Who is your “Core 5”?

[Flashsabre]

Fun question, no wrong answers.

Who do you choose as your Sabres “Core 5”? The five players you would lock in as the 5 to keep and build around while other pieces move in and out.

I’m going to go outside the box a little:

1) Dahlin

2) Power

3) Cozens

4) Levi

5) Tuch

Tuch over Tage was a tough decision but they are close enough in age that I went with Tuch because I feel he brings just a bit more to the team overall.

Tage, Muel and Quinn are my next tier just outside the core.

[SDS]

Are you referring to the untouchable ones that you would not trade for Connor Bedard?

[Weave]

5 minutes ago, SDS said:

Are you referring to the untouchable ones that you would not trade for Connor Bedard?

If you do not know who Bedard is, you should not join the…….

ahhh, nevermind.

Edited May 4, 2023 by Weave

[GASabresIUFAN]

There is no one on this team I won’t trade for Bedard one for one.  The question is how much more would I have to give to get a Bedard desl done that makes such a trade highly unlikely.  

The Sabres core 5 are Levi, Power, Dahlin, Cozens and TNT for now.  However, KA isn’t moving on from Tuch, Samuelsson or Quinn either. 

[Zamboni]

I think the core is larger than 5.

[Weave]

Dahlin and Power absolutely for sure.

I think you have to assume centers next so Thompson and Cozens. I might be convinced to exchange Tuch for one of them.

I need to see a full season with Levi before I proclaim him a core player, but if he doesn’t establish himself as one over the next 2 seasons we might be *****.

Wonder how the players change if we ever see them on a playoff series?

[Huckleberry]

Thompson - Tuch - Dhalin - Power - Samuellson - Tuch - Quinn - Cozens - Levi

[Weave]

[Claude Balls]

31 minutes ago, Huckleberry said:

Thompson - Tuch - Dhalin - Power - Samuellson - Tuch - Quinn - Cozens - Levi

Does Tuch have a brother we don't know about? 😉

[Huckleberry]

4 minutes ago, Claude Balls said:

Does Tuch have a brother we don't know about? 😉

He actually does, but in canadiens system 🙂

[French Collection]

I really want Levi to be a part of the core but he must earn that.

I don’t know why it has to be a hard and fast number like 5 but my 5 are:

Dahlin, Cozens, Thompson, Power and Tuch.

[Curt]

Has to be Dahlin, Power, Thompson, Cozens, Tuch right now.

 

[Flashsabre]

21 minutes ago, French Collection said:

I really want Levi to be a part of the core but he must earn that.

I don’t know why it has to be a hard and fast number like 5 but my 5 are:

Dahlin, Cozens, Thompson, Power and Tuch.

In reality it doesn’t and isn’t. I just wanted to see if you had to limit it to 5 if most people would be on the same page.

[SDS]

47 minutes ago, Huckleberry said:

He actually does, but in canadiens system 🙂

But it seems like you actually do know about him. 🤔

[MattPie]

14 minutes ago, SDS said:

But it seems like you actually do know about him. 🤔

LOL, Alex Tuch's has siblings that are fraternal twins named Luke and Leah (Luke is in the Habs system).

[Thorner]

48 minutes ago, Curt said:

Has to be Dahlin, Power, Thompson, Cozens, Tuch right now.

 

For me, I’ll go

Dahlin

Power

Cozens

Thompson

Quinn

..probably in order 

[Night Train]

2 hours ago, Zamboni said:

I think the core is larger than 5.

Maybe he's referring to his 7 man street hockey team.

[pi2000]

To me a team core is a combination of ability, locker room presence, and how bad they want to be here.  

These are the heart and soul guys who create the team culture and younger players look up to.

5 most core guys:  Dahlin, Thompson, Cozens, Tuch, Samuelsson

I'm not counting Okposo because he's not under contract.   Power, Quinn, Krebs, Peterka are still too young.

 

[Rusty P Viaduct]

6 guys on the ice:

Dahlin

Power

Cozens

Thompson

Tuch

Levi

+Quinn

[JoeSchmoe]

Why a core 5? Seems obvious we have a bigger core than that.

[Weave]

1 hour ago, JoeSchmoe said:

Why a core 5? Seems obvious we have a bigger core than that.

He already explained it.  Sheesh.  You can always start your own concept thread.

[Two or less]

Core 5-

Dahlin

Power

Thompson

Cozens

Tuch

[matter2003]

12 minutes ago, Two or less said:

Core 5-

Dahlin

Power

Thompson

Cozens

Tuch

^This

[French Collection]

I was curious about a couple of recent cores of successful teams.

Tampa’s run from 2018/19 to 2021/22 included 2 Cups, 3 Finals and a President’s Trophy. They had 9 guys play all four of those years. Non core guys they have kept are Killorn, Cirelli, Cernak and Sergachev.

Chicago’s run of 3 Cups in 6 years had 8 guys there for the whole thing. Crawford wasn’t a factor in the first Cup while Sharp and Hjalmarsson are not really core players.

I am surprised at how much roster churn there is in 4-6 year periods.

Those two team’s cores were around 5 but some of the players not considered core were pretty darned important. Sharp was a good all round player and Hjalmarsson was an underrated shutdown D.

When the Sabres hit contender status it will be interesting to see who remains and who gets moved. I’ll have to not get too attached to players.

[Doohicksie]

Dahlin
Tuch
Power
Cozens
Mitts

 

Fight me.