in the AHL that plays a lot of young skaters.

Watching Rochester in the D zone vs Buffalo in the D zone is like night and day. Buffalo moves the puck smartly behind the net and the forwards will attack the the man with the puck. Rochester plays a very passive defense that closes into a tight box and waves sticks at players. The only reason Rochester is where they are right now is Levi, and the best D man they have is Nikita Novikov. What steal the Sabres got by drafting him in the 6th round. The expectation was he wanted to stay in Russia but when war breaks out plans change. Lindy is going to take him over Johnson because we have a lot of players like Johnson but we don't have big shut down D men like Nikita.

The Leafs have had the same problem for years. They can never seem to get a defensive core together. They have 1 good D man in Reilly, 1 decent 1 in McCabe and beyond that they are wasteland. The forwards can't play the way they want to because they have to cover up for the D. Lyubushkin played over 17 min in a playoff game for them last night. Did he ever pay 17 min a game for us? Maybe, but night after night against the Bruins just wasn't going to work. In goals against in the East we were 5th this year only behind Florida, Carolina, Boston, and the Rangers. Considering how bad our D was the third of the year it really is an amazing turnaround and gives hope that there are better things ahead. So like you I do not see the comparison to the Leafs who are forward heavy but D man weak.

JJP's best assets are his skating and endurance. He is better when there is a flow of the game up and down the ice. When placed in a stationary power play those assets are compromised playing catch and hoping to see a hole to shoot. They did try to move more with the second PP unit but it never really clicked with who was playing on it. I would love to see JJ back with Quinn. If that happens his assist rate will go up for certain. I liked the fact he shot the puck any time he had an open chance. He gave up percentage for attempts. I would hope he could convert a few more of his breakaway chances. He sure gets enough of them.

What if he gets an offer sheet of 4.2 Million for 4 years? In return we would only get a second round pick. Would you match? I would have to say yes. There are some desperate teams out there. It might happen.

That type of Hockey. Nashville is a good team loaded with veterans who can play just about anyway they want to. They are doing what they need to to win and I get that. When you get down to only a few chances each way for a period it's way different than watching Florida Tampa. A low scoring game with lots of chances.

Canucks out shoot the Preds 18 to 15 Ugh. I hope there is a few more chances in Nashville.

Lots of goaltender running in that game. Tkachuck throws an elbow on the first goal and gets away with it. Stamkos does a swan dive on Bobrovsky later in the game. I thought there was a rule about avoiding goalie contact? I guess if you are checked the rule is waived and you can do what you want.

I think Olafsson Is not a very fast skater and would have trouble getting back into plays on reverse transition. Have to give him credit for making it to the NHL as 7th rounder. Not many do. He did manage to play better D this year but never could get the overall game going. I hope he lands in a spot that will use him in a better way than we did this year.

Sounds like he eventually got the question with the answer of a banger 4th line to lean on people. I expect the search is on to fill those rolls.

Lindy my not be able to change Skinner but I bet he can get him to drop his no movement clause.

Mackinnon had 24:11 of ice time. The guy is super human but how long can he keep that up? Crazy game, makes me think the next one will be 3 to 2 one way or another. Winnipeg is tough to play against for certain.

I am all for using Byram with Dahlin. I think it would free Dahlin to be more mobile with the puck. I still think I would use Tuch in the Bumper with Quinn on the right side and Tage on the left. Benson has not shown enough scoring touch to be the bumper guy on the first unit just yet. Whatever happens this team has to shoot more and have skaters in better rebounding positions.

Keeping in mind we probably would not even be looking for a coach if Granato could have solved our power play problems. 15 goals behind league average this year and 26 goals behind last years output. Fix those numbers and we were probably in the playoffs. I think Gallant would be a better choice for our team. I want a coach who will use our speed and skill players He has coached those types of teams. I don't think we can bring in a coach who will want to retool half the roster to fit his style of coaching. We are not a heavy team that is going crash the net every play the way we are built now. Yes we need more of it but are you going to tell Thompson with the fastest slap shot in the NHL to stand 3 feet in front of the net? I want a coach who will continue to build on what we have and make it better not one who will try to rip it apart. A lot of things were going in the right direction toward the end of the year except the stinky power play which sucked all year and never got us goals when we needed them.

