bob_sauve28 Posted November 29, 2023 Report Posted November 29, 2023 We are missing four starting forwards and have replaced them with pretty good players The defense has seven players that all belong in NHL. When was the last time you could say that? The goalie situation has at least improved. 3 Quote
Sabres Fan in NS Posted November 29, 2023 Report Posted November 29, 2023 The issue remains that the replacement players, while being pretty good, lack enough NHL experience. I will say that things are looking better. The D has 6 NHL players and then they are all inbetween AHL and NHL players. Especially, if Bryson is still considered the 7th D. If it's *little Johnson* then maybe we do have 7 NHL D. The arguement could be made that some of the starting skaters are not all NHL players quite yet. The goalie situation is only improved because 6K is playing like his pants are on fire. Will that last? Probably not. The depth on this team is better, but only because everyone is a year older. You know the depth is not what it should be when an 18 year old makes the opening night roster, as good as he is, and is still playing regularly 20+ games in. 2 Quote
inkman Posted November 29, 2023 Report Posted November 29, 2023 The sheltered minutes Kulich and Rosen are getting is limiting this lineup. So much so they basically played 9-6 instead of 11-7. Not sure how sustainable that is, there is a reason teams ice 4 lines of players. 6 1 Quote
LGR4GM Posted November 29, 2023 Report Posted November 29, 2023 24 minutes ago, Sabres Fan in NS said: The depth on this team is better, but only because everyone is a year older. You know the depth is not what it should be when an 18 year old makes the opening night roster, as good as he is, and is still playing regularly 20+ games in. I disagree. I think instead of viewing it as we lack depth, you should be viewing it as Benson being exceptional. He shouldn't have been drafted 13th overall, but he was. Benson made the opening night roster not do to a lack of depth but because he is good. Honestly, he might make about 20 teams roster right now without much thought. I bet Boston, Tampa, and Vegas would all love to have Benson in their lineup right now, .5ppg forward for only 950k and he is solid defensively? Sign me up. (Note: I can math and I know that Benson is just under .5ppg but I think that is mirage and he will be easily at that the rest of the way) 3 1 Quote
Pimlach Posted November 29, 2023 Report Posted November 29, 2023 (edited) 1 hour ago, bob_sauve28 said: We are missing four starting forwards and have replaced them with pretty good players The defense has seven players that all belong in NHL. When was the last time you could say that? The goalie situation has at least improved. I don’t see it. The defense depth is improved from last with EJ, Clifton, and Ryan Johnson we have a rotation of 7, plus Bryson drops from 6 last year to 8 this year. That is a positive. The goalie situation has a first time #1 in UPL, an oft injured backup in Comrie, and Levi in the AHL. This is probably not what they expected but at least the goalies have been adequate as a whole. Forward depth is terrible. We ran 11-7 and basically played 9 forwards last game with Rosen getting 6 minutes, and Jost just over 5 minutes. Kulich was scratched in favor of the 7th D. This is not sustainable at all. Looks like Biro is taking Levi’s roster spot as a spare forward. Tage, Quinn, Girgensons, Greenway all on IR. Edited November 29, 2023 by Pimlach 1 Quote
WhenWillItEnd66 Posted November 29, 2023 Report Posted November 29, 2023 We do have some good depth. I think our Defense top 7 with little J looks very good. We have a lot of scoring talent but we seriously need to start acquiring and or drafting some power forwards that make a living in front of the net. even the prospects seem to want to play on the outside. This team will be deadly when we get that Quote
bob_sauve28 Posted November 29, 2023 Author Report Posted November 29, 2023 18 minutes ago, Pimlach said: I don’t see it. The defense depth is improved from last with EJ, Clifton, and Ryan Johnson we have a rotation of 7, plus Bryson at drops from 6 last year to 8 this year The goalie situation has a first time #1 in UPL, an oft injured backup in Comrie, and Levi in the AHL. This is probably not what they expected but at least the goalies have been adequate as a whole Forward depth is terrible. We ran 11-7 and basically played 9 forwards last game with Rosen getting 6 minutes, and Jost just over 5 minutes. Kulich was scratched in favor of the 7th D. This is not sustainable at all. Looks like Biro is taking Levi’s roster spot as a spare forward. Tage, Quinn, Girgensons, Greenway all on IR. Yes, those are big loses. That's my point Quote
