FrenchConnection44 Posted November 22, 2022 Report Posted November 22, 2022 This is a start to a discussion. Via ESPN. I am okay with not adding a bunch of free agents. But if the Pagula’s are not willing to start to spend this off-season something is amiss. I love the nucleus. But we do need some good coaching to improve and, really, an entire organizational structure. Many teams are able to build winners without massive $$$$ such as the Astros or Rays in MLB or even the Lightning in the NHL. Maybe we need to poach the Lightning Asst. GM? But there is some flotsam to be jettisoned and some fresh blood. And some better drafting. Frankly we have not drafted well, overall, given the draft positions. VIA ESPN: Buffalo's season began with promise. The Sabres were 7-3-0 on Nov. 2, boasting the NHL's fifth-best record and sitting second in the Atlantic Division. They've been the NHL's worst team ever since. Back-to-back losses at Carolina and Tampa Bay started a skid from which Buffalo has yet to recover -- an eight-game losing streak (through which the Sabres have been outscored 38-19) with seemingly no end in sight. Problems: Everyone from coach Don Granato to top defenseman Rasmus Dahlin has posited theories about the Sabres' rapid decline. An increasingly impatient Granato -- who chalked up the skid early on to a necessary learning experience -- has since cited a lack of urgency and identity within the group. Dahlin thinks Buffalo is short on swagger. Killer instinct? They don't have it. Or at least, not enough to pull out of this funk. Those are the intangible issues. Buffalo's performance on the ice has been laborious. In the Sabres' past eight games, only Jeff Skinnerhas scored more than one five-on-five goal. Tage Thompson has been an excellent producer on the power play, without the even-strength offense to match. Buffalo is averaging the most goals against per game since Nov. 3 (4.75) and their penalty kill is tied for worst in the league since then. Eric Comrie's play in net deteriorated (0-4-0, .865 save percentage and 4.28 goals-against average) until he was hurt against Ottawa earlier this month, forcing Buffalo to recall Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen as a complement for 40-year-old Craig Anderson. The veteran Anderson has outplayed Comrie of late (.881 SV%, 3.84 GAA), but at his age, Anderson can't be rolled out each night. Despite the Sabres' best offseason efforts, goaltending is a problem -- again. Buffalo has potential stars on the roster. Granato is still figuring out how best to use them. Dahlin deservedly generated early Norris Trophy buzz that has fizzled slightly along with the Sabres' hopes of busting an 11-year postseason drought. And that's not Dahlin's fault. He has arguably been Buffalo's best player, carrying a heavy workload and shepherding rookie Owen Powerwhen they're paired together. The Sabres just need more of everything, from everyone, everywhere. And that's going to be even tougher to get now that Kyle Okposo and Zemgus Girgensons are out with injuries, too. After a hot start to the season, the Sabres have struggled. Steph Chambers/Getty Images Solutions: The Sabres didn't add many pieces in the offseason. They were prepared to go to battle with a young core of players who will, in theory, be the bedrock of great Buffalo teams to come. What's happening now is a reflection of that choice. Granato pointed out too many poor efforts following Buffalo's recent loss to Toronto. He called for more determination, for the team to "dig down" and work their way out of this hole. Granato believes the Sabres' youth to be a major benefit in that. But how? Thompson, Dahlin, and Dylan Cozens have continuously put in the effort, with or without the desired results. That's the example Buffalo needs to follow. Their situation doesn't offer the most obvious solutions because, technically, the season is unfolding as planned. The next generation of Sabres is here now and doing its best to perform. Cultivating the right mindset that leads to consistent execution is part of that. The Sabres showed real flashes of early potential. That's not gone. One greasy win to end the streak goes a long way. Forget about expectations or postseason pressure. The Sabres have to decide, first and foremost, who they are, and what habits to hang their hat on game after game. Quote
