2018 - 2019 Lineup

[Mustache of God]

Wasn't Tennyson the player Phil had a love affair last year and he somehow got a lot of ice-time that was baffling at the time?

[shrader]

Has Hickey been sent down?  I don't remember seeing that name pop up yet.

[dudacek]

3 minutes ago, Mustache of God said:

Wasn't Tennyson the player Phil had a love affair last year and he somehow got a lot of ice-time that was baffling at the time?

Him an Beaulieu took turns tossing hand grenades into the first few weeks of last season.

Just now, shrader said:

Has Hickey been sent down?  I don't remember seeing that name pop up yet.

Me neither.

[GASabresIUFAN]

Smith?

[Taro T]

14 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Smith?

Pretty sure he was sent down with the last batch.

[Brawndo]

Smith was sent down yesterday 

[Hoss]

1 hour ago, Brawndo said:

Hoss is and always will be the fastest poster on Sabre Space.

I am always the fastest to read your posts kind sir. ?

[GASabresIUFAN]

I found the Sabres Tweets on who has been sent down.  Hickey isn’t on them

Players sent down the last 2 days

F: Criscuolo, Smith, O’Regan, Oglevie, Asplund, and Olofsson

D.: Fedun and Borgen

G: Johansson and Wedgewood

 

[GASabresIUFAN]

https://www.wkbw.com/sports/sabres/bove-predicting-the-buffalo-sabres-opening-night-lineup

Bove prediction isn’t bad, but his D pairings are off IMHO

Skinner Eichel Reinhart

Sheary Berglund Okposo

Nylander Mittelstadt Thompson

Sobotka ERod Pominville  (Wilson and Girgensons extras)

Scandella Risto

McCabe Dahlin

Bogo Nelson

Hutton Ullmark

 

I’m not sure Nylander makes the team, still not a 200 foot player. Close, but I’d rather see him prove it a little more in Rochester.  If Nylander doesn’t make it, Erod takes the 3rd LW slot.  I think Sobotka is the 4th line center regardless.  Housley wants a good faceoff guy on the 4th line and has been playing him at center in camp

I don’t mind the McCabe Dahlin pairing but Bogo w Nelson.  That doesn’t work for me.  

 

[North Buffalo]

Surprised Smith sent down thought he showed well, better than Baptiste... guess its a numbers game...  Teenyson was awful last night...  The rest make sense and Id like to see A line with Mitts Nyls and Tage... make them a third line... think they can develop with Sabres and they seem to compliment each other in skill sets.

[dudacek]

I’m not sure if Friday will make a difference; probably because there are still so many bodies in camp.

But this is what I see coming together for opening night:

Carter Hutton has looked good and is the starting goalie. Linus has been OK at best and so far hasn’t posed a threat and Wedgewood didn’t threaten him.

Risto and Scandella return as the top pair on D. With the tenuous Bogo situation, McCabe has looked like our 3 and Rasmus is number four. Sure he’s made mistakes, but he’s also made plays and he’s ridiculously talented and not overmatched physically. Bogo looked stiff in his first game and decent in his second and remains a huge question.

From the rest, Nelson has looked like the six to me - he’s grown is confidence and his reads; he no longer scares me out there. Beaulieu  doesn’t look any different than last year, but his skill set and contract combined with the fact that no one has passed him I think puts him on the team ahead of Pilut. I like Pilut’s game, he skates very well and plays with authority, but he also got overwhelmed at times with the strength and speed of NHL forwards. Hunwick’s injury may give him a shot initially, but I can’t see Housley going with two skinny Swedish rookies. He’s close, but I think he starts in Rochester and comes up later in the year. Guhle disappointed and should be among the cuts.

[pi2000]

2 minutes ago, North Buffalo said:

Surprised Smith sent down thought he showed well, better than Baptiste... guess its a numbers game...  Teenyson was awful last night...  The rest make sense and Id like to see A line with Mitts Nyls and Tage... make them a third line... think they can develop with Sabres and they seem to compliment each other in skill sets.

Reminds me of the RAV line.   Young up and comers... 

That said, I don't think JBOT/Housley are on board with it.   2/3 or 3/3 prolly start the season in Roch.

[dudacek]

Eichel and Reinhart have looked like veterans early; they will be our top two forwards and our top two scorers this year, whether combining on a super line or each anchoring a second line. Sam has three points in just 20 minutes of ice time. Skinner has fit in better and been less noticeable (good and bad) than I anticipated. It will be interesting to see how long they stick together.

[LTS]

3 hours ago, MakeSabresGrr8Again said:

The bolded parts are why I don't necessarily agree with you, I understand your stance but don't agree. A few reasons why are as follows:

You are concentrating too much on the first 10 games with the stance that the vets are the better option because you don't see the kids giving us an "appreciable difference" in wins. Do you honestly think that the skill and energy the kids could bring (Yes, with mistakes) would make that much a difference in the loss column? From your post I don't think you believe that either. So lets say the vets go 4-5-1 and the kids go 3-6-1 but get to develop with the players you want them to play with 10 games down the road. 

Most of these kids haven't played together very much or at all before (Mittlestadt, Asplund, Pilut, Thompson). Now you send them to Roch to develop (and Adjust) to a different environment and players you don't expect them to play with in the near future. Then call them up 10 games later to join yet another roster of players to adjust to. What kind of impact do you think it will have on the win column during the 2nd ten game segment of the season? Appreciable? 

I know we want to get off to a good start but there doesn't seem to be a real reason NOT to start the kids in your argument if you don't expect a real difference in the wins. It might send a better message to the other teams that we are more talented now and "here we come" instead of "their just the same old Sabres"

With that said....I don't necessarily disagree whole-heartedly with you, I'm just trying to point out some things to you that you might not have considered.