Pimlach Posted November 29, 2023 Report Posted November 29, 2023 Just now, bob_sauve28 said: Yes, those are big loses. That's my point The injuries are facts. Your point is we have good depth. My point is we really don't know what we have at forward but the first look is it is not enough. We carried just one spare NHL forward in Jost, so that we could carry 3 goalies. Kulich and Rosen are skilled young prospects but is that good depth right now? They were both overwhelmed in NJ. Rosen played 6 minutes in NY, he held up ok. Biro is ok. Rousek is ok. We have depth, but "good depth" is a stretch IMO. I want you to be right, but I need to see more. 2 Quote
Gatorman0519 Posted November 29, 2023 Report Posted November 29, 2023 30 minutes ago, LGR4GM said: I disagree. I think instead of viewing it as we lack depth, you should be viewing it as Benson being exceptional. He shouldn't have been drafted 13th overall, but he was. Benson made the opening night roster not do to a lack of depth but because he is good. Honestly, he might make about 20 teams roster right now without much thought. I bet Boston, Tampa, and Vegas would all love to have Benson in their lineup right now, .5ppg forward for only 950k and he is solid defensively? Sign me up. (Note: I can math and I know that Benson is just under .5ppg but I think that is mirage and he will be easily at that the rest of the way) Agreed. Benson might be a top 5 pick in a do over. We might of actually got really lucky for once. I know some of the Vancouver and Montreal fans are livid they passed on Benson. He was well regarded up in Canada. 3 Quote
mjd1001 Posted November 29, 2023 Report Posted November 29, 2023 This team has a lot of potential depth, much of which will be very good in not too long from now. The issue is, if you have a FULL roster, that young depth you would ideally want to work into games gently. When you have young guys it helps if they are talented, but maybe the first few games you don't want to have to give them ice time in the 3rd period where if they mess up it can cost the team a win. 10 minutes ago, Gatorman0519 said: Agreed. Benson might be a top 5 pick in a do over. We might of actually got really lucky for once. I know some of the Vancouver and Montreal fans are livid they passed on Benson. He was well regarded up in Canada. We all have our opinions and we all think we know more than we do, and Benson, so far is an example. I wasn't upset that the Sabres drafted him...but something about him I wasn't feeling all that good about. Just didn't think it was a great pick and thought if he turned out he would be a 'decent' nhl player at best but it would take him 3-4 years to get to that point. Yep, I look to be pretty wrong on that one. 2 Quote
Brawndo Posted November 29, 2023 Report Posted November 29, 2023 Greenway to meet with KA after practice to discuss the next steps 5 1 Quote
LGR4GM Posted November 29, 2023 Report Posted November 29, 2023 Next steps because he is injured or because of the personal matter? Quote
Taro T Posted November 29, 2023 Report Posted November 29, 2023 3 minutes ago, Brawndo said: Greenway to meet with KA after practice to discuss the next steps 3 minutes ago, LGR4GM said: Next steps because he is injured or because of the personal matter? Yeah, what he asked. (Presuming it's the personal matter, but am really confused by this one. Hoping he's not dealing with a family member in a very precarious situation.) Quote
GASabresIUFAN Posted November 29, 2023 Report Posted November 29, 2023 He is listed as IR - NR (Non-Roster) according to capfriendly. Quote
Brawndo Posted November 29, 2023 Report Posted November 29, 2023 Sorry about all the new threads 3 6 Quote
Doohicksie Posted November 29, 2023 Report Posted November 29, 2023 (edited) 1 hour ago, Sabres Fan in NS said: The depth on this team is better, but only because everyone is a year older. ...and this includes the guys coming up from Rochester. Okay, they don't have enough NHL experience, but how do you suppose they get NHL experience? The way the Sabres are handling the issues at forward is, frankly, normal for the NHL, and I think there are several players on the cusp of being NHL ready- Biro, Rousek, Kulich, Rosen, Weissbach, Cederqvist, and although he's probably not destied to be a fulltime NHLer, Brett Murray has some NHL time in and could step in if needed. We don't want all those guys up right now, but at any given time, having one or two of those guys in the lineup isn't going to kill the team. Edited November 29, 2023 by Doohickie 2 Quote
Taro T Posted November 29, 2023 Report Posted November 29, 2023 6 minutes ago, Brawndo said: Sorry about all the new threads Not that it means anything (had never noticed the site had projected return dates for players on IR), but Puckpedia is forecasting Thompson's and Girgenson's return dates as December 2, Quinn December 27, and Greenway tomorrow. It seems they're citing Lysowski's articles about the injuries, so would take those projections with a HUGE grain of salt. So, take them for whatever they're worth; but if those are even close to accurate, the Sabres may be close to full strength much sooner than this kid expected. 2 Quote
