Someone Tell Me What Owen Power Does Well?!?!

[SABRES 0311]

Power is trying to bring offense from the back end. Just a wild guess but I bet DG told him to play his game and gives Power a long leash.

What he does well is give up odd man rushes. A product of being one of a number of players not performing how many had hoped.

[Archie Lee]

Every underperforming player on this team gets an asterisk from me for this season. This team was not, intentionally or otherwise, built to be successful. That is becoming clear. I do think there is a role for nearly every player on this team on a playoff squad, but collectively and with the current coaches they are not good enough. Until we get serious about icing and employing an overall playoff level team, there will be players who disappoint and who will be unfairly ridiculed for things that are largely out of their control. Power is currently in that group. 
 

I think of the nights when Eichel would be caught looking disinterested on the back check and people would think he is lazy. Or, the other nights when he would race back into his zone only to be lost in space, picking up nobody, leaving people thinking this guy can’t defend. Funny how those issues largely disappear on a veteran cup contending team with a top-level NHL coach. 
 

I don’t want to see any particular coach fired or any particular player traded. I just want to see the GM make moves and decisions that send the clear message that it is time to win. If we don’t do that soon, then we are just setting up Dahlin, Thompson, Cozens to be the next Eichel, Reinhart, Risto. 

[xzy89c1]

On 12/28/2023 at 12:04 PM, inkman said:

I’ve heard a ton, and I mean a ***** ton, of fans talk about accountability.  What does that look like to you? 

When you make mistakes, you are held accountable. Dropped down in lineup or just lost ice time. Or you are done for game to send a message.  In sabres case you are more likely to get pat on back than kick in butt if you make mistakes. So many times, I watch a horrible play by a player, be it a giveaway, or being on wrong side of player in defensive zone and think he should not see ice for rest of period, but they are right back out there. 

Tuch and many other Sabres wingers have an incredible pattern of being in corner defensively and throwing the puck up the boards to where they should be. Right to the dman. That is a quick discussion about never doing that again and if he does, he sits a couple shifts. He knows why, everyone on the team knows why and they see accountability enforced.

Make sense?

[inkman]

32 minutes ago, xzy89c1 said:

When you make mistakes, you are held accountable. Dropped down in lineup or just lost ice time. Or you are done for game to send a message.  In sabres case you are more likely to get pat on back than kick in butt if you make mistakes. So many times, I watch a horrible play by a player, be it a giveaway, or being on wrong side of player in defensive zone and think he should not see ice for rest of period, but they are right back out there. 

Tuch and many other Sabres wingers have an incredible pattern of being in corner defensively and throwing the puck up the boards to where they should be. Right to the dman. That is a quick discussion about never doing that again and if he does, he sits a couple shifts. He knows why, everyone on the team knows why and they see accountability enforced.

Make sense?

Sounds more like consequences than accountability.  Regardless, you’d be benching Skinner, Power, Dahlin, Cozens, and Tage for whole periods if that’s how you want to run things.  Which would mean more Krebs, Girgs, Okposo, Clifton and Erik Johnson.  Maybe that’s what you want.  
 

[That Aud Smell]

1 hour ago, inkman said:

Sounds more like consequences than accountability. 

[JohninMinn.]

His booming slapshot and being the enforcer when things get chippy.

[Night Train]

2 hours ago, xzy89c1 said:

When you make mistakes, you are held accountable. Dropped down in lineup or just lost ice time. Or you are done for game to send a message.  In sabres case you are more likely to get...

A new 7 or 8 year bloated contract. 

[GrassValleyGreg]

Owen is a plus skater and passer, who excels with his offensive zone instincts, particularly knowing when to jump the zone and support cycles/become 4th forward/etc. He is also extremely adept at zone exits, often generating quick transition with his passing from the backend. His massive wingspan should support his growth in the D zone, disrupting zone entries and taking away passing lanes.  

Unfortunately, his mistakes jump from the screen because they are mostly a result of a 21 year old growing into a 6'6" body. The goofy turnovers appear more egregious and are thus more frustrating. Anyone who is upset that he doesn't throw his body around more will never like the player. 

This is my hopeful read of a second year, barely 21 year old defenseman to counter what I see as a gross overreaction from a frustrated fan base. Defenseman take much longer to develop, particularly those who are 6'6".

[Sabres Fan in NS]

18 minutes ago, GrassValleyGreg said:

Owen is a plus skater and passer, who excels with his offensive zone instincts, particularly knowing when to jump the zone and support cycles/become 4th forward/etc. He is also extremely adept at zone exits, often generating quick transition with his passing from the backend. His massive wingspan should support his growth in the D zone, disrupting zone entries and taking away passing lanes.  