tom webster Posted November 23, 2022 Report Posted November 23, 2022 Three things; #2 center to take Mitts place #4 defenseman #1 goalie 3 1 1 Quote
GASabresIUFAN Posted November 23, 2022 Report Posted November 23, 2022 2 defensive D and a goalie 2 Quote
Brawndo Posted November 23, 2022 Report Posted November 23, 2022 45 minutes ago, tom webster said: Three things; #2 center to take Mitts place #4 defenseman #1 goalie Cozens is this team 2C. Mitts shouldn’t be higher then 4C Agree on the rest 2 Quote
LTS Posted November 23, 2022 Report Posted November 23, 2022 That ESPN article is pure trash. It's clearly written to try and generate clicks. The team does lack swagger. This happens to every team. Examine the losing streaks in the NHL this year: https://champsorchumps.us/records/longest-nhl-losing-streaks-in-2023 The Sabres play the team they are tied with at the top, tomorrow night. The Blues have plenty of experience, including that often cited "MVP" that was traded from here, Eeyore. Didn't help them. The Penguins had 7 games, they are like the oldest team in the NHL.. age didn't help them. Calgary had 7 games. Because the Sabres are young they get thrown under the bus as not ready. It might be the case, they certainly have swagger but they need to find it and keep it, like they did tonight. They have issues, no doubt, but plenty of other teams much more highly thought of are right up there with the Sabres on losing streaks. 1 Quote
Crusader1969 Posted November 23, 2022 Report Posted November 23, 2022 I can tell you what they don’t need Jacob Bryson in the lineuP i realize that plus / minus is a flawed metric but Bryson is minus 13 of the lineup tonight Lyubushkin is minus 1 everyone else is positive He’s an anchor , the 2022 Bjork and Eakin. Otherwise I think this team is pretty good and should get to 84-90 points 1 Quote
tom webster Posted November 23, 2022 Report Posted November 23, 2022 50 minutes ago, Brawndo said: Cozens is this team 2C. Mitts shouldn’t be higher then 4C Agree on the rest I don’t necessarily disagree. Quote
Crusader1969 Posted November 23, 2022 Report Posted November 23, 2022 Arizona asking for 2 first rounders for Chychrun plus one other piece next years lottery protected first plus Östlund or Rosen, rights to the Michigan goalie and Bryson i do it tomorrow What do you say? Quote
Curt Posted November 23, 2022 Report Posted November 23, 2022 5 minutes ago, Crusader1969 said: Arizona asking for 2 first rounders for Chychrun plus one other piece next years lottery protected first plus Östlund or Rosen, rights to the Michigan goalie and Bryson i do it tomorrow What do you say? He would be a nice addition. 3rd pair would end up getting like 12 mins a night. I would just worry about his health. He misses 20-30 games every season. Quote
GoPuckYourself Posted November 23, 2022 Report Posted November 23, 2022 Top 4 veteran D, also an upgrade to Bryson. Goalie who can bail our team out when they aren't playing like they should be. Get bigger especially in the bottom 6 even if we go the route of NYR, I want some nasty players who nobody wants to play against. And i don't necessarily mean goons but big bodies who can hit, stand up for teammates, grind along the boards and for the love of all that is holy some players who stand in front of the net. 1 Quote
Crusader1969 Posted November 23, 2022 Report Posted November 23, 2022 5 minutes ago, Curt said: He would be a nice addition. 3rd pair would end up getting like 12 mins a night. I would just worry about his health. He misses 20-30 games every season. Hopefully he is healthy when Samuelsson is hurt 😫 when healthy Chychrun Joker Samuelsson Dahlin Power Lyubushkin now that looks pretty good on paper! Listing of pairs and no particular order. Of course Dahlin and Mule are the top pair. Quote
Indabuff Posted November 23, 2022 Report Posted November 23, 2022 This guy NSFW Sorry if already posted here Quote
