Buffalo Sabres Training Camp (2020/21)

[Derrico]

9 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

Krueger confirmed that Jack Quinn will be on the active roster or the taxi squad

Not surprising as I'm not sure where else he would play with no OHL season.  I think with the huge number of games in short timeframe he will get a couple of games in.  Very much doubt it goes over the prorated 9 (do we know how many they are allowed?  I'm guessing 6?).  

[GASabresIUFAN]

1 minute ago, dudacek said:

Why are you so convinced guys like Casey, R2 and Cozens are ahead of guys like Okposo and Lazar and Ralph is willfully ignoring that?

It’s more a thought about potential. Lazar and Okposo are what they are.  Imho they have zero upside.  I think R2, Cozens and Mitts are behind KO and Lazar on RK’s depth chart, but have the potential to be so much and give the team so much more.  I’d like RK to give these guys a real chance, these injuries may be the opening the kids need.

[Brawndo]

3 minutes ago, Derrico said:

Not surprising as I'm not sure where else he would play with no OHL season.  I think with the huge number of games in short timeframe he will get a couple of games in.  Very much doubt it goes over the prorated 9 (do we know how many they are allowed?  I'm guessing 6?).  

I believe it is six 

[Mustache of God]

Not surprised about Quinn on the taxi-squad considering his alternative is to...not play anywhere? Would be surprised to see him get actual game time anytime soon unless there's a lot of injuries.

We are 2 days away from Sabres hockey. This has been a loooong off-season.

[GASabresIUFAN]

CHL has agreed that  players 19 or older can play in the AHL until the CHL begins.

[Shootica]

Just now, GASabresIUFAN said:

CHL has agreed that  players 19 or older can play in the AHL until the CHL begins.

Hopefully that agreement remains in place if the OHL tries to come back without body contact.  There's no point to that.

[Taro T]

11 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

I believe it is six 

That's my expectation as well.  In a normal year, playing in the 10th game prevents an ELC from sliding for a season.  That's 12.2% of a normal year.

The seventh game is 12.5% of a 56 game season.  So, a 9 game tryout period n a regular year should be a 6 game tryout in a 56 game shortened season.

[JohnC]

1 hour ago, Taro T said:

Until the Saturday night scrimmage, my expectation for Hutton was that he'd be good enough in January & February and they'd be able to upgrade him at the trade deadline.  But that scrimmage showed he has a way to go to get back to being good enough.

So much so, that if a trade / waiver wire pick up doesn't happen today or tomorrow, my expectation of sneaking into the playoffs has changed & now expect them to just miss.

The scrimmage, especially for the goaltenders, tell you little about how they will perform. In that setting the play is loose and hitting is rare. You don't need to wait until tomorrow about what is going to happen. There will be no trade for a deal. We are going with what we got.  

[Broken Ankles]

1 hour ago, That Aud Smell said:

I thought maybe more

Ha - nice.

One of the great colour commentary calls in the moment by Lorentz on that one -- amidst all that excitement, noting both the role of the forward at the point and Emery yet again failing to move laterally.

As long as it doesn’t become this....

[PromoTheRobot]

4 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

I don't trust Krueger. I want too but I can't when it was clear that Ruotsalainen is one of the better players on this team. TO demote him because of preconceived notions and keep Sheahan/Lazar/Rieder/Eakin is just another poor decision by an organization that thrives on doing easy things wrong. 

Things will change a lot over the next few weeks. Decisions will be made on Cozens and Quinn. Ruotsalainen may be right back up.

[tom webster]

1 hour ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

It’s more a thought about potential. Lazar and Okposo are what they are.  Imho they have zero upside.  I think R2, Cozens and Mitts are behind KO and Lazar on RK’s depth chart, but have the potential to be so much and give the team so much more.  I’d like RK to give these guys a real chance, these injuries may be the opening the kids need.

I’ve said it before, this is not the season for experimentation. If they prove worthy they will be given a chance and furthermore, Casey has shown no indication that he can be better then Lazar.

[Taro T]

6 minutes ago, JohnC said:

The scrimmage, especially for the goaltenders, tell you little about how they will perform. In that setting the play is loose and hitting is rare. You don't need to wait until tomorrow about what is going to happen. There will be no trade for a deal. We are going with what we got.  

Hutton didn't display the same reflexes he did in TC 2 years ago, nor in October of either of the past 2 seasons.  He looked like 2nd 1/2 of the season Hutton.  Will he play better?  Hopefully, but wouldn't have money on it.

