Larsson signs Extension with Sabres One Year 1.55 Million

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7 minutes ago, Taro T said:

FTFY. ?

The RAPM confirms the eye test on those two.  I think they'd be perfectly fine on a playoff team.  With a second winger who can score, this would be a "complete" fourth line. 

[Taro T]

11 minutes ago, ... said:

The RAPM confirms the eye test on those two.  I think they'd be perfectly fine on a playoff team.  With a second winger who can score, this would be a "complete" fourth line. 

Yes.  They pass the eye test.  Their detractors don't focus on how their play looks.  They focus on the fact that neither is a threat to score 10 goals nor 30 points.

The fact that other teams top lines score roughly at that same frequency when they're out there gets overlooked.  And, last time we checked, keeping the other team from scoring was still a good thing.

[TrueBlueGED]

21 minutes ago, Taro T said:

Yes.  They pass the eye test.  Their detractors don't focus on how their play looks.  They focus on the fact that neither is a threat to score 10 goals nor 30 points.

The fact that other teams top lines score roughly at that same frequency when they're out there gets overlooked.  And, last time we checked, keeping the other team from scoring was still a good thing.

I'm hardly the first to make this observation, but I also think they're perfect examples of familiarity breeds contempt. 

[Taro T]

2 minutes ago, TrueBlueGED said:

I'm hardly the first to make this observation, but I also think they're perfect examples of familiarity breeds contempt. 

Absolutely. 

There rarely, if ever, is a coherent plan of who will replace them in the shutdown the opposition role.  It nearly always is bring in more scoring for them, the D will take care of itself.  Neglecting that keeping the Bergeron line from scoring is huge & the Eichel line is ineffective at that, to put it kindly.  (And they're the 2nd best line the Sabres have in that role by far.). 

If Botterill can find players that can perform Larsson's &  Girgensons' roles more effectively, great, bring them in.  But it isn't all that easy to find those guys & even finding a 3rd linemate to work with them wasn't all that easy either.  We saw a lot of bad replacements for Berglund before they finally found that Okposo worked well there.  (Gave up a few more chances than THE 4th line did, but actually started chipping in points here & there as well.)

[Zamboni]

And to add to the already great points ... if RK implements a good system that improves the skill set of  Girgs and Larsson, we could see them grab a few more points AND be just as good if not better in the DZ.

Edited July 15, 2019 by Zamboni

[carpandean]

1 hour ago, Taro T said:

They focus on the fact that neither is a threat to score 10 goals nor 30 points.

Zemgus circa 2014-15 disagrees! ?

[Taro T]

26 minutes ago, carpandean said:

Zemgus circa 2014-15 disagrees! ?

Well, true.  If Pominville can score playing with Eichel & Girgensons could put up good 3rd line #'s centering the Tank's 1st line, then theoretically they could hit those #'s in the right circumstances.

These are NOT the circumstances you are looking for.