Sabres Captain and Alternates 2018-19

[dudacek]

Anyone who has played knows players generally rally around the best players. Anyone who has lived knows tenure is generally valued and elders seldom look to kids for leadership. Nature abhors a vacuum.

Jack is the best player. Jack is no longer a kid. Jack is among the more tenured Sabres. Kane/Lehner/O'Reilly (and to a lesser extent Gorges/Gionta) have created a vacuum.

Couple the above with how Jack wants to lead and his captaincy is a no-brainer.

[Meathead]

if jack aint the C blow it all up cuz that would be disasterous

[Meathead]

okposo returned weakened after that concussion meds incident. if he cant return to his former wrecking ball playmaker self then he probably loses the A by default

Pomminstein could be a nice steadying force as an A as his career winds down

bogo if hes ready to play steadily

 

[Neo]

I like Dudacek’s take.

Edited July 8, 2018 by Neo

[erickompositör72]

16 hours ago, dudacek said:

Anyone who has played knows players generally rally around the best players. Anyone who has lived knows tenure is generally valued and elders seldom look to kids for leadership. Nature abhors a vacuum.

Jack is the best player. Jack is no longer a kid. Jack is among the more tenured Sabres. Kane/Lehner/O'Reilly (and to a lesser extent Gorges/Gionta) have created a vacuum.

Couple the above with how Jack wants to lead and his captaincy is a no-brainer.

With that said, I think that there should have been some anticipation that having someone like O'Reilly- hungry for a leadership role- and then drafting Eichel, might cause a conflict. It seems obvious O'Reilly was not ready to pass the torch, and we definitely didn't have any coaching or veteran presence to impress this message upon ROR

[TrueBlueGED]

The worst kept secret in the world is that the captain is going to be Jack. We can discuss whether that's the right path to take, but I will be completely and utterly floored if it's anybody else. 

With the A's, I think they go to vets whom I hate: Bogosian and Okposo.

[Doohicksie]

Question for the people who picked Bogo and Okposo for the A's:  Do you think this is a "default" decision, as in since they already have the A's they might as well keep them?  If those two didn't have A's, do you think they would go elsewhere?

[R_Dudley]

18 hours ago, dudacek said:

Anyone who has played knows players generally rally around the best players. Anyone who has lived knows tenure is generally valued and elders seldom look to kids for leadership. Nature abhors a vacuum.

Jack is the best player. Jack is no longer a kid. Jack is among the more tenured Sabres. Kane/Lehner/O'Reilly (and to a lesser extent Gorges/Gionta) have created a vacuum.

Couple the above with how Jack wants to lead and his captaincy is a no-brainer.

Agree with Jack getting the C for all the reasons stated. I think that was really the biggest problem between O'Reilly and Jack. Ryan knew it was coming and he was brought here to be the man by ZFG.

After that if he's back in form I say A's for Okposo and Scandella. 

We need some veteran maturity to balance the youthfulness I hope to see on display this coming season. 

[TrueBlueGED]

55 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

Question for the people who picked Bogo and Okposo for the A's:  Do you think this is a "default" decision, as in since they already have the A's they might as well keep them?  If those two didn't have A's, do you think they would go elsewhere?

That's my reasoning. I don't think Housley strips either of them when their primary sins were being injured. I personally don't think Okposo's performance was caused by his offseason, but it's not hard to reason your way there. If we were coming in purely fresh this year, I think it would be Jack, Scandella, and maybe Berglund. 

[Doohicksie]

I disagree with the sentiment that

34 minutes ago, R_Dudley said:

some veteran maturity to balance the youthfulness

is needed.  I think if anything that could put the veteran A's in the same position ROR was in, trying to throttle back young Eich.

No, if we're saying this is Eich's team, I think the A's should be Eichel's lieutenants, thus the youth in my selections. 

[Taro T]

6 hours ago, Doohickie said:

Quisstion for the people who picked Bogo and Okposo for the A's:  Do you think this is a "default" decision, as in since they already have the A's they might as well keep them? isIf those two didn't have A's, do you think they would go elsewhere?

My suspicion is that Okposo is viewed as a leader in the dressing room.

Bogosian presumably is tight w/ Eichel & Reinhart.  (He was the teammate the went in w/ Jack & Sam on the mondo-ly expensive tequila.)  If Bogo doesn't get the D's A, would expect it to go to Scandella as he's no longer new to the teamis the next most experienced D-man & (at least initially) is presumably the 2nd best D-man.

Have a hard time expecting Ristolainen to be made a captain w/ his alleged reputation for being difficult to coach.

Doubt that they'd give Berglund a letter being brand new to the team.

[Andrew Amerk]

On 7/8/2018 at 12:42 PM, Doohickie said:

Question for the people who picked Bogo and Okposo for the A's:  Do you think this is a "default" decision, as in since they already have the A's they might as well keep them?  If those two didn't have A's, do you think they would go elsewhere?

Jack needs to be the C. He is the best player and their biggest investment. 

I said A for Ristolainen because he’s now a “vet” on the team, has dealt with their losing BS, and put in his time. The other A for Scandella because he’s a solid league veteran. 

Ox and Bogo are in and out of the lineup. Beyond that, they’ve never looked like leaders on the ice, at least to me. 

[LGR4GM]

There's no chance in hell I give Ristolainen an A. None. Multiple reports of him being hard to coach, being the last in first out, and his complete lack of development in the last 2 years. Nope.