LTS Posted November 29, 2023 Report Posted November 29, 2023 38 minutes ago, mjd1001 said: This team has a lot of potential depth, much of which will be very good in not too long from now. The issue is, if you have a FULL roster, that young depth you would ideally want to work into games gently. When you have young guys it helps if they are talented, but maybe the first few games you don't want to have to give them ice time in the 3rd period where if they mess up it can cost the team a win. We all have our opinions and we all think we know more than we do, and Benson, so far is an example. I wasn't upset that the Sabres drafted him...but something about him I wasn't feeling all that good about. Just didn't think it was a great pick and thought if he turned out he would be a 'decent' nhl player at best but it would take him 3-4 years to get to that point. Yep, I look to be pretty wrong on that one. I wouldn't decide anything on Benson yet. He looks good now. Cozens looked great last year. Until a player can string together a few seasons of excellence it's far too early to make any decree. Yes, it's great how Benson looks at the moment. That much is certain. 🙂 Quote
LTS Posted November 29, 2023 Report Posted November 29, 2023 Thompson will be out longer, I have no doubt. Not that we know for certain what happened, but I think we can all safely say it was wrist or hand. In those situation the two biggest impacts are the ability to put all the force on the stick for shots and being able to tolerate the vibration in the stick on slapshots and stick-checking. I'd love it to be sooner, but Dec 2 would be pretty amazing. 1 Quote
Sabres Fan in NS Posted November 29, 2023 Report Posted November 29, 2023 NHL GMs are really great at telling us something, but really not telling us anything at the same time. 2 Quote
Doohicksie Posted November 29, 2023 Report Posted November 29, 2023 1 hour ago, Pimlach said: We ran 11-7 and basically played 9 forwards last game with Rosen getting 6 minutes, and Jost just over 5 minutes. Kulich was scratched in favor of the 7th D. I think Granato is drawn to 11-7 because the Sabres have 7 solid defensemen. You are looking at it as half empty that the two extra forwards barely play; I look at is as half full that bubble players are getting a chance at limited minutes in the NHL. Even contenders see this situation occasionally, and it's a good way to get prospects some limited NHL experience so that they can better fill a real NHL billet later on. Quote
Doohicksie Posted November 29, 2023 Report Posted November 29, 2023 1 hour ago, bob_sauve28 said: Yes, those are big loses. That's my point And yet the team's play hasn't really dropped off. Part of that is they played like ***** out of the gate, but they are hanging around the bubble team pack for now. When players come off the IR they should be able to push toward a playoff slot. They just need to make sure they don't fall further behind until then. 1 1 Quote
Hank Posted November 29, 2023 Report Posted November 29, 2023 2 minutes ago, Doohickie said: I think Granato is drawn to 11-7 because the Sabres have 7 solid defensemen. You are looking at it as half empty that the two extra forwards barely play; I look at is as half full that bubble players are getting a chance at limited minutes in the NHL. Even contenders see this situation occasionally, and it's a good way to get prospects some limited NHL experience so that they can better fill a real NHL billet later on. Regarding 11-7, I'm personally not a fan of it. When Schenn came off LTIR Nashville started running 11-7, they just won their 6th straight game. 2 Quote
Doohicksie Posted November 29, 2023 Report Posted November 29, 2023 58 minutes ago, Pimlach said: Biro is ok. Rousek is ok. We have depth, but "good depth" is a stretch IMO. No team is going to have Top Six players as depth. They're going to have AHL-NHL tweeners and prospects. Either way, when injuries strike I would expect the healthy players would take a few extra minutes here and there to limit the exposure of the tweeners and prospects.... but that doesn't mean the depth players aren't contributing. 1 Quote
Night Train Posted November 29, 2023 Report Posted November 29, 2023 11 minutes ago, Sabres Fan in NS said: NHL GMs are really great at telling us something, but really not telling us anything at the same time. " Make sure to keep your balls tucked in nice and tight so you don’t trip over them. " 1 Quote
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