That Girgensons injury gives them the ability to bring in a $4MM+ goalie without sending any payroll back is the last gleam of optimism that something can happen.  The taxi squad really blew a hole in the worst case scenario plan.

[SABRES 0311]

Who should start the first GDT of the season?  

[Taro T]

14 minutes ago, SABRES 0311 said:

Who should start the first GDT of the season?  

Go for it.  Just don't start it until it actually is the 14th. 

And don't whine if Liger or somebody else gets here 1st & beats you to it.  😉

[SABRES 0311]

4 minutes ago, Taro T said:

Go for it.  Just don't start it until it actually is the 14th. 

And don't whine if Liger or somebody else gets here 1st & beats you to it.  😉

Not me.  I was thinking Wild had some good ones in the past.

[jsb]

45 minutes ago, SABRES 0311 said:

Who should start the first GDT of the season?  

I guess I'm not invited??

[Thorner]

5 hours ago, Shootica said:

That, by my count, brings us to a full 23 man roster and 6 man taxi squad.

23 man, 4 man taxi. After girgs goes on IR

Whoops, 5 man taxi, forgot about the other goalie

5 hours ago, tom webster said:

Again, I understand the mis-trust given the last few years but RK has such a better rep outside Buffalo. Another article today in Athletic where 22 GM’s have him tied for second among likely coach of year candidates.

They are trying to create a program where guys earn their spots. In addition, this year there is even less room for error. If he gets his game going he will be back up. In the meantime the veterans have a role to play. Jack has continuously talked about the need for veteran presence.

It's def true Ralph has the respect of some of the stalwarts in the league but, my reading of this is that, people expect Buffalo to eventually take a jump and whenever that happens, whoever the coach is is basically a free-pass Jack adams nom, after being bad for so long. 

Maybe even Jack and the Hart. 

Edited January 12, 2021 by Thorny

[Taro T]

3 minutes ago, Thorny said:

23 man, 4 man taxi. After girgs goes on IR

It's def true Ralph has the respect of some of the stalwarts in the league but, my reading of this is that, people expect Buffalo to eventually take a jump and whenever that happens, whoever the coach is is basically a free-pass Jack adams nom, after being bad for so long. 

Maybe even Jack and the Hart. 

Pretty sure they're at 22 & 6 (not counting Girgensons, who's salary counts against the cap unless they're over the cap and currently they aren't): Hall-Eichel-Olofsson; Skinner-Staal-Reinhart; Reider-Eakin-Okposo; Thompson-Lazar-Cozens (12 F's)

Dahlin-Montour; McCabe-Ristolainen; Miller-Jokiharju; Borgen-Irwin (8 D)

Ullmark-Hutton (2G)

And: Sheahan; Mittelstadt; Quinn; Asplund; Davidson; Johansson (6 taxi squad).

Will be interesting to see if they officially run 22-6 or 23-5 and also if they bring an Amerk back up to ride the taxi.  (Would guess Ruotsalainen or Bryson get 1st crack at that.)

[Thorner]

^got my edit in, too bad

[Thorner]

1 minute ago, Taro T said:

Pretty sure they're at 22 & 6 (not counting Girgensons, who's salary counts against the cap unless they're over the cap and currently they aren't): Hall-Eichel-Olofsson; Skinner-Staal-Reinhart; Reider-Eakin-Okposo; Thompson-Lazar-Cozens (12 F's)

Dahlin-Montour; McCabe-Ristolainen; Miller-Jokiharju; Borgen-Irwin (8 D)

Ullmark-Hutton (2G)

And: Sheahan; Mittelstadt; Quinn; Asplund; Davidson; Johansson (6 taxi squad).

Will be interesting to see if they officially run 22-6 or 23-5 and also if they bring an Amerk back up to ride the taxi.  (Would guess Ruotsalainen or Bryson get 1st crack at that.)

I'd honestly like to see Skinner - Sheahan - Cozens, I think the Lazar injury opened up the door for Cozens there, interested to see if Lazar replaces him once he's back. Either way I think Sheahan is in. 

[Taro T]

8 minutes ago, Thorny said:

I'd honestly like to see Skinner - Sheahan - Cozens, I think the Lazar injury opened up the door for Cozens there, interested to see if Lazar replaces him once he's back. Either way I think Sheahan is in. 

Expect that whether Cozens plays will come down to whether Krueger liked having Cozens work w/ the 2PP or wants to go back to Okposo.

