2018 - 2019 Lineup

[WildCard]

3 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

I couldn't disagree with you more.  Thompson needs to go down and there is no one here that has his skillset.  We need goal scoring and Olofsson brings that.  Also we need to move the puck out of the zone and need players who can enhance the PP.  Pilut does that.  There is enough depth in Roch with the addition of Thompson to not lose much with Olofsson in Buffalo.  Also you need to reward the kids who play well in Roch.  

Thompson needs to go down I agree with that. And I'm not saying Olofsson and Pilut don't do that. But you're thinking a penny wise and a pound foolish if you bring up the kids after 10 games in Rochester and break apart a team that is doing phenomenal right now

[Randall Flagg]

From what I've read, Olofsson still has a lot to work on when not on the PP. Let him figure it out down there 

[Weave]

22 minutes ago, Randall Flagg said:

From what I've read, Olofsson still has a lot to work on when not on the PP. Let him figure it out down there 

We're appraoching irrational exhuberance with Olofsson.  He's a older prospect that should be doing very well in the AHL.  At some point he should get a shot on the big team, but expecting him to correct what's wrong in Buffalo is asking way more than we should be.

[GASabresIUFAN]

Show me the quote from Taylor, Jbot or Sexson that Olofsson is a liability anywhere on the ice.

is it really irrational to want a proven scorer like Olofsson to be given a shot in the NHL by a team that can’t score goals?

[Weave]

25 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Show me the quote from Taylor, Jbot or Sexson that Olofsson is a liability anywhere on the ice.

is it really irrational to want a proven scorer like Olofsson to be given a shot in the NHL by a team that can’t score goals?

If he were a proven scorer at the NHL level, no.  He's doing what Ken Prieslty, Jody Gage, Mal Davis, and Claude Verret did.  Luke Adam too for that matter.  Let's not go gaga just yet.

And to your first request, Taylor has very recently said he needs to work on the other areas of his game.  I don't know where you're getting "liability" from.

Edited October 20, 2018 by Weave

[Randall Flagg]

So my theory is that Phil needs an ROR whether his roster has one or not. I thought he just loved ROR's two way skill-set and (to my chagrin) let that affect his usage of ROR, but evidence continues to point to him just requiring this role, and that he has chosen Sobotka, who again has more ES ice time today than anybody but Jeff and Pominville, who beat him by a couple seconds because of taking a couple long shifts each. 

It didn't work with ROR and it ain't gonna work with Vlad, who is also getting defensive deployment, so I hope he moves off of it. 

I've also been watching all of his centers, and he has them play quite low in the defensive zone, and they don't seem to join the forecheck often. Eich is always peeling back into the NZ the second it looks like the D might be winning control, leaving his wingers to rummage (which is why his shifts are consistently shorter than his wingers'), and Bergy and Vlad are doing the same. I could pick apart why I don't necessarily like how he plays the centers, but I'm not sure my thoughts are well-formed yet. 

Edited October 20, 2018 by Randall Flagg

[Thorner]

3 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

What does it say about your roster of forwards when 4th line players are easily moved to the 1st and 2nd line?

That a good line requires a pair that has chemistry. If Eichel and Skinner (first line talents) are meshing well, the third guy can be interchangeable. Even a guy like Pommers. 

[GASabresIUFAN]

39 minutes ago, Weave said:

If he were a proven scorer at the NHL level, no.  He's doing what Ken Prieslty, Jody Gage, Mal Davis, and Claude Verret did.  Luke Adam too for that matter.  Let's not go gaga just yet.

And to your first request, Taylor has very recently said he needs to work on the other areas of his game.  I don't know where you're getting "liability" from.

How do you become a proven scorer at the NHL level.  You have to play in the NHL.  Who cares what guys in the past did.  For ever guy who failed who can name just as name guys that succeeded like Pommers.  Unlike the guys you mentioned Olofsson has been playing AHL level hockey in the SHL for years.  He is a proven pro and a gifted finisher.  It's becoming clear that he is going to force his way into this lineup and soon whether you like it or not.  

