2018 - 2019 Lineup

[Hoss]

1 hour ago, TrueBlueGED said:

Doing the same thing as Jim Benning isn't exactly confidence inspiring. 

Luckily he’s not and it was a bad comparison.

[dudacek]

32 minutes ago, Hoss said:

Luckily he’s not and it was a bad comparison.

Keep telling yourself that ?

[Hoss]

35 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Keep telling yourself that ?

The Canucks were nearly as bad as the Sabres and lost a ton. The Sabres didn’t “lose” anything. They traded O’Reilly for assets. Nobody of note walked in free agency or retired.

They also don’t have anyone near Eichel or Dahlin’s level. Their best prospects are on Reinhart/Mittelstadt level.

Edited July 16, 2018 by Hoss

[WildCard]

4 minutes ago, Hoss said:

The Canucks were nearly as bad as the Sabres and lost a ton. The Sabres didn’t “lose” anything. They traded O’Reilly for assets. Nobody of note walked in free agency or retired.

They also don’t have anyone near Eichel or Dahlin’s level. Their best prospects are on Reinhart/Mittelstadt level.

Pettersson is going to win the Calder this year. Probably on a Mittelstadt level like you say, but man is that kid going to be something special

Edited July 16, 2018 by WildCard

[Eleven]

1 minute ago, WildCard said:

Peterson is going to win the Calder this year. Probably on a Mittelstadt level like you say, but man is that kid going to be something special

Dahlin is going to win the Calder this year.

[Hoss]

Just now, WildCard said:

Peterson is going to win the Calder this year. Probably on a Mittelstadt level like you say, but man is that kid going to be something special

Hopefully one of our two studs are winning it, but it does feel like a huge waive of elite talent is arriving to the NHL this season. Dahlin, Mittelstadt, Pettersson, Andersson (NYR) and a few more I’m too lazy to think of.

[WildCard]

Just now, Eleven said:

Dahlin is going to win the Calder this year.

Defensemen rarely do, and Pettersson is set to explode

Just now, Hoss said:

Hopefully one of our two studs are winning it, but it does feel like a huge waive of elite talent is arriving to the NHL this season. Dahlin, Mittelstadt, Pettersson, Andersson (NYR) and a few more I’m too lazy to think of.

Agreed. The competition for the Calder is insanely high this year

[Hoss]

Defenseman rarely do because it normally takes defenseman a few years to develop, but the last defenseman to go number one won it (Ekblad) and he wasn’t even on Dahlin’s level.

[WildCard]

2 minutes ago, Hoss said:

Defenseman rarely do because it normally takes defenseman a few years to develop, but the last defenseman to go number one won it (Ekblad) and he wasn’t even on Dahlin’s level.

I would also argue it's because offense is sexy

FWIW, Pettersson weighs a whopping 30 lbs less than Mittelstadt, and 1" taller. He's 6'2", 172 lbs

[LGR4GM]

2 minutes ago, WildCard said:

I would also argue it's because offense is sexy

FWIW, Pettersson weighs a whopping 30 lbs less than Mittelstadt, and 1" taller. He's 6'2", 172 lbs

Pettersson had 56 points in the SHL in 44 games. 19 in 13 playoff games. Casey will need to elevate his game to compete. 

[Eleven]

22 minutes ago, Hoss said:

Defenseman rarely do because it normally takes defenseman a few years to develop, but the last defenseman to go number one won it (Ekblad) and he wasn’t even on Dahlin’s level.

Hell, Myers won it.

[Weave]

4 minutes ago, Eleven said:

Hell, Myers won it.

Now I don’t want Dahlin to win it.

[Brawndo]

Small Note, the Sabres will have First Priority for the Waiver Wire through the First Two Weeks of the season, I wonder if there will be any talent on cut down day for the Sabres to take a look at. 

[GASabresIUFAN]

6 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

Small Note, the Sabres will have First Priority for the Waiver Wire through the First Two Weeks of the season, I wonder if there will be any talent on cut down day for the Sabres to take a look at. 

Depends on how our marginal players do in camp.  I hope we are past that scrapping of other teams rejects from the curve, but you never know.  Colorado had 2-3 waiver guys that made a big difference for them last year.  

Knowing Jbot you are move likely to see another Delo for Redmond type trade rather then grabing someone through waivers.

Edited July 16, 2018 by GASabresIUFAN

[Doohicksie]

1 hour ago, Hoss said:

Hopefully one of our two studs are winning it, but it does feel like a huge waive of elite talent is arriving to the NHL this season. Dahlin, Mittelstadt, Pettersson, Andersson (NYR) and a few more I’m too lazy to think of.

The wave started with McJesus and continues. 

 

[That Aud Smell]

1 hour ago, Eleven said:

Dahlin is going to win the Calder this year.

I think there's a better chance Mittlestadt does.

[shrader]

40 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

The wave started with McJesus and continues. 

