After 15 games, who is the most surprising Sabre?

[Kelly the Dog]

For me it is McCabe. Never expected him to be this solid, on offense or defense or hitting. Has made tremendous strides in a short period of time. Much tougher than I expected. Better passer and decision maker. Less mistakes, although he makes them.

 

Of the newer guys, I expected Pysyk to be like this (because I like him a lot). I hadn't seen much of McGinn but everything I read, especially from other players described this guy we have. ROR has been the good ROR so far. Franson has been as good and as bad and as slow as advertised. Ullmark I guess is a nice surprise so early but a small sample that could change drastically.

 

The second most surprising, incredible as it may sound, is Eichel to me. I expected greatness but not this fast, and there are things he is doing I didn't at all expect so fast.

 

I didn't really expect Gionta and Moulson to play this poor this often.

[Doohicksie]

Foligno.  He's so much more mature as a player than he was under previous coaching.

[X. Benedict]

Foligno.  He's so much more mature as a player than he was under previous coaching.

He's really playing well IMO. The passing, the smart plays, controlled aggression without being stupid. Even though he scored a weak goal last night, he's been playing much better than his numbers would suggest. 

[Rasmus_]

Deslauriers has been the most consistent surprise, but he's been on an upward trend since last season.  He has shown poise to stick to his game and keep things simple when most over extend.  It's baffling to me that near on a year and a half ago he was stuck in Manchester as a D.  I've been as big a fan of his as anyone in the last season plus.  I would call Foligno a close second.  McCabe always had the talent to be what he's showing, but never given the break.  Good on him.

[Iron Crotch]

Linus.  Kid can play.

[WildCard]

O'Reilly for me. I had McCabe being this good in Webster's contest, and although Linus is surprising and Eichel is, as weird as it is to say, better than I thought, O'Reilly has just blown me away

 

Close 2nd is McGinn. I really, really like his play, and hope we resign him next year.

Edited November 11, 2015 by WildCard

[Eleven]

Ristolainen.  I knew he was going to be good; I didn't know he was going to be *this* good.

[Wyldnwoody44]

I'm with eleven on risto, guy is ballin

[bob_sauve28]

I'll go with the defense as a whole. I expected better forward play but the defense has been great, stopping opponents and really chipping in a lot of important goals

 

But I'll say I agree with all of the above. Eichel is WAY better than I ever expected. ROR and McGinn, Foligino, all great.

[LGR4GM]

Evander Kane.  I know he is currently injured but prior to that he surprised me. The guy is just an animal on the ice. He will run you over and loves to shoot. I didn't think he would take some much attention from other teams but he's always a danger when he hits the ice.  Can't wait to see how he does when he gets back to a team that isn't as unlucky as the first 7-8 games.

[Weave]

McCabe.  There is way less rookie-ness to his game than I ever expected.

[X. Benedict]

My biggest surprise is really Franson. I knew he was slow. But he is really surprisingly slow.  

So that's my biggest surprise. Franson is a three-toed sloth skating with a 120 lb pack, uphill. 

Edited November 11, 2015 by X. Benedict

[TrueBlueGED]

I'm going to go with Gorges. It's not that he's been great, but he's been steady, and I honestly didn't think he'd be able to play at all above a #6 role coming off microfracture surgery. Sure playing with Risto helps, but he's been fine in his own right.

[pi2000]

Moulson.  Invisible.

[Kruppstahl]

I'll say Eichel.

 

His learning curve lasted about a month.

 

He is already in a position to start dominating certain teams and taking over games on given nights.

 

We all knew he'd be good, but I didn't think he'd be at this level until next season.

[That Aud Smell]

I'm torn between Risto and Eichel for the reasons noted above.

 

Some surprises are good.

Edited November 11, 2015 by That Aud Smell

[Doohicksie]

No one is mentioning Reinhart.  I thindk that's because he's growing but it's a slow, steady growth.  He's turning into a FINE hockey player who I think will be a key part of the team going forward but I also don't see him being a flashy splashy player, at least not compared to Eichel.