Taylor's quote is simply coach speak to deflect the question as to why he hasn't been recalled.  No specifics.  My guess is when we get home from the Left Coast, Thompson goes down and OIofsson comes up.

Edited October 20, 2018 by GASabresIUFAN

[Weave]

LOL "whether I like it or not".  As if I am rooting against him.  so weird.

You might be right about the switch when they're back home.  I expect Thompson will look awesome in the A too.

 

Edit-

Somewhere on this forum someone recently posted a stat that compared age a player reached 1 pt/gm and how it translated to NHL success and essentially 1 pt/gm at 23 typically indicated that the player wasn't liekly to make it in the NHL.  I know, he wasn't here at 22.  Still, caution is warranted.  Late success in the lesser leagues rarely translates in the NHL.

Hope the kid does something very unusual. But won't be surprised if he doesn't.

Edited October 20, 2018 by Weave

[GASabresIUFAN]

9 minutes ago, Weave said:

LOL "whether I like it or not".  As if I am rooting against him.  so weird.

 

People are acting that if Olofsson comes up that the hot Amerks will lose their mojo and the organization's development plan goes out the window.  The the Amerks are a deep team with veteran leaders like Porter, Simpson and Redmond and 26 players on the roster.  A swap of Thompson for Olofsson likely does little to change the Amerks fortunes, but may help the Sabres find some scoring.   

They are also acting that bringing up Olofsson for a few game will destroy his development.  Olofsson, 23, is an experienced pro.  He has played in the SHL since 2013-14.  He is probably close to a finished product who just needed to get some experience on the smaller ice surface.  Obviously he has adjusted pretty well.  Now it's time to see if he can take the next step.  Remember he almost made the team out of camp. 

Frankly Pilut is much the same.  Like Olofsson, he is an experienced pro who probably only needed time to get used to the smaller ice.  

Edited October 20, 2018 by GASabresIUFAN

[Weave]

1 minute ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

People are acting that if Olofsson comes up that the hot Amerks will lose their mojo and the organization's development plan goes out the window.  The the Amerks are a deep team with veteran leaders like Porter, Simpson and Redmond and 26 players on the roster.  A swap of Thompson for Olofsson likely does little to change the Amerks fortunes, but may help the Sabres find some scoring.   

They are also acting that bringing up Olofsson for a few game will destroy his development.  Olofsson, 23, is an experienced pro.  He has played in the SHL since 2013-14.  He is probably close to a finished product who just needed to get some experience on the smaller ice surface.  Obviously he has adjusted pretty well.  Now it's time to see if he can take the next step.  Remember he almost made the team out of camp. 

And some are also preordaining his NHL success. Welcome to the internet.

[WildCard]

7 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

People are acting that if Olofsson comes up that the hot Amerks will lose their mojo and the organization's development plan goes out the window.  The the Amerks are a deep team with veteran leaders like Porter, Simpson and Redmond and 26 players on the roster.  A swap of Thompson for Olofsson likely does little to change the Amerks fortunes, but may help the Sabres find some scoring.   

They are also acting that bringing up Olofsson for a few game will destroy his development.  Olofsson, 23, is an experienced pro.  He has played in the SHL since 2013-14.  He is probably close to a finished product who just needed to get some experience on the smaller ice surface.  Obviously he has adjusted pretty well.  Now it's time to see if he can take the next step.  Remember he almost made the team out of camp. 

Frankly Pilut is much the same.  Like Olofsson, he is an experienced pro who probably only needed time to get used to the smaller ice.  

Right, and we are. The next step is the AHL. It is not the NHL.

And I don't remember anything about him almost making the team out of camp

[Randall Flagg]

3 minutes ago, WildCard said:

Right, and we are. The next step is the AHL. It is not the NHL.

