What’s left for KA to do this Summer?

[dudacek]

7 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

.

DG also now has a full complement of real NHL D for the first time.  Bush and Joki are going to battle to see who is our 6th D.  Last here he had 3 guys he could fully trust, now he has 5.  It’s going to take some time to figure out how the puzzle fits together. 

Is the bold your opinion, or Donnie’s?

Because when has Granato ever shown a lack of trust in Jokiharju, or shown any inclination to prefer Boosh?

21 minutes a night last year for Henri. 15 for Ilya.

To paraphrase @Taro T, Granato loves him some Jokiharju.

[Pimlach]

6 hours ago, PASabreFan said:

And Ralph sold the snake oil?

I think Don is more than happy to take this long, slow ride with KA.

Job security, it's a helluva drug.

It’s the same trip that the Pittsburgh Steelers took to go from basement dwellers, to contenders, to champion,  to consistently in the race, to even more titles.  
 

I know hockey is much different than football but stable ownership and a stable front office and coaching staff is most important for success in any team sport.   

[inkman]

6 hours ago, PASabreFan said:

And Ralph sold the snake oil?

I think Don is more than happy to take this long, slow ride with KA.

Job security, it's a helluva drug.

Drugs are also a helluva drug.

 

 Ralph was made of snake oil.  

[GASabresIUFAN]

1 hour ago, dudacek said:

Is the bold your opinion, or Donnie’s?

Because when has Granato ever shown a lack of trust in Jokiharju, or shown any inclination to prefer Boosh?

21 minutes a night last year for Henri. 15 for Ilya.

To paraphrase @Taro T, Granato loves him some Jokiharju.

DG doesn’t ever dump on a player publicly and what we learned with Risto sometimes coaches play guys because that’s all they have.  Joki played 21 minutes because he was paired with Power and because he was a better option than Bush to pair with Power.  I don’t think the analytics support that was either guy was especially  “good” last year. There is a reason KA brought in 2 guys for the defense and not just one guy to pair with Power.  That reason is that the guys after the top 3 weren’t good enough.  

https://theathletic.com/3989459/2023/01/30/nhl-player-cards-buffalo-sabres-2/ While these cards aren’t perfect they do a good job illustrating the great divide in D last year.  The top 3 had and excess contract value of 16 mill, while Bush, Joki and Bryson had a -6.5 value.  According to these cards Joki was terrible on both ends of the ice and frankly that matched the eye test.  With 5 of the top 6 D slots now spoken for, my guess is Bush earns the 6th slot over Joki.

By comparison the hockey cards for Johnson had a market value of 4.5 and Clifton was 7.7.  Like I said these cards aren’t perfect but they clearly illustrate why Clifton and EJ were signed and why Joki and Bush were pushed farther down the depth chart. 

Edited July 7, 2023 by GASabresIUFAN

[Stoner]

I bet I could post snippets of RalphTalk and DonTalk and most couldn't tell the difference.

[nfreeman]

Just now, PASabreFan said:

I bet I could post snippets of RalphTalk and DonTalk and most couldn't tell the difference.

Jeez.  Why so gloomy?

They are going to be good this year.  Watching the games is going to be a lot of fun.

[Taro T]

21 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

I bet I could post snippets of RalphTalk and DonTalk and most couldn't tell the difference.

Very likely the case.  They both expound upon leadership philosophy.  They both ask their players to play a high tempo game.  The big differences being that Granato epitomizes the "Servant Leader" while Krueger though talking the talk of the servant leader was much more of a "Top Down" guy.  And, that Krueger from his years of being in management for underskilled organizations (Edmonton, the soccer team he was whatever they call the team president/GM over on the other side of the pond, the Swiss National Team at a minimum & likely even more) would coach a very defensive low event game hoping to keep things close enough that his team could steal a goal or 2 and accordingly steal the game which unless you are getting the hard earned W's is a very joyless game; while Granato coaches a more offensive high event game wherein he wants his players to be creative which makes for a much more enjoyable game.

Pretty sure Krueger will never get to a point where he allows any but a handful of his players to be creative and only the ones he sees as truly gifted will he allow to get to there and only in the right circumstances.  Remains to be seen if Granato's team can dial in a bit more structure to their game.  From the brief glimses we saw where they DID play a more structured game (the 2nd & 3rd periods of the Ryan Miller game being the prime example), believe he can successfully find that middle ground where the players both get creative and stay fully in the moment to be able to react quicker to when the attempts at creativity fail in the offensive zone and play more structured in their own end but stay fully in the moment to be able to support the moment of brilliance that a Dahlin or Thompson or ... can bring.