Just letting you know that I did consider the second 10 games as well.  I don't think it makes that big of a difference.  The Amerks are designed to enforce the same system as the Sabres and are there to develop those players.  Given that line juggling occurs quite often, the time it takes to mesh with another player isn't as long as people think it is.  There are certainly advantages to playing together longer, but most coaches tinker all the time (and injuries happen).

As I indicated, the REAL reason to not start them is that you can potentially move a veteran or two to another team, even if for a late round pick.  If you just waive them, you get nothing.

@Randall Flagg- I totally understand what you are saying.  I understand the logic.  Sobotka will be a bottom 6 forward on the Sabres and all that does is push someone else down to Rochester or onto the waiver wire, but it's not going to give a spot to anyone. I don't agree on the morale as they are professionals and know the game.  We'll see what happens. 

We'll find out soon.

[shrader]

22 minutes ago, North Buffalo said:

Surprised Smith sent down thought he showed well, better than Baptiste... guess its a numbers game...  Teenyson was awful last night...  The rest make sense and Id like to see A line with Mitts Nyls and Tage... make them a third line... think they can develop with Sabres and they seem to compliment each other in skill sets.

When it comes to Baptiste, you don't place one of the borderline NHL guys on waivers this early.  That would give another team time to bring him in and actually get up to speed with that organization.  Instead, you wait until the end when there's an endless list of names available and very little time to shuffle your roster.  The same goes with Smith, in a way.  He gets some extra time with the Rochester players and staff.  Ultimately, I wouldn't be surprised if he winds up ahead of someone like Baptiste on the call up list.

[Randall Flagg]

7 minutes ago, LTS said:

Just letting you know that I did consider the second 10 games as well.  I don't think it makes that big of a difference.  The Amerks are designed to enforce the same system as the Sabres and are there to develop those players.  Given that line juggling occurs quite often, the time it takes to mesh with another player isn't as long as people think it is.  There are certainly advantages to playing together longer, but most coaches tinker all the time (and injuries happen).

As I indicated, the REAL reason to not start them is that you can potentially move a veteran or two to another team, even if for a late round pick.  If you just waive them, you get nothing.

@Randall Flagg- I totally understand what you are saying.  I understand the logic.  Sobotka will be a bottom 6 forward on the Sabres and all that does is push someone else down to Rochester or onto the waiver wire, but it's not going to give a spot to anyone. I don't agree on the morale as they are professionals and know the game.  We'll see what happens. 

We'll find out soon.

Not soon enough! I'm ready to watch now!

[dudacek]

Berglund, Okposo and Pominville haven’t played a ton, but they’ve brought what you might expect in their particular circumstances. I thought Kyle looked more like 16/17 Kyle than last year’s Kyle, small sample size notwithstanding. He’s going to get top six minutes in an offensive role, lots of PP time and will play a lot with some of our young forwards. Berglund will be leaned on to slow things down. He will get second-line minutes against good players. I wanted Pommers to get forced out of his spot, but that’s not happening yet. He will be an Okposo-light - secondary minutes in similar situations. He will be used as a shoulder for the kids to lean on and an obstacle for them to leap over.

Edited September 27, 2018 by dudacek

[Sabel79]

Wait, what?  Eichel?  

[dudacek]

A player who got a ton of ice time - more than any other forward - in exhibition was Vladimir Sobotka. Housley seemed to be looking at him as ROR-lite. I think there is a pretty good chance that he gets used as a classic seventh forward, jack-of-all trades. He looked relatively capable but I’d love to see the pest re-emerge. If Sobotka is the 7th forward, Rodrigues looks like the 10th - a lot of versatility that can be utilized up and down the lineup as injuries and situations warrant. We haven’t seen Connor Sheary yet, so I will stick with what I thought when we got him: speed and some scoring in a top six role.

[Thorner]

So who isn't injured now? Eichel, Dahlin, Scandella, Ristolainen, Bogosian, Larsson, Sheary, Hunwick, Malone..

They are doing something wrong. 

[shrader]

Just now, Thorny said:

So who isn't injured now? Eichel, Dahlin, Scandella, Ristolainen, Bogosian, Larsson, Sheary, Hunwick, Malone..

They are doing something wrong. 

I'd imagine that all but the last three are things that wouldn't even phase a player during the regular season.

[Thorner]

1 minute ago, shrader said:

I'd imagine that all but the last three are things that wouldn't even phase a player during the regular season.

Maybe. Phil also said that Risto wouldn't be missing practice yesterday, yet here we are. 

[dudacek]

Housley’s system and the makeup of the above depth chart calls for fast, reliable wingers who can forecheck and kill penalties. Girgensons and Wilson are exactly that.

I see Housley leaning to a pecking order up front in terms of ice time that looks something like:

Eichel

Reinhart

Skinner

Okposo

Berglund

Sheary

Sobotka

???

Pominville

Rodrigues

Girgensons

Wilson

???

???

So three spots up for grabs. Who gets them?

Candidates are Tage, Alex, Casey, Nick, Justin, Johan

Edited September 27, 2018 by dudacek

[Randall Flagg]

Mildly nervous about the players that didn't skate today. Hopefully it's just them being as careful as I'd prefer them to be, and not something that will linger. 

[Thorner]

5 minutes ago, Randall Flagg said:

Mildly nervous about the players that didn't skate today. Hopefully it's just them being as careful as I'd prefer them to be, and not something that will linger. 

I'd be less nervous about it if this didn't always seem to happen.