Samuelsson out for the remainder of the Season

[Thorner]

57 minutes ago, thewookie1 said:

Oh Muel, why can't you just stay healthy?

So far his contract hasn't been working out, but the good news is he's locked in at a rate that will only look better as time goes on and the cap rises. 

I was fine with the contract at the time of its signing; felt it was a little rich but a livable deal nonetheless. So far its been an abject disaster due to Muel being made of glass. However, he has shown signs in the past of being a solid defensive defenseman and perhaps this surgery will fix whatever has ailed him this year and we can look to a better Muel in the future.

Thorny, must you look to agitate the masses with an "I told you so" when its not all that impressive when you aren't exactly positive about much to begin with. It's like celebrating throwing a baseball into the ocean from the deck of a cruise ship.

It’s also rather telling that you gave my post an eye-roll, and (re: the bold) then proceeded to agree with the root of my argument. 

Haters be hating  

[Thorner]

12 minutes ago, TageMVP said:

You farking SNEAKY BASTAGE 

 

[7+6=13]

Samuelsson is the type of player we would be trying to trade for.  

[PerreaultForever]

Made of glass. 

I really wish they'd give better details on what it actually is though. "Upper body" is just such bs. 

[Weave]

24 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

Made of glass. 

I really wish they'd give better details on what it actually is though. "Upper body" is just such bs. 

Especially when its season ending.  He can’t be targeted if he isn’t playing.

[OverPowerYou]

This erases any dreams of winning the Stanley cup this year

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

🤣

[Big Guava]

This dude is so fragile for a big D man.

He needs to hit the gym and build up some strength in the off-season.

[HumanSlinky39]

One dick kick after another this season. 

It's been a very rough 13 years, but I'd argue none worse than this relative expectations. I'm just ready for it to be over.

Edited February 5 by HumanSlinky39

[thewookie1]

3 hours ago, Thorny said:

It’s also rather telling that you gave my post an eye-roll, and (re: the bold) then proceeded to agree with the root of my argument. 

Haters be hating  

I was rolling my eyes at the "Told ya so" not exactly the point you were stating

[inkman]

14 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

This doesn't mean he is going to stay in Buffalo.  He is a defenseman with size who skates well.  Why not give him a few games to see how ready he is or isn't?  It's not like we are competing for the Cup this season.

Seems like skating might be what’s holding him back? 
 

 

[Believer]

12 hours ago, mjd1001 said:

A young guy who is VERY injury prone but has had very good stretches of play (especially for his age) even though it isn't all the time.

VERY injury prone says it all… Put him in a multi-player package while he still has high value… and get a solid D-man in his prime with playoff experience who plays a physical game with grit…

Time to start retooling  the roster, Adams

[Night Train]

Hurts his development, although I don't know if this organization is helping him. Another of the players they rushed to pay early and isn't anywhere near the player he should be. 

 

[GASabresIUFAN]

47 minutes ago, inkman said:

Seems like skating might be what’s holding him back? 
 

 

I’m not seeing an issue in that video.  

[LETSTUCHINGO]

Softer than baby poop! For a supposed stay at home D, he's not physical, doesn't skate well and is hurt more than he is not! He needs to go.

[CallawaySabres]

Just another terrible contract, this team, I mean…..there is no end in sight to their stupidity with contracts. Can we at least wait 2 years before throwing away ridiculous money?

[RochesterExpat]

1 hour ago, inkman said:

Seems like skating might be what’s holding him back? 
 

 

The 'skating issues' is a holdover from his scouting report pre-draft (2022) that said he was "slow" and clearly written by someone who spent five minutes watching tape from one game and didn't do even basic research.

As I said in one of the many prospect threads during the off-season, the KHL tracks on-ice skating speed. Novikov was the fastest defenseman on the ice for either team (both top speed and average speed) for the majority of games he played in during the 2022-2023 season. In multiple games, he was straight-up the fastest skater on the ice for either team (top speed, not average). He was the only defenseman to repeat achieving the top game speed across the entire KHL for the full season as far as I could tell. That's wild.

It's also worth noting that you can't maintain a high average speed if you don't know how to be agile and use your curves as well. It's one thing if he was always the fastest skater, but it's another entirely to average as the highest skater (note: the average is among D-men only--he never had the highest average speed in any game but neither did any defenseman in any game as far as I could tell and that makes some sense). The margins for being an outlier on speed isn't enough that posting the fastest speed is going to just automatically raise your average to the highest as well. You need to continue moving and keep your momentum in order to do that.

I don't think his speed has been utilized as effectively in Rochester so this misguided perception continues to exist. He hasn't joined the rush as often as he did in the KHL or during prospect challenge/camp. It's not to say he isn't willing to join, but he tends to side more defensively in play. I think this is by design from the coaches who are more focused on positioning with him than maybe other defensemen on the team. Likely because of his status as an NA rookie.

Lastly, it's worth mentioning that he's openly talked about how difficult the move to Rochester has been for him and his wife. We sometimes forget these are 20 year old kids moving 5,000 miles away from family and friends to a place with a completely different culture and language. Seth Appert talked about it as well and said that Novikov and his wife had a bit of a culture shock, but they're adjusting well now.

 

Edited February 5 by RochesterExpat

[That Aud Smell]

I went back just now and looked at the official team account's first Tweet about this. They still have it posted with his last name misspelled. 

The team has the check mark, premium account, or whatever. They can go back and edit that post. But they haven't. They won't. Mickey. Fu**ing. Mouse.

[GoPuckYourself]

Your 2024 Buffalo Sabres roster

[Quint]

Samuelsson might be one of the highest paid players in the league per game, including injuries.