 

It's hard to pin point an exact moment, but it started before McDavid.  The recent draftees have been getting to the league right away for a while now.  There's obviously going to be a dud draft here or there, but the younger guys making it right away is always going to add to the influx of talent.

[Doohicksie]

I won't argue with that.

[jsb]

First let me ask a question is it an NHL no-no almost equal to signing someone else's RFA to pick up a waiver wire player?? I just don't remember off hand there being that many happening??

I'm also thinking JBot is far from done wheeling and dealing this offseason. As an example, there appears to be way too many LHDs for all of them to fit with the club next year even with some of them heading for Rochester. Who goes, who stays and is Dahlin going to start on the right side or left as it appears??

Does Reinhart play wing or is that ROR trade a prelude to moving him back to center and the left hand shots picked up from St.Louie going to play LW here?? Is a possible lineup of this in the mix?? That gives a stickhandler on Samson's left and a power forward on his right. That 3rd line gives a Casey a battler on the left and puts Rodrigues on his shooting hand plus they appeared to have some chemistry together at the end of the year or you add some additional muscle to that side with Baptiste/Bailey. 

Sheary - Eichel - Okposo

Berglund - Reinhart - Thompson

Sobotka - Mittelstadt - Rodrigues/Baptiste/Bailey

Wilson - Girgensons/Larsson - Pominville

Scandella - Ristolainen

Hunwick - Dahlin 

McCabe - Bogosian

Hutton/Ullmark

Just another thought on what will be an interesting camp

 

 

[dudacek]

The lineup could go so many different ways with so many versatile players and so many unproven players.

Training camp will be very interesting. If I remember correctly, the units Housley opened camp with last year were very similar to what he opened the season with, even though there was a whole lot of mixing in between.

 

Edited July 16, 2018 by dudacek

[GASabresIUFAN]

4 minutes ago, dudacek said:

The lineup could go so many different ways with so many versatile players and so many unproven players.

Training camp will be very interesting. If I remember correctly, the units Housley opened camp with last year were very similar to what he opened the season with, even though there was a whole lot of mixing in between.

 

There is exactly one player on this roster that we know exactly where and how much he’ll play next season and that is Eichel.  Everything and everyone else is in flux.  Even Hutton and Risto are somewhat in flux.  Is Hutton the starter or is he going to split time with Ullmark?  Is Risto still slated for 27 minutes a night or does Dahlin start lessening the burden immediately including some PP time?  The questions get bigger from there.  

[Randall Flagg]

Hoping our team surprises me. I haven't been less interested or hopeful in a projected lineup since September 2014. 

[WildCard]

20 minutes ago, Randall Flagg said:

Hoping our team surprises me. I haven't been less interested or hopeful in a projected lineup since September 2014. 

Its a hell of a lot better than the tank years and last year's

[Randall Flagg]

In the immediate term, Kane and ROR are replaced by Sheary and Berglund. 

My stance for the past year or so is that our last-place depth scoring was a more pressing need than our bottom 10 top 6 scoring, and that hopefully Eichel/Reinhart development + Mittelstadt insertion + defensemen like Dahlin and maybe another addition getting them the puck could pull the top 6 portion above league average. I figured that real depth forward additions (you could have easily sold me on low picks for Sobotka and Berglund), ideally 2 signed veterans (like we've pushed for since the tank ended and haven't gotten) could help out the bottom and still give a spot or two for kids to win fairly, and finally not have a 4th line get caved for the first time since the tank. 

We downgraded two of those top 6 pieces, added another kid to the group of kids, and added a guy who may end up being a "Pouliot addition" - welcome in September, declared universal garbage we never should have signed by December, as what literally happened here with Benoit, in Sobotka. I like Pilut better than Antipin but have no proof that he'll fix things until he does it, and until then it's the same type of addition. Things I welcome, but caution against relying on with kids who aren't A level prospects. 

We have the same amount of uncertainty and need for kids to step up that we've had the past three seasons in our bottom six, and until they finally do, I'm not going to assume it'll happen like I have each of the past three offseasons. 

If they do, it'll be obvious in the standings early on, and I'll be reinvigorated for the hockey season. If they don't, I don't see how our forward group is any better than last year on pretty much any level as a net whole. 

This pessimism shouldn't necessarily be conflated with my long-term outlook more than my immediate assessment of Botterill's work. 

1 minute ago, WildCard said:

Its a hell of a lot better than the tank years and last year's

September 2014 was the last projected tank roster we had, so I agree with you there, and I don't think that second part is impossible, but as I just outlined I'm certainly not convinced that's the case. 

[TrueBlueGED]

22 minutes ago, WildCard said:

Its a hell of a lot better than the tank years and last year's

I think arguing it's a hell of a lot better than last year's is a real tough sell. It's certainly quite a bit different. But better? On paper, eeeeehhhhh don't think so.