Rumor: Brady Tkachuk available

[Pimlach]

2 hours ago, Pimlach said:

So you think Quinn is far better than Peterka?  

My question was "far better".   I think they are still close in talent and skill.   Quinn has more of a scoring touch and is to me the more instinctive player.   JJP  has a powerful and grittier side to his game, which is something we really need. 

 

2 hours ago, JohnC said:

Absolutely I do. I like JJP a lot. JJP is more of a straight-line power forward. In my view, Quinn's play has a wider dimension to it. He's grittier, more competitive and has superb hockey instincts to get to the right spots. He, Power and Levi are no touch players for me. 

I don't see Quinn as grittier or more competitive, but he is more instinctive and he sees the game in front of him.  

2 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

I do. Of course if Quinn has another year where he can't stay healthy that will change because the best ability is availability 

 

The key is him staying healthy.  If he does, we have a top 6 forward that can score and create.   I see him as a notch better than Perterka when healthy.  He sees the game better than most.  

2 hours ago, JohnC said:

I thought his loss for most of the season created a major void. It had a cascading impact on the roster. It seemed to me that Cozens was out of sorts last year. I attribute some of his fog to not having Quinn on his line. The injuries to Samuelsson and Quinn hurt this thin team. Their absences had a cascading effect on the lines and pairings. Having them both healthy will give this roster a boost. We still need more additions. 

Pitiful on Adams for letting this happen, especially when he saw very early on that the team needed something and last year was the "in it to win" year.  

Cozens problems had much more to do with his own maturity and inability to handle pressure than with who was on his line.  Sure, he missed Quinn, but he needs to put on the big boy pants this season.  

16 minutes ago, oddoublee said:

It concerns me that a guy we (front office) have pegged as a top two center could be thrown out of sorts by the loss of a winger. Cozen's had enough weapons to stay 'in' sorts from my perspective. 

Ditto.   I will give him a break due to the circumstances of being on team with poor leadership.  Actually the poor leadership goes beyond the team, to the the coaches, and the FO.  

[French Collection]

1 hour ago, oddoublee said:

It concerns me that a guy we (front office) have pegged as a top two center could be thrown out of sorts by the loss of a winger. Cozen's had enough weapons to stay 'in' sorts from my perspective. 

Getting beat up had an effect.

[LGR4GM]

2 hours ago, Pimlach said:

My question was "far better".   I think they are still close in talent and skill.   Quinn has more of a scoring touch and is to me the more instinctive player.   JJP  has a powerful and grittier side to his game, which is something we really need. 

I don't see Quinn as grittier or more competitive, but he is more instinctive and he sees the game in front of him.  

I think Quinn is smarter, grittier, and better in every aspect of the game compared to Peterka with the exception of perhaps JJP is faster. This board WILDLY downplays Quinn's grit because instead of big hits, he does much subtler things to separate his opposition from the puck and gain body position. 

[Stoner]

3 hours ago, Taro T said:

Won't speak for @Weave, but personally see this team as being good enough to be in the playoffs but not particularly relevant right now (as Levi is becoming an NHLer) and is being built to be a true contender in year 3 from this year 1 when Levi is established at the NHL level.

The item that sealed that belief was the Mittelstadt (entering his prime NOW) getting traded form Byram (entering his prime 3-4 years from now).

And expect that Ruff signed on for the 2 years because he believes this team has (or will by the time the off-season is through) enough talent to get into the playoffs and that they can legit compete for the SC next year.  And he'll make his decision of whether to stay on as coach or bump up to PoHO (or Special Advisor to the PoHO should things be going swimmingly and Adams gets that role with Karmanos getting Adams title) at that time.  At some point the rigors of being the HC has to get old especially for somebody that'll be ~68 by then.

And IF the UPL we saw from January into March is the REAL UPL then this team could be a contender this season.  It still remains to be seen whether he can sustain that level of play or if the UPL we'll really have is the one we saw in April when Levi was back as the 2nd half of the battery.  Would expect it's either something between the 2 or maybe we finally lucked out and that goalie he was in January is who he is.  If January UPL is who he really is, well In that case the Sabres will have gone nearly overnight (just over 1 season) from having some of worst goaltending in the entire NHL to easily top 10 and arguably top 5 with both goalies at a stage of their careers where they can get better yet.

Snip.

[oddoublee]

1 hour ago, French Collection said:

Getting beat up had an effect.

that would concern me about him as well. 

[Taro T]

26 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

Snip.

And, of course, with the birth of the artist came the inevitable afterbirth ...

[stinky finger]

11 hours ago, triumph_communes said:

I could see us trading Levi. Not that I agree with it, but I can see it. Tho Levi + 11 for tkachuk is as high as I’d want to see that go. 

I wouldn't include Levi. Not with all the talent elsewhere we can make available. 

[stinky finger]

6 hours ago, oddoublee said:

It concerns me that a guy we (front office) have pegged as a top two center could be thrown out of sorts by the loss of a winger. Cozen's had enough weapons to stay 'in' sorts from my perspective. 

Wholeheartedly agree here. Cozens needs to grow up, shake whatever it is that is preventing him from taking the next step. He's at an early fork in the road.