Edited February 5 by Quint

[xzy89c1]

He is really soft. Twoish years in league and he has missed what, half available games at this point? We knew there was risk in that long term contract but good grief he should be injury prone at end of it. Odd how he keeps getting hurt. He is not overly physical as he rides guys into the boards but is not throwing his body around recklessly. Blocks shot, but so do many defenseman who do not miss time like him. 

[inkman]

41 minutes ago, RochesterExpat said:

The 'skating issues' is a holdover from his scouting report pre-draft (2022) that said he was "slow" and clearly written by someone who spent five minutes watching tape from one game and didn't do even basic research.

As I said in one of the many prospect threads during the off-season, the KHL tracks on-ice skating speed. Novikov was the fastest defenseman on the ice for either team (both top speed and average speed) for the majority of games he played in during the 2022-2023 season. In multiple games, he was straight-up the fastest skater on the ice for either team (top speed, not average). He was the only defenseman to repeat achieving the top game speed across the entire KHL for the full season as far as I could tell. That's wild.

It's also worth noting that you can't maintain a high average speed if you don't know how to be agile and use your curves as well. It's one thing if he was always the fastest skater, but it's another entirely to average as the highest skater (note: the average is among D-men only--he never had the highest average speed in any game but neither did any defenseman in any game as far as I could tell and that makes some sense). The margins for being an outlier on speed isn't enough that posting the fastest speed is going to just automatically raise your average to the highest as well. You need to continue moving and keep your momentum in order to do that.

I don't think his speed has been utilized as effectively in Rochester so this misguided perception continues to exist. He hasn't joined the rush as often as he did in the KHL or during prospect challenge/camp. It's not to say he isn't willing to join, but he tends to side more defensively in play. I think this is by design from the coaches who are more focused on positioning with him than maybe other defensemen on the team. Likely because of his status as an NA rookie.

Lastly, it's worth mentioning that he's openly talked about how difficult the move to Rochester has been for him and his wife. We sometimes forget these are 20 year old kids moving 5,000 miles away from family and friends to a place with a completely different culture and language. Seth Appert talked about it as well and said that Novikov and his wife had a bit of a culture shock, but they're adjusting well now.

 

Great analysis. I watch most Amerks games but my focus isn’t exactly on player analysis or development.  

[That Aud Smell]

I find the "soft" talk - both here on this board and elsewhere on teh interwebs (Twitter mainly) - to be ... well, not what I'd prefer to see from fellow Sabre fans. That's putting it as charitably as I can.

The player being "injury prone" is a fair discussion, or even observation.

But soft? The guy's not soft. He's unlucky, apparently. And, yes, probably injury prone. Dude had to pack it in so that he could get surgery. But that doesn't make him soft. 

Edited February 5 by That Aud Smell

[FrenchConnection44]

1 hour ago, RochesterExpat said:

The 'skating issues' is a holdover from his scouting report pre-draft (2022) that said he was "slow" and clearly written by someone who spent five minutes watching tape from one game and didn't do even basic research.

As I said in one of the many prospect threads during the off-season, the KHL tracks on-ice skating speed. Novikov was the fastest defenseman on the ice for either team (both top speed and average speed) for the majority of games he played in during the 2022-2023 season. In multiple games, he was straight-up the fastest skater on the ice for either team (top speed, not average). He was the only defenseman to repeat achieving the top game speed across the entire KHL for the full season as far as I could tell. That's wild.

It's also worth noting that you can't maintain a high average speed if you don't know how to be agile and use your curves as well. It's one thing if he was always the fastest skater, but it's another entirely to average as the highest skater (note: the average is among D-men only--he never had the highest average speed in any game but neither did any defenseman in any game as far as I could tell and that makes some sense). The margins for being an outlier on speed isn't enough that posting the fastest speed is going to just automatically raise your average to the highest as well. You need to continue moving and keep your momentum in order to do that.

I don't think his speed has been utilized as effectively in Rochester so this misguided perception continues to exist. He hasn't joined the rush as often as he did in the KHL or during prospect challenge/camp. It's not to say he isn't willing to join, but he tends to side more defensively in play. I think this is by design from the coaches who are more focused on positioning with him than maybe other defensemen on the team. Likely because of his status as an NA rookie.

Lastly, it's worth mentioning that he's openly talked about how difficult the move to Rochester has been for him and his wife. We sometimes forget these are 20 year old kids moving 5,000 miles away from family and friends to a place with a completely different culture and language. Seth Appert talked about it as well and said that Novikov and his wife had a bit of a culture shock, but they're adjusting well now.

 

Good stuff. No idea how ready he is to handle the NHL in any sort of reasonable way for a 20 year old. 
 

But in a general sense, I think at this point we need to subtly tank the season and play younger players for any injured vets. 

[Marvin]

1 minute ago, That Aud Smell said:

I find the "soft" talk - both here on this bard and elsewhere on teh interwebs (Twitter mainly) - to be ... well, not what I'd prefer to see from fellow Sabre fans. That's putting it as charitably as I can.

The player being "injury prone" is a fair discussion, or even observation.

But soft? The guy's not soft. He's unlucky, apparently. And, yes, probably injury prone. Dude had to pack it in so that he could get surgery. But that doesn't make him soft. 

I advise everyone to take a look at the number of games Jim Schoenfeld played each season during the 1970's.  He was not soft, but he missed a packet of games each season.  We need someone like him now.

[dudacek]

I'd tend to think putting your body in harm's way night after night despite the obvious damage it is sustaining is the opposite of soft.

Feel for the guy. Appreciate what he brings.

And talk about kicking people when they're down.

Edited February 5 by dudacek