Unfortunately, his mistakes jump from the screen because they are mostly a result of a 21 year old growing into a 6'6" body. The goofy turnovers appear more egregious and are thus more frustrating. Anyone who is upset that he doesn't throw his body around more will never like the player. 

This is my hopeful read of a second year, barely 21 year old defenseman to counter what I see as a gross overreaction from a frustrated fan base. Defenseman take much longer to develop, particularly those who are 6'6".

Winner, winner ... chicken dinner.

Now go ahead and fix yourself a chicken dinner.

[Taro T]

29 minutes ago, GrassValleyGreg said:

Owen is a plus skater and passer, who excels with his offensive zone instincts, particularly knowing when to jump the zone and support cycles/become 4th forward/etc. He is also extremely adept at zone exits, often generating quick transition with his passing from the backend. His massive wingspan should support his growth in the D zone, disrupting zone entries and taking away passing lanes.  

Unfortunately, his mistakes jump from the screen because they are mostly a result of a 21 year old growing into a 6'6" body. The goofy turnovers appear more egregious and are thus more frustrating. Anyone who is upset that he doesn't throw his body around more will never like the player. 

This is my hopeful read of a second year, barely 21 year old defenseman to counter what I see as a gross overreaction from a frustrated fan base. Defenseman take much longer to develop, particularly those who are 6'6".

Agree with most of this.  And when he is on his game, the comment about zone exits is spot on.  But lately he has not been good at generating quick exits.  He's overthinking whether the pass is actually there or if it's coming back in his face and he has shown a real reluctance to make that quick exit pass.  

Which is a big part of why it would be great for him to get bumped to 3rd pairing usage rather than all-situation 2nd pairing.  Would have him going against lesser competition typically and would create a smidge more space for his 1st look breakouts to work.  He's simply getting asked to do too much right now.  He'll grow into the role they're using him at; but he'd get to that point quicker if he weren't currently in that role.  Problem is, there isn't really an obvious pairing to be the 2nd pairing if he is 3rd pairing (or even watching a game from above).  Clifton or the elder Johnson don't seem able to fill that role and it's a lot to ask a rookie to do that with either Jokiharju or Samuelsson as his partner.  So, Power continues to get put into tougher situations than are ideal.

[PerreaultForever]

On 12/29/2023 at 12:52 AM, SABRES 0311 said:

Power is trying to bring offense from the back end. Just a wild guess but I bet DG told him to play his game and gives Power a long leash.

What he does well is give up odd man rushes. A product of being one of a number of players not performing how many had hoped.

This is it I think. He's not being coached/developed. He's just being thrown out there and the expectation is learn from your mistakes and it costs the team. The whole "plan" is based around learn on the fly but it's really not working imo. They learn to be sloppy/lazy/loose and their bad tendencies are not corrected. This is a long standing problem in Sabreland. Go over to the NHL thread and read Risto's comments on coaching. They are telling. 

[Ross Rhea]

Avoiding any physicality he is super great at.

[...]

4 hours ago, GrassValleyGreg said:

Owen is a plus skater and passer, who excels with his offensive zone instincts, particularly knowing when to jump the zone and support cycles/become 4th forward/etc. He is also extremely adept at zone exits, often generating quick transition with his passing from the backend. His massive wingspan should support his growth in the D zone, disrupting zone entries and taking away passing lanes.  

Unfortunately, his mistakes jump from the screen because they are mostly a result of a 21 year old growing into a 6'6" body. The goofy turnovers appear more egregious and are thus more frustrating. Anyone who is upset that he doesn't throw his body around more will never like the player. 

This is my hopeful read of a second year, barely 21 year old defenseman to counter what I see as a gross overreaction from a frustrated fan base. Defenseman take much longer to develop, particularly those who are 6'6".

His mistakes jump out because they're weak or boneheaded efforts by a defenseman who is decidedly lacking in defensive acumen. At his size he should scare the offense from coming near him but he's just the opposite: they don't mind engaging with him because they know they'll win the engagement. A guy that size shouldn't be wagging his stick at you from 7ft away. He plays with zero aggression which stands out like a lighthouse on a crag during a stormy night.

[LGR4GM]

39 minutes ago, ... said:

His mistakes jump out because they're weak or boneheaded efforts by a defenseman who is decidedly lacking in defensive acumen. At his size he should scare the offense from coming near him but he's just the opposite: they don't mind engaging with him because they know they'll win the engagement. A guy that size shouldn't be wagging his stick at you from 7ft away. He plays with zero aggression which stands out like a lighthouse on a crag during a stormy night.

That's how he played in college too. 

[French Collection]

Last year I liked that he had a no panic game that made him find an open man or a short pass to move the puck up to a safe area.