[Buffalonill]

Is this is all for adam's this summer he gets an F 

 

[Scottysabres]

1 hour ago, PASabreFan said:

I bet I could post snippets of RalphTalk and DonTalk and most couldn't tell the difference.

Oh ya, well Ralph never had a cool nickname like Donny "Meatballs" does!

So there's that...... 😀

[JohnC]

2 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

DG doesn’t ever dump on a player publicly and what we learned with Risto sometimes coaches play guys because that’s all they have.  Joki played 21 minutes because he was paired with Power and because he was a better option than Bush to pair with Power.  I don’t think the analytics support that was either guy was especially  “good” last year. There is a reason KA brought in 2 guys for the defense and not just one guy to pair with Power.  That reason is that the guys after the top 3 weren’t good enough.  

https://theathletic.com/3989459/2023/01/30/nhl-player-cards-buffalo-sabres-2/ While these cards aren’t perfect they do a good job illustrating the great divide in D last year.  The top 3 had and excess contract value of 16 mill, while Bush, Joki and Bryson had a -6.5 value.  According to these cards Joki was terrible on both ends of the ice and frankly that matched the eye test.  With 5 of the top 6 D slots now spoken for, my guess is Bush earns the 6th slot over Joki.

By comparison the hockey cards for Johnson had a market value of 4.5 and Clifton was 7.7.  Like I said these cards aren’t perfect but they clearly illustrate why Clifton and EJ were signed and why Joki and Bush were pushed farther down the depth chart. 

It's likely that Joki will be pushed down to the third pairing. I consider him to be a 4/5 player. You constantly show your desire to jettison him off the roster as if he is an anchor on the unit. He's not. You are correct that DG doesn't publicly denigrate a player who is a liability. However, in the case of Joki he does go out of his way to not only praise his play but also to point out that this young player has more upside to offer. It just seems to me that your scorn for this player doesn't match his actual play. Lybushkin is another story. He was a disappointment. Maybe injuries were a factor or he had difficulty playing in this faster paced system? I see him being pushed down in the pairings. 

I like the two players KA brought in to shore up the blueline. Clifton is likely to be the player that moves Joki down to the next pairing. Johnson is 35 yrs old. I don't see DG giving him workhorse minutes. His value is going to come in to play in the PK. And needless to say that is an area of great need.

[LGR4GM]

34 minutes ago, Buffalonill said:

Is this is all for adam's this summer he gets an F 

 

If I look at my Adams checklist I have:

Acquire a top 4 defender

Acquire a top 6 defender

Acquire a solid backup or fringe starting goalie

So he did about 67% of that, that's worth at least a C

[Buffalonill]

5 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

If I look at my Adams checklist I have:

Acquire a top 4 defender

Acquire a top 6 defender

Acquire a solid backup or fringe starting goalie

So he did about 67% of that, that's worth at least a C

What about a replacement for jack Quinn. 

They should get a vet a for a year Putting all your eggs in the basket with a young rookie could just be a huge cluster. F***.

 

[LTS]

1 hour ago, nfreeman said:

Jeez.  Why so gloomy?

They are going to be good this year.  Watching the games is going to be a lot of fun.

Some people here refuse to have fun... they are more Eeyore than ROR.

40 minutes ago, Buffalonill said:

Is this is all for adam's this summer he gets an F 

 

I have to imagine that even your personal rain cloud wants you to lighten up.

4 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

If I look at my Adams checklist I have:

Acquire a top 4 defender

Acquire a top 6 defender

Acquire a solid backup or fringe starting goalie

So he did about 67% of that, that's worth at least a C

You are only going to lead yourself into greater irritation by responding. Adams could have traded VO for McDavid with Edmonton retaining 50% salary and some people on here would still give him an F or complain.

[irregularly irregular]

'nill.... complaint Thursday was yesterday. Go outside, get some fresh air and sunshine. It's the weekend, enjoy it!

[LGR4GM]

8 minutes ago, Buffalonill said:

What about a replacement for jack Quinn. 

They should get a vet a for a year Putting all your eggs in the basket with a young rookie could just be a huge cluster. F***.