Curt Posted November 23, 2022 Report Posted November 23, 2022 10 minutes ago, Crusader1969 said: Hopefully he is healthy when Samuelsson is hurt 😫 when healthy Chychrun Joker Samuelsson Dahlin Power Lyubushkin now that looks pretty good on paper! Listing of pairs and no particular order. Of course Dahlin and Mule are the top pair. I would definitely go with: Samuelsson-Dahlin 24 mins Power-Chychrun 24 mins Jokiharju-Lyubushkin 12 mins Quote
Zamboni Posted November 23, 2022 Report Posted November 23, 2022 37 minutes ago, Indabuff said: This guy NSFW Sorry if already posted here That was 28 seconds of my life I wish I had back. What a tool. 1 Quote
Refuting Posted November 23, 2022 Report Posted November 23, 2022 1 minute ago, Zamboni said: That was 28 seconds of my life I wish I had back. What a tool. Guy probly can't even tie his own skates Quote
Pimlach Posted November 23, 2022 Report Posted November 23, 2022 13 hours ago, tom webster said: Three things; #2 center to take Mitts place #4 defenseman #1 goalie We are aligned. Lots of people say Cozens is the #2. I say he could grow into it but we should have a more viable #2 right now and it hurts us. A solid and tough #4 Defensemen pushes Joker to 5 and Looby to 6. That is a pretty good core especially since the top 3 are excellent. The Goalie is huge. After these three I would look for someone solid and menacing to play in the bottom 6. Need to get a bit of nasty on the team. Quote
Doohicksie Posted November 23, 2022 Report Posted November 23, 2022 13 hours ago, Brawndo said: Cozens is this team 2C. Mitts shouldn’t be higher then 4C You know what though? I think Mitts could be a decent 4C. Quote
mjd1001 Posted November 23, 2022 Report Posted November 23, 2022 (edited) They need time. 90% of what they need is time. D-unit is young. Dahlin is elite now. Hes one of the top 10 D-men in the game, maybe top 5. He can control a game from back there. If Power keeps getting better, you have the possibility of having Dahlin or Power on the ice for almost 70% of the game. But Power needs time to get better. Up front, you have what looks to be a dominant Center in Tage. You have a couple of 'good wingers'. You 'need' Peterka, Cozens, Krebs, and Quinn to get better. At least 2, hopefully 3 of them to get noticably better. But again, that takes time. As said by a few other people when talking about New Jersey, Hughes and Hirschier up front are playing great, but they played really poorly and the team was bad for a few YEARS until they got to where they are now. Time. Edited November 23, 2022 by mjd1001 1 Quote
sabresparaavida Posted November 23, 2022 Report Posted November 23, 2022 I think the question needs a bit more clarification. What do the Sabres need to make the playoffs? What do the Sabres need to win the cup? 2 very different questions. Currently, the Sabres have 4 players in the top 53 of scoring. Cozens is also tied for 106. Skinner-Thompson-Tuch has been playing like a high end 1st line. cozens has been playing like an average 2C. With a bit more time I think he’ll be a high end 2C (Think Kadri of last season) JJP and Quinn have been playing like solid middle 6 forwards. In a years time, I think they’ll be solid 2nd liners, with more room to grow. Krebs has been scary for me, and I’m not sure he’ll be much of anything at this level, but it’s possible. Asplund is a good 4th liner. Mitts has potential to be the 3C, but needs to do a lot more at even strength first. Vinny, Girgs, are spare parts that are adequate for 4th line roles. Okposo is a good middle 6 forward, but is on an expiring contract, Oloffson is a fine 3rd liner. Dahlin is a 1D. Samuellson is a nice complement for him. Power will be a great 2/3D (that may play like a 1D)for us with time, right now he’s not quite there, is more like a 4 now. Jokiharju/Lybushkin are both solid 5s. bryson is a 7. On Defense, we need some time for Power to mature, and to add a 4D. Once that happens, our defense will be playoff calibre, possibly cup calibre. Goalie is the rough spot. Levi is the hope of the future, but could be 2-5 years from being ready for the starters workload. We need a #1 goalie bad. To make the playoffs, all this team needs is a #1 goalie, and to stay reasonably healthy IMO. To become a cup contender, we need time for our rookies to get to the level where they can make an impact, as well as a #1 goalie, #4D, and a depth forward or two. Quote