This year it looks like he can’t make the quick decisions and he seems to not have any hustle when it is needed. Maybe his low panic threshold makes him look like he has no sense of urgency. I hate watching him dawdle up the ice with the puck when there is only 20 seconds left on the PP, move it!

[#freejame]

1 hour ago, ... said:

His mistakes jump out because they're weak or boneheaded efforts by a defenseman who is decidedly lacking in defensive acumen. At his size he should scare the offense from coming near him but he's just the opposite: they don't mind engaging with him because they know they'll win the engagement. A guy that size shouldn't be wagging his stick at you from 7ft away. He plays with zero aggression which stands out like a lighthouse on a crag during a stormy night.

No self respecting grown man playing in the NHL in his late twenties is going to be intimidated by a 21 year old, yet alone Owen Power. Neither Power nor this team will get any respect on the ice until they claim it in that regard. It wouldn’t matter if they were all 7’ tall and 260 lbs. 

[...]

28 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

That's how he played in college too. 

Well then Power is Kevynn Addaams fault.

[Pimlach]

6 hours ago, GrassValleyGreg said:

Owen is a plus skater and passer, who excels with his offensive zone instincts, particularly knowing when to jump the zone and support cycles/become 4th forward/etc. He is also extremely adept at zone exits, often generating quick transition with his passing from the backend. His massive wingspan should support his growth in the D zone, disrupting zone entries and taking away passing lanes.  

Unfortunately, his mistakes jump from the screen because they are mostly a result of a 21 year old growing into a 6'6" body. The goofy turnovers appear more egregious and are thus more frustrating. Anyone who is upset that he doesn't throw his body around more will never like the player. 

This is my hopeful read of a second year, barely 21 year old defenseman to counter what I see as a gross overreaction from a frustrated fan base. Defenseman take much longer to develop, particularly those who are 6'6".

Good reality check.  

[JoeSchmoe]

9 minutes ago, #freejame said:

No self respecting grown man playing in the NHL in his late twenties is going to be intimidated by a 21 year old, yet alone Owen Power. Neither Power nor this team will get any respect on the ice until they claim it in that regard. It wouldn’t matter if they were all 7’ tall and 260 lbs. 

There are a lot of young kids that come in with a chip on their shoulder. Look at Cozens and Krebs. They know it's an honour to play in the league, and will do whatever it takes to help their team win.

Power has 6min in penalties. If you're bringing everything to the table as a defender and you're playing the minutes he does, you're going to inadvertently get more time in the box just by being aggressive on pucks... Especially during size mismatches. 

[#freejame]

10 minutes ago, JoeSchmoe said:

There are a lot of young kids that come in with a chip on their shoulder. Look at Cozens and Krebs. They know it's an honour to play in the league, and will do whatever it takes to help their team win.

Power has 6min in penalties. If you're bringing everything to the table as a defender and you're playing the minutes he does, you're going to inadvertently get more time in the box just by being aggressive on pucks... Especially during size mismatches. 

If you’re implying anyone in the NHL is afraid of Cozens or Krebs then I very much disagree with that. 

[JoeSchmoe]

1 hour ago, #freejame said:

If you’re implying anyone in the NHL is afraid of Cozens or Krebs then I very much disagree with that. 

What I'm saying Cozens and Krebs are at least trying. Sure they're young as you say, but with age and strength respect will come. 

All Power has shown us is that he wants to be a Makar, with a fraction of the skill. If he was true to himself, and showed a little heart, he could be much more effective given the tools (i.e. size) he was born with.

[...]

1 hour ago, #freejame said:

If you’re implying anyone in the NHL is afraid of Cozens or Krebs then I very much disagree with that. 

FWIW, I never said other players should be scared of Power generally, I said they should be scared to engage him. Very different. Let's not play with words to create a straw man. I understand the temptation to go full-Neanderthal when the words "scared" and "aggression" are used - I blame many things including the modern educational system.

Let's knock that straw man down, shall we? How many first round picks have there been over the years who, by the time they were 21, were intimidating to engage? Are you suggesting there have never been players who, by the time they were 21, other, older players were concerned the 21 y/o player would out-maneuver, undress, out-think, out-muscle or simply out-hit them? 

Edited January 3 by ...
I am a simple caveman trying to understand your complex, modern ways.

[PerreaultForever]

4 hours ago, Ross Rhea said:

Avoiding any physicality he is super great at.

Not just him. 

[pi2000]

He turned 21 less than 2 months ago.   

He's a young prospect and will continue to improve over the next 3-4 seasons or more.

He does many things well for his age some exceptionally well.    Are there more than a few things he needs to get better at?  Absolutely.

[Second Line Center]

Peca probably brings McKee with him. 
 

Just sayin.