Interesting that you expect Sheahan is in & Lazar is out should Cozens & Okposo both play Thursday.  Because my expectation is Lazar's FO excellence buys him one of the 4th line spots most nights. 

[Thorner]

5 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

I think Eakin potentially bring more offense then either Lazar or Sheahan.  I’d like to see Skinner Eakin Cozens and Rieder Sheahan Okposo, but RK is married to Eakin/Okposo pair.

 

5 hours ago, Brawndo said:

To be honest,  Lazar or Sheahan center the third line with other centering Skinner and Cozens and having Eakin as the extra  makes the team better 

I could see this - Eakin's raw skill (relative to Lazar and Sheahan, ha) is no good if the line isn't playing at the right end of the ice. Skinner and Cozens provide so much more potential offensive pop than anyone else in consideration here, that "downgrading" Eakin's offence to Lazar or Sheahan may be worth it if it more solidly gets Cozens and Skinner up ice. 

On a checking line, you said it, they maybe have better defense than Eakin. 

Eakin probably represents the biggest discrepancy I can see in the F group in terms of Ralph having a different evaluation to pretty much everybody. They expect a key component, I'm not sure I expect even a component. 

4 hours ago, Taro T said:

Until the Saturday night scrimmage, my expectation for Hutton was that he'd be good enough in January & February and they'd be able to upgrade him at the trade deadline.  But that scrimmage showed he has a way to go to get back to being good enough.

So much so, that if a trade / waiver wire pick up doesn't happen today or tomorrow, my expectation of sneaking into the playoffs has changed & now expect them to just miss.

In the end we are exactly where we started in terms of highlighting G as a need, and the understanding of what that might cost us. 

3 hours ago, dudacek said:

Why are you so convinced guys like Casey, R2 and Cozens are ahead of guys like Okposo and Lazar and Ralph is willfully ignoring that?

Ralph favouring the vets fits like a glove in my mind. It's one of the oldest coaching memes for a reason. I would favor the player that represents the greater impact potential but it's philosophical. 

Edited January 12, 2021 by Thorny

[Thorner]

8 minutes ago, Taro T said:

Expect that whether Cozens plays will come down to whether Krueger liked having Cozens work w/ the 2PP or wants to go back to Okposo.

Interesting that you expect Sheahan is in & Lazar is out should Cozens & Okposo both play Thursday.  Because my expectation is Lazar's FO excellence buys him one of the 4th line spots most nights. 

I guess cause I think he'd make a better C compliment to Skinner and Cozens. 

[Thorner]

I believe 3 lines to be the tipping point. If we have 3 real lines, I already know 2 are going to be great, the 3rd is going to be the Skinner-Cozens combo, and if Skinner-Cozens is a good combo, ipso facto that means they are scoring. Not like they'd be a D line. 

Putting together a 4th line is easy at that point. Whether it's Sheahan, Lazar, or Eakin centering Skinner and Cozens, taking one of the other 2 and playing them with your PK wingers Rieder and KO, whatever - we don't need to rely on them for much. 

We are relying on Cozens for a lot, let's be real. (Or Mittelstadt I guess but I just don't see that.) The good news is that if Cozens is good, he helps complete the roster rather than solidifying our base offence, solidifying a central piece, like say Casey was asked to year 1. 

They'd get into trouble if they attempted to play the 4th line in a checking role like Larsson's but why would they ever do that with a top 6 that can probably push the pace against anyone. 4th line can be a true energy line. 

I expect greatness from the top 6, but my hopes for the season lie with Skinner and Cozens as a tandem at this point. 

[dudacek]

40 minutes ago, Thorny said:

. 

Eakin probably represents the biggest discrepancy I can see in the F group in terms of Ralph having a different evaluation to pretty much everybody. They expect a key component, I'm not sure I expect even a component. . 

The Sabres have so many questions it’s hard to point at one, but Eakin is among the most pivotal in my mind: he is being relied on to improve our speed, our PK, our forechecking, our backchecking and our bottom six scoring. That is a helluvalot to put on a guy who scored 15 points last year with disastrous fancystats playing on two good teams. Do they have intel on why he sucked and reason to think he can reverse his graph?

@Brawndo’s comment really hit home for me about how he is the poster child for eye test versus analytics. I can’t say I’ve watched him a ton, but I remember him best from Dallas and Vegas playoff runs where I loved his hustle. I thought he would have fit in well on the 98 or 99 Sabres with his speed and relentless approach. But it’s hard to ignore last year’s numbers.

I think his play will definitely influence my respect for the player evaluation skills of our new staff.