 

Lukas Rousek. Also there's still time and we know they are looking. 

[Crusader1969]

22 hours ago, Buffalonill said:

What about a replacement for jack Quinn. 

They should get a vet a for a year Putting all your eggs in the basket with a young rookie could just be a huge cluster. F***.

 

Maybe wait till sept before you give out grades 

 

 

[Buffalonill]

7 minutes ago, Crusader1969 said:

Maybe wait till sept before you give out grades 

 

 

Plenty of free agents available to fill that spot just for 1 year. 

Everyone will be gone by then besides Kane 

[Flashsabre]

1 hour ago, Buffalonill said:

Plenty of free agents available to fill that spot just for 1 year. 

Everyone will be gone by then besides Kane 

Maybe they think Rousek, Kulich, Savoie are ready for games. They also have VO’s 28 goals. 

I still would like to see a better goalie to team with Levi but there are still a lot of moving parts in the goalie ranks: Hellebuyck and Gibson want trades, Swayman, Samsonov and Gustavsson going to arbitration with cap strapped teams and Hart could be in play but the Team Canada police report has to come out first to make sure he is clear.

[Buffalonill]

3 hours ago, Flashsabre said:

Maybe they think Rousek, Kulich, Savoie are ready for games. They also have VO’s 28 goals. 

I still would like to see a better goalie to team with Levi but there are still a lot of moving parts in the goalie ranks: Hellebuyck and Gibson want trades, Swayman, Samsonov and Gustavsson going to arbitration with cap strapped teams and Hart could be in play but the Team Canada police report has to come out first to make sure he is clear.

I know you all think I'm being negative but you have to be a Realist .

Everyone is counting for the same thing to happen like last year high scoring etc but that isn't Realistic. 

 

[LGR4GM]

30 minutes ago, Buffalonill said:

I know you all think I'm being negative but you have to be a Realist .

Everyone is counting for the same thing to happen like last year high scoring etc but that isn't Realistic. 

 

Which player, be specific, do you expect to have a significant drop in scoring from last year? 

[nfreeman]

@Buffalonill -- so, to be clear, the current beef is that they didn't go out and get a top-6 FA forward to replace Quinn?

That's not a one-year patch.  That's a 3- to 5-year deal at $4-5MM+ per year.  Freaking ERod got a 4-year deal ($3MM per year).

The FAs you can get to sign the one-year patch deal, at least at this point in the summer, don't offer materially more than what the Sabres have in the system.

If Tarasenko decides he wants to play here for 1 year, or if Bertuzzi wants to choose the Sabres over the Leafs?  By all means.  But those are highly unlikely outcomes.

[Flashsabre]

59 minutes ago, Buffalonill said:

I know you all think I'm being negative but you have to be a Realist .

Everyone is counting for the same thing to happen like last year high scoring etc but that isn't Realistic. 

 

But the problem with that thinking is that Buffalo won’t be as good for “reasons” but every other team will be just as good again. Boston lost a ton. Toronto lost a lot, replaced some of it but are $9 million over the cap without their starting goalie signed. Tampa has lost some good pieces, I see no evidence that Detroit or Ottawa will be markedly better. Montreal is not going to be good.

So why is it just Buffalo that won’t be good even though they added two pieces to the backend and their guys are all coming back.

[Buffalonill]

2 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

Which player, be specific, do you expect to have a significant drop in scoring from last year? 

Everyone that had career years I know it's being negative but none of us should expect the same results 

[LGR4GM]

22 minutes ago, Buffalonill said:

Everyone that had career years I know it's being negative but none of us should expect the same results 

Other than Skinner, do we know if anyone had an actual career year though? It's not negative, I just think at the ages we have I'm not sure anyone had their career year yet. Maybe. 

[dudacek]

2 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Other than Skinner, do we know if anyone had an actual career year though? It's not negative, I just think at the ages we have I'm not sure anyone had their career year yet. Maybe. 

I said it before: there’s a big difference between a breakout year and a career year.

Based in general NHL trends, 2 players had totals he’s OK to be skeptical of: definitely Skinner and less so Tuch.

Mitts, Dahlin, Thompson and maybe Cozens are all at an age/experience level where it is reasonable to expect similar numbers more often than not over the next 5 or 6 years.

Quinn, Peterka, Krebs and Power are players where their peaks are almost certainly still to come.