[That Aud Smell]

Bylsma was on GR this week, and said as much about Rdeinhart. Not flashy, just very, very smart and, when he's going, almost always on the right side of a play.

[Weave]

No one is mentioning Reinhart.  I thindk that's because he's growing but it's a slow, steady growth.  He's turning into a FINE hockey player who I think will be a key part of the team going forward but I also don't see him being a flashy splashy player, at least not compared to Eichel.

 

I'm torn on what I think his ceiling is based on what I am seeing now.  Yes, he's very young, but I'm not sure there is #2 center potential yet.  I thoroughly expect he'll be a very good NHL player.  I'm just not sure what role his development curve is projecting to.  I was hoping to see more offensive potential than I am seeing.  He plays a sound game, I just can't decide where it is leading.  It's early.  He may just blow up one game and it'll be obvious.

[nucci]

I didn't know O'Reilly was this good and Bylsma has been such a huge improvement over Nolan....The team is actually playing hockey.

[Weave]

I didn't know O'Reilly was this good and Bylsma has been such a huge improvement over Nolan....The team is actually playing hockey.

 

 

Now THERE is a candidate for most surprising.  I am really impressed with the systems and tactics Bylsma has installed.  I never watched the Pens close enough to have an opinion on Bylsma.  To me, the Pens were Sid and Geno.  I never gave the coach much thought.

[TrueBlueGED]

I'm torn on what I think his ceiling is based on what I am seeing now.  Yes, he's very young, but I'm not sure there is #2 center potential yet.  I thoroughly expect he'll be a very good NHL player.  I'm just not sure what role his development curve is projecting to.  I was hoping to see more offensive potential than I am seeing.  He plays a sound game, I just can't decide where it is leading.  It's early.  He may just blow up one game and it'll be obvious.

 

O'Reilly had 26 points as both a rookie and a sophomore getting ~16 minutes on the 3rd line, then busted out when he got moved into the top-6 in his third season and getting over 19 minutes. Reinhart's on pace for 27 points while averaging just over 10 minutes and getting bounced all over the lineup. Obviously Reinhart was the more hyped prospect, but we all know that draft was viewed as pretty mediocre. So, maybe O'Reilly numbers, or a smidge better? 

[Doohicksie]

I'm torn on what I think his ceiling is based on what I am seeing now.  Yes, he's very young, but I'm not sure there is #2 center potential yet.  I thoroughly expect he'll be a very good NHL player.  I'm just not sure what role his development curve is projecting to.  I was hoping to see more offensive potential than I am seeing.  He plays a sound game, I just can't decide where it is leading.  It's early.  He may just blow up one game and it'll be obvious.

 

So to summarize, Samson doesn't make the list because while he's progressing, he's not progressing faster than expectations?

[LGR4GM]

O'Reilly had 26 points as both a rookie and a sophomore getting ~16 minutes on the 3rd line, then busted out when he got moved into the top-6 in his third season and getting over 19 minutes. Reinhart's on pace for 27 points while averaging just over 10 minutes and getting bounced all over the lineup. Obviously Reinhart was the more hyped prospect, but we all know that draft was viewed as pretty mediocre. So, maybe O'Reilly numbers, or a smidge better? 

Good points

 

So to summarize, Samson doesn't make the list because while he's progressing, he's not progressing faster than expectations?

He's about on pace for what I was thinking. Production is a hair low but other than that his game is basically progressing as it should.

[Ottosmagic13]

Biggest surprise in bad way, Moulson. Maybe it's just that we sucked so bad last year and he was put up on a pedestal a little bit. I was genuinely excited when we got him back but he has been invisible this year.

 

Biggest surprise in a good way, O'Reilly. I really liked Zadorov and was sorry to see him go. Not having seen much COL hockey I only knew ROR was a solid top 6 forward. His play this year has been better than that, especially seeing how little we gave up, he has dominated games at points.