Brawndo Posted November 23, 2022 Report Posted November 23, 2022 1 hour ago, Doohickie said: You know what though? I think Mitts could be a decent 4C. Agree, He is very good on special teams and this would limit His 5v5 time 2 Quote
pi2000 Posted November 23, 2022 Report Posted November 23, 2022 They need depth on defense. TRPM shows both Bryson and Fitzgerald are struggling We know Mittlestadt, Krebs and Olofosson are not playing well either... no surprise to see them at the bottom here. ============================================================== BUF even strength goal differential through 19 games = -2 BUF even strength minutes played through 19 games = 910.45 exp+/- is a function of %min played at ES and team ES goal diff TRpm(team relative +/-) is the diff btwn actual+/- and exp+/- %min is % of ES minutes played ============================================================== Team Player TRpm GP +/- exp+/- %min BUF Rasmus Dahlin 8.77 18 8 -0.77 38.5 BUF Mattias Samuelsson 8.20 6 8 -0.20 10.2 BUF Owen Power 3.85 19 3 -0.85 42.7 BUF Alex Tuch 3.54 19 3 -0.54 27.1 BUF Jeff Skinner 3.54 19 3 -0.54 26.8 BUF Tage Thompson 2.56 19 2 -0.56 28.0 BUF Henri Jokiharju 2.26 8 2 -0.26 13.0 BUF Rasmus Asplund 1.40 17 1 -0.40 19.9 BUF Jack Quinn 1.33 14 1 -0.33 16.4 BUF Dylan Cozens 0.52 19 0 -0.52 26.2 BUF Zemgus Girgensons 0.39 18 0 -0.39 19.6 BUF Kyle Okposo 0.35 14 0 -0.35 17.3 BUF Anders Bjork 0.02 1 0 -0.02 1.1 BUF Tyson Jost 0.02 1 0 -0.02 0.8 BUF Ilya Lyubushkin -0.61 14 -1 -0.39 19.7 BUF Vinnie Hinostroza -1.67 12 -2 -0.33 16.3 BUF Lawrence Pilut -1.70 11 -2 -0.30 15.2 BUF Kale Clague -1.76 7 -2 -0.24 12.0 BUF Riley Sheahan -1.96 2 -2 -0.04 1.8 BUF Victor Olofsson -3.49 19 -4 -0.51 25.5 BUF Peyton Krebs -3.62 16 -4 -0.38 19.1 BUF Casey Fitzgerald -3.69 12 -4 -0.31 15.5 BUF Casey Mittelstadt -6.49 19 -7 -0.51 25.7 BUF Jacob Bryson -12.34 19 -13 -0.66 33.1 ============================================================== Quote
Curt Posted November 23, 2022 Report Posted November 23, 2022 24 minutes ago, pi2000 said: They need depth on defense. TRPM shows both Bryson and Fitzgerald are struggling We know Mittlestadt, Krebs and Olofosson are not playing well either... no surprise to see them at the bottom here. ============================================================== BUF even strength goal differential through 19 games = -2 BUF even strength minutes played through 19 games = 910.45 exp+/- is a function of %min played at ES and team ES goal diff TRpm(team relative +/-) is the diff btwn actual+/- and exp+/- %min is % of ES minutes played ============================================================== Team Player TRpm GP +/- exp+/- %min BUF Rasmus Dahlin 8.77 18 8 -0.77 38.5 BUF Mattias Samuelsson 8.20 6 8 -0.20 10.2 BUF Owen Power 3.85 19 3 -0.85 42.7 BUF Alex Tuch 3.54 19 3 -0.54 27.1 BUF Jeff Skinner 3.54 19 3 -0.54 26.8 BUF Tage Thompson 2.56 19 2 -0.56 28.0 BUF Henri Jokiharju 2.26 8 2 -0.26 13.0 BUF Rasmus Asplund 1.40 17 1 -0.40 19.9 BUF Jack Quinn 1.33 14 1 -0.33 16.4 BUF Dylan Cozens 0.52 19 0 -0.52 26.2 BUF Zemgus Girgensons 0.39 18 0 -0.39 19.6 BUF Kyle Okposo 0.35 14 0 -0.35 17.3 BUF Anders Bjork 0.02 1 0 -0.02 1.1 BUF Tyson Jost 0.02 1 0 -0.02 0.8 BUF Ilya Lyubushkin -0.61 14 -1 -0.39 19.7 BUF Vinnie Hinostroza -1.67 12 -2 -0.33 16.3 BUF Lawrence Pilut -1.70 11 -2 -0.30 15.2 BUF Kale Clague -1.76 7 -2 -0.24 12.0 BUF Riley Sheahan -1.96 2 -2 -0.04 1.8 BUF Victor Olofsson -3.49 19 -4 -0.51 25.5 BUF Peyton Krebs -3.62 16 -4 -0.38 19.1 BUF Casey Fitzgerald -3.69 12 -4 -0.31 15.5 BUF Casey Mittelstadt -6.49 19 -7 -0.51 25.7 BUF Jacob Bryson -12.34 19 -13 -0.66 33.1 ============================================================== Samuelsson must lead the league TRpm/60! JJP is missing? Quote
Goldseatsaud Posted November 23, 2022 Report Posted November 23, 2022 A new guy instead of Rob Ray. Quote
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