I have two worries about Benson. The first is that what he showed this year is pretty much what he will always be. Most young players come into the NHL with a lot of raw talent but not a well rounded game. Benson is the opposite, he seems to know how to play better than half the players already on the team. He knows where to go he knows how to dog a puck, they have used him on the power play and the PK. Where are his areas of improvement that are under his control? It's physical stuff, If he gets stronger maybe he can stay on his skates more often. If he gets faster maybe he can be a bit more elusive. Improving those elements take a lot of dedication and time but there are limitations to what he can ever be. For him to be a good NHL player over the long term he will have to score more on his chances. It does not look like he has a banger of a shot so its all going to be around the net stuff to score as much as he will need to to be a top 2 line winger. Which brings up the second issue which is how long a short front of the net player can last in the NHL without getting smacked into concussion protocol? You have to hand it to Benson he has done everything he could as an 18 year old who was not expected to be on the team. My question is what was the plan if he did not make the team as a left winger? It's one of the things that cost the team a chance this year. If it was Bensons 4th NHL season and the stats were what he has now playing top 2 line minutes, well I don't even want think about the reaction to that.

The problem with losing the Yotes is the howl after a goal. I will miss hearing that.

He also skates well out of the zone. He is very deceptive puck handler exiting the zone and through the neutral zone. Not many D out there can skate like he can with the puck on his stick. It's that part of the game that made him a number 1 over all. It's the front of the net part that needs work. Better positioning and decisive play. Pretty sure that will improve over time.

I agree with the premise that Skinner can only play with certain people. Not everyone can deal with his free lancing play. No matter what people may want I don't see him going anywhere right now. Three years left on that contract plus a no movement clause makes him ours for the time being. This team is not going to buy him out. It will just cost too much. I would not like to go into next year with JJP, Benson and Greenway as my top 3 left wingers. I need more scoring. Man wouldn't Jake Guentzel look great next to Thompson and Tuck? It would take a big number for that to happen.

Not that it's going to make you feel any better but Casey has 1 goal 2 assists and is a minus 6 in his last 5 games on a much better team. For the most part I have only seen the condensed games and one of the problems seems to be they are trying to use him differently. He seems to be in the middle of the ice more than along the walls which is were he is better at gaining puck possession. Bo himself is in a new system on the back end. Remember how poorly Clifton was playing at the start of the year? I will still take a wait and see approach.

Right, I did not mean to imply that it was based on what Buffalo offers but what others might if an offer sheet was presented. the magic number is $4,290,125 AAV. The Sabres could play it one of 2 ways. They can send UPL the qualifying offer and let his agent go shopping to other teams. If the Sabres for some mindless reason don't want to pay that much another team would only have to give up a second round pick. Above that number it is a first and a third so very few would be able or want to do that. What another team could do is offer UPL the 4,290,125 for 7 years. That would press the Sabres into a dilemma about matching the offer which they have the right to do. The other option is the Sabres offer something above the $4,290,125 for a shorter term from the get go and be done with it. Combine UPL's salary with Comrie's and add 1.7 million you are around where you need to be for a 4 year contract I think.

If I understand RFA compensation correctly, I think the answer to this will be 4.3 million to 4.5 million for 2 to 4 years. By offering 4.3 M any offer sheet over that would have to give us a 1st and a 3rd round pick in the draft. There are only 16 teams that are able to do that, (unless they trade for a pick). Half of those are lottery picks so they won't do it. A few others are set in goal so they don't need him. A few other teams are on the fence of being a lottery pick. There are a couple of teams that could try it. Philly and the Oilers would seem the most logical of the eligible teams but Swayman is also an RFA so if you are going to pull that lever would you not go after him?

I don't know what the answer is but he is my favorite player to watch on the Sabres. On his best nights he is everywhere. He plays such a fast game and when he gets back to the bench he does not seem to be winded most of the time. Then he drinks from his juice box. He may not have a natural scoring touch but he makes up for it by getting in good positions and letting the puck fly without hesitation.