Annual expectations thread 2022/23: #25 Owen Power

[LGR4GM]

1 hour ago, inkman said:

Do you think Lybushkin would be a better fit?  I don’t like Joki in that spot either.  

Yes, because all Lybushkin has to do is separate his man from the puck and get it to either Power or the forward. Joker is going to try and skate it out, deke it out, pass it out and honestly he doesn't play at a speed high enough to be successful against the lines Power will see. 

[Brawndo]

2 hours ago, inkman said:

Do you think Lybushkin would be a better fit?  I don’t like Joki in that spot either.  

 

1 hour ago, LGR4GM said:

Yes, because all Lybushkin has to do is separate his man from the puck and get it to either Power or the forward. Joker is going to try and skate it out, deke it out, pass it out and honestly he doesn't play at a speed high enough to be successful against the lines Power will see. 

Although I agree that Lubushkin would probably be a better fit, He does have a tendency to pull down His D Partners Offensive Metrics slightly. It happened with Chychrun in Arizona and Reilly in Toronto. 
 

I imagine when the Sabres are protecting a lead with five minutes left, the D Pairings that will be sent out are Dahlin-Samuelson and Power-Lubushkin 

Edited October 12, 2022 by Brawndo

[Taro T]

1 hour ago, Brawndo said:

 

Although I agree that Lubushkin would probably be a better fit, He does have a tendency to pull down His D Partners Offensive Metrics slightly. It happened with Chychrun in Arizona and Reilly in Toronto. 
 

I imagine when the Sabres are protecting a lead with five minutes left, the D Pairings that will be sent out are Dahlin-Samuelson and Power-Lubushkin 

Expect the bolded is correct.  But would much rather we see Jokiharju getting pulled up onto the 2nd pairing when they're down a goal late rather than pulling Lybushkin up to protect a lead late.  Because, expect we'll be protecting a lead late far more often if Jokiharju is running the 3rd pair than otherwise.

And, while personally much prefer the concept of the Power Lyubushkin pair over the reality of the Power Joker pair, could see a reason to go with Power - Buusch at home & Power-Joker on the road to make sure we don't see Bryson-Joker out against the MacKinnon or Bergeron lines.

[dudacek]

50 minutes ago, Taro T said:

Expect the bolded is correct.  But would much rather we see Jokiharju getting pulled up onto the 2nd pairing when they're down a goal late rather than pulling Lybushkin up to protect a lead late.  Because, expect we'll be protecting a lead late far more often if Jokiharju is running the 3rd pair than otherwise.

And, while personally much prefer the concept of the Power Lyubushkin pair over the reality of the Power Joker pair, could see a reason to go with Power - Buusch at home & Power-Joker on the road to make sure we don't see Bryson-Joker out against the MacKinnon or Bergeron lines.

This is an underrated reason for wanting to keep Jokiharju with Power. Bryson/Joker just seems like a bad idea.

Edited October 12, 2022 by dudacek

[Taro T]

8 minutes ago, dudacek said:

This is an underrated reason for wanting to keep Jokiharju with Power. Bryson/Joker just seems like a bad idea.

Thought you hated the idea of Jokiharju on the 3rd pairing because he's a legit top 4 guy at this point in time.  

Personally don't want him paired w/ Power because don't want Power having to cover for his defensive zone gaffes while Power is a rookie.  (And yes, Joker is a 4/5 that may become a 4 (hopefully) but he isn't there yet.