And I don't remember anything about him almost making the team out of camp

He really wasn't close to making the team 

[WildCard]

1 minute ago, Randall Flagg said:

He really wasn't close to making the team 

That's what I remember as well because I really was pulling for him to be Jack's linemate

Edited October 20, 2018 by WildCard

[Brawndo]

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/howard-and-jeremy/id1142016942?mt=2&i=1000422018880

Chris Taylor was on the Howard Simon Show

Starts talking Olofsson at the 3:00 Mark. 

States Olofsson has a long way to go before he is ready for the NHL. 

 

 

 

[WildCard]

9 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/howard-and-jeremy/id1142016942?mt=2&i=1000422018880

Chris Taylor was on the Howard Simon Show

Starts talking Olofsson at the 3:00 Mark. 

States Olofsson has a long way to go before he is ready for the NHL. 

 

 

 

Of course he does. And any successful, respectable, professional organization would leave him down there to develop. Only a clown one that's impatient and desperate would call him up too soon and ruin him

[Hoss]

 

[Mig_22]

16 hours ago, Randall Flagg said:

So my theory is that Phil needs an ROR whether his roster has one or not. I thought he just loved ROR's two way skill-set and (to my chagrin) let that affect his usage of ROR, but evidence continues to point to him just requiring this role, and that he has chosen Sobotka, who again has more ES ice time today than anybody but Jeff and Pominville, who beat him by a couple seconds because of taking a couple long shifts each. 

It didn't work with ROR and it ain't gonna work with Vlad, who is also getting defensive deployment, so I hope he moves off of it. 

I've also been watching all of his centers, and he has them play quite low in the defensive zone, and they don't seem to join the forecheck often. Eich is always peeling back into the NZ the second it looks like the D might be winning control, leaving his wingers to rummage (which is why his shifts are consistently shorter than his wingers'), and Bergy and Vlad are doing the same. I could pick apart why I don't necessarily like how he plays the centers, but I'm not sure my thoughts are well-formed yet. 

I agree with a lot of this post.  How Housley deploys his centers is a very astute observation and Jack's positioning is most noteworthy.  I think I agree that he is going to try Sobotka in the defensive side of the ROR role and I'm okay with it because you're not wasting a good offensive talent when doing that with Sobotka.   I don't mind Berglund doing that work either but like you, I haven't entirely formed my opinion on whether the overall structure hurts the offensive production too much.  With Jack, I think it doesn't because much of his 5v5 production should come on the rush (in theory).

 

More thinking and watching on this is in order. 

Cheers,

[GASabresIUFAN]

Frankly, it doesn't matter how Housley deploys anyone.  If no one scores other than Jack and his linemates then the team is done.  

[TrueBlueGED]

27 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Frankly, it doesn't matter how Housley deploys anyone.  If no one scores other than Jack and his linemates then the team is done.  

But if Housley's deployment is contributing to nobody else scoring, then it certainly does matter. 

[nfreeman]

So does TT get sent down on Monday so he can get some ice time?  And if so, do they call anyone up?

 

[Thorner]

So apparently the Sabres had a decision to make on Dahlin ?

https://www.nhl.com/news/deadline-for-players-on-entry-level-contracts-looms/c-301160446

[GASabresIUFAN]

28 minutes ago, nfreeman said:

So does TT get sent down on Monday so he can get some ice time?  And if so, do they call anyone up?

 

I hope so.  We still need more offense from our forwards not named Skinner or Eichel.

[Randall Flagg]

I'd either call up CJ Smith, or Nylander if Alex has been a good soldier and worked his butt off the last couple of weeks. Looks like the production is there. 

[Taro T]

7 hours ago, nfreeman said:

So does TT get sent down on Monday so he can get some ice time?  And if so, do they call anyone up?

 

I would hope he gets sent down at least 1 day before the Amerks next game.

With the team being at home through Thursday, no rush to call someone up IF Housley plans to keep the lines the way they were in Southern California.  If he's open to putting one of the kids into the lineup, then reward Smith, Nylander, or Olofsson.  If not, wait until the flight to Ohio to grab an extra skater.