Practice Lines, Samuelsson Paired with Jokiharju

[Brawndo]

 

[matter2003]

Nice! Samuelsson much needed to be back!

[Hank]

Love the pairings!  It's what I've wanted to see since day one!

[Norcal]

Hail Muel 🙋‍♂️

[Taro T]

1 hour ago, Brawndo said:

 

Makes sense to drop him off the top pairing his 1st game or 2 back.

But hoping he moves back up soon.  Power has been playing pretty well, but expect he'll have fewer rookie mistakes (& might even snag a goal or 2) going against the other teams' 2nd & 3rd lines & 2nd pairing.

Plus, didn't Dahlin's goal streak stop about the time Muel got injured?

[Marvin]

28 minutes ago, Taro T said:

Plus, didn't Dahlin's goal streak stop about the time Muel got injured?

Yes.

We might see a mighty turn-around within a few games once he is back in form.

May I add that his contract will be a fricking bargain.

[Sabres Fan in NS]

Rasmus needs his Mule.  Power needs his Lube Man.

The others should be able to manage 5 through 7.  Maybe.

The top 4 are good to great.  The bottom 3 are barely serviceable.  Especially on a good team.

[spndnchz]

Mule and Lube.  Got it 👍🏻

[matter2003]

20 minutes ago, spndnchz said:

Mule and Lube.  Got it 👍🏻

Don't go giving some weirdo women ideas...

[kas23]

I don’t like Dahlin on the left side. I feel it neuters his offense. 

[nfreeman]

I haven't loved the Dahlin-Power pairing.  It seems like it's taken playmaking opportunity away from Dahlin.

[inkman]

17 minutes ago, nfreeman said:

I haven't loved the Dahlin-Power pairing.  It seems like it's taken playmaking opportunity away from Dahlin.

It doesn’t seems to be working period.  Also, it puts their two best D on one pair leaving the barely skilled waifs to fend for themselves for 2/3 of the game.  Not good. 

[Brawndo]

5 minutes ago, inkman said:

It doesn’t seems to be working period.  Also, it puts their two best D on one pair leaving the barely skilled waifs to fend for themselves for 2/3 of the game.  Not good. 

[PerreaultForever]

31 minutes ago, nfreeman said:

I haven't loved the Dahlin-Power pairing.  It seems like it's taken playmaking opportunity away from Dahlin.

I think it's the wrong way to go as well but MAYBE this is just for a few games to give Samuelsson less minutes as he works his way back into game condition.

The Dahlin/Samuelsson top pairing is the only one that makes sense. A stay at home guy who hits and blocks shots with a speedy offensively skilled guy. As it should be. 

That 4th line just looks - wrong. Kind of hope Granato is planning on limited ice time for that one. 

[mjd1001]

2 hours ago, Sabres Fan in NS said:

Rasmus needs his Mule.  Power needs his Lube Man.

The others should be able to manage 5 through 7.  Maybe.

The top 4 are good to great.  The bottom 3 are barely serviceable.  Especially on a good team.

I'm happy with a great top 4 and 'serviceable-at-best' 3rd pair.  We have seen on the Sabres, and other NHL teams that borderline-NHL players CAN fill out a roster effectively if they aren't put in bad positions.  If the bottom 2 only gets 12 or so minutes of ice time, and they uses strategically (line matched at home and the proper offensive zone/d-zone starts for their ability), then you can have the top 4 carry the load and basically use the bottom 2 for giving the top 4 their rest.

The key is, you need that top for available an playing healthy.

[Marvin]

13 minutes ago, mjd1001 said:

I'm happy with a great top 4 and 'serviceable-at-best' 3rd pair.  We have seen on the Sabres, and other NHL teams that borderline-NHL players CAN fill out a roster effectively if they aren't put in bad positions.  If the bottom 2 only gets 12 or so minutes of ice time, and they uses strategically (line matched at home and the proper offensive zone/d-zone starts for their ability), then you can have the top 4 carry the load and basically use the bottom 2 for giving the top 4 their rest.

The key is, you need that top for available an playing healthy.

I am not of this school.  IMHO, your 3rd pair should be more functional.  I want my 3rd pair to be 2005-6 quality and my 7th to be at least as serviceable as Fitzpatrick was.

[mjd1001]

1 minute ago, Marvin said:

I am not of this school.  IMHO, your 3rd pair should be more functional.  I want my 3rd pair to be 2005-6 quality and my 7th to be at least as serviceable as Fitzpatrick was.

I guess my point is...if you don't push them up the lineup, they will play better in the ice time they do get.  The bigger issue is I don't see how you improve that 3rd pair...

[SwampD]

59 minutes ago, inkman said:

It doesn’t seems to be working period.  Also, it puts their two best D on one pair leaving the barely skilled waifs to fend for themselves for 2/3 of the game.  Not good. 

Half the game.

[pastajoe]

I don’t like those pairings. Samuelsson should be with Dahlin and Jokiharju with Power to balance an offense with a defensive player.

[Taro T]

2 hours ago, pastajoe said:

I don’t like those pairings. Samuelsson should be with Dahlin and Jokiharju with Power to balance an offense with a defensive player.

Jokiharju should ONLY see time in the top 4 while Lyubushkin is recovering is recovering.  The sooner he is back to 3rd pairing legitimately, the sooner the D will be legit NHL quality.

[grinreaper]

18 minutes ago, Taro T said:

Jokiharju should ONLY see time in the top 4 while Lyubushkin is recovering is recovering.  The sooner he is back to 3rd pairing legitimately, the sooner the D will be legit NHL quality.

The Sabres are in a position that they can field a defense like Nashville had a few years back. I'm not saying it should be done right away because we need to develop our young prospects to see what we have but I would guess that we should have enough ammunition in a year or two to be able to make some moves for a really good defenseman or two. A top notch defense and (hopefully) a Levi and Portillo playing really well would really be something. 

[Taro T]

5 minutes ago, grinreaper said:

The Sabres are in a position that they can field a defense like Nashville had a few years back. I'm not saying it should be done right away because we need to develop our young prospects to see what we have but I would guess that we should have enough ammunition in a year or two to be able to make some moves for a really good defenseman or two. A top notch defense and (hopefully) a Levi and Portillo playing really well would really be something. 

Absolutely.

And it's why having somehow had Jiricek fall to them would've been so sweet.  In 2 years they'd have the best top 4 in the league.  And if Jokiharju and Johnson were the 3rd pair, it'd be ridiculously solid.  Plus that'd be the time the Russians might be ready to come over as well. 

[Doohicksie]

By the end of the game Muel will be paired with Dahlin.

[Refuting]

Oloffson should be on the second line 

[Taro T]

7 hours ago, Doohickie said:

By the end of the game Muel will be paired with Dahlin.

Unless he's FULLY recovered from the injury, hope not.

More likely, if they need to spread useful D onto other pairings that Jokiharju ends up back w/ Dahlin.  Granato loves him some Henri.